National
National news briefs: Feb. 18
Drug bust goes down on gay cruise, porn studio to crack down and more
Calif. man busted for drugs on gay cruise
ORLANDO, Fla. — A gay California man was arrested in the U.S. Virgin Islands on suspicion of selling drugs to fellow passengers on a Caribbean cruise, officials said last week according to a report in Watermark, a Florida-based gay news outlet. Steven Barry Krumholz, 51, of West Hollywood, was arrested on board the Allure of the Seas in St. Thomas, said Jeffrey Quinones, a spokesman in Puerto Rico for U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The ship had just come from the Bahamas on a charter billed as the “world’s largest gay cruise.” Customs and Border Protection agents boarded the ship Wednesday and found drugs on another passenger, who said he had placed an order with Krumholz before the trip and picked them up while on board, according to an affidavit submitted by one of the investigating agents. Agents searched Krumholz’s cabin and allegedly found more than 142 ecstasy pills, nearly 3 grams of methamphetamine, a small quantity of ketamine and about $51,000 in cash, the agent said.
Gay porn studio plans crackdown on theft
FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Gay porn studio and distributor Corbin Fisher is ready to crack down on possibly tens of thousands of gay porn thieves, according to a report from South Florida Gay News. Marc Randazza, counsel for the company, said it’s taking a huge hit from online content theft. Corbin has 40,000 IP addresses of users who have illegally downloaded the studio’s material. Recently the company offered an amnesty deal for users that would exempt them from any lawsuits brought forth by the company. The deal consisted of a one-time fee of $1,000 and as a bonus they received a one-year subscription to their website. Only 20 people came forward to accept. That amnesty deal has ended. Now Randazza says he is willing to offer a second amnesty deal to SFGN readers for a one-time payment of $1,900. Those that come forward this time though will not receive a one-year subscription to their website. Randazza said the company recently won a lawsuit against an illegal downloader that resulted in a $250,000 judgment in their favor, the Gay News reported.
New York man sentenced in anti-gay crime
MANHATTAN — A Queens man pleaded guilty this week to punching the bartender at a gay bar in the West Village while spouting an anti-gay and racist rant. He is expected to serve prison time, according to DNA Info, a New York-based news service. Frederic Guinta, 25, was charged with attacking bartender Greg Davis, 38, at Julius Bar on West 10th Street on Oct. 11. Earlier that day, Guinta also tried to steal a patron’s wallet at Ty’s bar at 114 Christopher St., he admitted Tuesday.
Ind. House votes to ban same-sex marriage
INDIANAPOLIS — A constitutional ban on same-sex unions passed the Indiana House, 70-26, this week in a major step toward writing the ban into the state’s founding document, the Indianapolis Star and many other media outlets reported Tuesday. The measure has passed the Senate several times in recent years but has died repeatedly in the House, which until this year was controlled by Democrats. A constitutional amendment must be approved by two separately elected legislatures in succession and then by voters, so it would take at least three years for the measure to be included in the constitution. The Senate approved a constitutional same-sex marriage ban in 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010. The entire legislature approved a constitutional amendment once, in 2005, when Republicans also controlled the House.
Washington State introduces marriage bill
NEW YORK — Washington State Sen. Ed Murray and Rep. Jim Moeller introduced legislation Monday that would grant same-sex couples there the right to marry, several other media outlets reported this week. The bill is seen as having a good chance of passing but it’s likely Washington residents will also get to weigh in. Washington is the only state that won an expansion of gay rights at the ballot box when Referendum 71 passed by 53 percent in 2009.
Hawaii House approves couples bill
HONOLULU — The Hawaii State House passed a bill last week 31-19 that provides equal rights and responsibilities of married couples there to non-married couples, including same-sex partners. After minor changes were made in the House, the bill now heads to back to the Senate for agreement on the amendments before heading to Gov. Neil Abercrombie for his signature. The bill is nearly identical to a civil unions bill passed last year but was vetoed by the former governor.
Pro-gay minister acquitted by church court
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The highest court in the Presbyterian Church (USA) last week acquitted a minister who officiated for the wedding of a same-sex couple. The General Assembly Permanent Judicial Commission said Rev. Jean Southard did not violate the denomination’s “Book of Order” but also said the church still interprets its policies to mean a “same-sex ceremony can never be a marriage.” She was found innocent by a lower court, a ruling that was reversed on the Synod level, before last week’s acquittal. Southard, who’s straight, married a lesbian couple in Massachusetts in 2008.
Federal Government
RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth
‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.
The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.
“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”
While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.
The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”
Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.
“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”
GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”
Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.
“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.
“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”
“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.”
Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.
“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”
The White House
Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador
Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.
Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”
“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.
Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Federal Courts
Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy
Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.
The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”
Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.
“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.
Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.
The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.
Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”
Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.
“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”
“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.
Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.
Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.
The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.
Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.
A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.
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