National
Does Obama’s Cabinet lack diversity?
Black Caucus criticizes makeup; LGBT advocates still looking to smash glass ceiling
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney says Obama values LGBT status as a element of diversity (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney declined to comment Tuesday on media reports indicating President Obama won’t appoint an openly LGBT person as part of his second-term Cabinet, but maintained sexual orientation and gender identity are “absolutely” elements of diversity the president values at the highest levels of the administration.
“I certainly am not confirming any speculation in the press about possible announcements the president might make,” Carney said under questioning from the Washington Blade. “I would refer you, again, to what I said and what the president has said about the value he places on diversity, and encourage you to assess the diversity of his appointments once they’ve all been made.”
According to media reports, Obama is close to making nominations for two vacancies in his Cabinet. His reported choice for labor secretary is Thomas Perez, who heads the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. The president is also reportedly poised to nominate as commerce secretary Penny Pritzker, a Chicago hotel mogul and finance chair for his presidential campaign.
LGBT advocates had asked Obama to make the first-ever openly LGBT Cabinet appointment in history. If Obama makes his nominations in accordance with those reports, LGBT advocates will have to wait for another vacancy for that to happen.
Gay California Assembly Speaker John Perez was reportedly on the short list for labor secretary. In December, an administration official told the Blade that Fred Hochberg, who’s gay and chair of the Export-Import Bank, was being looked at for the role of commerce secretary.
The questioning from the Blade came after inquiries from American Urban Radio’s April Ryan about a letter from Congressional Black Caucus Chair Marsha Fudge (D-Ohio) saying Obama has an insufficient number of black appointees in his Cabinet. In response to that question, Carney said Obama is “deeply committed to diversity in his Cabinet.”
“He believes that having a diverse Cabinet and a diverse set of advisers enhances the decision-making and deliberation process for him and for any president,” Carney said. “And so he values it greatly and that’s why he has pursued it both in his first term and continues to pursue it in his second term.”
Denis Dison, spokesperson for the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, affirmed that Obama should consider sexual orientation and gender identity when making decisions about diversity in his administration and reiterated the call to appoint an openly LGBT Cabinet official.
“Sexual orientation and gender identity should absolutely be considered when the goal is diversity,” Dison said. “President Obama has appointed more openly LGBT Americans to his administration than all previous presidents combined, but nobody from the LGBT community has ever served in the Cabinet. We hope this president takes the historic opportunity to destroy that glass ceiling once and for all.”
It should be noted that Thomas Perez has a strong record on LGBT issues at the Justice Department. In 2009, Perez testified before the Senate on behalf of the administration in favor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. He’s also overseen the implementation and execution of the hate crimes protections law signed by Obama in 2009.
Additionally, Perez has spoken out against anti-gay bullying and had a role in the settlement that the Obama administration reached with Anoka-Hennepin School District in Minnesota over anti-gay school bullying.
A partial transcript of the exchange between Carney and the Blade follows:
Washington Blade: I just want to follow up on April’s questioning there. There are new reports that the President is close to making his nominees for the labor and commerce secretary. There was a lot of hope within the LGBT community that the President would take the opportunity with those vacancies to appoint the first-ever LGBT Cabinet member. But it looks like it’s not going to happen now. And you just mentioned how the President values diversity, and I’m just wondering if that excludes LGBT people. Does the President not believe that sexual orientation and gender identity are elements of diversity that you want to see at the highest levels of the administration?
Jay Carney: Again, Chris, I have no personnel announcements to make. I certainly am not confirming any speculation in the press about possible announcements the President might make. I would refer you, again, to what I said and what the President has said about the value he places on diversity, and encourage you to assess the diversity of his appointments once they’ve all been made.
Blade: But is sexual orientation —
Carney: Again, I think — I don’t have any — you’re asking me to make a statement about appointments that haven’t been made and I’m not going to do that. I’m not going to get ahead of the president.
Blade: But I’m asking you to make a statement on value.
Carney: The President values diversity.
Blade: And is sexual orientation and gender identity part of that diversity?
Carney: Absolutely. And the president values diversity.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Gil Pontes III on his recent appointment to the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors, Fla. Upon being appointed he said, “I’m honored to join the Financial Advisory Board for the City of Wilton Manors at such an important moment for our community. In my role as Executive Director of the NextGen Chamber of Commerce, I spend much of my time focused on economic growth, fiscal sustainability, and the long-term competitiveness of emerging business leaders. I look forward to bringing that perspective to Wilton Manors — helping ensure responsible stewardship of public resources while supporting a vibrant, inclusive local economy.”
Pontes is a nonprofit executive with years of development, operations, budget, management, and strategic planning experience in 501(c)(3), 501(c)(4), and political organizations. Pontes is currently executive director of NextGen, Chamber of Commerce. NextGen Chamber’s mission is to “empower emerging business leaders by generating insights, encouraging engagement, and nurturing leadership development to shape the future economy.” Prior to that he served as managing director of The Nora Project, and director of development also at The Nora Project. He has held a number of other positions including Major Gifts Officer, Thundermist Health Center, and has worked in both real estate and banking including as Business Solutions Adviser, Ironwood Financial. For three years he was a Selectman, Town of Berkley, Mass. In that role, he managed HR and general governance for town government. There were 200+ staff and 6,500 constituents. He balanced a $20,000,000 budget annually, established an Economic Development Committee, and hired the first town administrator.
Pontes earned his bachelor’s degree in political science from the University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth.
Kansas
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
A new Kansas bill requires transgender residents to have their driver’s licenses reflect their sex assigned at birth, invalidating current licenses.
Transgender people across Kansas received letters in the mail on Wednesday demanding the immediate surrender of their driver’s licenses following passage of one of the harshest transgender bathroom bans in the nation. Now the American Civil Liberties Union is filing a lawsuit to block the ban and protect transgender residents from what advocates describe as “sweeping” and “punitive” consequences.
Independent journalist Erin Reed broke the story Wednesday after lawmakers approved House Substitute for Senate Bill 244. In her reporting, Reed included a photo of the letter sent to transgender Kansans, requiring them to obtain a driver’s license that reflects their sex assigned at birth rather than the gender with which they identify.
According to the reporting, transgender Kansans must surrender their driver’s licenses and that their current credentials — regardless of expiration date — will be considered invalid upon the law’s publication. The move effectively nullifies previously issued identification documents, creating immediate uncertainty for those impacted.
House Substitute for Senate Bill 244 also stipulates that any transgender person caught driving without a valid license could face a class B misdemeanor, punishable by up to six months in jail and a $1,000 fine. That potential penalty adds a criminal dimension to what began as an administrative action. It also compounds the legal risks for transgender Kansans, as the state already requires county jails to house inmates according to sex assigned at birth — a policy that advocates say can place transgender detainees at heightened risk.
Beyond identification issues, SB 244 not only bans transgender people from using restrooms that match their gender identity in government buildings — including libraries, courthouses, state parks, hospitals, and interstate rest stops — with the possibility for criminal penalties, but also allows for what critics have described as a “bathroom bounty hunter” provision. The measure permits anyone who encounters a transgender person in a restroom — including potentially in private businesses — to sue them for large sums of money, dramatically expanding the scope of enforcement beyond government authorities.
The lawsuit challenging SB 244 was filed today in the District Court of Douglas County on behalf of anonymous plaintiffs Daniel Doe and Matthew Moe by the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Kansas, and Ballard Spahr LLP. The complaint argues that SB 244 violates the Kansas Constitution’s protections for personal autonomy, privacy, equality under the law, due process, and freedom of speech.
Additionally, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a temporary restraining order on behalf of the anonymous plaintiffs, arguing that the order — followed by a temporary injunction — is necessary to prevent the “irreparable harm” that would result from SB 244.
State Rep. Abi Boatman, a Wichita Democrat and the only transgender member of the Kansas Legislature, told the Kansas City Star on Wednesday that “persecution is the point.”
“This legislation is a direct attack on the dignity and humanity of transgender Kansans,” said Monica Bennett, legal director of the ACLU of Kansas. “It undermines our state’s strong constitutional protections against government overreach and persecution.”
“SB 244 is a cruel and craven threat to public safety all in the name of fostering fear, division, and paranoia,” said Harper Seldin, senior staff attorney for the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Rights Project. “The invalidation of state-issued IDs threatens to out transgender people against their will every time they apply for a job, rent an apartment, or interact with police. Taken as a whole, SB 244 is a transparent attempt to deny transgender people autonomy over their own identities and push them out of public life altogether.”
“SB 244 presents a state-sanctioned attack on transgender people aimed at silencing, dehumanizing, and alienating Kansans whose gender identity does not conform to the state legislature’s preferences,” said Heather St. Clair, a Ballard Spahr litigator working on the case. “Ballard Spahr is committed to standing with the ACLU and the plaintiffs in fighting on behalf of transgender Kansans for a remedy against the injustices presented by SB 244, and is dedicated to protecting the constitutional rights jeopardized by this new law.”
National
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Top editorial staff let go last week
Former staff members at the Advocate and Out magazines revealed that parent company Equalpride laid off a number of employees late last week.
Those let go included Advocate editor-in-chief Alex Cooper, Pride.com editor-in-chief Rachel Shatto, brand partnerships manager Erin Manley, community editor Marie-Adélina de la Ferriére, and Out magazine staff writers Moises Mendez and Bernardo Sim, according to a report in Hollywood Reporter.
Cooper, who joined the company in 2021, posted to social media that, “Few people have had the privilege of leading this legendary LGBTQ+ news outlet, and I’m deeply honored to have been one of them. To my team: thank you for the last four years. You’ve been the best. For those also affected today, please let me know how I can support you.”
The Advocate’s PR firm when reached by the Blade said it no longer represents the company. Emails to the Advocate went unanswered.
Equalpride on Friday announced it acquired “Them,” a digital LGBTQ outlet founded in 2017 by Conde Nast.
“Equalpride exists to elevate, celebrate and protect LGBTQ+ storytelling at scale,” Equalpride CEO Mark Berryhill said according to Hollywood Reporter. “By combining the strengths of our brands with this respected digital platform, we’re creating a unified ecosystem that delivers even more impact for our audiences, advertisers, and community partners.”
It’s not clear if “Them” staff would take over editorial responsibilities for the Advocate and Out.
Comings & Goings
Kansas passes bathroom bounty hunter bill
ACLU sues Kansas over law invalidating trans residents’ IDs
After layoffs at Advocate, parent company acquires ‘Them’ from Conde Nast
Spring into sold
New book profiles LGBTQ Ukrainians, documents war experiences
PHOTOS: Queen of Hearts
Two very different views of the State of the Union
Va. activists preparing campaign in support of repealing marriage amendment
