National
Perry blasts Obama over pro-LGBT int’l initiatives
GOP hopeful says president doesn’t understand American values
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry attacked the Obama administration on Tuesday for its newly announced initiatives on international LGBT rights as he said Americans tolerate “different lifestyles” but don’t endorse them.
The three-term Texas governor in a statement said the change comes “just when you thought Barack Obama couldn’t get any more out of touch” and called on the administration to stop its “war on traditional American values.”
Perry touted his proposed foreign aid budget that “starts at zero” for all countries overseas and said he’ll consider aid requests “based solely on American’s national security interests.”
“Promoting special rights for gays in foreign countries is not in America’s interests and not worth a dime of taxpayers’ money,” Perry said.
The Texas governor continued that “there is a troubling trend” toward supporting LGBT rights that goes beyond “beyond the national security nonsense inherent in this silly idea.”
“This is just the most recent example of an administration at war with people of faith in this country,” Perry said. “Investing tax dollars promoting a lifestyle many Americas of faith find so deeply objectionable is wrong.”
Perry concluded that Obama has mistaken American values by thinking the American people have endorsed LGBT people when they, in fact, only tolerate them.
“President Obama has again mistaken America’s tolerance for different lifestyles with an endorsement of those lifestyles,” Perry said. “I will not make that mistake.”
Perry issues the statement as he has fallen from his once held status as GOP frontrunner. According to a Gallup poll published Tuesday, Perry has support from only 7 percent of Republican and Republican-leaning voters. Former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) were each ahead of Perry in the poll.
Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, condemned Perry’s comments in a statement and said they reflect the candidate’s anti-LGBT views.
“Rick Perry has made no secret of his dislike for LGBT Americans – but his most recent remarks are outrageous even by his own standards,” Solmonese said. “It is bewildering that someone who wants to be President of the United States wouldn’t want to see our nation be a global leader in universal human rights. This is further proof that Rick Perry doesn’t want to represent the best interests of all Americans — he wants to advance an extremist, anti-gay agenda that represents the fringe views of a very small few.”
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the National Log Cabin Republicans, also came down on Perry and said the Republican candidate is out of line with the policy of former President George W. Bush.
“With all due respect, Gov. Perry is wrong,” Cooper said. “Speaking out for the basic human rights of LGBT people to life and liberty is anything but ‘at war with American values.'”
Cooper continued, “Throughout his administration, President George W. Bush was strongly committed to supporting and protecting dissident and minority voices abroad. Our nation can be proud of its long, bi-partisan legacy of promoting freedom for all. Around the globe today, gay and lesbian people are often subject to ‘corrective’ rape, state-sponsored torture, imprisonment and execution. Combatting these injustices is not advocating for any kind of ‘special rights,’ and it is shameful for Gov. Perry to suggest that American people of faith do not support protecting vulnerable populations from brutality.”
According to CNN, Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum joined in the criticism of Obama, telling reporters while campaigning in Iowa that humanitarian aide should be reserved for countries with pressing needs.
“I would suggest that we give out humanitarian aid based on humanitarian need, not based on whether people are promoting their particular agenda,” Santorum was quoted as saying. “Obviously the administration is promoting their particular agenda in this country, and now they feel its their obligation to promote those values not just in the military, not just in our society, but now around the world with taxpayer dollars.”
Santorum, an opponent of marriage equality who backs a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage, reportedly added Obama needs to clarify his position on the issue. Obama has said he could evolve to support marriage equality, but he doesn’t currently back it.
“He said he’s for traditional marriage, and now he’s promoting gay lifestyles and gay rights, and he’s fighting against traditional marriage within the courts, and I think he needs to be honest,” Santorum was quoted as saying.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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