Beach Slang Remove Guitarist Ruben Gallego Upon Accusations of Sexual Assault

Philly punk-rock band Beach Slang was due to begin the “Beached Slang” world tour with its normal three-member lineup tonight. But today, they revealed in a Facebook post that they’re removing guitarist Ruben Gallego from the band after sexual assault allegations were brought against him.

“Although this occurred four years ago and prior to him joining Beach Slang, we cannot in good conscience continue with him,” the band wrote. “We believe survivors and we want to believe Ruben, but until we learn more information, we don’t feel it’s appropriate for him to be a part of Beach Slang.”

This is terrible news, but it’s at least heartening to see a good decision made regarding sex crime accusations for a change—that is, Beach Slang taking the accusations against Gallego very seriously—especially during a week in which many are jumping at the chance to write off Donald Trump’s 2005 Access Hollywood comments as “locker room talk.”

The band also noted that they will be donating to RAINN, the U.S.’s largest anti-sexual violence organization, at the conclusion of their tour (which is still happening—vocalist/guitarist James Alex will perform solo). You can do the same here.

The band wrote that Beach Slang was “built to be welcoming. […] If we are going to continue to exist, we have to exist in this way.”