An openly gay spokesman for presidential candidate Mitt Romney resigned on his first official day of work amid criticism by anti-gay conservatives.

Richard Grenell, who was recently hired to speak on foreign affairs for the Republican nominee, announced his resignation Tuesday.

Grenell released a statement thanking Romney for “his belief in me.”

Grenell’s statement:

I have decided to resign from the Romney campaign as the Foreign Policy and National Security Spokesman. While I welcomed the challenge to confront President Obama’s foreign policy failures and weak leadership on the world stage, my ability to speak clearly and forcefully on the issues has been greatly diminished by the hyper-partisan discussion of personal issues that sometimes comes from a presidential campaign. I want to thank Governor Romney for his belief in me and my abilities and his clear message to me that being openly gay was a non-issue for him and his team.

The Washington Post reported that Grenell had come under fire for statements about Callista Gingrich and Michelle Obama. Grenell also took down over 800 past tweets in addition to his own personal website.

“We wanted him to stay because he had superior qualifications for the position he was hired to fill,” said Matt Rhoades, Romney’s campaign manager in a statement.

Grenell cited “personal reasons” for his resignation, however LGBT groups and surrogates for President Obama’s campaign have argued that he was forced to resign because of his sexual orientation, reports the BBC.