The Human Rights Campaign, which lauded Buttigieg as ‘historic,’ suggested Bessent is a ‘threat’ to ‘LGBTQ+ people’
President-elect Donald Trump’s pick for Treasury secretary, Scott Bessent, is about to make history as the nation’s highest-ranking gay official. And yet America’s top LGBT groups, which celebrated the historic nature of Pete Buttigieg’s nomination as transportation secretary, a lower-ranking cabinet post, have remained tight-lipped about Bessent.
GLAAD, the Human Rights Campaign, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, and the National LGBTQ Task Force lauded Buttigieg’s nomination. He was the first openly gay cabinet member confirmed by the Senate, and GLAAD president Sarah Kate Ellis called it a “historic milestone for LGBTQ visibility.” The Human Rights Campaign praised the “historic confirmation” that “breaks through a barrier that has existed for too long.”
It’s a different story for Bessent, who, if confirmed, will be the highest-ranking openly gay person to serve in the federal government. The founder of the private investment firm Key Square Group who made a name for himself as George Soros’s chief investment officer, Bessent is expected to coast to confirmation in the Republican-held Senate next month.
As Treasury secretary, Bessent will be fifth in the line of presidential succession. Buttigieg is 14th. And yet his nomination has been met with radio silence by gay rights advocacy groups. It is a vivid example of how groups that claim to advocate for gay rights often themselves treat gay Republicans in a discriminatory manner.
GLAAD, the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute, and the National LGBTQ Task Force have said nothing about Bessent’s Nov. 22 nomination. The Human Rights Campaign issued a statement on the social media platform Threads but not on its website or on any other platform. The groups did not respond to requests for comment.
It was a different story for Biden administration officials.
GLAAD lauded Rachel Levine’s “historic” nomination to serve as deputy assistant secretary of health at the Department of Health and Human Services and maintains a database of people who have “misgendered” Levine as a man. Levine has used that position to promote controversial procedures for children, such as puberty blockers and sex-change procedures.
GLAAD savaged CNN when reporter Andrew Kaczynski resurfaced a 2019 American Civil Liberties Union questionnaire in which failed presidential candidate Kamala Harris expressed support for taxpayer-funded transgender surgeries for illegal immigrants. Ellis, the organization’s CEO, said it was “a disservice to viewers and inaccurate for CNN to insinuate there is something amiss” with Harris’s position.
“Transgender people and migrants are being baselessly scapegoated at every turn,” she added.
Other gay rights groups that have gone silent on Bessent celebrated the Biden administration’s nomination of lower-level gay officials.
The National LGBTQ Task Force said in a statement that it was “thrilled” Biden selected Levine. The organization also said it was “pleased” by Biden’s selection of Karine Jean-Pierre, a lesbian, to serve as deputy press secretary and Carlos Elizondo, who is gay, as White House social secretary. The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute praised the “groundbreaking” appointments of Levine and Sam Brinton, the former Department of Energy official who was repeatedly arrested for stealing women’s clothing at airports.
Only the Human Rights Campaign has acknowledged Bessent’s nomination, posting a statement on the social media platform Threads but not to its website or anywhere it might be seen by large numbers of people. The statement did not exactly celebrate Bessent’s nomination.
“The LGBTQ+ community is counting on openly LGBTQ+ nominees like Scott Bessent to step up for the community,” the group said. “It will be a tough road—as was proven [during] Donald Trump’s previous administration and in his Project 2025 Agenda.”
“Donald Trump and his White House are a threat to the rights, freedoms, and lives of LGBTQ+ people. That will be our focus in the upcoming days, months, and years ahead.”
HRC did not respond to a request for comment about why the statement was posted to Threads but nowhere else.
Even the mainstream media has acknowledged the historic nature of Bessent’s nomination. In a Dec. 10 profile, the New York Times—which noted that Bessent homeschools his two children with his husband, a former New York City prosecutor—wrote that the appointment would “place him fifth in line for the presidency, potentially the highest governmental position ever held by a gay person.” The Times also quoted the hostile Human Rights Campaign statement.
Several gay rights advocacy groups were similarly hostile to Richard Grenell, who made history when Trump selected him as acting director of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, a cabinet-level position.
The Human Rights Campaign, which calls for “equality for all,” referred to Grenell by the pejorative nickname “Gaslight Grenell.” GLAAD, which says it aims to “advance LGBTQ acceptance,” includes Grenell in its GLAAD Accountability Project, which tracks the “anti-LGBTQ rhetoric” of public figures.
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