Pride Month Is an Opportunity to Be Visible, Celebrate and Reflect

Submitted by Sarah Sol

Each year in June, Rural Development (RD) observes Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex+ (LGBTQI+) Pride Month. With acknowledgment of LGBTQI+ history and the fact that individuals from this community continue to face unique challenges in our society, Pride Month is primarily a time to celebrate. It’s an opportunity to be proud of the LGBTQI+ community’s diversity and strengths and to recognize the achievements and contributions of LGBTQI+ individuals.

RD Human Resources Director Marlon Villalobos Taubenheim, who joined RD in March 2024, is a proud member of the LGBTQI+ community. His career includes more than 20 years of federal human resources (HR) experience—including in HR leadership positions at the National Park Service, Peace Corps and Walter Reed Army Institute of Research and diplomatic assignments for the U.S. Agency for International Development and the U.S. Department of State—as well as years of military personnel service. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in legal studies and a Master of Public Administration degree, both from Nova Southeastern University in Florida, as well as a Master of Law degree from St. Thomas University School of Law.

As Human Resources Director for RD, Taubenheim provides executive leadership to RD’s HR Office, ensures the agency’s HR compliance, guides talent acquisition and workforce management, and continues RD’s HR modernization efforts to make RD’s HR a leader in the human capital arena.

“The mission is amazing at RD,” he said. “As the son of a farmer, RD feels like the place in which I belong. I enjoy having an amazing team that tries very hard every day, despite many challenges.”

Taubenheim also appreciates RD’s customers, he said, “who are able to see our great effort and who continue to trust that we are doing right by them, continue to partner and collaborate with us, and continue to support us as we do our best to support them.”

Taubenheim is originally from Honduras and is a proud descendant of the Garifuna and Lenca people. He and his husband of 21 years, David Taubenheim, live in St. Louis, Missouri, with their two “very spoiled” kitties, LouLou and Snafu.

As part of our celebration this year, we asked Taubenheim to share some thoughts and reflections on Pride.

Q: What does LGBTQI+ Pride Month mean to you?

A: Pride Month to me is a reminder that it is important to be visible, to be counted—to ensure that, through our visibility, younger generations know that it is OK to be themselves and that they should not be afraid, like I was when I was growing up. It is a reminder that diversity matters today more than ever and that who we are needs to be celebrated, not hidden.

Q: How are you and your husband celebrating Pride Month this year?

A: We are doing two things. One of those is that we are attending the Pride celebration in St. Louis. We have actually asked our neighbors to join us to celebrate, and many of our neighbors have agreed to join us at Pride to show their support, so we are very happy about that. The second thing is that we have invited all of our gay friends in the St. Louis area to join us for dinner at our home and have a garden party just to celebrate in a safe space, for lack of a better term. … Just a small group, where everyone can unwind and have some cocktails and some hors d’oeuvres and some food. It’s just a nice gathering for people to engage in conversation and get to know each other and be able to express who they are in a place where they just feel very comfortable.

Q: What’s on your mind this year during Pride Month? What are you personally celebrating, working toward, or reflecting on?

A: I read an article recently about two Colombian women who came across the border illegally a few days ago to ask for asylum in this great country of ours. They were a lesbian couple who had escaped to be able to be together and live their lives in peace. They left family and friends, everything they knew and everything they loved to be together. That story reminded me of how lucky we are to live in a place where we are still free to be who we are, but also how important it is for our country to remain a beacon of hope for people escaping persecution simply for being what others consider different.

Q: As a new RD employee who is part of the LGBTQI+ community, how has your experience been so far in terms of feeling welcomed and supported in the workplace?

A: It has been an extremely welcoming environment. It hasn’t just been welcoming; it has been extremely welcoming. And I think that I am very fortunate that I have had a boss, in the Chief of Operations, who has never made an issue of this. It has been always about me being the most competent, the most technically sound person who was the most qualified person for the job. So, to me, I feel extremely supported. Sometimes we want to feel very welcome, and for some people that might mean that they have a carpet rolled out for them and rainbow flags in the hall from the gate to our office door. But, for me, the most welcoming environment is one where I am being made to feel no different than anybody else. That is the most welcoming thing someone can do for me. And I don’t know what that is for everyone—what that looks like—but, for me, what my agency has done is perfect. It couldn’t be more perfect.

Q: The USDA’s theme for Pride Month this year is “Cultivating Resilience, Harvesting Hope.” What does this theme mean to you?

A: To me it means that, as an LGBTQI+ community, we need to remain strong in the face of persecution, intimidation, bigotry and false narratives, because such strength and visibility will continue to create hope for people not only here, but around the world who see our nation as that safe place to be who they are, to be free.