Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This Week: the Pope on decriminalization, a court decision in China, setback for HIV Vaccine, French LGBTQ+ families, Qatar2022 post-mortem, is GLAAD history repeating itself?, and much 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: Backsliding in China, the Pope’s comments on decriminalization, a setback in the search for Global HIV Vaccine, French guide for LGBTQ+ families, Qatar2022 post-mortem, Is GLAAD history repeating itself?, DeSantis requests data on trans students, and more.
Global News
Vatican City: Pope says homosexuality not a crime
In an interview with Associated Press yesterday Pope Francis criticized laws that criminalize homosexuality as “unjust”. This is positive and encouraging news as the Catholic Church - particularly in sub-Saharan Africa - was proactively fighting decriminalization until recently but looking at the quote below from the interview, it’s not a panacea. Read the story here.
“Being homosexual is not a crime. It’s not a crime. Yes, it’s a sin. Well, yes, but let’s make the distinction first between sin and crime."
A setback in the search for a Global HIV Vaccine
Johnson & Johnson announced that it is ending the development of its HIV vaccine after the shot failed a phase 3 trial. It did not perform better than the placebo. A big disappointment. Read about it in the Washington Blade.
Russia: ECtHR: Fedotova et al. v RUS
The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights upheld a complaint against Russia for failing to recognize queer couples. Granted, it must be the least of Putin’s worries: lately, he is not known for his eagerness to comply with international law of peace and security and/or human rights. Russia also withdrew from the Council of Europe in March 2022. Still, it's a win. Read more about it here.
China: the proverbial gay flight attendant canary in the coal mine
Check out this piece by Yanzi Peng and Darius Longarino in The Diplomat. A Chinese gay flight attendant lost his discrimination case - which involved a bizarre love triangle. Peng and Longarino argue it is symptomatic of China’s reversal of LGBTQ+ rights and mention other court cases are in limbo.
France: a guide for LGBTQ+ families
In what constitutes tremendous progress, the French Government produced this comprehensive guide for LGBTQ+ families. Surrogacy is still completely illegal in France and I was amazed to read in the guide that the non-biological parent still need to adopt his children born via surrogacy. In 2013, when my children were born, I had to jump through hoops to have them recognized as French citizens. If (when?) there is a revolution in the US, I can jump ship.
Qatar2022: post-mortem
Nora Noralla published this piece this week: “this World Cup, the biggest loser was LGBTQ+ people in the Middle East and North Africa”. I feel that pressuring FIFA and companies to align their actions with their proclaimed values was worthwhile. However, I fully agree with her point on the autonomy and right to self-determination of local movements, the paramount importance of financing and the risks of instrumentalizing LGBTQ+ issues for geopolitical gains. Please tell me what you think. Also this is important:
“it is essential when trying to promote LGBTQ+ outside Western contexts to intersect LGBTQ+ rights with other fundamental rights to gain more acceptance from society”
US News
Florida: DeSantis requesting data on transgender students
The worst nightmare for those who advocate for the data collection on LGBTQ+ people is that it could serve nefarious purposes. The Florida governor sent a survey to State universities requesting the number of students who sought or received gender-affirming treatment. We can safely assume that the requested data won’t be used by his administration to improve the lives of trans people in the Sunshine State. Read more about it here.
Ironically the Biden Administration ramps up data collection that same week
LGBTQ+ people are one of the least studied populations in the world. That was part of Professor Badgett's conversation with my Georgetown University students yesterday on poverty and the cost of Homophobia and Transphobia. Coincidentally the Biden Administration released yesterday the first-ever Federal Evidence Agenda on LGBTQ+ equity, a roadmap that federal agencies will use to ensure they are collecting the data and evidence they need to improve the lives of LGBTQ+ Americans.
Is history repeating itself at GLAAD?
This week GLAAD announced its awards nominations, it unearthed a conflict of interest in its contractual relationship with streaming platforms. In 2011, GLAAD President and six Board members resigned over the board leadership’s failure to enforce GLAAD’s conflict of interest policy regarding the proposed AT&T/T-Mobile merger. The question of GLAAD's relationship with streaming services is looming. GLAAD assesses LGBTQ+ characters on streaming services. That is the basis of its influential annual "Where We Are on TV Report" report and fits its mission as the media watchdog for our community. Less known is that GLAAD signed paid agreements with these platforms to review their content at the development stage, such as checking and delivering comments on scripts and stories. Unsurprisingly, streaming services have been collecting the bulk of GLAAD Awards this year (see the 2023 nominations here), which “honor media for fair, accurate, and inclusive representations of LGBTQ+ people and issues”. The conflict of interest is undeniable, and you can imagine that platforms have no choice but to sign up and cough up the money. Once again, indiscriminate fundraising and mission clash (see my recent piece on Governance and the “The Year of the Scandals”) As a reminder, GLAAD is well-funded and just received a substantial gift from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott (arguably, the expedition to Davos for the Promenade light show might have been costly). The community should demand transparency on the contracts between GLAAD and streaming services.
The December Admiral Levine controversy
Not sure how I missed this. Transgender Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine’s December comments about being happy to have transitioned from male to female after having children fed into the public fears around trans youth (as illustrated in this horrendous “National Review article”) last month:
“I have no regrets because if I had transitioned when I was young, then I wouldn’t have my children. I can’t imagine a life without my children.”
The Boardroom
Where are asset managers in the board diversity conversation?
This week Robert Smith, the chairman, and CEO of Vista Equity Partners penned an article in Fortune mentioning that asset managers should do better on board diversity. He indicated he expanded the pipeline of diverse board members at Vista through a program launched with the NACD, called the Pipeline Program Together. A cursory internet search did not return information about the program.
BoardProspects: the next 50 exclusively straight directors
BoardProspects released their “NextUp 50” — 50 members of the “BoardProspects community” poised for their first appointment to a public board. Unfortunately, there were no LGBTQ+ people on the list. Not super promising for the future and at odds with the current context.
LGBTQ+ and Business
The Edelman Survey: companies stuck being the only trusted institution
According to the 2023 Edelman Trust Barometer, business remains the only remaining trusted institution at 62 percent and is the only institution that respondents perceive as both ethical and competent following a three-year rise in its ethics score. Until trust is restored in other institutions, such as the government, media and Churches, the public will continue to expect corporations to take the lead on societal change.
The right laments Walmart’s support for LGBTQ+ rights
In an interesting article, the Righting reviews conservative despair over Walmart’s shift to progressive causes.
“American executives, among the most successful people on the planet, can collect accolades and social status by promoting fashionable left-wing ideologies”
Disney and Geoff Morrell
Morrell’s short-lived career at Disney continues to make waves as CNN highlights that despite his incompetence and short tenure, he was paid a little fortune. Read “This guy made $150,000 a day, because Corporate America is out of control”. As a reminder, Morrell was a Republican operative who worked for the most recent Bush administration and BP. He is credited for having single-handedly steered Chapek in the wrong direction in the “Don’t Say Gay” debacle costing the guy his job, Disney its reputation with LGBTQ+ people and allies and causing much more harm to our community.
“As the head of Disney’s head of PR for just three months, from January to April of last year, Morrell made about $150,000 a day”
StartOut and JP Morgan: LGBTQ+ growth lab accelerator
This week, StartOut and J.P. Morgan welcomed a new cohort of ten high-performing companies to the Growth Lab accelerator. This six-month program helps LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs grow their businesses. Read more about it here. Economic empowerment might be the new LGBTQ+ rights.
From the semi-cultural desk
More Santos jokes - *Yawn*
Do you ever use Google Trends? It’s the best. Anyway, it’s pretty amazing that the public interest in George's lies has not faded, although it remains concentrated on the East Coast. As a comparator, the interest in Sam Brinton has wholly vanished. Late-night TV keeps up the heat: “SNL” had another piece with Bowen Yang as Santos.
If you missed it read my (serious) piece: the truth about lies.
Is Buttigieg married? asks the Catholic Register
This week, Fr. James Martin’s innocuous tweet “Peter Buttigieg is married” got 51K “Likes” but also lots of online hate. His tweet was in response to another by the Catholic League claiming “It is true that Pete Buttigieg is legally married, but that is a legal fiction,” accompanied by this article. You can find the complete response from Fr. Martin here. My favorite sentence from the piece is:
“Whenever you extend mercy to people on the margins (or even recognize their existence), some people will be enraged.”
A gay wedding in the Royal Family
I managed to spend the past month without mentioning the Harry debacle, and bam, this comes up. The British royal family will soon celebrate their first same-sex marriage. Ellen Lascelles, William and Harry's little cousin, gets the ball rolling. The mother of two children from her previous relationship with Michael Hermans, has just announced her engagement with her partner Channtel McPherson. Just in case you wondered: No, "Red, White and Royal Blue" is not a true story - also its release date is unknown, but it will be on Prime in 2023.
When students change Gender Identity, and parents don’t know
That was the title of a New York Times article this week. The piece did not please either side of the equation. It was deemed both transphobic and accused of glorifying “groomers”.
Late to the “Single all the way” party
Monday night, I hate-watched “Single All The Way” (2021) on Netflix. “A flavorless misfire” as it was described by the New York Times. Not sure if GLAAD reviewed that script (see above) as part of its “consulting services” but if I were Netflix, I’d be looking for a new script reviewer. You can watch the trailer here. It also appears that Luke Macfarlane (also in Bros) is the ONLY actor skilled enough to play a gay love interest.
Coming and Going
Geena Rocero’s memoir in pre-order
Richard Branson celebrated Geena Rocero's upcoming book in a tweet. The Book will launch officially on May 30th. I just pre-ordered my copy of Horse Barbie. Geena is an icon who sits at the center of transgender history and activism, and her story is a reminder that LGBTQ+ people increasingly have a chance at a life of dignity and opportunity. I am a huge Geena fan. Geena was part of the activists who joined me in pressuring Disney to take a stance on Don’t Say Gay last year and spoke at the launch of the corporate Standards I co-wrote while at the UN.
New CEO at Open for Business
This week non-profit Open For Business, the global LGBTQ+ business network committed to advancing LGBTQ+ rights, named Dominic Arnall its new CEO He will assume his duties on 20 February. He was most recently Chief Executive of the UK LGBTQ+ young people’s charity Just Like Us. Read the announcement here.
A great opportunity at Outright: Ukraine Coordinator
Outright does a pretty amazing job supporting Ukraine. The organization moved in quickly, fundraised tremendously, documented the impact of the war on LGBTQ+ people, and now runs programs in 4 countries affected by the conflict. You can now join this team.
The Gay Agenda
February 4 and 5: for the Opera buff
The VA Opera is doing our friend Greg Spears'opera Fellow Travelers (see the 2016 review here) from Jan 27 to Feb 12 in 3 locations including Fairfax, Norfolk and Richmond VA. This production has a fabulous new (queer) tenor Andres Acosta. Tickets here.
February 1st and 2nd: Romas Zabarauskas’s movies
THE LAWYER - which I mentioned in last week’s newsletter - will screen at Spectacle cinema in Brooklyn on February 1, and Romas’ sophomore feature YOU CAN'T ESCAPE LITHUANIA, together with his short PORNO MELODRAMA will screen on February 2 followed by a Q&A with Romas. 7:30PM/10USD. More info here.
February 4: The HRC New York dinner
The 2023 Human Rights Campaign Greater New York Dinner is on Saturday, February 4th, at 05:30 pm. Tickets are $495. Maybe you will hear a debrief on the famous rainbow colors illuminated buildings on the Davos Promenade. Send me your cliff notes. I will be home with the boys.
February 10: Seattle: Outrising event
Outright is hosting an event in Seattle on February 10. Outrising: An Evening for Global LGBTIQ Equality will feature Executive Director Maria Sjödin and Outright Caribbean Advocacy Officer Leah Thompson as speakers. Check out the event website here.
Monday March 6: See you at the Mixner show
The "BROADWAY SAYS: Thank You David Mixner" cast was announced this week including: Laura Beranti, Claybourne Elder (a personal favorite), Bryan Blatt, Drew Gehling, Iris Beaumier, Sean Alan Krill, Max Clayton, Will Reynolds, Edmund Begnall and Stephen Barry. You can get tickets here.
ERRATUM
One too many lesbian Governors
I was horrified when readers alerted me last week that labeling the Arizona governor as a lesbian was incorrect. Indeed, Oregon and Massachusetts now have lesbian governors, Maura Healey and Tina Kotek, not Arizona. The Arizona Governor is an ally. My mistake was confusing the Governor with the State Attorney General for Arizona who is a lesbian. Still unforgiveable but also illustrative of the historic progress we are making with representation in statewide elections.
I know this was a bit long but it was a busy week. Happy Lunar New Year! I wish you all the luck in the World. IMHO, you truly deserve the best!