Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
Israel, Erdogan’s LGBT obsession, still India, decisions in Mauritius, Santos’ stations of the cross, National Coming Out Day, the Association’s Summit, LGBTQ Nation Heroes 2023, Schizophyllum & more…
Welcome to the 139th issue of my equality news digest. I share important (and much less important) news, updates, and (snarky) commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement at the intersection with business.
This week: Israel, Erdogan’s LGBT obsession, still India, decisions in Mauritius, Santos’ stations of the cross, National Coming Out Day, the Association’s Summit, LGBTQ Nation Heroes 2023, Schizophyllum & more…
Global News
Israel: behind the tragedy
This weekend's attack on Israel is a devastating event that surpasses comparisons, such as the "Israeli 9/11," with a nation of 10 million people enduring a grim toll of 1,000 fatalities and 200 hostages. As you may know, my sons are Israelis and spend vacations there. The heart-wrenching images of children brutally murdered during this attack haunt me. Unfortunately, a ground occupation of Gaza is now inevitable. An Israeli unity government is being created to end a governing coalition among the most religious and nationalist in the country's history. Consequently, the focus on the judiciary hijacking and the instrumentalization of LGBTQ+ rights shifted drastically in a few days. Ministers who previously claimed to be "proud homophobes'' a few weeks ago would now be unwise to target minorities in the current context. It is a reminder that LGBTQ+ individuals often find themselves considered full citizens when they are needed to contribute to war efforts or amid great tragedies while their rights are attacked during quieter times. When a more significant crisis looms, the "narcissism of small differences” becomes ubuesque. It is now evident that accepting LGBTQ+ people's rights was never the challenge to the state's Jewish character.
India: the countdown to equality has started
For 18 same-sex Indian couples, next Tuesday could be the moment they enter their country’s history. For the entire subregion, this could be THE turning point. In petitioning the country's Supreme Court to legalize same-sex marriage, LGBTQ+ Indians have once again pushed a bench to respond to the repetitive question that defines our existence, “what makes our love so inferior?”. The response will certainly be that restricting marriage to heterosexual couple is anti-constitutional. It remains unclear what the Government will do about it.
Turkey: Erdogan doubles down
Erdogan is on a roll. After complaining that the United Nations SDGs looked gay (they do, they really do) three weeks ago in New York, he claimed on Saturday he does not "recognize LGBT"” He announced a crusade (the irony) against "perverse" trends (that would be YOU, yes! You!), which aim to “destroy the institution of the family”. How would he feel if the world finally stopped “recognizing” strong men with a mustache? Also, when did straight Turkish households were awarded the monopoly of the term “family”™? Is that trademarked, too? Can I see the receipts? Erdogan’s remarks are the 2023 version of Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, saying in 2007 they don’t have gay people there (good times). So, in this era we do exist, but we are not “recognized.” If ridicule would kill, it would lead to a nationalist demagogue penury.
Mauritius: another decriminalization
Two momentous judgments handed down by the Supreme Court of Mauritius have invalidated the legal provision that criminalized consensual sex between men. In 2021, I had joined the Young Queer Alliance, one of the plaintiffs, to discuss why Section 250 negatively impacts the island’s economy. This development in Africa marks a significant global acceleration in the pace of decriminalization, which was in a lull between 2016 and 2020. In the end, we win.
Uganda: once our attention shifted to the next geopolitical ploy
This interview with LGBTQ+ Ugandans who fled highlights why the anti-homosexuality Act (AHA) is far from business as usual and why it can only lead to increased migration. At a time when friendly companies and institutions are keeping a low profile and shying away from taking actions in Uganda, we need to keep the pressure. UK Interior Minister Braverman’s recent comments are a reminder that the best way to avoid massive LGBTQ+ migration in the next decades is to invest in social change and throw one’s weight behind what is right.
Wherever we have been renting, they have been chasing us. It was only going to get worse.
US News
October 11th: a reminder that it’s never too late
Today is National Coming Out Day. Very fitting as last week, I found myself in the awkward position of debunking an insane “statistic” claiming that 80% of Americans are out at work. They are not. It would take a lot more for LGBTQ+ professionals to drop their guard. Like many men of my generation, I ran out of clichés about my own coming-out story. Now, I often think of how much suffering some straight people would have been spared if they, too, were offered a chance to trudge the windy road back to honesty. In that sense, National Coming Out Day is a universal celebration. The improbable idea is that it is never too late to shed a life that does not match who you are. If you read French, here is a charming story of someone coming out at 65.
The agony of George Santos: #LowBrowCrime
Santos had a good run in post-truth late-stage capitalism America, but his luck seems to be running out. Maybe crime does not pay after all. Just when I was going to adjust my sense of ethics, which already took a hit during an extended internship with a small-time scammer. In the meantime, the New York Times felt it was essential to distinguish Santos from other “corrupt chic” politicians who may, for example, hide gold bars under their beds. Even in Washington, there is an etiquette to robbery. He is young; I am sure he’ll learn.
Mr. Santos’s alleged misdeeds, in contrast, have more in common with those of a run-of-the-mill grifter.
For some, Tyler Cherry is the new Sam Brinton
Three weeks without having anything new to report about Sam Brinton, the right-wing tabloids had to identify another fluid fashionista in the Biden administration to pick on. A group of anti-LGBTQ right-wing pundits led by Libs of TikTok creator Chaya Raichik have led an online harassment campaign against out interior spokesperson Tyler Cherry. It got so bad that the White House had to intervene. Thank god the conservative fashion police did not see the pictures of Jirair and Micheal’s wedding; it had more capes than they could ever handle.
The gay Boardroom
The first LGBTQ+ gathering at the NACD Summit
The NACD (National Association of Corporate Directors) Summit is to Directors what “The Eras Tour” is to a Taylor Swift fan. The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors hosted its inaugural NACD dinner with 35 LGBTQ+ Directors and allies at the National Harbor Monday night. The event was chaired by the Association's Board Members, Betsy Bernard and Richard Socarides, and prominent LGBTQ+ Board Members James Cole, Jr., Lynn Terwoerds, Serge Dumont, Romy Diaz, Lisa Padilla, Rob Smith were among the guests. Allies Peter Gleason, Oscar Munoz, Beth Chappell, Elizabeth Oliver-Farrow, or Lindsey Baker, showed up to demonstrate their support. In my remarks, I highlighted that LGBTQ+ people are late to the Board diversity party: we should have organized ourselves years ago but are catching up.
Spotlight on Rick Gomez
Read this piece about Spotlight, a McKinsey and Goldman Sachs joint program that prepares diverse candidates to serve on their first corporate board. The piece includes a profile of Rick Gomez, executive VP and chief food and beverage officer, at Target, who also serves on the board of Wendy’s.
M. Michele Burns leaves Cisco Board
Cisco appointed Dan Schulman to replace M. Michele Burns but, fear not, there is still an LGBTQ+ person on that Board, Dr. Kristina M. Johnson.
Next week: an Inaugural Summit in NYC
Next Thursday, the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors is holding an invitation-only event (OMG, who did I just sound like?) at the JPMorgan Chase headquarters for peer learning and networking with LGBTQ+ directors, CEOs, and their allies. Heavy hitters like Beth Brooke, Sally Susman, Dr. Bill Carson, Peter Gleason, or Alicia Syrett will intervene. Speakers from KKR, the WSJ, EY, the New York Retirement Pension Fund, and Heidrick & Struggles will lead conversations.
The Gay Business
Clout For Good Podcast launches to elevate LGBTQ+ voices in business
I often think about the root cause of the under-representation of LGBTQ+ people in the upper echelons of business, and I believe it is partially due to the lack of role models. Today, marketing veteran David Dancer unveiled his new podcast, shedding light on what it means to be an LGBTQ+ leader today in corporate America.
Perkins Coie caves to Jay Blum’s bullying
The more than 1,200-lawyer U.S. firm, which has won almost every award an entrepreneurial diversity guru could invent, announced that it would expand the applicant pool for its diversity fellowship program to all law students, not just members of "historically underrepresented" groups. So am I right in thinking that it’s not a diversity fellowship anymore?
Beth Ford showcases our contributions to business
Beth Ford, the only out lesbian CEO of a Fortune 500, is featured among the Fortune 100 women this month.
From the semi-cultural desk
Marrying an ex-gay is NEVER a good idea
Tell your daughters. Christopher Doyle, a former homosexual and poster child of conversion therapy, is having marital problems, and Wayne Basen had a look at the court documents. Let’s say it wasn’t marital bliss, as you’d expect.
Head out to Kew Gardens in London
Since my World Bank days, I have kept a book in my office called “Biological Exuberance.” The Weekend FT had an article about a new exhibition at the Kew Gardens on the nonbinary in Nature. Of course, it is the rule. Read this:
The Schizophyllum commune fungus can have more than 23,000 sexual identities
Talking about non-exuberant nature: “Poppy field”
I finally watched “Poppy Field” so you wouldn’t have to. We should like it because it is courageous, gay, and Romanian, but God… is it boring! “A closeted gendarme suffers from multiple personality disorder in an empty cineplex” could be the synopsis.
PaulaBoggsBand coming to the Bay Area
I recently interviewed LGBTQ board member Paula Boggs. She is also a brilliant musician and will be in California in early November: 11/3, in Sunnyvale; 11/4, in Sacramento; and 11/5, in Mill Valley’s. Here is a list of the upcoming shows.
Matty Healy on his Gay Malaysia Kiss
I have no idea who this guy is, but I am not convinced.
Netflix and Hulu hacked over LGBTQ content by… Sudanese?
Are the Sudanese hackers Russians? How long can the Kremlin play the part of fighting the decadent West? Read about the strange behavior of these hackers.
72-year-old beaten in Chelsea
This crime is horrifying. As if our elders had not suffered enough…
The Gay Agenda
October 14th: Gender Diversity and Reproductive Justice
My friend Dr. Jack Drescher will speak at this virtual meeting on Saturday.
October 20th: Athlete Ally Gala
Join me next week for an evening of wrestling and unbridled sportsmania. All details here
October 24/25/26, the Association in California
The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors is holding several events in San Francisco and Los Angeles in two weeks.
Coming and going
LGBTQ Nation’s 2023 Heros
Here is the complete list. I had forgotten how good-looking Eric Cervini is. In other news, congratulations to Dr. Jesse Erhenfeld, the head of the American Medical Association, who will also attend our Summit this week in NYC.
SKE to be honored, we are told
She went to BOTH Davos and Cannes this year.
I can do air travel too. It might not be the World Economic Forum (yet) or the Lion’s, but today I am in Como “for work,” a caveat that my shrink would probably interpret as guilt over potentially having a good time. Before returning to NYC for our inaugural Summit, I will spend the weekend in Milan to stop by the Villa Necchi, my spirit animal.