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Cheneys engage in family feud over marriage

Mary Cheney pushes back against Liz Cheney’s opposition to same-sex nuptials

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Liz Cheney, Republican Party, Wyoming, gay news, Washington Blade

Liz Cheney (Photo by Milonica; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)

The Cheney family is engaging in public spat over comments U.S. Senate candidate Liz Cheney made in opposition to gay nuptials despite her lesbian sister Mary Cheney’s same-sex marriage.

Liz Cheney, who’s challenging incumbent Sen. Mike Enzi (R-Wyo.) for the Republican nomination in next year’s primary in Wyoming, distanced herself from her sister during an appearance on Fox News Sunday, saying ā€œI believe in the traditional definition of marriage.”

ā€œI love Mary very much, I love her family very much,ā€ Liz Cheney said. ā€œThis is just an issue on which we disagree.ā€

Liz Cheney’s opposition to same-sex marriage stands out in her family.

Her father, former Vice President Dick Cheney, is a prominent Republican supporter for same-sex marriage. Liz Cheney’s sister, Mary Cheney, married her partner, Heather Poe, in D.C. last year.

Poe was the first respond to Liz Cheney’s comments on Facebook, saying she was “very disappointed” to hear her sister-in-law’s remarks.

“To have her now say she doesn’t support our right to marry is offensive to say the least,” Poe continued. “I can’t help but wonder how Liz would feel if as she moved from state to state, she discovered that her family was protected in one but not the other. I always thought freedom meant freedom for EVERYONE.”

Poe’s remarks recalls Dick Cheney comments in support of same-sex marriage when he said during a National Press Club event, “I think freedom means freedom for everyone.”

Mary Cheney followed-up by sharing her spouse’s comments on Facebook and expressing her own displeasure with her sister’s remarks.

“Couldn’t have said it better myself,” Mary Cheney said. “Liz – this isn’t just an issue on which we disagree – you’re just wrong – and on the wrong side of history.”

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The White House

Biden honors Transgender Day of Visibility

The observance is Sunday, March 31

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President Joe Biden announcing plans to run for re-election in 2024 (Screen shot/YouTube)

President Joe Biden on Friday honored Sunday’s Transgender Day of Visibility observance with a statement highlighting his administration’s work advancing the rights of trans Americans and fighting back against harmful anti-LGBTQ state laws.

“On Transgender Day of Visibility, we honor the extraordinary courage and contributions of transgender Americans and reaffirm our nation’s commitment to forming a more perfect union ā€” where all people are created equal and treated equally throughout their lives,” Biden wrote.

“I am proud to have appointed transgender leaders to my administration and to have ended the ban on transgender Americans serving openly in our military,” the president said, noting also his issuance of “historic executive orders that strengthen civil rights protections in housing, employment, health care, education, the justice system and more” and his signing, in 2022, of the Respect for Marriage Act ā€” which ensures “that every American can marry the person they love.”

Biden then addressed how “extremists are proposing hundreds of hateful laws that target and terrify transgender kids and their families ā€” silencing teachers; banning books; and even threatening parents, doctors and nurses with prison for helping parents get care for their children.”

“These bills attack our most basic American values: The freedom to be yourself, the freedom to make your own health care decisions and even the right to raise your own child,” he wrote. “It is no surprise that the bullying and discrimination that transgender Americans face is worsening our nation’s mental health crisis, leading half of transgender youth to consider suicide in the past year.”

“At the same time, an epidemic of violence against transgender women and girls, especially women and girls of color, continues to take too many lives,” Biden said. “Let me be clear: All of these attacks are un-American and must end. No one should have to be brave just to be themselves.”  

The president then laid out how the Biden-Harris administration is pushing back.

“The Department of Justice has taken action to push back against extreme and un-American state laws targeting transgender youth and their families and the Department of Justice is partnering with law enforcement and community groups to combat hate and violence,” he said.

“My administration is also providing dedicated emergency mental health support through our nationwide suicide and crisis lifeline ā€” any LGBTQI+ young person in need can call ‘988’ and press ‘3’ to speak with a counselor trained to support them.”

Additionally, Biden said, “We are making public services more accessible for transgender Americans, including with more inclusive passports and easier access to Social Security benefits.”

Yet, “There is much more to do. I continue to call on the Congress to pass the Equality Act, to codify civil rights protections for all LGBTQI+ Americans.”

He concluded the statement by pledging that “Today, we send a message to all transgender Americans: You are loved.Ā You are heard.Ā You are understood.Ā You belong.Ā You are America, and my entire administration and I have your back.” Ā 

“I call upon all Americans to join us in lifting up the lives and voices of transgender people throughout our nation and to work toward eliminating violence and discrimination based on gender identity.”

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South America

Argentine president announces state institutions can no longer use inclusive language

Activists condemn Javier Milei’s anti-LGBTQ policies

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Casa Rosada in Buenos Aires, Argentina (Photo by meunierd/Bigstock)

In a move that has generated concern and criticism throughout the country, Argentine President Javier Milei has announced government institutions can no longer use inclusive language and gender-specific references in their public policies.

This decision comes on top of other controversial measures, such as the closure of the Women, Gender and Diversity Ministry, and an announcement to shutter the country’s National Institute against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism.

Former Diversity Undersecretary Alba Rueda, a transgender woman who was the country’s special envoy for LGBTQ issues under former President Alberto FernĆ”ndez’s government, and gay Congressman Esteban PaulĆ³n, in exclusive interviews with the Washington Blade discussed the impact of Milei’s announcement and the impact it will have on Argentine society in terms of human rights and protections for queer people.

“The State had been using the gender perspective and inclusive language to make visible the presence of women in key roles and to recognize nonbinary identities,” Rueda said. “This measure not only erases those advances, but also excludes people who are already recognized by the State in their nonbinary gender identities.” 

Rueda noted Congress more than a decade ago “passed the gender identity law, which states in its first article that the State will respect the gender identity of all persons. After changes were made in the structure of the State to be able to generate identity documents, a series of court rulings that recognize nonbinary people in their nonbinary identity arose in 2016, and this (and) that remained unresolved during the Macrista government without recognizing the identity of nonbinary people.” 

She pointed out FernĆ”ndez’s government in 2021 issued Decree 746, which recognized “people with nonbinary identities, gender fluid and those who avoid naming their gender before the State.” 

“The State already recognizes this citizenship and here comes that the prohibition of inclusive language excludes in the way of naming people who are already recognized by the State and that effectively the recognition of their gender identity is the condition of not being binary,” said Rueda. “So, the decree is in force, the law is in force, there are nonbinary people with their documents, but who today are not being named in all state documents.” 

PaulĆ³n said the prohibition of inclusive language is a gesture of violence towards LGBTQ communities. 

“Inclusive language has given entity and identity to an important part of the Argentine population,” he said. “This measure represents an act of harassment and violence towards those who identify with inclusive language, including the queer and LGBTQ+ collective.”

“Language is a social and cultural construction, and in Argentina today inclusive language represents and has given entity and identity to an important segment of the population and to a series of social collectives,” added PaulĆ³n. “Therefore, something that is not created by decree can hardly be eliminated by decree.” 

The congressman told the Blade that Milei’s government announcement was “something that was clearly going to happen.” 

“I don’t see the government campaigning in inclusive language or celebrating diversity,” said PaulĆ³n. 

Milei’s decision has generated intense debate in Argentina, with critics arguing these measures represent a step backwards in the protection of human rights and an attack on diversity and inclusion. Milei’s supporters, on the other hand, defend these measures as part of an effort to promote conservative policies and reinforce national identity. 

“It is very serious because it limits the exercise of citizenship and affects the nonbinary population, women and the trans population that is not recognized within the gender binarism,” said Rueda. 

She noted Milei during his presidential campaign raised these issues, and has decided to implement policies that harm women and LGBTQ people.

“This is the gravity that is lived today in Argentina, that the Argentine head of state puts in confrontation and reduction of rights to women and LGBTIQ+ people,” Rueda added.

This ban on inclusive language and gender-specific policies has been announced against the context of increased political and social polarization in Argentina. With inflation at alarming levels and an economy in crisis, Milei’s government has sought to consolidate its base by adopting controversial measures that have generated division and unrest in Argentine society.Ā 

“That is the institutional and democratic gravity today in Argentina, that the head of state attacks and creates internal enemies and that position is accompanied by the media, amplifying a negative message about our communities,” Rueda said. “Of course that translates into social networks, but it also translates into the attacks that we LGBTIQ+ people experience in the public sphere.”

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District of Columbia

News that Caps, Wizards will stay in D.C. comes amid Pride Night games

LGBTQ sports group ā€˜excitedā€™ hockey, basketball teams will remain in District

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The Caps are staying in D.C. Here a Washington Capitals player uses Pride tape during warmups at Hockey is for Everyone night in D.C. (Screen capture via Capitals YouTube)

The headline grabbing news this week that Washington Capitals and Wizards owner Ted Leonsis reached an agreement with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and will keep his hockey and basketball teams in D.C. rather than move them to Virginia came one week after the Capitals hosted its annual LGBTQ Pride Night Out game at the Capital One Arena.

And the announcement of the decision to keep the two teams in D.C. also came two days before the Wizards were scheduled to host their annual Pride Night Out game at the arena on Friday, March 29.

ā€œWeā€™re very excited that we can keep these teams in D.C.,ā€ said Miguel Ayala, president of Team D.C., the local LGBTQ sports organization that helps the cityā€™s professional sports teams organize Pride Night Out events. ā€œAnd weā€™re very excited that we can partner with the Caps and the Wizards to do events there,ā€ Ayala said in referring to the Capital One Arena located in the Chinatown section of downtown D.C.

Ayala said Team D.C., which provides support for more than 30 LGBTQ sports clubs ranging from softball and bowling to hockey and rock climbing, recognizes that Leonsisā€™s company, Monumental Sports & Entertainment, has been supportive of the LGBTQ community through the Pride Night Out events and fundraising events for local LGBTQ organizations.

The Capitalsā€™s website includes a detailed section on LGBTQ topics, including a statement that Leonsis created a Monumental Sports & Entertainment Foundation that has donated more than $200,000 to LGBTQ organizations. Among the recipients, the website says, are the local LGBTQ youth support group SMYAL, the Human Rights Campaign Foundationā€™s Youth Well Being Project that provides support for LGBTQ youth, and Team D.C.

ā€œIn addition to in-season Pride Nights, the Capitals celebrate Pride month annually in June,ā€ the website says. ā€œIn partnership with the D.C. Capital Pride Alliance, Monumental Sports and Entertainment paints the town rainbow and participates in the D.C. Pride parade each summer,ā€ it says.

The announcement of the decision by Leonsis to keep its two teams in D.C. came three months after he and Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin announced plans for a $2.2 billion project to build a sports and entertainment complex in the Potomac Yard section of Alexandria, Va. that would include an arena where the Capitals and Wizards would hold their games. 

Although the project received bipartisan support by most Virginia elected officials and was approved by the Virginia House of Delegates, the state Senate adjourned without approving the project after a Democratic state senator blocked the measure in her committee on grounds that taxpayers would be footing the bill for the project, a claim that Youngkin strongly disputes.

The agreement reached between Bowser and Leonsis includes $515 million in funds from the city for the renovation of the Capital One Arena that Leonsis has said needs modernizing for the two teams to continue playing there. In exchange for this and other provisions, Leonsis agreed to sign a new lease to keep the two teams in D.C. for another 25 years.

The agreement must be approved by the D.C. Council, which was expected to vote overwhelmingly to pass legislation approving it

Leonsisā€™s decision to keep the two teams in D.C. also came close to six months after the National Hockey League announced it had reversed a policy it put in place earlier in 2023 to prohibit its players from placing tape on their hockey sticks supporting social causes, including rainbow-colored Pride tape in support of the LGBTQ community.

The reversal of the policy by the NHL came after a groundswell of opposition surfaced opposing the ban from many LGBTQ and LGBTQ supportive sports organizations as well as from some NHL hockey players. Although Washington Capitals officials didnā€™t say whether they would enforce the policy for their players or penalize players for violating the policy, a spokesperson for the Capitals released a statement to the Washington Blade expressing support for the LGBTQ community.

ā€œThe Capitals stand proudly with and support the LGBTQ+ community,ā€ spokesperson Sergey Kocharov said in the statement. ā€œWe strive to create and cultivate an inclusive atmosphere for all our players, staff, and fans and are committed to fostering an environment that welcomes all,ā€ the statement says.

ā€œAlthough all players are free to decide on their level of involvement and engagement on Pride Night, and their effort may vary from season to season, our commitment in this space wonā€™t waver,ā€ the statement continues. ā€œEveryone is treated with respect and dignity regardless of their sexual orientation or identity, and we will continue to advocate for full LGBTQ+ equality.ā€

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