National
Chi. Cardinal George ‘truly sorry’ for comparing gays to KKK
LGBT rights advocates react; Sunday protest of Cardinal called off

“I am truly sorry for the hurt my remarks have caused,” George said in an interview with the Tribune, Saturday. “Particularly because we all have friends or family members who are gay and lesbian. This has evidently wounded a good number of people. I have family members myself who are gay and lesbian, so it’s part of our lives. So I’m sorry for the hurt.”
“I am incredibly pleased that Cardinal George has taken responsibility for his actions and has issued an apology for his comments comparing the LGBT Community to the KKK and the hurt those comments have caused,” executive director of The Civil Rights Agenda Anthony Martinez said in a statement Saturday. “A true leader can admit when they are wrong, and the Cardinal has set a good example of leadership today with his statement. Now, with this apology, the LGBT community and the Catholic community can begin to heal the divides that this has caused.”
“His actions will speak louder than words, and we will be paying attention to see if his words translate into acts of dignity and respect towards LGBT people,” Bernard Cherkasov, Chief Executive Officer of the state’s oldest and largest LGBT organization Equality Illinois, said in a statement Saturday.
In a follow-up statement, Martinez clarified that the Civil Rights Agenda “will continue to ensure that the hierarchy of the Catholic Church is held responsible for the anti-gay positions it espouses and that the Catholic laity does not agree with.”
Recent data shows that Catholic laity may feel very different than the Cardinal.
According to the Civil Rights Agenda, 43 per cent of Catholics favor either allowing gay and lesbian people to marry or allowing them to form civil unions. If marriage for gay couples is defined as a civil marriage “like you get at city hall,” Catholic support for allowing gay couples to marry increases by 28 points, from 43 per cent to 71 per cent. 73 per cent of Catholics favor laws that would protect gay and lesbian people against discrimination in the workplace and 60 per cent of Catholics favor allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt children.
The Cardinal made the comments in response to controversy over the updated route for the 2012 Chicago Pride parade, which will take floats and contingents down the street that Our Lady of Mt. Carmel Catholic church calls home.
“You don’t want the gay liberation movement to morph into something like the Ku Klux Klan, demonstrating in the streets against Catholicism,” the Cardinal told Fox News in an interview that aired on Christmas.
By the time the statement was made, parade organizers had already come to an agreement with the pastor of that church — which sits adjacent to the Chicago ‘Boystown’ gay district — moving the parade start time later to avoid interrupting Sunday morning services.
When pressed by the Fox News reporter on whether or not the Cardinal thought the analogy was too strong, the Cardinal implied that the Ku Klux Klan and the LGBT community shared the same “rhetoric.”
“The rhetoric of the Ku Klux Klan, the rhetoric of some of the gay liberation people,” the Cardinal continued. “Who is the enemy? Who is the enemy? The Catholic Church.”
The Cardinal’s statements ignited a firestorm of criticism from LGBT and civil rights leaders around the nation. Despite the anger, George continued to defend his remarks.
“The Chicago Gay Pride Parade has been organized and attended for many years without interfering with the worship of God in a Catholic church,” a December 27th statement began. “When the 2012 Parade organizers announced a time and route change this year, it was apparent that the Parade would interfere with divine worship in a Catholic parish on the new route.”
“When the pastor’s request for reconsideration of the plans was ignored, the organizers invited an obvious comparison to other groups who have historically attempted to stifle the religious freedom of the Catholic Church,” the statement continued. “One such organization is the Ku Klux Klan which, well into the 1940′s, paraded through American cities not only to interfere with Catholic worship but also to demonstrate that Catholics stand outside of the American consensus. It is not a precedent anyone should want to emulate.”
A protest of the Cardinal by LGBT rights was called off late Saturday just hours before it was to commence. The organization leading the protest, Gay Liberation Network, released a statement calling on angry activists to stand down, but also demanding more from the Cardinal.
Full statement follows:
Cardinal George’s “Apology” to Gays Doesn’t Get to the Heart of the Matter
Even though the Gay Liberation Network finds the “apology” of Francis George woefully inadequate, we nevertheless agree to call off the protest scheduled for January 8 (tomorrow, Sunday) at Holy Name Cathedral. While taking this action, we highlight our sharp disagreement with some LGBTgroups which previously backed the protest and now bubble over with undeserved praise for Cardinal George.
Francis George said in his “apology” that he never meant to smear” all gays and lesbians” with the KKK analogy. So, by implication, and by earlier statements, we take it that George did intend to liken some gays to the Klan, particularly some gay activists. In fact, his original Klan remark was directed at something he vaguely called the”gay liberation movement.” This sounds like a specific reference to our organization, the Gay Liberation Network, which he has previously singled out for attack when we have had the audacity to picket the Church hierarchy, including himself, in front of Holy Name Cathedral (George’s charges against us for being “anti-Catholic” have always been disingenuous and incendiary because he knows very well: Our disagreement is with him and other church leaders, not with the Catholic laity which, in poll after poll, backs equal rights for gays and lesbians).
In his apology, George claimed further that his KKK analogy was “motivated by fear for the church’s liberty.” This, too, is completely disingenuous. No one was challenging the church’s “liberty,” unless by this George means something like the right of the Catholic Church hierarchy to be free from frank and open criticism for its advocacy of discrimination against women and gays.
Finally, and most importantly–and missed by those individuals and groups who are now heaping undeserved praise on the Cardinal–Francis George’s “apology” contained not aword about the church leadership’s long-standing and aggressive opposition to all equal rights legislation for LGBT people, nationally and in the state of Illinois.
George’s anti-gay animus did not begin by his comparison of gay activists to the KKK. When the Catholic Church leadership, including George, ceases doing everything it can to oppose our equal participation in society, then we can accept an apology from that leadership
While canceling the January 8 protest, we are redoubling our efforts to secure participation in the Freedom to Marry Day demonstration scheduled for Sunday, February 12 at 10:30 AM in front of Holy Name Cathedral, 735 N. State Street, Chicago.
Federal Government
RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth
‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

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.”
The White House
Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador
Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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.
U.S. Federal Courts
Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy
Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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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