National
Immigration rally includes LGBT voices
Bi-national couples seek inclusion in reform
(DC Agenda video by Steve Fox)
An estimated 200,000 demonstrators descended on the National Mall on Sunday to urge passage of comprehensive immigration reform, including several hundred protesters advocating for LGBT inclusion in the legislation.
As they danced to salsa music and listened to speeches, participants at the rally and the march that followed called on President Obama and Congress to keep their promise to enact reform legislation before the year’s end.
Latino groups — waiving signs reading “Reform not Raids” and “Obama Cumple tu Promesa” — comprised the majority of those participating in the demonstration, although contingents of Asian and Caribbean groups also took part.
The LGBT contingent, which included about 300 people, advocated for their inclusion as part of the broader immigration movement as well as for incorporating the Uniting American Families Act in reform. The bill would enable LGBT Americans to sponsor same-sex partners who are foreign nationals for residency.
Rachel Tiven, executive director of Immigration Equality, said the showing was “a nice visible contingent” that demonstrated “how much the LGBT community is here for comprehensive immigration reform that includes all families.”
“First and foremost, we hope to really be a part of the movement that’s pushing for [comprehensive immigration reform] to get going,” she said. “Nobody knows better than [LGBT] families how badly we need immigration reform in this country.”
Advocates are pushing Sens. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who are developing bi-partisan comprehensive immigration reform legislation, to include UAFA in the version of the bill they introduce in the U.S. Senate.
As they marched among other groups, members of Immigration Equality’s contingent sported red shirts with “LGBT families for immigration reform” on the back as they chanted, “Two, four, six, eight! Let our families immigrate!” and “We’re here! We’re queer! You are not alone!”
A number of demonstrators had a personal stake in the passage of legislation to protect bi-national same-sex couples. Eric Stanley, a D.C. resident, and Tim Lin, his partner of nearly four years from Taiwan, said they want UAFA passed so they can remain together in the United States.
Under current law, they said it would take Lin seven to 10 years for him to receive a green card to remain in the country.
“If I could marry him and give a green card, I would,” Stanley said. “It feels like Kansas controls what the rest of country has to do in this situation.”
Although they’re pushing hard for LGBT-inclusive immigration reform, Lin said he isn’t optimistic that reform will pass this year.
“I’m just hoping that with all these people, they might start to think about it this year, and eventually, in a year or two, do something about it,” he said.
Stanley also said he doesn’t think many LGBT people view protection for bi-national couples as a priority.
“People who are not directly affected don’t seem very interested,” he said. “I couldn’t get any friends to come today. But when you are directly affected, it does matter quite a bit.”
Guillermo Lopez, 22, a gay U.S. citizen and student at Houston Community College, said he came to the march in D.C. to support same-sex bi-national couples, even though he’s not in a relationship that would benefit from passage of the Uniting American Families Act.
“If these people were straight or were in heterosexual relationships, they could easily sponsor their partners and give them legal status,” he said. “So we’re here trying to push for the Uniting American Families Act, which would bring that equality so that gay people can sponsor their partner.”
Lopez said he thinks the rally put pressure on President Obama and Congress to pass comprehensive immigration reform.
“Hopefully it’ll put enough pressure on them so that a comprehensive reform bill will pass in 2010 before Democrats lose seats in the election, which will make it harder for us to push our agenda,” he said.
Before marching past the U.S. Capitol to Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, demonstrators gathered on the Mall where a series of speakers rallied the crowd. The issue of helping same-sex couples was only mentioned a few times.
A female speaker at the event said immigration reform is supported by many groups, including “disabled and queer people.” Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.), whose Reuniting American Families Act includes language similar to UAFA, was introduced at the event as someone who wants gay and lesbian families included in reform.
Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), a gay lawmaker, joined a group of members of Congress on stage who support immigration reform.
Speakers at the event worked to invigorate the crowd. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.), a champion of immigrant rights, was received particularly favorably by attendees, as he urged them to continue to pressuring lawmakers to enact reform.
“If today we will raise our voices in hope, then soon we will raise our voices in victory,” he said. “Because our day is coming. Together, we will turn today’s hope into tomorrow’s victory.”
Gutierrez late last year introduced in the U.S. House a version of immigration reform intended as a more liberal alternative to the working bill expected later in the House. But Gutierrez’s bill lacks a provision similar to the Uniting American Families Act.
Ali Noorani, executive director of the National Immigration Forum, a group leading the charge for reform, also had encouraging words for his audience.
“We will keep the pressure on until comprehensive immigration reform is finally passed,” he said. “So from here, our power will only grow.”
In addition to Immigration Equality, other LGBT organizations participated in the demonstration, including the Human Rights Campaign, the Latino GLBT History Project and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.
Rea Carey, the Task Force’s executive director, said her organization participated to emphasize immigration as an LGBT issue.
In addition to ensuring that bi-national same-sex couples can stay together in the United States, Carey said there also are issues related to transgender people and HIV-positive detainees not receiving needed treatment while in custody that need to be addressed.
“We are here today because we want to make sure the broad range of issues that affect LGBT people are recognized in the context of immigration reform,” she said.
Lt. Dan Choi, a gay U.S. Army Iraq war veteran who was arrested last week for chaining himself to the White House gates in protest of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” joined the LGBT contingent in the rally. He said he wouldn’t take questions because the day was focused on the immigration rally.
New York
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
One of the victims, John Umberger, was D.C. political consultant
A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced three men convicted of killing a D.C. political consultant and another man who they targeted at gay bars in Manhattan.
NBC New York notes a jury in February convicted Jayqwan Hamilton, Jacob Barroso, and Robert DeMaio of murder, robbery, and conspiracy in relation to druggings and robberies that targeted gay bars in Manhattan from March 2021 to June 2022.
John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from D.C., and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died. Prosecutors said Hamilton, Barroso, and DeMaio targeted three other men at gay bars.
The jury convicted Hamilton and DeMaio of murdering Umberger. State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in prison.
Barroso, who was convicted of killing Ramirez, received a 20 years to life sentence.
National
Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information
Crucial datasets included LGBTQ, HIV resources
Nine private medical and public health advocacy organizations, including two from D.C., filed a lawsuit on May 20 in federal court in Seattle challenging what it calls the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s illegal deletion of dozens or more of its webpages containing health related information, including HIV information.
The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS itself, and several agencies operating under HHS and its directors, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.
“This action challenges the widespread deletion of public health resources from federal agencies,” the lawsuit states. “Dozens (if not more) of taxpayer-funded webpages, databases, and other crucial resources have vanished since January 20, 2025, leaving doctors, nurses, researchers, and the public scrambling for information,” it says.
“These actions have undermined the longstanding, congressionally mandated regime; irreparably harmed Plaintiffs and others who rely on these federal resources; and put the nation’s public health infrastructure in unnecessary jeopardy,” the lawsuit continues.
It adds, “The removal of public health resources was apparently prompted by two recent executive orders – one focused on ‘gender ideology’ and the other targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) programs. Defendants implemented these executive orders in a haphazard manner that resulted in the deletion (inadvertent or otherwise) of health-related websites and databases, including information related to pregnancy risks, public health datasets, information about opioid-use disorder, and many other valuable resources.”
The lawsuit does not mention that it was President Donald Trump who issued the two executive orders in question.
A White House spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit.
While not mentioning Trump by name, the lawsuit names as defendants in addition to HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Matthew Buzzelli, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health; Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Thomas Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration; and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management.
The 44-page lawsuit complaint includes an addendum with a chart showing the titles or descriptions of 49 “affected resource” website pages that it says were deleted because of the executive orders. The chart shows that just four of the sites were restored after initially being deleted.
Of the 49 sites, 15 addressed LGBTQ-related health issues and six others addressed HIV issues, according to the chart.
“The unannounced and unprecedented deletion of these federal webpages and datasets came as a shock to the medical and scientific communities, which had come to rely on them to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, assist physicians and other clinicians in daily care, and inform the public about a wide range of healthcare issues,” the lawsuit states.
“Health professionals, nonprofit organizations, and state and local authorities used the websites and datasets daily in care for their patients, to provide resources to their communities, and promote public health,” it says.
Jose Zuniga, president and CEO of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), one of the organizations that signed on as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the deleted information from the HHS websites “includes essential information about LGBTQ+ health, gender and reproductive rights, clinical trial data, Mpox and other vaccine guidance and HIV prevention resources.”
Zuniga added, “IAPAC champions evidence-based, data-informed HIV responses and we reject ideologically driven efforts that undermine public health and erase marginalized communities.”
Lisa Amore, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s largest LGBTQ supportive health services provider, also expressed concern about the potential impact of the HHS website deletions.
“As the region’s leader in HIV care and prevention, Whitman-Walker Health relies on scientific data to help us drive our resources and measure our successes,” Amore said in response to a request for comment from the Washington Blade.
“The District of Columbia has made great strides in the fight against HIV,” Amore said. “But the removal of public facing information from the HHS website makes our collective work much harder and will set HIV care and prevention backward,” she said.
The lawsuit calls on the court to issue a declaratory judgement that the “deletion of public health webpages and resources is unlawful and invalid” and to issue a preliminary or permanent injunction ordering government officials named as defendants in the lawsuit “to restore the public health webpages and resources that have been deleted and to maintain their web domains in accordance with their statutory duties.”
It also calls on the court to require defendant government officials to “file a status report with the Court within twenty-four hours of entry of a preliminary injunction, and at regular intervals, thereafter, confirming compliance with these orders.”
The health organizations that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs include the Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy Health, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society.
The Fast-Track Cities Institute and International Association of Providers of AIDS Care are based in D.C.
U.S. Federal Courts
Federal judge scraps trans-inclusive workplace discrimination protections
Ruling appears to contradict US Supreme Court precedent
Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has struck down guidelines by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designed to protect against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.
The EEOC in April 2024 updated its guidelines to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which determined that discrimination against transgender people constituted sex-based discrimination as proscribed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
To ensure compliance with the law, the agency recommended that employers honor their employees’ preferred pronouns while granting them access to bathrooms and allowing them to wear dress code-compliant clothing that aligns with their gender identities.
While the the guidelines are not legally binding, Kacsmaryk ruled that their issuance created “mandatory standards” exceeding the EEOC’s statutory authority that were “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent.”
“Title VII does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women,” he wrote in the opinion.
The case, which was brought by the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, presents the greatest setback for LGBTQ inclusive workplace protections since President Donald Trump’s issuance of an executive order on the first day of his second term directing U.S. federal agencies to recognize only two genders as determined by birth sex.
Last month, top Democrats from both chambers of Congress reintroduced the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive protections against discrimination into federal law, covering employment as well as areas like housing and jury service.
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