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Obama calls for ENDA passage at White House reception

No word from president on executive order for federal contractors

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Barack Obama, White House, Democratic Party, gay news, Washington Blade, Pride reception
Barack Obama, White House, Democratic Party, gay news, Washington Blade, Pride reception, Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden and President Barack Obama at the White House Pride reception (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Obama energized attendees at the annual Pride reception held at the White House on Thursday by saying “we need to get” the Employment Non-Discrimination Act passed.

Citing a letter he said he received from a PFLAG mom from Ohio named “Susan” expressing concern that LGBT people aren’t protected from harassment in the workplace, Obama said, “I share that concern,” and issued a call to pass ENDA ā€” without mentioning the bill by name.

“Thereā€™s a bipartisan bill moving forward in the Senate that would ban discrimination against all LGBT Americans in the workplace, now and forever,” Obama said. “We need to get that passed. I want to sign that bill. We need to get it done now.”

Despite difficulties in passing ENDA ā€” mostly notably the fact that Republicans are in control of the House ā€” Obama told attendees in the East Room of the White House that he sees a path for passing the bill based on the successes the LGBT community has seen in recent years.

“And I think we can make that happen ā€” because after the last four and a half years, you can’t tell me things canā€™t happen,” Obama said. “Look around. Weā€™ve got gay and lesbian soldiers, and sailors, and airmen, and Marines who are here today. Weā€™ve got married couples from places like New York and Washington State.”

The White House Pride reception took place amid renewed calls for Obama to sign an executive order that would bar federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers. Activists are calling the measure a campaign promise and say it’ll protect millions of workers from discrimination.

Last week, Ellen Sturtz, a lesbian activist affiliated with GetEQUAL, made headlines when she confronted first lady Michelle Obama about signing the executive order. Earlier on Thursday, eight activists from Ohio and Texas affiliated with GetEQUAL were arrested outside House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) office in D.C. after they called on him to move forward with ENDA. Receiving no commitments from him, they also called on Obama to issue the executive order.

Tico Almeida, president of Freedom to Work, said “it’s fantastic” that Obama spoke out in favor of ENDA during the reception, but wants the president to take additional action behind the scenes.

“He should follow up his speech today by placing phone calls to lobby ENDA’s holdout Democratic senators like Florida’s Bill Nelson, West Virginia’s Joe Manchin and Mark Pryor of Arkansas,” Almeida said. “Between the president, Joe Biden, and the White House legislative team, I bet they could convince those Democrats to support ENDA.”

Despite the call to pass ENDA, LGBT advocates who have been calling for the executive order ā€” and weren’t in attendance ā€” said they still expect Obama to take administrative action to protect LGBT workers from discrimination.

Fred Sainz, vice president communications of the Human Rights Campaign, said he appreciates Obama’s support for legislation, but reminded him that issuing the executive order takes only the stroke of a pen.

“We’re elated to have the president’s support for ENDA,” Sainz said. “But we also want his support for an executive order. ENDA need not come before an EO. People’s jobs are on the line and there’s no time to waste.”

Almeida also renewed his call on President Obama to sign the executive order, saying previous responses from White House spokesperson Shin Inouye that the directive is “hypothetical” aren’t truthful.

“But no presidential speech or Champagne reception compares to the strong workplace protections that we will achieve once President Obama honors his five-year-old campaign promise to sign the federal contractor executive order,” Almeida said. “It’s time for President Obama to instruct his staffer Shin Inouye to stop pretending the executive order [is] ‘hypothetical.’ Shin is insulting gay and transgender victims of discrimination. It’s time for the president to sign.”

Inouye didn’t respond to a request for comment on Almeida’s assertions.

On Monday, the Washington Blade published an email from Democratic National Committee Treasurer Andrew Tobias asserting that the directive will happen. But Tobias wrote that “a process” is holding up the directive “that is broader than just this one very important and long delayed agenda item.”

Just hours before the reception, White House Press Secretary Jay Carney addressed the executive order in response to a question from NBC News’ Peter Alexander and maintained the administration prefers a legislative approach to the issue.

“I’ve answered this question a few times,” Carney said. “And we have said that we are supporting a legislative effort, the so-called ENDA legislation. And that’s the approach that we’ve taken. So I would not expect any executive order to be signed at the reception.”

‘Weā€™ve made our world a little more full of love’

In addition to touting his support for ENDA, Obama ticked off various accomplishments over the past four-and-a-half-years with Vice President Joseph Biden at his side.

Among the noted achievements were “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act with explicit LGBT protections and the first national HIV/AIDS strategy. His mention of putting in place “new policies that treat transgender Americans with dignity and respect” elicited considerable shouts of approval from the audience.

Additionally, Obama commended the Senate for confirming ā€” just hours earlier ā€” Nitza Quinones Alejandro as the first openly gay federal Hispanic judge, saying she couldn’t attend because she’s getting ready to take her seat on the bench.

Obama also drew attention to his support for marriage equality ā€” and speaking out in states where there have been efforts to legalize it ā€” including the recent effort in Illinois where the session ended before the vote took place.

“Iā€™ll continue to support marriage equality and statesā€™ attempts to legalize it, including in my home state of Illinois,” Obama said. “We’re not giving up on that.”

Introducing Obama on stage were nine-year-old twins Zea and Luna, who began the reception by talking about a letter they wrote to Obama on LGBT issues. Upon entering the stage, Obama said, “I will not beat that act.”

Obama concluded his remarks by predicting that the efforts of those in the room would make for new achievements because “people who love this country can change it.”

“And I hope that when we gather here next year, and the year after that, weā€™ll be able to say, with pride and confidence, that together weā€™ve made our fellow citizens a little more free,” Obama said. “Weā€™ve made this country a little more equal. Weā€™ve made our world a little more full of love.”

LGBT attendees said they were pleased that the White House was holding the event, but are frustrated the issue of federal workplace non-discrimination protections hasn’t been addressed.

Those in attendance munched on hors dā€™oeuvres and stood around circular tables with refreshments while sipping Champagne from wine glasses. No crowd estimates were included in the pool report for the evening.

Lori Schreiber, a 54-year-old lesbian who serves as township commissioner in Abingdon, Pa., said she’s “very pleased” the White House held the Pride reception because “it acknowledges a group of people that are often not acknowledged.”

Still, she said an executive order to protect LGBT workers from discrimination would be helpful in her state of Pennsylvania, where there’s no law on the books prohibiting such discrimination.

“How it’s going in Pennsylvania is we’re going municipality by municipality, which isn’t working well,” Schreiber said. “It should just be across the country that everybody has the same rights in employment, housing, everything, and that doesn’t currently exist, so some of us are second-class citizens.”

Mike Manning, a 26-year-old bisexual actor known for being in MTV’s “Real World” in D.C., said he supports the president, but also said he “absolutely” wants him to issue the executive order and doesn’t understand why he hasn’t taken action.

“I’m surprised that hasn’t happened yet because it seems like a no-brainer, especially in a nation like the U.S.,” Manning said. “We’re such a power economy, we should have the best men and women doing the jobs…regardless of their sexual orientation or [gender] identity.”

Cathy Renna, 48, a lesbian communications specialist from Long Island, N.Y., said the Pride reception is “a symbol in and of itself” of the progress on LGBT issues in recent years, but noted she was frustrated by the lack of movement on workplace discrimination.

“I think I probably feel like the vast majority of other people in our community, who are wondering and sort of scratching their head ā€” because I think the challenge is this is somebody who’s with us, so we’re just wondering why it’s not happening,” Renna said.

Among the LGBT notables who were in attendance at the event were Eric Fanning, under secretary of the Air Force; Daniel Baer, a State Department official recently nominated as U.S. ambassador to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe; and Rev. R. Guy Erwin, who was recently elected the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Americaā€™s first openly gay bishop.

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Congress

Sens. Butler, Smith introduce Pride in Mental Health Act to aid at-risk LGBTQ youth

Bill is backed by Democrats in both chambers

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U.S. Sen. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) speaks at the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference on Nov. 30, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.

ā€œAccessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,ā€Ā said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. ā€œBarriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.”

“I am introducing the Pride in Mental Health Act to help equip LGBTQ+ youth with the resources to get the affirming and often life-saving care they need,” she said.

ā€œMental health care is health care,” said Smith. “And for some LGBTQ+ youth, receiving access to the mental health care they need can mean the difference between living in safety and dignity, and suffering alone through discrimination, bullying, and even violence.ā€Ā 

The Minnesota senator added that data shows LGBTQ students are experiencing “an epidemic” of “anxiety, depression and other serious mental health conditions.”

For example, a 2023 study by The Trevor Project found that 54 percent of LGBTQ youth reported symptoms of depression, compared to 35 percent of their heterosexual counterparts.

Joining the senators as cosponsors are Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Bob Casey (Penn.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). Baldwin was the first LGBTQ woman elected to the House in 1999 and the first LGBTQ woman elected to the Senate in 2013.

Leading the House version of the bill are LGBTQ Democratic U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Kan.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.), and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), along with 163 other House members.

Organizations that have backed the Pride in Mental Health Act include the Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association (NEA), National Center for Transgender Equality, Seattle Indian Health Board, PFLAG National, The Trevor Project, American Psychological Association, Whitman-Walker Institute, InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Mental Health America, and Center for Law and Social Policy.

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Congress

Before TikTok, the U.S. took action over national security concerns with Grindr

House voted to pass TikTok ban on Wednesday

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Grindr's IPO at the New York Stock Exchange (Screen capture: YouTube/NYSE)

In a bipartisan vote of 352-65 on Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives cleared a bill that would force a divestiture of TikTok by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or ban the video sharing platform’s use in the U.S.

While the legislation faces an uncertain path to passage in the U.S. Senate, Wednesday’s vote provided additional evidence of the extent to which lawmakers are concerned about U.S. national security risks that could stem from TikTok.

More specifically, as recent years have seen relations between the U.S. and China become more fraught than they have been since the two countries first established diplomatic ties in 1979, questions have been raised about the access government leaders in Beijing might have to data from America’s 150 million TikTok users who are active on the platform each month.

Concerns have also been raised about whether and how the platform’s content moderation policies, algorithmic recommendation engine or other features might be manipulated to advance Chinese interests ā€” including, potentially, by sowing political strife in the U.S. or manipulating or undermining American elections.

Many of these claims are speculative, lacking the type of evidence that might be required if they were presented in a court of law. Nevertheless, for purposes of forcing a divestiture through an act of Congress or a decision by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, they are sufficient.

CFIUS is a nine-member interagency panel that adjudicates questions of whether business transactions between foreign buyers and U.S. targets may raise national security concerns. Since 2020, the committee has investigated TikTok because the platform was created by ByteDance’s 2017 purchase of U.S. startup Musical.ly.

The probe led to negotiations over a deal in which American user data from TikTok would be sold to U.S. based multinational computer technology company Oracle, which would vet and monitor the platform’s algorithms and content moderation practices ā€” but Axios reported on Monday that talks between TikTok and CFIUS have stalled for months.

Parallels to Grindr case

As directed by CFIUS, in 2020, Grindr, the location-based app used primarily by gay and bisexual men and transgender or gender diverse communities, was sold by the Chinese-based Beijing Kunlun Tech to San Vicente Acquisition, a firm that was incorporated in Delaware.

According to Reuters, Kunlun’s failure to notify CFIUS when the company purchased Grindr in 2018 was likely one of the reasons the committee decided to force the divestiture and thereby unwind an acquisition that, by that point, had been consummated for two years.

While CFIUS does not share details about the specific nature of national security risks identified with transactions under its review, reporting at the time suggested concerns with Grindr had to do with the Chinese government’s potential to blackmail Americans, potentially including American officials, with data from the app.

Cooley LLP, an international law firm with attorneys who practice in the CFIUS space, notes that the committee uses a “three-part conceptual framework” to assess national security threats:

  1. What is the threat presented by the foreign personā€™s intent and capabilities to harm U.S. national security?
  2. What aspects of the U.S. business present vulnerabilities to national security?
  3. What would the consequences for U.S. national security be if the foreign person were to exploit the identified vulnerabilities?

The firm writes that “issues that have raised perceived national security risks range from the obvious (e.g., foreign acquisitions of U.S. businesses with federal defense contracts) to the seemingly benign (e.g., foreign minority investments in offshore wind farm projects or online dating apps.)

Cooley additionally notes that CFIUS considers vulnerabilities such as “whether the U.S. business deals in ‘critical technology,’ ‘critical infrastructure’ or ‘sensitive personal data'” and threats such as “the foreign buyerā€™s/investorā€™s track record of complying with U.S. and international laws (e.g., export controls, sanctions and anti-corruption regimes.)”

Some critics argue CFIUS has been overzealous in enforcing investment restrictions against Chinese buyers, but assuming this may be true ā€” and putting aside questions of whether U.S. national security concerns are best served by this approach ā€” China’s foreign direct investment has “declined considerably,” according to another global law firm with a substantial CFIUS practice, Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP.

The firm notes heightened scrutiny has been applied particularly in cases of “Chinese investment in the U.S. biotechnology industry,” while Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld highlighted CFIUS’s expanded jurisdiction over Chinese investments in U.S. real estate ā€” noting, however, that the committee’s increased authority is “unlikely to satisfy members of Congress and state legislators who want to prohibit investments in agricultural and other land by investors from ‘countries of concern’ such as China.”

Two years after the finalization of Grindr’s divestiture in 2020, the company went public on the New York Stock Exchange and enjoyed a 400 percent rise in its stock price. Its current value is $1.75 billion.

TikTok is privately owned, but Angelo Zino, a vice president and senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, told CNBC that the platform’s U.S.-only business ā€œcould fetch a valuation north of $60 billionā€ if Congress passes the bill to force its divestiture from ByteDance.

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Congress

AOC’s announcement of new bill quotes a group with history of anti-LGBTQ advocacy

NCOSE still has ties to extremists

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U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) (Screen capture: YouTube/MSNBC)

A press release issued on March 7 by the office of U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) included quoted remarks from the CEO of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation, a group with a history of anti-LGBTQ advocacy that was previously named Morality in Media.

The release concerns a bipartisan, bicameral bill that was introduced by Ocasio-Cortez to fight the proliferation of non-consensual, sexually explicit “deepfake” media ā€” created by “software, machine learning, artificial intelligence, or any other computer-generated or technological means” ā€” by establishing a federal civil right of action for victims.

ā€œRep. Ocasio-Cortez is leading a bipartisan bill to stop nonconsensual deepfake pornography that centers survivorsā€™ civil right of action,” the congresswoman’s chief of staff, Mike Casca, said in a statement to the Washington Blade on Saturday. “Organizations from left, right, and center support it.ā€

Separately, in a discussion about these topics on X, Casca said, “I disagree that quoting a group in a release is an endorsement of that group, especially at a time when gop support is required to pass anything in the house & the senate, nonetheless ‘partnering’ with them.”

Remarks by NCOSE CEO Dawn Hawkins that were included in the announcement from Ocasio-Cortez’s office are inoffensive and germane to the legislation. For instance, she said “it is past time that our laws catch up and hold the perpetrators of this abuse accountable,” calling the measure “a critical step forward” in securing “justice for survivors through civil remedies.”

Primarily focused on opposing pornography, NCOSE has sought to distance itself from the avowed anti-LGBTQ positions that were held by the organization and its leadership in the past, but there is ample reason to doubt the narrative that the group underwent an ideological evolution.

Hawkins authored a statement on behalf of her organization in December 2023 that promised to fight against the sexual exploitation of LGBTQ victims and expressed “deep regret that there were moments in our organizationā€™s history prior to our leadership change in 2011, when remarks were made that were indeed anti-LGBTQ+.”

The statement also noted that “our former namesake, Morality in Media (MIM), was associated with actions that starkly contrast with our current values,” including possible advocacy against Disney’s extension of benefits to employees’ same-sex partners and a press statement “arguing that homosexuality is connected to crime.”

Casting doubt on the sincerity of these statements, along with Hawkins’ proclamation that “we do not tolerate statements and actions by current employees that spread harmful misinformation and hate towards any particular group or individual,” are the following facts:

  • NCOSE’s current general counsel Benjamin Bull previously served as chief counsel of the far-right legal advocacy group Alliance Defending Freedom, which the Southern Poverty Law Center has designated an anti-LGBTQ hate group. The attorney also served as executive director for ADF International.
  • During an interview with former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly, Bull praised a 2013 decision by the Supreme Court of India that re-criminalized LGBTQ sex.
  • Amherst College professor Hadley Arkes, a conservative political scientist with longstanding ties to NCOSE — he was listed as a board member on the group’s 2022 990 form — supports the discredited practice of conversion therapy, which is banned in 20 U.S. states. When delivering public remarks in 2021, he said, “Weā€™ve had many people who, with therapy and conversion, just have come out away from that life.”
  • Arkes also opposes same-sex marriage. During the same event in 2021, he compared the decision by gay and lesbian couples to wed with the choice to shoot heroin. Close to the end of his two-hour lecture, the professor conceded that, ā€œI think Iā€™ve said enough to offend everybody tonight.”
  • Hawkins organized a conference in South Africa in 2022 whose keynote address was delivered by Errol Naidoo, an anti-LGBTQ minister who has blamed abortion and the “homosexual agenda” for”a culture of death” in his country and was quoted in a Nigerian newspaper as saying “I hate gays. It runs against Godā€™s wishes.”
  • Also delivering a presentation during the conference was Sharon Slater, president of Family Watch International. The SPLC lists the organization as an anti-LGBTQ hate group, noting that Slater has claimed LGBTQ people are more prone to disease, more promiscuous, and likelier to engage in pedophilia.
  • Slater has also defended the criminalization of LGBTQ conduct by African countries like Uganda and forged close relationships with proponents of these policies like Ugandan pastor Martin Ssempa, who supported the law passed last year that imposes prison sentences for homosexuality (and the death penalty, in certain cases).

Along with the bill introduced last week by Ocasio Cortez, the DEFIANCE Act, NCOSE is a major supporter of the Kids Online Safety Act ā€” another bipartisan legislative effort to combat the sexual exploitation of minors along with other harms facilitated by Big Tech and social media companies.

Earlier iterations of KOSA drew opposition from LGBTQ and civil rights groups over concerns that, for instance, the law might suppress affirming or pro-LGBTQ online content or prevent queer youth from accessing online communities.

On Feb. 15, however, a coalition of seven national LGBTQ organizations wrote a letter to U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), who introduced KOSA along with Republican U.S. Sen. Marsha Blackburn (Tenn.), informing him that they would no longer oppose the bill.

Signed by GLAAD, GLSEN, the Human Rights Campaign, PFLAG National, the National Center for Lesbian Rights, the National Center for Transgender Equality, and The Trevor Project, the letter thanked Blumenthal for “hearing our concerns” and “updating the legislation to address potential adverse consequences for LGBTQ+ youth.”

For years, Congress has sought to pass legislation to curb the power of market-dominant tech platform companies and hold these firms accountable for harms they have facilitated. More recently, many lawmakers have agreed on the need for a bipartisan federal privacy law and regulations targeting emerging technologies like artificial intelligence ā€” but so far have failed to pass any.

Support among Republicans and Democrats for bills like KOSA and the DEFIANCE Act were bolstered by the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearing on online child sexual exploitation at the end of January, where the senators grilled the CEOs of TikTok, Discord, Snap Inc. (Snapchat), X (formerly Twitter), and Meta (which owns Facebook and Instagram).

Meanwhile, the Republican-controlled U.S. House is preparing to vote on a bill that would force the divestiture of TikTok by its Chinese parent company ByteDance or ban the popular video sharing platform in the U.S.

While the measure would have to overcome opposition from Senate Democrats to pass, bipartisan support comes because of the national security risks presented by TikTok along with concerns about the harms suffered by American users ā€” even though the evidence for some of these claims is scant, unclear, or disputed.

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