National
Soaring hits and dramatic misses at the HRC/CNN LGBTQ Town Hall
Living history. That’s what it felt like inside The Novo theatre at the HRC/CNN LGBTQ Town Hall last Thursday night as nine Democratic presidential candidates showcased their commitment to LGBTQ issues and their plans to advance full equality and end the scourge of AIDS and conversion therapy. Gay presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg and gay CNN moderator Anderson Cooper were well aware they were living history on stage, but, to borrow from The Shirelles, will they all still love LGBTQs tomorrow?
The CNN stage Tuesday night is crowded with 12 Democrats who aspire to topple Donald Trump and live in the White House. The moderators are asking about impeachment, the new Trump-caused war in Northern Syria, immigration, climate change and gun violence.
Sen. Bernie Sanders has returned to campaigning after a heart attack and former Vice President Joe Biden and Sen. Elizabeth Warren have readied their flak jackets for all the incoming grenades tossed by candidates hoping to breakout of single digit poll numbers. Out Mayor Pete Buttigieg is hoping to capitalize on all the thumbs-up, while Sen. Kamala Harris, once considered the female Barack Obama shoe-in, is struggling – she seems to know everything but her message.
Ratings for the Democratic Party’s fourth official debate in Westerville, Ohio are expected to be high, given the near certainty of Trump’s impeachment by the House – but there is also a nauseating feeling that Trump could still turn ashes into confetti and win re-election in 2020. Who on that stage can defeat him?
CNN’s production of the LGBTQ town hall, in partnership with the Human Rights Campaign Foundation, reached 1,430,000 viewers during Buttigieg’s third segment at the peak of the four-and a half-hour program. He was preceded by Biden, who brought in 1,336,000 viewers, and followed by Warren with 1,398,000 viewers. The audience started dipping after that with 1,174,000 viewers watching Harris.
“These are pretty good ratings for the town halls. They are not gangbusters like a debate, but they are better than some that CNN has had earlier in the cycle,” Ted Johnson, Washington correspondent for Deadline, tells the Los Angeles Blade. “The network also emphasizes that it has these not for the audiences but to show their commitment to covering the campaign.”
A ratings junkie, Trump offered a little counter programming on Fox TV with a 102-minute rambling, incoherent and racist campaign rally in Minneapolis, Minnesota – the heavily Somali district represented by Trump nemesis, Ilan Omar. And while the Democrats appealed to LGBTQ voters and allies, Trump unleashed a bombastic sideshow that roused his supporters and left others questioning his mental stability, including acting out “a truly terrible imitation of [FBI employees] Peter Strzok and Lisa Page achieving orgasm,” as Esquire described it.
Saturday Night Live devoted their cold open spoof to the HRC/CNN Equality Town, with a cryptic Anderson Cooper should shrug acknowledging “we’ll never do this again.” But it was former HUD Sec. Julián Castro (Lin-Manuel Miranda) who best nailed the subliminal message of the event: “Well, first of all, gracias. As a Democrat, I want to apologize for not being gay, but I promise to do better in the future.”
What is not a joke is that 11,046,000 LGBTQ adults are still officially second class citizens – the result, the town hall helped underscore – of institutionalized and systematic homophobia, biphobia and transphobia. Additionally, since 2016, HRC has identified more than 57 million “Equality Voters” nationwide who “prioritize LGBTQ-inclusive policies, including marriage equality, equitable family law and laws that would prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity,” says HRC.
In 2018, LGBTQ voters counted for 6% of the entire electorate and cast more than 7 million ballots — a turnout of roughly 70%, compared to a turnout of 50% among the general population.
In 2020, the lives and livelihoods of LGBTQ people are at stake. The town hall occurred two days after the Supreme Court heard three job discrimination cases on whether the firing and harassment of an employee based on that worker’s sexual orientation or gender identity qualifies as sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act? According to an Associated Press analysis,“a ruling that says the federal law doesn’t protect workers targeted because they’re gay or transgender could leave millions vulnerable in more than half of U.S. states.”
An analysis released Oct. 9 by the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law based on a poll conducted with Reuters/Ipsos of candidate preferences found that nearly 9 million LGBT adults are registered to vote, with half registered as Democrats, 15% registered as Republicans and 22% Independents and the remaining respondents picking another party or demurring on identifying one.
And yet, as Marketwatch extrapolated from the Williams Institute report, around 21% of LGBTQ adults are not registered to vote. That means there are roughly two million more LGBTQ adults still to be registered to vote in the 2020 election.
Two million. And that’s not counting those who want to vote but are shut out or dissuaded or uninspired.
“Voter suppression has primarily targeted voters of color, who also happen to include LGBTQ Americans, who far too often face disproportionate barriers in accessing their right to vote,” HRC President Alphonso David told the Washington Post after HRC backed a voting-rights effort organized by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. Some states, for instance, have voter-ID laws where the person is required to show documentation that matches their birth-assigned gender, which could impede a transgender person from voting. The National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund has a project to help with that – Transform the Vote that explains #VotingWhileTrans.
One hope was that the HRC/CNN town hall would engage voters, as well as get the candidates on the record about specific LGBTQ issues and introduce non-LGBTQ Americans to the human beings behind those issues. Buttigieg and Warren put out detailed, comprehensive LGBTQ plans and Harris pledge to create a White House advocate for LGBT affairs. Beto O’Rourke put out his LGBT plan last June.
Numerous intersectional issues were addressed such as trans military service, HIV/AIDS, suicide and mental health, youth homelessness, gun violence and education and school safety, as well as civil rights and full equality under the Constitution.
Some new details emerged about some of the candidates. For instance, when CenterLink’s Tanya Tassi asked Harris about the three Title IX employment discrimination cases before the Supreme Court, the California Senator noted that she had joined in a friend of the court brief to “stand in solidarity with all of the folks who are fighting for equality in those three cases.”
And when LA-based HIV-positive dancer and choreographer Thomas Davis asked Harris how she would combat high HIV rates in minority communities, she not only talked about high rates for Black gay men and access to PrEP but shared a personal story about sitting at the bedsides of men who died from AIDS, including Jim Rivaldo, her campaign manager when she ran for San Francisco DA – he was also Harvey Milk’s campaign manager.
“He would always talk about the need to recognize that within the community there are real hierarchies based on race and income and we need to recognize and deal with that,” Harris said. “And since those days to today, we know that in terms of HIV-AIDS rates among black men in particular, it is still much higher because the hierarchy still exists within the community around access to health care, housing, employment, and things of that nature.” She then committed to end HIV/AIDS “within a generation.” (JavonTae Wilson, an HIV counselor and tester for In the Meantime Men, asked a similar question of Sen. Klobuchar).
Contrast that with billionaire Tom Steyer who was asked by Nia-Malika Henderson about living in San Francisco in the 1980s during the height of the AIDS crisis. He noted that no one knew how broad the epidemic would become but research and the response from the community was strong.
“So I look at this as a place where there was something very scary and out of control, that Americans — and don’t forget, President Reagan would never admit to the AIDS crisis or do anything about it,” Steyer said. “But the country responded itself. Researchers responded. People in the community responded. People in churches responded. Actually, there was a great deal of caring that went out. And as devastating as it was in San Francisco, it wasn’t nearly as bad as people were worried about, Nia, and that was really as a result of the work and caring that people put in.”
Henderson didn’t follow up to ask him to clarify what he meant by “it wasn’t nearly as bad as people were worried about.”
In another instance, Anderson Cooper asked Joe Biden what he would do if the Supreme Court ruled that the Civil Rights Act does not protect LGBTQ workers. Biden said he’d pass the Equality Act “right off the bat.” He thinks such protections are constitutional because “I taught constitutional law for 21 years in law school as a constitutional professor, I believe it clearly is covered, clearly is covered.”
Some eyebrows went up. Biden – a constitutional law professor? Actually yes, Jamal Brown, Biden’s National Press Secretary, tells the Los Angeles Blade, except for 17, not 21 years, at Widener University. He points to an Aug. 27, 2008 article reporting that “Biden has been an adjunct law professor at the school for 17 years, co-teaching a class, ‘Special Studies in Constitutional Law.’” One of the proud students watching then-Democratic vice presidential contender Biden speak said: “”I thought it was amazing…,I thought it was very true. He’s a straight guy.”
There were some other confusing moments. In off the record conversations during and after the event, many thought Warren “won” the night, especially after her hysterical take on same sex marriage that caused such an uproar, it distracted from a Buttigieg press availability backstage.
When asked how she would respond to someone saying they believe marriage is between one man and one woman, Warren said: “Well, I’m going to assume it’s a guy who said that. And I’m going to say, ‘just marry one woman.’ I’m cool with that.” She turned, took a comic beat, then added: “Assuming you can find one.”
It was one of the biggest hits of the evening, one that continues to be cited by news outlets reporting on Warren. But there were some dramatic missed opportunities to display cultural competence, too.
For instance, when CNN anchor Chris Cuomo asked Warren about her 2012 comment regarding a judge’s ruling that granted transition-related surgery to a transgender inmate. During her Senate campaign, she said: “I don’t think it’s a good use of taxpayer dollars.”
“Do you regret that?” Cuomo asked.
“Yep. No, it was a bad answer. And I think it was a bad answer. And I believe that everyone is entitled to medical care and medical care that they need, and that includes people who are transgender, who — it is the time for them to have gender-affirming surgery. I just think that’s important and the appropriate medical care,” Warren said.
Though not an explicit apology for her Senate campaign remark, many took it as the equivalent of Harris “taking full responsibility” for her office’s refusal to grant transition healthcare to a trans prisoner when she was DA. But it was the next response that threw people.
“So if you help people get to where they want to be, you also have to protect them as what they are,” Cuomo said. “Do you think that a crime against somebody who is transgender should be charged as a hate crime in statute?”
“You know, I think we could if we think that’s going to be the most effective way to make change. So I’m certainly — I’m open to this,” she said. “But I’ll tell you what I really want. I want a Justice Department that takes this seriously. I want to create a Justice Department that says these crimes matter.
“And when they’re not federal crimes,” Warren continued, “when they are state crimes, in the same way that our Justice Department is empowered to step in if a state is failing to enforce laws and as a result it’s leaving women unprotected, it’s leaving people of color unprotected, the same should happen for LGBTQ people. We need a Justice Department that is on the side of the people, all of the people.”
Did Warren just say she didn’t back a federal hate crime law that included transgender people—with Judy Shepard in the audience? The Los Angeles Blade reached out to her campaign for clarification.
“Gender identity is currently covered by federal hate crime laws and a Warren Administration will use this statute to prosecute,” spokesperson Saloni Sharma told the Los Angeles Blade. “Elizabeth was making the point that hate crimes prosecutions are not a sufficient answer – we need to go further to make addressing this issue a priority for the Department of Justice, attack the roots of the crisis, and prevent violence. She has also co-sponsored the NO HATE Act to strengthen hate crime reporting as one of the ways to do that.”
What viewers did not know was the backstage drama that happened before the event. Roughly a half hour before showtime, CNN pulled a scheduled question from LA-based trans personality Ashlee Marie Preston. Though Preston described the withdrawn invitation to Out Magazine as being “an act of erasure,” a reliable source with knowledge of the incident told the Los Angeles Blade that the question was pulled because Preston was supposed to ask it of Warren but had not disclosed to CNN that she was a paid campaign surrogate, which made her a “plant” questioner and therefore, an ethical conflict of interest to the news production.
CNN only learned about Preston’s financial association with the campaign after a video in which she appeared was posted by Team Warren on Twitter. CNN later learned of the racist and homophobic tweets Preston posted over the years, for which she has somewhat apologized.
Warren’s campaign did not respond to a request for comment about Preston’s tweets.
But Preston’s absence was part of a felt vacuum for trans representation, especially the need to elevate Black trans women of color who, with 19 or 20 murders in 2019, are experiencing an epidemic of violence and hatred, about which HRC is well aware.
There were a number of trans people who were able to briefly share their stories through the questions they asked.
The very first question of the night was for Sen. Cory Booker from Rachel Gonzalez, mother of a 9-year old trans daughter from Dallas and a member of the Human Rights Campaign Parents for Transgender Equality Council. Jacob Lemay, an elementary school student from Massachusetts who identified as “a 9-year-old transgender American, asked Warren a question about school safety. And Gavin Grimm, now 20, told Booker how he sued his high school in 2015 to use the boy’s restroom – a case that went on a legal roller coaster for four years until he finally won on Aug. 9, 2019.
Also representing the trans community were U.S. Air Force combat vet Shannon Scott; Khloe Perez-Rios, a community organizer from Rancho Cucamonga who works at Bienestar; Mariana Marroquin, program manager for the LA-based Trans Wellness Center; and fabulous Black trans singer/songwriter Shea Diamond (who made sure Nia-Malika Henderson pronounced her name correctly); and Black trans activist Carter Brown who was fired from his job in Texas. Andrea Jenkins, the first trans member of the Minneapolis City Council, was Klobuchar’s guest and HRC National Press Sec. Sarah McBride, a candidate for Delaware State Senate, got a shout out from Biden.
But despite the diversity among the questioners and the respectful understanding that one of these Democrats could become the next President of the United States, there was a painful sense of the lack of urgency to the ongoing crisis of the murder and violence toward Black and Brown trans women.
TransLatin@ Coalition founder Bamby Salcedo, along with Maria Roman-Taylorson, and and Michaé Pulido decided to do something about it, chanting and waving a trans flag with the message about trans murders, disrupting Buttigieg’s segment of the HRC/CNN Equality Town Hall.
“The reason we decided to do it when Pete Buttigieg was onstage is because he is a member of the LGBT community and we wanted for him to see first-hand the violence where at least 20 trans women have been killed,” Salcedo told the Los Angeles Blade.
“We needed to show him the importance of addressing the violence against trans women as a priority and to really make sure he understands what needs to happen in order for us to have better life within our broader LGBT community and the broader society,” she said. “We wanted the national mainstream audience to get the broader message.”
Salcedo also noted how roughly they were treated by security. “The way security handled us was inappropriate, even violent, simply because we were trans women,” Salcedo said. “Honestly, I think law enforcement has the mentality to be rough toward trans women, period. That has to change.”
Anderson Cooper was a little thrown but remained calm.
“People are dying,” the TransLatin@ Coalition protesters yelled.
“It’s OK. It’s OK. Be cool. It’s OK. It’s OK. Hey, hey, hey, hey, guys, guys, guys,” Cooper said to the trans women. “Yo, guys, chill out. Guys, relax, relax.”
Cooper then tried to explain the disruption to the million-plus viewers.
“Let me just point out there is a long and proud tradition and history in the gay, lesbian, and transgender community of protest, and we applaud them for their protest,” he said to applause. “And they are absolutely right to be angry and upset at the lack of attention, particularly in the media, on the lives of transgendered….”
After the protesters were led away, Buttigieg got his question.
“And before turning to it, I do want to acknowledge what these demonstrators were speaking about, which is the epidemic of violence against black trans women in this country right now.
(APPLAUSE)
“And I believe or would like to believe that everybody here is committed to ending that epidemic, and that does include lifting up its visibility and speaking to it.
(APPLAUSE)
It’s also a reminder of something at stake in your question, which is just how much diversity there is within the LGBTQ+ community. And I’m very mindful of the fact that my experience as a gay man, but as a white, cisgender gay man, means that there are dimensions, for example, of what it’s like to be a black trans woman that I do not personally understand.
But I also think the diversity within the LGBTQ+ community is part of what we have to offer right now. Our community, our country is so torn apart, we’re so fragmented, and here we have the LGBTQ+ world that is everywhere. We are in every state, every community. Whether folks realize it or not, we’re in every family. And that means we can also have the power to build bridges.
And when somebody’s weighing whether to come out or just coming to terms with who they are, it’s really important for them to know that they’re going to be accepted. There is no right or wrong way to be gay, to be queer, to be trans. And I hope that our own community, even as we struggle to define what our identity means, defines it in a way that lets everybody know that they belong among us.”
After Salcedo was taken away and the televised questioning resumed, it was up to Blossom C. Brown to raise the stakes again.
Lizette Trujillo, from Tucson, Arizona, was about to ask about her transgender son when she suddenly stopped. “I just want to take a moment before I ask my question to validate the pain of our transgender siblings that demonstrated earlier and that have spoken up today, especially black trans women, she said.
Then came Blossom C. Brown, who swiped Trujillo’s microphone. Here’s how the exchange unfolded:
“I don’t want to take this away from you but let me tell you something – Black trans women are being killed in this country. And CNN, you have erased black trans women for the last time. Let me tell you something. Black trans women are dying. Our lives matter.
I am an extraordinary Black trans woman, and I deserve to be here. My Black trans sisters that are here. I am tired. I am so tired of just sitting there. And it’s not just my Black trans women…
LEMON: Ma’am. Ma’am.
BROWN: It’s my Black trans brothers, too. And I will say what I’m going to say. I’m going to say what I’m going to say.
LEMON: No, no, no, just come here. No, I just want to ask you something. Come here. Tell me. I want you to talk — what’s your name?
BROWN: Blossom C. Brown.
LEMON: Blossom, let me ask…
BROWN: Google me. Please Google me.
LEMON: Blossom, thank you. Let me tell you something. No, don’t come on the stage. And can I — may I have the mic?
BROWN: OK.
LEMON: May I have the mic? Blossom, let me tell you something. The reason that we’re here is to validate people like you. That is why we’re giving — but that is why we’re here.
BROWN: (OFF-MIKE) your actions do not say that.
LEMON: OK, but…
BROWN: Not one black trans woman has taken the mic tonight. Not one black trans man has taken the mic tonight.
LEMON: Yeah. Yeah. Hang on. We can’t hear you. Blossom, we can’t hear you. Here. Blossom, we can’t hear you.
BROWN: Baby, your actions have to speak louder than words. Because guess what? Not one Black trans woman has taken the mic tonight. Not one Black trans man has taken the mic tonight. Show me.
LEMON: Blossom, Blossom…
BROWN: (OFF-MIKE)
LEMON: OK, thank you, I appreciate it. Blossom, you’re a Black trans woman. You have the mic in your hand. I’ve given — I’ve taken it and given it back to you. We want to hear from you. We have had trans people of color. We have all people here. And you’re welcome — but we — but we are proud and happy that you’re here. We’re proud and happy that you’re here. Yes, but, remember, we’re under a time constraint. All right. Thank you, Blossom, and I appreciate it.
BROWN: Yeah, that’s how anti-Blackness works, amongst people of color. That’s what anti-Blackness looks like, the erasure of Black trans people.
LEMON: All right.
BROWN: I’m here. We are here in this room. Please give us that opportunity.
LEMON: Blossom, thank you so much. And we appreciate it. Thank you very much. Yes, no, I got it. There we go.
(APPLAUSE)
Congressman, please address that. Do you want to address that?
O’ROURKE: I’d be happy to. Yeah.
LEMON: Thank you, Blossom.
BROWN: I just want to remind everyone that Stonewall was led by transgender women of color, and it’s 15 years later, and we’re still failing you as a community. But there are mothers like me and other community members that are committed to change. And so thank you for allowing that.
LEMON: Thank you.
(APPLAUSE)
O’Rourke commended Don Lemon: “And then I want to commend you, because after Blossom took the microphone from you, and then returned it after what she said, you acknowledged that she did not grab the mic to speak out against anybody, or to put down anybody. She grabbed the mic to stand up for herself and other trans women of color and trans men of color that she talked about, as well. That’s what democracy looks like in America.”
Brown later told the Los Angeles Blade that she is hoping to organize a forum specifically tackling the issues of significance to Black trans women. (Go to her Facebook page to watch for developments)
HRC President Alphonso David later tweeted an apology:
What has not been addressed is the lack of attention to lesbian, bisexual and non-binary people.
Lesbian pioneer Karla Jay, PhD, Professor Emerita of English and Women’s & Gender Studies at Pace University in New York, wrote an op-ed for the Los Angeles Blade in which she laments the missing lesbians.
“When the CNN/HRC (Human Rights Campaign) televised LGBT Town Hall ended at midnight on the East Coast, I felt more like I had survived an entire Jerry Lewis Telethon for Muscular Dystrophy (OK, this dates me) rather than an informative interchange between Democratic candidates and a lively audience. When I unscientifically polled “Friends” on Facebook afterwards, not one of perhaps 700 lesbians admitted to having watched the event. My bluest of the blue lesbian friends visiting from Florida confessed that they had fallen asleep not far in,” she wrote. “But it wasn’t Lesbian Nation’s fault for conking out at the remote when HRC’s questions totally ignored us.”
Yes, towards the ends, in one question “asking about medical coverage for her spouse, one woman referred to herself and her wife, and there was one bisexual and one nonbinary person,” she wrote. “For some reason, the general public and even many gay men seem to think that lesbians have no specific issues except to worry about which half of a couple will get custody of the cat after a divorce, who will win the lesbian softball tournament, and what should be brought to the vegan potluck. However, not being seen is not the same as being well off or content.”
Like straight women lesbians tend to live into old age and become victims of elder abuse, denial of services, forced to separate from a partner when seeking assisted living or at a homeless shelter. And what about reproductive health and creating a family by having “access to alternative insemination in every state, and justice for both biological and nonbiological parents in the event of a separation or divorce.
According to The Washington Post, “there are 5.5 million lesbians in the United States—most of them presumably of voting age. The robust lesbian communities in Michigan, Wisconsin, and Pennsylvania could turn those states blue,” Jay writes. “Reaching out to lesbians is an uncomplicated strategy that could pay big dividends. But suggesting by omission that our lives don’t matter is a strategic error.”
Non-binary people got really short-changed. Oscar Buckland, an LA-based community college student who identifies as non-binary asked Amy Klobuchar: “In California, I am able to change my gender to X. However, on the federal level, there is no such option. Will you recognize third gender markers on a federal level?
“Yes. Thank you. I will,” she said. “And I think there’s also — you know, I think that there is a lot of work we need to do, all over the country, with driver’s licenses, as you know. Not every state has some of the provisions that California have in place and just work on a state-by-state basis to make those changes. So, thanks for asking the question.”
Bisexuals also received scant notice. Julian Castro said bisexuals would be included in his administration’s LGBTQ policies.
Actor/activist Sara Ramirez fumed on Twitter.
But the LGBTQ civil rights movement, which claims to seek social and economic justice, barely notices that there are more bisexuals than gay men, lesbians and trans people, according to the Williams Institute, and bisexuals are also at huge risk for poverty.
It is incumbent upon the LGBTQ community itself to raise and help solve these issues – including finding those 2 million LGBTQ unregistered voters and educating them about the historical significance of the 2020 elections.
See HRC highlights here. See CNN Live blog highlights here. Find CNN transcripts of all the town halls here.
All photos, except screen grabs, are by Daniel Sliwa for the Los Angeles Blade.
White House
GLAAD catalogues LGBTQ+-inclusive pages on White House and federal agency websites
Trump-Vance administration to take office Monday
GLAAD has identified and catalogued LGBTQ+-inclusive content or references to HIV that appear on WhiteHouse.gov and the websites for several federal government agencies, anticipating that these pages might be deleted, archived, or otherwise changed shortly after the incoming administration takes over on Monday.
The organization found a total of 54 links on WhiteHouse.gov and provided the Washington Blade with a non-exhaustive list of the “major pages” on websites for the Departments of Defense (12), Justice (three), State (12), Education (15), Health and Human Services (10), and Labor (14), along with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (10).
The White House web pages compiled by GLAAD range from the transcript of a seven-minute speech delivered by President Joe Biden to mark the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center to a readout of a roundtable with leaders in the LGBTQ+ and gun violence prevention movements and the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy’s 338-page FY2024 budget summary, which contains at least a dozen references to LGBTQ+-focused health equity initiatives and programs administered by agencies like the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
Just days after Trump took office in his first term, news outlets reported that LGBTQ+ related content had disappeared from WhiteHouse.gov and websites for multiple federal agencies.
Chad Griffin, who was then president of the Human Rights Campaign, accused the Trump-Pence administration of “systematically scrubbing the progress made for LGBTQ+ people from official websites,” raising specific objection to the State Department’s removal of an official apology for the Lavender Scare by the outgoing secretary, John Kerry, in January 2017.
Acknowledging the harm caused by the department’s dismissal of at least 1,000 employees for suspected homosexuality during the 1950s and 60s “set the right tone for the State Department, he said, adding, “It is outrageous that the new administration would attempt to erase from the record this historic apology for witch hunts that destroyed the lives of innocent Americans.”
In response to an inquiry from NBC News into why LGBTQ+ content was removed and whether the pages would return, a spokesperson said “As per standard practice, the secretary’s remarks have been archived.” However, NBC noted that “a search of the State Department’s website reveals not much else has changed.”
U.S. Federal Courts
Appeals court hears case challenging Florida’s trans healthcare ban
District court judge concluded the law was discriminatory, unconstitutional
Parties in Doe v. Ladapo, a case challenging Florida’s ban on healthcare for transgender youth and restrictions on the medical interventions available to trans adults, presented oral arguments on Wednesday before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit in Atlanta.
The case was appealed by defendants representing the Sunshine State following a decision in June 2024 by Judge Robert Hinkle of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida, who found “the law and rules unconstitutional and unenforceable on equal protection grounds,” according to a press release from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, which is involved in the litigation on behalf of the plaintiffs.
The district court additionally found the Florida healthcare ban unconstitutional on the grounds that it was “motivated by purposeful discrimination against transgender people,” though the ban and restrictions will remain in effect pending a decision by the appellate court.
Joining NCLR in the lawsuit are attorneys from GLAD Law, the Human Rights Campaign, Southern Legal Counsel, and the law firms Lowenstein Sandler and Jenner and Block.
“As a mother who simply wants to protect and love my child for who she is, I pray that the Eleventh Circuit will affirm the district court’s thoughtful and powerful order, restoring access to critical healthcare for all transgender Floridians,” plaintiff Jane Doe said. “No one should have to go through what my family has experienced.”
“As a transgender adult just trying to live my life and care for my family, it is so demeaning that the state of Florida thinks it’s their place to dictate my healthcare decisions,” said plaintiff Lucien Hamel.
“Members of the legislature have referred to the high quality healthcare I have received, which has allowed me to live authentically as myself, as ‘mutilation’ and ‘an abomination’ and have called the providers of this care ‘evil,’” Hamel added. “We hope the appellate court sees these rules and laws for what truly are: cruel.”
“Transgender adults don’t need state officials looking over their shoulders, and families of transgender youth don’t need the government dictating how to raise their children,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “The district court heard the evidence and found that these restrictions are based on bias, not science. The court of appeals should affirm that judgment.”
Noting Hinkle’s conclusion that the ban and restrictions were “motivated by animus, not science or evidence,” Simone Chris, who leads Southern Legal Counsel’s Transgender Rights Initiative, said, “The state has loudly and proudly enacted bans on transgender people accessing healthcare, using bathrooms, transgender teachers using their pronouns and titles, and a slough of other actions making it nearly impossible for transgender individuals to live in this state.”
Lowenstein Sandler Partner Thomas Redburn said, “The defendants have offered nothing on appeal that could serve as a valid basis for overturning that finding” by the district court.
“Not only does this dangerous law take away parents’ freedom to make responsible medical decisions for their child, it inserts the government into private health care matters that should be between adults and their providers,” said Jennifer Levi, senior director of transgender and queer rights at GLAD Law.
Congress
LGBTQ+ lawmakers, advocacy groups condemn GOP’s anti-trans sports ban
Several members raised their objections to the bill in speeches on the House floor
LGBTQ+ and civil rights advocacy groups and Democratic lawmakers in the U.S. House of Representatives denounced legislation passed on Tuesday by the Republican majority that would prohibit schools that receive federal education funding from allowing transgender students to participate in girls’ and women’s sports.
As the bill was brought to a vote, ultimately passing 218-206, Democrats slammed the measure in speeches on the House floor, statements from their congressional offices, and social media posts. Among them were the out LGBTQ+ leadership of the Congressional Equality Caucus and several allies who serve as vice-chairs.
Freshman U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride, the first transgender member of Congress, did not participate in the floor debate.
“Republicans are moving a bill that would ban transgender students of all ages from participating in sports and put all female athletes at risk for harassment and abuse,” U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Equality Caucus, said in a video on X.
“This sports ban opens the door to subjecting all female students to secret investigations, intrusive demands for medical tests, or reviews of their private medical information,” he said. “This bill is so vaguely written that it could force any girl to undergo invasive medical exams to ‘prove’ that they are a girl.”
The congressman continued, “This bill isn’t about equity. It isn’t about fairness. It is a weaponization of the federal government against a small group of people at the expense of privacy rights for all students.”
“It does nothing to address the real inequities that female athletes face,” Takano said, “and instead overrides the authority of interscholastic and intercollegiate sports federations, as well as athletic organizations.”
Instead of lowering costs, House Republicans are pushing an anti-trans sports bill that would threaten student athletes with intrusive exams and jeopardize the fairness and safety of female athletics. pic.twitter.com/zTqeprJYXj
— Mark Takano (@RepMarkTakano) January 14, 2025
Gay U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), who chaired the caucus in the previous Congress and now serves as a co-chair, said “No bill is before us to lower costs for Americans, instead it is a political attempt to divide us as a nation, stigmatizing some kids so some adults can get MAGA merit badges.
“The Republican governor of Utah vetoed a similar piece of legislation after he shared that of the 75,000 students in high school sports in Utah, only four were trans, and only one a girl playing sports. But he also mentioned the very real 86% of trans kids reporting suicidality due to issues like adults stigmatizing kids for political gain.
“Instead, today, the proposed solution is in search of an actual problem. Suggests we somehow ban girls from sports with some sort of process to determine who is a girl. Does this mean hiring potential predators to peek at the private parts of kids in locker rooms?
“Now that sounds like an actual problem to me, creating a solution to a non-existent problem by creating a problem instead of lowering costs for Americans as a sign of an ineffective congressional majority at best, I urge a no vote, and I yield back.”
The House GOP's trans sports ban would subject girls as young as four to invasive physical inspections of their private parts by adult strangers.
— Rep. Mark Pocan (@RepMarkPocan) January 14, 2025
Yes, really.
Republicans should focus on lowering costs instead of a bill that puts ALL girls at risk. pic.twitter.com/O8uRj9OKpl
U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a lesbian co-chair of the caucus who previously taught middle school history and social studies, delivered an impassioned floor speech, telling Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) “I rise in fierce opposition to this bill”:
“Trans Americans are not the problem. This obsession with monitoring kids’ genitals is absolutely the problem.
“Let’s be clear. This is about kids. My kids, your kids, all kids. All kids, even elementary school kids playing basketball. I’m a mom of two teens. I’m a former teacher. I know what kids are going through in school. They are already self-conscious about their bodies. They just want to be on the soccer field with their friends. They certainly do not want to be humiliated by members of Congress.
“So, come on, let’s talk about what enforcement looks like, because you guys, you don’t want to talk about it. We know there is only one logical conclusion to this. This is interrogation of young girls. About their bodies. This is asking people to show them what is underneath their underwear.”
“That is what we’re talking about. This is the logical conclusion for this bill. So, it’s vile. It’s twisted. They don’t want to talk about the details. It’s an absolute invasion of children’s privacy. Far from protecting anyone, it puts our children at risk. And actually, I urge colleagues on both sides of the aisle to reject this government overreach.”
Banning trans kids from sports solves *none* of the problems that Americans are facing.
— Rep. Becca Balint (@RepBeccaB) January 14, 2025
Let's be real: Trans kids aren't the reason we can't afford groceries. Trans kids aren't the reason young people are giving up on ever owning a home.
Corporate greed is. pic.twitter.com/sKRzm1DGTk
Gay caucus co-chair U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) voiced his opposition to the bill in a post on X.
House Republicans brought up a bill designed to hurt trans youth and athletes and ban them from playing sports in schools. The real effect beyond that cruelty is it would allow gender checks on young girls and athletes. This was sick and shameful and I voted NO.
— Congressman Robert Garcia (@RepRobertGarcia) January 14, 2025
Other out LGBTQ+ Democratic co-chairs of the caucus spoke out from the House floor on Tuesday.
An especially comprehensive floor speech came from U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), a caucus co-chair, who began her remarks by proclaiming that “the so-called Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act” will “actually do the opposite and make sports more dangerous for women and girls.” The congresswoman said:
“This bill is a ‘one size fits all’ approach that would apply equally to every sport from K-12 schools to colleges. Currently schools, parents, and communities manage youth sports leagues and write rules about who can participate in different sports at different levels. Many states, schools, and athletic associations across the country have allowed equal participation for transgender athletes for years and it’s working just fine.
“This legislation would revoke all federal funding from schools that include transgender students on girls’ and women’s sports teams. This is damaging and discriminatory to transgender students, who benefit, as all students do, from participating in school sports, and also damaging to the entire school that’s threatened because federal funding benefits all students.
“Keep in mind, colleagues, that as of last month, of the approximately 510,000 athletes who play at the NCAA level — 10 are transgender. Not 10,000. Ten. Out of 510,000.
“Transgender students — like all students — they deserve the same opportunity as their peers to learn teamwork, to find belonging, and to grow into well-rounded adults through sports. Childhood and adolescence are important times for growth and development, and sports help students form healthy habits and develop strong social and emotional skills. Sports provide meaningful opportunities for kids to feel confident in themselves and learn valuable life lessons about teamwork, leadership, and communication. Teams provide a place for kids to make friends and build relationships.
“Yet my colleagues across the aisle want to take these opportunities away from certain children; that’s discriminatory and it’s wrong.
“My colleagues are apparently so afraid of people who are different from them that they’ve manufactured false and dangerous presumptions based on outdated stereotypes about transgender people, especially transgender women and girls.
“Additionally, there is no way this so called “protection” bill could be enforced without opening the door to harassment and privacy violations. It opens the door to inspection, not protection, of women and girls in sports. Will students have to undergo exams to “prove” they’re a girl? We are already seeing examples of harassment and questioning of girls who may not conform to stereotypical feminine roles; will they be subject to demands for medical tests and private information? That’s intrusive, offensive, and unacceptable, especially from a party of limited government.
“I want to be very clear, there are real problems harming women and girls in sports, but transgender students are not why. Today, we should be working to solve the real, pervasive problems in athletics that deter women and girls from participating, including sexual harassment and assault, lack of equal resources, and pay inequality.
“We should be working on those issues, and also on the issues that improve the lives of the people we represent back home, like increasing access to affordable health care and housing, lowering costs for everyday Americans, and fighting the climate crisis.
“But instead, here we are again. We’ve seen this time and time again—Republicans fearmonger about the trans community to divert attention from the fact that they have no real solutions to help everyday Americans with the pressing problems they face.
“We must not discriminate against kids because of who they are. Transgender youth already face high hurdles, and research shows that this type of discriminatory policy is associated with declines in mental health and higher suicide risk among already threatened LGBTQI+ youth. We don’t need adults in Congress making things worse.
“As Republican Governor Spencer Cox from Utah said in his veto statement of a similar bill, “When in doubt, however, I always try to err on the side of kindness, mercy, and compassion.”
“Republicans, who have voted consistently against the Violence Against Women Act, who have taken the rights of all women to have control over their own body, who as women are bleeding out in parking lots, now want to pretend today that they care about women,” U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-N.Y.), a vice-chair of the caucus, said in a floor speech.
She continued, “And why? To open up genital inspection on little girls across this country in the name of attacking trans girls. We have two words. Not today.”
AOC: Republicans who have voted against consistently against the violence against women act, who have taken away the rights of all women to choose and have control over their own body, now wants to pretend today that they care about women. pic.twitter.com/7FRqELTrjV
— Acyn (@Acyn) January 14, 2025
These and other House Democrats began calling the legislation the “GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act” to highlight the risk that if it becomes law, the ban could lead to genital exams of minor student-athletes by adults and therefore might help facilitate child sexual abuse.
While the House Education Committee chair, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), said that birth certificates should be used to settle questions about students’ gender, the bill’s opponents said the absence of a workable enforcement mechanism leaves open a range of ways in which students’ bodies and privacy could be violated.
U.S. Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), for instance, who is also a vice-chair, noted in her floor speech that “We have already seen an investigation like this” into a student’s gender “at a high school in Utah, and unsurprisingly, they targeted someone who wasn’t trans.”
She was referring to a case in Utah in 2022 that was kicked off when the parents of athletes who placed second and third in in a state level competition suspected the winner might be trans and filed a complaint the Utah High School Activities Association. Records showed her sex was listed as female since kindergarten.
Advocacy groups
“Just five days after Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed an anti-transgender sports ban in 2021, a cisgender girl faced brutal harassment from the sidelines at a lacrosse game simply because she had short hair,” the Human Rights Campaign wrote in a press release Tuesday that highlighted many of the same harms addressed by House Democrats who rose in objection to the bill.
“We all want sports to be fair, students to be safe, and young people to have the opportunity to participate alongside their peers,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement included in the release. “But this kind of blanket ban deprives kids of those things. This bill would expose young people to harassment and discrimination, emboldening people to question the gender of kids who don’t fit a narrow view of how they’re supposed to dress or look.
Robinson added, “It could even expose children to invasive, inappropriate questions and examinations. Participating in sports is about learning the values of teamwork, dedication, and perseverance. And for so many students, sports are about finding somewhere to belong.”
“We should want that for all kids — not partisan policies that make life harder for them,” she said.
HRC also argued that excluding trans women and girls from competitive athletics, denying them the benefits to their physical and mental health that come with participating in sports, can cause tremendous harm since these students “face higher risk of anxiety, depression, and bullying” than their cisgender peers.
In Monday in advance of the debate and floor vote, 405 national and local civil rights, education, and gender justice organizations joined a letter issued on Monday by the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights urging House lawmakers to reject the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act.
“Although the authors of the legislation represent themselves as serving the interests of cisgender girls and women, this legislation does not address the longstanding barriers all girls and women have faced in their pursuit of athletics,” the letter reads, in part. “Instead of providing for equal facilities, equipment, and travel, or any other strategy that women athletes have been pushing for for decades, the bill cynically veils an attack on transgender people as a question of athletics policy.”
“We are fortunate that transgender, nonbinary, and intersex people are present in our community, and we fully embrace them as members of our community,” the signatories wrote. “As organizations that care deeply about ending sex-based discrimination and ensuring equal educational opportunities, we support laws and policies that protect transgender people from discrimination, including full and equal participation in sports, access to gender-affirming care, access to school facilities, and access to inclusive curriculum. We firmly believe that an attack on transgender youth is an attack on civil rights.”
Along with HRC, which is the nation’s largest LGBTQ+ rights organization, other advocacy groups that signed the Leadership Conference’s letter also issued separate statements Tuesday following passage of the bill.
Among them was GLAAD, whose President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said “Legislators who voted today in favor of banning transgender girls from participating in school sports should be ashamed of themselves.”
“Right now, gun violence is the number one cause of death to American children, yet extremist lawmakers ignore this reality to push bills that further endanger and isolate LGBTQ youth who just want to be themselves and play with their friends.
“Legislators have an obligation to stand up for all, not just some, of their constituents. Allowing students to participate in sports is about equal opportunity, the ability to make friends and belong, and stay active, healthy and happy. Young transgender people should not have to watch lawmakers debate their basic humanity.
“Legislators must meet with transgender youth, their families, teammates, and coaches who would be harmed by this dangerous legislation; propose ways to protect all youth; and stop pushing anti-LGBTQ discrimination in a phony attempt to protect women and girls. Protect all kids and let them play.”
GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD Law) Senior Director of Transgender and Queer Rights Jennifer Levi said, “It’s disgraceful to see the new Congress make one of its first priorities a sweeping bill that would deny transgender kids of any age the opportunity to play school sports and strip from them the many educational benefits sports provide.”
“Thoughtful policies can successfully balance fairness and inclusion in sports at multiple levels of competition, as local school districts and sports associations have done for many years,” she said. “We appreciate those in Congress who voted against this extreme bill and hope the Senate will recognize that blanket bans imposed by politicians don’t serve athletes, students, or sport.”
Despite the 53-vote GOP majority in the Senate, Republicans will need seven Democrats to support the sports ban for the bill to pass, which is unlikely. Still, President-elect Donald Trump promised to intervene with executive action, which would likely mean directing the U.S. Department of Education to investigate schools that allow trans women and girls to compete in sports for violations of federal law prohibiting sex-based discrimination.
He and the conservatives backing the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act believe athletes whose birth sex is female have actionable Title IX claims on the grounds that they are unfairly disadvantaged when competing against their transgender counterparts, even though the research on this question is mixed.
In a fundraising email, the LGBTQ Victory Fund denounced the effort by House Republicans to “rewrite Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in educational institutions,” adding that “The author of this hateful bill” U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (R-Fla.) “even went so far as to claim trans people and trans identities are made up, before launching into a transphobic rant!”
Speaking from the House floor on Tuesday, the GOP congressman said, “Our culture and civilization continue to be subject to the perverse lie that there are more than two genders or that men can be women and women can be men.”
Allison Scott, director of impact and innovation at the Campaign for Southern Equality, said: “The passage of HB28 by the U.S. House of Representatives is a cruel and unjust abuse of power that targets a very small number of young people who just want to play school sports with their friends.
“It’s appalling that one of the first priorities of this new Congress is to bully children with the weight of a federal law. I want to send a clear message to transgender young people and their families: No law can strip you of your inherent dignity and humanity, and we will never stop working alongside you and a huge community nationwide to ensure all people can live authentically and with joy.
“The Senate should do the right thing here, refuse to exclude and marginalize children, and reject this legislation.”
Congress
House bans trans students from competing on girls’ and women’s sports teams
Texas Democrats Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez voted for bill
The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday voted 218-206 to pass a bill that would ban transgender students from competing in girls’ and women’s sports in elementary school through college.
Fiery exchanges erupted on the House floor, with conservatives in many cases using anti-trans language and Democrats, including several openly LGBTQ+ members, arguing that the bill is harmful to children, discriminatory, and unnecessary.
The decision by House Republican leadership to bring the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act to the floor on just the second week in which the 119th Congress is in session signals the majority’s appetite for legislation targeting trans rights and the extent to which the issue will remain a major focus and priority for conservative leadership in the Capitol and, beginning next week, in the White House.
All Republicans who were present voted in favor of the bill, while all Democrats voted no — with the exception of two members representing swing districts in Texas, U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez.
Cuellar opposed the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act when it was introduced in 2023, explaining in a statement that he changed his position “based on the concerns and feedback he received from constituents.”
Gonzalez did not vote on the measure in 2023, but this year issued a statement explaining his support for the bill: “I believe that there should be rules to keep our sports fair and that boys should not play in girls sports,” the congressman said, using talking points that are popular among Republicans who often refer to trans women and girls as men and boys, whether for purposes of insulting them or because they refuse to acknowledge or choose to deny the existence of gender diverse people.
“Members of Congress must have the freedom to vote in a manner representative of their district,” Gonzalez said in his statement. “As Democrats, we should not be afraid to vote our district’s values because we’re afraid of Washington.”
During the 2024 campaign, Gonzalez’s Republican opponent ran negative ads about his support for gender affirming health care for trans minors. The congressman told Spectrum News in 2023 that “I have never supported tax dollars paying for gender transition surgeries and never will.”
Despite the newly seated 53-vote GOP majority in the U.S. Senate, the bill could languish in the upper chamber as the 2023 iteration did under Democratic control.
Still, President-elect Donald Trump promised to effectuate a ban, which experts believe would likely involve directing the U.S. Department of Education to find any school in violation of federal Title IX rules, which prohibit sex-based discrimination, in cases where they allow trans women or girls to participate in competitive sports.
Trump and other conservatives argue that cisgender women and girls are biologically disadvantaged compared to trans women and girls, which yields unfair outcomes for athletes whose birth sex is female, though research on the question of physical performance is mixed.
Proponents of the Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act, who believe trans women and girls to be unfairly advantaged by their biology, argue that excluding them from sports is necessary to ensure fair outcomes in high-stakes competitions at the elite level, such as college athletic scholarships.
At the other end of the spectrum, the legislation contains a carveout that would theoretically allow for trans women and girls to participate in sports in limited circumstances: “Nothing in this subsection shall be construed to prohibit a recipient from permitting males to train or practice with an athletic program or activity that is designated for women or girls so long as no female is deprived of a roster spot on a team or sport, opportunity to participate in a practice or competition, scholarship, admission to an educational institution, or any other benefit that accompanies participating in the athletic program or activity.”
As the measure was debated on Tuesday, opponents accused their GOP colleagues of exploiting a culture war issue to “divert attention from the fact they have no real solutions to help everyday Americans,” as U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.) put it.
Several Democrats — who argued that in the absence of an enforcement mechanism, adults might inspect students’ genitals to determine their gender, which could facilitate child sexual abuse — began calling the legislation “the GOP Child Predator Empowerment Act.”
The House Education Committee chair, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), responded that birth certificates should be used to settle questions about students’ gender.
Opponents of the bill like U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), a lesbian and co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, contended that boundary-violating scrutiny of girls’ bodies is the “logical conclusion” of the measure.
White House
Biden to leave office revered as most pro-LGBTQ+ president in history
Long record of support from marriage to trans rights
President Joe Biden will leave the White House next week after leading what advocates consider to be the most pro-LGBTQ+ administration in American history.
The past four years offer a wealth of evidence to support the claim, from the passage of legislation like the landmark Respect for Marriage Act to the promotion of LGBTQ+ rights abroad as a cornerstone of U.S. foreign policy, impactful regulatory moves in areas like health equity for gay and trans communities, and the record-breaking number of gender and sexual minorities appointed to serve throughout the federal government and on the federal bench.
As demonstrated by the deeply personal reflections that he shared during an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade in September, Biden is especially proud of his legacy on LGBTQ+ rights and believes that his record reflects the bedrock principles of justice, equality, and fairness that were inculcated by his father’s example and have motivated him throughout his career in public life.
For instance, during a trip to New York in June, where he delivered remarks to commemorate the opening of the Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center, Biden explained he was deeply moved by the “physical and moral courage” of those early gay rights activists, adding that the monument honoring their sacrifices “sets an example” in the U.S. and around the world.
Likewise, Biden told the Blade he decided to publicly express his support for same-sex marriage in the midst of his reelection campaign with then-President Barack Obama in 2012 because of his experience attending an event hosted by a gay couple with their children present.
“If you saw these two kids with their fathers, you’d walk away saying, ‘wait a minute, they’re good parents,’” he said. From that moment forward, Biden was unwilling to continue to demur, even if that meant preempting Obama’s “evolution” toward embracing marriage equality.
To fully appreciate Biden’s leadership — especially during his presidency, and particularly on issues of transgender rights — it is worth considering his record against the backdrop of the broader political landscape over the past four years.
By the time he took office in 2021, conservative activists and elected leaders had positioned the trans community at the center of a moral panic, introducing hundreds of laws targeting their rights and protections and exploiting the issue as a strategy to undermine support for Democrats.
In the face of unrelenting attacks from his Republican political adversaries, Biden set to work building an administration that “looked like America” including with the appointment of trans physician and four-star officer Dr. Rachel Levine to serve as assistant health secretary, and on day one he issued an executive order repealing his predecessor’s policy that excluded trans Americans from military service.
As the 2024 election neared, with Donald Trump’s campaign weaponizing transphobia as a wedge to score votes, Biden’s support remained vocal and sustained. In each of his four State of the Union addresses to joint sessions of Congress, for example, the president reinforced his commitment to “have the trans community’s back.”
Meanwhile, midway through his term the U.S. Supreme Court overturned abortion protections that were in place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, with conservative statehouses across the country taking the opportunity to pass draconian restrictions.
Democrats sought to exploit the unpopular abortion bans, especially as the presidential race was in full swing, but many were concerned that Biden might be an ineffective messenger because of his personal opposition to the practice as a devout Catholic.
While he directed his administration to take measures to protect access to abortion in the U.S. and spoke publicly about the importance of reproductive autonomy and the freedom to access necessary medical care for family planning, the Associated Press reports that as of March 2024, Biden had only used the word “abortion” in prepared remarks once in four years.
The daylight between how the president has talked about transgender rights and how he has talked about abortion offers an interesting contrast, perhaps illuminating how impervious Biden can be when pressured to compromise his values for the sake of realizing his political ambitions, while also demonstrating the sincerity of his conviction that, as he put it in 2012, anti-trans discrimination is “the civil rights issue of our time.”
Biden was scheduled to deliver a farewell address to the nation on Wednesday evening.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene calls Sarah McBride a ‘groomer’ and ‘child predator’ for reading to kids
Far-right congresswoman deadnamed transgender colleague
Far-right U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) called U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) a “groomer” and “child predator” in a post on X Monday, responding to a video shared by the anti-LGBTQ+ account Libs of TikTok in which McBride is seen reading to kids in a classroom.
According to the signage featured in the clip, McBride, who is the first transgender member of Congress, was participating in the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s “Jazz and Friends National Day of School and Community Readings.”
The program is part of the organization’s Welcoming Schools initiative, which provides “trainings and resources for elementary school educators” to help “welcome diverse families, create LGBTQ and gender inclusive schools, prevent bias-based bullying, and support transgender and nonbinary students.”
Prior to her first election to the Delaware state legislature, McBride served as press secretary for HRC from 2016-2021.
Monday’s post was not the first time in which Greene has baselessly accused LGBTQ+ people and allies of child sexual abuse or grooming for their support of age-appropriate classroom instruction on matters of LGBTQ+ history, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The Washington Blade has reached out to representatives from HRC, McBride’s office, and the Congressional Equality Caucus for comment on Greene’s post.
National
Anti-LGBTQ+ Franklin Graham to give invocation at Trump’s inauguration
Evangelical leader also delivered address in 2017
Anti-LGBTQ+ evangelist Franklin Graham will deliver the invocation for President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on Monday, Jan. 20, according to a copy of the program that was circulated on X.
Graham, who serves as president and CEO of Samaritan’s Purse, the evangelical Christian humanitarian aid organization, and of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, which was named for his late father, offered the opening prayer for Trump’s first inauguration in 2017.
As documented by GLAAD, the Asheville, N.C.,-based evangelist has attacked the LGBTQ+ community throughout his life and career.
He supported the draconian laws in Russia targeting “propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations” that have been used to suppress media that presents “LGBTQ identities and relationships in a positive or normalizing light.”
Praising Russian President Vladimir Putin for taking “a stand to protect his nation’s children from the damaging effects of the gay and lesbian agenda,” Graham also bemoaned that “America’s own morality has fallen so far that on this issue.”
Graham’s anti-LGBTQ+ advocacy on matters of domestic policy in the U.S. has included opposing Pride events, which he compared to celebrations of “lying, adultery, or murder,” and curricula on LGBTQ+ history in public schools, telling a radio host in 2019 that educators have no right to “teach our children something that is an affront to God.”
When his home state rolled back rules prohibiting gender diverse people from using public restrooms consistent with their identities, he tweeted that “people of NC will be exposed to pedophiles and sexually perverted men in women’s public restrooms.”
Graham has repeatedly smeared LGBTQ+ people as predatory and said the community seeks to “recruit” children into being gay, lesbian, or transgender.
He has also consistently opposed same-sex marriage, claiming that former President Barack Obama, by embracing marriage equality, had “shaken his fist at the same God who created and defined marriage,” adding, “it grieves me that our president would now affirm same-sex marriage, though I believe it grieves God even more.”
Graham also supports the harmful and discredited practice of conversion therapy, which he likened to “conversion to Christianity.”
When Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced his bid for the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, Graham tweeted that “Mayor Buttigieg says he’s a gay Christian. As a Christian I believe the Bible which defines homosexuality as sin, something to be repentant of, not something to be flaunted, praised or politicized. The Bible says marriage is between a man and a woman — not two men, not two women.”
Graham embraced Trump well before he was taken seriously in Republican politics, telling ABC in 2011 that the New York real estate tycoon was his preferred candidate.
Particularly during the incoming president’s first campaign as the GOP nominee and during his first term, the evangelical leader’s support was seen as strategically important to bringing conservative Christians into the fold despite their misgivings about Trump, who was better known as a philandering womanizer than a devout religious leader.
National
New Meta guidelines include carveout to allow anti-LGBTQ+ speech on Facebook, Instagram
Zuckerberg cozying up to Trump ahead of second term
New content moderation policies governing hate speech on Facebook, Instagram, and Threads that were enacted by parent company Meta on Wednesday contain a carveout that allows users to call LGBTQ+ people mentally ill.
According to the guidelines, which otherwise prohibit use of such insults on the online platforms, “We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird.’”
Meta also removed rules that forbid insults about a person’s appearance based on race, ethnicity, national origin, disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, and serious disease while withdrawing policies that prohibited expressions of hate against a person or a group on the basis of their protected class and references to transgender or nonbinary people as “it.”
In a video on Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s co-founder, chairman, and CEO, said the platforms’ “restrictions on topics like immigration and gender” were now “out of touch with mainstream discourse.”
“What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions and shut out people with different ideas, and it’s gone too far,” he added.
In a statement to the Washington Blade, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson said “Everyone should be able to engage and learn online without fear of being targeted or harassed. While we understand the difficulties in enforcing content moderation, we have grave concerns that the changes announced by Meta will put the LGBTQ+ community in danger both online and off.”
“What’s left of Meta’s hateful conduct policy expressly allows users to bully LGBTQ+ people based on their gender identity or sexual orientation and even permits calls for the exclusion of LGBTQ+ people from public spaces,” she said. “We can expect increased anti-LGBTQ+ harassment, further suppression of LGBTQ+ content, and drastic chilling effects on LGBTQ+ users’ expression.”
Robinson added, “While we recognize the immense harms and dangers of these new policies, we ALL have a role to play in lifting up our stories, pushing back on misinformation and hate, and supporting each other in online spaces. We need everyone engaged now more than ever. HRC isn’t going anywhere, and we will always be here for you.”
As attacks against LGBTQ+ and especially transgender Americans have ramped up over the past few years in legislative chambers and courtrooms throughout the country, bias-motivated crimes including acts of violence are also on the rise along with homophobic and transphobic hate speech, misinformation, and conspiracy theories that are spread farther and faster thanks to the massive reach of social media platforms and the policies and practices by which the companies moderate user content and design their algorithms.
However ascendant certain homophobic and transphobic ideas might be on social media and in the broader realm of “political and religious discourse,” homosexuality and gender variance are not considered mental illnesses in the mainstream study or clinical practice of psychiatry.
The American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its internationally recognized Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders more than 50 years ago and more than 30 years ago erased “transsexualism” to use “gender identity disorder” instead before switching to “gender dysphoria” in 2013. These changes were meant to clarify the distinction between the patient’s identity as trans and the ego-dystonic distress experienced in many cases when one’s birth sex differs from one’s gender identity.
Research has consistently shown the efficacy of treating gender dysphoria with gender-affirming health interventions — the psychiatric, medical, and surgical care that can bring patients’ brains and bodies into closer alignment with their self-concept while reducing the incidence of severe depression, anxiety, self-harm behavior, and suicide.
Just like slandering LGBTQ+ people as sick or sexually deviant, the pathologization of homosexuality and gender variance as disordered (or linked to different mental illnesses that are actually listed in the DSM) is not new, but rather a revival of a coarser homophobia and transphobia that until the recent past was largely relegated to a time well before queer people had secured any meaningful progress toward legal, social, and political equality.
Wednesday’s announcement by Meta marked just the latest move that seems meant to ingratiate the tech giant with President-elect Donald Trump and curry favor with his incoming administration, which in turn could smooth tensions with conservative lawmakers who have often been at odds with either Facebook, Instagram, and Zuckerberg — who had enjoyed a close relationship with the Obama White House and over the years has occasionally championed progressive policies like opposing mass deportations.
Public signs of reconciliation with Trump began this summer, when Meta removed restrictions on his Facebook and Instagram accounts that were enacted following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.
In the months since, the company has continued cozying up to Trump and Republican leaders in Washington, including with Tuesday’s announcement that Meta platforms will no longer use professional fact checking, among other policy changes that mirror those enacted by Elon Musk after he took over Twitter in 2022, changed its name to X, and created conditions that have allowed hate and misinformation to proliferate far more than ever before.
In recent months, Musk, the world’s richest man, has emerged as one of the president-elect’s fiercest allies, spending a reported $277 million to support his presidential campaign and using his platform and influence to champion many of the incoming administration’s policy priorities, including efforts to target the trans community.
Last month, Zuckerberg and Apple CEO Tim Cook each donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural committee, with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and OpenAI’s Sam Altman each reportedly pledging matching contributions.
National
As Jimmy Carter is eulogized at the Capitol, his daughter Amy wears a Pride pin
The 39th president supported LGBTQ+ rights
Amy Carter, the youngest child of former President Jimmy Carter, wore a pin with the rainbow LGBTQ+ Pride flag during the lying-in-state ceremony for her father at the U.S. Capitol building on Tuesday.
Vice President Kamala Harris, House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.), and Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-S.D.) each delivered remarks and laid wreaths during the service.
Distinguished guests also included U.S. Supreme Court justices, the Joint Chiefs of Staff, dozens of other members of the Carter family, and members of the Biden Cabinet and former Carter administration.
President Joe Biden will eulogize the 39th president during the funeral on Thursday at the Washington National Cathedral with President-elect Donald Trump and former Presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, and Barack Obama also in attendance.
Carter, who died on Dec. 29 at the age of 100, supported LGBTQ+ rights at a time when the community’s struggle for social, political, and legal equality was in its infancy, promising during his 1976 presidential campaign to support a gay civil rights bill because “I don’t think it’s right to single out homosexuals for abuse or special harassment.”
Two months after his inauguration the following year, the White House hosted a first-of-its- kind meeting at the White House with 14 gay rights leaders.
National
McDonald’s becomes latest major company to roll back DEI efforts
‘Pauses’ HRC’s CEI survey as group reports record participation in 2025
McDonald’s on Monday became the latest company to roll back certain diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, announcing plans to sunset “aspirational representation goals” and DEI requirements for suppliers while “pausing” participation in external surveys like the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index.
In an email, leadership said the changes come amid “the shifting legal landscape” following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the 2023 affirmative action case Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and after benchmarking with “other companies who are also re-evaluating their own programs.”
Among these are Ford Motor Company, Harley-Davidson, Molson Coors, Lowe’s, and Tractor Supply, each announcing plans within the last year to curb investments in DEI programs, including those focused on LGBTQ+ employees and communities.
Conservative activist Robby Starbuck has claimed credit for these decisions, though the nature and extent of the influence exerted by his campaigns targeting individual corporations’ DEI activities is not clear.
HRC’s Corporate Equality Index is a national benchmarking tool used to assess “corporate policies, practices, and benefits pertinent to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer employees,” according to six major metrics: “Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in U.S. Nondiscrimination Policy,” “Spousal and Domestic Partner Benefits,” “Transgender-Inclusive Benefits,” “Transgender Workplace Best Practices,” “Outreach and Engagement to the LGBTQ Community,” and “Corporate Social Responsibility.”
Releasing the 2025 CEI report on Tuesday, HRC said that “Despite anti-LGBTQ+ attacks on businesses, 72 companies joined the CEI for the first time – up almost five percent over last year,” totaling 1,449 businesses.
The organization notes that 765 earned a perfect score of 100 this year, with businesses demonstrating “substantial increases in inclusive practices and access to equitable benefits for all LGTBQ+ employees.”
“At its core, the work of the CEI is about making businesses stronger. Since the start of this work 22 years ago, we’ve seen drastic shifts in corporate America toward more equitable and inclusive working conditions, family formation and healthcare benefits, and non-discrimination protections,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a press release.
“At times, progress meets backlash, but companies continue to dedicate the time and resources to reinforcing workplace inclusion,” she said. “As a result, they are more competitive and more creative while attracting and retaining top talent and widening their consumer base. Our door is open for companies looking to learn more about supporting every single employee so they can bring their best to work.”
In a statement to the Advocate, RaShawn Hawkins, senior director of the HRC Foundation’s Workplace Equality Program, said “When companies are transparent and open about their commitment to workplace inclusion policies, it only helps to attract and retain top talent – which is why the 2025 CEI has record participation from more than 1,400 companies.”
Hawkins added,”There’s no changing the fact that with 30 percent of Gen Z identifying as LGBTQ+ and the community holding $1.4 trillion in spending power, commitments to inclusion are directly tied to long-term business growth. Those who abandon these commitments are shirking their responsibility to their employees, consumers, and shareholders.”
At the same time, as Republicans take control of both chambers of Congress along with the White House, right-wing opposition to corporate DEI, including LGBTQ+ inclusive policies and programs, is expected to accelerate well beyond the calls for boycotts and online pressure campaigns seen in recent years.
Last month, Reuters reported that after he takes office, President-elect Donald Trump plans to use the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to challenge DEI programs at companies and universities.
The news agency noted that the division’s mandate in Trump’s second term would mean enforcers will be tasked with investigating policies that are designed to benefit the very same groups, like Black and other marginalized communities, that the division was established to protect with Congress’s passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
Per OCR’s website, the division “works to uphold the civil and constitutional rights of all persons in the United States, particularly some of the most vulnerable members of our society” enforcing “federal statutes prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, color, sex (including pregnancy, sexual orientation, and gender identity), disability, religion, familial status, national origin, and citizenship status.”
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