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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

Congress passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ with massive cuts to health insurance coverage

Roughly 1.8 million LGBTQ Americans rely on Medicaid

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

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” heads to President Donald Trump’s desk following the vote by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, which saw two nays from GOP members and unified opposition from the entire Democratic caucus.

To partially offset the cost of tax breaks that disproportionately favor the wealthy, the bill contains massive cuts to Medicaid and social safety net programs like food assistance for the poor while adding a projected $3.3 billion to the deficit.

Policy wise, the signature legislation of Trump’s second term rolls back clean energy tax credits passed under the Biden-Harris administration while beefing up funding for defense and border security.

Roughly 13 percent of LGBTQ adults in the U.S., about 1.8 million people, rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurer, compared to seven percent of non-LGBTQ adults, according to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute think tank on sexual orientation and gender identities.

In total, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will cause more than 10 million Americans to lose their coverage under Medicaid and anywhere from three to five million to lose their care under Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.

A number of Republicans in the House and Senate opposed the bill reasoning that they might face political consequences for taking away access to healthcare for, particularly, low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid. Poorer voters flocked to Trump in last year’s presidential election, exit polls show.

A provision that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation — reportedly after the first trans member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and the first lesbian U.S. senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), shored up unified opposition to the proposal among Congressional Democrats.

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Congress

Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor

One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul

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U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”

Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.

Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.

To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.

A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).

Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”

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Congress

House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms

Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move

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Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.

Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.

The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).

The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”

“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.

They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).

“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”

“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.

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