National
Obama touts LGBT achievements at White House reception
POTUS pledges to be LGBT advocate as long as he’s president
President Obama addresses White House Pride event attendees (Blade file by Michael Key)
President Obama pledged at this year’s White House Pride reception that he’ll continue to be an advocate for the LGBT community for as long as he’s in the White House, calling on attendees to dream big and “as openly as you want.”
“And as long as I have the privilege of being your president, I promise you, you won’t just have a friend in the White House, you will have a fellow advocate — for an America where no matter what you look like or where you come from or who you love, you can dream big dreams and dream as openly as you want,” Obama said.
The reception comes near the conclusion of Obama’s first term — and he wasn’t shy about touting his pro-LGBT achievements over the past three-a-half years, including repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and dropping defense of the Defense of Marriage Act in court. Repealing the military’s gay ban got the most applause from the audience; the runner up was dropping defense of DOMA in court.
One other significant action by Obama was also included in his remarks: his recent endorsement of marriage equality.
“And Americans may be still evolving when it comes to marriage equality — but as I’ve indicated personally, Michelle and I have made up our minds on this issue,” Obama said.
Attendees fill East Room for White House Pride reception (Blade photo by Michael Key)
An estimated 500 people came to the event, which took place in the East Room of the White House. A military band welcomed guests. Attendees munched on hors d’oeuvres served on tables adorned with red and pink roses.
Those who came largely consisted of LGBT advocates from around the country and LGBT people who held important roles in the federal government. Among the attendees were openly gay members of the Obama administration, including Office of Personnel Management Director John Berry, chair of the Export-Import Bank Fred Hochberg and chair of the Council on Environmental Quality Nancy Sutley. Also on hand: Gavin Newsom, lieutenant governor of California; gay actor Matt Bomer; and gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts.
Obama noted that his administration has seen many achievements on LGBT rights as he encouraged attendees to continue pressing forward
“After decades of inaction and indifference, you have every reason and right to push, loudly and forcefully, for equality,” Obama said. “But three years ago, I also promised you this: I said that even if it took more time than we would like, we would see progress, we would see success, we would see real and lasting change. And together, that’s what we’re witnessing.”
Another success that Obama mentioned was the lifting of the HIV travel ban. The president acknowledged this action has enabled D.C. to host the International AIDS Conference in July — marking the first time the United States has hosted the conference since 1990.
While touting his accomplishments, Obama said “we’ve got more to do” and identified two LGBT issues that he said still need to be addressed further: passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and bullying in schools.
“Americans may feel more comfortable bringing their partners to the office barbecue, but we’re still waiting for a fully inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act,” Obama said. “Congress needs to pass that legislation, so that no American is ever fired simply for being gay or transgender.”
The reception marks the fourth time that Obama has hosted a Pride reception at the White House. In each of the three previous years of his administration, the president has held a reception to commemorate June as Pride month.
This year’s Pride reception marks the first time openly gay service members participated while in uniform. A handful wearing uniforms from the various military branches could be seen mingling in the crowd, although they declined to talk to reporters during the event.
Josh Seefried, co-director of OutServe, was among the active duty service members who participated and said afterward he was proud to attend.
“I was incredibly proud to be there not only with the people we worked side by side with to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ but for the first time with my military peers as well,” Seefried said. “It was surreal.The president’s speech showed leadership from the top and I’m proud to call him my commander-in-chief.”
Numerous attendees told the Washington Blade at the event they were thrilled to receive invitations and show their support for Obama as Election Day approaches.
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, said it’s important for the LGBT community to work to re-elect Obama after he took a political risk by coming out for marriage equality.
“I think it’s interesting that’s he taken such a major chance in support for this community, and I hope this community answers that challenge,” Segal said.
Mary Burns, executive director of the Indianapolis, Ind., based Indiana Youth Group, said she was “ecstatic” to attend the reception and doesn’t know anyone else who’s been invited to the White House.
“Just because we got invited, we’re celebrities in Indianapolis,” Burns said. “It’s very significant to us. We’re fighting a constitutional amendment [against marriage equality] in Indiana, and so the fact that we can come to the White House for a reception just says that the government isn’t all against us.”
Attendees at the event universally said they don’t believe presumptive Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would host a similar Pride event if he’s elected to the White House.
Michael Rogers, a gay D.C. activist and another attendee at the reception, said he doubts there would be any LGBT advances under a Romney administration.
“He’s so bound to the right-wing, especially in a first term that you just won’t see anything,” Rogers said. “You’ll see his social policy pushed off on some right-winger and [Romney will] care about destroying the economy. What they want to create is apartheid; they want to hold all the money for the rich, white people when more and more the country is becoming people of color and more diversity.”
Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), one of the members of Congress who was in attendance, expressed satisfaction with Obama’s inclusion of marriage equality in his speech — but was particularly happy Obama mentioned a trans-inclusive ENDA in his remarks.
“A few years ago, there was a major rift in the Democratic caucus, and in the gay community,” Nadler said. “When we put a bill on the floor for ENDA, it was not inclusive, and you wouldn’t do that today. Compare that a few years ago to today, when the president specifically mentioned an inclusive ENDA, and the president specifically comes out in favor of repealing DOMA and in favor of marriage equality. That’s tremendous change.”
Some LGBT advocates used the occasion of the White House Pride reception to press Obama to take administrative action against workplace discrimination against LGBT people.
Jacob Tobia, a gay 20-year-old student from Duke University, sought to deliver a letter to Obama calling on him to issue an executive order requiring federal contractors to have non-discrimination policies based on sexual orientation and gender identity. In April, the White House announced it wouldn’t issue such a directive at this time, but advocates have continued to press the administration.
Tobia, director of LGBTQ Policy for Duke student government, said he spoke briefly with the president following his remarks, but the message was taken by an aide.
“I don’t know if it’ll actually get to the president; I hope it will,” Tobia said. “But I shook his hand and got to say, ‘Mr. President, I wrote you a letter about the executive order, and I hope you’ll get a chance to read it.’ He said, ‘OK.'”
Tobia said he feels the executive order would help him personally because he resides in a state with no law protecting LGBT people against discrimination.
“It’s a very good possibility that I could be working in my home state and someone could give me my two weeks and say, ‘You’re fired,’ because I’m gay,” Tobia said. “With the job market the way it is, it’s really scary that I could be fired from my job just for being gay.”
The reception took place on the same day that Obama issued an executive order along the lines of the DREAM Act to protect young, undocumented immigrants pursuing college education or military service from deportation. According to the Associated Press, a few hundred young people rallied before the White House in support of the move before the reception started.
National
Blade reporters reflect on covering Pulse massacre 10 years ago
Orlando stepped up to comfort and support its LGBTQ community
Friday marks 10 years since a gunman killed 49 people inside the Pulse nightclub in Orlando, Fla.
The massacre, which, at the time was the deadliest mass shooting in modern U.S. history, left the LGBTQ community in this country and around the world reeling. It also prompted renewed calls for gun control.
The OnePulse Foundation, which Pulse owner Barbara Poma founded after the massacre, raised upwards of $20 million for a memorial that never materialized.
The city of Orlando in 2023 purchased the Pulse property for $2 million. Crews earlier this year demolished the former nightclub. The city of Orlando has pledged $12 million for a permanent memorial that is scheduled to open in 2027.
Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff and International News Editor Michael K. Lavers reported from Orlando in the days after the massacre. Here are their reflections a decade later.
Describe the scene when you arrived in Orlando. Where did you go first?
NAFF: Most mainstream reporters headed for the Pulse nightclub, but it was already roped off with police keeping bystanders at least a full city block away. Instead, I hurried to The Center, Orlando’s LGBTQ community center, downtown. I expected to find it locked down with tight security but instead the doors were flung open and everyone inside was busy at work. No tears, just dedicated staff and volunteers working the phones to secure visas and free plane tickets for relatives of the victims. The director gave me a tour and in the back storage room were pallets and pallets of bottled water stacked to the ceiling. When I asked what all the water was for, he said the city had issued a call for blood donations and the lines to donate were 1,500 deep in 100-degree heat. So The Center drove around to all the sites to deliver water to all those standing in line.
That scene was so inspiring and a testament to the strength and resiliency of the LGBTQ community. We’d seen tragedy before and knew how to respond.
LAVERS: I arrived in Orlando about 14 hours after the massacre took place. The city was shellshocked.
Equality Florida, the state’s LGBTQ advocacy group, and other organizations held a press conference at The Center shortly after my flight from D.C. landed. I drove there from the airport. Terry DeCarlo, who was The Center’s executive director at the time, along with then-Equality Florida Executive Director Nadine Smith and others spoke on behalf of a community that was reeling. The Center at the press conference handed out business cards that read, “You matter.” I had it in my wallet when I drove to a makeshift memorial that was a block from Pulse — the police had cordoned off the area immediately around the nightclub. A local resident who I interviewed told me that she did not know if her friends who were at Pulse when the gunman opened fire survived. Another person with whom I spoke shared a similar story.
A torrential downpour began shortly after I arrived. The storm was an apt metaphor for the raw emotion of that horrific day.
What’s your most prominent memory of covering the Pulse massacre?
NAFF: I was covering a vigil in downtown Orlando when then-Florida Gov. Rick Scott’s motorcade arrived unannounced. To that point, he had not addressed the LGBTQ angle and seemed to be downplaying the fact that this was an attack on our community. I hurried to the front row as he held an impromptu news conference. To my dismay, he took only three short questions from TV reporters then rushed away. I grabbed his communications director and insisted that Scott take a question from the LGBTQ media. She agreed and told me to wait next to the SUV. When Scott approached, I asked him, “What is your message to LGBTQ Floridians?”
To my surprise, he sputtered, stammered, and broke into tears before telling me, “This was an attack, what else can you say? This was an attack against the gays, an attack against Hispanics, an attack against our country, our nation and it’s disgusting. The biggest thing we do now is ask how to make sure this doesn’t happen again.”
It was his first public acknowledgment that the LGBTQ community was the target of the attack.
LAVERS: Two moments stand out for me.
The first moment is when then-President Barack Obama and then-Vice President Joe Biden traveled to Orlando on June 16, four days after the massacre. I was one of the reporters who the White House asked to be part of the local press pool. I was about 50 feet away from Obama and Biden when they placed bouquets with 49 flowers — one for each of the victims — at a makeshift memorial between City Hall and the Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts in downtown Orlando. Obama in remarks he made to the press pool mentioned one of the gay victims who had once said, “We cannot be afraid.” The emotions of the last four days simply became too much, and I broke down. Another reporter who was part of the press pool who was standing next to me realized I had broken down. She put her hand on my back to console me.
The second moment came a few weeks later when I was in Puerto Rico to cover the community’s response to the massacre and to interview victims’ relatives. Orlando has a very large Puerto Rican community, and nearly half of those who died at Pulse were of Puerto Rican descent.
I drove to Caguas, a city that is roughly 20 miles south of San Juan, the island’s capital, on July 7, and interviewed Aida Velázquez in her small apartment. Her son, Frankie “Jimmy” de Jesús, died at Pulse. Aida talked about her son, and she showed me pictures of him. Jimmy also danced Jíbaro, a Puerto Rican folk dance. The interview took place less than a month after the massacre — Jimmy’s funeral took place in Caguas less than two weeks earlier.
I sat in my car after the interview and sobbed uncontrollably for nearly five minutes. Nothing can possibly prepare you for interviewing a mother who had just lost her child in the most horrific way possible.
How did the local community respond and what about their response gave you hope or inspiration?
NAFF: In addition to the staff at The Center working to assist victims and their families, everyday Orlando residents stepped up to help however they could. At the downtown vigils, straight mothers and fathers carried signs offering hugs to anyone who needed them. I encountered a group of young teenage males who approached a group of law enforcement officers and appeared to perform for them. When they finished, I asked what they were doing and they told me that they were straight friends who lived in Orlando and wanted to do something to help so they composed an uplifting rap song and walked around performing it for anyone who needed cheering up.
LAVERS: The way that Orlando rallied around the LGBTQ community was simply inspiring.
Imam Muhammad Musri, president of the Islamic Society of Central Florida, at a memorial service that took place at the Dr. Phillips Performing Arts Center on June 13 said his organization was “united as Americans when it comes to standing with the LGBT community and their rights to live freely and to practice their lives here.” This comment underscored the outpouring of support that Orlando showed its LGBTQ community after Pulse. It was also a call for the better angels among us to reject hate in all of its forms.
What surprised you most about the experience?
NAFF: I was most surprised — and moved — after talking to Rev. Debreita Taylor of Oasis Fellowship Ministries, an LGBTQ-affirming ministry.
“My message is love. Period. Love. Period. There’s nothing in the word of God that faith leaders can go to that teaches hate,” she told me. “Have faith and believe that evil and hate can be eradicated one person at a time. How do you treat someone? How do you embrace someone who treats you wrong? We all bleed, laugh, hope and have great victories and major defeats. And so, you know me, even if you don’t know my name — I’m you.”
LAVERS: It admittedly took me quite a while to fully process what I experienced in Orlando — I was focused on doing my job as a reporter, which was to cover the story, and, most importantly, show the human impact of what had happened. I suppose one surprising aspect of the time I spent in Orlando was that I found myself feeling more defiant against those who seek to destroy our community. They want us to live in fear, and I refuse to give them that satisfaction.
What, if anything, changed as a result of Pulse?
NAFF: In the immediate aftermath of the attack, queer spaces began rethinking their approach to security, which has served us well in the years since. Sadly, just a year later, Pulse was bumped to the No. 2 deadliest mass shooting in U.S. history when a gunman opened fire on the Route 91 Harvest music festival in Las Vegas, killing 60 people. Americans and their politicians never learn from these largely preventable tragedies. The carnage continues.
LAVERS: Gun violence remains a shameful scourge in this country. Our community remains vulnerable to violence and discrimination. President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, and other politicians here in Washington, around the country, and overseas continue to use our community to advance an anti-equality agenda. The carnage continues, as my colleague correctly notes, but our community remains strong and defiant. That gives me hope.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
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