UK Labour defends ban on puberty blocker

LONDON, United Kingdom – The UK’s new Labour government is defending the previous Conservative government’s ban on the use of puberty blockers for trans children and moving to make the ban permanent, the new health minister announced this weekend.

Wes Streeting, who was appointed Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on July 5, one day after Labour’s landslide election victory, posted a thread on X (formerly Twitter) over the weekend defending the new government’s policy.

Streeting said the Cass Review – the previous government’s official review of gender care, which has been derided by trans activists as misleading and one-sided – found there was a lack of evidence that puberty blockers were safe and effective for use in gender questioning youth.

“We don’t yet know the risks of stopping pubertal hormones at this critical life stage. That is the basis upon which I am making decisions. I am treading cautiously in this area because the safety of children must come first,” Streeting wrote.

The Labour government is continuing to defend the previous government’s emergency ban on puberty blockers in court. This week, the court was told by counsel for trans groups challenging the ban that the policy stems only from the previous minister’s personal views about trans people, rather than medical expertise.

“The evidence shows that the impetus and only disclosed rationale for the making of the order was the personal view of [former health secretary Victoria Atkins] that the Cass report required immediate action,” Jason Coppel said.

“Officials were then tasked with working up arguments in favor of a banning order to fit that personal view. No clinical or other scientific advice was taken on whether the statutory criteria were, or were capable of being, satisfied. This was a wholly insufficient basis for invocation of the emergency process.”

While Streeting has previously supported trans rights, more recently he’s walked back that support, saying he no longer stands by the belief that “trans women are women.”

Poland takes action on civil unions

WARSAW, Poland – Poland’s government has finally agreed to a draft civil union bill, long after prime minister Donald Tusk’s initial promise to pass the bill within 100 days of taking office.

The government plans to debate the bill during the fall session of parliament, beginning in September, and have it passed by the end of the year, but recent cracks in the governing coalition have put some doubt on that timetable.

Since December, Poland has been governed by a rocky coalition of left and center-right parties who united to oppose and increasingly anti-democratic right-wing party that had governed Poland since 2014. But the coalition partners don’t see eye-to-eye on a number of social issues, including LGBTQ and reproductive rights.

The center-right Polish People’s Party had threatened not to support the civil union bill if the bill provided unions that were too similar to marriage, which would effectively kill its chances of passing. As a compromise, the center and left-leaning coalition partners agreed to amendments that would block same-sex couples from being able to adopt their partner’s children.

But a similar compromise on a landmark abortion bill failed in parliament last week.

Poland is one of only two European Union countries in which abortion is not legal – the other is Malta. Tusk had promised to decriminalize abortion up to 12 weeks, a position broadly agreed to by the left and center wings of his coalition government. But the Polish People’s Party voted against the bill, and it failed by three votes, killing it in Parliament.

The Left Party in the coalition has vowed to reintroduce the bill over and over until it is passed.

An additional hurdle to both the abortion and civil union bills is President Duda from the far-right Law and Justice Party, who has vowed to veto any abortion bill and has not committed to signing the civil union bill.

The next presidential election is in May 2024. Duda is termed out.

Japanese court allows trans woman to change gender on official documets

HIROSHIMA, Japan – A court in Japan has allowed a trans woman to change her legal gender without undergoing sex reassignment surgery for the first time last week.

The ruling by the Hiroshima High Court handed down on July 10 overturns a lower court decision that had denied her the gender change because she hadn’t undergone sex reassignment surgery.

Under Japanese law, in order to legally change gender, a trans person must have a diagnosis of “gender identity disorder” and must have had sex reassignment surgery. The law also used to require that the person seeking a gender change has no ability to reproduce, forcing them to be sterilized, but that provision was struck down as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court of Japan last October.

The claimant, a trans woman in her late 40s argued to the court that the surgical requirement would be an unfair financial and physical burden.

One of her lawyers has said that when she was told of the ruling, she cried in relief, the Associated Press reports.

The ruling still requires trans people who want to change their legal gender to have received a “gender identity disorder” diagnosis and to have undergone hormone therapy.

LGBTQ rights have become a growing political issue in Japan. Last year, the national parliament failed to pass a non-discrimination bill, instead passing a bill it hoped would “promote understanding” of the LGBTQ community. A majority of Japan’s prefectures have instituted recognition and registration of same-sex couples, while a series of court cases have been pressing for full equal marriage rights nationwide.

Burkina Faso to criminalize same-sex relationships

OUAGADOUGOU, Burkina Faso – The military junta that governs the West African nation of Burkina Faso announced it plans to criminalize same-sex relationships as it overhauls the state’s marriage laws.

Justice Minister Edasso Rodrigue Bayala announced that the military cabinet had approved legislation to criminalize gay sex, but did not give further details. The law will not be in effect until it is passed by the military parliament and formally published.

The former French colony, home to about 22 million people, has never had laws criminalizing homosexuality, although homosexuality is frowned upon in the deeply conservative country, and there is no large or visible queer community.

The country has been battling a coordinated Islamist insurgency across the region since 2015, and has been governed by a military junta since back-to-back coups in 2022.

The current government frequently positions itself as being anti-Western and anti-French, taking inspiration and support from Russia instead. Burkina Faso has formed a regional anti-Western alliance with two other neighboring former French colonies, Niger and Mali, which are also both governed by military juntas.

The move to criminalize gay sex bucks the wider trend in Africa, where many former British and Portuguese colonies have repealed or struck down colonial-era laws that banned gay sex. Since 2012, Namibia, Botswana, Angola, Mozambique, Lesotho, Sao Tome and Principe, Seychelles, and Mauritius all decriminalized gay sex.

The French did not impose sodomy laws on their colonies, so much of French-speaking Africa does not have anti-LGBTQ laws. Chad criminalized sodomy in 2017, and Gabon followed in 2019, but Gabon repealed its sodomy law the following year.

Philippines city enacts ordinance against LGBTQ discrimination

CEBU, Philippines – Mandaue City on the island of Cebu is the latest city in the Philippines to pass a comprehensive anti-discrimination ordinance to protect is LGBTQ community, with the publication of implementing rules and regulations July 10.

The regulations prohibit discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and gender expression in health care, education, and public accommodations, and from impediments to free association and organization.

Mandaue mayor Jonas Cortes says the aim of the ordinance is to make everyone feel welcome.

“The [regulations] provide the detailed guidelines on how we will implement and enforce this ordinance, ensuring that our commitment to equality is not just words but real actionable steps,” Cortes said.

More than thirty cities across the island nation have passed anti-discrimination ordinances to protect the LGBTQ community, but a bill to ban SOGIE discrimination nationwide has been stuck in the Philippine Congress for more than 20 years, having been first introduced in 2001.

A lawmaker has also attempted to get a bill to recognize same-sex civil unions passed, but it has stalled in committees.

The sixth annual South LA Pride festival went off without a hitch this weekend at the Michelle and Barack Obama Sports Complex in Baldwin Hills, in what organizers are calling a testament to the community’s unwavering spirit and commitment to equality.

The festival was organized around the theme “It’s Giving,” nodding to the popular phrase used to describe a person who exudes confidence and commitment and encouraging everyone to showcase their full selves and uniqueness with pride. It also nods to the spirit of giving back to the community.

South LA Pride is an annual festival dedicated to celebrating and advocating for the BIPOC LGBTQ+ community in South Los Angeles. Since 2017—with a two-year break during the COVID pandemic—the festival has produced events and outreach celebrating the diversity of South LA.

This year’s headliner was out R&B artist JeRonelle, best known for competing in the second season of Fox’s “The Four: Battle for Stardom.”

“I’m thrilled and super excited to have headlined South LA Pride this year,” JeRonelle says. “In a time and election year where so much of our freedom seems to be at stake, it’s important for us to have spaces where LGBTQ folks can come together, have fun, feel safe, and literally take center stage.”

Other performers this year included singer Choklate, out rappers Billy the Goat and boysfloveflowers, R&B singing duet Sunday, disco funk artist Javi, alternative music artists Topaz Faerie and Luna Scar, pop singer Cristina Hron, drag artists Sasha Thickerfish and Miss Heaven Lee, singer Arashi Supanova, and DJs Higher Intentions, HJC, The Hound, and Dante Luv.

Showcasing BIPOC queer talent goes to the heart of South LA Pride’s mission to foster representation and empowerment in the community, says festival Entertainment Chair Aunt Jackie.

“By highlighting these voices, South LA Pride underscores the rich cultural diversity and unique experiences of the BIPOC queer community, challenging mainstream narratives and promoting a more inclusive and authentic portrayal of LGBTQ+ life. This focus not only elevates emerging talents but also strengthens community bonds, affirming that every identity and background is valued and essential to the fabric of South Los Angeles,” Aunt Jackie says.

Other attendees included Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, City Attorney Hydee Feldstein-Soto, and Councilmembers Marqueece Harris-Dawson, Heather Hutt, and Hugo Soto-Martinez, who reiterated their efforts to foster a more inclusive city for the LGBTQ+ community.

Events at this year’s festival included the Outside Kiki Ball for BIPOC LGBTQ+ youth, a Best Dressed contest hosted by Queen Shannon Gipson and Mother Devine Gorgeous Gucci, and a softball game hosted by the Greater Los Angeles Softball Association.

The festival also featured a vibrant marketplace with local vendors, artisans, and community organizations offering handcrafted jewelry, apparel, and diverse food options, giving attendees a chance to learn about and support local entrepreneurs.

South LA Pride organizers say plans are already underway for next year’s festival, which they promise will be even more spectacular and inclusive.

“We are thrilled with the success of this year’s event and are excited to build on this momentum. We invite everyone to join us next year as we continue to celebrate diversity and strive for equality,” says Jasmyne Cannick, Director of South LA Pride.

Former President Donald Trump announced anti-LGBTQ U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio) as his 2024 running mate in a Truth Social post on Monday.

A political neophyte who was first elected in 2022 thanks to Trump’s endorsement, Vance once compared the presumptive Republican presidential nominee to Adolf Hitler, also calling him “cultural heroin” and “an opioid of the masses.”

The Ohio senator’s journey from critic to acolyte was cemented over the weekend.

After Trump walked away from an assassination attempt and both of the major candidates said it was time to turn down the rhetoric, Vance went further than many on the right and directly blamed President Joe Biden and his campaign for the gunman’s actions.

“The central premise of the Biden campaign is that President Donald Trump is an authoritarian fascist who must be stopped at all costs,” he said on X. “That rhetoric led directly to President Trump’s attempted assassination.” 

LGBTQ organizations and advocates issued statements on Monday blasting Trump’s vice president pick.

“Donald Trump has been a bully for years — and his pick of MAGA clone JD Vance is a reminder that nothing has changed. This is anything but a unity ticket,” Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said.

“We are not simply choosing between two campaigns. We are choosing between two fundamentally different visions of America. One, with Trump and MAGA ‘yes man’ JD Vance at the helm, where our rights and freedoms are under siege. And the other, with Joe Biden and Kamala Harris leading the way, where we are advancing toward freedom and equality for all,” she said.

“Everything is at stake and the contrast could not be clearer. We must defeat Trump, Vance, and their brand of chaos and division, and send Joe Biden and Kamala Harris back to the White House.”

In a press release, HRC listed some of the ways in which Vance has denigrated LGBTQ people.

GLAAD, meanwhile, has a lengthy entry for Vance in the GLAAD Accountability Project. Positions, statements, and actions by Trump’s running mate that were noted by the two organizations include:

• His endorsement of the “groomer” slur against Democrats for their support of LGBTQ people,
• His statement “strongly disagree[ing]” that LGBTQ people should be protected from discrimination,
• His opposition to the Equality Act, which would federalize and codify LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections,
• His extreme anti-choice views, including opposition to exceptions to abortion restrictions for victims of rape and incest and opposition to IVF,
• His introduction of a bill to charge healthcare providers with a felony for providing medically necessary health care to transgender youth,
• His statement that he would have voted “no” on the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified federal protections for married same-sex couples and was supported by a dozen GOP senators,
• His defense of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) for appearing at a white supremacist conference with host Nick Fuentes, who has spread racist, anti-Semitic and anti-LGBTQ conspiracy theories, and
• His claim, a week before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, that Biden was risking war with Russia because President Putin doesn’t believe in trans rights.

Burkina Faso has become the latest African country to move to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.

Justice Minister Edasso Bayala on July 10 after a Cabinet meeting said same-sex sexual acts and similar practices would now be prohibited and seen as a violation of the law.

Unlike other countries where lawmakers have to introduce and pass bills, this scenario will likely not be the case in Burkina Faso because the country is currently under military role. Captain Ibrahim Traorè in 2022 led a coup that removed President Roch Kaboré and Prime Minister Lassina Zerbo.

Although some have signaled there still needs to be a parliamentary vote, there will be “legal” ramifications for those who are found to be LGBTQ or advocating for the community.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations or identifying as LGBTQ were regarded as legal in Burkina Faso before the July 10 announcement. Same-sex marriages were — and remain — illegal.

Members of the Transitional Legislative Assembly last September met to discuss regional issues that included the prohibition of and penalization of homosexuality and restricting the creation of groups that advocate on behalf of sexual minorities. The TLA incorporated the suggestions into a report and submitted it to Burkina Faso’s leadership.

Some of the country’s LGBTQ groups and human rights organizations have called upon the current leadership to respect and acknowledge other genders.

“We are all equal in dignity and rights,” said the National Consultive Commission on Human Rights, which is known by acronym CNDH (Commission Nationale des Droits Humains in French), in a statement. “CNDH is fighting against all forms of discrimination based on race gender, religion or social origin.”

“In Burkina Faso, thousands of people suffer from prejudice and injustice every day,” added CNDH. “We must take action. Discrimination weakens our society and divides our communities. Every individual deserves to live without fear of being judged or excluded.”

The organization further stressed “every action counts. Every voice matters.”

“Together we can change mindsets,” it said. “We must educate, raise awareness and encourage respect for diversity.”

CNDH President Gonta Alida Henriette said the government’s decision “would be the greatest violation of human rights in Burkina Faso and would condemn hundreds of thousands of LGBT+ people in Burkina Faso.” Alice Nkom, an African human rights activist, echoed this sentiment.

“Why politicize a privacy matter among consenting adults while making it a crucial topic for Africa? I answer you: Stop spying on your neighbor for the wrong reasons,” said Nkom. “Mind your own life and, if you care about your neighbor, worry about their health, if water is coming out of the tap, if there is electricity in the house, or food to feed their children.”

“Why are they prioritizing the issue of saying no to homosexuality in Africa instead of no wars or armed conflict in Africa, no poverty in Africa, no hunger in Africa, no misery in Africa?,” asked Nkom. “We should stop being distracted by topics that take away nothing and add nothing to our lives.”

Other activists say the proposal would expose the LGBTQ community and its allies to imprisonment and other punishments. They say the repercussions would go beyond legal implications; making human rights and sexual minority activists more vulnerable to criminal action, persecution, and arbitrary arrests. 

Authorities are investigating a failed assassination attempt against former President Donald Trump at a rally Saturday in Butler, Pa., where a bullet pierced the ear of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee.

One attendee was killed, along with the suspected shooter. Two others were critically injured in the attack.

The gunman was identified as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks, a registered Republican from Bethel Park, Pa., who gave to Democratic donation platform ActBlue in January 2021.

“I want to thank The U.S. Secret Service, and all of law enforcement, for their rapid response on the shooting that just took place in Butler, Pennsylvania,” Trump wrote in a post on Truth Social.

Former first lady Melania Trump wrote on Sunday that “When I watched that violent bullet strike my husband, Donald, I realized my life, and Barron’s life, were on the brink of devastating change.”

“A monster who recognized my husband as an inhuman political machine attempted to ring out Donald’s passion — his laughter, ingenuity, love of music, and inspiration,” she wrote.

President Joe Biden was scheduled to receive a briefing on Sunday at the White House with homeland security and law enforcement officials while the Republican-led House Oversight and Accountability Committee said it would be investigating the assassination attempt and had asked U.S. Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle to testify at a hearing on July 22.

“I’ve been thoroughly briefed by all the agencies in the federal government as to the situation, based on what we know now,” Biden said in remarks from Rehoboth Beach, Del., just after the assassination attempt on Saturday night.

“I have tried to get a hold of Donald,” the president said, “He’s with his doctors.” (The two would talk later on Saturday.)

“There is no place in America for this kind of violence,” Biden said. “It’s sick. It’s sick. It’s one of the reasons why we have to unite this country. We cannot allow for this to be happening. We cannot be like this. We cannot condone this.” 

“We are shocked by tonight’s apparent assassination attempt on President Trump in Pennsylvania and relieved that he is safe and in good condition,” Log Cabin Republicans President Charles Moran said on X.

“Our prayers are with President Trump, his family, and our country while we wait to learn further details,” he said. “We are also praying for the family of the innocent bystander who was killed. Our movement will not be deterred.”

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said on X, “Political violence has no place in America. The attack at today’s rally in PA is an affront to our democracy, and our thoughts are with the former president and all those affected. As a nation, we must unite to condemn political violence in all its forms.”

Congressional leaders from both parties issued statements condemning political violence.

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a motion directing the county’s Department of Children and Family Services to take a range of actions to increase access to housing vouchers for youth aging out of the foster system, a move that proponents hope will help reduce homelessness among county youth.

Studies have estimated that LGBTQ youth make up 20-30 percent of all youth in foster care. The most recent count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority found about half of all youth leaving foster care experience homelessness, and that 2,406 youth between the ages of 18-24 are homeless in the county.

The motion, introduced by Supervisor Kathryn Barger, directs DCFS to take a range of actions to help foster youth achieve independence as they age out of the system. One step is to help youth access Foster Youth to Independence vouchers, which are housing vouchers offered through the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. DCFS is also directed to work with landlord organizations like the California Apartment Association to raise awareness of the program and increase the number of owners who will accept the vouchers.

DCFS is also directed to work with homeless outreach groups to identify youth who have already left foster care but may be eligible for vouchers, to help them apply and move into stable housing.

“The county has made some important strides in preventing youth who are aging out of our child welfare system from falling into homelessness, but we need to maximize every single resource that’s available,” Barger said in a press release about the motion. “We need to simplify complicated application processes and increase outreach to property owners so we can offer an adequate supply of rental units that meets the need. It is our moral obligation to not let former foster youth fall into homelessness.”

Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey Horvath, who co-wrote the motion, said this initiative will help coordinate the many different departments that offer services for youth in the foster system.

“We must use every tool available to ensure our young people exiting foster care have a place to call home,” said Horvath. “This motion positions Los Angeles County to better coordinate housing opportunities for our most vulnerable young people.”

Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass said the new initiative is a result of the county government listening to youth in the foster system.

“This motion is a direct result of our Shadow Day program in May when former foster youth connected directly with local leaders to present policy recommendations based on firsthand experience living in the child welfare system,” Bass said. “We know that homelessness impacts people with experience in the foster care system at a disproportionate rate to their peers, which is why this work is so important.”

According to Los Angeles County’s most recent Homeless Count, the county remains in a state of emergency regarding homelessness. The 2024 count showed a slight decline of 0.27 percent in the total homeless population from last year’s high to a total of 75,312 homeless people in Los Angeles County. That decline masks a 6 percent drop in the number of unsheltered homeless people and a corresponding rise in the number of homeless people who do have access to shelter.

The count also shows that a large proportion of homeless people in Los Angeles are Black (30 percent) or Latino (43 percent), and that approximately 1,500 homeless Angelenos identify as transgender, nonbinary, two-spirit, or some gender other than male or female alone.

The daughter of Cameroonian President Paul Biya has come out as a lesbian.

Brenda Biya, 26, on June 30 posted to her Instagram page a picture of her kissing Brazilian model Layyons Valença.

“I’m crazy about you and I want the world to know,” said Brenda Biya.

Her father has been Cameroon’s president since 1982.

Consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized in the Central African country that borders Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, the Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, and Chad. The State Department’s 2023 human rights report notes harassment, discrimination, violence, and arbitrary arrests of LGBTQ people are commonplace in the country.

Brenda Biya is a musician who does not live in Cameroon.

The BBC reported she told Le Parisien, a French newspaper, in an exclusive interview published on Tuesday that she and Valença have been together for eight months. The women have also traveled to Cameroon together three times, but Brenda Biya did not tell her family they were in a relationship.

Brenda Biya said she did not tell her family that she planned to come out, and they were upset when she did. Brenda Biya told Le Parisien that her mother, Cameroonian first lady Chantale Biya, asked her to delete her Instagram post.

The Washington Blade on Thursday did not see the picture of Brenda Biya and Valença on her Instagram account.

“Coming out is an opportunity to send a strong message,” Brenda Biya told Le Parisien.

Brenda Biya described Cameroon’s criminalization law as “unfair, and I hope that my story will change it.”

Activists applauded Brenda Biya for coming out. The BBC reported the DDHP Movement, which supports Cameroon’s anti-LGBTQ laws, filed a complaint against her with the country’s public prosecutor.

The Dutch Supreme Court on Friday ruled Aruba and Curaçao must extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba in 2022 ruled in favor of marriage equality in two cases that Fundacion Orguyo Aruba and Human Rights Caribbean in Curaçao filed.

The governments of the two islands appealed the ruling.

The Joint Court of Justice of Aruba, Curaçao, St. Maarten and of Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba has jurisdiction over Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten —three constituent countries within the Netherlands — and Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba — which are special municipalities within the kingdom. 

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry and adopt children in Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba since 2012.

Aruba, Curaçao, and St. Maarten must recognize same-sex marriages from the Netherlands, Bonaire, St. Eustatius, and Saba. Aruba’s registered partnership law took effect in 2021.

“Today, we celebrate a historic victory for the dignity and rights of LGBT individuals in Curaçao and Aruba,” said Human Rights Caribbean President Janice Tjon Sien Kie on Friday in a statement.

Aruban Sen. Miguel Mansur, who is gay, on Friday described the ruling to the Washington Blade as “an amazing victory which applies to Aruba, Curaçao, and by implication St. Maarten.”

“Aruba progresses into a society with less discrimination, more tolerance, and acceptance,” he said.

Melissa Gumbs, a lesbian St. Maarten MP, told the Blade the ruling “could very well have some bearing on our situation here.” 

“I’m definitely looking into it,” she said. “We’re researching it to see what is the possibility, and also in touch with our friends in Aruba who are, of course, overjoyed with this ruling.”

Cuba, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, St. Martin, St. Barts, Martinique, and Guadeloupe, are the other jurisdictions in the Caribbean in which same-sex couples can legally marry. 

Mansur said the first same-sex marriages in Aruba will happen “very soon.”

“There are two couples ready to wed,” he told the Blade.

A parent-led movement succeeded in recalling two school board members who approved a policy to ban schools in the Sunol Glen Unified School District in the East Bay from flying a Pride flag or any flag that was not a U.S. or California state flag, according to reports.

The vote on July 2 came a year after Molleen Barnes, the superintendent and principal of Sunol Glen School, hoisted the Progress Pride flag on her campus, a little more than an hour’s drive southeast of San Francisco.

After that, two members of the Sunol Glen Unified School District — school board president Ryan Jergensen and Linda Hurley — subsequently approved the new, restricted flag policy, with a third member voting in opposition. Ted Romo accused his fellow officials of “censorship.” Romo is now the only one who kept his seat on the three-member school board.

A parent of children attending Sunol Glen, Matt Sylvester, launched the recall effort. On July 2, he and other residents voted to recall Jergensen by a vote of 254 to 218, a difference of fewer than 40 votes. For Hurley, the count was 249 to 223, leaving her just 26 votes shy of keeping her seat.

The results of the election must be certified by the Alameda County Board of Education, which will then appoint temporary replacements for the school board members until a new election can be held. That isn’t likely before November, according to reports.

Sylvester told the San Francisco Chronicle why he took action.

“They pulled a fast one on us with the flag ban resolution,” Sylvester said. “It was sneaky behavior, and then they pushed it through without listening to people. There’s been no compromise. This recall is about making a point that we will not stand for this.”

Following the issuance of the Republican Party’s first new policy platform since 2016, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) and Charles Moran, president of the conservative LGBTQ group Log Cabin Republicans, shared their reactions this week with the Washington Blade.

Unlike previous iterations, including in 2016 and 2012, the 2024 version contains no mention of same-sex marriage and very little discussion about abortion, issues long championed by the religious right factions of the party.

Still, the document calls for banning transgender girls and women from competing in girls and women’s sports, as well as a proposal to cut federal funding for “any school pushing critical race theory, radical gender ideology, and other inappropriate racial, sexual, or political content on our children.”

“We will keep men out of women’s sports, ban taxpayer funding for sex change surgeries, and stop taxpayer-funded schools from promoting gender transition, reverse Biden’s radical rewrite of Title IX education regulations, and restore protections for women and girls,” the platform says.

“Republicans will ensure children are taught fundamentals like reading, history, science, and math, not leftwing propaganda,” according to the document. “We will defund schools that engage in inappropriate political indoctrination of our children using federal taxpayer dollars.”

Garcia, an openly gay vice chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, told the Blade by phone on Tuesday that the language is of a piece of the party’s efforts across the board to restrict rights, freedoms, and protections from many of America’s most vulnerable.

“The platform is the platform,” he said. “It’s reactionary. It moves us backwards. It does not support diverse communities.”

What is more important, however, than “the Republican platform, Project 2025, all of these ideas and proposals,” Garcia said, is the question of “who’s going to implement these.”

“Look at what Donald Trump is actually saying,” Garcia said. “That should scare us. He’s saying he’s going to deport undocumented people across the country. He’s saying he’s going to empower fossil fuel and oil companies in public. He’s saying that he doesn’t support unions. He’s saying all of these horrible things. I think we should take him for his word.”

“We should already know that he’s going to do what he says. He’s saying he’s going to jail his political opponents,” the congressman added. “This is insane. So, I think that is much more instructive than any party platform or other conversation happening right now.”

Project 2025, the exhaustively detailed governing blueprint for a second Trump term that was published by the right-wing Heritage Foundation think tank, “is finally starting to get more attention,” Garcia said.

Unlike the party platform, the 900-page document reads like a wishlist for the most right-wing conservative Christian flanks of the GOP — with proposals to criminalize all pornography, for instance, and to revoke LGBTQ-inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal government employees.

“I wish that over the last two days we were talking about Project 2025,” said Garcia.

House Democrats, who had just returned from the July 4 break, had been inundated with questions about whether President Joe Biden should continue leading the party’s 2024 ticket after a shaky debate performance last month exacerbated concerns about his age.

“Moving forward,” he said, Project 2025 “needs to get more attention, and I’m hopeful that it will.”

Also speaking with the Blade on Tuesday was Moran, who had attended a Log Cabin Republicans fundraiser on Monday that former first lady Melania Trump hosted and netted $1.4 million. The event was the first to be held in the Trump Tower residence since her husband launched his 2024 campaign.

“Project 2025 is like a kid’s Christmas wish list — and it has just as much chance of coming to fruition as Santa Claus coming down that chimney,” he said. “It’s just not reality.”

By contrast, the platform has Trump written all over it, Moran said.

“Even though I was not on the platform committee, it was clear those in leadership understood that the process had been commandeered in the past by special interests and those trying to use intimidation and fear to bully their influence into the final document,” he said. “The RNC took steps to ensure a clean, orderly and accessible drafting process.”

As a result of influence peddling by special interest groups, “the platform continued to be an albatross around the necks of common-sense Republicans,” providing opportunities for Democrats to portray their political opponents as anti-gay, for example, since the document historically took a position against same-sex marriage.

“The 2016 platform was crafted under the influence of Ted Cruz’s delegates, veering it in a much more conservative direction on gay issues,” Moran said. “President Trump made it clear that he wasn’t aligned with the 2016 platform, and if the full RNC convention would have been held in 2020, it would have been changed then.”

Moran added that while “the platform process has historically been influenced by paid lobbyists representing special interests trying to game the system for their client’s pet projects and desires,” this year “presented President Trump with his first opportunity to genuinely make the GOP platform represent the modern Republican Party, and make it represent an inclusive, America-First context.”

Moran said the new platform is a reflection of the campaign’s strategy and approach to this election.

“I believe the president knew that the old platform made the GOP uncompetitive in major geographic and critical demographic areas,” he said. “The platform was definitely worth fighting over, because we know that the presidential nominee needs to get the party in the best position possible to appeal to the broadest number of people.”

“This is a platform that is inclusive of many communities, including LGBT Americans,” Moran said. “It promotes the sanctity of marriage, but doesn’t exclude our marriages. It supports IVF, which is the principle way same-sex couples build families.”

“This is a pro-family platform,” he added, “but it provides a place for our families too.”