Politics
HRC issues scorecard for 111th Congress
The Human Rights Campaign on Friday issued its scorecard for the 111th Congress detailing the level of support that lawmakers have for pro-LGBT legislation.
On a scale of 0 to 100, U.S. House members and U.S senators are scored for their support for pro-gay bills in Congress, such the vote on hate crimes protection legislation or co-sponsorship of bills such as the Uniting American Families Act.
“While advancements for equality were made this Congress, a strong and devoted group of anti-LGBT legislators continues to stymie the progress LGBT people deserve,” said HRC President Joe Solmonese. “The fact that the first ever vote to repeal ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ in the House of Representatives was countered by a filibuster in the Senate illustrates the landscape.”
Paul Guequierre, an HRC spokesperson, said the scorecard is not yet final and his organization will publish a complete version after the lame duck session of Congress. LGBT rights supporters are hoping for another vote in the Senate on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal legislation by the year’s end.
Scores for individual House members and senators can be viewed at www.hrc.org/scorecard.
The scorecard has a number of notable ranking for U.S. House members and U.S. senators:
* Gay Reps. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) each received scores of 100. But Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), another gay lawmaker, received a score of 96. He lost points for not co-sponsoring legislation that would overturn the Defense of Marriage Act.
* U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) received a score of 100, although she’s not a co-sponsor of many pro-LGBT bills. As speaker, Pelosi often doesn’t co-sponsor legislation even if she doesn’t support it.
* House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) received a score of 0. He’s likely to become speaker if — as pundits across the board predict — Republicans take control of the House on Election Day.
* Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) received a score of 100 even though he isn’t a co-sponsor of many pro-LGBT bills. Like the speaker, his position as majority leader means he often doesn’t co-sponsor legislation even if he supports it.
By contrast, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell received a score of 0.
* Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) received a score of 0. He railed against the inclusion of a hate crimes protection measure in major defense budget legislation last year and successfully lead a filibuster of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal legislation in September.
* The Republican senators from Maine known to be moderates received high scores, but neither obtained a perfect rating.
Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) received a score of 81. She lost points for voting to block legislation containing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” from coming to the Senate floor and for not co-sponsoring UAFA.
Similarly, Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) received a score of 77. She lost points for also voting against bringing a bill containing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal to the Senate floor and for not co-sponsoring UAFA. She also doesn’t co-sponsor legislation that would eliminate the tax paid on employer-provided health coverage for domestic partners.
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

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.
Congress
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights

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.
Congress
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning

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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