Talk:Todd Larson

Some proposed changes to update and clarify Larson biography and add references

Introduction, second sentence, revise to read:
TEXT TO BE REVISED: He served as Presidential Appointee and the first Senior Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender (LGBT) Coordinator at the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), with a mandate to give substance and sustainability to an historic Presidential Memorandum that established LGBTQI+ human rights and development as a new US foreign policy priority.
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: updating and clarifying
REFERENCE SUPPORTING CHANGE: "Retired U.N. Official leads USAID LGBT initiatives". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. 2014-07-23. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

• Oppose: Request is not clear, as no specific changes are requested. CorporateM (Talk) 03:42, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

TEXT TO BE ADDED [new subheading]: Senior Presidential Appointee in the Obama-Biden Administration
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: separating out professional post from personal advocacy

TEXT TO BE MOVED UNDER NEW SUBHEADING/SECTION FROM LGBT ADVOCACY SECTION AND REVISED: Larson's role at USAID included a mandate to coordinate the Agency's implementation of President Obama's December 6, 2011 Presidential Memorandum entitled "International Initiatives to Advance the Human Rights of LGBT Persons"[existing footnote] and, in particular, lead ongoing Inter-Agency efforts to ensure regular U.S. Government engagement with governments, citizens, civil society and the private sector to build respect for the human rights and development of LGBTQI+ persons.[existing footnote] According to USAID Deputy Administrator, Mark Feierstein, this included "bringing together domestic and global partners while ensuring that USAID is integrating LGBT considerations into every area of our work and every place where we work"[existing footnote]

• Unclear: I don't see the content that is intended to be moved. There doesn't appear to currently be an LGBT advocacy section. CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

TEXT TO BE ADDED UNDER NEW SUBHEADING: This also entailed building an LGBTQI+ office. mandate, staffing table, budget and programmatic vision, which had never previously existed for the U.S. Government. Larson also authored an historic Federal Rule binding all U.S. foreign assistance to be made exclusively in non-discriminatory fashion.
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: updating and clarifying
REFERENCES: November 2, lnm3921; pm, 2016 at 10:58 pm EDT at 10:58 (2016-11-01). "No 'exemption' under new USAID contractor rule". Washington Blade: Gay News, Politics, LGBT Rights. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

"Requirement for Nondiscrimination Against End-Users of Supplies or Services ("Beneficiaries") Under USAID-Funded Contracts". Federal Register. 2016-08-22. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

• Oppose: The cited source appears to extensively quote the article-subject, but does not actually directly state the things the user wants to cite it for. CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

SECTION TO BE MOVED AFTER NEW SUBHEADING/SECTION: Work with the United Nations
TEXT TO BE MOVED FROM LGBT ADVOCACY AND REVISD AS FIRST PARAGRAPH: Larson's work with the Federation of International Civil Servants' Associations and the U.N. Gay Lesbian, Bisexual Employees group (UNGLOBE) starting in 1998 led to what are considered its first affirmative internal policy initiatives in the 60-year history of the U.N. in favor of LGBTQI+ rights,[existing footnote] particularly a successful eight-year effort to convince the U.N. to give domestic partners and same gender spouses the same benefits and entitlements of employment as have always been granted to U.N. employees' opposite gender spouses.[existing footnotes]
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: clarifying
REFERENCES: No additional references
TEXT TO BE REVISED: Larson was employed at the U.N. for twenty years in a variety of legal and managerial capacities, most recently as Senior Counselor at the World Intellectual Property Organization in New York.[existing footnote] In his career at the U.N., Larson served with the High Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva, Indonesia and Malaysia and with the Department of Peacekeeping Operations in Cambodia, Haiti and the Former Yugoslavia. [existing footnote]

NEXT SECTION: LGBT Advocacy
REMAINING PARAGRAPH LEFT AS IS

TEXT TO BE ADDED (new subheading): Education
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: separating education from personal life
TEXT TO BE ADDED UNDER NEW SUBHEADING: Larson received his undergraduate degree in history from Carleton College in 1983 (Phi Beta Kappa and Magna Cum Laude) with an emphasis in the French language. He received is Juris Doctor degree and master's degree in international studies from the University of Washington in 1988.
REFERENCES: none

NEXT SECTION: Awards
TEXT TO BE REVISED: Larson was recognized as a distinguished alumnus of the University of Washington School of Law in 2007,[existing footnote], the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies in 2020, and Carleton College in 2020.
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: updating awards
REFERENCES: "Celebrating the Jackson School Class of 2020". The Henry M. Jackson School of International Studies. 2020-06-12. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

"2020 Alumni Association Award Recipients | Alumni Council | Carleton College". apps.carleton.edu. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

• Oppose: Awards are virtually de-facto promotionalism and require extraordinary sources to justify including. CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

TEXT TO BE REVISED (Awards Section): Larson was given special recognition by the International Gay and Lesbian Human rights Commission (IGLHRC, now OutRight Action International) in 2014, commemorating his years of volunteer service and tenure as Chairperson of the Board. [existing footnote]
EXPLANATION OF ISSUE: clarifying

• Oppose: Awards are virtually de-facto promotionalism and require extraordinary sources to justify including. CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

NEXT SECTION: Personal Life
TEXT TO BE REMOVED (MOVED TO EDUCATION SECTION): He received his law degree and master's degree in international relations from the University of Washington in 1988.
TEXT TO ADD: Larson owns and manages his family property, Larson Farm. Larson's groundbreaking LGBTQI+ roles at the U.N. and in the U.S. Government are chronicled in a legacy article in the Wisconsin publication, Our Lives. Larson has frequent public speaking engagements, most recently delivering the (online) 2020 commencement address for the University of Washington Jackson School of International Studies, and the keynote address at the 2019 Out After Carleton Family Reunion.
REFERENCES: "Pushing Policy". Our Lives. Retrieved 2020-11-27.

• Oppose: Too much editorializing about "groundbreaking" roles and "chronicled in a legacy" CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

˜˜˜˜Elizabethlmiller — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elizabethlmiller (talk • contribs) 13:55, 28 November 2020 (UTC)

As much as we might want to help you and Todd here, there are a couple of problems. First, your automated citation adder did not give us any URLs, oddly. That's extra work for editors. Second, Hell will likely freeze over before material lacking source citations is ever added to this article, as Wikipedia does not work that way. This is in regard to his education. You have a COI, and we are to simply type what you ask us to? Not likely.--Quisqualis (talk) 23:47, 17 December 2020 (UTC)

I have no connection to the article-subject. I didn't review all of the comments but I found a sufficient portion of it to be unsuitable for Wikipedia to not warrant looking for any diamonds in the hey stack. Many of the requests are unclear, not directly supported by the citation, or add promotion, etc. CorporateM (Talk) 03:51, 15 February 2021 (UTC)

Agree with others that the suggested edits are not appropriate, so I have marked the request as declined. Mastimido (talk) 13:43, 20 February 2021 (UTC)