OutPerform | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality - Issue #30
Barney Frank looks back, the Stonewall UK storm, a plethora of workplace equality indexes, searching for the 2022 IDAHOBIT theme, and a big win for intersex people in Australia.
Welcome to this week's edition of my weekly equality news digest, where I share important news, updates, and commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement globally. Questions, feedback, and comments are always welcome. Would you mind sharing with your networks to continue helping us in moving the LGBTQ+ equality conversation forward?
US News
Ambassador Jessica Stern started her new job at State.
Without much fanfare, Ambassador Stern, the State Department Special Envoy for the Human Rights of LGBTQI+ Persons (a position which had disappeared under the previous administration), started her work this week. One of her first meetings was with United Nations Independent Expert Victor Madrigal.
Another Biden appointee, Dr. Rachel Levine, had a good week.
Dr. Levine was sworn in as the first female four-star admiral in the history of the US Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, a uniformed service of more than 6,000 health, science, and engineering professionals.
A lesbian is suing the US Government over rejection by an adoption agency.
Kelly Easter of Nashville, Tennessee, says Bethany Christian Services, under contract with the government, turned her away simply because she's a lesbian. Lambda Legal is representing her case.
LGBTQ+ History Month: Barney Frank looks back at his tenure.
In a comprehensive Time interview, DC power broker Barney Frank looks at decades of progress and the way ahead. On his coming out story and the "Gobie thing," he says: "as long as I was closeted, I found it impossible to have good, healthy relationships."
Spotlight on the workplace trans experience.
Anjali is a trans employee of South Asian descent at Constellation Brands and a leader in the LGBTQ+ community. In this insightful interview, she speaks about her professional journey and how companies must be intentional in helping bridge the trans economic inclusion gap, including through supplier diversity. In return, "Employees reward [engaged companies] with increased engagement and retention; consumers reward them with loyalty," she noted.
LGBTQ+ in the Boardroom
The boardroom: dismissing the Federal complaint against AB979.
The California Secretary of State is seeking to dismiss the federal complaint by a Texas non-profit I mentioned last week. A hearing on the Secretary of State's motion to dismiss is scheduled for November 1. (See JD Supra's article on the brief here). The US might not like the word "Quota," but take it from a countryman of Cope-Zimmerman (a 2010 French law that boosted balanced representation of women on boards) that is the only way boards will diversify.
Our comments on the FCA Board diversity proposal.
Out Leadership submitted our response last night. As a reminder, the deadline for public comments is today. You can read our letter here.
Global News
UK: Stonewall facing the storm.
Leading LGBTQ+ charity Stonewall UK continues to face a storm of public criticism in the UK. This week Labour MP Tonia Antoniazz said the Welsh government promoted an "ideological culture" by adopting Stonewall's interpretation of the Equality Act. Antoniazz was responding to a recent podcast that vilified the BBC over its links to Stonewall. The 'Nolan Investigates' podcast featured a BBC reporter who claimed staff is afraid to "speak on gender." Don't be too baffled; it's heading to the US and Europe (read Bari Weiss: "say no to the Woke Revolution").
Australia: the right to choose for intersex people.
The Australian Human Rights Commission just published a report that supports an end to unconsented medical intervention on intersex people. Read HRW's take on it and why it is a game-changer and a huge victory. Watch the national public TV news broadcast from Sunday evening. Congratulations to Morgan and Intersex Human Rights Australia (IHRA).
In other news
The limits of LGBTQ+ workplace inclusion indexes.
A plethora of indexes with diverse methodologies, divorced from other sustainability indexes, run the risks of making corporate accountability even more difficult. In this piece, I suggest taking a comprehensive approach to measuring "LGBTQ+ friendliness" and fostering a holistic ESG approach. I would love to hear your thoughts.
Capturing the corporate philanthropic contribution to the LGBTQ+ equality movement.
Does your company support global LGBTQ+ organizations? Out Leadership is partnering with the Global Philanthropy Project to increase the visibility of corporate philanthropic leadership in support of international LGBTQ+ organizations. You can send the information documenting your company's 2019 and 2020 donations by contacting research@lgbtfunders.org.
A book to read by the fireplace: the "Pink Line."
I received my copy of the Pink Line by Mark Gevisser this week. Critics are calling the book must-read. Our personal journeys as LGBTQ+ people globally are strange, wondrous, and often complex. Gevisser captured the wide variety of LGBTQ+ experiences in 2021 on both sides of the "Pink line," which separates the most tolerant from the least tolerant places.
Still LGBTQ+ History Month.
National Geographic reminds us of the history behind the acronym in an article titled: "From LGBT to LGBTQIA+: The evolving recognition of identity."
Finding the theme for IDAHOBIT 2022.
The IDAHOT Global Working Group has been hard at work sharing ideas on the 2022 theme for the past week. Previous themes were:
2021: Together: Resisting, Supporting, Healing
2020: Breaking the silence
2019: Justice and protection for all
From the gossip columns
Steve Clemons is a chevalier.
On Monday, the Who's Who of gay DC, such as Rep. Mark Takano and lawyer extraordinaire Allen Orr, gathered at the French Ambassador's residence to celebrate Steve Clemons receiving the prestigious Legion d'Honneur (see Politico/Global Insider). Clemons joins a small group of Americans who hold the award, which includes Julia Child. Rumor has it that while the champagne flowed, the hors d'oeuvres were rare – could this be retribution for the submarines?
Why can’t Pete bond with his children?
Tucker Carlson and the Buttigiegs' parental leave controversy was a reminder this week that the experience of same-sex parents – particularly when they are men – remains mysterious to so many. It also means we often face prejudice. As a single gay father, I've always been struck by the banality of my experience, including when I battled with 3rd-grade math homework this week.
Alan Cumming thinks we do not need to come out any longer.
Alan wowed the Kennedy Center with accomplice Ari Shapiro this week. In a Time interview, he declares himself in favor of moving past the "coming out" step. He noted, "sexuality is like a vacation, and you don't always want to go to the same place twice."
I believe we still need the 'coming out' step - until every one of us has been liberated, we need a common proclaimed identity. The interview is still very much worth reading. 😊
See you next week!