Jon-Marc McDonald
Encyclopedia
Jon-Marc McDonald is an American
born blog
ger, publicist
, political activist and baker
. McDonald gained national attention when, at the age of 21, he simultaneously came out of the closet
as a gay
man and resigned as campaign manager
from the 1998 United States congressional campaign
of conservative Republican
candidate Brian Babin. McDonald went on to work in communications for Barnes & Noble
and then as the Corporate Communications and Marketing Officer of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
. Currently McDonald owns and maintains a website devoted to baking that has received widespread media
attention. He also writes a political blog that was transformed in late 2008 into an online diary of McDonald’s daily journey since learning that his partner of eight years, to whom McDonald was joined in a Civil Union
, was thought to be in the final stages of AIDS
. Spotting Love, a play based upon the diary, premiered as part of New York University's
2010 Creating Original Work season and is currently being adapted into a screenplay
. McDonald currently serves as the publicist for the estate of Rue McClanahan
.
to Lyn and John McDonald. He has one younger brother, Grant. McDonald is the grandson of the late James E. Coggin, an influential Southern Baptist minister.
McDonald attended Baylor University
in Waco, Texas, where he majored in history. He was the president of his freshman class, an electoral commissions member and served as a representative on the student government.
McDonald writes of his college years "Baylor is a really conservative school in a really conservative town in a really conservative state. And I was doing my best at pretending to be a really conservative student with a really conservative girlfriend studying really conservative things. But I had a secret".
campaign of Brian Babin, Republican candidate of Texas's 2nd district
, which is best known for its former representative, Charlie Wilson, on whom the movie Charlie Wilson's War
was based.
After working on the campaign for three months, McDonald, who is openly
gay
, abruptly stepped down, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Babin over the issue of homosexuality
. According to The Dallas Morning News
, McDonald announced his resignation via press release without discussing it with Babin, and his sudden departure left those in the campaign shocked and confused. In the press release, McDonald wrote "There comes a time when your convictions take precedence over your job, your title and your status."
McDonald generated further press coverage when he stated in an interview after his resignation that Babin thought "homosexuals should be shot", a claim Babin adamantly denied. In some press reports, Babin claimed that McDonald was not the campaign manager, but instead a "volunteer coordinator", also a paid position. One article suggested that McDonald was forced to resign by the local media threatening to "out" him.
The resignation received widespread national media attention due to the sensationalistic
way it transpired.
McDonald's account of the resignation varies somewhat from the reported accounts. On his political website, Screaming from the Rooftop, McDonald recalls the resignation by cryptically writing in his blog "...after a series of events I resigned from the campaign". Later in the same post McDonald claims that he was "...the youngest campaign manager
working on a federal level campaign" in the 1998 United States midterm election cycle and describes his motivation for originally taking the job by writing that he "decided to briefly return to the closet in exchange for the superficial satisfaction of doing something that no one else [his] age was doing".
, where he lived prior to the campaign.
In 2001, McDonald moved to New York City
where he worked in communications for the book retailer Barnes & Noble
before being hired as the Corporate Communications and Marketing Director for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
(HKTDC). On September 8, 2001 McDonald produced a fashion show featuring Hong Kong designers at New York Fashion Week
for the HKTDC.
In 2006, McDonald began Bake It Til You Make It (BITYMI), a culinary multimedia
website that, according to the site's "About" page, is "a journey through the culinary world with some political and social commentary along the way". BITYMI also features many videos starring McDonald, four of which are featured as favorites of Bon Appetit
. McDonald is a self-taught baker who "came by his baking and culinary skills purely by accident". Many posts on BITYMI are devoted to McDonald's experiments in the kitchen. Allie Demet of The Badger Herald
writes that "McDonald is equal parts humorist and baker—he’s smart, snarky, sassy and downright hilarious. But what I appreciate most about him is that he’s a seriously good baker who takes himself and his trade lightly". The editors at iFood.tv describe both the BITYMI videos and McDonald himself as "insightful, easy to follow and take the fear out of baking. His quirky sense of humor lightens up every recipe, making cooking both fun and informative at the same time. So be it cheesecake or his wicked devils layer cake come watch with us what makes Jon-Marc tick."
protest march against California Proposition 8
.
On December 3, 2009 McDonald attended the Rally for Marriage in New York City, holding a sign that read "If I'm found guilty of stabbing my girlfriend I can marry her but if I love my boyfriend, I can't marry him? Is that right, Senator Monserrate?", a reference to convicted then-New York State Senator, Hiram Monserrate
, who voted against same-sex marriage
legislation on December 2, 2009.
McDonald occasionally serves as publicist for his good friend, Michael-Leon Wooley
. On August 12, 2008, McDonald announced on his baking website that Wooley performed We Have To Change at a fundraiser for the then Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama
, in New York City. The song was written specifically for the fundraiser by Henry Krieger
and Bill Russell
In late December 2008 McDonald began a series entitled Angels I Don’t See on his blog, Screaming From the Rooftop. The series chronicles McDonald’s personal journey after learning that his civil-unioned partner of eight years has AIDS
. McDonald learned of his partners status on Christmas Eve
, 2008 while at his partner's bedside at the hospital, a revelation that his partner kept from McDonald for many months.
McDonald writes of the sudden and rapid deterioration of his partner that he is "watching the love of [his] life waste away from the plague in the supposed non-plague years". McDonald's brother, Grant McDonald, a junior at New York University's
(NYU) Playwrights Horizons Theater School
, adapted the writing for the stage and a 45 minute original production, entitled Spotting Love, premiered as part of NYU's 2010 Creating Original Work season and is currently being adapted into a screenplay.
On January 7, 2011 McDonald posted that he would lead the publicity and marketing efforts on behalf of friend Michael J. La Rue and the estate of Rue McClanahan
for ten auctions to be held throughout the United States to sell McClanahan’s belongings as, according to McDonald, was McClanahan’s wish. In addition McDonald will assist La Rue, McClanahan’s close friend and, prior to her death, producer of her autobiographical Broadway bound show, My First Five Husbands, with the publicity for a documentary about the actress, release date unknown.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
born blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
ger, publicist
Publicist
A publicist is a person whose job is to generate and manage publicity for a public figure, especially a celebrity, a business, or for a work such as a book, film or album...
, political activist and baker
Baker
A baker is someone who bakes and sells bread, Cakes and similar foods may also be produced, as the traditional boundaries between what is produced by a baker as opposed to a pastry chef have blurred in recent decades...
. McDonald gained national attention when, at the age of 21, he simultaneously came out of the closet
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
as a gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
man and resigned as campaign manager
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
from the 1998 United States congressional campaign
United States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
of conservative Republican
Republican Party (United States)
The Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the GOP . The party's platform generally reflects American conservatism in the U.S...
candidate Brian Babin. McDonald went on to work in communications for Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
and then as the Corporate Communications and Marketing Officer of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Hong Kong Trade Development Council
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based manufacturers, traders and service providers. Established in 1966, it has more than 40 offices around the world, including 11 in the Chinese mainland, promoting Hong Kong as a platform for doing business...
. Currently McDonald owns and maintains a website devoted to baking that has received widespread media
News media
The news media are those elements of the mass media that focus on delivering news to the general public or a target public.These include print media , broadcast news , and more recently the Internet .-Etymology:A medium is a carrier of something...
attention. He also writes a political blog that was transformed in late 2008 into an online diary of McDonald’s daily journey since learning that his partner of eight years, to whom McDonald was joined in a Civil Union
Civil union
A civil union, also referred to as a civil partnership, is a legally recognized form of partnership similar to marriage. Beginning with Denmark in 1989, civil unions under one name or another have been established by law in many developed countries in order to provide same-sex couples rights,...
, was thought to be in the final stages of AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. Spotting Love, a play based upon the diary, premiered as part of New York University's
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
2010 Creating Original Work season and is currently being adapted into a screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
. McDonald currently serves as the publicist for the estate of Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
.
Early life
McDonald was born in Fort Worth, TexasFort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is the 16th-largest city in the United States of America and the fifth-largest city in the state of Texas. Located in North Central Texas, just southeast of the Texas Panhandle, the city is a cultural gateway into the American West and covers nearly in Tarrant, Parker, Denton, and...
to Lyn and John McDonald. He has one younger brother, Grant. McDonald is the grandson of the late James E. Coggin, an influential Southern Baptist minister.
McDonald attended Baylor University
Baylor University
Baylor University is a private, Christian university located in Waco, Texas. Founded in 1845, Baylor is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools.-History:...
in Waco, Texas, where he majored in history. He was the president of his freshman class, an electoral commissions member and served as a representative on the student government.
McDonald writes of his college years "Baylor is a really conservative school in a really conservative town in a really conservative state. And I was doing my best at pretending to be a really conservative student with a really conservative girlfriend studying really conservative things. But I had a secret".
Political controversy
At the age of 21, McDonald resigned from the 1998 United States congressionalUnited States Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States, consisting of the Senate and the House of Representatives. The Congress meets in the United States Capitol in Washington, D.C....
campaign of Brian Babin, Republican candidate of Texas's 2nd district
Texas's 2nd congressional district
Texas's 2nd congressional district of the United States House of Representatives is in the southeastern portion of the state of Texas. It stretches from Houston's northern suburbs through eastern Harris County, and across Southeast Texas to the Louisiana border...
, which is best known for its former representative, Charlie Wilson, on whom the movie Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War
Charlie Wilson's War is a 2007 American biographical comedy drama film recounting the true story of U.S. Congressman Charlie Wilson who partnered with "bare knuckle attitude" CIA operative Gust Avrakotos to launch Operation Cyclone, a program to organize and support the Afghan mujahideen in their...
was based.
After working on the campaign for three months, McDonald, who is openly
Coming out
Coming out is a figure of speech for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people's disclosure of their sexual orientation and/or gender identity....
gay
Gay
Gay is a word that refers to a homosexual person, especially a homosexual male. For homosexual women the specific term is "lesbian"....
, abruptly stepped down, citing "irreconcilable differences" with Babin over the issue of homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...
. According to The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News
The Dallas Morning News is the major daily newspaper serving the Dallas, Texas area, with a circulation of 264,459 subscribers, the Audit Bureau of Circulations reported in September 2010...
, McDonald announced his resignation via press release without discussing it with Babin, and his sudden departure left those in the campaign shocked and confused. In the press release, McDonald wrote "There comes a time when your convictions take precedence over your job, your title and your status."
McDonald generated further press coverage when he stated in an interview after his resignation that Babin thought "homosexuals should be shot", a claim Babin adamantly denied. In some press reports, Babin claimed that McDonald was not the campaign manager, but instead a "volunteer coordinator", also a paid position. One article suggested that McDonald was forced to resign by the local media threatening to "out" him.
The resignation received widespread national media attention due to the sensationalistic
Sensationalism
Sensationalism is a type of editorial bias in mass media in which events and topics in news stories and pieces are over-hyped to increase viewership or readership numbers...
way it transpired.
Campaign manager
A campaign manager is a paid or volunteer individual, whose role is to coordinate the campaign's operations such as fundraising, advertising, polling, getting out the vote , and other activities supporting the effort, directly.Apart from the candidate, they are often a campaign's most visible leader...
working on a federal level campaign" in the 1998 United States midterm election cycle and describes his motivation for originally taking the job by writing that he "decided to briefly return to the closet in exchange for the superficial satisfaction of doing something that no one else [his] age was doing".
Post politics
After his resignation McDonald returned to Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
, where he lived prior to the campaign.
In 2001, McDonald moved to New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
where he worked in communications for the book retailer Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble
Barnes & Noble, Inc. is the largest book retailer in the United States, operating mainly through its Barnes & Noble Booksellers chain of bookstores headquartered at 122 Fifth Avenue in the Flatiron District in Manhattan in New York City. Barnes & Noble also operated the chain of small B. Dalton...
before being hired as the Corporate Communications and Marketing Director for the Hong Kong Trade Development Council
Hong Kong Trade Development Council
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council is the international marketing arm for Hong Kong-based manufacturers, traders and service providers. Established in 1966, it has more than 40 offices around the world, including 11 in the Chinese mainland, promoting Hong Kong as a platform for doing business...
(HKTDC). On September 8, 2001 McDonald produced a fashion show featuring Hong Kong designers at New York Fashion Week
New York Fashion Week
The semi-annual New York Fashion Week, branded Mercedes-Benz FashionWeek in 2009, is held in February and September of each year in New York City. It is one of four major fashion weeks held around the world .-History:The first New York Fashion Week, then called Press Week, was the world's first...
for the HKTDC.
In 2006, McDonald began Bake It Til You Make It (BITYMI), a culinary multimedia
Multimedia
Multimedia is media and content that uses a combination of different content forms. The term can be used as a noun or as an adjective describing a medium as having multiple content forms. The term is used in contrast to media which use only rudimentary computer display such as text-only, or...
website that, according to the site's "About" page, is "a journey through the culinary world with some political and social commentary along the way". BITYMI also features many videos starring McDonald, four of which are featured as favorites of Bon Appetit
Bon Appétit
Bon Appétit describes itself as "a food and entertaining magazine" and is published monthly. Named after the French phrase for "Enjoy your meal", it was started by M. Frank Jones in Kansas City in 1956...
. McDonald is a self-taught baker who "came by his baking and culinary skills purely by accident". Many posts on BITYMI are devoted to McDonald's experiments in the kitchen. Allie Demet of The Badger Herald
The Badger Herald
The Badger Herald is a newspaper serving the University of Wisconsin–Madison community. Founded in 1969, it is one of America's first independent daily student newspapers. The paper is published Monday through Friday during the academic year...
writes that "McDonald is equal parts humorist and baker—he’s smart, snarky, sassy and downright hilarious. But what I appreciate most about him is that he’s a seriously good baker who takes himself and his trade lightly". The editors at iFood.tv describe both the BITYMI videos and McDonald himself as "insightful, easy to follow and take the fear out of baking. His quirky sense of humor lightens up every recipe, making cooking both fun and informative at the same time. So be it cheesecake or his wicked devils layer cake come watch with us what makes Jon-Marc tick."
Personal life
On November 12, 2008 McDonald served as a marshal for the large New York CityNew York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
protest march against California Proposition 8
California Proposition 8 (2008)
Proposition 8 was a ballot proposition and constitutional amendment passed in the November 2008 state elections...
.
On December 3, 2009 McDonald attended the Rally for Marriage in New York City, holding a sign that read "If I'm found guilty of stabbing my girlfriend I can marry her but if I love my boyfriend, I can't marry him? Is that right, Senator Monserrate?", a reference to convicted then-New York State Senator, Hiram Monserrate
Hiram Monserrate
Hiram Monserrate is a former member of the New York State Senate. He represented the 13th District which includes the Queens neighborhoods of Jackson Heights, Corona, East Elmhurst, Elmhurst and Woodside...
, who voted against same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage
Same-sex marriage is marriage between two persons of the same biological sex or social gender. Supporters of legal recognition for same-sex marriage typically refer to such recognition as marriage equality....
legislation on December 2, 2009.
McDonald occasionally serves as publicist for his good friend, Michael-Leon Wooley
Michael-Leon Wooley
Michael-Leon Wooley is an American television, film and theatre actor and singer. Wooley lends his voice to Louis the Alligator in Disney's Oscar nominated animated feature film, The Princess and the Frog. Wooley has also done a small role in Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV.- Early life :Wooley was...
. On August 12, 2008, McDonald announced on his baking website that Wooley performed We Have To Change at a fundraiser for the then Democratic presidential nominee, Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
, in New York City. The song was written specifically for the fundraiser by Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger
Henry Krieger is an American composer.Krieger wrote the music for the Broadway shows Dreamgirls , The Tap Dance Kid , and Side Show , as well as other works of musical theatre.He was nominated for the Tony Awards for Best Score for both Dreamgirls and Side Show, won a Grammy...
and Bill Russell
In late December 2008 McDonald began a series entitled Angels I Don’t See on his blog, Screaming From the Rooftop. The series chronicles McDonald’s personal journey after learning that his civil-unioned partner of eight years has AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
. McDonald learned of his partners status on Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve
Christmas Eve refers to the evening or entire day preceding Christmas Day, a widely celebrated festival commemorating the birth of Jesus of Nazareth that takes place on December 25...
, 2008 while at his partner's bedside at the hospital, a revelation that his partner kept from McDonald for many months.
McDonald writes of the sudden and rapid deterioration of his partner that he is "watching the love of [his] life waste away from the plague in the supposed non-plague years". McDonald's brother, Grant McDonald, a junior at New York University's
New York University
New York University is a private, nonsectarian research university based in New York City. NYU's main campus is situated in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan...
(NYU) Playwrights Horizons Theater School
Playwrights Horizons Theater School
Playwrights Horizons Theater School is a "professional training program for theater artists: actors, directors, playwrights, and dramaturgs" affiliated with NYU's Tisch School of the Arts...
, adapted the writing for the stage and a 45 minute original production, entitled Spotting Love, premiered as part of NYU's 2010 Creating Original Work season and is currently being adapted into a screenplay.
On January 7, 2011 McDonald posted that he would lead the publicity and marketing efforts on behalf of friend Michael J. La Rue and the estate of Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan
Rue McClanahan was an American actress, best known for her roles on television as Vivian Harmon on Maude, Fran Crowley on Mama's Family, and Blanche Devereaux on The Golden Girls, for which she won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in 1987.-Early life:McClanahan was born Eddie Rue...
for ten auctions to be held throughout the United States to sell McClanahan’s belongings as, according to McDonald, was McClanahan’s wish. In addition McDonald will assist La Rue, McClanahan’s close friend and, prior to her death, producer of her autobiographical Broadway bound show, My First Five Husbands, with the publicity for a documentary about the actress, release date unknown.