Atheists Boot Leader David Silverman Over Sex Accusations
Image by twitter
A leading movement representing atheists has fired its president over accusations of sexual misconduct.
American Atheists, an organization devoted to the promotion of secularism and removal of expressions of religion in government, dumped David Silverman Friday after the release of a BuzzFeed News story that reported two women’s claims of nonconsensual sexual contact with them.
According to one of the women, Silverman assaulted her in his hotel room following the American Atheists convention in Memphis in 2015.
The second woman stated, “I don’t believe I was in a position to be able to give consent. I was very intoxicated,” regarding the 2012 night she met Silverman at a bar in Columbus during the annual convention of the Secular Student Alliance.
Silverman, who started with American Atheists in 1996 and became president in 2010, denies the allegations. “Mr. Silverman denies any wrong doing and has never had a non-consensual sexual encounter,” his lawyer told BuzzFeed.
“We take our obligation to create safe and welcoming communities for our staff, volunteers, members and supporters very seriously,” Nick Fish, American Atheists’ national program director, said in a statement.
Contact Haley Cohen at hcohen@forward.com
A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
