National
Bachmann’s record is no laughing matter
Tea Party fave opposes LGBT rights; husband backs ‘ex-gay’ therapy
The anti-gay rhetoric and voting record of Rep. Michele Bachmann (R-Minn.) came under scrutiny this week in the wake of her announcement that she would run for the White House in 2012.
In a speech last week in her hometown of Waterloo, Iowa, the Tea Party favorite pledged to continue advancing conservative causes as she formally declared her candidacy.
“I want to bring a voice, your voice, to the White House, just as I have brought your voice to the halls of Congress to secure the promise of the future for our generation and generations to come,” Bachmann said.
But based on her voting record in Congress since she started representing Minnesota in the U.S. House in 2007, a Bachmann presidency would likely be bad news for LGBT Americans.
In addition to voting against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and opposing the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, she also opposed hate crimes legislation.
Additionally, Bachmann has called for passage of a federal constitutional amendment that would ban same-sex marriage throughout the country, even though she was elected to Congress too late to vote on such a measure when it came before lawmakers.
As a state senator in Minnesota, Bachmann sponsored legislation to make a ban on same-sex marriage part of the state constitution. The amendment that Minnesota voters will vote on in 2012 is similar to the measure she proposed at that time.
Michael Cole-Schwartz, spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, predicted that a Bachmann presidency would mark a major setback for LGBT rights.
“A President Bachmann would mean a wholesale reversal from the gains we’ve seen over the past few years,” Cole-Schwartz said. “Not only would we see policy positions that hurt our families, the level of anti-LGBT rhetoric would no doubt rise as would the use of our community as a political wedge issue.”
The Bachmann campaign didn’t respond to the Washington Blade’s request for comment.
Bachmann could become a major player in the 2012 presidential campaign if she performs well in the early primary states and some experts have speculated that she would make a strong vice presidential pick. A favorite among the Tea Party wing of the GOP, Bachmann is already polling well in her home state of Iowa, where social conservatives tend to fare well in the GOP caucus.
According to a poll published June 26, Bachmann is nearly tied in Iowa with frontrunner, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. The Des Moines Register Iowa Poll found that Romney was favored by 23 percent of likely Republican caucus-goers while Bachmann was supported by 22 percent.
Additionally, a poll published Wednesday by Public Policy Polling found Bachmann would place a strong second in the New Hampshire primary, even though the GOP in the state has more libertarian leanings. Romney leads in the state with the support of 25 percent of respondents, but Bachmann comes in second at 18 percent. She jumped 14 points in the last three months.
Bachmann has said recently that marriage should be left to the states to decide. However, she has always reiterated her support for the Federal Marriage Amendment — a contradiction because ratification of that measure would define marriage at the federal level.
During her appearance June 13 in the Republican presidential debate, Bachmann called for enactment of a Federal Marriage Amendment as she said she wouldn’t interfere with New Hampshire’s law allowing same-sex marriage.
“I do support a constitutional amendment on marriage between a man and a woman, but I would not be going into the states to overturn their state law,” Bachmann said.
Also during the debate, Bachmann said she would have kept “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in place.
“I would want to confer with our commanders-in-chief and also with the Joint Chiefs of Staff because I want to know how it was being implemented and if it had the detrimental effects that have been suggested will come,” Bachmann said.
Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen came out in favor of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in February. Some of the military service chiefs — most notably Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos — opposed repeal of the military’s gay ban before Congress acted to lift the law, but each has said they can implement open service.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, acknowledged his organization and Bachmann don’t “see eye-to-eye” on LGBT issues, but said her more nuanced rhetoric on marriage was noteworthy.
“We’ve been arguing all along that DOMA is incursion on states rights,” Cooper said. “It’s interesting to see her kind of move in that direction because that’s a nuance. It doesn’t mean that she’s all of a sudden a champion of fundamental rights by any means, but it’s interesting that she’s being forced to shift.”
In addition to her anti-gay stances on marriage and the military, Bachmann has also engaged in anti-gay political rhetoric throughout her career.
The slightly more nuanced — if contradictory — position that Bachmman has adopted on marriage is different from what she previously stated. According to the Washington Post, Bachmann has called marriage “probably the biggest issue that will impact our state and our nation in the last, at least, 30 years.”
Additionally, in the fight to push for a same-sex marriage ban in Minnesota in 2004, Bachmann said a member of her family is gay and called it “a very sad life. It’s part of Satan.” According to the Post, her stepsister, Helen LaFave, is gay and in 2006 publicly opposed the ban.
Scott Dibble, a gay Democratic state senator in Minnesota, said in a Post interview that Bachmann argued that advancing gay rights could result in children being “lured into trying homosexuality out” and that “the reason for high divorce rates in Scandinavian countries was that they offered equality” to LGBT people.
But Bachmann could be overshadowed in her anti-gay views by her husband, Marcus Bachmann, a therapist who runs a faith-based counseling center. His practice reportedly offers discredited conversion therapy for LGBT people, although he’s said that he doesn’t try to convert gay people who say “they want to stay homosexual.”
In an interview last year with a Christian radio show, Marcus Bachmann compared gays to “barbarians” and said they “need to be educated, need to be disciplined.”
“Just because someone feels it or thinks it doesn’t mean that we are supposed to go down that road,” he said. “That’s what is called the sinful nature. We have a responsibility as parents and as authority figures not to encourage such thoughts and feelings from moving into the action steps.”
Marcus Bachmann is close to his wife’s political campaign. According to the Washington Post, Bachmann recently called himself his wife’s “strategist” and has acted as her media planner, travel assistant and personal shopper.
Despite Bachmann’s anti-gay record, Log Cabin’s Cooper said the country has grown more supportive of LGBT rights since the last presidential election and the GOP has noticed.
“Looking at where are we are in 2011 heading off the 2012 cycle, it’s a much different world than it was in the ’08 cycle, and a far different world than it was in ’04 and 2000,” Cooper said. “We’re in a much different state as a country than we have ever been, and it is going to force campaigns to evaluate these issues.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
The White House
VIDEO: Gay journalist detained for booing Trumps at ‘Chicago’ opening night
Eugene Ramirez booed first family at Kennedy Center
President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump attended the opening night of “Chicago” at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts on Tuesday. They were greeted by a mix of cheers, applause, and some audible boos.
Among them was Eugene Ramirez, a gay Washington resident, who later shared his account of the night after being briefly detained by security for booing the president and giving a thumbs-down gesture — an expression of what many would call a textbook definition of constitutionally protected speech to criticize the government.
Ramirez attended the opening night performance with a group of friends, hoping to catch a final show before the center undergoes two years of major changes under Trump oversight. The musical, based on a 1926 play of the same name, has become synonymous with Broadway success.
With music by John Kander, lyrics by Fred Ebb, and a book by Ebb and Bob Fosse, “Chicago” has cemented itself as a cultural staple — known for its signature Fosse choreography, stripped-down staging, and sleek, campy aesthetic. The story follows Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly, women who murder their husbands but — with the help of the manipulative, charismatic, and narcissistic attorney Billy Flynn — walk away scot-free.
It remains the longest-running American musical in Broadway history, and its 2002 film adaptation famously won the Academy Award for Best Picture. On this night, however, the production also became the backdrop for a very modern moment of political protest.
“I accompanied five friends to opening night of ‘Chicago’, as a way to enjoy a final performance in the Kennedy Center as we know it,” Ramirez began to recount to the Washington Blade, describing the moment his group settled into their seats inside the ornate Opera House theater.
Just before the performance began, the twice impeached president and first lady appeared in the balcony box, drawing immediate attention from the audience below. Theatergoers stood, cheered, clapped, and waved, while Ramirez made a different choice.
While accounts of the crowd’s reaction have varied, Ramirez said his response was intentional, immediate, and within his rights. Moments after booing and giving a thumbs-down while recording on his iPhone, security intervened.
The video of Ramirez booing the Trump’s is here:
“Within moments, the director [of security] and another guard approached and escorted me to a side area where several other security guards were waiting,” he said. “I was detained until everyone was seated and the lights dimmed.”
As he was escorted away, Ramirez said his instincts as a journalist kicked in. A former lead anchor for Sinclair’s national evening news broadcast, he said the situation immediately felt off — or more aptly put — as if he could see the strings being pulled from someone attempting to control the narrative.
“Journalism is a vocation, not just a job. I immediately knew there wasn’t just an uncomfortable interaction with security,” he said. “The Kennedy Center is a federally funded cultural institution, and being questioned about speech related to the president in that setting felt like something the public should know about.”
Ramirez explained the difference between a standard visit by a public official and this performance: the president’s appearance wasn’t just ceremonial; it was very clearly a media moment.
“The White House press pool was there, and it was clear this was an effort to manage the president’s image in the media,” Ramirez continued. “The irony was not lost on me that this was happening on opening night of ‘Chicago’, a musical about manipulating the press to shape public perception.”
According to Ramirez, the explanation he received from Kennedy Center Director of Safety and Security Karles C. Jackson Sr., was brief, but illuminating.
“He said, ‘they don’t want booing,’ and even called out my thumbs-down gesture. He never clarified who ‘they’ were, but whether it was the administration or the Kennedy Center, the distinction felt meaningless,” he explained. “Mr. Jackson ultimately told me he was just trying to do his job, shook my hand, and allowed me to return to my seat once the lights dimmed and the overture started playing.”
Ramirez said he didn’t blame the guard individually, noting the broader context of the Kennedy Center’s uncertain future and the pressures staff were under.
“With the center closing in the coming months, some of these security guards being pressured to restrict our freedom of speech may only have a few weeks of work left.”
He believes the decision to remove him was driven less by disruption than optics, particularly given the presence of the press.
“It was very clearly about protection — whether protecting the president from visible dissent, or his image before the media present. There was no disruption as almost everyone was standing and reacting loudly to the arrival of the president and first lady, with cheers, applause, and hand gestures. The difference was that my reaction, unlike most, was negative.”
Drawing on his experience covering public officials, Ramirez said the incident felt more about controlling perception than security.
“Usually, law enforcement may monitor or intervene if there’s a disruption, but here there was no disruption at all. Simply expressing dissent in a public, cultural space drew the attention of security. It made it feel less like a matter of decorum and more like an effort to control the narrative around the president,” he said. “It’s about what happens when dissent is treated as disruption rather than a right.”
“The show hadn’t started. I threatened no one. Billy Flynn would have approved of the optics. The rest of us should be paying attention.”
Ramirez framed the incident as part of a broader constitutional concern, one that is plaguing the Trump-Vance administration as they continue to reject rules and normalcy set forth by other reserved presidents.
“Being singled out by security at a federally funded institution for expressing dissent shouldn’t be brushed off; it undermines the First Amendment,” he said, looking at it slightly distanced from it now. “Being of Cuban heritage, and a journalist, it’s a right I’m not willing to give up readily.”
“Publicly funded cultural institutions should allow visible dissent, even in politically charged moments,” he added. “Of course, I understand the need to manage disruptions during a performance, but that was not the case here.”
The themes of “Chicago”, a long-running satire about media manipulation and public perception, added another layer of irony to the experience, Ramirez explained.
“The satire truly leapt off the stage! A show about controlling the narrative, manipulating the press, and covering up truths by leaning on showmanship and distractions. The show is decades old, but could’ve been written today. We’re being razzle-dazzled daily and it’s getting harder to tell fact from fiction, no matter where you get your news.”
He, being gay, also acknowledged how hard it must have been for the performers on stage, assuming that at least some in the cast were also members of the LGBTQ community — and artists — two things Trump doesn’t always get along with.
“It was not lost on me that many of the actors on that stage, that the president and first lady presumably applauded, are members of the LGBTQ community which this administration has rolled back protections for under the guise of religious liberty and free speech, resulting in blatant discrimination.”
He pointed to a particular number that felt surreal given the circumstances.
“Its ‘Razzle Dazzle’ number celebrates keeping audiences off balance; at its climax, a massive American flag descends as the song celebrates blinding audiences to what is real. Watching that scene after being detained for a thumbs-down was surreal.”
Ramirez said the show’s closing lines were especially sharp given the presidential audience and what he just experienced.
“At the end of the show,
Velma says: ‘You know, a lot of people have lost faith in America.’
Roxie replies: ‘And for what America stands for.’
Velma: ‘But we are the living examples of what a wonderful country this is.’
Roxie: ‘So we’d just like to say thank you and God bless you.’
They had both just gotten away with murder!”
His closing lines, however, were a bit more pointed than “scintillating sinners” Roxie Hart and Velma Kelly’s were in the show.
“Democracy only works when citizens are allowed to boo,” he said. “Tuesday night at the Kennedy Center, ‘Chicago’ made that point better than I ever could.”
The Blade reached out to the Kennedy Center but did not receive a comment back.
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