Fabrice Houdart | A weekly newsletter on LGBTQ+ Equality
This week: geopolitical powerlessness, the Ugandan economy, the unexpected Mike Johnson, declining representation in Congress, a plague of fake LGBTQ+ stats, All of Us Strangers, see you in DC and Ind
Welcome to the 142nd issue of my equality news digest. I share important (and much less important) news, updates, and (snarky) commentary about the LGBTQ+ equality movement at the intersection with business.
This week: geopolitical powerlessness, the Ugandan economy, the unexpected Mike Johnson, declining representation in Congress, a plague of fake LGBTQ+ stats, All of Us Strangers, see you in DC and India…
Global News
Israel-Palestine: LGBTQ+ organizations and powerlessness
On October 27th, ILGA World issued a statement titled “Gaza: an immediate ceasefire is needed!” in capital letters. Outright International, on the Board of which I serve, published a similar one that day. The ILGA one included more adverbs such as “extremely,” “strongly,” and “urgently.” Altogether, it was a relatively innocuous statement, but the making of the ILGA statement was bloody. The vicious fight between LGBTQ+ activists online was symptomatic of a feeling of powerlessness. This powerlessness is central to this specific conflict and others, from the Ukrainian War to Museveni’s AHA (see below). In a multipolar world, where U.S. hegemonism is fading, powers and counterpowers are figuring out the new rules and testing whether they can topple the status quo with horrendous and revulsing consequences.
Brazil: Academic freedom when knowledge is controversial
Human Rights Watch noted this week that Brazil’s Congress held a necessary public hearing on harassment against teachers for topics they address in the classroom on potentially uncomfortable subjects, such as sexuality, gender, or history. I concluded that Parents' intrusion in the curriculum is not only a Western disease. I cannot conceive how parents would fear that teachers could be more destructive to the minds of their children than they are. During one of many Covid bouts, I watched Hangover I, II, and III with my sons (granted, I might have fast-forwarded over a few parts), but I would love to meet the teacher at PS166 than can beat that.
Jamaica: The Stubbornness of the Supreme Court
Ten years after Jamaica decriminalized marijuana, its decision to uphold its sodomy law last week felt silly. The 84-page decision discusses at length the aim of the constitution, but the decision caters to the Government's strong attachment to this archaic law and appeases a public fed with anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric for breakfast. My thoughts are with the plaintiff, my friend Maurice Tomlinson, who led this lifelong fight against an unjust law: he already announced he would appeal. Societal attitudes will progress, Jamaica will decriminalize, but it will be remembered as one of the countries that fought the hardest to preserve segregation, not unlike apartheid South Africa.
Uganda: its AGOA Trade Status and a strange parallel with Idi Amin
Uganda, a country in dire need of opportunities to export, won’t be eligible for the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) benefits in 2023, Biden announced this week. I sometimes wonder if Museveni knows how similar he is to Idi Amin Dada. After scapegoating Asians, Amin claimed, “The British are very worried. I have taught them a lesson, which is why I am the best politician in the world.” His outward rationale to expulse Asians was that they had intentionally undermined Uganda's economy, hindered its economic advancement, promoted extensive corruption, and deceitfully avoided assimilating into the Ugandan culture. But mostly, he could do it because the public harbored anti-Asian sentiments. Sounds familiar? I tell my shrink that I feel stuck in a pattern: everything I do is designed to get a reaction from a father whose response I do not care about: me, Idi Amin, and Yoweri.
Senegal: exhumating dead bodies of homosexuals
I had no idea, but apparently, it’s a thing. If someone is suspected of being homosexual, it has become customary to exhume their body and burn it in a part of Senegal. It happened this week in front of a jubilant mob, and the police had to get involved. Charming
Similar events took place in 2008 in Guinguinéo (Kaolack region) where the grave of an alleged homosexual was desecrated.
And in other global news not involving cadavers
Hungarian authorities performative child protections on LGBTQ+ content; a setback in South Korea and the Vatican synod’s underwhelming conclusion.
US News
Mike Johnson is like a jack-in-the-box
The U.S. is basically like the series “Lost”; if you don’t pay close attention, it feels sillier than it is. Lost would always insert new groups of survivors and people already occupying the island to confuse me. Similarly, this week, Republicans tried to make us believe Mike Johnson has been around all along when they just introduced him in this new episode. Even worse, Johnson happens to be a ridiculous anachronic MAGA character, a bit as if Spain appointed Franco as its new Prime Minister or Maurras was a top advisor for Macron. If you must know who Mike Johnson is and why he is there, read this or this (Popular Information).
If Republicans are outing each other, I am going to bed
Tim Miller, a former GOP member and writer for The Bulwark, suggested that Matt Gaetz was revealing the sexual orientation of the GOP Chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, Missouri Congressman Jason Smith. Would a gay guy wear that orange shirt, though? Perhaps in Missouri.
The treasure trove of Google Metadata
I enjoyed this article claiming that Google searches in the U.S. for ‘Am I gay’ or ‘Am I lesbian’ have increased 1,300 percent since 2004. But I would be more interested to know if Google searches for “Is my husband gay?” in the South have decreased.
An LGBTQ+ museum on the mall?
On the last day of LGBTQ+ History Month, U.S. representative Mark Pocan presented to Congress the latest legislation to build a National Museum of American LGBTQ+ History and Culture.
Representation in Congress decreases slightly
The news reminded me that the U.S. now only has ten LGBTQ+ members of Congress Reps. Mark Takano (Calif.), Sharice Davids (Kan.), Robert Garcia (Calif.), Becca Balint (Vt.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), Chris Pappas (N.H.), Angie Craig (Minn.) and Eric Sorensen (Ill.) and well George Santos (N.Y.). That’s only 1.8% of the House and is explained by recent departures such as Mondaire Jones, David Cicilline, and Sean Patrick Maloney. Last they checked, LGB MPs comprised 7% of the House of Commons.
Queering the Boardroom
Jay Blum, the NASDAQ disclosure rules and meritocracy
As expected, Jay Blum is appealing the decision that dismissed his lawsuit against NASDAQ Board Diversity disclosures. Blum's legal challenge to the Nasdaq's board diversity rule is politically motivated and manipulating racial tensions (a euphemism for racism). The argument here is that there is a leftist agenda to undermine meritocracy in the Boardroom. Our counterargument is that the transparency the disclosure rules provide will foster REAL meritocracy. Forget gays or ethnic or racial disparities; when you read that women, for example, only occupy 25% of all seats in NASDAQ-listed Companies and that 10% of NASDAQ-listed companies don't even have a woman on Board in 2023, the meritocracy argument is that men are ⅔ more likely to get ahead according to merit than women. As a reminder, women represent 44% of seats in French companies, and there is a European-wide mandate that any sex cannot occupy less than 40% of all Board seats. This figure is the ultimate argument for shareholders to have access to Board composition information to challenge inertia in bringing diversity to the Boardroom and tap into a wider pool than the current one.
A new NACD Accelerate LGBTQ+ Cohort
In the last cohort, five LGBTQ+ Association members have gained accreditation with the National Association of Corporate Directors. Accelerate is the Boardroom Readiness Program. We are considering building the next cohort, and NACD is hosting a fireside at 2 p.m. on the program today. Reach out to us if you are interested in joining the LGBTQ+ cohort: info@lgbtqdirectors.org
Key LGBTQ+ movements
Richard P. Clark just retired as Chief Transformation Officer, Business Enablement at Accenture plc, creating opportunities for Board service. Dan Swisher, former CEO of Jazz Pharmaceuticals, was just appointed Board Member at Protagonist Therapeutics, Inc.
The Association visits California
JPMorgan Chase and the NACD Northern California Chapter hosted three dinners for the Association of LGBTQ+ Corporate Directors in San Francisco, Los Angeles, and San Francisco again last week. An opportunity to meet some of the most influential business leaders in America - particularly women in life sciences and tech - who shared with me valuable suggestions on how to improve both demand and supply for LGBTQ+ directors.
The Gay Business
IFC: A Guide for Investors on LGBTQ+-inclusive Investing
Yesterday, for Halloween, The International Finance Corporation, the private-sector lending arm of the World Bank, launched its long-awaited publication Investing for Inclusion: Exploring an LGBTI Lens.
“When applying an LGBTI lens, investors can identify prospects with a clear diversity value proposition and flag those that present potential social risks such as LGBTI-based bullying, harassment, and violence in or outside the workplace or reputational risk of being seen in the market as a company that is not open to DEI or has ongoing harassment or discrimination related lawsuits.”
Dying on the Hill of DEI
I have a principle to honor the resistance. So I had to read this piece by the National Review attempting to demonstrate that progressive causes are the graveyard of business (tell that to Nike or Google) with arguments such as “the Left in many countries has a deeply ingrained animus against business” and “it’s a matter of recognizing just how much DEI stands to distract corporations from their defining goal of realizing shareholder value.” It is a bit reminiscent of the Washington Post arguing in 1987 that "Disinvestment is . . . allowing South African whites to acquire abandoned companies at bargain-basement rates."
Fake LGBTQ+ News 2.0 on Workplace Inclusion
This week, it is HRD magazine that naively gives a platform to the Theranos of LGBTQ+ statistics, the Fyre Festival of workplace inclusion, the Cryptomania of LGBTQ+ equality: “Overall, 80% of these workers are comfortable being ‘out’ at work – compared to the 36% who reported that in 2016”. A newsworthy revolution or a lucrative pat on the back for corporate sponsors? Care to explain the methodology? Sample size? Geographic representativity? No, why embarrass yourself with such pesky details when you can get headlines and more money? The 80% statistic - repeated over and over - contradicts every other survey, including a July 2023 survey by Harris Poll in the US, which found that “nearly half (45%) of employed LGBTQ+ Americans say they believe being “out” at work could hurt their careers” (it also contradicts other statistics peddled by the same organization). Calling out fake LGBTQ+ statistics is crucial not only for policymakers or the closeted workers in Winston-Salem, NC but also for the community at large, as it affects our common credibility. It is harder to do when the stunt is part of a profoundly entrenched initiative steeped in clientelism, inurement, and personal enrichment.
IGLTA: think local; think about future generations
The conclusion of the IGLTA Foundation's European think tank applies to all industries. When it gets tough, move on from central governments and focus on local Governments. Countries are not monoliths. The example of Turkey is striking; while Erdogan is working on his anti-LGBTQ+ constitutional amendment to “enshrine family values,” some municipalities are increasingly inclusive of LGBTQ+ people. The other recommendation, paying attention to the demographic shift, also applies globally. A demographic revolution is underway, and we will not be selling cars or travel packages the same way to Gen-Z or Gen-A, given how they increasingly identify as queers.
The semi-cultural desk
All of Us Strangers
I feel I might cry for that one. It is scheduled to be released by Searchlight Pictures in the United States on December 22:
The Swimmer
I watched the 2021 Israeli movie by Sally El Hosaini, which is more soft-porn than substantial. Put a few guys in Speedos, and you have a worldwide distribution with the gays.
A look at history: when being gay could get you debarred in the U.S.
My article on a Ghanaian bisexual lawyer, Ama Governor, who was denied a call to the bar because she identifies as LGBTQ+ and has piercings, was an opportunity to dig in the archives of the New York Times and find this 1989 article about what it felt like to be a gay lawyer America thirty-five years ago.
Coming and going
Muneer Panjwani acquires Engage For Good
#TrueStory I once heard Muneer ask point-blank an egotistical CEO, who was dining him at Gramercy Tavern, to lure him into becoming second-in-command of his ship if “he was a purpose-driven leader.” The fury it triggered - I don't even think the CEO ever responded - was all Muneer needed to know, and he politely declined the job the following morning (as a side note, GT is a fine dining spot that was fashionable ten years ago). So, nobody would be better to head Engage for Good, the leading company empowering corporate and nonprofit professionals to create mutually beneficial social impact partnerships. Congrats Muneer Panjwani
I first attended the Engage for Good conference in 2013 and have gone almost every year since. I credit David and Engage for Good for consistently inspiring me to become a better social impact leader […] this acquisition is a homecoming.
The Gay Agenda
November 10: ICWA Dinner in DC
Please join Caroline Vagneron and me next Friday in Washington, DC, for the annual dinner of the Institute of Current World Affairs (ICWA), which hosts the David Mixner writing fellowship. This is an opportunity for me to announce that Our 2023-2025 David Mixner LGBTQ+ fellow, the brilliant Edric Huang, has officially landed in Taiwan! Here is his pre-fellowship interview.
November 22: See us at Godrej in Mumbai
Pride Circle, in collaboration with Godrej DEI Lab, is hosting a “𝐑𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐛𝐨𝐰 𝐑𝐞𝐟𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: 𝐈𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐈𝐧𝐬𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐆𝐥𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐥 𝐋𝐆𝐁𝐓+ 𝐋𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬" event featuring Prof Lee Badgett, my friends Nisaba Godrej and Parmesh Shahani and yours truly (see here).
On that note, I have to rush out to grab lunch with Chris Rovzar, LGBTQ+ socialite personified, at the Century Association. I am hoping for gossip, some gay parent banter, and more gossip. As usual, I am grateful for you reading and sharing this newsletter with your network.