Isn’t the implication of the sentence that they were chosen specifically for those properties and wouldn’t have been chosen otherwise?

The implication is that they were chosen because of that, but not that this was the only qualification.

It could easily be that multiple teams looked qualified during bidding for the job and that this was the distinguishing factor.

No other qualification was mentioned. I've been maximally downvoted for my comment, but I stand by it. I stand by it as someone who prefers the company of queer people, and who's favorite programmer is trans (Justine Tunney, fwiw). Note: she is not my favorite trans programmer, she is my favorite programmer, who happens to be trans. Identity becomes a problem when it displaces everything else about a person - it dehumanizes, and in DEF CON's case, blinds them to the relevant strengths and weaknesses of a firm.

> No other qualification was mentioned.

That's because "ability to do the project" is a given. It is always a requirement, outside of specific corruption scenarios.

Are you really asserting that identity politics playing a role in vendor evaluations isn’t a corruption scenario?

Yes, as long as nobody's being paid off by Big Gay.

Ask HN: How can I get on the payroll of Big Gay?

If they have to reach for idpol at the start to make their case, my immediate suspicion is the case is not that strong.

And yet, a party to this conflict thought it was a relevant piece of information to the audience. Now, the fact that OP noted it as interesting is not completely without merit. After all, interested party certainly thought it was worth to mention.

It’s supposed to provoke an emotional response

In who, I wonder? Most people I see reacting emotionally appear to be opposed to even mentioning that.

To those sympathetic to awarding contracts to those with that societal lean. It’s irrelevant to their ability to perform a contract for DEFCON. If that was never mentioned it would have never been a point at all.

If it was meant to be a point then it can make people think that those with that societal lean are poor performers. It’s not helping their cause.