National
National News in brief: June 10
Cubs; Red Sox join Giants in ‘It Gets Better,’ Conn. to add trans protections, White House to celebrate Pride this month


The San Francisco Giants were the first professional sports team to join the ‘It Gets Better’ campaign. (Photo courtesy San Francisco Giants)
Cubs, Red Sox join ‘It Gets Better’ campaign
CHICAGO — On the heels of a new “It Gets Better” video recorded by the San Francisco Giants — the first professional American sports team to record a video for the project to stem LGBT youth suicide — the Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs have announced they will join the campaign.
The Cubs, who play at Wrigley Field just blocks from Chicago’s gay neighborhood known as “Boys Town,” are owned by openly gay Laura Ricketts and her siblings.
“The Cubs applaud the Giants for their stand against anti-LGBT bullying. Bullying of anyone for any reason is unacceptable,” Ricketts told Chicago’s LGBT newspaper, the Windy City Times, Saturday. “We are proud to join the Giants in taking a stand against bullying and encourage other professional sports organizations to do the same.”
On Monday, the Boston Red Sox announced they would be the third professional sports team to add to the library of 10,000 “It Gets Better” videos, in answer to a Change.org petition started by 12-year-old Sam Maden of New Hampshire. A similar petition has been launched to encourage the Baltimore Orioles to record a video; it’s available at change.org.
Conn. adds trans protections to bias law
HARTFORD, Conn. — The first state to bring about marriage equality by legislative vote, rather than judicial intervention, is poised to extend employment protections to transgender residents.
Though 21 states and the District of Columbia ban employment and public accommodations discrimination based on sexual orientation, only 14 states ban such discrimination based on gender identity. The bill, HB6599, which adds gender identity and expression as a protected class to race, age, sex, marital status and physical ability, passed 20-16, and heads to Gov. Dan Malloy (D) who has vowed to sign it.
Meghan Stabler, a national advocate and educator on transgender rights, who testified at the Judiciary Committee hearing in March, hopes Connecticut’s strategy will be duplicated elsewhere.
“This was the result of a lot of consistent work by a number of organizations for several years, not just pushing for a bill that’s inclusive, but education and outreach to legislative people and state and local organizations — both of faith as well as other allied organizations,” Stabler told the Blade.
White House to host Pride celebration
WASHINGTON – The White House plans to host a reception on June 29 to commemorate June as Pride month, the Washington Blade learned this week.
A White House official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the celebration would take place, but added further information isn’t yet available.
“Later this month, the White House will hold a reception to observe LGBT Pride month,” the official said. “Further details will be provided at a later date.”
The White House has hosted Pride celebrations in June for each of the two previous years in which President Obama has been in office.
Hendricks to run for Va. Assembly seat
An official with the National Black Justice Coalition announced this week that he would seek the Virginia Assembly seat opening up in his hometown upon the retirement of independent Del. Watkins Abbitt.
Jasper Hendricks, III, has worked for the National Black Justice Coalition for three years, and has previously worked in politics, including on the staff of Rep. Kendrick Meek of Miami as well as serving as political director of the Wisconsin Democratic Party during the 2006 governor’s race.
Hendricks, however, has lived in the 59th District his entire life.
“I’m originally from here. I went to school in Appomattox,” he said, “I have been commuting via Amtrak to D.C. three days a week.” He says he spends long weekends with his family at home.
“Right now I’m the first Democrat to announce. I’ve heard there are others who are considering it, but taking advice from locals, I was the first person to file.”
When asked about his chances in this sometimes red, sometimes blue district, Hendricks expressed confidence.
“The district is very rural, encompasses Appomattox County of the famous Civil War battles … so it’s a very rural district.”
The current state delegate of 26 years, Watkins Abbitt, was originally a Democrat, but he switched to independent about 15 years ago, and now caucuses with Republicans. His father, Watkins Abbitt Sr. is a former member of Congress.
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.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
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