Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: the French unrests, a Djihadist strange claim, SCOTUS’ decisions, the Philly party of Mom 4 Liberty, DeSantis’ weird ad, Rock Hudson, Lavender Law, Rep. Meeks throws us under the bus...
This week: the French unrests, a Djihadist strange claim, SCOTUS’ decisions, the Philly party of Mom 4 Liberty, DeSantis’ weird ad, Rock Hudson, Lavender Law, Rep. Meeks throws us under the bus...
Welcome to my weekly equality news digest, where I share important (and much less important) news, updates, and commentary about the global LGBTQ+ equality movement at the intersection with business.
Global News
France: the limits of the “Vivre Ensemble” mantra
Most historians agree the Revolution did not start under Louis XVI but under Louis XIV. The frequency of uprisings gradually increased over hundreds of years. (See Popular troubles and revolts in France in the 16th and 17th centuries). Similarly, the current unrest in France, triggered by the police shooting of a teenager of North African descent, cannot be dissociated from the retirement age demonstrations, the Yellow Vests movement, or the unrest following Adama Traoré's death. Because France offers free education, public housing, and social safety net to all, irrespective of their religion, race, origin, or sexual orientation, it is understood that respect, dignity, and access to opportunities are part of the package. It isn’t. Saying this is sacrilegious in itself. The idea that you can love France and criticize it is blasphemous anyway. The elite won’t have it. In 2019, the Deputy French Ambassador abruptly left a dinner in DC (see here… it was filmed, and here is my speech) where I was speaking because I drew the link between laicite and xenophobia in a speech, not before heckling me, asking if “I’d be happier in Pakistan?” as a homosexual. I have never been invited to the Residence since then. The then Secretary at Quai d’Orsay, to whom I complained for his staff’s lack of decorum, told me the former military officer felt the need to “defend France.” Today, once again, they would instead focus on the “thugs'' burning cars or “the role of social media” than on the experience of minorities. Collecting data on marginalized communities, something I believe is crucial to LGBTQ+ inclusion, is illegal there and perceived as “separatism,” a crime like no others under the French Republic. I am intuitively suspicious when the dominant group insists that minorities are “very happy.” The price France pays for its arrogance is enormous. Marine Le Pen, once again, will come on top. A GoFundMe online fundraiser for the police officer gathered more than $1.5 million in donations, four times the amount raised for the teenager’s family. It is time to listen rather than repeat the “vivre ensemble” dogmas. I was rereading El Gatapardo this 4th of July, and Tancredi’s famous quote does apply :
"if we want things to stay as they are, things will have to change.”
Lebanon: another muted Pride
It has been five years since the police cracked down on Beirut Pride and arrested the organizers. A year ago, Minister of Interior Bassam Mawlawi canceled some Pride events leading to the viral destruction of a (gorgeous - we have such great taste) rainbow floral display in Beirut. There was a recent article on Diva the Drag Queen, who symbolizes resistance. Please don’t give up on Lebanon's LGBTQ community; long among the most vocal and visible in the Middle East and a regional force for change, they are a solid movement to reckon with.
Spain: a Moroccan jihadist claims to be homosexual
A Court in Madrid has ordered the expulsion of a Moroccan national. He was sentenced to two years for terrorism because he had notably "recorded and published on Facebook an oath of allegiance" to Daesh while calling for jihad. To escape his expulsion, the accused had claimed he was gay and would be in danger if he were deported to Morocco. The Court rejected the appeal and confirmed the decision of the Ministry of the Interior, ordering his removal. To state the obvious, the Court did not question his sexuality but instead decided, “Homosexuality is illegal in Morocco, but it is a crime punishable by prison, not death.” Read here.
Chechnya: violence against a journalist who covered the gay purge
Grozny is not yet to become the Mykonos of the North Caucasus. Elena Milashina, a journalist with Novaya Gazeta, the outlet that covered the gay purge in 2017, and Alexander Nemov, a human rights lawyer, were beaten with clubs by men in masks who took their phones and demanded they unlock them. The two were in Grozny for the trial of Zarema Musayeva, the mother of exiled opposition activists; Milashina was there to cover the trial, and Nemov was there to represent the accused. See here.
Europe: the role of tourism in changing hearts and minds
Last Friday, I co-moderated a think tank hosted by the International LGBTQ+ Travel Association (IGLTA) on how European Tourism can navigate anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments at its borders and prepare for the Gen-Z demographic revolution. A key takeaway is the importance of local governments: municipalities and regions as interlocutors rather than central governments under challenging environments. Check it out here.
Uganda: John Quest interviews Jon Miller this week
Quest received the founder of Open for Business, the world’s leading platform for multinational corporations supporting LGBTQ+ equality through business, to discuss countries with strong anti-LGBTQ+ sentiments, Uganda, and the response from Total. See here.
"If you want foreign direct investment, if you want tourism, if you want to stop the brain drain...you need to be an open and inclusive society."
US News
303 Creative v. Elenis: should we panic?
As a reminder for anybody lucky enough to be removed from U.S. headlines, 303 Creative v. Elenis was brought by a website designer (that would be “303 Creative”) who wanted to be able to design wedding websites for straight couples while turning same-sex couples away. She argued that applying Colorado's non-discrimination law to her and forcing her to sell her website designs to gay and straight couples would violate her freedom of expression rights. And guess what? The very politicized Supreme Court agreed with her last week. The decision applied in 303 Creative applies to a very narrow set of businesses, but because of the tense context, it is interpreted as a widespread defeat for LGBTQ+ people. You can read more and see the entire decision here. Jenny Pizer, Lambda’s Chief Legal Officer- who knows best, wrote:
“Given the uniquely creative service at issue here, the immediate impact should be minimal.”
The end of affirmative action and the return to the myth of meritocracy
I, of course, looked at the SCOTUS decision on affirmative action through the lens of Board diversity. While it is a seismic decision in the Academic world and could decimate the talent pipeline, the decision on affirmative action and its possible ripple effect in Corporate America do not affect the Association’ of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors’ strategy. We never asked for Board seats for LGBTQ+ people but only for our candidates to be considered. We lead with talent and focus on intersectional identities knowing well that, without a meritocracy, we must organize ourselves, help each other, enroll allies, and ensure that investors, recruiters, and the Board themselves understand the inherent value of diversity in the Boardroom. See my thoughts here.
Pourquoi mâcher ses mots?
I might have minimized the amplitude of these regressive decisions by SCOTUS; GLAAD, on the other hand, this week found plenty of justification for hyperbole, such as “The new civil war is the culture war.” For those uninterested or uninformed in U.S. history, the American Civil War lasted four years, with 616,222 to 1,000,000or or+ deaths.
Moms for Liberty: a “joyful warriors” conference
The Moms for Liberty conference took place in Philly last week. If you don’t know what it is, don’t blame yourself: M4L is only two years old but already a force to reckon with. Yet, the event featured speeches from the top Republican brass: former President Donald Trump, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, and Nikki Haley. The group was known for fighting against school pandemic restrictions but is now rallying for book-banning efforts nationwide. Honoring the resistance here means asking ourselves: why is M4L so successful? Is M4L’s“joy” branding a response to our sanctimony? What is our strategy?
Even the log cabin Republicans don’t get the bizarre DeSantis ad
Toxic masculinity with some homophobic flavor is the new DeSantis scent. His campaign’s latest video is just plain strange. Even the Log Cabin Republicans called it out, noting DeSantis' "naive policy positions are dangerous and politically stupid.” They slammed the video as "desperate," and even Santos criticized it on Twitter. The weirdest part is the implicit comparison between DeSantis and Brad Pitt, starring in Troy as the Greek hero Achilles.
Another wake-up call: random former NBA player on LGBTQ+ people
Gilbert Arenas, a three-time NBA All-Star (it has to do with basketball for ESLs like me), said in an interview (see here) that the LGBTQ+ community is more “unfair” than any other group of people on earth. Of course, the statement is ridiculous, but how did we become perceived like this? What if we are losing the PR battle on a national level? GLAAD and HRC’s job should be to repair our community's image. It's not enough to live in the certainty that we are the good guys and that “Fundamentally Americans believe LGBTQ+ people should have equal rights.”
“The LGBT, I think it’s the most unfair group walking the planet right now [...] They have a playbook that only they are playing by, that they can only see; no one else gets to see this playbook, but we’re being judged by everything that’s in this playbook, but we don’t know it.”
The Boardroom
Rep. Meeks throws LGBTQ+ Directors under the bus once again
Despite a previous commitment to the Equality Caucus after I raised the issues in 2022, Representative Meeks reintroduced the “Improving Corporate Governance Through Diversity Act” in the middle of Pride Month without referencing sexual orientation and gender identity, limiting the text to “gender, racial, ethnic diversity” and “veteran status.” See here. It is Meeks’ conviction that the bill has a greater chance of receiving bipartisan support without mentioning sexual orientation and gender identity. Still, it is both illusory and damaging to our efforts. Today the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors wrote to his office, the Caucus and Ritchie Torres Office.
Jonathan Goodman joins Horizon Technology Finance Corporation.
Jonathan Goodman, who founded and has been a Managing Director of Qiviut Capital LP, a private investment firm, since June 2018 and was previously with Bain Capital, was nominated to be Director of NASDAQ-listed Horizon (see here).
Spencer Stuart on LGBTQ+ Board diversity
Spencer Stuart had a little piece on their website on the experience of LGBTQ+ Directors, quoting Board members of the Association Michael Camunez and Betsy Bernard (see here). Recruiters increasingly recognize that sexual orientation and gender identity are components of Board diversity which is transformational.
The Director Diversity Initiative’ 2024 Board Boot Camp
DDI announced that its popular annual program for aspiring diverse board directors is accepting applications. It will occur Wednesday - Thursday, May 22-23, in Chapel Hill, NC. You can apply here if you like.
Can LGBTQ+ directors help navigate the fraught political context?
The Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors closed a busy Pride Month 2023 with a breakfast at FGS Global in New York City this morning. While the topic was "the role of LGBTQ+ Directors in navigating the culture war and social issues," we also discussed lessons from corporate engagement this Pride season, how Boards can help companies decide which social issues to express themselves on and in which ways, how LGBTQ+ Board candidates should present their identity about their skills in their Board search. You can see more here.
RSA’s spotlight on our work
I loved being listed among the RSA fellows (RSA is The Royal Society for Arts, Manufactures, and Commerce), impacting our community through my work with the Association of Lgbtq+ Corporate Directors. A year on, I am more motivated than ever to ensure the Association makes a difference in improving our numbers in the Boardroom for the benefit of our community.
The Gay Business
Intercom pulls the plug on Pride
Staff did not appreciate this Irish/Silicon Valley AI company’s tone-deaf decision to cancel Pride this year. That was their Pride campaign in 2022. Intercom has its headquarters in San Francisco with offices in Chicago, Dublin, Sydney, and London and about 1,000 employees. I have this thing that when a company gets engulfed in controversy, I check the diversity of their Senior Management team and Board. Check it out here.
Gay for Pay
This piece in the NY Times on fantasy corporate support for Pride was entertaining.
The semi-cultural desk
Mandatory reading: Justin Bond in the Post
This interview with Bond is everything because it is about our commonality rather than the culture war but also the right to invisibility, the right to mourn lost things, and the right to evolve.
“It is kind of like I’m a type of unicorn. There are not a lot of trans women my age. And then most of the gay boys I went to college with or that I knew in San Francisco, some of my very dearest friends, they all died.”
Rock Hudson: Hollywood’s ample closet
It’s no secret it’s much better to be gay, rich, and famous than a poor gay. It tends to be better to be anything, rich and famous than to be poor. I watched the documentary "Rock Hudson: All That Heaven Allowed" this week on HBO. Rock Hudson, the all-American Jeune premier of the 1950s who was also a closeted gay man, led a relatively happy life in an ample closet.
The Origin of Evil
If you want a tortured lesbianic “Talented Mr. Ripley”, I recommend the French “Origin of evil”
The Pass
I also watched this Pepi Ginsberg’s short film on the New Yorker’s website. Coincidentally “The Pass” is the name of another gay movie with Russell Tovey, which I thankfully never watched. I always feel short films are an awkward format - I might have time for a 1h30 feature film, but certainly not a 15-minute one. I still recommend it because it talks about something essential for me: the transformational power of experience, even negative ones.
The gay resistance: a new magazine “Fire Island Tea”
One Speedo image at a time: Fire Island has a new magazine ($30 for the first issue + $10 for delivery). The magazine can be found here, and the Instagram account here.
“Now the world has a window into the lives of the wonderful humans of Fire Island Pines”
Budweiser is so tired
In an Instagram video last Thursday, Mulvaney called out Budweiser. Fair ! That company is more despicable by the minute.
Wham documentary on Netflix
The “Wham” documentary is set for release on July 5 on Netflix. It sheds light on George Michael’s coming out process. See the trailer here.
The Gay Agenda
July 24-26: Join me at Lavender Law in Chicago
Give me the heads-up if you are in town! I am speaking on Board diversity at a panel at Lavender Law in two weeks on Tuesday, July 25th, and will fly in that Monday and leave Wednesday.
Thank you for reading. It was a bit heavy on the French thing, BUT I am passionate about the topic as an exiled citizen. I hope you had a great 4th of July weekend. I spent most of it in Maine recovering from Pride season, watching Östlund movies, including Force Majeure, which I had never seen before. Here is a pic summarizing my state of mind.