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Attorney General Reverses Curbs On Gay Group at Justice Department
By Darryl Fears
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 5, 2008; A17
Five years after a gay advocacy group was told that it could no longer use
the e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms at the Justice Department,
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has reversed that decision and issued a
revised equal-employment-opportunity policy barring discrimination against
any group.
Mukasey informed leaders of DOJ Pride last week that the department would
give it the same rights as all other DOJ employee organizations, said the
group's president, Chris Hook. In a statement, Mukasey said the department
will "foster an environment in which diversity is valued, understood and
sought" and maintain "an environment that's free of discrimination."
DOJ Pride and its 110 members had been barred from holding an annual Gay and
Lesbian Pride Month celebration since 2003, when then-Attorney General John
D. Ashcroft told the group that the Bush administration observed an
unwritten policy of not sponsoring events without a presidential
proclamation, Hook said. The group also was told it could not post notices
of general meetings and events on department bulletin boards, he said.
The policy continued under Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, Hook
said.
"I do not know of any other employee-recognized groups that were denied
access under these same conditions," Hook said. As a result of "what some
would term a hostile environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
employees, the membership rolls have suffered."
"As you can imagine," he added, "it is difficult to let employees know of
the group's existence when they are not informed of it in official
department literature, or only through word of mouth." Hook said the group
had more than 200 members when the ban was handed down in 2003.
Under the Clinton administration, DOJ Pride had grown accustomed to more
freedom, holding its annual pride celebration in the Justice Department's
Great Hall. Under the Bush administration, the group was told it would have
to pay more than $2,000 to lease the space, including payments for security,
Hook said. Pride celebrations were instead held in small conference rooms
reserved by employees and group members.
Recently, when the group organized "DOJ Pride on Ice," a skating event, it
was barred from placing a notice on the bulletin board in the department's
headquarters building, Hook said. Other events such as meetings, forums and
brown-bag discussions also could not be posted, he said.
Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr declined to respond to the specific
allegations made by Hook. He said that Mukasey now will permit DOJ Pride to
use bulletin boards, easels and the department's e-mail system.
As far back as 2001, when conservative groups began to lobby against gay
pride events at the Justice Department, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) asked
Ashcroft in a Judiciary Committee hearing if he would give DOJ Pride the
same access to Justice Department facilities as other employee groups.
Ashcroft replied that it was not his intention "to discriminate against any
group that appropriately constituted in the Department of Justice."
Responding to written questions from Feingold, Ashcroft said he would not
change any policies or treat DOJ Pride differently.
After Mukasey took over the department late last year, the group wrote to
him to complain about its treatment. Hook said Mukasey met with group
leaders, signed the new policy that allowed bulletin board postings, and
agreed to host the pride celebration in one of the department's main halls.
"He has gone out of his way to ensure that the department has a new air of
inclusiveness and an open and welcoming environment for all employees," Hook
said.
By Darryl Fears
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, February 5, 2008; A17
Five years after a gay advocacy group was told that it could no longer use
the e-mail, bulletin boards and meeting rooms at the Justice Department,
Attorney General Michael B. Mukasey has reversed that decision and issued a
revised equal-employment-opportunity policy barring discrimination against
any group.
Mukasey informed leaders of DOJ Pride last week that the department would
give it the same rights as all other DOJ employee organizations, said the
group's president, Chris Hook. In a statement, Mukasey said the department
will "foster an environment in which diversity is valued, understood and
sought" and maintain "an environment that's free of discrimination."
DOJ Pride and its 110 members had been barred from holding an annual Gay and
Lesbian Pride Month celebration since 2003, when then-Attorney General John
D. Ashcroft told the group that the Bush administration observed an
unwritten policy of not sponsoring events without a presidential
proclamation, Hook said. The group also was told it could not post notices
of general meetings and events on department bulletin boards, he said.
The policy continued under Ashcroft's successor, Alberto R. Gonzales, Hook
said.
"I do not know of any other employee-recognized groups that were denied
access under these same conditions," Hook said. As a result of "what some
would term a hostile environment for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender
employees, the membership rolls have suffered."
"As you can imagine," he added, "it is difficult to let employees know of
the group's existence when they are not informed of it in official
department literature, or only through word of mouth." Hook said the group
had more than 200 members when the ban was handed down in 2003.
Under the Clinton administration, DOJ Pride had grown accustomed to more
freedom, holding its annual pride celebration in the Justice Department's
Great Hall. Under the Bush administration, the group was told it would have
to pay more than $2,000 to lease the space, including payments for security,
Hook said. Pride celebrations were instead held in small conference rooms
reserved by employees and group members.
Recently, when the group organized "DOJ Pride on Ice," a skating event, it
was barred from placing a notice on the bulletin board in the department's
headquarters building, Hook said. Other events such as meetings, forums and
brown-bag discussions also could not be posted, he said.
Justice Department spokesman Peter Carr declined to respond to the specific
allegations made by Hook. He said that Mukasey now will permit DOJ Pride to
use bulletin boards, easels and the department's e-mail system.
As far back as 2001, when conservative groups began to lobby against gay
pride events at the Justice Department, Sen. Russell Feingold (D-Wis.) asked
Ashcroft in a Judiciary Committee hearing if he would give DOJ Pride the
same access to Justice Department facilities as other employee groups.
Ashcroft replied that it was not his intention "to discriminate against any
group that appropriately constituted in the Department of Justice."
Responding to written questions from Feingold, Ashcroft said he would not
change any policies or treat DOJ Pride differently.
After Mukasey took over the department late last year, the group wrote to
him to complain about its treatment. Hook said Mukasey met with group
leaders, signed the new policy that allowed bulletin board postings, and
agreed to host the pride celebration in one of the department's main halls.
"He has gone out of his way to ensure that the department has a new air of
inclusiveness and an open and welcoming environment for all employees," Hook
said.
