Remembering founder of Federal GLOBE, Dr. Len Hirsch

sionals. He nodded in agreement. He said many federal agencies were “sick.”

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It was my interest in Len’s Federal Gay, Lesbian, or Bisexual (GLB) Employees, a government-wide organization representing GLB federal employees with chapters at many agencies, that brought me to meet Len at the Smithsonian in 1992. (Transgender employees were not initially included.) I was an economist at the U.S. Department of Agriculture. USDA is located across Independence Avenue from the Smithsonian. I told Len I wanted to join the Federal GLOBE.

I related to Len that I had seen federal managers insult and ridicule GLB colleagues in government meetings and in the hallways of government buildings. Colleagues with AIDS were shunned as well as ridiculed. I shared my concerns with Len about how this GLB abuse and harassment created an unhealthy workplace for all personnel. He shared studies and statistics to support my concerns.

Len grew up in the New York borough of Queens. I was raised in Alabama. My dad, a Korean vet, served with Alabama’s Army National Guard from 1962 to 1967. President John F. Kennedy federalized my dad’s Guard Unit for the integration of the University of Alabama in 1963. Then-Gov. George C. Wallace defied Kennedy by physically barring the doors to the university’s registration office to prevent African-American students from entering. He moved aside by order from the National Guard.

In March 1965, President Lyndon Johnson federalized Alabama’s National Guard for “as long as necessary” for Nobel Peace Prize-recipient Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and hundreds of marchers to complete the third Selma to Montgomery march. These two historic social justice events had a major influence on my life.

During my youth, I saw Black Americans insulted and ridiculed when they were in white-owned stores and on city streets. I never saw “Whites Only” signs at stores. It seemed that white business owners wanted Black customers so they could insult and ridicule them while profiting from them. It was a demented form of entertainment.

In Washington, I saw federal managers insult and ridicule their GLB colleagues. I also witnessed management laugh whenever a gay colleague’s name was mentioned. It seemed to me another demented form of entertainment, but this time in my federal workplace.

I told Len, whom I always called Dr. Hirsch, that my USDA workplace was sick with discrimination and harassment of GLB profes- sales@rivendellmedia.com, 212-242-6863

Dr. Hirsh told me that Federal GLOBE worked to change the federal workplace and prevent employment discrimination against GLB workers. I joined GLOBE to help in this much-needed work of ridding the federal workplace of discrimination based on sexual orientation. I eventually held a leadership role with GLOBE.

Meeting and working with Dr. Hirsch was one of the great experiences of my federal career. He understood that discrimination against GLB workers created hostile and unproductive workplaces. He had strategies for improving all federal agencies by organizing GLB federal employees to change discriminatory personnel policies. Dr. Hirsch was a brilliant man.

I spent many hours at Len’s office and at his residence working on GLOBE. He had a big office in his Dupont Circle residence that he shared with his partner, Kristian.

Dr. Hirsch’s federal accomplishments were many. He also made huge strides in working to create a more diverse, equitable, and inclusive federal workplace for GLB employees.

Federal GLOBE had a tense situation in July 1994 when thenSen. Jesse Helms attacked me in a Senate speech. I had given a speech at a Crystal City conference that enraged Helms. Helms’s hate speech where he called me and my GLB federal colleagues “perverts” is captured on C-SPAN and in the pages of The Congressional Record for the Senate, July 19, 1994.

After 1995, my career and relationships took me on different paths. I left the Washington area. I corresponded with Dr. Hirsch on LGBT issues.

The last time I saw Dr. Hirsch was at the May 2014 White House ceremony for the unveiling of the Harvey Milk Forever Stamp issued by the U.S. Postal Service. I noticed him as I walked past him seated in the audience. His appearance had changed over 20 years.

When I greeted him, Dr. Hirsch grimaced as he rose from his seat. He explained he had a back injury. We talked about old times and old battles working to end discrimination against GLB federal workers.

At the time of our meeting, I was working in San Francisco. I told Dr. Hirsch I was scheduled to return to Washington. We looked forward to renewing our friendship.

I returned to Washington, D.C. in late 2015. Dr. Hirsch died during Pride month of that year. While we never got to renew our friendship, I have great memories of our work together. I would have never met Dr. Hirsch had it not been for our common interest in fighting discrimination against federal workers. I am forever grateful to have worked with Dr. Len Hirsch. Rest in Pride, Dr. Hirsch!

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PETER ROSENSTEIN

is a longtime LGBTQ rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

Is being LGBTQ enough to earn your vote?

We need to know in detail what a candidate will do if elected

My answer to the question: “Is being LGBTQ enough to earn your vote?” is no. It’s the same answer I would give on whether just being Generation X, a millennial, a woman, or other minority, is enough to get my vote. We need to know in detail what a candidate stands for, what they have done prior to running for the office they are seeking, and what they will do better than their opponents. I often ask a candidate looking for my support, “What are the first three bills you will introduce if you win?” Then I ask what they think they can accomplish better than their opponents. Voters should look at the entire field to decide who gets their vote.

I am talking about a Democratic primary. In the general election, any Democrat is better than today’s Republicans. Ranked choice voting, which I oppose, can also complicate your choices.

Once I know a candidate’s record of accomplishments, and thoughts on issues of importance to me, I then compare that to their opponent’s record and thoughts. Too often today candidates run without telling us what they will do once elected. As a policy wonk I want to know this prior to endorsing someone. I do recognize for many voters, it doesn’t matter.

I remember when Barney Frank once used this quote speaking to the LGBTQ community, “If we aren’t at the table we will be on the menu.” In some ways, and in some situations, that is still true. In others, we have moved beyond that. In the United States Congress today, there are 13 members of the LGBTQ community, 11 in the House and two in the Senate. There are approximately 200 members of the Equality Caucus representing members who support the LGBTQ community. On June 21, 2023, they reintroduced the Equality Act, first introduced by Congresswoman Bella S. Abzug (D-N.Y.), who I worked for, in 1974. She was one of the leading allies fighting for then LGBT rights. I am not convinced one more member of the LGBTQ community in Congress would make a difference.

In the 2020 Democratic presidential primaries we had a very smart openly gay candidate, Pete Buttigieg. While I didn’t think he was ready to be president, I cochaired fundraisers for him fervently believing he represented the community well, and needed to be heard. I differentiated wanting him to be heard, and voting for him. Thankfully, we have some great organizations, like Victory Fund, whose mission is to both endorse, and raise funds, for LGBTQ candidates. While I strongly support their work, I don’t necessarily support each candidate they endorse. In today’s complex world I need to know more before I endorse a candidate.

Because we have in many ways moved the needle forward, despite some recent court decisions, there can be Democratic primaries today where an LGBTQ candidate is running against another LGBTQ candidate, or an African American, a Latino, an Asian, a person with a disability, or a woman. We know each community may have a stake in electing their person. So as informed voters, we need to move beyond ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, or sexual identity, to determine whom we will support.

We need to look at records and platforms. For me, a gay man, if all candidates support the Equality Act, full inclusion, and the full panoply of the LGBTQ community’s rights, along with having a record of speaking out on these issues, I will look at all of them equally. I want to know where they are on climate change, education, public safety, immigration, and a host of other issues that will make a difference in our world. If they are running for national office today, what do they think about support for Ukraine, and their views on our military readiness? At all levels of government what are their positions on voting rights, and a woman’s right to choose? Do they believe in, and will they stand up for, the separation of church and state? Others may make their decisions on a different set of issues. So, deciding whom to vote for today is complicated. I will endorse and vote for the person I think can make the most progress on the issues I care about.