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Democrats in danger and playing defense

Pro-LGBT Senate allies Reid, Feingold, Boxer face tough re-election battles

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U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is one of several pro-LGBT lawmakers facing a tough battle for re-election this fall. (Photo courtesy of Reid's office)

Several veteran senators viewed as supportive of LGBT rights are facing tough re-election campaigns, prompting some activists and lobbyists to gear up for a defensive battle this fall.

Mike Mings, director of the Human Rights Campaignā€™s political action committee, said his organization is ā€œcertainly awareā€ that Democrats face a more difficult environment than in the previous two congressional elections.

ā€œI think the Democrats were able to play offense in the last two cycles in a way that has created a different field today,ā€ he said. ā€œSo, theyā€™re [now] really looking at defense.ā€

Recently published polls brings into stark relief the troubling news for several incumbent U.S. senators. Rasmussen unveiled numbers last week showing Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) trailing potential Republican opponents by double digits.

According to the polls, Reid would lose in a match with former Nevada Republican Party Chair Sue Lowden, 54-39; in a contest between Reid and former State Assembly member Sharron Angle, he trails 51-40; and in a contest against attorney Danny Tarkanian, Reid comes up short again, 49-42.

Viewed as an LGBT ally on Capitol Hill, Reid was involved last year in the decision to attach the hate crimes bill to the defense authorization bill and has often spoken in favor of ending ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€ in the U.S. military.

Also last year, Reid was the highest-ranking elected public official to endorse the National Equality March in D.C. A Mormon, Reid also reportedly criticized the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for backing Proposition 8, which ended same-sex marriage in California.

Another longtime senator who could face an uphill re-election fight is Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisc.). A Wisconsin Public Radio/St. Norbert College poll published last week found him behind Tommy Thompson, a former Wisconsin governor and former secretary of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services whoā€™s reportedly considering entering the Senate race.

In a hypothetical matchup, Feingold would lose to Thompson 45-33, according to the poll.

In 1996, Feingold was one of 14 senators to vote against the Defense of Marriage Act. Now a co-sponsor of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and legislation to overturn ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell,ā€ Feingold introduced a resolution earlier this year to condemn legislation pending in Uganda that would institute the death penalty as punishment for those convicted of homosexual acts.

Also facing a tough re-election bid is Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.). A poll published late last month by the Public Policy Institute of California found her in a dead heat with three potential Republican opponents.

According to the poll, Boxer would be essentially tied with former congressman Tom Campbell, with him leading 44-43. She would also be in a dead heat with former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, with Boxer leading 44-43. Late last month, The Hill newspaperā€™s election forecasters moved the race from ā€œleans Democraticā€ to ā€œtoss-up.ā€

Boxer was also among the 14 senators to vote against DOMA in 1996. A co-sponsor of ENDA and of legislation to overturn ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell,ā€ Boxer last month introduced a bill that would allow same-sex domestic partners to have the same access to COBRA benefits as married couples in some circumstances.

Rose Kapolczynski, Boxer’s campaign manager, said the senator has “always expected a tough race” and has been “working for months to build a broad coalition of Californians from every background and walk of life.”

“With the active involvement of our supporters in the LGBT community and so many others, we will be able to reach out to the millions of Californians who will vote in November,” Kapolczynski said. “We need to do more to let California voters know that Barbara Boxer is focused on creating jobs and turning the economy around.”

The campaigns for Feingold and Reid didnā€™t respond to DC Agendaā€™s request for comment.

Mings said he couldnā€™t predict whether these senators would emerge victorious in their re-election campaigns. Still, he noted that they have an advantage because theyā€™re incumbents, who traditionally fare better in elections.

ā€œItā€™s not necessarily as big an advantage this year to be an incumbent as it is in other cycles, but itā€™s still [a] humongous advantage to be [an] incumbent, in terms of visibility, in terms of the organization and operations that they have, so I certainly wouldnā€™t count any of them out,ā€ Mings said.

Hari Sevugan, press secretary for the Democratic National Committee, said in a statement that itā€™s important for LGBT people to support these Democrats in their re-election campaigns because the party ā€œvalues equality, inclusion and fairness.ā€

ā€œFrom expanding partnership benefits in the workplace to lifting the ban on travel for those living with HIV/AIDS, from passage of hate crimes legislation to beginning to end [ā€˜Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell] ā€” we have worked to advance gay-rights in all corners of our society,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s not where we want to be yet, but we are moving forward.ā€

Sevugan warned ā€œthe progress we made could be lostā€ and ā€œwe could once again move backwardā€ if Democrats arenā€™t re-elected or lose their control of Congress.

ā€œWeā€™ve seen whatā€™s happened in Virginia where a Republican governor has taken the Commonwealth backward in history,ā€ he said. ā€œThat is why we are committed to working with the LGBT community to elect allies that will continue to move the country toward fulfilling its promise of equality and justice for all.ā€

Mings said HRC has already given the maximum allowed donations of $10,000 each to Reid and Boxer to help them with their re-election campaigns. For Feingoldā€™s race, Mings said HRC is waiting to see if Thompson will enter the fray.

ā€œIf he does, obviously, that changes our calculation quite a bit,ā€ Mings said. ā€œWe need to step in and make sure that weā€™re engaging our membership in Wisconsin as much as possible to help [Feingold].ā€

In addition to moving to protect senators, Mings said HRC donated the maximum of $5,000 last year to many vulnerable allies in the U.S. House who are part of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committeeā€™s Frontline Program.

ā€œWe donā€™t support all of those folks because some of them are pretty conservative Southerners or just conservative Blue Dogs, but we did make endorsements of a lot of those folks in late 2009 and made PAC contributions to them to try and help them with early money to boost their early financial filings,ā€ Mings said.

Marty Rouse, HRCā€™s national field director, said his organization for now is focused on field work that seeks to persuade key senators to vote in favor of ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€ and is ā€œstill trying, where we can, to mobilize in support of ENDA, expecting a vote in the House in next couple weeks.ā€

But around mid-to-late summer, Rouse said HRC will ā€œpivot big time and shift all of our resourcesā€ to re-electing supporters in Congress, especially in the Senate.

ā€œClearly itā€™s going to take a few months to really flesh out, but our membership is already being messaged that our No. 1 priority this fall is going to be to re-elect our friends and mobilize our members as much as possible,ā€ Rouse said.

Rouse said HRC will be as ā€œstrategic as possibleā€ in determining the best way to support its allies, but itā€™s too early to say what exactly the plan will be. Rouse noted that polling data for these races is still early and many states still have primary elections.

ā€œWhat is clear right now is that weā€™ll be spending the significant amount of our resources on defense and protecting our friends and making sure that theyā€™re back there in 2011 and beyond,ā€ he said.

Even with HRCā€™s field team working to re-elect these senators, Rouse said itā€™s important for LGBT people to look to themselves to ask what theyā€™re doing to help in the election.

ā€œOne can discuss and look at the polls about where Harry Reid is, howā€™s he doing, and whatā€™s going on, but the fact of the matter is we need to make sure that anyone we know that lives in Nevada is working as hard as they can to help re-elect Harry Reid,ā€ Rouse said. ā€œSo we can ask those questions, but we really have to ask, ā€˜What are you doing to make sure that Harry Reid gets re-elected? What are you doing to help make sure Barbara Boxer gets re-elected?ā€™ā€

Rouse said itā€™s important that LGBT people are visible and working to help the re-election of congressional supporters.

ā€œOnce weā€™re in full election mode, we need to be there on the campaign trail supporting our allies and working really hard to be visible in helping them be re-elected because they will remember that we are there,ā€ he said.

But could incumbent lawmakers become victims of political apathy among LGBT people if legislative priorities like ENDA and repeal of ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€ donā€™t move this year?

Michael Cole, an HRC spokesperson, said LGBT voters are ā€œcertainlyā€ looking to this Congress for ā€œaction on pressing equality issuesā€ and will be mindful of this progress as November approaches.

ā€œThat being said, there are a number of pro-LGBT champions up for reelection this year who have the record to deserve whole hearted support from the community,ā€ he said.

But Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director for GOProud, a gay conservative group, said LGBT voters should carefully consider whether to support incumbent lawmakers this year.

ā€œThere [are] a lot of issues that gay people care about and there isnā€™t a single one of those Democrats, in my opinion, who have done anything that I would deem worthy of re-election,ā€ LaSalvia said. ā€œSo ask yourself as a gay voter, ā€˜Well, what have they done that I agree with?ā€™ And Iā€™ll bet you that gay and lesbian [voters] can look at any of those senators and say, ā€˜Youā€™re fired!ā€™ā€

Should enough Democrats lose their seats this fall, control of either chamber of Congress could switch hands. Republicans would have to take 10 seats in the Senate and 41 seats in the House to regain control of both chambers of Congress. Such a loss of control would recall the 1994 election, when Republicans retook control of the House and Senate during Democratic President Bill Clintonā€™s first term in office.

LaSalvia said itā€™s too early to tell whether Democrats will lose control of Congress this fall, but noted that the situation would become clearer as the year progresses.

ā€œI think itā€™s way too early to tell, but certainly they would lose seats, and all signs [show] gains by the Republicans,ā€ he said. ā€œI think that weā€™ve got a long summer ahead of us and the electoral picture and landscape will be a lot clearer when we get to September.ā€

Mings said he didnā€™t think Democrats would lose control of Congress because not enough seats are in jeopardy, but he noted that polling and fundraising numbers indicate the party will lose some seats.

ā€œSo the thing thatā€™s important to remember is that a lot of people were caught off guard in 1994, and thatā€™s something the Democrats are not going to let happen this time,ā€ he said. ā€œTheyā€™re really making sure that their folks are prepared for a really tough, brutal, expensive election and theyā€™re out there really trying to show that their candidates are doing that.ā€

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State Department

Transgender, nonbinary people file lawsuit against passport executive order

State Department banned from issuing passports with ‘X’ gender markers

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(Bigstock photo)

Seven transgender and nonbinary people on Feb. 7 filed a federal lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.

Ashton Orr, Zaya Perysian, Sawyer Soe, Chastain Anderson, Drew Hall, Bella Boe, and Reid Solomon-Lane are the plaintiffs in the class action lawsuit the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Massachusetts, and the private law firm Covington & Burling LPP filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts. The lawsuit names Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio as defendants.

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an ā€œXā€ gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed the executive order that overturned it shortly after he took office on Jan. 20. Rubio later directed State Department personnel to ā€œsuspend any application requesting an ā€˜Xā€™ sex marker and do not take any further action pending additional guidance from the department.ā€  

ā€œThis guidance applies to all applications currently in progress and any future applications,” reads Rubio’s memo. “Guidance on existing passports containing an ā€˜Xā€™ sex marker will come via other channels.ā€

The lawsuit says Trump’s executive order is an “abrupt, discriminatory, and dangerous reversal of settled United States passport policy.” It also concludes the new policy is “unlawful and unconstitutional.”

“It discriminates against individuals based on their sex and, as to some, their transgender status,” reads the lawsuit. “It is motivated by impermissible animus. It cannot be justified under any level of judicial scrutiny, and it wrongly seeks to erase the reality that transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people exist today as they always have.”

Solomon-Lane, who lives in North Adams, Mass., with his spouse and their three children, in an ACLU press release says he has “lived virtually my entire adult life as a man” and “everyone in my personal and professional life knows me as a man, and any stranger on the street who encountered me would view me as a man.”

ā€œI thought that 18 years after transitioning, I would be able to live my life in safety and ease,” he said. “Now, as a married father of three, Trumpā€™s executive order and the ensuing passport policy have threatened that life of safety and ease.”

“If my passport were to reflect a sex designation that is inconsistent with who I am, I would be forcibly outed every time I used my passport for travel or identification, causing potential risk to my safety and my familyā€™s safety,ā€ added Solomon-Lane.

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Federal Government

Education Department moves to end support for trans students

Mental health services among programs that are in jeopardy

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The U.S. Department of Education headquarters in D.C. (Photo courtesy of the GSA/Education Department)

An email sent to employees at the U.S. Department of Education on Friday explains that “programs, contracts, policies, outward-facing media, regulations, and internal practices” will be reviewed and cut in cases where they ā€œfail to affirm the reality of biological sex.ā€

The move, which is of a piece with President Donald Trump’s executive orders restricting transgender rights, jeopardizes the future of initiatives at the agency like mental health services and support for students experiencing homelessness.

Along with external-facing work at the agency, the directive targets employee programs such as those administered by LGBTQ resource groups, in keeping with the Trump-Vance administration’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the federal government.

In recent weeks, federal agencies had begun changing their documents, policies, and websites for purposes of compliance with the new administration’s first executive action targeting the trans community, ā€œDefending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.ā€

For instance, the Education Department had removed a webpage offering tips for schools to better support homeless LGBTQ youth, noted ProPublica, which broke the news of the “sweeping” changes announced in the email to DOE staff.

According to the news service, the directive further explains the administration’s position that ā€œThe deliberate subjugation of women and girls by means of gender ideology ā€” whether in intimate spaces, weaponized language, or American classrooms ā€” negated the civil rights of biological females and fostered distrust of our federal institutions.”

A U.S. Senate committee hearing will be held Thursday for Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for education secretary, who has been criticized by LGBTQ advocacy groups. GLAAD, for instance, notes that she helped to launch and currently chairs the board of a conservative think tank that “has campaigned against policies that support transgender rights in education.”

NBC News reported on Tuesday that Trump planned to issue an executive order this week to abolish the Education Department altogether.

While the president and his conservative allies in and outside the administration have repeatedly expressed plans to disband the agency, doing so would require approval from Congress.

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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 ā€” members of Housing Works, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group ā€” 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 ā€œlife-saving humanitarian assistanceā€ 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.

ā€œPEPFAR 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.” 

ā€œWe 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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