Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: remembering Monica Boll, a mysterious TV ad in Lebanon, all eyes on Slovakia, the humiliation of gay Venezuelans, McKenzie gifts, the return of Congress, Phaidon turns 100 and more...
Welcome to the 134th issue of my equality news digest, where I share important (and much less important) news, updates, and commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement at the intersection with business.
This week: remembering Monica Boll, a mysterious TV ad in Lebanon, all eyes on Slovakia, the humiliation of gay Venezuelans, McKenzie gifts, the return of Congress, Phaidon turns 100 and more...
Global News
Lebanon: MTV advocates for the decriminalization of homosexuality
As reported in the Washington Blade, an MTV ad that calls for decriminalizing homosexuality in Lebanon "poked the bear" a little. The focus was on two foreign entities without mentioning the local group - if any- was behind it. On the one hand, the pace of change can be painfully slow in the region, but Lebanon's dire political and economic context makes the situation for LGBTQ+ people explosive. This week, Reporter Sans Frontieres condemned two anti-LGBTQ+ bills pending in the Lebanese legislature. Watch the ad here.
Uganda: cultural relativism versus inclusive economic development
While the Uganda debate was reignited by the European Union's decision not to adjust its program in Uganda (see here), this Devex article spells out the contradiction between the anti-homosexuality bill and inclusive development. As Human Rights activist Nicholas Opiyo concludes: "We would not be here if [Ugandan politicians] knew better - the law is unhelpful. Simply repeal it." I, of course, loved the euphemism in the article's reference to my Safeguards battle at the Bank: if you can call this “tension”:
"The safeguards were met with mixed responses. Fabrice Houdart, who spent 14 years at The World Bank [...] left the institution in 2016 over the policy. He described this as a “source of tension.”
Venezuela: gay men’s humiliation is a bone for Maduro to throw evangelicals
In the middle of Venezuela’s theater justice saga for the 33 men arrested at a sauna, Tamara Adrian became the first trans woman running for Presidency. The Washington Post had a piece about the Police raid this week. The photo of these men lining up in front of the courthouse illustrating the article is painful and disturbing. Humiliation has always been at the core of how society punishes LGBTQ+ play. Maduro is borrowing from a familiar playbook to build bridges with a powerful evangelical Christian group: the Nazis, too, used public humiliation tactics to degrade their victims and reinforce their ideology.
“I still don’t understand. We had all the paperwork, and they still arrested us. Not even brothels in Venezuela face actions like this.”
Andorra, head of the world's largest duty-free store, comes out as gay
I know this lead sentence is snarky, and I promised to go easy on the snark, but I could not resist. Even People magazine had a piece about the Country’s Prime Minister coming out. As a reminder, Andorra has 80,000 inhabitants (still twice as many as Monaco), which is relatively marginal news. Still, same-sex marriage has been legal there since 17 February, so it might be my opportunity to become a second gentleman. I guess I’ll buy some duty-free perfume, given I stopped smoking and drinking a while ago.
All eyes on Slovakia ahead of the elections
Early parliamentary elections are scheduled in Slovakia on 30 September 2023. There is growing concern that the KDH could pass. Its leader, Milan Majersk called LGBTQ+ ‘ideology’ - another notion exported from the U.S. to Europe - as a ´scourge´ and as harmful to Slovakia as corruption. To know more about what’s at stake, read “Being queer in Slovakia? A nightmare,” published a month ago.
World Suicide Prevention Day: Remembering Monica Boll
Sunday was World Suicide Prevention Day; September was National Suicide Prevention Month in the US. It also marks the second anniversary of the suicide of Monica Boll, who played a crucial role in creating space for LGBTQ+ women in business and enrolled the private sector to advance LGBTQ+ equality worldwide. In Lee Badgett’s book on the cost of homophobia (a must-read), “The Economic Case for LGBT Equality,” I mention “seeing another side of gay life on Facebook. [I] received news of friends lost to liver disease, suicides, addiction, or accident.”I am not saying this lightly. Many LGBTQ+ people around me have suffered premature deaths, and countless others endure invisible battles. What is done to us in childhood is not insignificant despite what Andrew Sullivan would have you believe; it has lifelong consequences. Please donate to this effort, supported by Monica’s partner Ellen Marks, to honor Monica and to support the efforts of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention.
US News
Congress returned yesterday for what promises to be a very LGBTQ+ session
Frankly, you have heard it before, but at this point, it’s really about getting the votes (i.e., the Victory Fund and Jirair Ratevosian and Will Rollins races), winning in court (i.e., Lambda Legal) and changing the narrative around trans issues (i.e. the GenderCool Project). Anything else feels lyrical.
More about the children of Harvey Milk
On the same topic, LGBTQ+ Victory Institute and Loyola Marymount University - under my friend Gabriel Magni's leadership- released When We Run, the largest-ever survey of LGBTQ+ candidates for public office in the U.S. The survey – conducted in April and May of 2023 – asked LGBTQ+ candidates about their motivations for running, challenges, and how their identities affected their campaigns. The full report is here.
When MacKenzie Scott picks up the tab
There is some secrecy around the MacKenzie $14 billion unrestricted gifts. Many non-profits dream of one of her grants, and those who got one whisper her name with solemnity and excitement. MAP’s report “Unrestricted and Unprecedented: The Impact of MacKenzie Scott’s Large Gifts on LGBTQ Organizations” is a must-read. It looked at 28 LGBTQ+ or inclusive groups that received grants totaling $163 million, an average of $5.8 million, from 2020 to 2022. Scott donated to another seven other LGBTQ+ organizations, but their figures were unavailable. If you run into her at a party in Seattle, please mention the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors could absorb a few million.
The U.S. Catholic Church's very uncomfortable dance
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland issued an official policy barring the display of pride flags and rainbows and prohibiting same-sex couples from attending school dances. After all, it makes sense, given that the Catholic Church's catechism still describes homosexual acts as “intrinsically disordered.” I am convinced that the hierarchy knows deep down that the Church will have to express a mea-culpa on that last bit one day (meaning the restriction on same-sex couples, which is cruel and archaic), and they probably don’t care. It won’t be the first time they express an apology for past deeds: to Canada's indigenous peoples, for its role in the Rwandan Genocide, past forced adoption practices in Ireland, Galileo, the Jewish Community, negligence during colonial occupation, its silence during 1940 Vichy regime, sex abuses…pretty much everything. It would be silly to stop when you are so good at apologizing. Read here.
Queering the Boardroom
LGBTQ+ departures in the LifeSciences world
On the Boards of Zymeworks Inc. and Sangamo Therapeutics, Inc., Dr. Kenneth Hillan stepped down as Chief Therapeutics Officer of 23andMe and will retire in February. Jacqui Guichelaar, at CISCO, left the Board of Cano Health.
Is Jay Blum impacting the Board Diversity agenda?
USA Today implied this in quoting Shijuade Kadree at the Aspen Institute. Kadree said she’s worried about the backslide in corporate diversity commitments she's observed over the last year and a half. I am not concerned. Diversity is power, and Board Directors tend to be too sophisticated to overlook this. My experience is that Boards typically will follow the investor’s lead. The article also suggested Blum might be on a losing streak when it comes to Governance issues Courts have dealt with Boards with much more leeway than universities.
“Historically the courts have given boards of directors wide discretion, assuming they act in good faith and in the best interests of the company.”
The Gay Business
Medium risk/high reward: Corporate cautiousness meets consumers' high expectations
This new report released Monday, "LGBTQ+ Advertising: From Boldness to Backlash," points to a medium risk/high reward situation for companies marketing to younger consumers. The study is from Do the WeRQ; the premiere US community focused on queer creativity in advertising/marketing and customer experience (CX) platform DISQO. It concludes that LGBTQ+ representation in advertising during May 2023 took a substantial hit (down 23 points) versus June 2022 (Pride). The point: all audiences can see when brands only turn up during Pride. At the same time, 75% of respondents thought it is essential for brands to prevent LGBTQ+ people from discrimination. (33% think it’s “extremely important"). As I wrote back in June, It's far from the end of LGBT marketing. But it is the end of amateurism in LGBT marketing.
The semi-cultural desk
French drag race
I like to say that the U.S. exports everything, including the narratives developed on LGBTQ+ issues. You find the word "woke" everywhere, untranslated directly picked up from how it is portrayed in the U.S.. Same thing for "gender ideology". But it also exports nice things, and the French Drag Race, which just ended its second season, has gained steam with the general public.
Charles Busch’s memoir
Read this interview with Busch, who just authored “Leading Lady.” I am unsure how Busch liked that bit, though: “He did seem a bit washed-out that day.” Suppose they wrote that about me, I’d boycott the New York Times..at least for a week.
We have Barbie; they will always have Ballard
A regular feeling I have had for the past twenty-five years is that I know nothing about the country I live in. I stumbled on this article in The Economist on the success of the movie “Sound of Freedom” about Tim Ballard, founder and former CEO of the anti-trafficking organization Operation Underground Railroad or OUR. The film — was made on a small budget, but conservatives in America loved it. Ballard, unlike Barbie, I guess, is not without controversy, and he was fired in the meantime from his organization. I would watch the movie but still haven’t seen Matt Walsh’s “What is a Woman” also a baffling success.
Queerty announces “Unicorns” as the next best gay movie
There is no trailer, but the concept of “a single father and mechanic who is forced to reckon with his sexuality after kissing a drag queen” is endearing. It has gotten 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. Read about it here.
Coming and going
Frank Mugisha joins the prestigious new SIPA Institute.
Last week, Dean Keren Yarhi-Milo and Hillary Clinton launched a new institute of Global Politics at the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) at Columbia University (see here). Frank Mugisha, the Prominent Ugandan LGBTI Rights Advocate, is one of the prominent inaugural distinguished fellows, along with luminaries such as Michelle Bachelet, Eric Schmidt, and David Milliband. Coincidentally, although in a much humbler capacity, I taught my first class at SIPA last Thursday with my children sitting in the corner as I was short on babysitters (anybody has a recommendation in the Upper West Side? All my babysitters have been actors who became social workers or real estate agents and don’t need me anymore). The kids interrupted my lecture to tell me I had put them before a Japanese movie without subtitles and asked whether it was intentional or accidental. #BringingUpBebe
Biden appoints Jeff Marootian to new Department of Energy role
The patience of these nominees: they should be canonized (while Manchin should be cannoned). Biden withdrew Marrootian’s nomination to lead the Department of Energy's (DOE) Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE) after Manchin had a breakdown over his gas stove. Once appointed principal deputy assistant secretary, Marootian will continue to work on the Biden administration's decarbonization efforts. Read more here.
The Gay Calendar
Phaidon celebrates 100 years in style.
I left my house for once (while Phil Crehan was kindly babysitting the twins) and was at Christie’s to mark the 100 years of Phaidon—the star-studded party created a commotion on 5th Avenue. Under the leadership of the wondrous and peculiar Keith Fox (who also happens to be my new trainer), Phaidon has become a premier global publisher of creative art. So, there were good reasons to celebrate, although some focused on Linda Evangelista’s breast scars. I chatted with James Huniford and his daughter, Laurent Claquin of Kering sporting a jacket that had to be Gucci, the designer Shawn Henderson, and an Italian scientist carrying an empty watermelon in a net that served the purpose of a purse - well, a murse.
September 28th: Event for the LGBTQ Museum at the Center for Architecture
Jon Fall into History corporate event hosted by The American LGBTQ+ Museum on Thursday, September 28th, at the Center for Architecture in New York City, 6-8 PM. You may RSVP here.
Between the anniversary of 9/11, the earthquake in Morocco, and the floods in Libya, it has been a rather depressing week, but do not despair and keep your spirit up. Much good is happening in the World, too; I am terrible at reporting it. See you next week, same day, time, different mood, and news….