News
Despite shutdown, activists continue to engage on ENDA
Advocates say they’re meeting with lawmakers on LGBT bill during budget crisis
Advocates say work on ENDA continues despite the government shutdown. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Despite the ongoing stalemate in Congress in the second week of a government shutdown, advocates say they’re undaunted in their efforts to pass pro-LGBT legislation.
LGBT rights supporters say they remain engaged on a high-priority bill, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, and assert plans for a vote in the Senate this fall remain unchanged.
Christian Berle, legislative director for Freedom to Work, said he doesn’t expect the shutdown to have any impact on the timing of an ENDA vote.
“We’ve always believed the most likely window for a Senate vote on ENDA was between the last week of October and Thanksgiving, and we think we’re still on track for that timing,” Berle said.
Even as Congress focuses on finding an agreement to restore funds to keep the government in operation and raise the nation’s debt limit, advocates say they met last week with lawmakers to build support for ENDA.
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said the shutdown “will not shut us up” on issues like ENDA as well as immigration reform.
“It’s always the right time for rights and protections: that’s why we were on the Hill last week pushing for ENDA with the members and their staff who remain at their desks during the shutdown,” Carey said. “Just because some members of Congress don’t want to do their jobs, doesn’t mean that we should stop doing ours.”
Similarly, Berle said last week Freedom to Work “had a very productive discussion” with an undeclared Republican senator who was eager to learn about the bill.
“While senators are focused, on both sides of the aisle, on resolving the government shutdown, they can walk and chew gum at the same time,” Berle said. “We have been actively engaging with our allies on the Hill, while continuing to lobby the swing votes.”
Berle declined to name the undeclared senator with whom he spoke, but said the lawmaker is “actively considering” support for the bill.
Although LGBT advocates are saying the trajectory for ENDA is unchanged, lawmakers close to ENDA are silent during the government shutdown.
Emails to the offices of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.); Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore), ENDA’s chief sponsor; and Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee Chair Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) were returned with automatic replies that the offices were closed.
A Senate senior Democratic aide, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said he hasn’t heard about ENDA discussions and “everything’s on hold” besides budget and debt negotiations. Still, he didn’t dispute that advocates are engaged on the legislation.
“That’s probably credible, but they also have to put on airs, or put up a face like they’re still doing the work on it,” the aide said. “But, honestly, we’re not going to get to anything until the week of Halloween. We won’t get to anything other than debt ceiling and government funding until Halloween week, so everything is on hold until we address those two things.”
Americans for Workplace Opportunity, the $2 million campaign whose steering committee consists of 11 groups seeking to pass ENDA, didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on the status of its ENDA lobbying during the government shutdown. The campaign was scheduled to have a citizens lobby day on Capitol Hill to push for ENDA passage on Oct. 3.
As gridlock continues, it’s reasonable to question whether legislation that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT workers could reach the president’s desk during the current Congress.
Berle insisted the situation is different for ENDA when asked if the current impasse reflects poorly on the chances for passage of the LGBT bill.
“ENDA is not a partisan issue, unlike the budget and government funding, senators on both sides of the aisle are in ongoing discussion about the need for employment protections,” Berle said. “We are confident that ENDA will have the 60 votes necessary for cloture. We’re ready to pass these fundamental workplace protections.”
Berle added that there is time to push for ENDA in the House, where passage will be more difficult.
“Fortunately there are still 15 months in the current Congress to pass ENDA,” Berle said. “Freedom to Work is actively engaging not only with Senate offices, but are picking up Republican supporters in the House to help press the case for consideration and building a majority in the House of Representatives to make federal workplace protections for LGBT workers a reality.”
A shutdown for marriage equality lawsuits?
The shutdown could also have an impact on another route LGBT advocates are using to pursue LGBT rights: the federal judiciary. The website for the U.S. courts, as reported by ThinkProgress, at the time of the shutdown said the court would remain open for about 10 business days, but on or around Oct. 15, the judiciary will reassess the situation.
Jon Davidson, legal director for Lambda Legal, said it’s unclear at this time whether the shutdown will lead to a nationwide closure or impact the 35 marriage equality cases he counts pending before the judiciary.
“Federal courts will be operating at least until mid-October and thereafter, it will vary by courthouse, as each federal district and circuit makes its own independent budget decisions,” Davidson said. “Furloughs of nonessential federal judicial staff is likely to lead to postponements of pending hearings in many parts of the country, but I have not heard of any of the immediately upcoming hearings in marriage cases being delayed.”
The case for which a closure of the federal judiciary could have the most immediate impact is DeBoer v. Snyder, the federal lawsuit seeking marriage equality in Michigan. Oral arguments are set for Oct. 16, just about the time the federal judiciary will make a reassessment.
Rod Hansen, a spokesperson for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan, said he doesn’t expect oral arguments in the case will be affected by the shutdown.
“There is no way of being sure, but I doubt very much that it will be postponed,” Hansen said.
But Davidson said the shutdown is already having an effect on other parts of the federal court system that are important to LGBT people.
“Immigration courts have postponed hearings in matters not involving someone in detention, meaning delays for many individuals seeking asylum or binational married couples seeking green cards for the foreign spouse,” Davidson said. “Discrimination proceedings before the EEOC are being postponed, which is having a negative impact on several cases we are currently handling on behalf of LGBT and HIV-positive workers.”
House-passed NIH bill would fund AIDS research
As Congress hashes out the way forward, the House continues to pass bills to fund the government through a piecemeal approach without approving legislation that would restore operations to the government as a whole.
Among these bills is a measure to continue funds for the National Institutes for Health. As the Blade reported last week, the lack of funds for this agency has implications for HIV/AIDS because the shutdown put a freeze on new medical research related to the disease.
The White House has threatened to veto the legislation, saying a piecemeal approach to fund the government isn’t appropriate, and Reid indicated a lack of interest in bringing up the bill in the Senate, saying, “What right do they have to pick and choose what parts of government can be funded?”
Laura Durso, director of LGBT research at the Center for American Progress, rejected the idea of funding the government through a piecemeal approach and said her organization doesn’t support the bill.
“While this piecemeal approach to funding the government is not a sensible strategy, restoring funding to the National Institutes of Health will mean that coordination and execution of life-saving research will continue under agencies such as the Office of AIDS Research and the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Diseases,” Durso said.
Chris Collins, director of policy for amfAR, said the government shutdown magnifies a larger problem of inadequate government funds for AIDS research and is keeping American scientists away from an international HIV vaccine conference taking place this week in Barcelona, Spain.
“The government shutdown is frustrating AIDS research in multiple ways,” Collins said. “It has already kept scores of U.S. government scientists away from an HIV vaccine conference this week. This, on top of a continued loss of purchasing power of NIH funding over the years, will slow down new discoveries in the fight against AIDS and other diseases.”
Meanwhile, LGBT people are among the estimated hundreds of thousands of federal workers who remain on furlough during the shutdown.
Just like during the shutdown 17 years ago, these workers seem headed to receiving compensation for the time they’ve been unable to work. On Saturday, the House passed a measure to restore their pay, but only after the funding for the government as a whole is restored.
President Obama endorsed the idea of providing these workers with pay for the time they were furloughed, saying, “That’s how we’ve always done it.”
On Monday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel recalled most civilian Pentagon furloughed employees back to work on the basis of Obama signing the Pay Our Military Act to continue funding for the armed services.
Capt. Valerie Palacios, spokesperson for the LGBT employee affinity group at the Pentagon known as DOD Pride, said her fellow LGBT employees look forward to getting back to their jobs.
“DOD civilians, LGBT or otherwise, are proud to go back to work to support the military, but we, along with military personnel and the defense industrial base, remain severely hampered in our ability to do work critical to National Security by the lack of funding to support key programs,” Palacios said. “We all look forward to the day when we can get back to this critical work. Our nation’s safety depends on it.”
2026 Midterm Elections
Meet the LGBTQ candidates running for U.S. House, Senate
Pappas would become first out gay man elected to upper chamber
The midterm elections are often seen as a report card for the party in power, giving voters an opportunity to weigh in on the direction of the country after two years of unified control of the federal government. With Republicans controlling the White House, Congress and the Supreme Court, the 2026 elections could reshape the balance of power in Washington and determine what the next two years of federal policy will look like.
Among the candidates looking to shape that future are a large number of openly LGBTQ politicians running for federal office. All of the candidates listed below openly identify as members of the LGBTQ community and are running as Democrats, seeking seats in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate. (See below for a list of LGBTQ incumbents.)
The New Candidates
U.S. Senate:
Chris Pappas — NH
The United States House of Representatives:
Cait Conley — NY-17
Jeremy Moss — MI-11
JoAnna Mendoza — AZ-06
Marni von Wilpert — CA-48
Scott Wiener — CA-11
Chris Gallant — NY-1
JD Ford — IN-5
Janelle Sarauw — U.S. Virgin Islands
If all of these candidates running for federal office win their seats, this would make the federal government the queerest legislative term for Congress ever.
Chris Pappas would become the first openly gay male senator if he wins the race against Republican John E. Sununu. Pappas is currently leading early polls 50% to Sununu’s 42%, and is seen as a fairly centrist Democrat with a slew of accomplishments passed through the House since his election in 2018 that make him a desired candidate for the purple “Granite State.”
Cait Conley is fighting to take two-term incumbent Republican Mike Lawler’s seat for New York’s 17th district, covering parts of Westchester, Rockland, Putnam and Dutchess counties. Conley has a long history of working as a public servant through her extensive military service, which includes six overseas deployments with the Army and work with the National Security Council. Current polling shows she has an advantage over her opponent, 64% to his 36%, making this one a race to watch.
Jeremy Moss is running for election in Michigan, after quickly rising in the ranks within the Great Lake state. Moss, who was elected to his city’s city council, then to the state House, then to state Senate has had a lengthy connection with state politics for someone so young. He also served as the state’s first gay president pro tempore. He is running in the Detroit suburbs, including Oakland County. Nearly all polling puts Moss in the lead with some already giving him 99%.
JoAnna Mendoza is a veteran of the U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps running for a House seat for the Tucson and southeastern Arizona area. She has been outspoken about how the cost of everyday necessities under the current leadership of President Trump and Republicans in Congress has made people in her state less safe. She is currently locked in a tight race with her Republican counterpart, leading Juan Ciscomani 47% to 45%.
Marni von Wilpert is running to represent northern San Diego County. She has experience representing the area as a San Diego City Council member, former prosecutor, and Obama workers’ rights attorney. Von Wilpert holds a narrow lead over Republican Jim Desmond, 45% to 42%.
Scott Wiener is looking for a chance to take former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s seat in the San Francisco area. Weiner holds a narrow lead over the Pelosi-endorsed San Francisco supervisor Connie Chan. A New York Times poll has him leading 45% to Chang’s 40%.
Chris Gallant has a slew of federal accomplishments under his belt, from working as an FAA air traffic controller to serving in the U.S. Army and New York Army National Guard, including as a Black Hawk helicopter pilot, and is a volunteer firefighter on Long Island. Despite all of this dedication to public service, he’s running in a solidly red district and trailing his GOP opponent Nick LaLota, 81% to 28% in a recent prediction poll.
JD Ford is fighting to represent the northern Indianapolis suburbs and north-central Indiana against Republican incumbent Victoria Spartz. He was the first and only openly LGBTQ person elected to the Indiana Legislature, running his campaign on making living more affordable. Polling puts him slightly behind Spartz 48% to 46%.
Janelle Sarauw is trying to win the U.S. Virgin Island’s seat in the U.S. Congress. While there is no voting power, the seat can participate in debates. Sarauw is likely to win the seat after sweeping the primary earlier this year, and will face off against Shelley Moorhead, an independent, in November.
The Incumbents
Becca Balint — VT-At Large
Emily Randall — WA-06
Eric Sorensen — IL-17
Mark Pocan — WI-02
Mark Takano — CA-39
Ritchie Torres — NY-15
Robert Garcia — CA-42
Sarah McBride — DE
Sharice Davids — KS-03
Becca Balint is running for reelection to represent all of Vermont, making her one of the few candidates on this list who represents an entire state rather than a congressional district. Balint, a former teacher and Vermont state senator, has made housing affordability, mental health, and protecting democracy central parts of her platform. Recent polling gives Balint a substantial lead over Republican challenger Gerald Malloy, 60% to Gerald’s 30%.
Emily Randall is running for reelection in Washington’s 6th Congressional District, which includes the Olympic Peninsula and parts of the Kitsap Peninsula across Puget Sound from Seattle. Randall, who previously served in the Washington state Senate, has made expanding access to affordable health care a major part of her platform. She appears to be in a relatively strong position for reelection where she won 60% of the vote in Washington’s August top-two primary, while her Republican opponent Teresa Fox received about 25%.
Eric Sorensen is running for another term representing western Illinois. The former television meteorologist has centered his congressional work on lowering costs for working families. There is no public polling in the race, but a current nonpartisan forecast gives Sorensen 59% of the vote compared to Republican Dillan Vancil, with 40%.
Mark Pocan is seeking to continue representing Madison and south-central Wisconsin. Pocan, who has served in Congress since 2013, has focused on issues including health care affordability, workers’ rights and LGBTQ+ equality. There is no public polling of the race, but the current field has no Republican candidate, and a nonpartisan forecast gives Pocan more than a 99% modeled chance of winning.
Mark Takano is running for reelection in California’s 39th congressional district, which includes Riverside and portions of the Inland Empire east of Los Angeles. Takano has made health care and veterans’ issues major parts of his congressional work. There is no public polling of the race, but in his primary he came in first with 61% of the vote compared to Republican Steve Manos’s 39%.
Ritchie Torres is running for another term representing New York’s 15th congressional district in the Bronx. Torres, who previously served on the New York City Council, has made housing, economic development, education, and public safety major parts of his platform. There is no current public polling of the race, but multiple prediction sites have it squarely his to win.
Robert Garcia is seeking another term representing California’s 42nd congressional district, which includes Long Beach and southeastern Los Angeles County. Garcia, the former mayor of Long Beach, has focused on issues including infrastructure, transportation, education, and LGBTQ+ rights while in Congress. There is no public polling of the race, but forecasting has Garcia winning the seat over Republican Brian Burley 99% to 1%.
Sarah McBride, is running for reelection to represent Delaware’s sole congressional district, meaning she represents the entire state. McBride, who made history as the first openly transgender member of Congress, has centered her campaign on lowering health care costs, protecting reproductive health care, and strengthening workers’ rights. There is no public polling of the general election, but a current nonpartisan forecast gives McBride a 99.1% modeled chance of winning against Republican Joseph Arminio.
Sharice Davids is seeking another term representing Kansas’ 3rd Congressional District, which covers the Kansas side of the Kansas City metropolitan area. Davids, a former White House fellow and attorney, has made agriculture, lowering costs, and health care central parts of her platform. There is no current public polling of the race, but prediction polling shows she has a 94% chance of winning her race.
Serbia
Ana Brnabić becomes world’s first openly lesbian head of state
Former Serbian prime minister succeeded President Aleksandar Vučić on Monday
Ana Brnabić on Monday became the world’s first openly lesbian head of state after Serbian President Aleksandar Vučić resigned.
Brnabić was the country’s prime minister from 2017-2024. She was most recently the president of the Serbian National Assembly.
Vučić resigned ahead of parliamentary elections that will take place on Oct. 25. Media reports indicate Vučić could become Serbia’s next prime minister if his Serbian Progressive Party can successfully form a new government. Brnabić until then will be the country’s acting president.
Former Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar, who became his country’s first openly gay head of government in 2017, praised Brnabić.
“Congratulations to Ana Brnabić on becoming the world’s first lesbian head of state (president of Serbia),” said Varadkar on social media. “She visited while in her previous office and is a friend of Ireland.”
Congratulations to Ana Brnabic on becoming the world's first lesbian head of state (President of Serbia). She visited while in her previous office and is a friend of Ireland. 12 countries have now had gay or lesbian head of state/government. So far, all in Europe – the… https://t.co/TBpmeeEs9I
— Leo Varadkar (@LeoVaradkar) September 29, 2026
Former Icelandic Prime Minister Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir in 2009 became the world’s first openly lesbian head of government. Former San Marino Captain Regent Paolo Rondelli in 2022 became the world’s first openly gay head of state.
Andorran Prime Minister Xavier Espot Zamora, Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, and Latvian President Edgars Rinkēvičs are openly gay. Former Luxembourgish Prime Minister Xavier Bettel, former French Prime Minister Gabriel Attal, and former Belgian Prime Minister Elio Di Rupo are also gay.
Varadkar was Ireland’s prime minister from 2017-2020 and again from 2022-2024.
Brazil
529 openly LGBTQ candidates running in Brazilian election
Lula running against Jair Bolsonaro’s son in presidential contest
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers will be on assignment in Brazil through Oct. 6.
SÃO PAULO — 529 openly LGBTQ candidates are running for in the Brazilian election that will take place on Sunday.
VoteLGBT, an organization that seeks to increase LGBTQ representation in Brazilian politics, notes 109 of these candidates are either transgender or travesti. They include Congresswomen Erika Hilton and Duda Salabert, who made history in 2022 as the first travesti and first trans women respectively to win seats in the Brazilian Congress.
Hilton, a member of the leftist Socialism and Liberty Party, known by the acronym PSOL, is a former sex worker who was a member of the São Paulo Municipal Council before her election to Congress. She currently chairs the Chamber of Deputies’ Women’s Rights Commission.
The Chamber of Deputies is Congress’s lower house.
Salabert, who is also a member of PSOL, represents Minas Gerais state in the Chamber of Deputies. Both she and Hilton in 2025 sharply criticized the Trump-Vance administration after it listed their gender as “male” on American visas that would have allowed them to travel to the U.S.
Benny Briolly is a travesti woman and member of President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s Workers’ Party who is running to represent Rio de Janeiro state in the Chamber of Deputies. Thabatta Pimenta is a trans woman of mixed ethnicity who is running to represent Rio Grande do Norte state in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Green Party.
Nicolas is a trans masculine bisexual man from Pará state who is part of the Banca Transformer, a “collective candidature” for the Chamber of Deputies that VoteLGBT notes is “100 percent trans and lead by a trans masculine person.” Mãe Kaká Garcia is a gay travesti woman of African descent who is running to represent Mato Grosso state in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of PSOL.
“My bid for Congress stems from my life story and the need to bring voices that have historically been marginalized into the political arena,” Garcia told the Washington Blade.
“I am a Black travesti woman and a leader within the African-derived religious community, with a background in work, entrepreneurship, and community activism in Mato Grosso,” she added. “I am intimately familiar with the challenges faced by the LGBTQIA+ community, the Black population, women, and terreiro communities.”
Garcia added she is running because she believes “these spaces must also be occupied by people who live these realities.”
“I want issues such as combating violence against trans people, racism, religious intolerance, protections for women, LGBTQIA+ rights, and social policies to be treated as permanent public policies,” she said.
Associaçao Nacional de Travestis e Transexuais (National Association of Travestis and Transsexuals) President Bruna Benavides in a statement to the Blade praised all of the trans and travesti candidates.
“For ANTRA, the strength of trans and travesti candidacies lies in what our representatives already demonstrate through their work in office — acting beyond the LGBTQIA+ agenda in areas such as education, health, labor, human rights, culture, the environment, public safety, and the fight against inequality,” she said. “The presence of trans people is already a reality, and democracy needs them in politics — not merely as representatives of an identity, but as agents capable of shaping initiatives that benefit society as a whole.”
“Politics will only be truly transformed when it incorporates the perspectives and experiences of those historically excluded from centers of power — people who have nonetheless envisioned a nation where everyone can be free and live with dignity and security,” she added.
The Blade also spoke with other openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual candidates.
Uédem Lima is a bisexual, Makuxi Indigenous man who is running to represent Roraima state in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the centrist Brazilian Democratic Movement.
“I am 23-years-old, a Makuxi Indigenous man, and bisexual,” he told the Blade. “I come from a reality where young people, Indigenous people, and LGBTQ+ individuals often still face difficulties in occupying spaces where decisions are made.”
“My candidacy is also a way to show that these spaces can — and must — be occupied by people who know these realities firsthand,” added Lima.
He told the Blade that education, health, climate justice, and Indigenous rights are among the top issues on which he will work in Congress if elected. Lima added his life in Roraima state, which borders Venezuela and Guyana in northern Brazil, and his identity will further shape his tenure.
“I know what it is like to grow up in Roraima, experience the shifts between the interior and the capital, and forge my path while carrying multiple identities,” he said. “I do not want to separate these parts of who I am. They are part of my story and also help explain why I chose to enter politics.”
Former Congressman Jean de Wyllys, who is the first openly gay man elected to the Brazilian Congress, resigned in 2019 and fled the country after he received death threats that he claimed came from supporters of then-President Jair Bolsonaro. De Wyllys at the time of his resignation represented Rio de Janeiro state and had just been elected for a third term.
De Wyllys has returned to Brazil and is running to represent São Paulo state in the Chamber of Deputies as a member of the Workers’ Party.
“My decision to return to present myself as a candidate is linked to the public responsibility with respect to this year’s elections, the most important for the future of Latin America in the last two decades,” he told the Blade. “Everyone knows that not just our region, but the whole world is a stage for a clash between two projects: one led by Donald Trump and his far-right (supporters) internationally that is neofascist, neocolonial, and neofeudalistic, and the other spearheaded by China that advocates for multipolarity, nations’ sovereignty, and global cooperation to overcome challenges, such as the climate crisis and possible pandemics.”
“As someone who enjoys national popularity and international connections, and having served two highly productive terms regarding human rights and cultural diversity, I could not ignore the electorate’s calls to participate in this global contest — and not merely as an intellectual and artist,” added de Wyllys.
Mônica Benício is a Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman who is running for the Brazilian Senate as a PSOL member.
Her widow, Rio de Janeiro Municipal Councilwoman Marielle Franco, and her driver, Anderson Gomes, were murdered on March 14, 2018. One of the two former police officers later convicted lived in the same condominium complex in the city’s exclusive Barra da Tijuca neighborhood in which Bolsonaro lived at the time. (Bolsonaro was not president when the murders took place, and strongly denied media reports that suggested one of the suspects visited his home before Franco and Gomes were killed.)
Franco was also friends with De Wyllys and a political ally.
“After Marielle’s assassination, the LGBTQIAPN+ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender/transsexual/travesti/, queer, intersex, asexual, pansexual, nonbinary) community was one of the networks that embraced me and gave me the strength to carry on,” Benício told the Blade on Tuesday. “My Senate candidacy stems from this very commitment: to transform that affection and collective strength into a voice, protection, and rights within Congress.”
Benício stressed the LGBTQ and intersex community “needs to occupy more decision-making spaces.”
“I want to reach the Senate so that our rights, families, and lives are represented where laws are made,” she said.
Lula is running for a second consecutive term.
He defeated Bolsonaro in the second round of the 2022 presidential election.
The Brazilian Supreme Court last year sentenced Bolsonaro — who repeatedly targeted LGBTQ Brazilians and other groups while in office — to more than 27 years in prison for his role in an attempted coup that saw thousands of his supporters storm the Congress, presidential palace, and the Supreme Court itself on Jan. 8, 2023. Bolsonaro is currently serving his sentence at his home in Brasília, the country’s capital, because of his poor health.
Lula main challenger in this year’s presidential election is Bolsonaro’s son, Sen. Flávio Bolsonaro.
A second round will take place on Oct. 25 if no candidate receives at least 50 percent of the vote.
Vote now! Best Of LGBTQ DC readers’ choice awards
Meet the LGBTQ candidates running for U.S. House, Senate
Ana Brnabić becomes world’s first openly lesbian head of state
529 openly LGBTQ candidates running in Brazilian election
