Houston Mayor John Whitmire has dismissed members of the city’s LGBTQ Advisory Board following repeated efforts by one member to secure a meeting with him.
In a July 29 email to current and former board members, Scout Odegaard, the mayor’s senior adviser for boards and commissions, notified them that their service had ended effective immediately.
“All board members’ most recent terms expired in 2020, and many of you have either been serving in expired terms or have already stepped back,” Odegaard wrote. “We’ll now appoint a new slate that reflects a wide range of voices from Houston’s LGBTQ+ community.”
Tensions Over Access
The move followed public complaints by Jacques Bourgeois, the board’s former chair, who told ABC-13 on June 20 that he had repeatedly tried—and failed—to meet with Whitmire.
“It’s absolutely because I spoke up,” Bourgeois told the Houston Chronicle. “We were stuck waiting. If we can’t move with the mayor, we were moving against him.”
Whitmire, in a statement, described the board as “inactive” and said he regularly consults an “informal advisory group” from the LGBTQ+ community instead.
“Rather than maintain a large, inactive board, I’m appointing a smaller, more effective one,” he said. “I want to give new people a chance to serve. Some of those complaining haven’t accepted that I won the election and am getting things done for Houston.”
He added: “The former board wants to play politics. I don’t have time for politics.”
Timeline Disputed
Bourgeois said he reached out for a meeting five or six times since Whitmire took office, but only managed to speak with Odegaard. According to him, Odegaard indicated the board would be refreshed and that current members would have to reapply. He also said she interviewed about 50 people for the new board.
On July 16, board member David Maly emailed Odegaard asking if the board’s removal came in response to the ABC story. Odegaard replied that the decision was made in early June—before the story aired.
A spokesperson for the mayor said Odegaard had reached out to Bourgeois to discuss candidates for reappointment but didn’t hear back until interviews were nearly complete. Bourgeois, however, claimed she only contacted him once and that her email landed in his spam folder. He added that despite limited contact with the mayor, board members continued to meet, liaise with a city council staffer, and distribute a survey to gauge community needs.
While it’s typical for Houston’s mayors to replace boards and department heads from prior administrations, Bourgeois said the decision felt retaliatory.
“It’s disappointing to realize that speaking up leads to consequences,” he said.
A Legacy Altered
The LGBTQ Advisory Board was established by former Mayor Sylvester Turner after the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando that claimed 49 lives. Turner initially appointed 49 members in honor of the victims. The board’s current capacity is 23 members, per the city’s website.
The mayor’s office has not released a full list of new appointees. However, two former members will return. So far, the only confirmed new member is Clay Melder, Vice President at Amegy Bank, who previously chaired the bank’s LGBTQ+ Business Resource Group and served on the Montrose Center’s advisory board.
David Maly, one of the removed board members, criticized the decision in a statement.
“This shows the LGBTQIA+ community that you can participate—as long as you stay quiet,” he said. “The board was created by Mayor Turner to advocate for our community. At a time when federal policies and judicial actions threaten LGBTQIA+ rights, our advocacy is more important than ever.”
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