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Sam Brinton

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Sam Brinton
Official portrait, 2022
Deputy Assistant Secretary for theOffice of Nuclear Energy
In office
June 19, 2022 – December 11, 2022
Succeeded byKim Petry (acting)
Personal details
Born
Samuel Otis Brinton

1986 or 1987 (age 36–37)[1]
Education
OccupationNuclear engineer

Samuel Otis Brinton(born 1986/1987)[1]is an Americannuclear engineerandLGBTQactivist. They served as the deputy assistant secretary of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition in theOffice of Nuclear Energyfrom June to December 2022.[2][3][4]Brinton is no longer employed by the Office of Nuclear Energy after being charged with luggage theft on three separate occasions.[4]

Brinton gained media attention in 2010 for their reported experience ofconversion therapy,[5]later testifying at theUnited Nationson the subject in 2014.[6]The gay activistWayne Besenwas skeptical about their account, noting that Brinton had claimed to have experiencedelectroshock therapy,which had not been used for decades, and other alleged inconsistencies.[5]

Brinton was the first openlygenderfluidindividual in federal government leadership, and usessingular they pronouns.[7]

Early life and education

Brinton was raised inPerry, Iowa,and is the child of twoSouthern Baptistmissionaries. Brintoncame outasbisexualto their parents in the early 2000s.[8]According to Brinton, their parents disapproved of Brinton's attraction to a male friend from school and sent the then-middle school student forconversion therapy,an experience Brinton later described as "barbaric" and "painful" in aNew York Timesop-ed.[9]During one particularly extreme conversion therapy session, Brinton described being bound to a table while ice, heat, and electricity were applied to their body, all while being forced to watch film clips of gay intimacy.[8]

Brinton has stated that parental physical abuse also became far more common as they began to express their identity. Eventually, Brinton said that after it was clear that conversion therapy had not affected their sexuality, they were effectively disowned by their parents, with their father threatening to shoot Brinton in the head if Brinton ever returned home.[10]

Journalist and gay activistWayne Besenhas expressed skepticism about Brinton's description of experiencing conversion therapy in childhood.[10][5]Besen noted inconsistencies in Brinton's retelling of events, such as Brinton not being able to remember the therapist's name, despite saying he had two years of sessions with him.[5]In the aftermath of the 2022 allegations of luggage theft against Brinton, Besen reiterated his concerns and accused some people and groups of failing to heed "clear warning signs" and accepting Brinton's recounting of experiences without confirming their veracity as "sloppy, ethically negligent, and shockingly unprofessional" behavior.[11][12]

In 2006, Brinton graduated fromPerry High Schooland in 2011 fromKansas State Universitywith aBachelor of Sciencedegree in nuclear engineering andvocal music.[13][14]In 2010, while attending the university, they organized its firstpride march[15]and helped found Kansas' first LGBT resource center.[16]

In 2013, they graduated from theMassachusetts Institute of Technologywith a dualMaster of Sciencedegree in nuclear science and engineering (technology and policy program).[15][13][14]

While at MIT, Brinton cofounded Stand with Science, a national advocacy network aiming to protect federal research funding, which in 2012 under their leadership petitioned Congress with over 10,000 signatories.[17]In 2014, it was represented in 30 colleges and universities.[18]In 2014, Brinton was its executive director and had the same role in the National Science Policy Group.[19]Brinton is a past president of MIT's Science Policy Initiative.[20]

LGBTQ activism

In November 2014, identifying as a "survivor" of conversion therapy, Brinton was the first such individual to testify before theUnited Nations Convention against Tortureregarding such experiences.[6]Brinton was the advisory committee co-chair of theNational Center for Lesbian Rights'#BornPerfectcampaign and held the position until at least September 2015.[21]They were one of three grand marshals of the 2015Boston Pride Parade.[16][22]

In 2016, Brinton founded the #50Bills50States campaign, with the goal of prohibiting thepseudoscientificpractice ofconversion therapythroughout the U.S.[23][24]

In 2016 and 2018, Brinton was the principal officer of the Washington, D.C. chapter of theSisters of Perpetual Indulgence,an LGBTQ charity and human rights group.[25]At events, such as the organization's 40th anniversary, they performed indragunder the name "Sister Ray Dee O'Active".[1][26]

Between 2017 and 2020, Brinton was the head of advocacy and government affairs at the non-profit LGBTQ youth suicide prevention organizationThe Trevor Project.[27][28]

Career

In 2016, Brinton was a senior policy analyst for theBipartisan Policy Center,lobbying for updated regulations to make it possible fornuclear wasteto be used to power advancednuclear reactors.[29]In February 2020, the website of Deep Isolation, aBerkeley, California,nuclear waste storage and disposal company,[30]listed Brinton as Director of Legislative Affairs[31][32]and in May 2022 as Director of Global Political Strategy.[33]In 2022, Brinton's profile at theDepartment of Energy(DOE) indicated previous work with theBreakthrough Institute,the Clean Air Task Force, andThird Way.[3]

Brinton in 2022

In 2022, they became deputy assistant secretary for spent fuel and waste disposition in DOE'sOffice of Nuclear Energy,serving in the Office of Spent Fuel and Waste Disposition.[34]South Florida Gay Newsreported that, according to Brinton, while they were "welcomed with open arms" at all levels of the organization, others reacted to their appointment with hatred and disgust, some making death threats against them.[35][3]

In February 2022, an unidentified Department of Energy employee filed allegations of hiring malpractice with theOffice of the Inspector Generaldue to concern regarding Brinton's qualifications for aSenior Executive Service(SES) level position, i.e. "the class of federal career officials who rank just below top presidential appointees in seniority".[34]

Brinton supports the use of interim siting forradioactive wasteto determine which sites and storage methods are best suited for future permanent repositories.[36]

In November 2022, Brinton was placed on leave by the Department of Energy after being charged with theft of luggage at an airport.[1][37]On December 12, 2022, after a second similar charge for a July incident, a Department of Energy spokesperson confirmed that Brinton was no longer a DOE employee.[4]Brinton was succeeded by acting deputy assistant secretary Kim Petry.[38]

Luggage thefts

A July 2022 incident resulted in a second arrest warrant, issued on December 8, 2022, forgrand larcenyafter investigators matched Brinton to security camera footage of the theft atHarry Reid International AirportinLas Vegas.[39][40][41]The case had been closed for lack of an identifiable suspect until news broke about Brinton's Minneapolis arrest.[42][11]In April 2023, Brinton pleaded no contest to stealing the Las Vegas luggage, was sentenced to pay $3,670.74 in restitution for the stolen luggage and clothes, and was given a suspended jail term of 180 days.[43]

Also in 2022, Brinton was charged with felony theft after allegedly stealing a woman's suitcase from aMinneapolis–Saint Paul International Airportbaggage carousel on September 16.[1][38]If they were convicted, these charges could carry a five-year sentence.[44]On February 15, 2023, Brinton appeared in court inHennepin County, Minnesota,and was released without bail.[45]In April 2023, they entered an adult diversion program that required them to undergo a mental health evaluation, return stolen property, and do community service.[46]

In February 2023, the Tanzanian fashion designer Asya Khamsin said she had recognized her custom-designed clothing, lost in a March 2018 airline luggage disappearance atRonald Reagan Washington National AirportinWashington, D.C.,being worn by Brinton in photos. She filed a police report in Houston after seeing the photos,[47][48][49]and on May 17, 2023, Brinton's home was searched and Brinton was arrested by theMetropolitan Washington Airports Authority;the expected charge wasgrand larceny.[50][51][52]

In July 2024, theNational Reviewreported that Brinton pled guilty to misdemeanorpetit larcenyin Virginia as part of a plea deal, resulting in no jail time. A civil case filed by Khamsin in Maryland was settled after Brinton paid her compensation and wrote an apology letter which Khamsin considered "quite personal, sensitive, sincere, and heartfelt".[53]

Personal life

Brinton is bisexual and usessingular theypronouns.[1][7][9]According to a 2017Washington Bladelocal events article, Brinton resided inWashington, D.C.,was a singer in theGay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C.,and was engaged to Kevin Rieck.[27]The two were married in 2019.[54]

Publications

  • Brinton, Samuel; Tokuhiro, Akira (2008). "An Initial Study on Modeling the United States Thermal Fuel Cycle Mass Flow Using Vensim".16th International Conference on Nuclear Engineering, Volume 2: Fuel Cycle and High Level Waste Management; Computational Fluid Dynamics, Neutronics Methods and Coupled Codes; Student Paper Competition.ASME.pp. 867–876.doi:10.1115/ICONE16-48571.ISBN978-0-7918-4815-9.
  • Brinton, Samuel; Passerini, Stefano; Kazimi, Mujid (June 2013)."Nuclear Fuel Cycle Analysis and Optimization with the Code for Advanced Fuel Cycles Assessment (CAFCA)".Transactions of the American Nuclear Society.108(1): 131–133.
  • Brinton, Samuel; Kazimi, Mujid (October 2013)."A nuclear fuel cycle system dynamic model for spent fuel storage options".Energy Conversion and Management.74:558–561.Bibcode:2013ECM....74..558B.doi:10.1016/j.enconman.2013.03.041.

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