National
Democratic win preserves marriage rights in Iowa
Mathis claims victory in State Senate special election
A Democratic candidate won a special election on Tuesday for a seat in the Iowa State Senate — a victory that will preserve marriage rights in the state.
Liz Mathis, a former TV news anchor, won her bid to represent Iowa’s 18th District in the State Senate against Republican Cindy Golding, a businessperson. According to the Iowa Independent, Mathis claimed the seat by taking 55.8 percent of the vote compared to 43.5 percent won by Golding.
“I pledge to the voters of this district: I will go to the Capitol and fight for you every day. I will be your voice in the state Senate,” Mathis said after her win Tuesday night, according to the Des Moines Register.
Democrats held a narrow 25-24 majority in the State Senate. A Republican win would have resulted in a tie in the leadership vote and thrown control of the chamber into question.
The race was of interest to LGBT advocates because Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D) has said a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage — instituted in Iowa by court order in 2009 — won’t come up as long he’s in control of the chamber. With him out of power, the Senate could have voted on a measure that the Republican-controlled House approved in February banning both same-sex marriage and marriage-like unions.
Golding said she would have voted in favor of the measure, which would have brought marriage rights for gay couples up to a vote before the electorate, while Mathis said she supports the court decision instituting marriage rights for same-sex couples.
Troy Price, executive director of One Iowa, called Mathis’ win “a great victory for Iowans” in a statement.
“Voters in this district clearly rejected the mean-spirited and misleading attacks of our opposition that we saw right up until the polls closed on Election Day,” Price said. “Instead, voters elected the candidate they felt would best move our state forward.”
On the day of the election, a robocall was sent to voters saying Mathis “endorses homosexual marriage.” The call continued, “Homosexual marriage obviously involves homosexual sex. So, before you support Liz Mathis, call her … and ask her which homosexual sex acts she endorses.” Golding said her campaign had nothing to do with the robocalls.
Price continued that although the election is over, the “battle is far from over” to preserve marriage rights in the Hawkeye State.
“Now, the focus turns to the coming legislative session where we fully expect the opponents of equality to redouble their efforts to take away the rights of loving, committed gay and lesbian couples,” Price said. “One Iowa will be there to stand up for marriage equality at every turn, and we are excited to work with the fair-minded Senate majority to ensure that freedom and equality remains in the heart of the heartland.”
In the wake of the election, national LGBT groups praised Mathis’ win and said her victory means voters were able to reject anti-gay attacks and elect a fair-minded candidate.
Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, called the election of the Democratic candidate “a tremendous victory for the state of Iowa.”
“The voters rebuffed the anti-gay attacks that sought to make undoing the freedom to marry a critical factor in the race, and instead elected a candidate who supports the freedom to marry for all Iowa families,” Wolfson said.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, also praised the win in a statement.
“The marriage issue is settled, voters clearly care about issues directly affecting their everyday lives,” Solmonese said. “Today’s election serves as a message that it’s time to get on with the people’s business.”
Both anti-gay and pro-LGBT national groups had a role in producing the election results. On the anti-gay side, the National Organization for Marriage launched an independent expenditure campaign in favor of Golding and distributed mailers highlighting both candidates’ positions on marriage. Golding also accepted an endorsement from the anti-gay Family Research Council.
According to a statement, HRC endorsed Mathis and placed five full-time field organizers in the district during the final weeks of the campaign. These organizers performed campaign duties for the state Democratic Party and mobilized residents in the district to volunteer and vote in the special election.
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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