National
FAA streamlines medical requirements for trans pilots
New guidance eliminates additional psychological testing

The Federal Aviation Administration has eliminated what’s been deemed excessive psychological testing to streamline the process under which transgender pilots receive medical certification, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality.
On Monday, the transgender advocacy group announced the FAA had changed online guidance for medical examiners — called the Aviation Medical Examiner Guide — to update the requirements for pilots with Gender Identity Disorder — the technical diagnosis for individuals who identify as transgender.
Harper Jean Tobin, director of public policy for the National Center for Transgender Equality, said transgender pilots will no longer have to go through the degree of psychological testing they once had to endure to fly.
“They’re very risk adverse; they make people jump through a lot of hoops,” Tobin said. “They’re different from a lot of professions in that way. But what’s been different for a lot of trans pilots is the hoops that they’ve been asked to jump through have been even more burdensome than what most people have to go through. And in a lot of cases, they’ve had no real rational connection to anything really related to a person’s transition.”
According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, pilots had to pay out-of-pocket for cognitive and psychological tests, including personality examinations, ink blot and intelligence quotient tests. These tests, Tobin said, could add up to thousands of dollars for transgender pilots seeking the ability to fly.
For the last couple of years, Tobin said the National Center for Transgender Equality had medical professionals discuss the FAA policy and urge the agency to change it, which was later made in the guidance.
“It provides a lot more clarity,” Tobin said. “You still have to jump through hoops when you tell them you’re transitioning, but it’s more of the nature of provide your lab work that you had done, your hormone therapy — things are sort of more rationally connected to making sure that somebody is not having an adverse reaction to medication or something like that.”
According to guide, medical examiners must obtain from transgender pilots seeking certification a list of medications; copies of all records relating to a gender identity disorder diagnosis; psychiatric evaluations by a specialist in transgender issues that include an assessment of any substance abuse; and hospital reports if an individual has had surgery.
Tobin said determining how many transgender pilots the policy change would affect is difficult, although she acknowledged it’s “not a huge number of people.” She said her organization and others have heard about a dozen people who were negatively affected by the old policy.
“In terms of the barriers to employment to trans people across the country, it was a very small problem,” Tobin said. “What was different about it is it wasn’t the employers, it wasn’t airlines or other employers that were causing this problem, it was actually the government system that wasn’t working, and so we felt even though we felt this is something that doesn’t affect a lot of people, it was something we felt really needed to be changed so that everybody had a fair shot.”
FAA couldn’t be reached for comment on the policy change.
CORRECTION: An initial version of this article incorrectly referred to Harper Jean Tobin as Harper Jean Collins. The Blade regrets the error.
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.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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.”