National
Feds ‘closely monitoring’ anti-gay Puerto Rico killing
The U.S. Justice Department is closely monitoring the fallout from an apparent anti-gay killing in Puerto Rico in an incident that could become the first prosecuted case under the new federal hate crimes law, according to a department official.
Thomas Perez, assistant attorney general for the Justice Department’s civil rights division, told reporters Dec. 17 that federal officials are keeping a close eye on the case.
“That case is being investigated and prosecuted right now by the state of Puerto Rico as both a murder, and they do have a hate crimes law in Puerto Rico, so we’re closely monitoring that case, as we do all cases, and we continue to follow that case very closely,” he said.
Juan Martinez Matos, 26, is accused of killing Jorge Steven Lopez Mercado, who was gay. The dismembered body of the 19-year-old college student was found last month along a road in the town of Cayey, according to the Associated Press.
The Associated Press quoted the local prosecutor in the case as saying Martinez met Lopez while looking for women in an area known for prostitution. The suspect reportedly said the victim was dressed as a woman and that he stabbed Lopez after discovering he was male.
Martinez was charged with first-degree murder and weapons violations, and was jailed on a $4 million bond, according to the Associated Press.
The next hearing in the case is set for Jan. 13. The defense has said Martinez is mentally unfit to stand trial. A state psychiatrist is evaluating the defendant, and the court will decide Jan. 13 whether he’s mentally competent.
Should federal officials decide to prosecute the killing as a hate crime, it would be the first such prosecution under the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, signed by President Obama into law in October.
Asked what would factor into federal officials’ decision to prosecute the killing under the new law, Perez recalled recent news from Shenandoah, Pa., regarding an allegedly bias-motivated fatal beating of Luis Ramirez, a Latino man. Two people — Derrick Donchak and Brandon Piekarsky — were indicted under a previously enacted federal hate crimes statute.
“We’re monitoring [the Puerto Rico case], just as we monitor the prosecution in the Shenandoah case,” he said. “We kept a very close eye on it, and when the case ended, we conducted our own private independent investigation, and you saw the fruits of it earlier this week.”
Also closely monitoring the case is the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force. Pedro Juliano Serrano, spokesperson for the organization and founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, said his organization is calling for local and federal authorities to consider the killing as a hate crime.
“We do think it is a hate crime and we’re asking the authorities to investigate it as a hate crime,” he said. “We called on the local authorities to investigate it and we’re certainly satisfied that the federal authorities are monitoring the local investigation, and might be involved, if possible.”
The U.S. attorney involved with the case, Rosa Emilia Rodriquez, reportedly told Puerto Rican media last week that her office is monitoring the case and will file paperwork with federal authorities if the defendant is not convicted of a hate crime. Still, El Nuevo Dia, a Puetro Rican newspaper, quoted Rodriguez as saying she believes the case is moving ahead properly.
Puerto Rico has had a local hate crimes statute since 2002, but Serrano said he’s skeptical that Martinez would be prosecuted under this law because no conviction has taken place under this statute.
“In the seven years that the hate crimes has been in place in Puerto Rico, we’ve had more than 20 killings that have clearly had signs of being probably hate crimes,” Serrano said. “None of them have been classified as such.”
Serrano said the lack of prosecutions under the Puerto Rico hate crimes statute is what’s prompting activists to ask the federal government to keep an eye on the case.
“That’s why we are calling on the authorities to keep monitoring the situation because if the local authorities again fail to process this as a hate crime with their statute, we’re hoping that the federal authorities can come in and assume jurisdiction,” he said.
Serrano said he believes the incident was a hate crime because Martinez reportedly confessed to killing Lopez out of hatred for gays.
“He said that supposedly … he had been raped during a stint in prison because he was convicted of domestic violence, and because he was raped, he hated gays,” Serrano said.
The brutal violence of the crime, Serrano said, also indicates that it was bias-motivated. He noted that Lopez’ body was dismembered, decapitated and burned and that it’s unclear whether the victim was in fact dressed in women’s clothes because of the condition in which the body was found.
Attention to the case in Puerto Rico comes as the Justice Department is ramping up efforts to comply with the newly enacted hate crimes statute. Perez told reporters his office is busy training federal and local authorities to make the law fully effective.
“We have an implementation plan put in place that involves training the assistant United States attorneys, training the state and local authorities and local prosecutors, working with our community partners to train them, and also to work on prevention initiatives,” he said.
State Department
Democracy Forward files FOIA request for State Department bathroom policy records
April 20 memo outlined anti-transgender rule
Democracy Forward on Tuesday filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records on the State Department’s new bathroom policy.
A memo titled “Updates Regarding Biological Sex and Intimate Spaces, Including Restrooms” that the State Department issued on April 20 notes employees can no longer use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
“The administration affirms that there are two sexes — male and female — and that federal facilities should operate on this objective and longstanding basis to ensure consistency, privacy, and safety in shared spaces,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot told the Daily Signal, a conservative news website that first reported on the memo. “In line with President Trump’s executive order this provides clear, uniform guidance to the department by grounding policy in biological sex as determined at birth.”
President Donald Trump shortly after he took office in January 2025 issued an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two genders: male and female. The sweeping directive also ordered federal government agencies to “effectuate this policy by taking appropriate action to ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”
Democracy Forward’s FOIA request that the Washington Blade exclusively obtained on Tuesday is specifically seeking a copy of the memo that details the State Department’s new bathroom policy. Democracy Forward has also requested “all” memo-specific communications between the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs and the Daily Signal from April 1-21.
Federal Government
House Republicans push nationwide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Measures would restrict federal funding for LGBTQ-affirming schools
Republicans have been gaining ground in reshaping education policy to be less inclusive toward LGBTQ students at the state level, and now they are turning their focus to Capitol Hill.
Some GOP lawmakers are pushing for a nationwide “Don’t Say Gay” bill, doubling down on their commitment to being the party of “traditional family values” by excluding anyone who does not identify with their sex at birth.
The largest anti-LGBTQ education legislation to reach the House chamber is House Bill 2616 — the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids Act, or the PROTECT Kids Act. The PROTECT Kids Act, proposed by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), and co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Robert Onder (R-Mo.), and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), would require any public elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to require parental consent to change a child’s gender expression in school.
The bill, which was discussed during Tuesday’s House Rules Committee hearing, would specifically require any schools that get federal money from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 — which was created to minimize financial discrepancies in education for low-income students — to get parental approval before identifying any child’s gender identity as anything other than what was provided to the school initially. This includes getting approval before allowing children to use their preferred locker room or bathroom.
It reads that any school receiving this funding “shall obtain parental consent before changing a covered student’s (1) gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or (2) sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.”
LGBTQ rights advocates have criticized both national and state efforts to require parental permission to use a child’s preferred gender identity, as it raises issues of at-home safety — especially if the home is not LGBTQ-affirming — and could lead to the outing of transgender or gender-curious students.
A follow-up bill, HB 2617, proposed by Owens, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, prevents the use of federal funding to “advance concepts related to gender ideology,” using the definition from President Donald Trump’s 2025 Executive Order 14168, making that an enshrined definition in law of sex rather than just by executive order. There is also a bill making its way through the senate with the same text— Senate Bill 2251.
Advocates have also criticized this follow-up legislation, as it would restrict school staff — including teachers and counselors — from acknowledging trans students’ identities or providing any support. They have said that this kind of isolation can worsen mental health outcomes for LGBTQ youth and allows for education to be politicized rather than being based in reality.
David Stacy, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of government affairs, called this legislation out for using LGBTQ children as political pawns in an ideology fight — one that could greatly harm the safety of these children if passed.
“Trans kids are not a political agenda — they are students who deserve safety and affirmation at school like anyone else,” Stacy said in a statement. “Despite the many pressing issues facing our nation, House Republicans continue their bizarre obsession with trans people. H.R. 2616 does not protect children. It targets them. This bill is cruel, and we’re prepared to fight it.”
This is similar to Florida House Bills 1557 and 1069, referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and “Don’t Say They” bill, respectively, restricting classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity, prohibiting the use of pronouns consistent with one’s gender identity, expanding book banning procedures, and censoring health curriculum.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 233 bills related to restricting student and educator rights in the U.S.
National
BREAKING NEWS: Shots fired at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner
Shooter reportedly opened fire inside hotel
Four loud bangs were heard in the International Ballroom of the Washington Hilton during the annual White House Correspondents’ Dinner on Saturday.
According to the Associated Press, a shooter opened fire inside the hotel outside the ballroom.
Attendees could hear four loud bangs as people started to duck and take cover. During the chaos sounds of salad and glasses were dropped as hotel employees, and guests ducked for cover.
The head table — which included President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, first lady Melania Trump, and White House Correspondents Association President Weijia Jiang — were rushed off stage.
“The U.S. Secret Service, in coordination with the Metropolitan Police Department, is investigating a shooting incident near the main magnetometer screening area at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner,” the U.S. Secret Service said in a statement. “The president and the First Lady are safe along all protects. One individual is in custody. The condition of those involved is not yet known, and law enforcement is actively assessing the situation.”
Trump held a press conference at the White House after he left the hotel.
“A man charged a security checkpoint armed with multiple weapons and he was taken down by some very brave members of Secret Service,” said Trump.
Trump said the shooter is from California. He also said an officer was shot, but said his bullet proof vest “saved” him.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, interim D.C. police chief Jeffrey Carroll, U.S. Attorney for D.C. Jeanine Pirro, and other officials held their own press conference at the hotel.
Carroll said the gunman who has been identified as Cole Tomas Allen was armed with a shotgun, handgun, and “multiple” knives when he charged a Secret Service checkpoint in a hotel lobby. Carroll also told reporters that law enforcement “exchanged gunfire with that individual.”
Both he and Bowser said the gunman appeared to act alone.
“We are so very thankful to members of law enforcement who did their jobs tonight and made sure all guests were safe,” said Bowser. “Nobody else was involved.”
The Washington Blade will update this story as details become more available.
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