National
Should gay judge in Prop 8 case be removed?
A gay federal judge in San Francisco presiding over the Proposition 8 trial on same-sex marriage should be evaluated on whether he is impartial and fair and should not be forced to step away from the case because of his sexual orientation.
That’s the assessment of many legal observers as well as supporters and opponents of same-sex marriage.
But while agreeing that Judge Vaughn Walker, 65, shouldn’t remove himself from the case solely on grounds of his sexual orientation, advocates on both sides of the gay marriage issue disagree sharply over whether Walker has shown a bias in favor of the plaintiffs in the case, who seek to overturn Proposition 8.
“Whatever Judge Walker’s sexual orientation is, it’s not a reason to take him off the case,” said American Civil Liberties attorney James Esseks, who works for the ACLU’s LGBT rights project.
“Judge Walker’s sexual orientation … doesn’t make him unable to decide the issues before him impartially,” Esseks said in an ACLU blog. “What does matter is how he conducts himself as a judge, and his ability to put his own views and background aside and focus on the law and the constitution.”
Walker serves as chief judge for the U.S. District Court in Northern California, where two same-sex couples filed a lawsuit last year challenging the constitutionality of the ballot proposition. California voters approved the ballot measure in November 2008, which overturned a decision by the state’s highest court legalizing same-sex marriage.
Lawyers and advocates defending Proposition 8 have accused Vaughn of being biased against the measure during a 12-day trial in January, which recessed before news surfaced in the San Francisco Chronicle that Vaughn is gay.
Although some Proposition 8 backers associated with religious groups called for Walker’s removal from the case because of his sexual orientation, most conservative activists defending the ballot measure have said the judge should instead step down because of the alleged bias he has shown.
“I have no reason to doubt that there are homosexuals who could preside impartially over this case, just as I have no reason to doubt that there are heterosexuals whose bias in favor of, or against, same-sex marriage would unduly skew their handling of the case,” said Ed Whelan, a conservative commentator, in a National Review essay.
But Whelan added, “From the outset, Walker’s entire course of conduct in the anti-Prop 8 case has reflected a manifest design to turn the lawsuit into a high-profile, culture-transforming, history-making Scopes-style show trial of Prop 8’s sponsors.”
Whelan pointed to a U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Walker’s initial plans to allow the Prop 8 trial to be broadcast over the Internet. He also noted that an appeals court consisting mostly of Clinton appointees overturned, in part, a procedural decision by Walker to allow the plaintiffs to obtain internal communications, including e-mail, from organizers of the Prop 8 election campaign.
LGBT activists backing the plaintiffs’ case against Prop 8 have disputed allegations that Walker is biased, saying the ballot measure’s defenders are angry at the judge because of his rulings against them on a number of legal issues. Supporters of the plaintiffs, including their attorneys, say Walker’s rulings during the trial were based on legal principals and decisions of past cases, not on bias.
Walker is currently reviewing the evidence presented by a series of witnesses during the trial and is expected to resume the case to hear closing arguments in March.
“Every judge has a sexual orientation,” said American University law professor Nancy Polikoff, in commenting on critics who say Walker should step down from the case because he’s gay.
“If a judge were straight, would a gay plaintiff have a ground to recuse the judge because he was straight? No, that’s ridiculous,” she said. “And the same thing is true with any assertion that being gay makes him unable to hear the case. It’s not evidence of having any kind of prejudice that would stop a judge from being able to decide a case on the law.”
Walker was first nominated for his judicial position by President Ronald Reagan in 1987, but Democrats in Congress initially blocked the nomination on grounds that Walker’s record as a lawyer in private practice showed insensitivity toward civil rights, including gay rights.
President George H.W. Bush renewed Walker’s nomination in 1989, and the Senate later approved it after receiving assurances that he would rule impartially and fairly.
In a Feb. 9 editorial, the San Francisco Chronicle said Walker’s record of more than 20 years on the bench has shown he has fulfilled his promise.
“Walker did not think his private life was relevant to his ability to preside with fairness in the Prop 8 trial,” says the editorial. “There is nothing in his long and laudable career to suggest otherwise.”
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
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