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Meek campaign slams Crist for ‘total flip’ on LGBT issues

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The campaign for the Democratic contender running against Charlie Crist for the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida is saying the Independent candidate’s change in positions on LGBT issues is “too little, too late.”

In a statement provided to the Blade on Monday, the campaign for Democratic candidate Kendrick Meek hammered Crist and said he’s making a “total flip” on LGBT issues. The Meek campaign accused Crist, the current governor of Florida, of being willing to say anything to win election as a senator.

“Can anyone believe anything Charlie Crist says anymore?,” asked Abe Dyk, Kendrick Meek’s campaign manager. “It’s obvious Charlie Crist is willing to say anything. The only thing Charlie Crist says today that you can believe tomorrow is that he wants to be elected. The only thing we know about Charlie Crist’s track record is that he is a lifelong conservative Republican who has fought against every Democratic value. The governor’s charade trying to hide his lifelong conservative record just to get elected is an insult to every Floridian.”

On Sunday, the news website Raw Story published a leaked document outlining Crist’s support for an array of pro-LGBT bills pending before Congress, including repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act. The article reports Crist intends to make these positions officially public as early as this week.

In response to this reporting, the Meek campaign maintains the Democratic candidate as a U.S. House member has been “on the front lines of the fight” for LGBT rights in the past while Crist has “stood in strong opposition.”

The campaign chides Crist for supporting “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” until earlier this year — after he made his bid as an Independent candidate for U.S. Senate — and for supporting Amendment 2 in Florida, which bans same-sex marriage and marriage-like unions in the state.

The Meek campaign touts how the Democratic candidate has been a co-sponsor of legislation that would repeal “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” As a U.S. House member, Meek voted for an amendment on the House floor that would lead to repeal of the statute.

Additionally, the statement says Meek “stood against” Amendment 2 when it came before Florida voters in 2008 and voted for a version of ENDA in 2007.

A source with the Meek campaign said the Democratic candidate favors civil unions and opposes a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage while believing the marriage issue should be left up to the states.

Meek and Crist are competing in a three-way election this fall to win the open U.S. Senate seat in Florida. The Republican nominee in the race is Marco Rubio.

Rubio’s campaign didn’t immediately respond to the Blade’s request to comment on Crist’s reportedly new positions on pro-LGBT legislation.

UPDATE: The Meek campaign is making public a mailing from Crist’s 2006 gubernatorial campaign in which Crist criticizes his Democratic opponent Jim Davis for supporting the LGBT community.

The mailing, titled “Jim Davis has turned his back on our values,” shows a picture of Davis apparently speaking before Florida’s GLBT Democratic caucus. Additionally, the mailing says under the heading “Davis is opposed to traditional families” that “Davis has consistently supported gay adoption.”

The portion of the mailing promoting Crist states that he “Defends marriage and protects traditional values” and “Leads efforts to protect Florida’s children.”

Crist 2006 campaign mailing (photo courtesy Meek campaign)

Crist 2006 campaign mailing (photo courtesy Meek campaign)

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Congress

House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael. Key)

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.

But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.

The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.

To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:

“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give  handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.

“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.

“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”

Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.

Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.

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Congress

Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer

Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights

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U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) speaks at a Barack Obama rally on Oct. 19, 2012. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.

The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.

“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”

“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.

Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.

The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.

When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.

In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.


 

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Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances

Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.

Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.

LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”

Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.

Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”

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