Richard Socarides is head of global corporate communications and government affairs for Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG). Previously, he led communications at New Line Cinema and has held other senior media jobs at Time Warner, AOL and in government and politics. He is also an American Democratic political strategist, writer for

The New Yorker ''The New Yorker'' is an American weekly magazine featuring journalism, commentary, criticism, essays, fiction, satire, cartoons, and poetry. Founded as a weekly in 1925, the magazine is published 47 times annually, with five of these issues ...

, TV commentator and a New York attorney. He was a

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adviser under United States President

Bill Clinton William Jefferson Clinton ( né Blythe III; born August 19, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 42nd president of the United States from 1993 to 2001. He previously served as governor of Arkansas from 1979 to 1981 and agai ...

from 1993 to 1999 in a variety of senior positions, including as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Adviser for Public Liaison. He worked on legal, policy and political issues and served as principal adviser to Clinton on gay and lesbian civil rights issues. Under Clinton, he was chief operating officer of the 50th Anniversary Summit of the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two No ...

(NATO). Socarides also worked as special assistant to Senator

Tom Harkin Thomas Richard Harkin (born November 19, 1939) is an American lawyer, author, and politician who served as a United States senator from Iowa from 1985 to 2015. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously was the U.S. representative for Io ...

(D-Iowa). Socarides has written extensively on political and legal topics in his regular column in

, as well as for

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, and

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. He is a frequent commentator on television. Socarides is a Trustee of the State University of New York (SUNY), appointed by Governor

Andrew Cuomo Andrew Mark Cuomo ( ; ; born December 6, 1957) is an American lawyer and politician who served as the 56th governor of New York from 2011 to 2021. A member of the Democratic Party, he was elected to the same position that his father, Mario Cu ...

and of

Antioch College Antioch College is a private liberal arts college in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Founded in 1850 by the Christian Connection, the college began operating in 1852 as a non-sectarian institution; politician and education reformer Horace Mann was its ...

, which he attended. Socarides, who is openly gay, was the founding president of Equality Matters in 2011. He is the son of Charles Socarides (1922–2005), a psychiatrist and psychoanalyst who was an outspoken critic of the

American Psychiatric Association The American Psychiatric Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychiatrists and trainee psychiatrists in the United States, and the largest psychiatric organization in the world. It has more than 37,000 members are involv ...

's 1973 decision to remove homosexuality from its list of mental disorders. In 1992 the elder Socarides co-founded

NARTH The National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), also known as the NARTH Institute, is a US organization that promotes conversion therapy, a pseudoscientific practice used in attempts to change the sexual orientation of pe ...

, in response to the

American Psychoanalytic Association The American Psychoanalytic Association (APsaA) is an association of psychoanalysts in the United States. APsaA serves as a scientific and professional organization with a focus on education, research, and membership development. APsaA comprises ...

's 1992 decision to change its position on homosexuality.

Biography

Socarides held senior positions in the media and entertainment sector and in government and law – as a media relations and communications executive, as a presidential adviser at the White House and as a partner in a New York City law firm.

Legal career

From 1984 to 1990, Socarides was an associate, then a partner, at the New York law firm of

Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent & Sheinfeld Squadron, Ellenoff, Plesent & Sheinfeld was a New York City-based law firm that practiced from 1970 to 2002 when it merged with Washington, D.C.-based Hogan & Hartson, when the Squadron Ellenoff name was discontinued. It was a prominent mid-sized f ...

. He graduated from Hofstra University School of Law and

. Socarides has served on a wide variety of non-profit boards, including those of organizations devoted to civil rights, historic preservation and urban renewal, music and philanthropy. Socarides served as Of Counsel to the New York law firm of Brady Klein & Weissman, from 2009 to 2013.

Political career

Socarides served on national political campaigns, as deputy director for Public Liaison for Clinton/Gore '96 and as Political Director and Senior Advisor for U.S. Senator Tom Harkin in 1991–92. He also served on

U.S. Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and pow ...

staff. From 1993 to 1999, Socarides worked as a White House advisor in a variety of senior positions. He served as Special Assistant to the President and Senior Advisor for Public Liaison and also as chief operating officer of the 50th Anniversary Summit of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). He coordinated communications and event strategy, policy and community outreach relating to key initiatives and represented the President and articulated administration policy in public appearances.

Corporate career

In 2000, Socarides was Senior Vice President at Robinson Lerer & Montgomery Strategic Communications, a New York consulting firm. He provided media relations, branding, marketing, public policy and crisis management advice to domestic and international Fortune 100 companies, principally in the media and entertainment sectors, including American Online, NBC and Bertelsmann, among others. Socarides served as vice president for Corporate Relations at

AOL Time Warner Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...

(now Time Warner), where he was a senior member of the executive team responsible for planning and positioning the company's corporate social responsibility strategy and its community outreach program. He also managed media relations and internal communications in support of these initiatives. During this same period, Socarides also served as Vice President of the AOL Time Warner Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the company, in which capacity he was responsible for building a brand franchise around the company's philanthropic initiatives and helping to oversee an annual budget of $20 million in corporate giving. As Senior Vice President at New Line Cinema and as head of its corporate communications department, Socarides was responsible for managing corporate press and media relations, as well as communications strategy and reputation management for the company and its senior executives. He was a member of the team that developed the

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment ind ...

campaign for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King''. It won 11 Oscars, tying the record for most ever, including Best Picture. Socarides was named Head of Public Affairs for Gerson Lehrman Group in August 2013.

Media portrayal

A portion of Socarides's time in the Clinton administration was portrayed by his (much) younger brother, Charles Socarides Jr., in the 2017

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an American commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the ABC Entertainment Group division of The Walt Disney Company. The network is headquartered in Burbank, Cali ...

docudrama miniseries ''

When We Rise ''When We Rise'' is an eight-part American docudrama miniseries about the history of LGBT rights advocacy in the United States from the 1970s to the 2010s. It was created by Dustin Lance Black and stars Guy Pearce, Rachel Griffiths, Mary-Loui ...

''.

Articles and opinion pieces

''Where's Our 'Fierce Advocate'?''
The Washington Post, May 2, 2009.
''Ask Obama About Don't Ask, Don't Tell: Gay voters are growing impatient for equality''
The Wall Street Journal, January 24, 2010.
''Obama Is Missing in Action on Gay Rights: Ted Olson is on the right side of history. When will the president step up?''
The Wall Street Journal, June 25, 2010.

Politico.com, August 18, 2010.

AmericaBlog.com, June 14, 2009.

HuffingtonPost.com, June 18, 2010.

HuffingtonPost.com, January 11, 2010.
''Why Equality Matters''
Equality Matters, December 19, 2010. * ; Book chapters *

References

Sources

* Bull, Chris (July 11, 1999), "His Public Domain, His Private Pain," ''

Washington Post ''The Washington Post'' (also known as the ''Post'' and, informally, ''WaPo'') is an American daily newspaper published in Washington, D.C. It is the most widely circulated newspaper within the Washington metropolitan area and has a large na ...

Magazine'', pp. 18 et seq.

External links

Equality Matters official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Socarides, Richard 1954 births Antioch College alumni Maurice A. Deane School of Law alumni Living people Place of birth missing (living people) American LGBT rights activists New York (state) lawyers American political consultants Clinton administration personnel American media critics American political writers American male non-fiction writers American gay writers Trustees of the State University of New York LGBT lawyers