National
Ros-Lehtinen, Hayworth among picks for pro-gay GOP PAC
Group started by Republican businessman Paul Singer
Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen is among the new endorsements of the American Unity PAC (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
A political action committee that aims to elect pro-LGBT Republicans to Congress this week announced that Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Rep. Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) are among its final round of endorsements for candidates eligible for at least $2.25 million the group is spending on the 2012 election.
In a statement dated Oct. 24, the American Unity PAC announced its endorsement of Ros-Lehtinen and Hayworth as well as two candidates in Connecticut: U.S. House challenger Andrew Roraback and U.S. Senate candidate Linda McMahon. Based on numbers provided in the statement, the group is spending a total of $760,000 on these four congressional hopefuls.
The new endorsements mean the PAC is backing a total of eight candidates in the election. The announcement this week follows the PAC’s initial endorsements of Reps. Mary Bono Mack (R-Calif.), Judy Biggert (R-Ill.) and Richard Hanna (R-N.Y.) in June. Last week, the group announced it was allocating $530,000 to gay U.S. House candidate Richard Tisei in Massachusetts.
The statement highlights what the PAC is doing to help each of the candidates the group supports, including the four new endorsements.
For Ros-Lehtinen:
On October 24, AUPAC launched a $110,000 cable television campaign bolstering pro-freedom Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen. The ad highlights her commitment to the values of freedom, her leadership for small business and her efforts to fight wasteful spending and balance the budget. The ad also draws attention to Ros-Lehtinen’s strong support for seniors and firm stance defending our ally Israel. Ros-Lehtinen is the most pro-freedom Republican member of Congress and the first to stand up for the freedom to marry for gay and lesbian Americans.
Ros-Lehtinen — who has a transgender son, Rodrigo Lehtinen — is a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus. She’s the only Republican co-sponsor of legislation to repeal the Defense of Marriage Act and is a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. Ros-Lehitnen was among five Republicans who voted for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in May 2010 even before the Pentagon report was issued on implementing open service. In July, she told the Washington Blade she’s a supporter of marriage equality.
For Hayworth:
On October 26, AUPAC plans to launch a $260,000 cable television advertising campaign protecting pro-freedom Congresswoman Nan Hayworth. The ad, “Home”, details Hayworth’s hard work protecting the Hudson Valley’s environment and natural beauty, which has earned her one of the best environmental records in her party. The ad also highlights Hayworth’s work to build bridges between the parties as a founder of the Common Ground Caucus. Hayworth is a leading Republican cosponsor of legislation to eliminate the tax penalty applied to domestic partner health benefits and has fought mean-spirited amendments aimed at denying same-sex couples any federal recognition.
Hayworth — who has a gay son, Will Hayworth — is a freshman member of Congress who’s also a member of the LGBT Equality Caucus. She hasn’t endorsed marriage equality, but is another ENDA co-sponsor and has voted against amendments brought to the House floor by Republicans to reaffirm the Defense of Marriage Act. Hayworth is facing a close race this election against gay Democrat Sean Patrick Maloney.
For the Connecticut candidates Roraback and McMahon:
On October 25, AUPAC plans to launch a $260,000 broadcast and cable television campaign in the 5th Congressional District drawing a distinction between the divisive partisanship of Elizabeth Esty and Chris Murphy and the independent problem-solving of Andrew Roraback and Linda McMahon. Both the House and Senate races are neck-and-neck in the polls. Roraback stood up for the freedom to marry as a state legislator, and McMahon recently became the country’s first credible pro-marriage Republican nominee for U.S. Senate.
Following a debate with Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Chris Murphy, McMahon announced that she’s changed her position on DOMA and would vote to repeal the anti-gay law if she were elected and such a measure would come to the Senate floor.
The ads the PAC is funding are available to watch online here.
Jeff Cook, senior adviser to the American Unity PAC, said in a statement his group is endorsing these candidates because they’re among the “independent-minded, fiscally responsible and socially inclusive leaders” who should be elected to office.
“These pro-freedom Republicans are the best our party has to offer – principled fiscal conservatives who embrace the values of freedom and believe every American deserves a shot at the American dream,” Cook said. “All of these outstanding candidates face hyper-partisan opponents who offer little more than the same divisive politics that have gotten our country into such a mess in the first place.”
According to a June report in the New York Times, the initial $1 million that started American Unity PAC came from Republican businessperson Paul Singer, a prominent backer of GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney as well as same-sex marriage.
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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