Justice Department Honors Work of LGBT Employees (Mega barf alert)

Main Justice ^ | June 21, 2010 | Ryan J. Reilly

[jazusamo]

At an event in the Great Hall Monday honoring the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is working “[live] up to its responsibility to provide a work environment where every employee is respected and given an equal opportunity to thrive.”

Holder also pointed to the Obama administration’s accomplishments on LGBT issues including the new federal hate crimes law — the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Hate Crimes Prevention Act that the president signed into law in October — and the Justice Department’s recent decision that the Violence Against Women Act covers same-sex partners.

“We have much to celebrate today. In the year since we last gathered, our nation – and the Justice Department – have taken steps to address some of the unique challenges faced by members of our country’s LGBT community,” said Holder in remarks at the annual DOJ LGBT Pride Month event.

DOJ Pride was founded in 1994, and flourished when Janet Reno was Attorney General. Attorneys General John Ashcroft and Alberto Gonzales later banned the group from using Justice Department facilities. Attorney General Michael Mukasey welcomed DOJ Pride back to the Great Hall in 2008, and DOJ Pride President Chris Hook said the event has grown in size since the Obama administration took over in January 2009.

Budget Analyst Christopher Hook receives the James R. Douglass Award at the "Serving Openly, With Pride" event (photo by Channing Turner / Main Justice).

During his remarks, Holder also touted the DOJ’s new Diversity Management Plan — which calls for greater diversity in such areas as hiring, promotions and retention — and the appointment of former acting U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia Channing Phillips to manage the implementation of the plan as Deputy Associate Attorney General for Diversity.

“With this initiative, and with Channing’s leadership, we’re working to ensure that the department can effectively recruit, hire, retain, and develop a workforce that reflects our nation’s rich diversity, a department that welcomes and encourages the contributions of its LGBT employees,” Holder said.

Holder did not address some of the controversies that LGBT advocates have raised with the Department of Justice, such as the DOJ’s defense of the Defense of Marriage Act and the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy.

Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Thomas Perez introduced the keynote speaker, U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, the first openly gay federal prosecutor to head a U.S Attorney’s office.

“What a difference two years makes,” Durkan said. “Today I stand before you as the first openly gay U.S. Attorney. But I can promise you I’m not the last. In fact, today there are three Senate confirmed openly gay U.S. Attorneys in America.

“Two followed me. I started a trend. But I do want to point out, they’re all women. So guys, you need to step it up,” Durkan joked.

She also praised Holder’s work on the LGBT issues, saying that “there is nobody more committed to equality and justice across America than our Attorney General Eric Holder.”

Sharon Lubinski, the first openly gay U.S. Marshal, also spoke at the ceremony and was introduced by Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.).

Officials in attendance at the event included Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Division Tony West; Assistant Attorney General Ignacia Moreno of the Environment and Natural Resources Division; U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Louisiana Jim Letten; U.S. Attorney for Minnesota B. Todd Jones; U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Paul Fishman; and Chris Dudley, Deputy Director of the U.S. Marshals Service.

DOJ Pride also gave out three awards, including to two local advocates for same-sex marriage. D.C. Councilmember David A. Catania, the force behind the law that made same-sex marriage legal in the District of Columbia, received the Gerald B. Roemer Community Service Award along with Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler. Gansler was an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Columbia under then-U.S. Attorney Holder.

Hook received the James R. Douglass Award for his leadership of DOJ Pride. He took over in 2006, when the group had shrank dramatically during the Bush administration, but it has since grown back to the size it was during the Clinton administration.

Hook made it clear when he took over the organization in 2006 that DOJ Pride “did not intend to go into hiding,” said Marc Salans, Assistant Director of the Office of Attorney Recruitment and Management, who presented the award.

The event was sponsored by the Department of Justice, the Justice Management Division’s Equal Employment Opportunity staff and DOJ Pride.

[jazusamo]

With Holder and Obama this "in your face" agenda is to be expected.

[DeoVindiceSicSemperTyrannis]

*barf*

[Tax-chick]

*blech*

[nmh]

Didn’t he mean the PERVERTS AWARD?

Leave it to Holder to get his rocks off on THIS kind of an award. You could feature them all on a Jerry Springer Show.

[ntmxx]

So much for one of the holy tenants of Government that has been pushed up everyone rectum;

Thou shalt not discriminate based on sex or personal beliefs…

So, I guess they won’t mind when the flow goes the other way, now that they have set the precedent!

[jazusamo]

Ping!

[nmh]

Did wiener mouth, Barney FRANK, get any awards?

He's been open for years!

He's quite the transparent little crook too.

[Blue Turtle]

Its all about RACE and Sexual Orientation nowadays, forget character or qualifications. Martin Luther King had a dream and it wasn’t this....

[Tax-chick]

They should award him a long jail sentence!

It would be interesting if the Justice Department were to attempt to explain how, precisely, “LGBT” employees contribute to the department, aside from the completion of duties anyone (including many small mammals) could complete.

[mrmeyer]

Want to bet NAMBLA gets an invite for next year?

[jazusamo]

Well said! No one should be rewarded for their race or sexual preference.

[nmh]

They should award him a long jail sentence!

It would be interesting if the Justice Department were to attempt to explain how, precisely, “LGBT” employees contribute to the department, aside from the completion of duties anyone (including many small mammals) could complete.

I AGREE!

Heck, give them all a HUGE bottle of KY and they’ll be thrilled for a night.

[Never on my watch]

Do they have to prove they are LGBT before they can receive the award? How do we really know they meet the criteria? How do we know that they are eligible for the honor? What about eunuchs (sp?)?

From the picture it seems pretty clear to me, but wouldn't that be profiling?

Oh well, how do we know if Obama is... nevermind...

[EQAndyBuzz]

“At an event in the Great Hall Monday honoring the contributions of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community, Attorney General Eric Holder said the Justice Department is working “[live] up to its responsibility to provide a work environment where every employee is respected and given an equal opportunity to thrive.”

How about white, male employees. When do we get respected and given an equal opportunity? Oh wait, my bad. We need jobs first.

nm

[Tax-chick]

How about white, male employees. When do we get respected and given an equal opportunity?

The cycle always turns, the pendulum always swings. Someday, a critical mass of employers will get tired of losing out by hiring based on non-economic criteria, and they'll stop doing it. Someday, everyone who feels guilty about "subliminal racism" will have died, and the people who are left will say, "FReep this crapola!" and treat people as individuals.

Maybe we'll live to see it, maybe not, but it will happen.

[jazusamo]

It would be interesting if the Justice Department were to attempt to explain how, precisely, “LGBT” employees contribute to the department

Absolutely, and why they are rewarded as a separate category of people.

[greatplains]

A separate protected class of people.

So, if someone wants to have sex with radishes, can they be a protected class too? Insanity.

[wac3rd]

To legitimize the perverted, lazy and unintelligent as visionaries.

Marx and Engels handiwork.

[wac3rd]

Women on subs
Open military homosexuality
Animal rights over people
Kil unborn kids, but defend anchor babies
Give medals for not shooting our enemies
Blame BP when Gov’t is clearly part of the problem
Attack Arizonans, not Cartels
Shout outs after Muslim kills 13 soldiers
Golf, hoops and soccer during oil spill

We are in Wonderland, people

[kcvl]

Its all about RACE and Sexual Orientation nowadays, forget character or qualifications. Martin Luther King had a dream and it wasn’t this....

Exactly!