Politics
OutServe to provide voice to LGBT troops
A new organization opposed to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” officially launched on Monday that aims to give new voice to LGBT service members currently serving in the U.S. military.
The group, OutServe, formerly known as Citizens for Repeal, is crediting itself with being the first-ever organization for active duty gay, lesbian and bisexual troops that is speaking openly with Pentagon officials as well as public audiences.
OutServe’s co-director, a military officer who’s referring to himself publicly by the alias of J.D. Smith to avoid being outed under “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” said his group is focused on giving support to active duty gay and lesbian service members through social networking.
“For example, we had someone moved from Virginia to Colorado recently,” Smith said. “Through the network, we were able to get them in touch with new people and new friends in Colorado.”
Smith said plans for the future include helping LGBT troops find counseling services and becoming “a professional group of LGBT military members.”
As part of its launch, the group issued a statement on Monday outlining its mission and the importance of hearing from openly LGBT service members in the U.S. military.
“We are active duty and veteran gay, lesbian, and bisexual soldiers, sailors, Marines, airmen, and members of the Coast Guard who are currently serving and who have served — some in silence, some with the open support of our comrades — in defense of our nation,” the statement begins. “We include service men and women who graduated at the top of our classes at the service academies and enlisted at recruitment centers around the country. Some of our members have lost their lives in service to their country.”
The group started in October 2009 as an underground network with a Facebook page. According to a statement from the organization, OutServe now has about 450 members, including around two dozen service members deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Smith said efforts started with collecting stories from LGBT active duty service members and the group’s activities evolved. Starting in March, OutServe embarked on a tour of schools throughout the country to speak out against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”
A speech at the State University of New York at Oswego, according to Smith, prompted such fervor against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” on campus that Army Secretary John McHugh had to cancel a subsequent appearance at the college out of fear of protests.
“We weren’t the ones doing the protest, but the students ended up doing it there — they were fired up about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,'” Smith said.
As the Pentagon working group develops its plan for implementing repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” Smith said the organizations plans to make sure LGBT service members have a voice.
“One of the things that we see a lot coming from the Pentagon is they’re saying ‘gay advocates’ are saying this, or certain things are happening, and like to use the word ‘advocates,'” Smith said. “As we created a group that is just active duty, it’s no longer advocates are saying this it’s now their own people.”
Smith said OutServe had been communicating with the Pentagon working group in limited fashion by giving them information “that is beneficial to help them with repeal.”
Such information, Smith said, includes anecdotes on LGBT troops serving with other service members and feedback on the Pentagon’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” survey.
Congress
Protests against anti-trans bathroom policy lead to more than a dozen arrests
Demonstrations were staged outside House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) office
About 15 protestors affiliated with the Gender Liberation Movement were arrested on Thursday for protesting the anti-trans bathroom policy that was introduced by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) and enacted last month by U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Whistleblower Chelsea Manning and social justice advocates Raquel Willis and Renee Bracey Sherman were among those who were arrested in the women’s bathroom and the hallway outside Johnson’s office in the Cannon House Office Building.
Demonstrators held banners reading “FLUSH BATHROOM BIGOTRY” and “CONGRESS: STOP PISSING ON OUR RIGHTS!” They chanted, “SPEAKER JOHNSON, NANCY MACE, OUR GENDERS ARE NO DEBATE!” and “WHEN TRANS FOLKS ARE UNDER ATTACK WHAT DO WE DO? ACT UP, FIGHT BACK!”
Protests began around 12:10 p.m. ET. Within 30 minutes, Capitol Police arrived on the scene, began making arrests, and cleared the area. A spokesperson told Axios the demonstration was an illegal violation of the D.C. code against crowding, obstructing or incommoding.
Mace and her flame-throwing House GOP allies have said the bathroom policy was meant to target Sarah McBride, the Delaware state senator who will become the first transgender member of Congress after she is seated in January.
LGBTQ groups, elected Democrats, and others have denounced the move as a bigoted effort to bully and intimidate a new colleague, with many asking how the policy’s proponents would enforce the measure.
Outside her office in the Longworth House Office Building, the Washington Blade requested comment from Mace about the protests and arrests.
“Yeah, I went to the Capitol Police station where they were being processed, so I’ll be posting what I said shortly,” the congresswoman said.
Using an anti-trans slur, Mace posted a video to her X account in which she says, “alright, so some tranny protestors showed up at the Capitol today to protest my bathroom bill, but they got arrested — poor things.”
“So I have a message for the protestors who got arrested,” the congresswoman continued, and then spoke into a megaphone as she read the Miranda warning. “If you cannot afford an attorney — I doubt many of you can — one will be provided to you at the government’s expense,” she said.
“Everyone deserves to use the restroom without fear of discrimination or violence. Trans folks are no different. We deserve dignity and respect and we will fight until we get it,” Gender Liberation Movement co-founder Raquel Willis said in a press release.
“In the 2024 election, trans folks were left to fend for ourselves after nearly $200 million of attack ads were disseminated across the United States,” she said. “Now, as Republican politicians, try to remove us from public life, Democratic leaders are silent as hell.”
Willis continued, “But we can’t transform bigotry and hate with inaction. We must confront it head on. Democrats must rise up, filibuster, and block this bill.”
Politics
Trump nominates gay man for Treasury secretary
Hedge fund executive would be the second openly gay cabinet secretary
President-elect Donald Trump nominated openly gay hedge fund executive Scott Bessent as U.S. Treasury secretary on Friday.
Once a prolific donor to Democrats and a protege of liberal billionaire philanthropist George Soros, if confirmed Bessent would be the first LGBTQ official to lead the Treasury Department and the second gay cabinet secretary after Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg.
“Trump’s selection of Bessent, who is also openly gay, married, and has two children with his partner, is also a reminder of President Trump’s love and respect for LGBT Americans,” the conservative LGBTQ group Log Cabin Republicans said in a statement.
“Scott Bessent is a terrific choice to become the next Treasury Secretary and the Log Cabin Republicans applaud President Trump for his pick,” the organization wrote. “As one of the most brilliant minds in the financial space and a vocal supporter of President Trump’s economic agenda, Bessent will be a strong asset to help President Trump put America back on the path to financial security and economic prosperity.”
Equality Forum, a national LGBTQ civil rights organization, which oversees LGBT History Month, noted the nomination of Scott Bessent in a press release, writing that he “is highly regarded by the financial community and founder of a global macro investment firm.”
Equality Forum Executive Director Malcolm Lazin added, “If confirmed, Bessent will be the highest ranking openly gay U.S. government official in American history.”
Politics
Karine Jean-Pierre addresses anti-trans bathroom policy targeting Sarah McBride
HRC condemns the effort as ‘cruel’ and ‘discriminatory’
During a briefing on Thursday, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre addressed the controversy over House Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-La.) move to restrict access to single-sex facilities in the U.S. Capitol and House office buildings based on birth gender.
The new policy, which mirrors a proposal introduced by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) on Monday that was supported by other House Republicans including U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (Ga.), comes as Congress prepares to welcome its first trans member, Sarah McBride.
Mace conceded that her bathroom policy was intended to target the Delaware state senator, who will represent the state’s at-large congressional district when she is seated in January.
“When I think about that question, I think about what the congresswoman-elect said,” Jean-Pierre told reporters, referencing a statement issued by McBride on Wednesday. “As you know, the president has a close relationship with and is very proud of her.”
She continued, “And what she said is ‘I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families.’ And we agree with her. We think that’s incredibly important: To focus on the American people” and her constituents.
Asked whether President Joe Biden has been in touch with McBride in recent days, Jean-Pierre said, “I don’t have a conversation to speak to,” adding that “as you know” the two spoke when the president made a congratulatory call to McBride on election night.
“He was able to call her and congratulate her,” the press secretary said. “I don’t have anything else to add, but I think her words speak volumes.”
McBride’s statement, published on X, reads in part, “Like all members, I will follow the rules as outlined by Speaker Johnson, even if I disagree with them. This effort to distract from the real issues facing this country hasn’t distracted me over the last several days.”
I’m not here to fight about bathrooms. I’m here to fight for Delawareans and to bring down costs facing families. pic.twitter.com/bCuv7pIZBY
— Sarah McBride (@SarahEMcBride) November 20, 2024
Following Johnson’s introduction of the bathroom policy on Wednesday, Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson shared a statement with the Washington Blade:
“This new cruel and discriminatory policy has nothing to do with helping the American people or addressing their priorities–it’s all about hurting people.
“It targets not just Rep.-elect McBride, but all trans and nonbinary people who work and visit the Capitol — public servants who have been working in the Capitol for years but are now suddenly the subject of cynical political games.
Speaker Johnson has proven yet again that the Republican majority is more focused on culture wars than on the needs of the country.”
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