Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: a good night for LGBTQ+ candidates in the US, Mexico, Tokyo, & same-sex unions, a very Irish scandal, Twitter down, Chick-Fil-A up, Amit Paley leaves Trevor, Urvashi’s memorial, 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: a relative rainbow wave in Congress, Mexico, and Tokyo, a very Irish scandal, Twitter down, Chick-Fil-A up, Amit Paley leaves Trevor, Urvashi’s memorial,
Global News
All of Mexico has marriage equality
Mexico's Guerrero state passed marriage equality last week shortly followed by Tamaulipas. This means that all 31 states and Mexico City now have marriage equality. It took 12 years since Mexico City’s law took effect in March 2010 for marriage equality to become the law of the land. Mexico is the world's 10th-most-populous nation. Read more in the Washington Post.
But only Tokyo has it in Japan
Might be unpleasant to hear but Japan is the only G-7 country where suicide is the leading cause of death for young people aged 15 to 39, the only G-7 country which has not announced an intention to phase out coal, and the only G-7 country where there is no federal form of same-sex union. It remains my favorite country to visit but these are the facts. I was once criticized by the Regional Managing Partner of a consulting firm there for making “imperialistic comments” about Japan which sounds a lot like the Qatari rebuke highlighted below. Tokyo’s same-sex partnership system came into effect last Tuesday, allowing sexual minority couples in the capital to be treated in the same manner as married heterosexual couples in areas such as housing, health care, and child-rearing. However, same-sex marriage is prohibited nationwide, meaning various other legal protections only afforded to heterosexual married couples remain unavailable. Read about it in Time Magazine.
The impossible task of navigating Qatar2022 for Brands
As the FIFA World Cup rapidly approaches (the first game is on November 20th, with the final on December 18th), sponsors are potentially facing a public relations nightmare. Several issues from migrant workers working conditions to LGBTQ+ rights are making the headlines. Sponsors are now associated with a World Cup that is in a full-on human-rights crisis. The Qatari foreign Minister did not appreciate the criticism, particularly from Germany, saying this week: “It sounds very arrogant, frankly, and very racist”. Also, FIFA experienced another protest yesterday. Read my take here.
Israel: it’s going to be a rough ride for the foreseeable future
Israeli LGBTQ+ organizations reacted to the incoming of the new right-wing government that includes the anti-LGBTQ+ Noam faction that posits itself as the party for ‘normal’ people and ‘family values.' Avi Maoz of Noam, a father of 10, said on Thursday that he would work to legally abolish an annual Pride Parade in Jerusalem. Read about it here.
"The right side don't like gay people, don't like Arabs," says Liron Gur, a gay Israeli voter. "I believe if they will be the power, my life will be very bad."
Ireland: Father Séan Sheehy stirs the pot
An 80-year-old retired Catholic priest, Father Séan Sheehy, has caused uproar in Ireland after declaring that the deputy prime minister, Leo Varadkar, and other gay politicians will go to hell. For me, it was an occasion to learn what a Tánaiste means. Read about the sizable controversy here. “Heaven is full of converted sinners,” Fr. Sheehy preached which makes Heaven sounds a bit boring to me. Talk about a self-righteous and virtue-signaling bunch. In the meantime, Fr. James Martin set the record straight for the hundreds of millions of LGBTQ+ Catholics out there.
US News
Elections: not really a rainbow wave in the House but still progress
First Eitan beats me at Chess around 6 pm and then the Democrats rose from the dead. What a night! We did have somewhat of a rainbow wave with Will Rollins (CA) leading his race over incumbent Ken Calvert (as of now 56.2% of the votes but only 31% reporting), Eric Sorensen (IL), Long Beach Mayor Robert Garcia (CA), Becca Balint (VT) grabbing new LGBTQ+ seats in Congress. I am really sad Robert Zimmerman (NY) did not make it in New York! He would have been wonderful. Still he was defeated by a gay man (see below) so that’s a fifth seat. Also sad about Jamie McLeod-Skinner (OR). But both their bids mattered. Angie Craig and Chris Pappas got reelected. Sean Patrick Maloney (NY) was defeated - there is a lesson here - I let you figure which one out. Maybe Mondaire Jones would have done better? (you can read the very angry tweet from Mondaire’s Chief of Staff below) Overall we will hopefully have twelve seats in the house (including the gay Republican seat - see below): we lost two (Jones, Maloney) and we hopefully gained five. That’s only 2.7% of seats when we represent 7% of the American population. Progress not perfection.
And the first elected (out) Gay republican
Not having an out Gay Republican in Congress was a statistical aberration very telling about the state of American politics on social issues. George Santos (34 years old), who won against Zimmerman, is changing that. It is believed to have been the first congressional general election between two openly gay candidates in U.S. history. Read more about it here.
The First Lesbian Governor (ex-aqueo?) in the Nation
These positive results got bolstered by the fact we got the First Lesbian Governor in the Nation Maura Healey (MA) to succeed in her bid to become governor. Healey might actually share that accomplishment – pending results in Oregon, where Tina Kotek (OR) could actually win. Read about it here.
An analytical underpinning to this trend
At a time when LGBTQ+ candidates are running in record numbers, Prof. Andrew Reynolds (author of The Children of Harvey Milk) and Gabriele Magni analyzed how candidates’ sexual orientation and gender identity affect election results, and how context mediates these effects. Here are several interesting findings.
On average, LGBTQ+ candidates perform at least as well as straight and cisgender candidates in election outcomes;
Lesbian women in particular obtain on average over 5% more of the vote than straight candidates;
LGBTQ+ candidates do better in Democratic-leaning and highly educated districts, as well as in districts with a higher share of Black voters.
See the full paper here and let me know your thoughts.
Next: the Respect for Marriage Act
In Semafor yesterday: « The Senate is expected to pass the Respect for Marriage Act before the end of the year. “We're confident that we'll have the votes when it comes to the floor,” a person close to negotiations told Semafor. “We've been guaranteed that this is going to come up before January.” »
Simply put, the act would codify same-sex marriage into federal law and out of reach from any future action from SCOTUS. From time to time, I like to “honor the resistance” in this newsletter, so here is why our opponents don’t like it (written by an “ex-lesbian” of course). Read it, I guarantee it will ruin your afternoon.
Florida bans trans-affirming care
DeSantis was reelected last night. Expected and yet still disappointing. Florida's medical boards approved a rule on Friday banning gender-affirming medications and surgery for youth with gender dysphoria who aren't already being treated. In doing so, Florida became the first state to limit care for trans youth through its DeSantis-filled medical board. Read more here.
The “Parental Rights” lie at the heart of GOP efforts to target LGBTQ+ youth
Readers of this newsletter will be familiar with my regular posting on this topic. It is past time Republicans and other authoritarian-minded people stopped weaponizing us for their own political gain. Nicholas Serafin writes in Slate Magazine on November 1st that there is a “Parental Rights” lie at the heart of GOP efforts to target LGBTQ+ Youth.
“As is so often the case in American politics, this is less a fight over the meaning of a particular right and more a fight over whose rights ultimately matter. Conservative parents have the right to control their own child’s upbringing; they don’t have the right to control anyone else’s.”
LGBTQ+ Business
Is Twitter really getting rid of its ERGs?
The former Global Head of Culture & Community of Twitter seemingly confirmed a few days ago that there are no longer any Twitter ERGs. Openly gay James Loduca, who until last week was Vice President, Inclusion, Diversity, Equity & Accessibility (IDEA), shared his farewell message on LinkedIn. I am not sure if Twitter is going to be financially viable but it sounds like it will be a horrible hells-cape of a place to work at. #UntilWeNoLongerBelong
Chick-fil-A finally has an LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination policy
As Elon is turning back the clock, is Chick-fil-A becoming more progressive? I read on a listserv that Chick-fil-A has finally added "sexual orientation", "gender identity" and "gender expression" to its corporate nondiscrimination and non harassment policy (see here). We win some, we lose some. I already stopped boycotting Equinox on paper, I don’t have time to go to the gym (I like to think myself as a single dad entrepreneur these days), so eating reformed fast food is the logical next step.
In the Boardroom
Spencer Stuart’s assessment of LGBTQ+ representation in the S&P500
The Spencer Stuart dataset on LGBTQ+ representation remains awfully slim in their annual report on Board diversity. It feels a bit like lip-service. Their only data point in the S&P 500 is similar to ours in Fortune 500. They found 29 seats occupied by out #LGBTQ+ people. Assuming an average of 11 seats per company, this is 0.6% of all seats. See the report here.
Pay attention to the Affirmative Action debate
The plaintiff, Edward Blum, a wealthy conservative activist, founded Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA), is the same one that is challenging AB979 and the Nasdaq listing rule (see my previous article). The Alliance for Fair Board Recruitment, a non-profit membership corporation whose only member is Edward Blum, defines its mission as promoting the recruitment of corporate board members without regard to race, ethnicity, sex, and sexual identity which means preserving the status quo. As a reminder, in Europe, two affirmative action programs to stimulate board diversity include binding gender quotas and non-binding gender targets but in the US prior decisions have held that quotas violate the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
From the semi-cultural desk
I watched “My Policeman”
I confessed previously that I like my gay movies to be melodramatic because I find both tragedy and grandeur in the queer condition. Maybe “My Policeman” should be mandatory watching for the Qatari foreign Minister, Israeli politician Avi Maoz, or Father Séan Sheehy. Homophobia not only affects gay people but also society at large: wives, families, and communities. So much intense suffering justified by bigotry and prejudice. A self-inflicted wound that has been lasting for centuries and is not yet healed. It’s one thing to have damaged so many lives with ignorance, it’s another to continue doing so. Our journey will only be over when none of us have to suffer what is depicted in this movie: secrecy, shame, and ultimately intense loneliness. Watch it on Prime Video.
Tonight, I will watch “Poppy Field” by myself in my bed
The Romanian new wave. Based on a true story, the drama is about closeted police officer Cristi (lots of gay policemen stories these days) who must juggle his identity and his very macho environment. Here is the trailer.
Christine and the Queens’ journey to becoming Redcar
A lot of feature-length profiles that are written about pop stars, and musical artists are often vacuous and vapid productions that rarely stir the soul. That is why this feature from Miranda Sawyer in The Guardian where she interviews trans French artist, Redcar (formerly Christine and the Queens), was unusual enough for me to include in the newsletter today. Read the interview here.
The culture war
Remember how Tennessee Senator Marsha Blackburn and Caitlyn Jenner created a strange alliance in response to this Dylan Mulvaney video on her grocery shopping shorts last month . Here is Queerty’s take on Jenner’s behavior.
The Gay Agenda
Urvashi Vaid’s memorial
Last week was the memorial for Urvashi Vaid, a giant in the LGBTQ+ movement for equality, justice, and liberation. If you missed the livestream, you can still watch the powerful tribute here:
I bookmarked the links in this sentence to go directly to the introduction and program from Richard Burns and Kate Clinton. You can also read Alok Vaid-Menon’s remarks here.
November 20th: Ali Forney’s Danceathon
On the twentieth anniversary of its founding; the Ali Forney Center presents the WE ARE FAMILY DANCE-A-THON which will take place from 11 am-6 pm on Trans Day of Remembrance, Sunday, November 20th at the Knockdown Center (52-19 Flushing Ave, 11378). The event will “fuse the celebratory aspect of a dance-a-thon with the very best of the NYC nightlife scene along with Queer chefs cooking up a storm to keep the troupes going”. You can sign up HERE.
At least DC is closer than Taipei: WorldPride 2025
InterPride, the international association of over 400 Pride organizations from over 70 countries, announced that DC/the Capital Pride Alliance (CPA) has been selected to host WorldPride in 2025.
“CPA is thrilled and honored to have been awarded the privilege of hosting WorldPride 2025. We thank InterPride for the opportunity to share the best of the Washington, DC region with visitors from around the globe, particularly during the 50th Anniversary of Pride in DC”.
Now I am celebrating - I am a DCist at heart but I am also mourning Taiwan WorldPride because it is such a wasted opportunity. The proposed dates for WorldPride DC are May 22 through June 8, 2025.
Coming and going
Amit Paley leaves a much stronger Trevor Project
This is why we cannot have anything nice. Paley is credited for having taken the organization from a 50 people/$5 million operation to about 200 people/$85 million operation in 5 years with a much bigger impact during an unprecedented mental health crisis. While it’s unclear from this Washington Blade article what caused the abrupt departure, there is no doubt growing at that pace is an enormous challenge for the entire organization to manage. Paley had previously worked as a junior consultant at McKinsey & Co, including on projects advising Purdue on how to boost their opioid sales. This work became widely known in July after HuffPost and Teen Vogue reported it based on documents released as part of a nationwide legal settlement with the pharmaceutical company. Apparently, several employees had requested his resignation from the Board. Read about it on Teen Vogue. One reaction struck me:
We love to eat our own. What madness
My new role advising Open for Business Board of Trustees
Open for Business announced last week that I will volunteer as an advisor to its Board (see the full announcement here). I feel it is time to look at how the private sector can leverage social change beyond its own walls and the most tolerant places. My focus will be on contributing to their work articulating the LGBTQ+ lens to the ESG agenda, supporting the business response to recent developments in Asia, and developing economic opportunities for LGBTQ+ people globally including through inclusive finance.
Silicon Valley’s StartOut seeks new CEO
StartOut is a nonprofit organization supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer entrepreneurs. The organization was founded in 2009 and has over 18,000 members participating its events in eight chapter cities. It is looking for a new CEO.
See you at the same time next week. As always, please kindly share this newsletter with your networks and consider taking a company-wide subscription.