Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: Burning Man without the flood, representation in French Cinema, EGLCC growth, the return of Kim Davis, the LGBTQ+ exodus #fakenews, One Piece, NewFest, Big Law Pinkwashing days, and more..
Welcome to the 135th 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: Burning Man without the flood, representation in French Cinema, EGLCC growth, the return of Kim Davis, the LGBTQ+ exodus #fakenews, One Piece, NewFest, Big Law Pinkwashing days, and more...
Global News
“United Nations week”: a great party to be had
Once described as “speed dating for international relations,” UN Week has become another orgy for rich people. While heads of State are increasingly snubbing the UN General Assembly opening, according to Semafor, business people, sovereign wealth funds, and finance Ministers are joining the city to party. I call this idea Return on Mixology™. I suspect it is also because dining is much better in New York than in DC. New York City looked precisely like Davos this week, with trash everywhere, a homelessness crisis, and no snow or Dan Bross in sight. And while LGBTQ+ inclusion remained a marginal topic during UN week like it is at the WEF, some LGBTQ+ leaders found visibility in many fora, from CGI2023 to the Core-Group annual event.
France: le faux-pas de Muriel Robin
If I learned one thing from my past, it is that France is genetically immune to racism, misogyny, and homophobia. No discussion. “Nous n’avons pas ca nous, tout le monde est citoyen”. Bien sur, mais certains plus que d’autres. This month, Adecco, a top global staffing agency, will appear in Court for egregious racial discrimination after 22 years of legal struggle (see the 2006 allegations here). So when Muriel Robin, a famous French entertainer, dared to call out the French entertainment system this week for sidelining lesbians, it had to feel uncomfortable. Some responded by discrediting her comments as militant, inaccurate, and driven by resentment about her “failed career.” Yet, nobody could name one gay actor who made it to the pinnacle of French cinema. Practice your French here.
When you’re a lesbian, you’re not desirable, so you don’t have a role because those who make films are men
France (also): two million for LGBTQ+ global inclusion
On the occasion of the UN General Assembly meetings, the French Minister for Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, announced the creation of a two million euro fund to support LGBTQ+ rights defenders worldwide. I applaud the symbolic gesture, but $2 million feels strangely paltry compared to what the US State Department or Global Affairs Canada spend on one of the most significant human rights challenges of our time. Also, I suspect this is what President Macron pays monthly between J.M. Weston, Cinabre, and “mes Chausettes Rouges.”
InterPride gets United Nations Consultative Status
InterPride has been granted consultative status at the United Nations through the Economic & Social Council (ECOSOC). It announced that InterPride is establishing a Pride Advocacy Program to leverage this access. Congratulations to its co-presidents Hadi and Natalie. See here.
Europe: EGLCC is gaining steam
EGLCC - The European LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce, the advocacy group for LGBTQ+-owned businesses in Europe, added France and Spain to the mix, with L'Autre Cercle and REDI joining the initiative. The EGLCC network (CEE via East meets West, Scandinavia via my friend Tobias Holfelt's SGLCC, Italian IGLBC, BeNeLux BGLBC, German GGLBC, and the two new chambers) has the potential to reach out to 1,4 million LGBTQ+-owned businesses across the region making it the largest LGBTQ+ Chamber of Commerce to-date.
US News
Kim Davis comes back like a boomerang
In your face…Kentucky County Clerk Kim Davis is back with a vengeance. You had not heard about her since she had (briefly) tea with the Pope in 2015, and Davis-related memes were in style. In season 2, episode 1, of the “Adventures of the MLK of Kentucky,” Davis was recently ordered to pay the couple she declined to issue a marriage license for, David Ermold and David Moore, $50,000 each. In episode 2, she plans to go with this to the Supreme Court. Davis reminds me a lot of my recent bout of poison ivy: relentless and scaring. Read more here.
Senator Kennedy’s racy story hour on the hill
America is policing graphic novels at home while kids globally are exposed to Kanye West and Bianca's shenanigans in Venice on the internet. Yet, listening to Senator Kennedy's story hour on my computer with Maxime next to me, I felt a bit embarrassed. The reality is that I would not want my kid to read Kobabe's "Gender Queer" Here I said it. Believe me when I tell you there is something as “age appropriate.” Take it from someone who had his kids watch “Hangover I,” II, AND III and had to fast-forward some parts. But then I am confident they would not find Kobabe in their section, and it never crossed my mind that they could. I let them roam the Amsterdam Avenue NYPL, and they never brought back anything we could not handle. The New Republic reports that librarians are the new queer front lines; I hope it makes them feel better that I fully trust them.
Americans are entirely over politics
According to the Pew Research Center. And this is not unrelated to Kennedy’s circus antics…
In the Boardroom
A year ago, we launched the Association in New York
The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors celebrated one year. You saw our little recap: 500+ members, ten events, ten webinars, and countless partnerships to improve representation. I am very grateful to sponsors JPMorgan Chase and Equilar for believing in our initiative and our outstanding Board for lending its credibility to it. We will celebrate at our upcoming Summit in NYC, focusing on preparing LGBTQ+ senior executives for board roles, showcasing insights and advice from industry governance leaders, and offering networking opportunities.
Some LGBTQ+ leaders movement
Wei Zhang, who self-identifies as bisexual in a commonly used Enterprise Relationship Management database, will become the second LGBTQ+ Board Member at Starbucks Corporation (after Beth Ford) on Oct 1st. Gay CEO Alan Joyce leaves Qantas under a bit of a cloud. Nancy Schlichting is no longer Advisor at InStride.
This Friday: join us for “The LGBTQ+ Lawyers that Make It”
Historically, lawyers have been shunned from the boardroom—besides as corporate secretaries. Things are changing as companies navigate increasingly complex regulatory environments. Join us this Friday at noon for a panel on legal skills in the Boardroom with LGBTQ+ experts, including Professor Darren Rosenblum, Board Members Linda Lannone, Romy Diaz, and Conduent Corporate Secretary Michael Krawitz.
2023 NACD Directorship 100 Honorees
No LGBTQ+ leaders made it to the list this year, BUT congratulations to Rebecca Thornton, Managing Director and Head Director of Advisory Services at J. P. Morgan, and David Chun at Equilar, who are great supporters of the Association.
The Gay Business
The pinkwashing days of conservative law firms are over
This week, Bloomberg Law wrote about how some law firms find it hard to fill DEI jobs as potential candidates fear that reluctant firm commitments will rapidly whither under the “Jay Blum effect” (Blum is going after West Point this week). This would be short-sighted, given the massive LGBTQ+ talent in the industry. Ropes & Gray’s LGBTQ+ lawyers, as an example, represent roughly 10% of the firm’s lawyers according to the National Law Journal’s LGBTQ+ Scorecard. Conservative firms to watch include Proskauer, Baker Donelson, Baker Hostetler, Greenberg Traurig, or Gibson Dunn, already most at risk for contenting themselves with LGBTQ+ window dressing and the occasional token gay partner (see here). In the UK, Gibson Dun (1,800 lawyers, Equity Partners: 345 · Non-Equity Partners: 111) already declined to provide their LGBTQ+ staff composition this year (see here).
The latest blows to DEI will give hesitant firms an avenue to backpedal their initiatives and make cuts to DEI budgets and roles
When fake LGBTQ+ statistics get a life of their own
In a piece titled “Many Workers Leaving States That Pass Anti-LGBTQ Laws,” the Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM) claims this week that nearly 1 in 4 LGBTQ+ workers across the U.S. have moved to a more inclusive city because of recently passed anti-LGBTQ+ laws. As a reality check, 9.8 percent of Americans move annually (and that’s not “workers” but Americans). This ludicrous figure repeated over, over over, and over again, is an embarrassment. I said it before here, but every time we peddle fake statistics, either tempered by sample sizes or downright made up to gain headlines and press coverage, it affects the credibility of the entire LGBTQ+ movement. Anti-LGBTQ+ laws and the fact that some families have to move because of them are bad enough that we do not need to claim these laws led to an improbable biblical-size exodus to make it newsworthy.
Chick-fil-A tries to weasel its way back into the UK
Chick-fil-A who has tried to rebrand itself slightly is now re-entering the UK market (effective 2025) after it was met with strong opposition in 2019 (read about it on the BBC).
Semi-cultural desk
“Genocidal ideology”: the end or the beginning of the end
Andrea Houston at Ricochet had a rather gloomy piece this week arguing that LGBTQ+ people found themselves somewhere along Gregory Stanton’s “Ten Stages of Genocide” this year.
You can skip “The Mattachine Family”
Between Bros and Red, White and Royal Blue, you had enough gay feel-good rom-com for this year: I want you to challenge yourself, and frankly, the whole thing feels self-indulgent. If you don’t believe me, read the user reviews:
I should have trusted my instincts and switched off when the first 15 minutes made it grindingly obvious where it was all going, but I hung in there, hoping to be surprised. I wasn't.
And you decide on “Rotting In The Sun”
“life, death and dicks” in Mexico’s city streets and gay nudist beaches sounds like something I would not want to miss, but I just haven’t had the time between classes, Board meetings, preparing for a busy October, laundry, and homework. I'll let you watch the trailer here. Send me your thoughts if you watch the full movie.
If God hates us, how come our weddings are so beautiful?
This is the question I asked myself seeing the dresses of Robin Roberts and Amber Laign at their wedding (see here). Fun fact: I recently took a picture with Roberts, not knowing who she was: that made two of us.
Trying to find the queer angle in “One Piece”
I have been watching “One Piece” on Netflix with the boys because I famously have very little social life. In the first four episodes, I have tried to find a gay angle, but there isn’t. All the characters are LGBTQ+; therefore, none are, which is probably the most profound comment I ever made about Gen-Z. And yet, some more insightful person than me at Georgetown could find the angle - read about it here.
“the fact these messages were unintentional or that not everyone will pick up on them matters not because—to a small fraction of the manga’s readers—One Piece is a meaningful reflection of queerness today.”
Sam Brinton is back in the Dailymail
That Tanzanian designer is suing Brinton.
Coming and going
Consulting with the Asian Development Bank in South Asia
I am delighted to announce that I have signed a consulting contract with the Asian Development Bank to assist in their efforts to further the inclusion of people with diverse sexual orientation, gender identity, and sex characteristics in South Asia. An exciting opportunity to work more on a topic I have always been passionate about. You can read ADB’s framework for integrating GESI in its South Asia operations here.
Gov. Josh Shapiro taps prominent Pennsylvanian as advisor
Shapiro, who re-established the LGBTQ+ Commission in June, asked Michelle Dech the governor's advisory commission on LGBTQ+ affairs.
Santos’ Former Communications Director wants a job
Or at least that was my takeaway from this editorial on the Hill signed by Woomer, the former director of communications for George Santos.
Hollywood giants like Ryan Murphy are more likely to consider George Santos for the next “American Crime Story.
The Gay Agenda
What about the NewFest35 lineup?
Soon, the powerful and the development crowd will have left New York as quickly as they came, so what will be left? NewFest 35 October 12-24 🎬 with Rustin at the Opening Night and the World premiere of Queen of New York, about Marti Cummings' historic New York City Council candidacy. And if, like, me, you can’t find a damn babysitter in this town or are smart enough not to live in NYC, you can buy the virtual pass for … $95.
Semafor breakfast at UN Week
Yesterday morning, I joined a fascinating breakfast hosted by Semafor’s Steve Clemons next to the UN on “harnessing the innovation ecosystem.” It has concrete links to LGBTQ+ inclusion when massive untapped talent remains economically marginalized, and corporations' now-challenged ESG agenda is tied to the trust that sciences and innovation are built on.
On this note, I have a lunch with Jon Miller in midtown to rush to slaloming between the hundreds of police cars looking after Biden, who is still in town to meet Netanhayu and Lula today. See you next week, same place, same time.