Jim Hormel
Hormel in 2015
United States Ambassador to Luxembourg
In office September 8, 1999 – January 1, 2001
President	Bill Clinton
Preceded by	Clay Constantinou
Succeeded by	Gerald Loftus (acting)
Personal details
Born	James Catherwood Hormel (1933-01-01)January 1, 1933 Austin, Minnesota, U.S.
Died	August 13, 2021(2021-08-13) (aged 88) San Francisco, California, U.S.
Political party	Democratic
Spouse(s)	Alice Turner (divorced) Michael Nguyen Araque
Children	5
Parent	Jay Catherwood Hormel (father)
Relatives	Geordie Hormel (brother) George A. Hormel (grandfather)
Education	Swarthmore College (BA) University of Chicago (JD)

James Catherwood Hormel (January 1, 1933 – August 13, 2021) was an Americanphilanthropist,LGBT activist, diplomat, and heir to theHormel meatpacking fortune. He served as theUnited States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001, and was the first openlygay man to represent the United States as an ambassador.^[1]

Hormel was born inAustin, Minnesota. He is the grandson ofGeorge A. Hormel, founder ofHormel Foods. Hormel is the son of Germaine Dubois andJay Catherwood Hormel, who served as president ofHormel Foods. Hormel earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in history fromSwarthmore College and aJ.D. degree from theUniversity of Chicago Law School. After law school, Hormel served as the dean of students and director of admissions at theUniversity of Chicago Law School.^[2]

In 1994, PresidentBill Clinton considered Hormel for theambassadorship toFiji, but did not put the nomination forward due to objections from Fijian government officials.^[3] At the time,gay male sexual acts werepunishable with prison sentences in Fiji and Hormel's being open about his sexuality would stand in conflict with "Fijian culture". Instead, Hormel was named as part of theUnited Nations delegation from the United States to theHuman Rights Commission in 1995, and in 1996 became an alternate for theUnited Nations General Assembly.^[3]

In October 1997, Clinton nominated Hormel to be ambassador toLuxembourg, which had removed laws prohibiting consensualsame-sex acts between adults in the 1800s.^[3][4] This appointment was the first nomination or appointment of anopenly LGBT person from the United States.^[3] TheSenate Foreign Relations Committee approved his nomination with onlyRepublican and conservative SenatorsJesse Helms andJohn Ashcroft opposed. While his confirmation by the senate initially seemed certain,^[5] with only two senators—Tim Hutchinson andJames Inhofe—opposing the nomination, subsequent revelations about Hormel's background led to more opposition from Republican senators, leaving Hormel's nomination in limbo.^[6] Among the points of contention were:

• The James C. Hormel Gay and Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library, which Hormel funded, was found to containpornographic materials and documents published by the pro-pedophilia advocacy groupNAMBLA.^[5] Christian-based conservative groups like theTraditional Values Coalition (TVC) and theFamily Research Council (FRC) labelled Hormel as being pro-pornography, asserting that Hormel would be rejected in the largelyRoman Catholic Luxembourg.^[7] The Washington Post later wrote that much of the same material could also be found in theLibrary of Congress, and Hormel said that he had nothing to do with the selection.^[8]
• The FRC distributed video tapes^[9] of a television interview with Hormel at the 1996San Francisco Pride parade in which Hormel laughed at a joke about theSisters of Perpetual Indulgence, a group of men who dress in drag as nuns to mock religious conventions, as they passed by.^[8] TheCatholic League took this as an indication of approval of what they characterized as an anti-Catholic group.^[10] In a meeting with Tim Hutchinson, Hormel declined to repudiate the Sisters.^[6] In an interview years later, Hormel objected to the idea that the video clip showed that he approved of the group and that he was anti-Catholic.^[8]
• It was revealed that Hormel had contributed $12,000 to fund the production ofIt's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, a video aimed at teaching tolerance of homosexuality to grade-school students.^[5][6] This especially inflamed SenatorBob Smith of New Hampshire, who was portrayed unflatteringly in the film. Smith contended that he opposed Hormel not because he was gay but because of his "advocacy of the gay lifestyle".^[5]

Trent Lott, the Republicanmajority leader, worked to block the vote and publicly called homosexuality a sin and compared it toalcoholism andkleptomania.^[3]

Concerns about Hormel's reception in Luxembourg were "blunted when officials of the country, which has laws against discrimination based on sexual orientation, indicated that he would be welcome."^[11][12] SenatorAlfonse D'Amato of New York found the obstruction of the nomination an embarrassment and urged thatTrent Lott bring the issue up for a vote.^[13][14] When Lott continued to stall, Clinton employed arecess appointment on June 4, 1999. Hormel was sworn in as ambassador in June 1999. His partner at the time, Timothy Wu, held theBible during the ceremony.^{[15][16][17][18]} Also in attendance were Hormel's former wife, his five children, and several of his grandchildren.The treatment of his nomination was referenced byPete Buttigieg during his acceptance speech for his nomination asSecretary of Transportation on December 16, 2020.^[19]

In 1981, he was one of the founders of theHuman Rights Campaign.^[20] He was a member of the boards of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and theAmerican Foundation for AIDS Research. Hormel contributed $500,000^[5] to fund the creation of the James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at theSan Francisco Public Library in 1996 (renamed the James C. Hormel LGBTQIA Center in 2016).^[21]

Hormel participated in numerous events, including a conference organized in 2004 byAmnesty International in the frame of the Geneva Gay Pride. In 2010 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshal Award bySan Francisco Pride Board of Directors for his LGBT activism over several decades.^[22]

Hormel's brother,Geordie Hormel, was a musician and recording studio proprietor. James Hormel was married to Alice Turner, now a retired psychologist, for ten years beforecoming out of the closet.^[23] They were married from 1956 to 1965.^[2] Hormel had five children, fourteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He lived inSan Francisco, California, with his spouse Michael Peter Nguyen Araque.^[24]

James Hormel died in San Francisco on August 13, 2021, at the age of 88.^[25]

• List of LGBT ambassadors of the United States

• US State Department Biography
• Appearances onC-SPAN

• 1933 births
• 2021 deaths
• 20th-century American diplomats
• 21st-century American diplomats
• 20th-century American philanthropists
• 21st-century American philanthropists
• 21st-century American LGBTQ people
• LGBTQ rights activists from California
• Activists from Minnesota
• Ambassadors of the United States to Luxembourg
• Asheville School alumni
• California Democrats
• Hormel Foods
• Gay diplomats
• LGBTQ ambassadors of the United States
• LGBTQ in Luxembourg
• LGBTQ people from Minnesota
• American gay men
• People from Austin, Minnesota
• Philanthropists from California
• Philanthropists from Minnesota
• Swarthmore College alumni
• University of Chicago Law School alumni

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• People appearing on C-SPAN