National
National news in brief
Civil unions bill in Colo., amendment push in N.C. and more
Colo. senator introduces civil unions bill
DENVER — A Colorado state senator introduced a civil unions bill on Feb. 14. “Civil unions will allow committed couples to share in the responsibilities and protections in Colorado law that most families take for granted,” Sen. Pat Steadman said in a press release. He said he considered the less-than-equal argument many gays make against civil unions but said everyday matters like medical care and inheritance are too vital to ignore, according to reports from the Colorado Independent. Coloradans voted in 2006 to ban same-sex marriage but polls show deep support in the state for civil unions.
San Francisco mural draws controversy
SAN FRANCISCO — A proposed mural on San Francisco’s Polk Street in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood has drawn controversy, a California NBC affiliate reported. Artists who unveiled a sketch of the mural were met with backlash at a community meeting last month. Attendees didn’t like the quality of the art and content that alluded to the neighborhood’s gay history. The artists said the Lower Polk Neighborhood Association hired them to paint a gay history mural. Before the ’70s, when the Castro emerged as the city’s gay area, Polk Street was the center of gay life. Some who objected say the era is too rife with well-documented incidents of police harassment and brutality to warrant a nostalgic mural.
Anti-gay marriage amendment filed in N.C.
RALEIGH, N.C. — A North Carolina state senator this week filed a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage. The text of the proposed amendment, which has not yet been filed in the House, would ban any recognition of any “domestic legal union” other than a marriage between an opposite-sex couple, Q Notes, a Charlotte-based LGBT newspaper reported. If approved by the legislature, the amendment would appear on the November 2012 ballot. Three-fifths of both the House and Senate must approve the amendment before it can appear on the ballot; the governor has no veto authority on amendments. Republican state Sen. James Forrester of Gaston County filed the amendment. The state has laws against same-sex marriage but not a constitutional amendment.
Alaska regents vote to ban anti-gay bias
ANCHORAGE, Alaska — The University of Alaska Board of Regents voted last week to ban discrimination based on sexual orientation, with its president saying the state may have been the only one in the nation not to have sexual orientation specifically listed as a protection in a public university policy, the Associated Press reported this week. The proposal, approved 8-2, adds sexual orientation to university policy that bans discrimination.
Gays barred from Creation Museum ‘date night’
PETERSBURG, Ky. — A “date night” event at the Kentucky-based Creation Museum was disrupted earlier this month when a male couple was denied admission, the Associated Press reported. A friend of one of the men who was barred entry, told the AP no one in their group was gay but Joe Sonka, the man who was not allowed in, had blogged in January that a “flamboyantly” gay couple should attend the tour and told security guards he was waiting for his “date” who was male. Mark Looy, chief communications officer for the Creation Museum, said it was clear from promotional material that the event was for straight couples only and said it presented the “biblical view of marriage.”
Facebook adds two relationship status options
SAN FRANCISCO — Facebook recently began offering users new ways to describe their romantic situation by adding “in a civil union” and “in a domestic partnership” to its official list of relationship statuses, according to reports from many news outlets this week. In the past, Facebook’s 600 million users were offered choices including “single,” “in a relationship” and “it’s complicated.” The decision to include the options came after Facebook negotiated with users and rights advocacy groups, a company rep told the San Francisco Chronicle. Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes is openly gay. The option is available in the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and France.
Kansas student op-ed draws controversy
WICHITA, Kan. — Gay rights advocates in Kansas are calling for Wichita school leaders to “undo the damage and hurt” caused by a student newspaper column that they say promotes violence against gays, according to a report from the Wichita Eagle, a regional paper. The opinion column, published Feb. 11 in the editorial section of the Messenger, East High School’s student newspaper, says same-sex relationships “just are not normal” and “should be frowned upon.” Its author, an East High student, also cited a Bible verse that says men who lie with other men have “committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death.” District officials, the newspaper’s faculty adviser and student editors say the column constitutes free speech and is protected by the First Amendment and the Kansas Student Publications Act. Jessica Thomas, a senior at East High and one of the newspaper’s three editors, said she and her colleagues “knew the column could possibly be controversial.” “We don’t necessarily agree or disagree. It’s one person’s personal opinion,” she said. Kansas law “very tightly restricts” teachers’ or school administrators’ ability to interfere with what students want to publish, Frank LoMonte, executive director of the Student Press Law Center in Washington, told the Eagle. The Kansas Student Publications Act says “material shall not be suppressed solely because it involves political or controversial subject matter.” A journalism teacher said it met the criteria for free speech. But Michael Jones, an editor for the national website Change.org, wrote in a blog post last week that the East High column “suggested it would be moral to execute an entire population of students.”
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
Congress
Ogles faces bipartisan backlash over anti-gay social media post
Tenn. congressman blamed the comment on staffer
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, is facing backlash from LGBTQ advocates and fellow Republicans after a social media post declared that “homosexuality has no place in America.”
“Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month,” the congressman wrote in a post on X that was later deleted.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 6.3 percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ.
Following widespread criticism, Ogles removed the post and blamed it on a staff member.
“The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded,” Ogles said in a statement.
The Washington Blade reached out to Ogles’s office for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Among those condemning the message was U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who called it “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post.
“Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact, Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also criticized Ogles’s remarks.
“For all of recorded history, homosexuals have been a part of humanity,” Cruz told TMZ DC. “I think the behavior of consenting adults is their business.”
Chris Sanders, the executive director for the Tennessee Equality Project and Tennessee Equality Project Foundation provided a statement to the Blade about Ogles’s comment.
“The Tennessee Nuclear Family Month resolution has really backfired on conservatives by ensnaring Congressman Ogles in scandal. He used the resolution as a pretext to say that our community doesn’t belong in America, resulting in incredible backlash from across the partisan divide,” Sanders said. “It is a good opportunity for him to pause and reflect on whether it’s time for him to resign. Fighting one’s own constituents is not the purpose of serving in Congress.”
Human Rights Campaign Senior Press Secretary Jarred Keller provided a statement to the Blade regarding Ogles’s comments.
“LGBTQ+ people are woven into the fabric of America, and any politician who questions that is severely out of touch with reality. When so many people are worried about whether they can afford gas to get to work or groceries for their families, the last thing we need is right-wing Republicans targeting marginalized communities with hateful attacks,” Keller said. “Representative Ogles should spend less time attacking LGBTQ+ people and start addressing the issues that actually matter, because last I checked, our community isn’t the reason families are struggling to make ends meet.”
The controversy comes as Tennessee continues to advance legislation affecting LGBTQ residents. The state already has several laws on the books that LGBTQ advocates have criticized, including the Adult Entertainment Act, enacted in 2023, which restricts certain “adult cabaret performances.”
Lawmakers have also introduced additional measures this legislative session, including the “No Pride Flag or Month Act,” which would prohibit state employees, volunteers, and agents from displaying Pride flags or participating in Pride observances while acting in an official capacity.
Another proposal, the “Banning Bostock Act” would seek to limit the application of state anti-discrimination protections based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. Tennessee lawmakers have also passed other measures restricting LGBTQ rights and access to gender-affirming health care.
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