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Senate confirms lesbian to federal judiciary

Senators approve Nathan by 48-44 vote

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The U.S. Senate confirmed on Thursday an out judicial nominee to become the second-ever open lesbian to sit on the federal bench.

Senators confirmed Alison Nathan, whom President Obama nominated in March for a seat on the U.S. District Court of the Southern District of New York, by a vote of 48-44.

Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said on the Senate floor there was “no question the Senate should confirm Ms. Nathan.”

“As her resume shows, she is an accomplished nominee with significant experience in private practice, academia and government service,” Leahy said. “Twenty-seven former Supreme Court clerks have written to the Judiciary Committee in support of Ms. Nathan’s qualifications, including clerks who worked for the conservative Justices.”

Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, commended the Senate for confirming Obama’s nominee.

“The President welcomes the confirmation of Alison Nathan,” Inouye said. “She will serve the American people well from the District Court bench.”

Currently special counsel to the Solicitor General of New York, Nathan has also served as a special assistant to President Obama and an associate White House counsel. Before joining government service, she taught law first as a visiting assistant professor at Fordham University Law School, and later as a Fritz Alexander fellow at New York University School of Law.

All Democratic senators who were present voted in favor of the nomination. All Republicans who were present voted against her, including GOP senators known for holding pro-LGBT views, such as Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine), Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) and Scott Brown (R-Mass.).

Senators who didn’t vote were Sens. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.), Joseph Lieberman (I-Conn.), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), Richard Lugar (R-Ind.), David Vitter (R-La.), Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Joe Manchin (D-W.V.).

The Senate didn’t confirm Nathan without opposition on the floor. Republican senators spoke out against her.

Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said he voted to report Nathan’s nomination to the floor, but couldn’t vote for her on Thursday — as well as judicial nominee Judge Susan Hickey — because of their records and American Bar Association ratings.

“Ms. Nathan and Judge Hickey both have had limited experience in the courtroom,” Grassley said. “They have failed to meet even the minimum qualifications that the ABA uses in rating process.”

Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), who’s known for opposing pro-LGBT initiatives in Congress, also expressed concerns on the floor about Nathan’s legal experience and what he said was her belief that judges can look to foreign law in deciding cases.

“It’s very hard for me to believe that I should vote to confirm a judge who’s not committed to following our law, who believes they have a right to scrutinize the world, find some law in some other country, bring it home, and use that law to make it achieve a result in the case they wanted,” Sessions said.

Leahy defended Nathan’s nomination on the Senate floor, saying although her ABA recommendation wasn’t unanimous, a majority on the standing committee that evaluated her said she was qualified.

“I note that a majority of the Standing Committee rated Ms. Nathan ‘qualified’ to serve,” Leahy said. “I also note that Ms. Nathan’s ABA rating is equal to or better than the rating received by 33 of President Bush’s confirmed judicial nominees, who were supported by nearly every Republican senator.”

Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) said the claim that Nathan has made any assertion that she’d look to foreign law when deciding cases is “patently false.”

In a questionnaire response to written questions from Grassley, Nathan wrote: “If I were confirmed as a United States District Court Judge, foreign law would have no relevance to my interpretation of the United States Constitution. In this area, as in all others, I would follow binding Supreme Court precedent.”

LGBT advocates praised the Senate for confirming Nathan and sending the third openly gay person to the federal bench.

Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, hailed the confirmation and said additional representation of LGBT people in the courts is necessary.

“Alison Nathan’s demonstrated intellect and dedication to public service is a model of achievement for LGBT youth and we commend the Senate for their confirmation vote today,” he said. “With qualified LGBT attorneys all across the country, we look forward to the federal courts reflecting the diverse composition of our society in districts from coast to coast.”

Chuck Wolfe, CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, called the Nathan confirmation “another step toward America’s leadership class reflecting the country it serves.”

“For too long Washington has ignored the impressive talent and experience found in the LGBT community,” Wolfe said. “It’s been beholden to the opinion of extremists who wanted to exclude us. We have to continue to fight against that kind of political homophobia, and we will.”

The first lesbian — and first openly LGBT person — to sit on the federal bench is Deborah Batts, who was nominated and confirmation for a position on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York during the Clinton Administration.

In July, the Senate confirmed J. Paul Oetken to another seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, making him the first openly gay male to sit on the federal bench.

Two other openly gay nominees are also pending before the Senate: Michael Fitzgerald, who was nominated for a position on the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California; and Edward DuMont, who was nominated for a seat on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

The Senate Judiciary Committee held the confirmation hearing for Fitzgerald last week. The panel hasn’t reported out the nomination, but the record for committee members to submit follow up questions closed only this week.

Obama renominated DuMont in January after the 111th Congress took no action on his appointment. DuMont’s nomination has yet to be considered by the full Senate — or even the Senate Judiciary Committee.

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Federal Government

RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth

‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.

The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.

“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”

While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.

The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”

Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.

“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”

GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”

Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.

“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.

“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”

“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.” 

Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.

“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”




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The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.

Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.

Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.

The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”

Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.

“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.

Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.

The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.

Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”

Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.

“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”

“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.

A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.

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