James C. Hormel
James Catherwood Hormel | |
|---|---|
| United States Ambassador to Luxembourg | |
| In office June 29, 1999 – 2001 | |
| President | Bill Clinton |
| Preceded by | Clay Constantinou |
| Succeeded by | Gerald J. Loftus Chargé d'Affairs ad interim |
| Personal details | |
| Born | January 1, 1933 Austin, Minnesota |
| Political party | Democratic |
| Profession | Philanthropist |
James Catherwood Hormel (born January, 1933 in Austin, Minnesota) is an American philanthropist and grandson of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods (producers of SPAM and other meat products).
Hormel earned a B.A. in history (1955) from Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania and a law degree (1958) from the University of Chicago Law School where he later served as Dean of Students and Director of Admission. He was a member of the 1995 United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the 1996 U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, and the boards of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the American Foundation for AIDS Research. He was appointed United States Ambassador to Luxembourg by President Bill Clinton in 1999. When he was appointed through a recess appointment, he became the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador.
The James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library is the gateway to collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgendered (LGBT) history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area. He has participated in numerous events, including a conference organized in 2004 by Amnesty International in the frame of the Geneva Gay Pride.
Ambassadorship
President Bill Clinton, in 1994 considered Hormel for an ambassadorship to Fiji, an island nation in the South Pacific Ocean, but did not put forth the nomination due to protests from Fiji officials.[1] Gay male sexual acts were punishable with prison sentences in Fiji and Hormel's being open about his sexuality would stand in conflict with culture. Instead Hormel was named as part of the United Nations delegation from the US to the Human Rights Commission in 1995, and in 1996 became an alternate for the United Nations General Assembly.[1] In October 1997 Clinton nominated Hormel to be ambassador to Luxembourg which had removed laws prohibiting consensual same-sex acts between adults in the 1800s.[1][2] This appointment was the first ever nomination or appointment of an openly LGBT person from the US.[1]
The Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination with only Republican and conservative Senators Jesse Helms and John Ashcroft opposed. Three other Republicans, James Inhofe, Tim Hutchinson, and Robert C. Smith, with the urging of religious and social conservatives campaigned vigorously against Hormel's nomination. Trent Lott, the Republican Majority Leader worked to block the vote and publicly called homosexuality a sin and compared it to alcoholism and kleptomania.[1] Christian-based conservative groups like the Traditional Values Coalition (TVC) and the Family Research Council (FRC) publicly accused Hormel of being pro-pornography and anti-Catholic and the Senators presented those charges to derail the nomination.[3] They asserted that Hormel would be rejected in the largely Catholic Luxembourg. To support the pornography allegation, a list of materials in the Hormel collection at the San Francisco Public Library was compiled by the TVC; it was later pointed out that the same works were also in the Library of Congress.[3] The anti-Catholic allegation stemmed from a 1996 San Francisco Pride parade television interview where he was seen laughing at the same time the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group that pokes fun at religious conventions, walked by.[4] Although it was unclear why he was laughing, Christian right conservative group FRC distributed video tapes to the entire Senate of the brief event.[5]
Concerns about Hormel's reception in Luxembourg were "blunted when officials of the country, which has laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation, indicated that he would be welcome."[6][7] Senator Alphonse D'Amato of New York found the homophobic obstruction of the nomination an embarrassment and urged that Trent Lott bring the issue up for a vote.[8][9] When Lott continued to stall, Clinton employed a recess appointment in May 1999. Hormel was sworn in as ambassador in June 1999.
Personal life
Hormel has five children, fourteen grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren. He lives in San Francisco, California with his partner, Michael P. Nguyen. Mr. Nguyen is also an alumnus of Swarthmore College, class of 2008.
References
- ^ a b c d e Gay and lesbian Americans and political participation: a reference handbook Raymond A. Smith, Donald P. Haider-Markel; 2002; ISBN 1576072568, 9781576072561.
- ^ Homophobia: A History Byrne R. S. Fone; Macmillan, 2001, ISBN 0312420307, 9780312420307.
- ^ a b Defending pornography: free speech, sex, and the fight for women's rights Nadine Strossen; NYU Press, 2000; ISBN 0814781497, 9780814781494.
- ^ Congressional Record—Senate S979 1 February 2001.
- ^ Curtis, Kim. "Gay Philanthropist's Appointment as Envoy Causes Controversy." Seattle Times (June 6, 1999): A15.
- ^ Hormel, James C. Rapp, Linda, Claude J. Summers editor; glbtq: An Encyclopedia of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender, and Queer Culture, March 1, 2004. Accessed, 6 April 2009.
- ^ Kupfer, Peter. "After a Diplomatic Silence, the Gay Ambassador Speaks; James Hormel Responds to His Vociferous Critics." Washington Post (June 20, 2001): C1.
- ^ Leahy, Patrick (29 January 2001). "Floor Statement on the Nomination of John Ashcroft to the Office of Attorney General". Senator Patrick Leahy. Retrieved 2008-07-07.
- ^ Nichols, Jack (22 June 1998). "Republican Demagogue: 'Ambassadors Shouldn't Be (Immoral) Gays!': Senator Don Nickles (R.-Okla) Steps Up Declared War on U.S. Gays: Franklin Kameny on Nickles: 'He's a Two Bit Little Public Servant!'". Gay Today. Retrieved 2008-07-07.