National
LGBT sites join Reddit, Wikipedia in protest of SOPA
Sites see proposed piracy legislation as threat to internet, ‘go dark’ together today to raise awareness


Google has censored its logo today in an effort to raise awareness about the effects of proposed piracy legislation. Several LGBT sites have joined the protest. (screen shot of Google.com homepage)
The threat of passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) has led sites across the internet — including some LGBT — to go dark today in protest of the legislation backed by the Recording Industry Association of America and the Motion Picture Association of America, as well as dozens of companies from Wal-Mart to CBS.
SOPA and its Senate counterpart the PROTECT IP Act (PIPA) seek to curb online piracy by requiring internet service providers to block access to domains of foreign sites that are suspected of offering users access to pirated content. This means that sites like Pirate Bay — which allow users to share access to pirated movies and music — could be blocked if they are found to have copyright violations. However, the law could also put in jeopardy sites like YouTube, where budding artists like Justin Bieber have turned to post cover versions of copyrighted songs in hopes of making it big, as well as users who post T.V. and movie clips in fan videos, or users who use popular music as the background to home videos, such as wedding videos. YouTube uses a link shortener ‘youtu.be’ which is registered in Belgium, putting YouTube in jeopardy of having violated the law for not removing videos like this:
The law in its current form states sites would have five days to pull down links to the content before a judge can order them darkened, which could cause massive problems for many sites in the U.S.
Also in jeopardy would be social sites where users often post links and video to their news feed that could potentially violate the law. Under SOPA and PIPA, Facebook and Twitter could be held liable for such violations, and a judge could order them darkened in whole or in part, though proponents of the law say that is not likely to happen. The same could happen to blogs and the websites of news organizations whose articles link to relevant material found elsewhere on the internet, which could potentially include blacklisted sites.
Finally, search engines like Google and Bing are extremely vulnerable to some of the terms of SOPA and PIPA, which compels the sites to monitor links for possible gateways to pirated material. Paypal and eBay would also be left open to possible claims through SOPA and PIPA if they allow transactions to foreign sites which may feature pirated content.
In an effort to bring attention to the potential effects of enforcing SOPA and PIPA, web news-sharing site Reddit, and internet encyclopedia Wikipedia have gone offline today to highlight what could be a possible future for sites like these if SOPA and PIPA are passed and enforced to their fullest extent. While most legal experts don’t expect Google of Facebook to be shut down under SOPA and PIPA, critics claim the broad language and lack of recourse options for sites levied with quarantine orders make SOPA a potential problem for many domestic sites on the internet that provide access to content beyond their own domain.
In an effort to stand in solidarity with Reddit and Wikipedia, LGBT operated sites like Bilerico.com, Rawstory.com, Talk About Equality, The New Civil Rights Movement, and LGBTPOV.com have gone dark today. In addition, Google has redesigned its homepage to censor its logo, and offer options to contact lawmakers.
LGBT news site Towleroad.com placed a splash page up encouraging visitors to contact their lawmakers about SOPA.
“New bills in the US Congress and Senate are attempting to give the US government the ability to censor and shut down websites without due process,” the splash page reads. “It’s crucial we speak up to stop these bills from becoming law.”
Though users can still view the site’s content, all visitors to the site will be greeted with the unique splash page today, reminding fans that resources like Towleroad would be in danger of going dark if claims under SOPA are brought against the site.
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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