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

activist Activism 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 common good. Forms of activism range from mandate build ...

who was the first openly gay deputy director in the

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...

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 an ...

. He is currently the executive director of

PFLAG Parents and Friends of Lesbians and Gays (PFLAG) is an LGBTQ advocacy organization founded and led by friends and family of LGBTQ people. PFLAG is a national organization presiding over decentralized local and regional chapters. PFLAG has nearly ...

Personal life

Bond was born and grew up in rural

Missouri Missouri (''see #Etymology and pronunciation, pronunciation'') is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking List of U.S. states and territories by area, 21st in land area, it border ...

, the son of Skip Bond, a business manager for a

pipefitter A pipefitter or steamfitter is a tradesman who installs, assembles, fabricates, maintains, and repairs mechanical piping systems. Pipefitters usually begin as helpers or apprentices. Journeyman pipefitters deal with industrial/commercial/marine ...

local union A local union (often shortened to local), in North America, or union branch (known as a lodge in some unions), in the United Kingdom and other countries, is a local branch (or chapter) of a usually national trade union. The terms used for sub-bran ...

, 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 Webb City High School (or WCHS) is a public high school located in Webb City, Missouri, founded in 1877. The school serves students in grades 9 through 12 and is the only traditional high school in the School District of Webb City R-7. Webb City ...

in Jasper County,

, 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, United States. Founded in 1905 as the Fourth District Normal School, it is the state's second-largest u ...

Springfield, Missouri Springfield is the List of cities in Missouri, third most populous city in the U.S. state of Missouri and the county seat of Greene County, Missouri, Greene County. The city's population was 169,176 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 censu ...

. Bond discovered in his early thirties that he was

HIV The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...

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 Melvin Eugene Carnahan (February 11, 1934 – October 16, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 51st governor of Missouri from 1993 until his death in 2000. Carnahan was a Democrat and held various positions in governm ...

's state treasurer race in 1980,

Bob Holden Robert Lee Holden Jr. (born August 24, 1949) is an American politician who served as the 53rd governor of Missouri from 2001 to 2005. A member of the Democratic Party, he previously served as the Missouri state treasurer from 1993 to 2001 an ...

's state representative race in 1982,

Ike Skelton Isaac Newton Skelton IV (December 20, 1931 – October 28, 2013) was an American politician and lawyer who served as the U.S. representative for from 1977 to 2011. During his tenure, he served as the chairman of the House Armed Services Committ ...

's congressional race in 1984,

's state treasurer race in 1988 and Vince Schoemehl's 1989 mayoral race in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. At age 30, Bond was already field director of the

Missouri Democratic Party The Missouri Democratic Party is the affiliate of the Democratic Party in the U.S. state of Missouri. Its chair is Russ Carnahan, the vice chair is Yvonne Reeves-Chong, the treasurer is Glenda Bainbridge, and the secretary is Joshua Dunne. ...

'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 principal executive leadership board of the United States's Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party. According to the party charter, it has "general responsibility for the affairs of the ...

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

In 1997, Bond was hired as executive director of the

Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund LGBTQ+ Victory Fund (formerly the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund and LGBTQ Victory Fund), commonly shortened to Victory Fund, is an American political action committee dedicated to increasing the number of out LGBTQ+ public officials in the United ...

to rebuild the nearly-bankrupt organization. He is credited by

Tammy Baldwin Tammy Suzanne Green Baldwin (born February 11, 1962) is an American politician and lawyer serving since 2013 as the Seniority in the United States Senate, junior United States senator from Wisconsin. A member of the Democratic Party (United Stat ...

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 Howard Brush Dean III (born November 17, 1948) is an American physician, author, consultant, and retired politician who served as the 79th governor of Vermont from 1991 to 2003 and chair of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) from 2005 to 20 ...

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 Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. It borders on Lake Michigan to its northeast, the Mississippi River to its west, and the Wabash River, Wabash and Ohio River, Ohio rivers to its ...

. 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 (magazine), ''The Advocate'' (magazine), an LGBT magazine based in the United States * ''The Harvard Advocate' ...

magazine announced that Bond would be named deputy director of the White House

Office of Public Liaison The White House Office of Public Liaison (OPL) is a unit of the White House Office within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. Under President Barack Obama, it was renamed to the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovernm ...

under

Tina Tchen Christina M. "Tina" 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. Early life and education Tchen was born in Columbus, Ohio, ...

, as confirmed by the transition team of then-President-elect

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II (born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who was the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party, he was the first African American president in American history. O ...

. 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 The Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) was a United States federal law passed by the 104th United States Congress and signed into law by President Bill Clinton on September 21, 1996. It banned federal recognition of same-sex marriage by limitin ...

, 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 18 ...

in Philadelphia. In January 2019, Bond was named executive director of the LGBT advocacy organization

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 LGBTQ rights activists LGBTQ people from Missouri Activists from Missouri