News
Sanchez: House considering delayed ‘Don’t Ask’ measure
House lawmakers are weighing the possibility of passing delayed implementation legislation as a way to accomplish repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” this year, according to an opponent of the law in Congress.
Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Calif.) — a co-sponsor of repeal legislation in the House and member of the House Armed Services Committee — told the Blade in a brief exchange Wednesday that among the options House members are considering is a measure Congress would pass this year that wouldn’t stop discharges in the U.S. military until later.
Asked whether lawmakers are discussing such a measure as an amendment to pending defense authorization legislation for the Pentagon’s budget, Sanchez replied, “We’re certainly looking at that.”
Sanchez said H.R. 1283, the Military Readiness Enhancement Act — standalone legislation sponsored by Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) that would overturn “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” — may not be the legislation that comes to the House floor.
“I could see, for example, something close to Mr. Murphy’s bill, but with maybe a time from not starting for another nine months in anticipation of the report supposedly — or the study that is being done by the military,” she said.
Sanchez said several amendments relating to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” may come before the Rules Committee — the necessary step for bringing an amendment to the floor in the House — and a delayed implementation measure could be one among several.
Supporters of repeal in the LGBT community have been pressing for such legislation as a compromise measure to bring on board Defense Secretary Robert Gates, who wrote in an April 30 letter that he would “strongly oppose” legislative action on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” before the Pentagon completes its study on the issue at the end of the year.
On the Senate side, Senate Armed Services Committee Carl Levin (D-Mich.) reportedly expressed support on Monday for delayed implementation legislation as a way to move forward following the publication of this letter.
“What we ought to do is repeal it, but make the effective date after the report,” Levin said, according to Roll Call newspaper.
Anticipating a House vote on defense authorization legislation in the coming weeks, Sanchez said supporters of repeal in Congress are “looking for the votes” to an end “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as part of this larger bill.
She said she’s not expecting a vote on the House Armed Services Committee when the panel takes up the legislation next week, but a vote later when the bill comes to the House floor.
“We don’t have the votes in the committee on the Democratic side to enable to put this [through],” she said. “It won’t be in the chairman’s mark in the full committee. We don’t have votes in the full committee.”
Sanchez said supporters are “counting the votes for the House floor” in hopes of finding sufficient support to “show leadership that, if in fact we have the votes, they may allow us an amendment on the House floor.”
“I don’t even know if we will move something forward,” she said. “It all depends if we can get it through Rules and what that will look like, but certainly there are plenty of us who have had many discussions about how we try to move this issue.”
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023
The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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