Congress
New Speaker on his anti-LGBTQ extremism: ‘Go pick up a Bible’
Johnson was a co-sponsor of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill that aims to ban gender affirming healthcare for trans youth
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WASHINGTON – Newly elected Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) defended his extremist anti-LGBTQ views on Thursday, telling Fox News, ‘I am a Bible believing Christian,” adding, “go pick up a Bible off your shelf and read it – that’s my worldview.”
The Washington Post, in an article published on Thursday that chronicles the congressman’s “campaign against gay rights” throughout his career, reported that one of his aides directed the paper to a Facebook post written by Johnson last year in which he “argued that ‘biblical beliefs’ were inseparable from ‘public affairs.'”
After the little-known evangelical Southern Baptist Republican politician was elevated on Wednesday to become his party’s highest-ranking elected official, second in line to the presidency, details about his far-right, socially conservative views began to emerge.
CNN uncovered editorials written by Johnson from 2003 to 2005 in which he argued for the criminalization of gay sex, called homosexuality an “inherently unnatural” and “dangerous lifestyle,” and said marriage equality poses a threat to “our entire democratic system” — warning that “polyg-amists, polyamorists, pedophiles, and others will be next in line to claim equal protection.”
At the time, and until 2010, Johnson was an attorney for the Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBTQ hate legal group according to The Southern Poverty Law Center, and “arguably the most extreme anti-LGBTQ legal organization in the United States” according to Lambda Legal.
When asked about the op-eds by Fox News personality Sean Hannity, the Speaker said, “I don’t even remember some of them” and defended his work fighting against same-sex marriage on behalf of the right-wing group during the early 2000s.
The Post reports that during this time Johnson was “at the leading edge of litigating high-profile cases contesting protections for abortion, contraception coverage and gay and transgender rights.”
Many Louisianans were first introduced to Johnson in the 1990s, when he appeared on television with his wife to promote “covenant marriage,” which is available in Louisiana, Arizona, and Arkansas and carries legally binding provisions that make divorce more difficult. Critics say these unions can make harmful and abusive relationships worse.
Before serving in the state legislature from 2015 to 2017, and then in the U.S. House beginning in 2017, Johnson had sought tax subsidies, with a federal lawsuit on behalf of the Christian creationist group Answers in Genesis, to fund the Noah’s Ark amusement park in Kentucky whose exhibits contradict the scientific consensus on matters like the age of the Earth, such as by showing dinosaurs coexisting with humans.
Johnson’s term in the Louisiana legislature was defined by his introduction of legislation called the Marriage and Conscience Act, which critics argued was intended to protect the right to discriminate against same-sex couples. Most Republican members of the statehouse joined with the Democrats to defeat the bill.
In Congress, Johnson did not become more not become more moderate
Earlier this week, a group of House Republicans sank U.S. Rep. Tom Emmer’s (R-Minn.) bid for the speakership, reportedly in part because of the congressman’s support for marriage equality.
A day before he was elected, Johnson told Jake Sherman of Punchbowl News he had made an issue of Emmer’s vote for the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified legal protections for married LGBTQ couples and was backed by 38 other Republican members of the House.
Last year, he cosponsored the Stop the Sexualization of Children Act, which would prohibit public schools, libraries, and all federally funded institutions from offering “sexually explicit” programs, events, and literature for children under 10.
Dubbed the “federal ‘Don’t Say Gay’ law,” the bill defines “any topic involving gender identity, gender dysphoria, transgenderism, sexual orientation, or related subjects” as per-se sexually explicit, which critics including activist and civil rights attorney Alejandra Caraballo have called “dehumanizing” to LGBTQ people.
Johnson was also a co-sponsor of U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill that aims to ban guideline directed gender affirming healthcare interventions for transgender youth and would impose draconian criminal penalties for providers who do so.
In July, as chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution and Limited Government, Johnson led a hearing on the topic where, according to the Human Rights Campaign, “lies and disinformation” were spread “about what that [health] care consists of,” to advocate for policies that would put “unqualified lawmakers” between “medical professionals, parents and their children.”
In addition to the Respect for Marriage Act, HRC notes the congressman also voted against the Equality Act, the LGBTQI+ Data Inclusion Act, the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act, and the Violence Against Women Act.
As chair of the Republican Study Committee in Congress, Johnson argued against Amazon’s decision to stop selling work by conversion therapy advocate Joseph Nicolosi, who died in 2017.
In 2022, the congressman said there is no separation of church and state in America. “If anybody tries to convince you that your biblical beliefs or your religious viewpoint needs to separated from public affairs,” he said, “you should politely remind them to review their history and you should not back down.”
During his relatively short time in Congress, Johnson co-sponsored three bills attempting to ban abortion nationwide, each imposing criminal penalties for providers who perform abortions: the Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act, the Protecting Pain-Capable Unborn Children From Late-Term Abortions Act, and the Heartbeat Protection Act.
On Wednesday, the New York Times reported that Johnson played “a leading role in recruiting House Republicans to sign a legal brief supporting a lawsuit seeking to overturn the results” of the 2020 election, which was “rooted in baseless claims of widespread election irregularities.”
His efforts led 60 percent of the GOP conference to sign on to the amici brief, filed in connection with the case brought by Republican Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton, which was ultimately thrown out by the U.S. Supreme Court.
“You know the allegations about these voting machines, some of them being rigged with this software by Dominion, there’s a lot of merit to that,” Johnson said, parroting what was one of the most far-fetched conspiracies spread by supporters of former President Donald Trump.
Congress
EXCLUSIVE: Gottheimer, Craig introduce bill to address LGBTQ elder abuse
Legislation will be introduced this week
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U.S. Reps. Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.) will introduce a bill this week addressing the “rising elder abuse of LGBTQI+ individuals,” according legislation the Washington Blade previewed.
The Elder Pride Protection Act of 2024 would establish a task force through the Justice Department, with staff selected by the attorney general from the Elder Justice Initiative and the Division of Civil Rights.
They would be tasked with studying “the increased incidence of elder abuse” targeting LGBTQ individuals, developing best practices for a national approach and for state and local authorities to address these crimes, creating and distributing educational materials to raise awareness, and coordinating “the response of local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies.”
The legislation establishes that the task force would be responsible for issuance of a progress report on its work to the U.S. House and U.S. Senate Judiciary Committees.
Importantly, elder abuse as defined under the bill ranges from the use of physical force to cause harm to forced or unwanted sexual interaction, emotional or psychological abuse, the failure to meet basic needs, and financial crimes.
“I’m incredibly excited to introduce my new legislation, the Elder Pride Protection Act, that I’m leading with Congresswoman Angie Craig of Minnesota,” Gottheimer said. “No one should ever be mistreated on the basis of their sexual orientation or gender identity, especially our vulnerable elderly populations.”
The congressman added, “This legislation is a critical step in coordinating our response to this runaway abuse at the federal level.”
“LGBTQ+ seniors paved the way for so many of the rights we have today, and they’re a vital part of our communities in Minnesota,” said Craig, who is the first lesbian mother elected to Congress and serves as a co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.
“I’m working to pass the Elder Pride Protection Act to help empower LGBTQ+ seniors and combat any abuse they might face,” she said.
Garden State Equality, New Jersey’s largest LGBTQ rights group noted that “for too long, elder abuse of our older LGBTQ adults has gone un- or under- reported,” adding that, “The establishment of this task force will help bridge the gap experienced by our LGBTQ elders.”
“The work of this task force, particularly the creation of uniform procedures and communication between state and federal agencies, will be formative in combating the abuse and neglect of LGBTQ elders and is critical in creating true lived equality for all Americans,” Garden State Equality said.
“SAGE is proud to support the Elder Pride Protection Act of 2024,” said Aaron Tax, managing director of government affairs and policy advocacy for SAGE, a national advocacy and services organization for LGBTQ elders.
“LGBTQ+ elders deserve to age without fear of elder abuse,” Tax said. “We applaud Rep. Gottheimer for championing the establishment of this important task force, which we hope will improve the lives of LGBTQ+ older people.”
David Stacy, vice president for government affairs for the Human Rights Campaign, said, “By establishing the ELDER Task Force, this country has the chance to affirm its commitment to addressing and preventing the abuse that this community faces all too often.”
“Congress should pass this bill and send a message that they are dedicated to ensuring every elder can live free from fear and harm,” Stacy said.
Congress
Garcia and Lee push for insurers to provide doxy PEP for free
Lawmakers note spike in bacterial infections among LGBTQ populations
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Democratic U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia and Barbara Lee of California sent a letter on Thursday urging the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force to compel health insurers to provide free access to doxy PEP, a drug regimen for the prevention of sexually transmitted infections.
The USPSTF is an independent panel of experts in primary care and preventative medicine organized under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services whose primary responsibility is to evaluate the evidence on the safety and efficacy of medical screenings, counseling, and preventative medications.
The lawmakers’ letter explains that in 2019, the USPSTF issued an “A-grade” recommendation for prescribing preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — a different preventative regimen targeting HIV infections — to “those at increased risk of HIV acquisition.”
As required under the Affordable Care Act, the rating meant health plans were required to offer the drug with no cost-sharing, which “has been enormously beneficial to hundreds of thousands of Americans —particularly members of the LGBTQIA+ community.”
The letter points to disproportionately high rates of bacterial STIs (“chlamydia, gonorrhea, and especially syphilis”) among LGBTQ populations as well as recommendations published last month by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention instructing providers to counsel certain patients about PEP, with the agency writing that the drug intervention requires “a focused effort for equitable implementation.”
For these reasons, Garcia and Lee said, “we respectfully ask for your full and fair consideration of a USPSTF recommendation for doxy PEP to the populations outlined in the guidelines with an ‘A’ rating,” with those populations being “gay and bisexual men, other men who have sex with men, and transgender women, and who have a history of bacterial STIs in the past 12 months.”
“Surging STIs are disproportionately impacting LGBTQ+ individuals,” Garcia, a gay co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, said in a press release from his congressional office. “We must ensure that these folks have access to doxy PEP, a critical medication that can save lives and prevent these kinds of infections.”
He added, “By making doxy PEP coverage free by insurers, we can prevent infections and stop the spread of disease for those most vulnerable.”
Lee, a vice chair of the caucus, has a decades-long record of pro-LGBTQ advocacy, particularly in the healthcare space and on issues of HIV/AIDS in the U.S. and around the world.
“Widespread use and education about doxy PEP could prevent thousands of bacterial STI cases every year,” she said in the press release. “However, in order to get this treatment to those who need it most, it’s imperative that doxy PEP is covered by insurance plans with no cost to patients.”
“By ensuring doxy PEP is available with grade A rating by the USPSTF, we’re taking a critical step toward promoting health equity and advancing our mission of using informed, evidence-based interventions to support those most in need,” said David Stacy, vice president of government Affairs for the Human Rights Campaign.
David C. Harvey, executive director of the National Coalition of STD Directors, said “providing healthcare providers with the guidance and encouragement they need to implement doxy PEP in accordance with the new CDC guidelines will be crucial in helping us use doxy PEP to address our out-of-control STI epidemic.”
Congress
Latino LGBTQ activists lobby Congress for federal protections
Hispanic Federation hosted July 2 event at Capitol
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BY JOE REPERKENNY | On July 9, after most members of Congress had left the Capitol, a small group began setting up a celebration. The halls were nearly silent, aside from the occasional tap of heels on the marble floor, as people slowly streamed into Emancipation Hall and down a corridor. Closer to Senate Meeting Room 212, the intertwining murmur of voices in Spanish and English began to grow.
Then one man stepped to the front of the room and a hush overcame the crowd.
“Today was a great opportunity to meet different members in the House and the Senate,” Frankie Miranda said. “It was an eye-opening experience in many different opportunities, seeing how our message was being welcomed. And in other cases, really not resonating at all, with some of them.”
Miranda, who is the president of the Hispanic Federation, a nonprofit membership and advocacy organization with a mission to “empower and advance the Hispanic community” with a particular focus to low-income, marginalized, and immigrant Latinos, assured that the advocacy for expanding protections for LGBTQ people would not end on Capitol Hill.
“We are going to continue our push to make sure that the intersectionality in our communities — that our LGBTQ Latinx and that female voices are heard,” Miranda continued, conviction clear in his voice. “We’re going to continue pushing because we know that after pride, the work continues. We cannot just allow ourselves to just be recognized just one month out of the year.”
Miranda, who became the Hispanic Federation’s first gay president in 2019, has vowed to use his platform to help uplift Latino LGBTQ voices. The organization is doing so by giving money to organizations that help with grants and training that focus on LGBTQ Latinos’ experiences — especially those dealing with immigration, race, culture, and language access.
“In 2022, the Federation decided to invest a million dollars in funding to support Latinx LGBTQ organizations,” Miranda said. “Those grantees around this room are part of this incredible initiative that has done incredible work.”
According to the group’s website, 27 organizations have received up to $50,000 each to help serve the Latino LGBTQ community. In addition to providing funds, the Hispanic Federation also created meetings for these organizations to discuss their needs for the continued support of their communities.
Discussions with Latino LGBTQ organizations have informed the Hispanic Federation about overlooked issues within these communities, eventually leading to the creation of the Advance Change Together (ACT) initiative. The ACT initiative includes grantees who are LGBTQ and Latino from various parts of the country, representing diverse segments of the LGBTQ community.
The ACT initiative is then able to promote specific pro-LGBTQ federal legislation through lobbying.
“We came together as grassroots orgs to really talk about the current political climate, especially against LGBT rhetoric,” said grantee Kevin Al Perez, president of Somos Familia Valle. “Specifically, the rise of trans bills with youth, lots of anti-trans legislation that is thrown against the LGBT community. It also brings together the intersections of the Latine experience when it comes to immigration, when it comes to status, when it comes to all the intersections that all of our organizations meet.”
Somos Familia Valle is the leading local Latino LGBTQ organization in the San Fernando Valley that “supports, empowers, and mobilizes families, and allies for racial, gender, and economic justice” through community dialogue, advocacy, and civic engagement.
Perez was able to take his successful dialogue techniques to the federal level, highlighting common challenges that California’s Latino LGBTQ community has endured.
“I was able to meet with Sen. Alex Padilla, which was very amazing,” Perez explained after his day lobbying on the Hill. “We had our drag story hour protested, we had our local elementary school protested for having a rainbow assembly for children, which is just a book celebrating diverse families … I was able to really let him know that this even happens in his own community in Los Angeles and San Fernando Valley.”
He continued, explaining that the significant work done on the Hill is the first of its kind and will hopefully lead to change.
“I think this is us coming together very historical in a way — that there hasn’t been specifically a Latine LGBT representation, especially here in the Capitol, especially a group, right?” Perez said. “We see a lot of LGBT movement work being led by white boards and I think our perspective really gives an opportunity for our communities to be heard.”
The specific legislation the ACT grantees were promoting includes the Equality Act that would establish uniform and explicit anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people, The Healthy Families Act which that would provide a guaranteed minimum of seven paid sick days per year to care for their families or themselves, and the PrEP Access and Coverage Act that would require all private and public insurance plans to cover the HIV prevention pill and related services.
Xelestiàl Moreno-Luz, a transgender activist and CEO of Saturn’s Wish, an arts and culture organization dedicated to “advancing the artistic and cultural efforts of TGI (trans, gender-diverse, and intersex) BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) works,” is another of the grantees lobbying on behalf of the ACT initiative.
For Moreno-Luz, the Equality Act would give many in her community — specifically trans Latinos, the ability to be protected federally
“One of the biggest things for me is how are our policymakers, the people in office, making sure that TGI (trans, gender-diverse, and intersex) people have employment opportunities,” Moreno-Luz said when asked why she was on Capitol Hill. “Even if they have an employment opportunity, Is this employment safe? Is this employment an affirming environment for TGI populations? And so that’s kind of like what I was addressing today.”
For her, this lobbying is more than just passing an act through the House and Senate. It’s about being able to live safely in her own skin.
“A good colleague of mine mentioned today during one of our delegations that this year 17 trans people have been murdered in the United States,” Moreno-Luz said. “And those are just reported murders, with half of them being Latin.”
According to the Human Rights Campaign, which tracks instances of reported fatal trans violence, has said that in 2023 at least 32 trans and gender-expansive people had been killed through violent means. Moreno-Luz explained that if Congress passes the Equality Act, more trans people would be safe.
“We’re all humans: That’s the message I always try to tell people,” Hector Ruiz, president of the South Texas Equality Project (STEP), said while talking with other grantees. “We love the same, we breathe the same, we eat the same, whatever it may be. Ultimately we’re just people trying to fight for our rights that haven’t been given to us in the past — as a group that I feel has been underrepresented and undervalued.”
STEP works towards creating a more affirming community for LGBTQ people in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley through educational forums, support groups, fundraisers, meetups, and other events that include RGV+ Pride.
“We’re just here to let people [members of Congress] know that we’re humans just like everyone else,” Ruiz added.
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Grantee Dagoberto Bailón, co-founder of Trans Queer Pueblo in Phoenix, emphasizes the importance of bridging the gap between members of Congress and those affected by the proposed legislation. He explains that such discussions are crucial for creating meaningful and impactful laws, which can help local organizations better protect LGBTQ Latinos.
“I think it’s important to build connections to really figure out how we can collectively change the way that the U.S. is talking about issues for LGBT people and Latinx people in general,” Bailón said. “Also to go back to our states to see what strategies are working in other states so that we can implement them and sort of build a coalition that can push different pressure points, so that we can achieve the same goal.”
Bailón is not alone in aiming to change attitudes towards LGBTQ people in the U.S. and increase protective measures.
Debo Ofsowitz, the development director for Hope CommUnity Center in Apopka, Fla., also highlighted the importance of getting federal protections for LGBTQ Latinos.
“Young LGBTQ people are growing up in a country where they feel like their own government is attacking them,” they said. “These are young people who know their identity from the day that they were born, just like the rest of us knew our identity from the day that we were born. They feel like they can’t be who they are. They feel like not only are their parents against them, not only their teachers, not only their church, but also their government. We’re trying to change that.”
And change that they will try.
All three protective bills — the Equality Act, Healthy Families Act, and PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2023 — have all been formally introduced to Congress and have been passed along to committees regarding their issues, but nothing has passed yet.
Visit the Hispanic Federation’s website for more information.
Congress
Netanyahu mocks gay pro-Palestinian protesters
Israeli prime minister spoke to joint session of Congress
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday mocked gay pro-Palestinian protesters in a speech that he delivered to a joint session of Congress.
“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming ‘Gays for Gaza,'” said Netanyahu. “They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.'”
Netanyahu spoke to Congress less than a year after Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization, launched from the Gaza Strip a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, including at least 260 partygoers and others at the Nova Music Festival. Dozens of people who were taken hostage on Oct. 7 remain alive in Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says nearly 38,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began.
The International Criminal Court on May 20 announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
Outright International and the National LGBTQ Task Force are among the groups that have publicly called for a ceasefire. ACT UP, the Audre Lorde Project, and No Pride in Genocide have organized protests against the war since Oct. 7.
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Gay U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), lesbian U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are among the lawmakers who refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech.
Thousands of people have protested Netanyahu since he arrived in D.C. on Monday.
The Associated Press reported police on Wednesday used pepper spray to disperse protesters near the Capitol after they became “violent” and “failed to obey” orders to move away from a police line. Protesters, according to the AP, also vandalized a Christopher Columbus moment in front of Union Station and set a Netanyahu effigy on fire.
Netanyahu in his speech said Iran is “funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America.”
“When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Tehran’s useful idiots,” he said.
Congress
Garcia discusses why he’s standing behind Biden
HRC: ‘We are proud to stand by our endorsement’ of the president
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After congressional Democrats emerged from closed-door meetings on Tuesday, House and Senate leaders reassured the media of their continued support for President Joe Biden in his bid for reelection.
As lawmakers returned from the July 4 break this week, a handful of Democrats publicly urged the president to step aside, following a debate performance last month that worsened concerns regarding the candidate’s age, signs of a potential decline in his mental acuity, and questions over his ability to bring the vigor necessary to lead the ticket.
However, speaking with the Washington Blade on Tuesday, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) shared his thoughts on why “it is time to move forward” from Biden’s debate performance and “focus on attacking Donald Trump and the dangers that he poses.”
The congressman was clear that colleagues who have a different opinion should feel free to express their concerns — and, to that end, he said leadership has “been incredible in hearing members who have sought out input” from them.
“The president had a rough debate, and I think he recognizes that, and I think we all recognize that it was not a great moment,” he said. “I respect the people that have had those concerns and the conversation that’s happened since, so, I get that.”
“Personally, I’ve known from day one that Joe Biden is going to be our nominee,” Garcia said. “He reinforced that with everyone, and it is time to move forward. I’ve been behind the president and the vice president. I continue to be.”
Every day the Democratic Party continues having these conversations internally, “we’re not out there defeating Donald Trump,” the congressman added. “I think for some folks it’s going to take some time for them to feel comfortable, and that’s OK [but] I’m ready to go. I’m fired up and ready to go.”
Garcia, who’s gay, serves as a vice-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, alongside some LGBTQ Democratic members who agree with his position, like Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and others who do not, like Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Angie Craig (D-Minn.), who have called for Biden to step aside.
When it comes to LGBTQ voters, “from our perspective, I think we’ve just got to understand that we have the most pro-LGBTQ+ administration in the history of politics in front of us, and we have Donald Trump on the other side,” Garcia said. “Those are our choices.”
“You don’t have to love every choice you make, but we have to understand the stakes, and we have to understand that there is a binary choice,” he said. “Every person that’s not voting, or not voting for Joe Biden, is certainly empowering Donald Trump. That’s the reality of the moment we’re in.”
Asked how the Biden-Harris campaign can outrun the speculation about the president’s age and the calls from some Democrats for him to step aside, Garcia said “the president has to continue what he’s been doing for the last couple of days. And I think what you’ve seen in the last few days is a fighting Joe Biden.”
“Joe Biden is proving that if he’s going to get punched in the nose, he’s going to punch back twice as hard,” the congressman said. “And I think that is where the campaign is headed, and what needs to continue to happen.”
Weathering the moment in which “the president did have this really bad debate night,” Garcia said, has “also invigorated the campaign and him” with Biden and his team realizing “this is serious, we have a real challenge, here. And let’s get this done.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, America’s largest LGBTQ rights organization and a group that has made major investments in Biden’s reelection effort, also reaffirmed her support for the president in a statement to the Blade on Tuesday.
“Donald Trump and his Project 2025 agenda pose an existential threat to our rights, freedom, and democracy itself,” she said. “Our job remains the same: defeat him. Biden-Harris is the ticket to do it and we are proud to stand by our endorsement.”
Asked for comment, a GLAAD spokesperson said “as a [501]C3 nonprofit org, we focus on voter and reporter info and resources, to inform about elevate facts on the candidates’ records and statements about LGBTQ people.”
The spokesperson referred the Blade to a statement by the group’s president, Sarah Kate Ellis, which was issued shortly after Biden’s televised debate against Trump.
“Media must do their job to ask questions of candidates about their records and plans for and against LGBTQ people. Our community is enduring an onslaught of attacks on our lives and fundamental freedoms. Everything from our marriages to our ability to have children to keeping schools safe for LGBTQ youth is on the ballot.
“The candidates’ records are very clear, and voters need to be informed about this history to make the best decisions. Reporters and moderators must challenge candidate rhetoric for facts about abortion, immigration, inflation, and the security of each person’s vote.
“CNN failed to find time in 90 minutes to ask about Project 2025, the fascist fever dream that is laying a path for anti-LGBTQ zealots to weaponize the government to fully eliminate abortion access and LGBTQ people from equal access in American life.
“Accurate information is essential for voters to choose a leader who values the truth, decency, and who will work to ensure freedom and equality for all Americans.”
The GLAAD accountability project includes detailed entries for Trump and Biden, detailing the candidates’ records on and rhetoric concerning LGBTQ matters.
Congress
House Republicans propose steep cuts in federal AIDS budget
Advocacy groups say move would eliminate ‘Ending HIV Epidemic’ initiative
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The Republican-controlled U.S. House Subcommittee on Labor, Health, and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies approved a spending bill on June 26 that calls for cutting at least $419 million from federal AIDS programs that AIDS activists say would have a devastating impact on efforts to greatly reduce the number of new HIV infections by 2030.
The subcommittee’s proposed bill, which includes billions of dollars in cuts in a wide range of other federal health, education, and human services related programs, is scheduled to be considered by the full House Appropriations Committee on July 10. Officials with AIDS advocacy groups say they are hopeful that the full committee, like last year, will refuse to approve the proposed cuts in the AIDS budget.
The proposed GOP cuts would eliminate $214 million from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s HIV prevention programs, $190 million from the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program, and $15 million from the Department of Health and Human Services Secretary’s Minority HIV/AIDS Program.
Activists say the impact of those cuts would kill the federal government’s Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative, which among other things, calls for reducing the number of new HIV infections in the U.S. by 75 percent by 2025 and by 90 percent by 2030. The activists point out that ironically the Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative was launched during the administration of President Donald Trump.
“Instead of providing new investments in ending HIV by increasing funding for testing, prevention programs, such as PrEP, and life-saving care and treatment, House Republicans are again choosing to go through a worthless exercise of cutting programs that the American people depend on and will never pass,” said Carl Schmid, executive director of the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute.
“While we vigorously fight these cuts, we look forward to working with the entire Congress in a bipartisan fashion on spending bills that can actually become law,” Schmid said in a statement.
Schmid noted that the bill also includes provisions known as “policy riders” that would take away rights and protections from women, such as access to birth control and abortion, and for minorities, including LGBTQ people.
According to a statement released by the office of U.S. Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.), who is the ranking minority member of the House Appropriations Committee, one of the policy riders would “block the Biden administration’s policies to ensure nondiscrimination on the basis of gender identity and sexual orientation.’ The statement says another policy rider would “prevent policies or programs intended to promote diversity, equality, or inclusion.”
Most political observers believe the Democratic-controlled U.S. Senate would also kill the GOP proposed policy riders and cuts in the AIDS budget if the full Republican-controlled House were to approve the budget bill passed by the appropriations subcommittee.
U.S. Rep. Tom Cole (R-Okla.), who serves as chair of the full House Appropriations Committee, released a statement on June 27 defending the subcommittee’s bill and its proposed spending cuts. “The bill provides appropriate and fiscally responsible funding to ensure these departments can continue to perform their core missions while also acknowledging the fiscal realities facing our nation,” he said.
“Importantly, the bill pushes back on the Biden administration’s out-of-touch progressive policy agenda, preventing this White House from finalizing or implementing controversial rules or executive orders,” Cole said in his statement. “It also preserves long standing bipartisan policy provisions protecting the right to life.”
Congress
Members of Congress introduce resolution to condemn Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act
U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Joyce Beatty spearheaded condemnation
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20210621_Mark_Takano_Equality_PAC_Pride_Gala_at_Union_Station_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
More than 20 members of Congress on Thursday introduced a resolution that condemns Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
Gay California Congressman Mark Takano and U.S. Rep. Joyce Beatty (D-Ohio) spearheaded the resolution that U.S. Reps. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Lloyd Doggett (D-Texas), Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y.), Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas), Josh Gottheimer (D-N.J.), Raúl Grijalva (D-Ariz.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), Gwen Moore (D-Wis.), Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), Mark Pocan (D-Wash.), Delia Ramirez (D-Ill), Linda Sánchez (D-Calif.), Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.), Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), and Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) co-sponsored.
“The House of Representatives condemns the government of Uganda’s criminalization and draconian punishments regarding consensual same-sex sexual conduct and so-called ‘’promotion of homosexuality,’” reads the resolution.
The resolution, among other things, also calls upon the Ugandan government to repeal the law.
“It is difficult to overstate the gross inhumanity of Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Act,” said Takano in a press release.
President Yoweri Museveni in May 2023 signed the law, which contains a death penalty provision for “aggravated homosexuality.”
The U.S. subsequently imposed visa restrictions on Ugandan officials and removed the country from a program that allows sub-Saharan African countries to trade duty-free with the U.S. The World Bank Group also announced the suspension of new loans to Uganda.
The Ugandan Constitutional Court in April refused to “nullify the Anti-Homosexuality Act in its totality.” A group of Ugandan LGBTQ activists appealed the ruling.
“Instead of focusing on rooting out corruption or ending extrajudicial killings, the Ugandan Parliament, president, and Constitutional Court have chosen to mark LGBTQ+ Ugandans as less than human,” said Takano. “Congress must not be silent in the face of such systematic, state-sponsored discrimination.”
“To all those LGBTQ+ people and your allies in Uganda — we see you,” added the California Democrat. “We and the Biden administration will not allow this terrible violation of basic dignity to go unchallenged.”
Congress
EXCLUSIVE: Alex Padilla, wife Angela talk LGBTQ mental health
Couple to receive award from Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles on Sunday
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20240618_Alex_Padilla_insert_2_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) and his wife, Angela Padilla, spoke with the Washington Blade for an exclusive interview last week ahead of their receipt of Voice Awards from the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles at a ceremony on June 30.
“I’ve known members” of the organization “off and on over the years, going back to my days on the city council in Los Angeles,” when battles were waged over California’s Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage, Padilla said.
“I was proud to be an ally for a long time, but especially in those moments, really, as a public official, as an elected official, knowing how important allyship was,” he said, stressing “the tremendous talent of the chorus” and “what they represented individually and as a group” serving as allies for “young people who may not necessarily grow up in a supportive environment or in supportive families.”
“I work very closely with Joseph Guardarrama,” a board member for GMCLA, “for many years now on my nonprofit, and it’s all in support of mental health and wellness and educating people on how to get help, why they should get help, and why it’s important to take care of your brain,” Mrs. Padilla said by phone.
“I started FundaMental Change in 2017,” she said, to push for “the mental change that I feel that we have to have as a society when it comes to how we look at [and] how we treat mental health conditions.”
The senator’s wife added that LGBTQ people are twice as likely to have a mental health condition while dealing “with so much more social stigma and discrimination” than their straight and cisgender counterparts.
“This month we’re going to have a table for June 30 working with the [California] Department of Mental Health at the Pride parade,” she added. FundaMental Change also operates an LGBT Youth TalkLine and Trans Lifeline.
Padilla noted the organization’s work combatting stigma. “One thing that we recognize both coming from Latino families is the need to overcome stigma,” he said. “There’s a lot of misunderstanding or misperceptions about mental health.”
The effort is also central to the senator’s work as a policymaker, he said, referencing the bipartisan Senate Mental Health Caucus that he founded alongside U.S. Sens. Tina Smith (D-Minn.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) to serve as “a forum for us to share stories.”
“It’s been fascinating, there are more than 30 members of the caucus now, so about a third of the United States Senate,” he said. “It’s 50/50 Democrats and Republicans,” and when approached, every member had a story to share, whether about “something that they’ve been through [or] somebody in their family, a colleague, a neighbor who can relate.”
Padilla said his decision to announce the formation of the caucus concurrently with his visit to the San Francisco LGBT Community Center “was very intentional.”
When it comes to mental health, “We’ve really prioritized trying to develop bipartisan solutions,” he said, “because those are more sustainable here in Congress.”
The first bill backed by the caucus was Padilla and Tillis’s Local 9-8-8 Response Act of 2023, which “was to require the FCC to move to implement the geolocation technology to the 988 system.”
Unveiled by the Biden-Harris administration in 2022, the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline is operated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration. The program provides the option for callers to reach specialized LGBTQI+ affirming counselors by pressing “3.”
On the importance of geolocation technology, Padilla said “if I’m here in Washington, and have a need to call 988, my area code on my phone is Los Angeles — so, I’d be passed through to the Los Angeles providers.”
The senator noted that the FCC “is moving forward with those improvements” independently of his bill’s path forward in Congress.
More broadly, some of the policy challenges concern supply and demand problems. “From a bigger picture, longer term perspective, we’re talking about the workforce needs,” Padilla said. “So, what’s the game plan for [getting] more psychologists or psychiatrists or counselors, more therapists, more everybody in the field to better serve people across the country?”
Padilla also discussed the importance of “cultural competence” as a means of guaranteeing the best possible treatment. “When we ask people to go get help, if there’s somebody that they can relate to or that they know gets them, the better quality experience in treatment is going to come,” he said.
“We’re not quite there yet with the Republican colleagues, but I have faith that in time we will get them there,” the senator added. “And again, the LGBTQ community is a prime example. You’ve got to feel comfortable going to somebody when you need help.”
Padilla said, “not everybody comes from a supportive environment; not everybody lives in a city or a state that is supportive. And at this particular time politically, they’re really under attack. They’re being targeted acutely. And that’s more reason and urgency to speak up and stand up.”
On Sunday, the Padillas will share the stage with the recipients of the third GMCLA Voice Award, from the critically acclaimed HBO series “We’re Here,” which follows drag queens as they travel the country to perform in one-night-only performances in small towns.
Mrs. Padilla celebrated the ways in which drag has brought communities together, recalling when RuPaul’s Drag Race “was first airing and it was like everyone was so interested in watching the show” and “it just brought people from everywhere.”
“I have a lot of frustrations, as a Latina, with the misrepresentation of our community and our culture in television and movies,” she said. “And I feel like every opportunity that you get to see something that’s just authentic — it’s such a benefit to everyone. It really helps us understand that we have more in common than not.”
“Drag is not new,” the senator said. “It goes back generations in the United States and I think for the LGBTQ+ community it can be can be very empowering, as an outlet for performers, but also participants in an audience to see on stage what you may not see in other places.”
Republican-led efforts to restrict access to drag performances, especially by young people, “feels like it’s an act of desperation,” Mrs. Padilla said.
“I think they’re resisting something that they don’t understand. I just think it’s really coming from a place of fear. And really not understanding the human behind it,” she said, adding that the reactionary forces are a product of the LGBTQ movement’s success and “that feeling of it’s out of their control.”
“The diversity of our communities, the diversity of our country, is a big source of strength,” Padilla said. “It’s just not always been embraced. I think a lot of people either misinterpret it or frankly exploit it to cause divisions in society.”
“We can’t ignore the political climate that we’re living in,” the senator said, “heightened only by the fact that it’s a presidential election year and we see who the Republican nominee is going to be.”
Looking ahead to November’s elections, he said, “as with so many other issues, LGBTQ+ rights and opportunity in the future — It’s a 180-degree difference between Joe Biden and Donald Trump. Let’s not take it for granted. Let’s not take it lightly. Let’s get out and vote.”
Congress
EXCLUSIVE: Markey bill would offer additional support to LGBTQ elders
Measure would create Office of LGBTQI Inclusion within HHS
![U.S. Capitol Dome](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2022/11/Capitol_Building_dome_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpeg)
U.S. Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.) will introduce a bill on Friday to support LGBTQ elders and older adults living with HIV by establishing an Office of LGBTQI Inclusion within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Among other responsibilities, the office would advocate, coordinate activities, issue policy recommendations, and oversee the collection of data from these communities.
A major piece of the work to improve health equity at HHS under the leadership of Secretary Xavier Becerra and Assistant Health Secretary Rachel Levine has been data collection initiatives for LGBTQ and other populations that can encounter barriers accessing care.
The Elder Pride Act will also “establish a rural grants program to serve the unique needs of rural LGBTQI+ older adults, including through education and training, community outreach and creation of community spaces, and improved cultural competency,” according to a press release announcing the legislation, which the senator’s office previewed exclusively with the Washington Blade.
“After years of exclusion and discrimination from health care settings, workplaces, and their local communities, LGBTQ+ older Americans deserve the protections their neighbors are afforded,” Markey said.
“Queer and trans elders should be able to age with dignity, grace, and surrounded by community,” he added. “The Elder Pride Act will ensure that all older adults are able to have access to the care and services they need.”
Cosponsoring senators include Bob Casey (D-Penn.), Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), Alex Padilla (D- Calif.), and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.). The legislation’s provisions were included in a pair of bills introduced earlier this year by U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-Ore.), who chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus’s Aging Issues Task Force.
The press release from Markey’s office also highlights several of the challenges faced by LGBTQ older adults vis-a-vis their cisgender and heterosexual peers: Fewer sources of support. higher poverty rates, poorer healthcare, poorer health access, and poorer health outcomes.
At the city and county level, older adults are served by local area agencies on aging (AAAs), which receive services and activities from HHS. Fewer than half of these organizations report that they will be able to provide LGBTQ-specific activities by the time the population of LGBTQ elders reaches 7 million, which is expected by 2030.
Congress
Rep. Garcia urges Feds to protect LGBTQ+ people during Pride
“Ensuring that people can peacefully and safely celebrate Pride and the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community is of utmost importance”
![](https://www.losangelesblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20240609_Capital_Pride_Festival_insert_7_c_Washington_Blade_by_Emily_Hanna.jpg)
WASHINGTON – U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on June 12 sent a letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and Federal Bureau of Investigation Director Christopher Wray to work to ensure LGBTQ people during Pride events.
“Over the last several weeks, your respective agencies and departments have issued stark warnings, and travel advisories to the public over potential threats from foreign terrorist organizations (FTO), and their supporters during this year’s Pride Month,” said Garcia in his letter. “I understand that these steps have come after deeply concerning increases in anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric, calls for targeted violence, and foiled violent plots.”
The FBI on May 10 issued an advisory that warned of potential violence at Pride events and other LGBTQ-specific events. The State Department on May 17 — the International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, and Transphobia — announced a similar warning.
“Ensuring that people can peacefully and safely celebrate Pride and the diversity of the LGBTQ+ community is of utmost importance,” wrote Garcia, a gay man who represents California’s 42nd Congressional District that includes Long Beach.
June 12 also marked eight years since a gunman killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The massacre at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history. The gunman pledged his allegiance to the Islamic State, even though there is no evidence that suggests the extremist group ordered him to carry out the massacre.
“This week marks the eight (sic) anniversary of the horrific Pulse nightclub Orlando shooting — during which the attacker deliberately and viciously targeted the LGBTQ+ community,” wrote Garcia in his letter. “It is important to put the recent escalation of extremist anti-LGBTQ+ propaganda and messaging in the context the Pulse nightclub shooter who was influenced by these same forces of extremism.”
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