Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: IDAHOBIT, Namibia court decision, huge setback in China, Cannes without the gays, America’s cold civil war, Monkeypox II, making #BoycottLiquids happen, and more...
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.
This week: IDAHOBIT, Namibia court decision, huge setback in China, Cannes without the gays, America’s cold civil war, Monkeypox II, making #BoycottLiquids happen, and more…
The International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia
Together always: united in diversity
Today’s IDAHOBIT theme resonates well as some succumb to the temptation of 'desolidarizing' themselves from the trans fight for acceptance or declaring the fight for LGBTQ+ equality over. For most LGBTQ+ people, life remains 'solitary, poor, nasty, brutish, and short'’. Check out the new UN Free & Equal campaign featuring Urvashi Vaid’s multi-talented nephew: Alok Menon.
Acknowledging progress and setbacks
Over 30 years, 49 countries have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual acts. In contrast, it is still illegal to have same-sex relationships in 64 countries, roughly one-third of countries worldwide. Our graph below puts the DeSantis, Meloni, and Budweiser of this world - all mentioned in this issue - in perspective. Yet, it is a very rough time whether in Eastern Europe, China (see news item below), or Eastern Africa. If you think about it, manipulating LGBTQ+ issues for political gains is a relatively new threat we are facing. The advantage of being invisible 50 years ago is that we did not make much of a political tool.
Marking #IDAHOBIT in Paris
I have been in Paris since yesterday morning to mark IDAHOBIT, on which Committee I am honored to serve. The day is widely acknowledged in France, which is heartwarming: France 2 had this excellent documentary yesterday. It featured Amb. Gerard Araud and I learned that young LGBT people are up to seven times more at risk of suicide than young heterosexuals (according to several studies compiled by Public Health Franc ). I was speaking for an event at EDF this morning virtually and, at lunchtime, moderated an inspiring panel at AXA headquarters in Paris. I will virtually be in California to mark the day with our friends at East West Bank tonight.
Global News
China: the bad bad week for LGBTQ+ civil society
In another blow to the movement in China, the LGBT Beijing Center closed its doors, as reported in the Washington Post. Ladies Who Tech China also canceled an event under pressure from the authorities. The success of the Hong Kong Gay Games planned for this fall might be more crucial than ever.
Italy: Meloni goes after the families
The Wall Street Journal had this moving visual article on the plight of LGBTQ+ families under Meloni. Meloni has been more moderate than expected in other aspects but is delivering on anti-LGBTQ+ issues. She is close to Viktor Orban, another crusader against the gay lobby. The article struck me, of course, because I had my sons through surrogacy in 2013 and was trolled by a French far-right magazine in 2017 🙄 In short, until now, Italian cities have registered the civil status of children of gay couples born either through the use abroad of surrogacy (GPA), prohibited in Italy, or through medically assisted procreation. Cities must stop doing so and might have to rescind registration for these children retroactively. It goes against a decision by the European Court of Human Rights that such a move violates Article 8 of the European Convention regarding the right to respect their family life and the right to respect the private lives of the children concerned. It’s also a repulsive way to score political points. Removing one parent from a child’s birth certificate because they are not biologically related to them is disastrous. I highlight this development as it is also a reminder that LGBTQ+ rights remain at the mercy of a change in government.
Namibia: a vital court decision
The Supreme Court ruled that same-sex marriages legally concluded outside Namibia must be recognized by the government, overturning a lower court decision in January 2022 (see here).
France: football players refuse to wear IDAHOBIT jersey
This week, a handful of French soccer players withdrew from several matches because they did not want to wear a rainbow-colored number on the back of their jersey on the occasion of IDAHOBIT (see Tetu). Frankly, it does not upset me that much: in my humble opinion, the problem is that our society expects athletes (and the Kardashians) to show us the way on social issues- no offense to athletes (and Kardashians) everywhere. It also illustrates the importance of organizations such as Athlete Ally in the US to do the preparatory work for such campaigns when players might not fully understand their significance. As the French Sports Minister Amélie Oudéa-Castéra tweeted:
“In the French football championship, everyone should find themselves behind the simple message of living together and non-discrimination”
Monkeypox: not so fast, fellows
First, people in the know referred to it as Mpox, which slightly annoyed me. Why do diseases get acronyms so quickly? Is “Monkeypox” much more challenging to pronounce than “Fabrice Houdart”? From now on, I want to be referred to as fhoud. I will only respond to fhoud formerly known as Fabrice Houdart. (better than Febreze or Fabby - I’ll tell you that, you know who you are). Anyway, back to Mpox: WHO also declared the global emergency over (see here), and yet it could be back with revenge, ready to ruin your summer holiday on Fire Island. The resurgence has been observed in Chicago (see here). Whatever you do - do not Google Image “Mpox.”
The Heart of Lesbians
A French paper found lesbian women were more likely to have heart disease. They had significantly lower cardiovascular health scores than heterosexual women, 0.95 and 0.78 points lower, respectively. The paper concluded that health providers should take sexual orientation into consideration. See here.
US News
Blood donations and gay men
Incrementally, discrimination against gay men in blood donations is disappearing. But the latest FDA policy, which stipulates that prospective donors who report having a new sexual partner, more than one sexual partner in the past three months, or anal sex in the past three months (meaning every single gay man but me) would be deferred for three months, was not without criticism. You can read the GMHC statement here.
The rather ridiculous war on drag
The bizarre “war on drag,” a purely American phenomenon, is misguided and feels like a further step into authoritarianism. Two weeks ago, the North Carolina Bar Association canceled a Drag and Trivia event scheduled for June 8th, citing that the organization should not “steer into contested politics” (see here).
Don’t Give up on Florida just yet
Good news from the front: Democrat Donna Deegan was elected Mayor of Jacksonville (the largest city in the state), replacing a Republican mayor yesterday. See NYTimes coverage:
“Democrats in Florida have to eat the elephant piece by piece, we have to go win in these local areas that are purple and get down to the base of some local campaigns to have any chance of coming back statewide.”
Kansas City is now an LGBTQ+ sanctuary city
Just re-read this sentence - an “LGBTQ+ sanctuary city.” America is in a cold civil war: the nation is now divided between people who want a participative democracy and those who yearn for authoritarianism. The move by Kansas City is meant to defy Missouri state lawmakers, who a day earlier voted to ban gender-affirming care for trans minors and restrict it for some trans adults. See here.
The Boardroom
Make sure to register for the upcoming NACD Summit this October
Part of the agenda of the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors is to improve representation in the boardroom encompasses “queering” governance spaces. Consider joining us October 8th – 11th at the Gaylord National Resort at National Harbor. You can register here.
Board LGBTQ+ diversity disclosures: SV 150 and S&P 100,
Read this Harvard Law School Forum post here: 12 and nine directors were disclosed as belonging to the LGBTQ+ community for the SV 150 and S&P 100, respectively. Assuming an average of 10 board seats per company means 0.8% and 0.9% LGBTQ+ Board representation, which aligns with the findings of our flagship report.
The Gay Business
The NYTimes on DEI
This article made the round on social media. It argues DEI initiatives have been polarizing for dominant groups. I am all a bit about strategy, but I also feel we should not underestimate our capacity to understand fairness:
“Belonging is a way to help people who aren’t marginalized feel like they’re part of the conversation”
Starbucks doubles-down after Mulvaney controversy
While Budweiser is busy digging a deeper hole for itself, Starbucks’ recent campaign under the hashtag #ItStartsWithYourName is getting great coverage. The problem with anti-trans boycotts is that you could find yourself quickly with nothing to drink but water. And water could turn you gay, according to DeSantis. I suggest a new hashtag, #BoycottLiquids. The Starbucks ad shows estranged parents reuniting with their adult daughter as they accept her new identity as a transwoman. Watch it here.
The semi-cultural desk
Cannes but without the gays
The 76th Cannes Festival started yesterday. Some in the LGBTQ+ movement usually attend the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity later in June ( (also known as the letting-loose-in-the-south-of-France-on-donors-dime festival), but we are absent from the “real Cannes.” The “Queer Palm” was never given the attention it deserves (see here). It is crucial as positive trans stories could be an essential response to fearmongering around Sports, bathrooms, and puberty blockers. As a reminder, only a third of Americans have ever met a trans person, which is why representation matters. Trans stories often focus on trans people's struggle in coming out. As a consolation, the festival opened with Almodovar's short film “Strange Way of Life.” Created in collaboration with Saint Laurent’s Anthony Vaccarello, Strange Way of Life also features Pedro Pascal, Ethan Hawke, and Elite’s Manu Rios. :
Tom Ford post-label life
I have always wondered what it feels like to be a Renaissance man like Tom Ford. Airmail sat with him this week to check what’s next after he left his eponymous label (read it here). I was excited to hear he would make more movies. I learned his son Jack is going to camp this summer for the first time like my sons. Also, I liked this line:
“Jack goes to an incredibly liberal school. If [Florida governor Ron] DeSantis complains about a book, they give it out the next day.”
Adversity as the “touchstone of spiritual progress.”
Once in a while, I write about non-LGBTQ+ stuff, believe it or not. Last weekend, I wrote a little piece on my take on adversity and how it radically changed in the past few years. You can read it here if you are going through a rough time,
Coming and Going
Navtej Dhillon at the National Economic Council
The brilliant Navtej Dhillon was appointed Chief of Staff & Special Assistant to the President at the National Economic Council (see here).
The 2023 inductees to the LGBTQ+ Wall of Fame
Achebe Betty Powell, founding mother of Astrae, Heklina, Will & Grace star Leslie Jordan, and playwright Terrence McNally were among this year’s inductees (read more here).
Rue Landau nominated for Philly City Council
Congratulations to Rue, who will likely get elected in November; she’ll become the city’s first openly LGBTQ council member. See here.
Yuval Harari gets a second life with AI
Harari is everywhere this week, warning of the end of humankind at the hands of AI. If I did not have kids, I might be ok with it. Being an alarmist is his job, but I liked this quote in Le Point:
“We must help people cultivate an adaptable personality able to accept life changes because that is the only constant of the XXI century”
The Gay Agenda
June 14th: join me at the silent disco in NYC
I only dance once a year at the NYC AIDS Memorial annual Silent Disco. It is free and in town on Wednesday, June 14. Join me in dancing to incredible DJs under the stars! See here.
June 20th: Cosmos Club speech on LGBTQ+ Board Diversity
On Tuesday, June 20 at lunchtime, I will brief the LBGT & ALLIES table on our efforts to improve Board Representation.
Thank you for reading; it means a lot to me. I wrote this in Paris’ awful traffic, so I take no responsibility for my opinions as usual. Together always: united in diversity.