National
Barr declares ‘zero tolerance’ for hate crimes in Pride Month statement
Barr only Trump official to recognize Pride Month .
U.S. Attorney General William Barr affirmed on Thursday his position of “zero tolerance” for hate crimes against LGBT people in a statement to Justice Department employees recognizing Pride Month.
In the statement, which was sent to Justice Department employees on Thursday and shared with the Washington Blade, Barr declares the department is “fortunate to have many talented and dedicated LGBT public servants who work hard on behalf of the American people.”
“While we recognize and celebrate these employees’ contributions to the department and the nation, it remains the fact that LGBT individuals are too often subjected to discrimination, harassment and violence,” Barr continues. “The department has zero tolerance for violence that is motivated by hatred for our fellow citizens, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We will vigorously prosecute such hate crimes.”
The statement echoes testimony Barr gave in his confirmation hearing when he said he’d have “zero tolerance” for hate crimes, including violence against LGBT people, and would enforce the 2009 Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Barr also points in the statement out he updated the Justice Department equal opportunity statement statement affirming non-discrimination for LGBT employees at the Justice Department.
“All employees deserve to be treated with respect and to be judged on merit alone,” Barr says.
Barr updated the EEO statement amid complaints of discrimination against LGBT employees within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons, which were brought to his attention by DOJ Pride, the affinity group for LGBT employees within the department.
“As Pride month concludes, I want our LGBT colleagues to know that I value their dedication, integrity and the contributions they make to the pursuit of justice,” Barr writes.
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of the statement, which Barr issues during the first Pride Month that has occurred since his confirmation as U.S. attorney general.
Nothing in the statement recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which the LGBT community is celebrating this year concurrent with Pride Month.
The Pride Month recognition comes just weeks after he met with LGBT attorneys and law enforcement officials within DOJ Pride for Pride Month, as exclusively reported by the Washington Blade. The statement is also issued shortly after LGBT employees at the Justice Department took part in an official ceremony recognizing Pride Month, which included a showing of the 2010 PBS documentary “Stonewall Uprising.”
Although the Pride statement recognizes anti-LGBT violence, it says nothing in particular about violence against transgender people, especially transgender people of color, who are afflicted with violence at disproportionate rates.
On the same day Barr issued his statement, news emerged that Brooklyn Lindsay, a 32-year-old trans woman, was found beaten to death in Kansas City. At least 11 black transgender women have been the victims of fatal violence in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
But the statement is far and beyond what other Trump administration Cabinet officials have done for Pride Month. The Blade is unaware of any other Cabinet-level Trump official issuing a Pride Month statement. Trump recognized Pride Month via tweet, but issued no official proclamation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has faced criticism from LGBT groups for not issuing a Pride Month statement for 2019. Instead, Pompeo reissued to employees an old statement he issued in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to maintain anti-LGBT litigation positions and defends in court the transgender military ban.
The Justice Department during the Trump administration has previously asserted LGBT people aren’t protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex in the workforce.
It remains to be seen whether the Justice Department will reverse its litigation position regarding Title VII now that the issue is before the Supreme Court, but that seems unlikely.
The full statement follows:
STATEMENT FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Colleagues-
During the month of June, the Federal Government and communities across the United States acknowledge the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. The Department of Justice is fortunate to have many talented and dedicated LGBT public servants who work hard on behalf of the American people.
While we recognize and celebrate these employees’ contributions to the Department and the Nation, it remains the fact that LGBT individuals are too often subjected to discrimination, harassment, and violence. The Department has zero tolerance for violence that is motivated by hatred for our fellow citizens, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We will vigorously prosecute such hate crimes. As Attorney General, I have also reaffirmed the Department’s commitment to keeping our workplace free from discrimination and harassment, including against LGBT employees. All employees deserve to be treated with respect and to be judged on merit alone.
As Pride month concludes, I want our LGBT colleagues to know that I value their dedication, integrity, and the contributions they make to the pursuit of justice. Thank you for your service.
William P. Barr
Attorney General
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.
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