Brian Bond (born October 14, 1961) is an American LGBT rights

activist Activism (or Advocacy) consists of efforts to promote, impede, direct or intervene in social, political, economic or environmental reform with the desire to make changes in society toward a perceived greater good. Forms of activism range fro ...

who was the first openly gay deputy director in the White House

Office of Public Engagement The Office of Public Engagement (OPE) at the United States Department of Labor is an office under the direction of the Secretary of Labor. It works to advance the secretary's mission by making the department inclusive, transparent, accountable and ...

. He is currently the executive director of PFLAG.

Personal life

Bond was born and grew up in rural Missouri, the son of Skip Bond, a business manager for a pipefitter local union, and Donna Daly, a member of the Missouri Democratic State Committee. At age 16, he came out as gay to his priest. Bond graduated from Webb City High School in

Jasper County Jasper County is the name of eight counties in the United States of America. All are named in honor of Sergeant William Jasper, a hero of the Revolutionary War. Five counties share a boundary with a Newton County, named for John Newton John ...

, Missouri, and then earned a degree in Public Administration from

Missouri State University Missouri State University (MSU or MO State), formerly Southwest Missouri State University, is a public university in Springfield, Missouri. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second largest university by enr ...

in Springfield, Missouri. Bond discovered in his early thirties that he was HIV positive, and became an advocate for HIV education.

Political career

Bond got an early start on politics, serving in various paid and volunteer staff roles for Mel Carnahan's state treasurer race in 1980, Bob Holden's state representative race in 1982, Ike Skelton's congressional race in 1984, Bob Holden's state treasurer race in 1988 and Vince Schoemehl's 1989 mayoral race in St. Louis. At age 30, Bond was already field director of the Missouri Democratic Party's coordinated campaign for Clinton-Gore when he was tapped to lead the state party as its executive director in 1992. He would later be named director of LGBT outreach at the

Democratic National Committee The Democratic National Committee (DNC) is the governing body of the United States Democratic Party. The committee coordinates strategy to support Democratic Party candidates throughout the country for local, state, and national office, as well a ...

in Washington, D.C. In 1997, Bond was hired as executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund to rebuild the nearly-bankrupt organization. He is credited by Tammy Baldwin with helping grow the visibility and size of the organization. He left the organization in 2003. Bond was later hired by Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean to replace Donald Hitchcock as executive director of the DNC's Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council., and would eventually join Obama for America as National Constituency Director in Chicago, Illinois. In January 2009,

The Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. The Advocate, The Advocates or Advocate may also refer to: Magazines * ''The Advocate'' (LGBT magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States *''The Harvard Advocate'', a literary magazin ...

magazine announced that Bond would be named deputy director of the White House Office of Public Liaison under

Tina Tchen Christina M. Tchen (born January 25, 1956) is an American lawyer and a former official in the President Barack Obama Administration. She was CEO of Time's Up from 2019 to 2021, when she resigned following allegations that she provided legal aid ...

, as confirmed by the transition team of then-President-elect Barack Obama. In this role, he would serve in a managerial capacity for the office as well as serve a primary role on LGBT issues, and was ultimately central to discussions around LGBT issues in the Obama administration, including the administration's response to the Defense of Marriage Act, until his departure in 2011. Bond left the White House to rejoin the Democratic National Committee as Director of Constituency Outreach in August 2011. He later served as CEO for public engagement at the 2016

Democratic National Convention The Democratic National Convention (DNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1832 by the United States Democratic Party. They have been administered by the Democratic National Committee since the 1852 ...

in Philadelphia. In January 2019, Bond was named executive director of the LGBT advocacy organization PFLAG based in Washington, D.C.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Bond, Brian K. 1961 births Living people Activists from Washington, D.C. American nonprofit executives Obama administration personnel American LGBT rights activists LGBT people from Missouri Activists from Missouri