National
Obama pledges to work this year to end "Don’t Ask" in State of the Union
President Obama pledged during his State of the Union address to work this year to repeal the ban preventing gays from serving openly in the U.S. armed forces.
“This year, I will work with Congress and our military to finally repeal the law that denies gay Americans the right to serve the country they love because of who they are,” Obama said.
The State of the Union address on Wednesday marks the first time Obama has set a time for when he would tackle his 2008 campaign pledge to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” Lawmakers attending Obama’s speech responded to his declaration with roaring applause.
Obama offered new details on his promise to repeal the law in a portion of his speech on the advancement of civil rights in his administration.
In the same part of the speech, Obama also touted how the nation has strengthened “laws to protect against crimes driven by hate,” presumably a reference to the passage last year of a federal hate crimes law protecting LGBT people.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised Obama for renewing his pledge to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in a statement released following his speech.
“The Commander in Chief sent a clear message tonight that in a time of war, what matters is that our men and women get the job done — not whether they’re gay or straight,” he said.
Solmonese said HRC will work to support Obama in his pledge to overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” through its “Voices of Honor campaign” — an HRC-led initiative geared toward building public support for ending the law.
The campaign will work organize veterans across the country, generate media coverage and build focused campaigns in key states critical to final votes in Congress, according to the HRC statement.
Also commending Obama for pledging to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in 2010 is Servicemembers Legal Defense Network. Paul DeMiglio, spokesperson for the organization, said “we very much need a sense of urgency” to make repeal happen this year.
“As Rep. Patrick Murphy and Sen. [Kirsten] Gillibrand have made clear, this is the year to repeal the law,” DeMiglio said. “What is also needed is more attention and leadership to win repeal. The American public, including conservatives, is overwhelmingly with the commander-in-chief on this one.”
DeMiglio said SLDN is calling on Obama to include repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as part of his defense budget request that the Pentagon is expected to deliver to Congress next month.
Murphy, the Pennsylvania Democrat who sponsors the repeal bill in the U.S. House, also applauded Obama for making the commitment to end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
“While we increase our forces to fight terrorism, it makes no sense to kick out fighter pilots, medics, and Arabic linguists at the rate of nearly two servicemembers a day,” Murphy said. “It is time to repeal this ridiculous law that hurts our national security and military readiness.”
Another topic Obama mentioned of interest to many LGBT people is comprehensive immigration reform. Obama asked Congress to find a bipartisan solution to the immigration problems facing the country.
“We should continue the work of fixing our broken immigration system — to secure our borders, enforce our laws, and ensure that everyone who plays by the rules can contribute to our economy and enrich our nations,” Obama said.
Many same-sex bi-national couples are looking to Congress to pass immigration reform this year and to include a provision that would allow LGBT Americans to sponsor their foreign partners for residency. Current law prevents an estimated 36,000 bi-national couples from staying together in the United States.
Steve Ralls, spokesperson for Immigration Equality, said the inclusion of immigration reform in the State of the Union address is “a welcome sign.”
“The White House has said in the past that they support ending discrimination against gay immigrant families and we expect that to be the case moving forward as well,” Ralls said. “Immigration reform is something that both progressives and conservatives agree needs to be tackled, so it makes sense to keep with the pledge to move forward on that as soon as possible.”
State Department
Protesters demand US fully restore PEPFAR funding
Activists blocked intersection outside State Department on Thursday

Dozens of HIV/AIDS activists on Thursday protested outside the State Department and demanded U.S. officials fully restore President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding.
The activists — members of Housing Works, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group — blocked an intersection for an hour. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell told the Washington Blade that police did not make any arrests.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 24 directed State Department personnel to stop nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending for 90 days in response to an executive order that President Donald Trump signed after his inauguration. Rubio later issued a waiver that allows PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during the freeze.
The Blade on Wednesday reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding.
“PEPFAR is a program that has saved 26 million lives and changed the trajectory of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Housing Works CEO Charles King in a press release. “The recent freeze on its funding is not just a bureaucratic decision; it is a death sentence for millions who rely on these life-saving treatments. We cannot allow decades of progress to be undone. The U.S. must immediately reaffirm its commitment to global health and human dignity by restoring PEPFAR funding.”
“We demand Secretary Rubio immediately reverse his deadly, illegal stop-work order, which has already disrupted life-saving HIV services worldwide,” added Russell. “Any waiver process is too little, too late.”
The White House
Trump bars trans women and girls from sports
The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.
In a signing ceremony for “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on women’s sports is over.”
Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.
A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found “no direct or consistent research” pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are “reduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.”
Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.
The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.
“If you’re going to have women’s sports, if you’re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that you’re going to preserve women’s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.
Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.
White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump “does expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in women’s sports.”
One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.
The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.
California
Los Angeles Blade names new publisher
Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

The Los Angeles Blade, Southern California’s leading LGBTQ news outlet, today announced the appointment of a new publisher, Alexander Rodriguez.
Rodriguez has a long background in queer media, business development, and a deep commitment to the Los Angeles community. He has worked as a lead writer and podcast host for Metrosource Magazine and for GED Magazine; content director for FleshBot Gay; and as host and producer for the “On the Rocks” podcast. On the business side, Rodriguez spent years working in business development in the banking industry throughout Los Angeles. He also has an extensive background in event planning and management and has served on the boards of many LGBTQ non-profits. As a TV and radio personality, he has served as emcee for LGBTQ events around the nation.
“I’m excited to bring my diverse media and business experience to the Los Angeles Blade,” Rodriguez said. “We will continue the Blade’s mission of serving as our community’s news outlet of record during these challenging times and work toward building bridges within our community and beyond.”
Rodriguez starts in his new role on Monday, Feb. 3.
“We are thrilled to welcome Alexander to the Blade team,” said Kevin Naff, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Blade. “His multimedia and business side experience will help us grow the Blade in L.A. and continue our commitment to best-in-class journalism serving the LGBTQ community in Southern California.”
Rodriguez becomes the Los Angeles Blade’s second publisher following the unexpected death of founding publisher Troy Masters in December. Masters served in the role for nearly eight years. The community will come together for a celebration of Masters’s life on Monday, Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Abbey.
“Troy’s legacy is in good hands with Alexander at the helm alongside our new local news editor, Gisselle Palomera,” Naff added.
The Los Angeles Blade, launched in 2017, celebrates its eighth anniversary in March. It is the sister publication of the Washington Blade, founded in 1969, which offers unmatched coverage of queer political news and is the only LGBTQ outlet in the White House press pool and the White House Correspondents’ Association, and the only LGBTQ outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room.
Alexander Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].
-
Opinions3 days ago
I’m nervous about D.C.’s ability to stage WorldPride
-
Opinions4 days ago
My existence as an intersex American was finally acknowledged, then erased four days later
-
Mexico4 days ago
Trump executive orders leave LGBTQ migrants, asylum seekers in limbo
-
Africa3 days ago
Suspension of US aid forces PEPFAR-funded programs in Africa to close down