National
Prop 8 attorneys file brief before Supreme Court
Lawyers argue measure labels LGBT families as ‘second-rate’
Ted Olson was among attorneys who signed AFER’s brief against Prop 8. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The legal team behind the challenge to California’s Proposition 8 filed its brief on Thursday before the Supreme Court asking it to declare the anti-gay measure unconstitutional.
The 54-page brief, signed by co-counsels Ted Olson and David Boies on behalf of the American Foundation for Equal Rights, asserts that Prop 8 — a ballot initiative passed by California voters in 2008 — should be struck down because prohibiting same-sex couples from marrying in California violates due process and equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.
“It denies gay men and lesbians their identity and their dignity; it labels their families as second-rate,” the brief concludes. “That outcome cannot be squared with the principle of equality and the unalienable right to liberty and the pursuit of happiness that is the bedrock promise of America from the Declaration of Independence to the Fourteenth Amendment, and the dream of all Americans.”
The brief is divided into three sections. The first maintains proponents of Prop 8, such as ProtectMarriage.com, don’t have standing to defend the measure before the Supreme Court because they won’t be harmed if gay couples marry in California. Attorneys also argue their desire to defend the law is insufficient to meet standing requirements under Article III of the U.S. Constitution.
A substantial part of the brief is devoted to arguing that Prop 8 is unconstitutional based on the merits. The second section of the brief maintains the measure violates due process because the right to marry is fundamental. This section also tears into the argument that proponents outlined in their brief before the Supreme Court the purpose of marriage is procreation is incorrect based on the trial record in the case.
“Indeed, many persons become parents through adoption or assisted reproduction and exercise their constitutional rights to marry and raise those children in a recognized family unit,” the brief states. “Yet Proponents’ assertions about marriage — and that is all that they are — would leave adoptive parents and infertile couples without any constitutional protection against a State that prohibits them from marrying.”
The third section of the brief argues that denying gay couples the right to marry violates their equal protection rights — not to mention the constitutional rights of the estimated 40,000 children raised in same-sex households.
This argument is divided into three sections: 1) discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation merits heightened scrutiny, or greater assumption such laws are unconstitutional ; 2) laws that prohibit gay men from marrying don’t meet the lesser standard of rational basis review and heightened scrutiny; and 3) Prop 8 is unconstitutional because it was motivated out of desire to make gay people unequal to straight people.
“The absence of any rational justification for depriving gay men and lesbians of their right to marry, and marking their relationships as inferior to those of heterosexual couples, leads inexorably to the conclusion that Proposition 8’s principal purpose was to advance the majority’s moral disapproval of gay relationships,” the brief states.
Notably, the brief is along the lines of the ruling from U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker against the anti-gay brief. It doesn’t delve into the narrower ruling made against Prop 8 by the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals that the measure is unconstitutional because it took away marriage rights from gay couples after they once enjoyed them in the state after the California Supreme Court ruled in favor of marriage equality in 2008.
But during a conference call with reporters on the same day the brief was filed, Olson assured the media that the argument that attorneys are “embracing” the Ninth Circuit ruling in their brief and it’s important to all arguments against Prop 8 are being made from the top down.
The brief from AFER wasn’t the only one filed on Thursday in the Prop 8 case. The Supreme Court allowed San Francisco City Attorney Dennis Herrera and Chief Deputy City Attorney Therese Stewart to participate in the case. They articulated arguments against Prop 8 in a 62-page document.
That brief makes arguments along the lines made by AFER that Prop 8 violated due process and equal protection, but the brief also makes the case that Prop 8 can be invalidated even as the national debate continues on same-sex marriage.
“Petitioners’ argument derogates the most im- portant role this Court serves in our democracy: to protect the constitutional rights of minorities from encroachment by an unsympathetic majority,” the brief states. “The responsibility to protect individual rights does not transfer to the political process when the dispute happens to be “controversial.”
The next step in the process for the Prop 8 case is for opponents of the measure to file their friends-of-the-court brief before the Feb. 28 — one week from the day these briefs were filed. Opponents of Prop 8 are hoping the Obama administration will be among those filing such a brief. Oral arguments in the Prop 8 case are set for March 26.
National
LGBTQ Catholic groups slam Trump over pope criticism
‘Moral truth and compassion always overcome ignorant hate’
LGBTQ Catholic groups have sharply criticized President Donald Trump over his criticisms of Pope Leo XIV.
Leo on April 13 told reporters while traveling to Algeria that he had “no fear of the Trump administration” after the president described him as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in response to his opposition to the Iran war. (Trump on the same day posted to Truth Social an image that appeared to show him as Jesus Christ. He removed it on April 13 amid backlash from religious leaders.)
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, during a Fox News Channel interview on the same day said “in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” Vance on April 14 once again discussed Leo during an appearance at a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Ga., saying he should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Miguel Díaz; and Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are among those who have criticized Trump over his comments. The president, for his part, has said he will not apologize to Leo.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” said Leo on Thursday at a cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon.
Francis DeBernardo is the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization. He told the Washington Blade on Thursday that Trump’s comments about Leo “are one more example of the ridiculous hubris of this leader (Trump) whose entire record shows that he is nothing more than a middle-school bully.”
“LGBTQ+ adults were often bullied as children, and they have learned the lesson that bullies act when they feel frightened or threatened,” said DeBernardo. “But secular power does not threaten the Vicar of Christ, and Pope Leo’s response illustrates this truth perfectly.”
DeBernardo added Trump “is obviously frightened that Pope Leo, an American, has more power and influence than the president on the world stage.”
“Like most Trumpian bullying, this strategy will backfire,” DeBernardo told the Blade. “Moral truth and compassion always overcome ignorant hate. Trump’s actions are not an example of his power, but of his impotence.”
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, an LGBTQ Catholic organization, echoed DeBernardo.
“He [Trump] has demonstrated throughout both presidencies that he doesn’t understand the basic concepts of any faith system that is founded on the dignity of human beings, the importance of common good,” Duddy-Burke told the Blade on Thursday during a telephone interview. “It’s just appalling.”
Duddy-Burke praised Leo and the American cardinals who have publicly criticized Trump.
“The pope’s popularity — given how much more respect Pope Leo has than the man sitting in the White House — is a blow to his ego,” Duddy-Burke told the Blade. “That seems to be a sore sport for him.”
“It’s such an imperialistic world view,” she added.
Leo ‘is the real peacemaker’
The College of Cardinals last May elected Leo to succeed Pope Francis after his death.
Leo, who was born in Chicago, is the first American pope. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015-2023.
Francis made him a cardinal in 2023.
Juan Carlos Cruz — a gay Chilean man and clergy sex abuse survivor who Francis appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — has traveled to Ukraine several times with Dominican Sister Lucía Caram since Russia launched its war against the country in 2022. Cruz on Thursday responded to Trump’s criticism of Leo in a text message he sent to the Blade from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
“I am in Ukraine under many attacks,” said Cruz. “Trump is an asshole and has zero right to criticize the Pope who is the real peacemaker.”
Tennessee
Charlie Kirk Act advances in Tenn.
Bill would limit protests, protects speakers opposing ‘transgender’ identities
The Tennessee legislature has passed Senate Bill 1741 / House Bill 1476, dubbed the “Charlie Kirk Act,” which, if signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, would reshape how public colleges and universities regulate speech on campus.
The measure targets all public higher education institutions and requires them to adopt a “free expression” policy modeled on the University of Chicago’s framework. That framework emphasizes that universities should not shield students from controversial or offensive ideas and requires state schools to formally embrace institutional neutrality — meaning they do not publicly take a stance on political or social issues.
Under the legislation, publicly funded schools cannot disinvite or cancel invited speakers based on their viewpoints or in response to protests from students or faculty. Student organizations, however — like Turning Point USA, an American nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses, founded by Charlie Kirk, and often lack widely represented liberal counterparts — would retain broad authority to bring speakers to campus regardless of controversy.
The law includes broad protections for individuals and organizations expressing religious or ideological beliefs, including opposition to abortion, homosexuality, or transgender identity, regardless of whether those views are rooted in religious or secular beliefs. It further prohibits public institutions from retaliating against faculty for protected speech or scholarly work.
The bill, which has been hailed by supporters as an effort to “preserve campus free speech,” ironically also limits protest activity. Shouting down speakers, blocking sightlines, staging disruptive walkouts, or physically preventing entry to events are now considered “substantial interference” under the legislation, making those who engage in such actions subject to discipline.
Some of those disciplinary consequences include probation, suspension, and even expulsion for students, while faculty who protest in ways deemed to violate the policy could face unpaid suspensions and termination after repeated violations.
Supporters of the bill argue it strengthens free expression on campus. State Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), the bill’s sponsor, said it reinforces a commitment to “civil and robust” debate at public universities.
“The Charlie Kirk Act creates critical safeguards for students and faculty and renews the idea that our higher education institutions should be centers of intellectual debate,” Bulso told Fox 17. “This legislation honors the legacy of Charlie Kirk by promoting thoughtful engagement and defending religious freedom.”
Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, have raised concerns that the legislation effectively elevates certain ideological viewpoints — particularly those tied to religious objections to LGBTQ identities — while exposing students and faculty to punishment for protest or dissent.
“It’s ironic that this body is talking about free speech when we had professors in Tennessee schools expelled and suspended when they did not mourn the death of Charlie Kirk — when they said that his statements were problematic and that the way he died did not redeem the way he lived,” state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) told WKRN.
Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA, for whom the bill is named, was assassinated in September 2025 at a public event at Utah Valley University. His legacy and rhetoric remain deeply polarizing, particularly among LGBTQ advocates, who have cited his history of anti-LGBTQ statements in opposing his campus appearances.
The bill now heads to Lee’s desk for his signature.
National
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
Capitol Police arrested five protesters
A group of protesters interrupted Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought during his testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
Vought was at the Cannon House Office Building to give testimony to the House Budget Committee.
Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) began the hearing by touting what he described as economic accomplishments of the Trump-Vance administration’s economic accomplishments. Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) disputed those claims in his opening statement.
Boyle went on to admonish Vought for not attending a committee hearing in the previous year.
Vought, the “Project 2025” architect, was invited to speak after Arrington and Boyle made their statements.
Shortly after Vought began reading his statement, Housing Works CEO Charles King stood up in the gallery and began shouting, “PEPFAR saves lives: spend the money!”
The U.S. Capitol Police moved quickly to escort King from the room. Other activists began chanting with King as they unfolded signs bearing a picture of Vought’s face and statements such as, “Vought’s cuts kill people with AIDS,” and “Protect PEPFAR from Vought.”
The group of HIV/AIDS activists included independent activists, former U.S. Agency for International Development and PEPFAR staff, members of Health GAP, Housing Works, and the Treatment Action Group. Six activists were escorted from the hearing and the U.S. Capitol Police detained five of them.
The HIV/AIDS treatment activists protested at the hearing in response to the dismantling of global health programs, including PEPFAR, a federally-funded program credited with saving millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Russell Vought is directly responsible for illegally withholding Congressionally appropriated funds for PEPFAR and related global health initiative,” King said in a statement provided to the Washington Blade. “These funding disruptions have already contributed to preventable deaths and threaten to reverse decades of progress in the fight against HIV worldwide. Enough is enough. Congress must ensure Vought stops this deadly sabotage.”
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