Last week, I was invited to the White House to be a part of two special events for Pride Month. Wednesday morning, I attended the White House LGBT Pride Month Policy Briefing where LGBT liaison (and former AfterEllen contributor) Aditi Hardikar introduced several out department heads and LGBT people who work within the federal government to discuss the strides made in the last six years during the Obama administration, as Aditi noted: “From passing inclusive hate crimes legislation to extended coverage of federal hate crime law based on the victim’s perceived gender identity and expression, to expanding access to affordable care and reducing health disparities for LGBTQ communities, to supporting a ban on conversion therapy, to signing an executive order prohibiting discrimination by contractors and subcontractors based on gender identity and sexual orientation.”
“LGBT Pride Month also gives us the opportunity while there is a particular spotlight on our community to call attention to the ongoing challenges that we as LGBT people face, like the ongoing disparities the transgender community faces in health, economic opportunity and safety from violence, particularly transgender women of color,” Aditi continued. “Or the overwhelming rate of homelessness or substance abuse experienced y LGBTQ young people. Or the fact that no federal legislation exists for employment non-discrimination, let alone comprehensive immigration reform. Which is why it’s so important that we as a community continue the momentum of the tremendous marriage equality fight and harness the national even global supreme court’s decision to shed light on the serious problems of the LGBT community rather than calling it a day when the decision comes down. And it’s so important that we as a community value the diversity within diversity and recognize that the intersection of race, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation and socio-economic and immigration status multiplies the disparities we face, and that violence and police brutality and racial profiling are issues that are important to the LGBTQ community too.”
Aditi, who is also the White House liaison to the American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) community, introduced several different LGBT figures from their respective departments, including Mary Beth Maxwell (the Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for Policy at the U.S. Department of Labor), AJ Pearlman (Chief of Staff, Office for Civil Rights at US Department of Health and Human Services), Catherine Lhamon (Assistant Secretary, Office for Civil Rights), Diana K. Flynn (Chief, Appellate Section, Civil Rights Division at United States Department of Justice) and Megan Smith (United States Chief Technology Officer in the Office of Science and Technology Policy).
There were also representatives from the trade, HIV/AIDS, and climate sectors, discussing the relevant work being done and how it relates to the LGBT community. A few highlights:
- The Department of Labor has given all of their policies “a full scrub” to make sure it is inclusive of LGBT people and families. The President signed an executive order last year saying federal contractors could not be discriminated against based on sexual orientation or gender identity. “This is really significant because one in five workers in the private sector in the United States work for a private contractor, so the reach of this executive order is very significant,” says Mary Beth Maxwell. “It’s a civil rights landmark and will also really make a difference in the lives of real people who live in states or in cities that don’t have a non-discrimination ordinance, or who don’t work for an employer who has already voluntarily recognized that there’s a business advantage to not discriminating; that there’s a business advantage to having a full range of talent as part of your workforce.” The Family and Medical Leave Act has begun to collect data related to LGBT status and a special focus is being made to help train LGBT people in “critical training, resources and support to workers and job seekers.”
- Sex discrimination in schools includes sexual/gender orientation and expression. The Dept. of Education takes complaints seriously so that they regularly enter into resolutions with schools and monitor the environment for up to three years after providing the trainings and education necessary for a safe school environment. One recent resolution includes an agreement with Chicago Public Schools (affecting more than 400,000 students) that includes training of all staff and issuing of a new handbook to include protections of transgender students, parents and teachers.
- Out2Enroll has been successful in helping LGBT people signing up for healthcare, and no one will be refused for medical history or type of care needed. The Office for Civil Rights has decided that the sex discrimination prohibited in healthcare includes gender identity. The National Health Interview survey is the most LGBT inclusive it has ever been, and there is now an LGBT sub-group and LGBT coordinating committee at Human and Health Services to ensure the community is a constant focus. (You can read the 2014 LGBT Report right here.) The White House has also condemned the use of conversion therapy and has encouraged states to enact bans much like California, New Jersey, Oregon and the District of Columbia.
- Diana Flynn said one of her proudest days at the Department of Justice was “late last year, when Attorney General Holder reversed a long-standing litigation position … and said that from now on the Justice Department would consider discrimination based on transgender status or gender identity to be per se sex discrimination, which violates Title 7.” Based on that decision, the DOJ has been able to file cases and statements in pre-existing cases to argue for the rights of transgender people, including the pursuing of “a statement of interest to correctional agencies which have denied equal care to trans inmates in custody” that Diana said had seen success. “You’ve never had more allies and many of them are in the U.S. Department of Justice,” Diana said.
- Todd Larson is the Senior Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Coordinator at USAID whose work focuses on International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of LGBT Persons. While Obama has been in office, agency rules and trainings within embassies, consulates and the Peace Corps have been updated to be LGBT-inclusive. There are six openly gay ambassadors representing the U.S. around the world, and the State Department and DOJ has provided LGBTQIA counter hate crimes training to law enforcement officials in Haiti, El Salvador, Colombia, Guatemala, Jamaica and Mexico. In 2014, the White House hosted its first ever conference on combating international hate crimes. I asked Todd about what the United States can do to help in the struggle of hate crimes and corrective rapes in Uganda in other parts of Africa, which have direct ties to American pastors, preachers and politicians. His answer: “Well fortunately or unfortunately, freedom of expression and freedom of religion are fundamental tenants of how the U.S. operates so the options of reigning in those that are spewing hatred are limited. I think it’s more constructive to think about strategies in responding there, too, and we’re engaged in discussions, both openly and in closed sessions, on how to do just that. It boils down to ensuring that we are adequately harnessing and affirming leaders out there, both in the states and countries where this sort of hate is being advanced by nationals. This eclectic set of guilt that this messaging is coming from Americans and exploited at the maximum extent feasible to focus tension on, but again, because of these fundamental tenants of freedom of expression and freedom of religion we can’t stop people from spewing hatred. We’ve gotta be strategic and reflective in how we respond there, too.”
- CTO Megan Smith detailed how her job is to help improve our digital government, and part of that initiative is “inclusion at all levels.” With TechHire, a three-month code bootcamp to help train people for tech jobs that are not only more available, but higher-paying, Megan said there’s a focus on women, people of color, and LGBTs. “People zero in on the people that are victimized by the problem but are not aware of what they’re doing, or maybe they’re aware but are what we call unconscious bias,” Megan said. “Why do we talk about diversity like it’s an obligation?” In response, they hosted an Excellence in Diversity event and are actively planning more proactive opportunities for queer and trans people.
These are just a few things that have come to pass while President Obama has been in office, and every single person who spoke at the policy briefings expressed their gratitude at having the opportunity to work under a leader who values LGBT people and is hoping to continue his progressive work his last 18 months in office.
That afternoon, I attended the LGBT Pride Reception along with my partner and AE contributor Lianna Carrera. Held in the East Wing of the White House, we were able to mingle with activists, politicians and public figures who were LGBTQ and allies alike.
You may have read about the transgender woman who staged a protest during the President’s speech at the reception, Jennicet Gutiérrez. (You can watch the entire speech on video here.) As someone who was in the room, I have just a few things to add to the many different discussions that have come out after the event, as many things that I’ve read or seen are not based in fact. I was standing in the center of the room, to the right of Jennicet who I did not see until she was escorted out. During the moment where she began yelling toward the President (just after his speech began), I was not able to tell what she was saying. It sounded like a chant and, around me, people seemed confused. At first, the full room (which was not, as I’ve seen from news outlets and social media users, full of cisgender white gay men. In fact, there were many women, transgender, genderqueer and people of color in attendance) “shhhed” her way, and it appeared the President was also hoping she would stop without having to ask her to leave. Eventually, security made its way through the crowd and escorted her out. Some people booed, but most genuinely seemed unsure of what had just happened. It was difficult to see over the cellphones in the air, and even more hard to hear once the rumblings began.
It was only after the reception when press releases went out and stories were written that Jennicet’s message was heard; one that I can understand and fully support. From her written statement:
I was fortunate to be invited to the White House to listen to President Obama’s speech recognizing the LGBTQ community and the progress being made. But while he spoke of ‘trans women of color being targeted,’ his administration holds LGBTQ and trans immigrants in detention. I spoke out because our issues and struggles can no longer be ignored.
Immigrant trans women are 12 times more likely to face discrimination because of our gender identity. If we add our immigration status to the equation, the discrimination increases. Transgender immigrants make up one out of every 500 people in detention, but we account for one out of five confirmed sexual abuse cases in ICE custody.
The way the President responded to Jennicet in the moment has been criticized as being insensitive:
“Shame on you. Listen you’re in my house … it’s not respectful. As a general rule I am just fine with a few hecklers. But not when I’m up here in the house.”
To be fair (and I know the argument will be it isn’t his house, but our house, a sentiment expressed by both conservatives and our community in response), we were directly downstairs from the Obama’s living quarters, so I felt that it was spoken in jest. But I don’t know that for sure because I’m not the President. It seemed like an attempted moment at levity in an otherwise chaotic situation.
It was an interesting incident after spending my morning listening to what has been and continues to be done by the LGBT people and allies, including the President himself, in the White House. (Specifically, many new transgender focuses and initiatives including out trans DOJ chief touching on the treatment of transgender inmates in correctional facilities.)
Jennicet’s cause is more than worthy of being heard, and it seems that she was. Yesterday, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) issued a new memorandum addressing some of the movement’s concerns in the way transgender detainees are processed, placed and coordinated within both ICE and ERO (Enforcement and Removal Operations). It’s not yet known if these are reactions to Jennicet and the 35 congresspeople who penned a letter in support, or something that has been being worked on as they note for the last six months. Still, some organizations say ICE’s new rules do not go far enough and Jennicet’s organization, Familia: Trans Queer Liberation Movement, is asking supporters to sign their petition asking the President “to recognize our families come in all shapes and sizes and to include LGBTQ immigrants without children in upcoming relief.” Today, at 2:15ET, United We Dream is leading a protest, Operation “Break the Cage” with undocumented trans and queer people, a die-in at the intersection of 16th and H St. NW.
With the Supreme Court making a decision on marriage equality just two days later, it seemed the LGBTQ community was almost further divided. It was hurtful to see so many who weren’t there that day deciding that lesbians, bisexuals and gay men are all hypocrites who want transgender people to shut up and get out of our movement, except for when we can use them to claim inclusiveness and diversity. There are many times that I’m one of few or a handful of lesbians in a room full of white, cisgender gay men: at high-priced galas, board meetings or most mainstream (read: non-LGBT specific) events, but the White House Pride Reception did not feel like one of them. I had the opportunity to speak with and meet many different women, queer people of color and trans people including a woman in front of me who, after Jennicet’s ejection, screamed, “Transexuals love you Obama!”
It’s an unfair categorization that we were absent because we were there. I can only speak for myself, but what I can tell you is yes, people were in high spirits; this was a joyous occasion in which we were thrilled to be in the White House, celebrating achievements and an impending SCOTUS decision we were hearing only positive stirrings about. So when someone began interrupting the President, it was jarring. She was not wrong and she started a necessary conversation, although there are certainly those that don’t agree with her methods. But the room was reflective of much of our community, including many people who have made LGBT equality their life’s work.
Kristen Kish
With D’Lo and partner
Other notable women in attendance: Krista Contreras, wife Jami Contreras and baby, Bay (the Michigan family turned away from a pediatrician for being gay); Amanda Simpson, out Executive Director of the U.S. Army Office of Energy Initiatives; Lesbians Who Tech creator Leanne Pittsford; re-code editor Ina Fried; basketball player Kye Allums; lawyers Mary Bonauto and Roberta Kaplan; trans lesbian CEO Martine Rothblatt; Prop. 8 plantiff Sandy Stier; and ally Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.
So what else did the President have to say? Introduced by Megan Smith, who is the most senior ranking LGBT person in the White House, he thanked her for her great work and then touched upon many of the same victories spoken about earlier that day. An excerpt:
A lot of what we’ve accomplished over these last six and a half years has been because of you. Because of the groundwork that you and so many of you laid before, from sophisticated national campaigns to small, quiet acts of defiance — together, we’ve been able to do more to protect the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans than at any time in our history.
Together, we ended “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” We passed a historic hate crimes bill named in part after Matthew Shepard. We lifted the HIV entry ban, and this summer, we’re going to be updating our national HIV/AIDS strategy which will focus on eliminating disparities that gay and bisexual men and transgender women face. We strengthened the Violence Against Women Act to protect LGBT victims. Hospitals that accept Medicare and Medicaid are now required to treat LGBT patients the same as everybody else. The pillar of the so-called Defense of Marriage Act was struck down by the Supreme Court as unconstitutional. Just yesterday, we announced that insurance companies that cover federal workers will no longer be able to prohibit gender transition services.
…
Now, we all know there’s a lot more that we can and must do. In 2015, at a time when we have laws that say Americans can’t be fired for the color of their skin or their religion or if they have a disability, it is wrong that hardworking Americans still live in fear of being fired simply because of who they are or who they love.
…
We are big and vast and diverse. We’ve got different backgrounds and different beliefs. We’ve got different experiences and stories. But we are bound by our shared ideal that no matter who you are or what you look like, where you come from, who you love — this is a place where you should be able to write your own ticket, and be who you are, and revel in your true self. We’re a people who believe enough in America’s promise to make it real for everybody.
After the speech, we explored a little more of the East Wing, including the library and the hallway which had some photos of some of the President’s LGBT moments.
It was an honor to be an invited guest to the White House under the administration that has worked so hard for the LGBTQ community, and I have never been more proud to be an American and a lesbian. Our work is far from done, our demands not yet met, but the days of being ignored are behind us. We’re too loud, too proud and a huge part of what makes our country all that it is.
