National
Bond’s departure triggers debate over White House role
Some say LGBT liaison lacked influence, others praise his style
Brian Bond (photo courtesy of Bond)
The announced departure last week of the White House gay liaison is being met with praise from some who worked with him on LGBT issues and calls from others who say they want more from his successor.
Brian Bond, deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement, is set to leave his position mid-August to become the Democratic National Committee’s director of constituency outreach. Bond, who’s gay, handled LGBT outreach for the office.
A number of LGBT advocates who worked with Bond during his tenure at the White House say Bond was exemplary in his role of serving the LGBT community and meeting its needs.
Winnie Stachelberg, senior vice president for external affairs at the Center for American Progress, said he was “incredibly effective” in advancing the cause for the LGBT community and coordinating with administration leadership, federal agencies and advocacy groups.
“I think the combination of those relationships — with senior folks in the White House and in the administration and in the community — helped him deliver results that speak for themselves on behalf of the community, if you look at the accomplishments of the administration,” Stachelberg said.
Fred Sainz, vice president of communications at the Human Rights Campaign, said Bond is a “key force for positive change” that has included hospital visitation rights and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.
“I know first-hand that Brian has the trust and confidence of the president and his closest advisers,” Sainz said. “Brian would be the first to say that more needs to be done, but we are proud of what has been accomplished to date and are grateful to him for his service.”
Prior to becoming a White House official, Bond served as executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund from 1997 to 2003. He was national constituency director for President Obama’s 2008 campaign and was executive director of the DNC’s LGBT leadership council. Bond returns to the DNC as President Obama ramps up his re-election campaign for 2012.
The choice to succeed Bond remains unknown. Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, said the White House has yet to determine a successor, but is seeking to have one in place by the time Bond leaves for his new position.
“The White House deeply appreciates Brian Bond for his years of service,” Inouye said. “While we do not have any specific staffing updates at this time, we are working to ensure that the LGBT community has a liaison within the Office of Public Engagement in place by the time he departs in mid-August.”
Although applauded for his work in some circles, the announcement of Bond’s departure has inspired debate about the extent to which he was involved in higher levels of policy making at the White House on LGBT issues.
Kerry Eleveld, senior fellow with Media Matters, wrote last week that Bond wasn’t primarily involved in advising President Obama and that John Berry, who’s gay and director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, primarily served as head of LGBT issues in the administration.
“Truth be told, Bond was not a chief political advisor to the president on LGBT issues and he didn’t carry the title of ‘special assistant’ (or higher) to the president — a rank that affords people clout and ensures them a certain amount of access to the Oval Office,” Eleveld wrote. “Bond was more likely to be relaying and implementing what had been decided by others.”
One LGBT advocate, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said Bond “wasn’t a decision-maker” on LGBT policy at the White House and was mostly involved in scheduling between LGBT groups and higher-ranking Obama administration officials.
“I would be shocked if the White House or anybody tried to argue that’s his role because it clearly wasn’t,” the LGBT advocate said. “Some of the suggestions that he had this amazingly influential role behind the scenes are complete hogwash. He was a mid-level staffer, and mid-level staffers do not make major policy or strategic decisions.”
But Stachelberg said Bond took the initiative on many administrative actions that came from the White House to benefit the LGBT community.
“There are other examples of other administrative actions that have been done, and in the works, where … he helped identify a policy issue that needed work and worked with constituencies and communities at getting it done,” Stachelberg said.
Among the policy changes that Bond helped spearhead were the proposed non-discrimination rule at the Department of Housing & Urban Development, changes at the U.S. Census to publish data on same-sex couples and the recently announced change at the Department of Health & Human Services to start data collection on the LGBT population in federal health surveys.
Stachelberg said Bond’s quiet style of operating and lack of media engagement may have angered some in the LGBT community, but she added that he accomplished much through this mode of operation and said it may be appropriate for his successor.
“Some people — that’s not what they want to see,” Stachelberg said. “They want to see an up-front cheerleader. They want to see someone who’s constantly quoted, who’s constantly making noise. That’s not Brian’s style, and I think his style has been incredibly effective. I’m not sure you want someone as his successor to be particularly different in that regard.”
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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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