National
Obama: Don’t boo gay soldiers
POTUS highlights LGBT achievements at HRC dinner
President Barack Obama (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
President Obama denounced GOP presidential candidates on Saturday for not speaking out against the booing of a gay soldier who asked a question on “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” during a recent debate.
Obama made the remarks during his keynote address at the Human Rights Campaign’s 15th annual dinner at the Washington Convention Center in D.C. before an estimated audience of 3,000 people.
In one notable portion of the speech, Obama took aim at Republican presidential hopefuls for not speaking out during a Sept. 22 debate against the booing of a gay soldier who asked a question about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” via video from Iraq.
“We don’t believe in the kind of smallness that says it’s OK for a stage full of political leaders — one of whom could end up being the President of the United States — being silent when an American soldier is booed,” Obama said. “You want to be commander-in-chief? You can start by standing up for the men and women who wear the uniform of the United States — even when it’s not politically convenient.”
Christian Berle, deputy executive director of the National Log Cabin Republicans, took exception after the speech to Obama’s criticism of Republican presidential candidates.
“President Obama’s focus on the booing at the latest GOP debate underscored his focus on politics over policy in his speech,” Berle said. “Such actions were quickly rebuked by Governors Huntsman and Johnson, after the debate, which was appropriate. His speech last night, much like his tenure as President, was more cheap shots and politics than substance on policy.”
The speech before HRC supporters could arguably be seen as a stump speech before the LGBT community as the Obama gears up his 2012 re-election campaign.
Obama enumerated five accomplishments he achieved for LGBT people in the first two-and-a-half years of his administration: passage of hate crimes protections legislation; issuing an order assuring hospital visitation rights for gay couples; lifting the HIV travel ban; repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”; and declaring that the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional.
Obama gave particular emphasis during his address to the end of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” which was lifted from the books on Sept. 20 as the result of repeal legislation he signed in December.
“Many questioned whether we’d succeed in repealing ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ and, yes, it took two years to get the repeal through Congress.,” Obama said. “We had to hold a coalition together. We had to keep up the pressure. We took some flak along the way. But with the help of HRC, we got it done. And ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ is history.”
Obama continued, “All around the world, you’ve got gays and lesbians who are serving, and the only difference is now they can put up a family photo. No one has to live a lie to serve the country they love.”
The audience warmly greeted Obama with cheers and applause. Attendees gave the president a standing ovation at least three times, including during his mention of bringing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” to an end.
At one point, an audience member shouted to Obama, “Fired up!” The president immediately replied, “I’m fired up, too,” and continued his address.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, had particular praise for Obama while introducing the president and said his organization has accomplished “more in the last two years” than the previous seven.
“We must stand with those who have a history of standing with us and that includes Barack Obama,” Solmonese said. “No president has done more to improve the lives of LGBT people than Barack Obama.”
Some advocates were hoping that Obama would take the opportunity of speaking before an LGBT audience to endorse marriage equality.
Since last year, Obama has suggested he evolve to support same-sex marriage, although he hasn’t yet endorsed marriage rights for gay couples. The president offered no such support during his address.
John Aravosis, the gay editor of AMERICAblog, said Obama gave “the speech we expected, not the speech we deserved.”
“It was a safe speech, an election speech really,” Aravosis said. “He rightfully listed a number of excellent accomplishments, with the ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ repeal at the lead. But his term isn’t over, so what’s next? Marriage? An executive order on ENDA? … The president gave a good speech, but it could have been great.”
Obama also faced calls to publicly come out against anti-gay marriage initiatives that will be on the ballot next year in Minnesota and North Carolina. During his speech, the president didn’t explicitly mention these measures, but spoke out against efforts to enshrine discrimination in state laws and constitutions.
“There are those who don’t want to just stand in our way but want to turn the clock back; who want to return to the days when gay people couldn’t serve their country openly; who reject the progress that we’ve made; who, as we speak, are looking to enshrine discrimination into state laws and constitutions — efforts that we’ve got to work hard to oppose, because that’s not what America should be about,” Obama said.
Among the explicit plans of action that Obama stated during his speech were outstanding promises from his 2008 campaign that he pledged to accomplish, including legislative repeal of DOMA and passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
“I need your help to fight for equality, to pass a repeal of DOMA, to pass an inclusive employment non-discrimination bill so that being gay is never again a fireable offense in America,” Obama said.
Attendees at the HRC dinner hailed Obama and said the lack of announced support for marriage equality during his address isn’t as significant as other aspects of his speech or his accomplishments for LGBT people.
Gay D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-Large) said Obama described LGBT issues during his address with an authenticity that “really is breathtaking.”
“He is singularly the most important president we’ve ever had when it comes to the advancement of rights for the LGBT community,” Catania said. “And his remarks here are so authentic. I believe who we saw is the real Barack Obama — someone who knows the importance of equality.”
On Obama’s lack of support for marriage equality, Catania said, “I hope that as we go forward, he find it in his next term in his capacity to openly support marriage equality — not just drop the defense of DOMA. But this is not the time to be diminishing his remarks. What he has done is nothing short of breathtaking.”
Mike Manning, a bisexual cast member of MTV’s “Real World D.C.” in 2009, said he heard exactly what he wanted to hear from Obama and had an exchange with the president after the speech.
Mike Manning (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
“I don’t get star-struck with celebrities, but with Obama, of course, I did,” Manning said. “The only thing I could think to say to Obama was ‘Hey Obama, you’re awesome. He said, ‘Thank you. You’re awesome.’ So now I can die happy. The President of the United States said that I was awesome.”
On Obama’s position on marriage, Manning said, “I like the way that he’s letting the nation evolve with him on his views. My opinion is that Obama has always been supportive of same-sex marriage, but the fact that he is letting the nation evolve with him is very smart.”
Manning continued, “The way Obama handles things, he has a process for everything, and he’s very smart at planning things out. Like for his repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ he didn’t just sign an executive order, he actually took the time to get people on his side, and I think that’s what he’s doing right now with marriage equality.”
Bil Browning, the gay founder and editor-in-chief of the Bilerico Project, was less impressed with the president and wanted to hear more during his remarks.
“It effectively listed all of his accomplishments, but I found it a little lackluster and was hoping for less of a campaign speech and more for a celebration or an acknowledgment of how far he’d exactly come on our issues,” Browning said.
Browning said he’d like to see Obama publicly support marriage equality, but acknowledged he doesn’t know “if coming to a constituent dinner is the proper place to announce a big change policy, that he’s changed his position on marriage.”
Other notable attendees at the HRC dinner were D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray and former second lady Tipper Gore. Gay administration officials John Berry, director of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management Director, and Fred Hocherg, head of the U.S. Export-Import Bank were also there. Lesbian Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who recently launched a campaign for a U.S. Senate in Wisconsin, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg made separate addresses during the dinner.
No protesters were seen outside the Washington Convention Center prior to the HRC dinner. Demonstrators often protest Obama at the LGBT events in which he participates for his lack of support of marriage equality and HRC for allegedly being an elitist organization.
Heather Cronk, managing director of GetEQUAL, said protesting the HRC dinner “wasn’t a priority and didn’t seem strategic.”
“We’re focused on building a grassroots movement that can demand full federal equality for LGBT Americans — and with limited resources, we have to be discerning about how to direct the energy of GetEQUAL’s organizers,” Cronk said. “Since we decided that protesting at the event wouldn’t actually help us build that uncompromising and unrelenting movement, we’re staying focused on where we can have an impact.”
UPDATE: This post has been edited.
National
HRC report: LGBTQ students face ‘far greater challenges’ in non-supportive states
Survey finds anti-LGBTQ school harassment, bullying highest in 17 states
The Human Rights Campaign Foundation, the educational arm of the national LGBTQ advocacy organization Human Rights Campaign, has released a report showing LGBTQ public school students are more likely to face bullying, harassment, and “other barriers” in states that have less overall supportive LGBTQ laws and policies.
The report is based on the HRC Foundation’s National Educator Survey of School Climate and Bullying, which was released on Sept. 17.
“The report finds that harassment, bullying, and other barriers to LGBTQ+ inclusion are more prevalent in states with limiting policies, where educators report widespread restrictions on LGBTQ+ resources, visible expressions of support, and assistance for transgender students,” a statement released by HRC says.
“As just one example,” the statement adds, “while 59 percent of educators in states with limiting policies report restrictions on supporting their transgender students, just 6 percent to 8 percent of educators in states with supportive policies report the same, underscoring the impact of these policies on school climate, student well-being, and the stakes of the upcoming midterm elections for LGBTQ+ youth and inclusive classrooms.”
The report says the survey consisted of responses by 826 educators in 42 states who worked as teachers, principals, counselors, administrators, and others who worked in support services. All worked at schools with students from pre-kindergarten to 12th grade, most being public schools and a smaller number being charter schools, the report says.
It says the survey was conducted between April 15 and May 21, 2026, and included a survey questionnaire with about 55 questions covering a wide range of LGBTQ related school issues.
According to the report, its classification of LGBTQ supportive and non-LGBTQ supportive states is based on a detailed analysis of the LGBTQ related laws and policies of all 50 states, D.C., and U.S. territories conducted by the Movement Advancement Project, or MAP, which describes itself as an “independent, nonprofit thinktank.”
The report includes a chart consisting of 51 boxes representing the 50 states and D.C., with 32 plus D.C. colored as blue and said to have overall LGBTQ supportive policies. The 17 boxes colored in red are said to have overall non-LGBTQ supportive policies and laws, Each of the boxes has the initial of a state or D.C. printed inside it.
In addition to D.C., the chart shows Maryland, Virginia, New York, California, and Massachusetts as among the supportive states. Florida, Texas, West Virginia, and Ohio are among the states shown to be non-LGBTQ supportive.
The HRC statement includes these “key” findings from the survey:
- In states with restrictive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies, 59 percent of educators report restrictions on supporting transgender students, compared to just 6-8 percent of educators in states with supportive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies.
- In states with restrictive policies, nearly 50 percent of educators reported restrictions on LGBTQ+ books or resources, compared to just 7 percent of educators in states with supportive policies.
- Roughly 32 percent of educators in states with restrictive policies reported anti-LGBTQ+ harassment was a moderate or serious problem, compared with 11 percent of educators in states with supportive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies.
- In states with restrictive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies, 29 percent of educators were very worried about anti-LGBTQ+ harassment, compared to 15 percent in states with supportive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies.
- In states with restrictive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies, 36 percent of educators witnessed anti-LGBTQ+ student bullying, compared to 27 percent in states with supportive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies.
- In states with supportive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies, 75 percent of educators reported no restrictions on LGBTQ+-supportive displays, highlighting a substantially more supportive school environment than in states with restrictive policies.
- Educators in states with restrictive LGBTQ+ inclusion policies also reported significant harassment of students based on appearance (57 percent), race or ethnicity (43 percent), sexual orientation (42 percent), and gender identity or expression (39 percent). (No direct comparison figure from supportive-policy states is provided in the data above.)
“Every young person deserves to feel safe and supportive at school, but this report makes clear that for too many LGBTQ+ students, especially transgender youth, are being failed by policies designed to exclude them,” said HRC President Kelley Robinson in the HRC statement.
“We know that when students feel seen, supported, and affirmed, they are more likely to thrive, but when schools become places of exclusion or hostility, young people pay the price through lower engagement, missed opportunities to learn, and poorer mental and physical health,” Robinson said.
The HRC statement notes that the survey findings come at a time when a growing number of states have passed laws targeting LGBTQ students and the school officials and teachers who support them. It says that for the first time, the survey found that “educators themselves are also experiencing anti-LGBTQ+ harassment, highlighting the growing impact of these policies on school staff as well as students.”
The full survey findings and report can be accessed here:
U.S. Supreme Court
Trump asks Supreme Court to allow restrictions on gender-affirming care in prisons
SCOTUS could further restrict rights of trans inmates
The Trump administration has asked the Supreme Court to allow its policy limiting gender-affirming treatment for federal inmates to take effect while a legal challenge plays out in court.
U.S. District Judge Royce Lamberth ordered the government to continue providing gender-affirming care, such as hormone therapy, which had become policy nearly a decade ago for inmates who were transitioning.
The Trump administration argues in its application that its policy restricting transgender rights was properly adopted and that the judge overstepped, posing nationwide “security and prison-administrative concerns.”
If allowed, the policy would halt surgeries, hormones and social accommodations such as wigs while allowing mental health therapy to continue as the legality of the policy reversal is litigated.
The government also argues in the application that the Bureau of Prisons had “determined that sex-trait-modification surgeries, hormone interventions in general, and social accommodations could no longer be justified as treatment for gender dysphoria.”
American Civil Liberties Union attorneys for the inmates said the policy is “a direct threat to the well-being of transgender people in federal custody and an open violation of their fundamental rights,” and said withholding necessary gender-affirming healthcare constitutes cruel and unusual punishment.
The Blade has covered the ongoing developments surrounding changes to Federal Bureau of Prisons transgender inmate policy that went into effect earlier in Trump’s term. The changes primarily focus on rolling back Biden-era protections for trans inmates.
Earlier this year, the Blade published a joint letter from multiple senators in response to the rollback of the policy. Multiple senators — including Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Jeffrey A. Merkley (D-Ore.) and Mazie K. Hirono (D-Hawaii) — sent a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche and Federal Bureau of Prisons Director William Marshall III calling for them to reverse the policy change, saying it endangers inmates’ health and safety.
The senators described how the policy shift, along with President Trump’s Executive Order 14168, titled “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” is forcing policy changes they argued are rooted more in political rhetoric than in medical research or evidence-based correctional practices.
Federal Bureau of Prisons responded to the Blade’s request for comment in May, declining to reconsider its transgender inmate policy.
The Blade reached out to the Federal Bureau of Prisons once again over the application to the Supreme Court, but did not hear back before publication.
Federal Government
Education Department rolls back protections for LGBTQ students under Title IX
The DoE policy rescinds Biden-era protections
The Department of Education rolled back a Biden-era Title IX interpretation on Monday that secured sex-based discrimination protections for students on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
Title IX was established in 1972 as landmark civil rights law. It prohibits sex-based discrimination in any school or any other education program that receives funding from the federal government.
Education Secretary Linda McMahon spoke about the revision of the policy, claiming the decision would explicitly help “women and girls.”
“Thanks to today’s action, the published Title IX regulations faithfully reflect court orders and congressional intent — reducing confusion for parents, students, and educational institutions. We will continue to relentlessly champion equal opportunity for all Americans and hold accountable any school or college that violates the rights, privacy, or athletic opportunities of our women and girls,” McMahon said via press release.
Prior to her work under the Trump-Vance administration, McMahon was a World Wrestling Federation/World Wrestling Entertainment executive before resigning to pursue a career in politics. She was appointed to the Connecticut State Board of Education by then-Gov. Jodi Rell in January 2009, but resigned from her role shortly afterward to run what ultimately became two failed campaigns for Connecticut’s U.S. Senate seat in 2010 and 2012.
A “fact sheet” provided by the Department of Education also called the inclusive sexual assault and gender identity protections expanded under the Biden-Harris unlawful, saying, “This change is necessary to provide clarity in the Code of Federal Regulations so that institutions, administrations, students, and families can see the rules that are actually in force and to help eliminate public confusion about the Biden administration’s unlawful attempt to stretch Title IX’s legal protections to cover ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identity.’”
This is not the first time this policy has faced judicial hurdles. While Biden was still in office, the plan was struck down in multiple courts in Republican states.
Opponents of the move say it will harm transgender athletes and weaken protections for sexual assault victims.
“Sexual harassment and assault continue to be pervasive in schools and, to the fullest extent possible, we should be working to enforce the laws that protect student survivors of sexual violence. Yet, Education Secretary Linda McMahon and the Trump administration have decided to ignore what survivors need, instead weaponizing Title IX to attack trans students,” said Shiwali Patel, senior director of education justice at the National Women’s Law Center.
This is a return to a first Trump term policy after Biden issued an executive order to attempt to curb discrimination for all — especially those with different sexual orientations and gender identities — that had been given a pass during Trump’s first term. Much of Title IX’s policy has a narrow vision of what sex protections look like that often and enthusiastically leave gender-diverse and non-heterosexual people out.
In March 2021, President Joe Biden signed Executive Order 14021, “Guaranteeing an Educational Environment Free From Discrimination on the Basis of Sex, Including Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity,” to attempt to undo some of the flagrantly anti-LGBTQ policy the Trump-Pence administration had set forth relating to Title IX protections for LGBTQ students and sexual assault survivors.
The secretary focused this “win” for the administration as one more step toward restricting transgender students from competing in women’s sports, but the 2020 rule, completed under former Education Secretary Betsy DeVos, didn’t explicitly ban trans students from participating on sports teams consistent with their gender identity. It did limit the types of sexual harassment and assault complaints that schools had to investigate and required live hearings so male students could respond to accusations.
McMahon didn’t discuss those aspects in her statement or in requests for comment. The 2020 rule drew praise from conservatives and intense opposition from advocates who said it downplayed sexual abuse and left victims unprotected.
In a statement, U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), who chairs the House Education Committee, said, “Returning to the 2020 regulations restores longstanding protections for women and girls that the Biden-Harris administration attempted to dismantle and realigns Title IX policy with court precedents.”
LGBTQ activists have called this decision a direct attack on LGBTQ safety — particularly for trans students who continue to face a barrage of legislative, executive, and judicial attacks in recent years from the Trump-Vance administration.
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy group in the world, released a statement following the DoE’s announcement.
“Title IX is, quite simply, about protecting students and ensuring that they are safe from abuse, harassment, and discrimination while they pursue their education. But Donald Trump and his cronies aren’t interested in any of that,” Robinson said. “Donald Trump’s Department of Education has completely lost sight of that mission. Instead of enforcing protections for students, they’re rescinding them. They don’t care if sexual harassment and assault go unaddressed. And they’re happy to strip funding away from school districts and states that are actually trying to keep students safe.
“We know who will be hurt: women, girls, and others who are vulnerable to sexual harassment, assault and abuse — including LGBTQ+ students. The fact that they’re dropping this rule into place abruptly, without a comment period, denying families, educators, loved ones, and the students themselves a say in how they should be treated, shows how little they care about the safety of our students.
“This is a monstrous injustice, and it drives home how essential it is that we take action at the polls this November to start bringing some accountability to an administration that has turned its back on the very students Title IX was written to protect,” she added.
The Washington Blade reached out to the DoE for comment and questions on whether Title IX protections still included LGBTQ students, and received this email response from Education Spokesman Sabin Sidney:
“Your questions indicate you are clearly missing the entire point of this Final Rule. The Biden Administration illegally rewrote Title IX to include ‘sexual orientation’ and ‘gender identification’ in the definition of sex-based discrimination. The Trump Administration is rescinding this rule—only after every federal court that heard legal challenges rejected it as unlawful.
“Since January 2025, the Department has been enforcing Title IX consistent with the President’s Executive Order grounded in biological truth that there are only two sexes. The Trump Administration is restoring the original promise of Title IX and providing clarity to students, parents, and educational institutions. We will vigorously defend equal opportunity consistent with the law’s intended purpose.”
Gay Va. couple hopeful voters will enshrine marriage equality in state constitution
Vote now! Best Of LGBTQ DC readers’ choice awards
Meet the LGBTQ candidates running for U.S. House, Senate
Ana Brnabić becomes world’s first openly lesbian head of state
