National
Sebelius violated federal law speaking at HRC event: report
White House maintains any infraction was minor and corrected
Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius violated federal law when she spoke before an LGBT audience about the need to elect Democratic officials at a Human Rights Campaign event, according to a report made public Thursday by the U.S. Office of Special Counsel.
The independent agency concluded Sebelius violated the Hatch Act, which prohibits civil servants from engaging in political activity, on Feb. 25 while speaking extemporaneously before an HRC campaign gala in Charlotte, N.C., although the Obama administration maintains any violation was corrected and the infraction was minor.
Sebelius used taxpayer funds to travel to an event in her official capacity, but reportedly veered from her prepared remarks and took a partisan tone, which was found to be in violation the Hatch Act. The report, dated Aug. 23, was delivered to President Obama.
According to the report, Sebelius’ calendar identified the event as official in nature. Online invitations referred to her in her official capacity as “Secretary Kathleen Sebelius” and “Secretary of DHHS Kathleen Sebelius.” A memo given to her suggested if she was asked about her personal views, she reply, “I’m here to represent the President and the Obama Administration, not in my personal capacity.”
During her speech, Sebelius talked as part of her prepared remarks about the Obama administration’s commitment to LGBT people — hitting on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, dropping defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court and what the Affordable Care Act means for LGBT Americans. All of these remarks were consistent with the Hatch Act.
But Sebelius deviated from her prepared remarks, making news in the LGBT press when she called for the defeat of Amendment One in North Carolina — a constitutional ban on same-sex marriage that ultimately passed — about a month before the Obama campaign explicitly came out against the measure.
It’s these unscripted remarks that got Sebelius in trouble. She also advocated for the re-election of President Obama, saying “one of the imperatives is to make sure that we not only come together here in Charlotte to present the nomination to the president, but we make sure that in November he continues to be president for another four years.” She also called for the re-election of a Democratic governor in the state, saying, “it’s hugely important to make sure that we re-elect the president and elect a Democratic governor here in North Carolina.”
Following media inquiries about Sebelius’ speech, HHS issued a statement two days after the event saying the federal government wouldn’t pay for her trip and the department retroactively classified the event as political. HHS sought reimbursement from the Obama campaign and the Democratic National Committee for the costs of her travel. In testimony before OSC, Sebelius reportedly admitted her political remarks were a “mistake” and she “got a little caught up in the notion that the gains which had been made would clearly not continue without the president’s reelection.”
Still, OSC concluded Sebelius violated the law, stating, “These statements were made in Secretary Sebelius’ official capacity and therefore violated the Hatch Act’s prohibition against using official authority or influence to affect the results of an election.”
Responding to the report in a letter dated Sept. 7, Sebelius said OSC correctly notes that she acknowledged her political comments were a mistake, but said the agency should have concluded any violation of the Hatch Act was corrected. She also said she’s met with ethics attorneys for a greater understanding of what remarks are permissible in her official capacity.
“If there was a violation of the Hatch Act based on the use of my title, I believe the violation was technical and minor,” Sebelius said. “These are not the type of violations that the Hatch Act was intended to address.”
Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The investigation was initiated in March after a request by Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chair of the House Government & Oversight Reform Committee.
In a statement, Issa said he appreciated OSC’s “timely and thorough” investigation and is awaiting further action from Obama.
“OSC’s report and findings underscore the importance of laws prohibiting mixing official government business with partisan political activity,” Issa said. “OSC has sent its findings to President Obama, who must now decide on appropriate action. The Committee awaits President Obama’s decision. As he decides the appropriate consequences for Secretary Sebelius, the president should consider the important leadership role of Cabinet Secretaries and the example they must set for the entire Executive Branch.”
Eric Schultz, a White House spokesperson, said the issue was corrected even before the OSC report came out and maintained the Obama administration holds officials to the highest level of integrity.
“This error was immediately acknowledged by the Secretary, promptly corrected, and no taxpayer dollars were misused,” Schultz said. “This administration holds itself to the highest ethical standards, which is why President Obama has installed the toughest ethics rules of any Administration in history — beginning on his first day in office when he signed an Executive Order instituting unprecedented reforms.”
Sebelius is no stranger to speaking to LGBT crowds to advocate for President Obama. In addition to speaking at the HRC event in Charlotte, Sebelius was at a D.C. fundraiser for LGBT people that both she and Obama attended. Sebelius also addressed members of the LGBT caucus last week at the Democratic National Convention.
The Human Rights Campaign didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment on Sebelius’ apparent violation of federal campaign law at one of its events.
But Republican groups — including a gay conservative organization — took the report as an opportunity to criticize the Obama administration.
Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of GOProud, took aim at the Obama administration over the revelations in the report. His organization has endorsed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.
“It shouldn’t take congressional action to know that a speech given to a partisan political organization, like HRC, is a political speech,” LaSalvia said. “All of us taxpayers owe Chairman Issa a debt of gratitude for his vigilance in exposing Hatch Act violations by this administration.”
The Republican National Committee accused the Obama administration more broadly of drawing on federal funds to pay for campaign expenses. Republicans have previously criticized President Obama for traveling on government funds to events that are ostensibly for official business, but are located in swing states in the presidential election.
“The Obama administration promised to change Washington but time and again we have seen questionable activity from the administration using taxpayer dollars,” RNC spokesperson Kirsten Kukowski said. “In fact, the questions about Secretary Sebelius pale in comparison to the White House’s blatant use of taxpayer dollars for campaign purposes.”
National
Blade reporters reflect on covering Pulse massacre 10 years ago
Orlando stepped up to comfort and support its LGBTQ community
Friday marks 10 years since a gunman killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The massacre, which, at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, left the LGBTQ community in this country and around the world reeling. It also prompted renewed calls for gun control.
The OnePulse Foundation, which Pulse owner Barbara Poma founded after the massacre, raised upwards of $20 million for a memorial that never materialized.
The city of Orlando in 2023 purchased the Pulse property for $2 million. Crews earlier this year demolished the former nightclub. The city of Orlando has pledged $12 million for a permanent memorial that is scheduled to open in 2027.
Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff and International News Editor Michael K. Lavers reported from Orlando in the days after the massacre. Here are their reflections a decade later.
Describe the scene when you arrived in Orlando. Where did you go first?
NAFF: Most mainstream reporters headed for the Pulse nightclub, but it was already roped off with police keeping bystanders at least a full city block away. Instead, I hurried to The Center, Orlando’s LGBTQ community center, downtown. I expected to find it locked down with tight security but instead the doors were flung open and everyone inside was busy at work. No tears, just dedicated staff and volunteers working the phones to secure visas and free plane tickets for relatives of the victims. The director gave me a tour and in the back storage room were pallets and pallets of bottled water stacked to the ceiling. When I asked what all the water was for, he said the city had issued a call for blood donations and the lines to donate were 1,500 deep in 100-degree heat. So The Center drove around to all the sites to deliver water to all those standing in line.
That scene was so inspiring and a testament to the strength and resiliency of the LGBTQ community. We’d seen tragedy before and knew how to respond.
LAVERS: I arrived in Orlando about 14 hours after the massacre took place. The city was shellshocked.
Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy group, and other organizations held a press conference at The Center shortly after my flight from D.C. landed. I drove there from the airport. Terry DeCarlo, who was The Center’s executive director at the time, along with then-Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith and others spoke on behalf of a community that was reeling. The Center at the press conference handed out business cards that read, “You matter.” I had it in my wallet when I drove to a makeshift memorial that was a block from Pulse — the police had cordoned off the area immediately around the nightclub. A local resident who I interviewed told me that she did not know if her friends who were at Pulse when the gunman opened fire survived. Another person with whom I spoke shared a similar story.
A torrential downpour began shortly after I arrived. The storm was an apt metaphor for the raw emotion of that horrific day.
What’s your most prominent memory of covering the Pulse massacre?
NAFF: I was covering a vigil in downtown Orlando when then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s motorcade arrived unannounced. To that point, he had not addressed the LGBTQ angle and seemed to be downplaying the fact that this was an attack on our community. I hurried to the front row as he held an impromptu news conference. To my dismay, he took only three short questions from TV reporters then rushed away. I grabbed his communications director and insisted that Scott take a question from the LGBTQ media. She agreed and told me to wait next to the SUV. When Scott approached, I asked him, “What is your message to LGBTQ Floridians?”
To my surprise, he sputtered, stammered, and broke into tears before telling me, “This was an attack, what else can you say? This was an attack against the gays, an attack against Hispanics, an attack against our country, our nation and it’s disgusting. The biggest thing we do now is ask how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
It was his first public acknowledgment that the LGBTQ community was the target of the attack.
LAVERS: Two moments stand out for me.
The first moment is when then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando on June 16, four days after the massacre. I was one of the reporters who the White House asked to be part of the local press pool. I was about 50 feet away from Obama and Biden when they placed bouquets with 49 flowers — one for each of the victims — at a makeshift memorial between City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Obama in remarks he made to the press pool mentioned one of the gay victims who had once said, “We cannot be afraid.” The emotions of the last four days simply became too much, and I broke down. Another reporter who was part of the press pool who was standing next to me realized I had broken down. She put her hand on my back to console me.
The second moment came a few weeks later when I was in Puerto Rico to cover the community’s response to the massacre and to interview victims’ relatives. Orlando has a very large Puerto Rican community, and nearly half of those who died at Pulse were of Puerto Rican descent.
I drove to Caguas, a city that is roughly 20 miles south of San Juan, the island’s capital, on July 7, and interviewed Aida Velázquez in her small apartment. Her son, Frankie “Jimmy” de Jesús, died at Pulse. Aida talked about her son, and she showed me pictures of him. Jimmy also danced Jíbaro, a Puerto Rican folk dance. The interview took place less than a month after the massacre — Jimmy’s funeral took place in Caguas less than two weeks earlier.
I sat in my car after the interview and sobbed uncontrollably for nearly five minutes. Nothing can possibly prepare you for interviewing a mother who had just lost her child in the most horrific way possible.
How did the local community respond and what about their response gave you hope or inspiration?
NAFF: In addition to the staff at The Center working to assist victims and their families, everyday Orlando residents stepped up to help however they could. At the downtown vigils, straight mothers and fathers carried signs offering hugs to anyone who needed them. I encountered a group of young teenage males who approached a group of law enforcement officers and appeared to perform for them. When they finished, I asked what they were doing and they told me that they were straight friends who lived in Orlando and wanted to do something to help so they composed an uplifting rap song and walked around performing it for anyone who needed cheering up.
LAVERS: The way that Orlando rallied around the LGBTQ community was simply inspiring.
Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, at a memorial service that took place at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center on June 13 said his organization was “united as Americans when it comes to standing with the LGBT community and their rights to live freely and to practice their lives here.” This comment underscored the outpouring of support that Orlando showed its LGBTQ community after Pulse. It was also a call for the better angels among us to reject hate in all of its forms.
What surprised you most about the experience?
NAFF: I was most surprised — and moved — after talking to Rev. Debreita Taylor of Oasis Fellowship Ministries, an LGBTQ-affirming ministry.
“My message is love. Period. Love. Period. There’s nothing in the word of God that faith leaders can go to that teaches hate,” she told me. “Have faith and believe that evil and hate can be eradicated one person at a time. How do you treat someone? How do you embrace someone who treats you wrong? We all bleed, laugh, hope and have great victories and major defeats. And so, you know me, even if you don’t know my name — I’m you.”
LAVERS: It admittedly took me quite a while to fully process what I experienced in Orlando — I was focused on doing my job as a reporter, which was to cover the story, and, most importantly, show the human impact of what had happened. I suppose one surprising aspect of the time I spent in Orlando was that I found myself feeling more defiant against those who seek to destroy our community. They want us to live in fear, and I refuse to give them that satisfaction.
What, if anything, changed as a result of Pulse?
NAFF: In the immediate aftermath of the attack, queer spaces began rethinking their approach to security, which has served us well in the years since. Sadly, just a year later, Pulse was bumped to the No. 2 deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people. Americans and their politicians never learn from these largely preventable tragedies. The carnage continues.
LAVERS: Gun violence remains a shameful scourge in this country. Our community remains vulnerable to violence and discrimination. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other politicians here in Washington, around the country, and overseas continue to use our community to advance an anti-equality agenda. The carnage continues, as my colleague correctly notes, but our community remains strong and defiant. That gives me hope.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
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