Diego Sanchez Is Rep. Frank's New Legislative Advisor

December 18, 2008 by PamsHouseBlend

I was very surprised to hear the news that my friend Diego Sanchez is going to by Rep. Barney Frank's (D-MA) new Legislative Assistant -- a senior policy advisor to the congressman. Mr. Sanchez is going to be taking over for Joe Racalto at Rep. Frank's Washington DC Congressional office -- Sanchez's new workplace is going to be a congressional office in Washington DC's Labor Building.

As Rep. Frank's Legislative Assistant, Sanchez will be responsible for tracking LGBT, healthcare, veterans, and labor issues, as well as issues regarding the 2010 census. The confluence of LGBT issues and the 2010 census will be if or how LGBT couples are counted -- is the federal government going to count how many same sex couples' have formed domestic partnerships, civil unions, or marriages within states that recognize these unions? Are they going to count the children of these relationships in a way that reflects these children's legal parentage? Sanchez will be the one tracking this particular concern for Rep. Frank and our LGBT community, and working to see that our LGBT families are counted in a manner that accurately counts our families.

Just looking at his , there is just no doubt that Sanchez's 30-years of experience in Healthcare, HIV/AIDS, press relations, communications, and LGBT issues, as well as his experience as being on the DNC Platform Committee and an At-Large Delegate at last year's Democratic National Convention, shows that he's extremely well qualified for his new position.

So why report on this new hire in Rep. Frank's Office? Well, not only is Diego Sanchez a well-qualified candidate applying for a congressional job, but Sanchez is also Latino; Sanchez is also a transman. As a transman, he'll be the first out trans person to ever work as a senior staffer in a DC congressional office.

And, Diego Sanchez's hire by Rep. Frank not only breaks the DC congressional office barrier for trans people, but he breaks that barrier for trans people of color:

As a Latino, formerly as a Latina woman, and now as a transman, I've been a lot of 'firsts' but it doesn't make me token.  It makes me first to get a chance and it usually feels tardy, for me and many others who are capable but don't get a shot.
--Diego Sanchez

Perhaps surprisingly, Sanchez isn't the first trans person to ever work as senior staff for a congressperson. Sen. Norm Coleman (R-MN) has employed Susan Kimberly as his Chief of Staff in his home district office.

[More below the fold.]
When I contacted Sanchez about what his hire by Congressman Frank meant, he responded that "Rep. Frank considers people on their qualifications, and he hires without discrimination." Now that's exciting to hear.

Well, Diego Sanchez's hire by Rep. Frank means more than Rep. Frank hires without discrimination to me. Besides sending a nondiscrimination message to his staff, Rep. Frank has given to my community a representative to Congress. Sanchez will no doubt send the message to congresspeople that trans people can be capable workers just like members of other minority groups and other protected classes. He also sends a pointed message that employment nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people -- such as with ENDA -- really is about giving equal employment opportunity to qualified job candidates, and not about restricting the free speech of conservative Christians.

This hiring action breathes a depth of meaning into Rep. Frank's recent words regarding federal employment and Diane Schroer's courthouse win in a way that means a hell of a lot to me, and no doubt will mean a lot to many of my trans peers. Rep. Frank didn't just speak the equal opportunity words -- he engaged in a visible, parallel action that says the words are more than words. If one is the best qualified, then one should get the job.

When I spoke to Sanchez on Tuesday night, I believe the thing that impressed me about him the most was his personal take on the Matthew Shepard act. Besides the obvious benefit of putting federal resources in the hands of local law enforcement agencies when LGBT people are the victims of bias crimes, Sanchez  also sees hate crime legislation as a way to introduce people and issues to those who aren't completely comfortable with LGBT people.

And also, if it were up to Sanchez, he would rename the act the Matthew Shepard/Gwen Araujo Act. I hope Sanchez actually pushes for that -- In my mind that would go a long way to symbolically making hate crime legislation about the broad LGBT community, and point to the wider intersections of where race, gender, gender identity and expression, and sexual orientation coalesce into crimes motivated hate against individuals that belong to multiple minority groups and already recognized protected classes. In other words, renaming the act to the Matthew Shepard/Gwen Araujo Act would be the diversity awareness thing to do.

Honestly, I'm quite pleased at this development. I don't expect miracles to happen with regards to federal gender identity and expression inclusive legislation because of this hire, nor do I expect Rep. Frank to completely embrace a fully inclusive ENDA just because he hired a Latino transman. However, my trans peers and I, as well as the broader LGBT community and our allies, can find progress and hope within Rep. Frank's hiring of Diego Sanchez. If nothing else, it's a strong statement about Sanchez's qualifications, as well as about Rep. Frank's commitment to equal employment opportunity -- at least within the federal workplace.

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Photo of Diego Sanchez and Barney Frank by Bryan Parsons.

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Different takes on this story in PHB diaries:
* Marti Abernathey's Diego Sanchez Named Senior Legislative Adviser To Barney Frank
* Diana CT's Diego Sanchez joins Congressman Barney Frank's DC Legislative Staff

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Further reading:
* Bay Windows: Mr. Sanchez goes to Washington

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