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8 arrested in U.S. Capitol protest over ENDA

‘We need to know who’s with us and who’s against us’

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Eight people were arrested Wednesday during a protest in the U.S. Capitol building rotunda. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Eight people were arrested Wednesday during a protest in the U.S. Capitol building rotunda urging U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to take action on the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.

Donned with black shirts, demonstrators affiliated with the activist group GetEqual held a sit-in protest and chanted “Vote ENDA Now!” as officers with the Capitol Police handcuffed them and took them away.

Sgt. Kimberly Schneider, a spokesperson for Capitol Police, said the protesters were arrested on the misdemeanor charge of demonstrating in the U.S. Capitol and taken to Capitol Police Headquarters.

Prior to the action, demonstrators had been participating in a tour of the U.S. Capitol. When the tour reached the Rotunda, protesters broke away and formed a group in the center of the room while holding up signs reading “Vote on ENDA” and “Speaker Pelosi: This is Your Reminder.”

Surrounded by statues of deceased presidents and paintings of iconic moments in early U.S. history, demonstrators dropped to the floor and crouched while chanting the GetEqual refrain, “I am somebody and I deserve full equality!”

Those on other tours of the U.S. Capitol looked upon the protesters with jaws dropped and took photos with their iPhones. One tour guide said, “Just don’t talk to them,” as she guided the visitors through the Rotunda.

Capitol Hill police closed the rotunda, preventing the public, staff, other tours and the press from accessing the room. The press was able to witness the events as they took place from an adjoining hallway.

“Those people are jerks; they’re ruining our tour,” one tour guide remarked about the protesters after he was blocked from entering the room.

Heather Cronk, managing director for GetEqual, said the protest was intended to send “not only a direct response, but a symbolic response to Speaker Pelosi” and to follow-up on an earlier protest urging Pelosi to take action.

“In March, when we were in her office, we told her we would come back if she didn’t bring ENDA to the floor,” Cronk said. “So, we’re making good on our promises and we’re hoping that she will as well.”

Cronk said GetEqual is targeting the speaker because of her power to take the bill out of committee and bring it up for a floor vote.

“We need to know who’s with us and who’s against us in the House, so we’re just asking for a vote on the bill,” Cronk said. “We know we have the votes in the House.  So we’re hoping that she can get it through the House, and then it’s up to us to help create the political will to get it through the Senate.”

Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesperson, said ENDA remains “a top priority” for the speaker, but said moving the bill before legislative action on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is complete “jeopardizes both initiatives.”

Pelosi has said a House vote on ENDA wouldn’t take place until legislative work on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is complete — most recently at the Netroots Nation conference in Nevada.

“I can’t give you a time,” she said, according to a transcript of her remarks. “But I can tell you that it is a priority and it had been our hope to do it this year. We have to finish ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and hopefully we can do both this year.”

The protesters who were arrested were Orelia Busch of D.C.; Charles Butler of D.C.; Sean Carlson of Hyattsville, Md.; Shannon Cuttle of D.C.; Robert Diesu of D.C.; Erika Knepp of Edgewater, Md.; David McElhatton of San Francisco, Calif.; and Zack Rosen of D.C.

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Federal Government

UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House

University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

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U.S. Education Secretary Linda McMahon (Screen capture: C-SPAN)

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”

The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.

“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”

Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”

Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”

“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”

Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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