American philanthropist, LGBT activist, diplomat, and heir to the Hormel meatpacking fortune. He served as the United States Ambassador to Luxembourg from 1999 to 2001, and was the first openly gay man to represent the United States as an ambassador. He was a noted activist for LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights.
He was the grandson of George A. Hormel, founder of Hormel Foods (producers of Spam and other processed meat products). In 1981 he was one of the founders of the Human Rights Campaign. He was a member of the 1995 United Nations Commission on Human Rights and the 1996 U.S. delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, and the boards of directors of the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce and the American Foundation for AIDS Research.
Hormel funded the creation of James C. Hormel Gay & Lesbian Center at the San Francisco Public Library in 1995. It is the gateway to collections documenting lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) history and culture, with a special emphasis on the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2010 he was given the Lifetime Achievement Grand Marshall Award by San Francisco Pride Board of Directors for his LGBT activism over several decades.
Hormel’s brother, Geordie Hormel, was a musician and recording studio proprietor. Hormel was married to Alice Turner, now a retired psychologist, for ten years before coming out of the closet. Hormel had five children, fourteen grandchildren, and five great-grandchildren. He lived in San Francisco, California with his spouse Michael Peter Nguyen Araque. James Hormel died in San Francisco on 13 August 2021 at the age of 88.
Link to Wikipedia biography