National
EXCLUSIVE: Baldwin calls for marriage equality plank in Dem platform
Renews call for ENDA to address workplace discrimination
U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin speaking at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund’s annual brunch at the Washington Hilton. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin has joined the chorus of those calling for an endorsement of marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform, saying the inclusion of such language would be a “statement of values.”
In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade on Sunday, Baldwin said the inclusion of same-sex marriage in the platform would be “very important.”
“I think that would be tremendous, and we have to be focusing on advancing equality in so many different realms,” Baldwin said. “It’s a statement of values, and I think it’s very important to be included.”
The candidate made the remarks prior to her speech at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund’s annual brunch at the Washington Hilton.
Baldwin’s support for marriage equality in the platform puts her in the company of nearly two dozen U.S. senators, along with others, including Democratic National Convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. A former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, has also called for the inclusion of the language.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said he “welcomes” Baldwin’s support for a marriage equality plank in the platform.
“Rep. Baldwin, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, joins numerous party leaders and tens of thousands of Democrats who have signed our online petition in speaking up for the Democratic values of freedom, family and inclusion that are the core of the case for the freedom to marry,” Wolfson said.
The platform committee is set to debate platform language when it gathers for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. DNC officials have declined to say whether the platform will include marriage equality.
Baldwin is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and replace retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.). Her election would make her the first openly gay person elected to the Senate. Baldwin, who has represented Wisconsin’s second congressional district for seven terms, was the first non-incumbent openly gay person elected to Congress in 1998.
During the interview, Baldwin also responded to recent news that the Obama administration won’t issue an executive order at this time barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers, saying, “We’ve got to keep on organizing.”
Like the White House, Baldwin emphasized the importance of legislation to address the problem — known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would bar workplace discrimination against LGBT workers.
“We also have to focus on the importance of passing an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act through the Congress,” Baldwin said. “We embrace executive orders when they can occur. This president has issued several that have advanced our protections as a community significantly, but there’s no substitute for having Congress act in sending the president the bill to sign.”
LGBT advocacy groups expressed disappointment when the administration announced it wouldn’t take executive action against workplace discrimination. Asked why she thinks the administration declined to issue the directive, Baldwin said she hasn’t “been privy to those conversations” on the executive order.
But Baldwin admitted that movement on ENDA is unlikely in the current Congress given Republican control of the House and said the focus should be on increasing co-sponsors for the bill.
“There’s not a pro-equality majority controlling the House of Representatives right now,” Baldwin said. “So, on the House side, we really have to continue to build support for the day on which we first have a leadership that’s pro-equality. And that’s signing on more and more co-sponsors to legislation.”
As a co-chair of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, Baldwin said she’s focused on briefings on Capitol Hill, recalling one that took place on March 29 hosted by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) “on issues of workplace discrimination and why these protections are so desperately needed.”
Asked whether she wants to see President Obama conclude his evolution on same-sex marriage before Election Day, Baldwin laughed and said he’s “moving in the right direction on this issue.”
Baldwin noted that Obama announced early last year that his administration would no longer defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act in court and “all the steps we’ve taken to protect families of LGBT communities who work in the federal workforce.”
In 2009, Obama issued a memorandum extending limited benefits to the partners of federal employees. The administration cited DOMA as the reason why major benefits like health care couldn’t be offered.
“He’s evolving in the right direction, and I’m encouraging that,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin’s statement on Obama’s marriage evolution is somewhat different than that of her fellow U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, who said in a separate interview with the Blade that she wants to see Obama complete his evolution because “marriage equality is morally right.”
Baldwin came to the Victory Fund brunch after announcing that she topped $2 million in fundraising for the first quarter of 2012, giving her a total of $2.7 million in cash on hand.
Asked about the extent to which she attributed those numbers to her support from the LGBT community, Baldwin said they’re from a “tremendous outpouring of grassroots support” and 91 percent of her donors contributed $100 or less to her campaign.
“This is a grassroots campaign,” Baldwin said. “There’s tremendous excitement on many, many different levels. I’m going to be a fighter for the working people and middle class in the state of Wisconsin; I’m not afraid to stand up to big and powerful interests, and I’m going to be a leader on equality issues.”
Republican candidates in the race haven’t fared as well in fundraising. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson reportedly raised about $660,000 while former Rep. Mark Neumann raised $650,000.
Baldwin said she hasn’t encountered any attacks related to her sexual orientation thus far in her Senate bid and said she expects the race for the Senate to focus on economic issues.
“I think almost everybody agrees that voters are going to be thinking about the economy and jobs and growth,” Baldwin said. “That’s what I expect everyone to stick to. So, that’s what I’m expecting at this point.”
One piece of pro-LGBT legislation that Baldwin sponsors in the House, the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act, recently saw a big boost in the Senate when 20 new co-sponsors signed on in support. All the new co-sponsors for the legislation — which would extend health and pension benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees — were Democrats.
Asked whether the legislation could see movement during the 112th Congress, Baldwin said the addition of 20 co-sponsors to the Senate version of the bill represents progress and she hopes “it’ll continue to gain ground and traction.”
“One of things that we’re talking about at this particular celebration earlier today is the difference that our allies can make one conversation at a time, persuading others to get on board to become informed to advance equality,” Baldwin said. “We’ve got to keep on doing that in both chambers of the Congress.”
During her speech at the Victory Fund brunch, Baldwin pressed the need for passage of ENDA as well as DOMA repeal. She touted being the author of legislation that would institute the “Buffett rule” and make the top 1 percent of income earners pay the same tax rate as other Americans.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
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
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.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition
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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