National
Prop 8 trial begins Monday
The eyes of LGBT rights supporters will be on the proceedings of a California federal court case next week that could overturn the state’s ban on same-sex marriage — and possibly similar bans throughout the country.
The trial in the case of Perry v. Schwarzenegger will begin Monday. Judge Vaughn Walker of the U.S. District Court’s Northern District of California will preside and has called for expedited proceedings because of the serious nature of the complaints raised by plaintiffs.
During the trial, Walker will consider witness testimony, documents and other evidence and arguments from both sides over the constitutionality of Proposition 8, an amendment to the state constitution banning same-sex marriage. The amendment was approved in 2008 through voter referendum.
Attorneys Ted Olson and David Boies are representing plaintiff couples that were denied marriage licenses in California because of the state’s ban on same-sex marriage.
While it’s the first time these lawyers have worked together on a case, they have crossed paths before in opposition to each other. In the 2000 case of Bush v. Gore, Olson represented then-Republican presidential nominee George W. Bush while Boies represented then-Democratic presidential nominee Al Gore.
Olson and Boies — who are litigating on behalf of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, a California-based LGBT organization founded last year — are arguing Prop 8 is unconstitutional because it violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment and singles out LGBT people for discrimination, among other reasons.
Yusef Robb, an AFER spokesperson, said, “preparations are intense” for the legal team that is arguing that Prop 8 is unconstitutional.
“Proposition 8 is wrong and it’s unconstitutional, and we will demonstrate that through the testimony of our plaintiffs, expert [witnesses], evidence and arguments from an unmatched legal team,” he said.
Robb said the trial should last about three weeks, but could drag out for five weeks. Supporters of the lawsuit are expecting the case to go to the U.S. Supreme Court, but first the case would have to be heard in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
Geoff Kors, executive director of Equality California, said the case is significant because “it’s a critical piece in the ongoing fight for full equality.”
“We are extremely hopeful that the federal courts will strike [down] Prop 8 as unconstitutional because it clearly violates the federal Constitution, especially in light of the California Supreme Court decision that upheld Prop 8 in the California Constitution,” he said.
Equality California was among the groups that filed a “friend-of-the-court” brief in favor of overturning Prop 8. Kors said he’s confident Walker will overturn Prop 8 because it’s “a clear violation of the United States Constitution.”
Other groups that have filed “friend-of-the-court” briefs are the American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and National Center for Lesbian Rights. The City and County of San Francisco — under the leadership of City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart — are supporting the plaintiffs as co-counsel and are focusing on the negative impact Prop 8 has on government services and budgets.
While the case is focused on the constitutionality of Prop 8, it’s possible that marriage bans throughout the country could be struck down if the case goes to the Supreme Court and it rules in favor of the plaintiffs.
Robb said the question of whether a Supreme Court ruling would end marriage bans throughout the country “would depend on the particular issues the court chooses to review, as well as how they specifically draft their opinion.”
One contentious issue leading up to the trial was whether the judge would allow TV cameras in the courtroom to record and broadcast the trial.
Opponents of Prop 8 urged Walker to allow proceedings to air on TV to bring more attention to the marriage issue, while supporters of Prop 8 are arguing against such a move because they feel backers of the amendment would be subject to harassment and intimidation.
Walker ruled Wednesday that the trial will be recorded — but the broadcast will be delayed and it will air on the Internet and not live TV, according to media reports.
Walker decided to post a delayed recording of the case challenging Proposition 8 on YouTube, according to the The San Francisco Chronicle. AFER announced the decision in a Twitter posting: “Judge: pending approval from 9th Circuit, trial will be recorded daily for delayed posting to internet.”
Robb said AFER believes it’s important for the trial to air to show the harm that Prop 8 has caused same-sex couples.
“This trial is a chance for the true harm of Prop 8 to be revealed through facts, evidence and the law, without the spin, slogans and deception that dominate political campaigns,” he said. “These proceedings should be available to as many people as possible.”
Kors also supports airing the trial. He said the broadcast would allow people who are undecided on same-sex marriage to learn more about why marriage rights are important to LGBT people.
“It’s an opportunity for them to see us for who we really are, and for them to hear the arguments both from our side about why equality is so important and why denying us the freedom to marry harms us and our families, and to really hear what the right-wing’s justification for that discrimination is,” he said.
Kors also claimed that airing the trial would reveal that supporters of Prop 8 distorted the truth during the 2008 campaign as they encouraged voters to approve the amendment.
Among the disputed arguments that supporters of Prop 8 put forward was that failure of the amendment would mean that children would have to learn about same-sex marriage in public schools.
“It’s different when you’re arguing in court and testifying under oath than it is when you run a 30-second television ad that tells lies,” he said. “So it’s a chance for people to hear the truth from both sides, which is why we want it to be televised and clearly why the right-wing doesn’t because it’s not an environment where they can control what they’re saying.”
While predicting that the trial court would strike down Prop 8, Kors said it’s possible that the ruling could be overturned by a higher court.
But if that happened, Kors said the trial court proceedings would still be helpful in persuading the public to overturn the amendment at the ballot box. Equality California has chosen 2012 as the year to challenge Prop 8 through another voter referendum.
“It’s an opportunity for the public to learn more about why marriage equality is so important for same-sex couples and their families — and that the lies the right-wing told in California and more recently in Maine are nothing but lies,” Kors said. “And that, I think, is going to be really important in moving public opinion.”
National
Blade reporters reflect on covering Pulse massacre 10 years ago
Orlando stepped up to comfort and support its LGBTQ community
Friday marks 10 years since a gunman killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The massacre, which, at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, left the LGBTQ community in this country and around the world reeling. It also prompted renewed calls for gun control.
The OnePulse Foundation, which Pulse owner Barbara Poma founded after the massacre, raised upwards of $20 million for a memorial that never materialized.
The city of Orlando in 2023 purchased the Pulse property for $2 million. Crews earlier this year demolished the former nightclub. The city of Orlando has pledged $12 million for a permanent memorial that is scheduled to open in 2027.
Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff and International News Editor Michael K. Lavers reported from Orlando in the days after the massacre. Here are their reflections a decade later.
Describe the scene when you arrived in Orlando. Where did you go first?
NAFF: Most mainstream reporters headed for the Pulse nightclub, but it was already roped off with police keeping bystanders at least a full city block away. Instead, I hurried to The Center, Orlando’s LGBTQ community center, downtown. I expected to find it locked down with tight security but instead the doors were flung open and everyone inside was busy at work. No tears, just dedicated staff and volunteers working the phones to secure visas and free plane tickets for relatives of the victims. The director gave me a tour and in the back storage room were pallets and pallets of bottled water stacked to the ceiling. When I asked what all the water was for, he said the city had issued a call for blood donations and the lines to donate were 1,500 deep in 100-degree heat. So The Center drove around to all the sites to deliver water to all those standing in line.
That scene was so inspiring and a testament to the strength and resiliency of the LGBTQ community. We’d seen tragedy before and knew how to respond.
LAVERS: I arrived in Orlando about 14 hours after the massacre took place. The city was shellshocked.
Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy group, and other organizations held a press conference at The Center shortly after my flight from D.C. landed. I drove there from the airport. Terry DeCarlo, who was The Center’s executive director at the time, along with then-Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith and others spoke on behalf of a community that was reeling. The Center at the press conference handed out business cards that read, “You matter.” I had it in my wallet when I drove to a makeshift memorial that was a block from Pulse — the police had cordoned off the area immediately around the nightclub. A local resident who I interviewed told me that she did not know if her friends who were at Pulse when the gunman opened fire survived. Another person with whom I spoke shared a similar story.
A torrential downpour began shortly after I arrived. The storm was an apt metaphor for the raw emotion of that horrific day.
What’s your most prominent memory of covering the Pulse massacre?
NAFF: I was covering a vigil in downtown Orlando when then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s motorcade arrived unannounced. To that point, he had not addressed the LGBTQ angle and seemed to be downplaying the fact that this was an attack on our community. I hurried to the front row as he held an impromptu news conference. To my dismay, he took only three short questions from TV reporters then rushed away. I grabbed his communications director and insisted that Scott take a question from the LGBTQ media. She agreed and told me to wait next to the SUV. When Scott approached, I asked him, “What is your message to LGBTQ Floridians?”
To my surprise, he sputtered, stammered, and broke into tears before telling me, “This was an attack, what else can you say? This was an attack against the gays, an attack against Hispanics, an attack against our country, our nation and it’s disgusting. The biggest thing we do now is ask how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
It was his first public acknowledgment that the LGBTQ community was the target of the attack.
LAVERS: Two moments stand out for me.
The first moment is when then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando on June 16, four days after the massacre. I was one of the reporters who the White House asked to be part of the local press pool. I was about 50 feet away from Obama and Biden when they placed bouquets with 49 flowers — one for each of the victims — at a makeshift memorial between City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Obama in remarks he made to the press pool mentioned one of the gay victims who had once said, “We cannot be afraid.” The emotions of the last four days simply became too much, and I broke down. Another reporter who was part of the press pool who was standing next to me realized I had broken down. She put her hand on my back to console me.
The second moment came a few weeks later when I was in Puerto Rico to cover the community’s response to the massacre and to interview victims’ relatives. Orlando has a very large Puerto Rican community, and nearly half of those who died at Pulse were of Puerto Rican descent.
I drove to Caguas, a city that is roughly 20 miles south of San Juan, the island’s capital, on July 7, and interviewed Aida Velázquez in her small apartment. Her son, Frankie “Jimmy” de Jesús, died at Pulse. Aida talked about her son, and she showed me pictures of him. Jimmy also danced Jíbaro, a Puerto Rican folk dance. The interview took place less than a month after the massacre — Jimmy’s funeral took place in Caguas less than two weeks earlier.
I sat in my car after the interview and sobbed uncontrollably for nearly five minutes. Nothing can possibly prepare you for interviewing a mother who had just lost her child in the most horrific way possible.
How did the local community respond and what about their response gave you hope or inspiration?
NAFF: In addition to the staff at The Center working to assist victims and their families, everyday Orlando residents stepped up to help however they could. At the downtown vigils, straight mothers and fathers carried signs offering hugs to anyone who needed them. I encountered a group of young teenage males who approached a group of law enforcement officers and appeared to perform for them. When they finished, I asked what they were doing and they told me that they were straight friends who lived in Orlando and wanted to do something to help so they composed an uplifting rap song and walked around performing it for anyone who needed cheering up.
LAVERS: The way that Orlando rallied around the LGBTQ community was simply inspiring.
Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, at a memorial service that took place at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center on June 13 said his organization was “united as Americans when it comes to standing with the LGBT community and their rights to live freely and to practice their lives here.” This comment underscored the outpouring of support that Orlando showed its LGBTQ community after Pulse. It was also a call for the better angels among us to reject hate in all of its forms.
What surprised you most about the experience?
NAFF: I was most surprised — and moved — after talking to Rev. Debreita Taylor of Oasis Fellowship Ministries, an LGBTQ-affirming ministry.
“My message is love. Period. Love. Period. There’s nothing in the word of God that faith leaders can go to that teaches hate,” she told me. “Have faith and believe that evil and hate can be eradicated one person at a time. How do you treat someone? How do you embrace someone who treats you wrong? We all bleed, laugh, hope and have great victories and major defeats. And so, you know me, even if you don’t know my name — I’m you.”
LAVERS: It admittedly took me quite a while to fully process what I experienced in Orlando — I was focused on doing my job as a reporter, which was to cover the story, and, most importantly, show the human impact of what had happened. I suppose one surprising aspect of the time I spent in Orlando was that I found myself feeling more defiant against those who seek to destroy our community. They want us to live in fear, and I refuse to give them that satisfaction.
What, if anything, changed as a result of Pulse?
NAFF: In the immediate aftermath of the attack, queer spaces began rethinking their approach to security, which has served us well in the years since. Sadly, just a year later, Pulse was bumped to the No. 2 deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people. Americans and their politicians never learn from these largely preventable tragedies. The carnage continues.
LAVERS: Gun violence remains a shameful scourge in this country. Our community remains vulnerable to violence and discrimination. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other politicians here in Washington, around the country, and overseas continue to use our community to advance an anti-equality agenda. The carnage continues, as my colleague correctly notes, but our community remains strong and defiant. That gives me hope.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
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