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Lieberman unveils Senate ‘Don’t Ask’ repeal legislation

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Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) is optimistic about repeal "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" in lame duck. (Blade photo by Michael Key).

U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.) introduced a bill Wednesday to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” all the while acknowledging Congress may have to settle with a moratorium as legislative action this year as opposed to outright repeal.

Lieberman touted the legislation — the first Senate bill introduced to repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — during a press conference on Capitol Hill.

“This legislation will repeal the current policy of discrimination based on sexual orientation in America’s armed forces and offer in its place a policy of equal opportunity to serve and defend our country,” he said.

The Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 would repeal the 1993 law barring gay, lesbian and bisexual people from open service in the U.S. military and put a non-discrimination policy in its place.

To accomplish repeal, the bill would require the Pentagon working group considering “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to submit recommendations on how to best repeal the law to Defense Secretary Robert Gates no later than 270 days after the bill is enacted.

Additionally, the bill would require Gates to issue regulations to enact the bill within 60 days of receipt of the working group’s report, and it requires the secretary of each military department to revise regulations as needed no later than 60 days after that.

Kevin Nix, spokesperson for the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, said the Senate bill is identical to House legislation, sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.), except the Senate bill gives the Pentagon a longer time for implementation.

“This bill reflects the fact that the military wants some time to do the best transition possible to open service,” Nix said.

The Senate bill has 11 eleven co-sponsors. Many appeared at the press conference with Lieberman, including Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colo.), Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.).

Levin said he’s been opponent of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” since before it was enacted into law in 1993.

“It diminishes our readiness, it diminishes our strength, it denies us, robs us of the men and women to the defense of our country,” he said.

To follow up on the hearing that took place last month, Levin said he’ll hold another hearing on gays in the military March 18 with an outside panel of experts.

Burris, who’s black, called the introduction of the legislation a “very personal issue of basic fairness,” recalling how his family members were once only allowed restricted roles in the U.S. military.

“For all their skills, all their talents, their intelligence and their valor, they were forced to chose between two or three roles when they were in the service: working as a cook, or digging ditches or driving trucks,” Burris said. “That memory is especially crisp as I stand here today to bring an end to this discriminatory policy.”

Gillibrand vilified “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” for what she said was its extremely harmful impact on the U.S. military.

“This policy is one of the most corrosive, destructive policies to the strength of our armed services, to our military readiness, to our national security and to the morale of our troops,” she said.

Gillibrand said “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was particularly detrimental for women in the armed services.

She said women represent 17 percent of the armed services, but more than one-third of all dismissals, including more than one-half in the Army, are female.

Absent among the co-sponsors is any Republican senator. Despite this initial lack of GOP support, Lieberman said he anticipates Republican support for the legislation as it moves forward.

“I believe we’re going to have some Republican support in this,” he said. “There’s a core group that is openly — that is actively concerned.”

While touting the standalone legislation, Lieberman and Levin said the defense authorization bill would be the most likely legislative vehicle to advance repeal.

The lawmakers also said that if they can’t find the votes this year to overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” they would instead try to enact a moratorium on discharges.

During the markup for the defense authorization bill in May, Lieberman said the committee would try for a vote in the Senate Armed Services Committee first on repeal, and if that’s unsuccessful, committee members would pursue a moratorium.

“We’re going to try for a full repeal,” Lieberman said. “If the votes aren’t there in committee or on the floor, a moratorium, I think, is a good interim step and I’ll certainly be open to it.”

But Nix said his organization is still pushing for outright repeal this year as opposed to a moratorium.

“I think it’s premature to talk about the moratorium because we have, as the chairman said, until May to really focus on full repeal, so let’s try to do that first,” Nix said.

In a statement, Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, heralded the introduction of Lieberman’s bill as “continuing the momentum to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ this year.”

“His introduction of the Military Readiness Enhancement Act of 2010 is a bold, patriotic move that will long be remembered as key to removing the stain of the discriminatory ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ law from the U.S. code,” he said.

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State Department

Protesters demand US fully restore PEPFAR funding

Activists blocked intersection outside State Department on Thursday

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HIV/AIDS activists block an intersection outside the State Department on Feb. 6, 2025. They were demanding the Trump-Vance administration to fully restore PEPFAR funding. (Photo courtesy of Housing Works)

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.”

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The White House

Trump bars trans women and girls from sports

The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

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President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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.

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California

Los Angeles Blade names new publisher

Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

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Alexander Rodriguez (Photo courtesy of Alexander Rodriguez)

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].

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