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Gay military group excluded from White House event

W.H. official says ‘Don’t Ask’ must be repealed first

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Servicemembers United Executive Director Alex Nicholson (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

A gay military group is accusing the White House of excluding the organization from an event intended to highlight U.S. service members and their families.

For the Tuesday event — in which first lady Michelle Obama and second lady Jill Biden were set to launch the “Joining Forces” campaign to focus attention on the struggles of military families — the White House invited service members and representatives from other military groups.

Alex Nicholson, executive director of Servicemembers United, told the Washington Blade his group was denied access to the event, even though his group had been lobbying for participation.

“For two weeks now, they’ve refused to give any representative of gay families and service members a slot at this event that’s supposed to honor all service members and military families,” Nicholson said.

Nicholson said he met last week with White House officials on possible participation and was given “excuse after excuse” as a reason for why his group couldn’t take part.

According to Nicholson, White House officials said veterans’ groups wouldn’t be able to attend. However, these groups — such as Iraq/Afganistan Veterans of America — in fact participated in the event.

Further, Nicholson said he was reminded “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is still being enforced, so gay service members who were in attendance could be in danger of discharge.

“When we pointed out that we — like the other straight organizations that are going to be there — would be happy to use an organizational staff member to represent them — somebody who’s not subject to ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ — they it changed to, ‘Well, this event’s not about veterans, it’s about service members and families,” Nicholson said.

Kristina Schake, communications director for the first lady, confirmed that gay military groups were unable to participate at the “Joining Forces” event, but said the administration would work with them more after “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” is off the books.

“The president has been crystal clear that the administration is moving forward with the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ quickly and efficiently,” Schake said. “However, it still remains the law. The White House, including the first lady and Dr. Biden, look forward to working with the families of gay and lesbian service members after certification occurs and repeal goes into effect.”

In December, President Obama signed a bill allowing for repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” However, repeal won’t go into effect until the president, the defense secretary and the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff certify that the U.S. military is ready for repeal and 60 days pass after that action.

Aubrey Sarvis, executive director of the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, similarly said exclusion of gay military groups from the White House event was appropriate at this time.

“We believe that the first lady and the White House could have been putting gay and lesbian service members at risk to include them in this week’s events before ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal is complete,” Sarvis said. “Our primary concern remains protecting the lives and careers of gays and lesbians serving our country honorably while we await certification and repeal that will allow them to do it openly and without fear of discharge.”

An informed source said SLDN wasn’t seeking involvement in the “Joining Forces” event. Nicholson said to his knowledge Servicemembers United was the only gay organization asking to participate.

Nicholson speculated that the White House excluded his organization from the event because of “lingering political homophobia.”

“I think they’re afraid to mix the gays with the straight military and veteran crowd right now,” Nicholson said. “There’s just no logical excuse why they would have to exclude a civilian representative of gay military families and service members from an event at which our counterparts are going to be represented in full force in the straight community.”

During a news conference on Tuesday, the Washington Times’ Kara Rowland asked White House Press Secretary Jay Carney whether the administration had “missed an opportunity” by excluding gay military groups from the “Joining Forces” event. Carney said he didn’t immediately have an answer.

“If you want, I can take this question, but I think you’re conflating here a couple of things,” Carney said. “But why don’t I take that and get back to you.”

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The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.

Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.

Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.

The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”

Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.

“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.

Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.

The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.

Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”

Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.

“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”

“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.

A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.

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Federal Government

HHS to retire 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth

Trevor Project warns the move will ‘put their lives at risk’

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Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. appears on HBO's "Real Time with Bill Maher" in April 2024. (Screen capture via YouTube)

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is planning to retire the national 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth on Oct. 1, according to a preliminary budget document obtained by the Washington Post.

Introduced during the Biden-Harris administration in 2022, the hotline connects callers with counselors who are trained to work with this population, who are four times likelier to attempt suicide than their cisgender or heterosexual counterparts.

“Suicide prevention is about risk, not identity,” said Jaymes Black, CEO of the Trevor Project, which provides emergency crisis support for LGBTQ youth and has contracted with HHS to take calls routed through 988.

“Ending the 988 Suicide and Crisis Lifeline’s LGBTQ+ youth specialized services will not just strip away access from millions of LGBTQ+ kids and teens — it will put their lives at risk,” they said in a statement. “These programs were implemented to address a proven, unprecedented, and ongoing mental health crisis among our nation’s young people with strong bipartisan support in Congress and signed into law by President Trump himself.”

“I want to be clear to all LGBTQ+ young people: This news, while upsetting, is not final,” Black said. “And regardless of federal funding shifts, the Trevor Project remains available 24/7 for anyone who needs us, just as we always have.”

The service for LGBTQ youth has received 1.3 million calls, texts, or chats since its debut, with an average of 2,100 contacts per day in February.

“I worry deeply that we will see more LGBTQ young people reach a crisis state and not have anyone there to help them through that,” said Janson Wu, director of advocacy and government affairs at the Trevor Project. “I worry that LGBTQ young people will reach out to 988 and not receive a compassionate and welcoming voice on the other end — and that will only deepen their crisis.”

Under Trump’s HHS secretary, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., the agency’s departments and divisions have experienced drastic cuts, with a planned reduction in force of 20,000 full-time employees. The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration has been sunset and mental health services consolidated into the newly formed Administration for a Healthy America.

The budget document reveals, per Mother Jones, “further sweeping cuts to HHS, including a 40 percent budget cut to the National Institutes of Health; elimination of funding for Head Start, the early childhood education program for low-income families; and a 44 percent funding cut to the Centers for Disease Control, including all the agency’s chronic disease programs.”

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