Equal Rep: Fred Hochberg for Commerce Secretary!

Fred Hochberg is extremely qualified to be Commerce Secretary. Although he has been tapped to become Chair of the Export-Import Bank, he is only being vetted and he hasn't been confirmed yet. We believe that Mr. Hochberg would be better utilized as Commerce Secretary.

Hochberg has more than 25 years of experience in business, government, civil rights activities, and philanthropy. From 1998 through 2000, he served as deputy then acting administrator of the Small Business Administration (SBA), an agency elevated to cabinet rank by President Bill Clinton. He also served on President Clinton's Management Council.

Hochberg is also an Agency Review team leader on President-elect Obama's transition team. He has served on the boards of Playwrights Horizon, the Wolfsonian Art Museum, and on the Democratic National Committee. And he was appointed Dean of the Milano The New School for Management and Urban Policy in 2003.

From 1994 to 1998, Fred Hochberg worked as founder and president of Heyday Company, a private investment firm managing real estate, stock market investments, and venture capital projects. Prior to that, he was president and chief operating officer of the Lillian Vernon Corporation, where he led the transformation of a small family mail order company into a publicly traded direct marketing corporation.

Fred Hochberg also brings a lot to the table in terms of diversity. He would be the first EVER openly gay Cabinet member in the entire history of the United States. Mr. Hochberg is also Jewish.

ACTION FOR MARCH 4 - 6:
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STEP 1. Call Obama 202-456-1111
STEP 2. Email Obama: comments@whitehouse.gov
STEP 3: Repeat on Thursday and Friday.

(Secretary of GLBT Affairs) Urged by National Grassroots Group

Equal Rep is now putting on a follow-up national campaign to strongly urge President-elect Obama to create a new Cabinet position, Secretary of GLBT Affairs.

"We are the only minority group to have outright discriminatory laws against us. We can't marry in 48 states, if we join the military we are required to lie or hide our sexual orientation lest we be discharged, and we are denied all federal recognition that we even exist just to name a few laws. If ever there was a critical need for a new Cabinet position, this is it." said Equal Rep founder, Paul Sousa. "And on top of that, GLBT Americans are the only minority group to have never been appointed to the Presidential Cabinet in the history of the United States. We're asking President Obama to give this community the legal and political attention it requires and the representation it deserves."

There are other Cabinet positions that represent minority groups such as the Secretary of Veterans' Affairs and Equal Rep is asking President Obama to create another position similarly for the GLBT community. It is commonplace for Presidents to create Cabinet positions due to community needs such as the creation of the Secretary of Homeland Security position in 2001.

ACTION FOR JAN 26 - JAN 30: CALL & EMAIL DAILY:
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STEP 1. Call Obama: 202-456-1111
STEP 2. Email Obama: comments@whitehouse.gov
STEP 3. Repeat daily till Friday.

Call to Action: Appoint Out Lesbian As Secretary of Labor

So what are you up to next week on December 17-19? How about helping to shatter a glass ceiling? This week, EQUAL REP was formed calling on people across the nation to urge President-elect Obama to appoint Mary Beth Maxwell the next Secretary of Labor.

In more than 200 years, the United States States Cabinet has never included an openly gay member. Growing national focus on GLBT civil rights has therefore made the Secretary of Labor appointment a national issue in the struggle for equal representation.

Maxwell is being closely considered for the position and she is highly qualified. She is the founding Executive Director of American Rights at Work, a national advocacy organization launched in 2003 whose mission is to modernize and reform the labor laws of our nation to better meet the needs of 21st century employers and workers. She is a longtime activist for better collective bargaining rules and a big proponent of the Employee Free Choice Act. She's a vocal progressive and would make a fantastic Secretary of Labor.

In a short amount of time, Maxwell has also earned the endorsements of the AFL-CIO, Change to Win Federation, the CEO and President of American Income Life Insurance, and the Human Rights Campaign just to name a few.

"Not only is Mary Beth Maxwell highly qualified, but she is openly gay too which is icing on the cake," says Paul Sousa, EQUAL REP founder. "With 2008 being such a historic year for shattering glass ceilings, now is the time to shatter one more for gay Americans and equal representation."

Equal Rep is urging us to take 5 minutes: leave a phone message and an email for the President-elect. Tell Obama why this is important to you. Then forward this link to your friends and ask them to do the same. We need everyone to get involved to make a collective impact.

Phone Obama: 866.675.2008
Email Obama