National
Baldwin for Senate?
LGBT advocates push lesbian lawmaker to run
Rep. Tammy Baldwin is reportedly considering a Senate run (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The opportunity for Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) to become a U.S. senator in the wake of an announcement that a Senate seat will be open in 2012 to represent Wisconsin has LGBT advocates pushing her to pursue higher office.
Baldwin, who has been serving in the U.S. House since 1999 as the only out lesbian in Congress, is likely to pursue a run for the seat, according to the Rothberg Political Report. The Wisconsin lawmaker’s office didn’t immediately respond to a request to comment on the reporting.
In a statement, Chuck Wolfe, president of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, said Baldwin’s run for U.S. Senate would be a “top priority” for his organization.
“This would be a remarkable milestone for LGBT Americans,” Wolfe said. “Congresswoman Baldwin is one of the most admired public officials I know. She would have the strong support of those who want to see our economy work for all Americans, and who believe that all voices deserve a place at the table.”
Katie Belanger, executive director of Fair Wisconsin, said an official announcement from Baldwin that she’d pursue a Senate seat would be “an exciting day for Wisconsin.”
“Tammy has a few things,” Belanger said. “First of all, she is a tireless advocate for progressive values and she is a very, very strong leader who’s willing to stand up for what she believes in. At the same time, she’s also very willing to dialogue with people on both sides of the aisle and willing to come up with solutions that bring people together.”
The opportunity for Baldwin to become a U.S. senator — and the first person in the U.S. Senate to identify as LGBT — became apparent Friday when four-term Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) announced he wouldn’t seek re-election.
Pursuing a run for Senate would be more challenging for Baldwin than previous runs because she’d no longer be an incumbent and she’d have to win majority support among the electorate in her entire state as opposed to her own Democratic-leaning House district.
The news of Kohl’s retirement prompted the Rothberg Political Report to move the Senate seat in the 2012 election temporarily from “Safe Democrat” to “Lean Democrat” until more potential candidates become known.
Despite the challenge that Baldwin could face, recent events in Wisconsin could tilt the odds of winning a Senate seat in her favor.
Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) agenda, which has included a restriction on collective bargaining rights of state workers, has energized Democrats in Wisconsin. Baldwin was vocal in her support for the union rights during the debate and could capitalize on her visibility during the often heated discussion in her pursuit of higher office.
Larry Sabato, a political scientist at the University of Virginia, said forecasting whether Baldwin could win in the race is difficult at this point because the 2012 election is still more than a year away.
“It is so early that it’s hard to handicap the race without knowing the nominees, or how well or poorly President Obama is running for reelection in the fall of 2012,” Sabato said. “This may be yet another Senate contest decided by the results of the presidential contest in the state.”
Still, Belanger said she thinks Baldwin would be an “incredibly viable” candidate in a race for a Senate seat because of the lawmaker’s history of success in her House district.
“It’s about a third urban, a third rural and a third suburban — and in the last election cycle, she won overwhelmingly in a year that was really difficult and tough for Democrats all across the country,” Belanger said. “I think that really demonstrates that she’s able to go into traditionally difficult parts of the state for Democrats and for progressives and really build a strong base of support.”
Exactly who Baldwin would face during her potential run remains in question. On the Democratic side, Russ Feingold, who lost his U.S. Senate seat in the 2010 election, has been named as a potential contender for the Democratic nomination.
Sabato said other potential Democratic candidates — including Baldwin — would yield if Feingold threw his hat in the race.
“The right of first refusal for the Democratic nomination almost certainly goes to Russ Feingold,” Sabato said. “It’s hard to imagine Tammy Baldwin or other major Democrats standing in the way of Feingold’s attempt to return to the Senate, should he choose to do so. Feingold retains great popularity among Democrats in Wisconsin and around the nation.”
Other potential Democratic candidates that have been named include Rep. Ron Kind (D-Wis.) and Steve Kagan, a former House member who was ousted during the Republican wave in the 2010 election.
Republican contenders who could run include Republican National Committee Chair Reince Priebus, who stated opposition to same-sex marriage in his bid to become head of the Republican Party before taking the position.
Another GOP contender is House Budget Committee Chair Paul Ryan (R-Wis.), who gained notoriety after he introduced a controversial alternative budget to President Obama’s plan for fiscal year 2012. Ryan’s measure, which was approved by on the House floor last month, would have eliminated the stimulus package approved in 2009 and defunded Medicare.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams
In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition
On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
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