Monthly Archives: March 2012

How Fort Worth’s Robert Pitman went from student body president at Abilene Christian to openly gay U.S. attorney for Texas’ Western District

SURPRISING NOMINATION | Despite his sexual orientation, Robert Pitman was nominated for U.S. attorney by anti-gay Texas Republican Sens. Kay Bailey Hutchison and John Cornyn. (Shea Carley/The Daily Texan)

ANNA WAUGH  |  Staff Writer

AUSTIN — Although Robert Pitman found the freedom to be himself while attending law school and eventually came out publicly while a federal prosecutor, he never thought his list of accomplishments would include becoming the first openly gay man to be appointed U.S. attorney.

Pitman was named U.S. attorney for the Western District of Texas in June 2011 by President Barack Obama after being nominated by Republican Texas Sens. John Cornyn and Kay Bailey

Hutchison. He took office in October after serving as a U.S. magistrate judge since October 2003.

As U.S. attorney, Pitman is among the four Texas U.S. attorneys and 93 U.S. attorneys nationally that serve as chief federal law enforcement officer in their districts.

Growing up in Fort Worth in a Christian household, Pitman was the youngest of five children. His father, a pharmaceutical salesman, and his stay-at-home mother raised him in the

Church of Christ, and he later attended Abilene Christian University.

“I was aware of my sexual orientation from early in life, but because of the culture in which I was raised, it took me a bit longer than it would otherwise have for me to come out,” he said.

Although he thrived at Abilene Christian, eventually serving as student body president, he said it wasn’t until he attended law school at the University of Texas in Austin that he truly found widespread acceptance for his sexuality.

“I really had a wonderful experience there,” Pitman said. “Unfortunately, it [Abilene Christian] was not a place that welcomed gay and lesbian people, and so it wasn’t until I went to law school at the University of Texas that I was really able to feel safe in coming out.”

Attending UT was “an easy choice,” for Pitman because of the law school’s reputation and his love for Austin, but the first spark of passion for law was in high school.

COWTOWN ROOTS | Pitman, shown with a friend’s daughter, says he holds onto ‘part of my Fort Worth heritage.’ He has a small farm outside of Austin where he escapes on weekends to ride his two horses.

Pitman joined the Youth and Government organization in high school and won a state competition, sending him to compete nationally. The excitement drove him toward the profession, giving him the “first indication that I was interested in law and was pretty focused on that from that time on.”

At UT he found himself surrounded by open-minded people, but his upbringing made him hesitate to come out.

After law school, Pitman returned to Fort Worth to work for U.S. District Judge David O. Belew Jr. A year later, he went back to Austin to work at a law firm, but he still holds onto “part of my Fort Worth heritage.” He has a small farm outside of Austin where he escapes on weekends to ride his two horses.

Pitman joined the U.S. attorney’s office in 1990 as assistant U.S. attorney, serving as deputy U.S. attorney before his appointment to U.S magistrate judge in 2003.

During his first stint as a federal prosecutor, Pitman said he valued the cases that brought justice to the victims. He enjoyed his work and thrived. But his sexuality, which he tried to keep separate from his work, eventually became something he needed to address.

“I never went out of the way to be closeted,” he said. “I think I simply regarded it as something that didn’t really have anything to do with my job, so early on I sort of kept the two separate, and then I realized it was more effort to do that than to simply be open about it.”

Coming out to colleagues was difficult for Pitman because law enforcement officials tend to have more conservative opinions, he said. However, they also experience many different people and situations on the job, and he’s had “very few negative reactions.”

Pitman credits his sexuality with making him more independent and stronger, as well as sensitive to people who may have faced discrimination.

“I think that being gay has given me, in the end, helpful perspectives in doing my job,” he said.

Pitman’s openness about being gay never held him back from advancing in his career.

While serving as deputy U.S. attorney, he was court-appointed as interim U.S. attorney in 2001. One of the main focuses of his job was to detect and protect against issues of national security, and Pitman said he learned a lot from the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

They taught him what to look for in potential future attacks and also spurred his involvement in forming the first anti-terrorism task forces in his district.

The Western District of Texas is one of the largest in the country and includes three of the five largest cities in the state, with 68 counties from El Paso to Austin.

The headquarters is San Antonio, but Pitman lives in Austin, frequenting the branch office there more often than the other eight.

Pitman is one of four openly gay U.S. attorneys, with lesbians serving in the position in Washington, North Carolina and California.

He is the first gay man to receive the appointment and the first LGBT person in Texas to hold the post, a fact that made his nomination controversial.

The support of Pitman from two Texas senators with anti-gay voting records was a surprise, but Pitman said “they clearly looked at my qualifications” to support him.

The controversy over the nomination spurred both senators to issue statements in support of their decision, commending Pitman as a person, prosecutor and judge aside from his sexuality.

Relying on his hard work and reputation to stand out for himself, Pitman said his strategy has always been to not “give people an opportunity to use [sexuality] against you.”

It’s a strategy that’s carried him forward in life and something he continues to pass on to other LGBT people, finding encouragement in his advancement and how progressive the nation and Texas have become.

“I think the encouraging thing is that we’re in a point in history where if you just work hard and show yourself to be reliable and effective, then what used to be limitations, really no longer are,” he said.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 30, 2012.

—  Michael Stephens

NY comptroller argues Irving-based company is violating marriage law

PUMPED UP | LGBT?protesters gathered outside Exxon’s shareholder meeting in Dallas in 2010.

DAVID TAFFET  |  Staff Writer

IRVING — Since the merger of Exxon and Mobil in 1999, shareholders have offered resolutions every year to add sexual orientation to the company’s employment nondiscrimination policy.

This year, New York State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli wants the company to not only amend the policy but also to begin offering health benefits to the spouses of employees married in the Empire State.

He said by not doing so Exxon is violating New York’s new marriage equality law.

DiNapoli has submitted the resolution for several years on behalf of the ExxonMobil shares the state holds in its employee pension funds. DiNapoli’s proposal has been voted down at the shareholders meeting held each year at the Meyerson Symphony Center in downtown Dallas. However, the percentage of shareholders voting for the nondiscrimination amendment has steadily risen and topped 30 percent last year. This year’s shareholders meeting is set for May 30.

“ExxonMobil claims it does not have discriminatory policies, but it continues to deny health benefits to same-sex couples who are married in New York State that are automatically given to married couples,” DiNapoli said.

Mobil was one of the earliest Fortune 500 companies to include sexual orientation in its nondiscrimination policy and offer partner health benefits. But after Exxon and Mobil merged, those rights and benefits were taken away, one of the only times that’s happened at a Fortune 500 company. This year, rather than allowing the resolution to be introduced at the meeting, recommending a no vote and expecting a majority of shareholders to sink the proposition, ExxonMobil went to the Securities and Exchange Commission to try to block it.

ExxonMobil based its complaint to the SEC on a statement added to its Corporate Careers publication. The company added a statement to its Employee Policies and Practices page in the publication that reads: “Any form of discrimination by or toward employees, contractors, suppliers, and customers in any ExxonMobil workplace is strictly prohibited. Our global, zero-tolerance policy applies to all forms of discrimination, including discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.”

But the SEC wasn’t impressed, saying the publication doesn’t carry the same weight as a formal nondiscrimination policy.

The federal agency ruled, “Based on the information you have presented, it appears that ExxonMobil’s policies, practices, and procedures do not compare favorably with the guidelines of the proposal and that ExxonMobil has not, therefore, substantially implemented the proposal.”

For three years, DiNapoli has introduced a shareholder proposal, but as a result of the passage of marriage equality in New York last year, his arguments are strengthened.

In countries with marriage equality, ExxonMobil offers benefits to the same-sex partners of employees. In the U.S., it recognizes only heterosexual spouses.

In an email to Dallas Voice, DiNapoli said Exxon’s policy is “in conflict with anti-discrimination and marriage equality statutes in New York State.”

“By law we have to have a representative introduce the resolution,” DiNapoli’s press secretary Eric Sumberg said, “so there will be a representative of the New York State Common

Retirement Fund at the meeting.”

Over the last three years, DiNapoli has been successful in negotiating nondiscrimination policies with 27 other companies. This year, he filed shareholder resolutions with 12 Fortune 500 companies. Of those, he reached agreement with eight, including Dollar General, Dresser-Rand Group Inc. and Equifax, and withdrew those proposals.

In the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index, ExxonMobil has consistently received a score of zero. This year, for the first time, the company received a negative score.

Exxon Mobil was one of only three companies in the CEI that lost points for actively engaging in activity that undermines LGBT equality, based on the company’s decision to rescind Mobil’s policies.

Of the ExxonMobil board members who are corporate CEOs, three represent companies with a CEI score of 100 percent, two with a 90 percent and two with an 85 percent. Only one comes from a company — Nestle — with a rating of 45 percent. But all have basic nondiscrimination protections.

HRC spokesman Michael Cole-Schwartz said, “Their intransigence is simply inexplicable.”

Resource Center Dallas’ Communications and Advocacy Manager Rafael McDonnell said, “Exxon is going to have to add these protections.”

He said if President Barack Obama signs an executive order mandating federal contractors include sexual orientation and gender identity in their nondiscrimination policies, ExxonMobil would be forced to comply. Exxon has more than $1 billion in federal contracts annually.

Meanwhile, although ExxonMobil has refused to provide protections for its LGBT employees, its employees have been generous to Dallas AIDS and LGBT organizations.

During the company’s first Employees’ Favorite Charities Campaign, employees and retirees raised $1.6 million for 127 Dallas-Fort Worth non-profit organizations. Among those were AIDS Arms, AIDS Outreach Center and Resource Center Dallas. Other LGBT-friendly organizations that benefited from the employee campaign were Planned Parenthood of North Texas, Hope Cottage, Human Rights Initiative of North Texas and Gilda’s Club of North Texas. Vogel Alcove, a daycare facility for children of the homeless, was co-founded by the LGBT Congregation Beth El Binah.

Few anti-LGBT groups were on the list. The notable exception was the Irving-based Boy Scouts of America, which took a case to the Supreme Court to preserve their right to discriminate.

ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson serves on the Boy Scouts board of directors.

So while the company won’t cover health benefits for same-sex spouses of its employees, it will be matching funds to HIV/AIDS and LGBT organizations. And those funds will cover health exams for people without other insurance at places like AIDS Arms’ Trinity Health and Wellness Clinic and dental exams at the Nelson Tebedo Clinic and gynecological exams at Planned

Parenthood. Unless DiNapoli prevails, ExxonMobil’s employees’ families may have to seek out treatment at these facilities that the company is helping to fund.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 30, 2012.

—  Michael Stephens

Fort Worth’s AIDS Outreach Center renames event ‘Dash for Hope’ and adds 5K run to mark anniversary

SETTING?THE?PACE? | Participants cross the finish line in AIDS?Outreach Center’s annual fundraising walk in 2011. This year, the event has added a 5K run and hopes to attract an additional 200 participants.

ANNA WAUGH  |  Staff Writer

FORT WORTH — Michelle Barefield has braved freezing temperatures and rain with the AIDS Outreach Center’s annual walk for 19 years to bring people one thing: hope.

Director of outreach and prevention services, Barefield has worked for AOC since the late ’80s. She started out as a volunteer and became a full-time employee, serving on the planning committee for the annual AIDS walk several times.

This year is the 20th anniversary of the walk, which is an official 5K with the addition of a run this year. The name is also different, Dash for Hope, taking on an encouraging slogan for the future.

Barefield said the walk started small two decades ago. Now, the run has about 600 participants, planning committee co-chair Cheryl McDonald said.

Attendance of about 800 is expected with the addition of the run this year.

“Because we’ve added the run, that’s a different dimension and a different group of people that would come out for that,” McDonald said. “That’s a whole new arena for us.”

The 5K walk and run are Sunday, April 1, at Trinity Park pavilion on West Seventh Street in Fort Worth.

While the planning committee could change the name of the event again next year, McDonald said the positive outlook with the name may make it stick in the future.

“There’s a lot of excitement about the addition of a run that really seems to be generating a lot of enthusiasm, so I think given that we’d probably keep the name,” she said.

While AOC wanted to create a way to make to annual walk bigger and draw more participation with the run, McDonald said the change was also in honor of the anniversary.

“We really wanted to sort of celebrate this in a different way because this was the 20th anniversary, and it’s always such a great event and we wanted to bring even more energy to it,” she said.

The event is the center’s largest fundraiser and brings in about $100,000 each year. However, the proceeds have dwindled about 40 percent since 2006, Development and

Marketing Director Jim Downing wrote in an email.

Barefield said she thought her job would no longer be needed in 1995 after the advent of antiretroviral medication. But the need for her and the services of AOC have only increased.

“One of the things that we are seeing is that people are living longer and their life expectancy can be the same as anybody else’s if they take the medication,” she said, adding that what people really need sometimes is a hopeful outlook. “The thing people needed the most that didn’t have was hope. What we do is we help people with hope everyday.”

Barefield said she wants the event to attract more walkers and especially runners to remind people that AIDS still impacts many people in their community that need the medication and support AOC provides.

“The difference between people who make it with HIV and those that don’t is hope,” Barefield said.

………………….

Dash to the finish­

Dash for Hope is at Trinity Park in Fort Worth from 1-5 p.m. Sunday, April 1. Registration for the Dash for Hope is $30 before the event and $35 the day of the event. For more information or to register, visit www.firstgiving.com/aocwalk.

This article appeared in the Dallas Voice print edition March 30, 2012.

—  Michael Stephens