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National news in brief: Feb. 3

Wash. Senate votes on marriage bill, anti-gay lawmaker refused service in a restaurant, Newark mayor slams Gov. Christie, and more

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Christine Gregoire, gay news, gay politics dc

Washington state Governor Christine Gregoire has thrown her full support behind a same-sex marriage bill. (photo by Evan Derickson)

Wash. Senate votes on same-sex marriage bill

OLYMPIA — In a 28-21 vote the Washington State Senate passed a bill extending marriage rights to same-sex couples late Wednesday, in what was expected to be the biggest hurdle toward passage for the bill.

Read the Washington Blade’s full report here.

The bill, which is supported by the governor, and is expected to pass easily in the lower house, was thought to face its most difficult prospects in the Washington Senate where it was supported by the slimmest of majorities.

With 49 senators, the bill needed at least 25 votes to pass, which it received. The Blade reported earlier this month that 25 senators had pledged to vote in favor of the bill in the Senate.

“Marriage in Washington State has tremendous momentum behind it and we’re optimistic going into [the] vote,” Human Rights Campaign communications director Michael Cole-Schwartz told the Blade Wednesday.

Anti-gay lawmaker asked to leave restaurant

KNOXVILLE — Tennessee Sen. Stacey Campfield — the sponsor of several anti-gay bills, including the infamous “Don’t Say Gay” bill — has responded with a furious post to his personal blog after being asked to leave a Knoxville restaurant because of his record.

The Nashville Scene website reported that the lawmaker was denied service at the Bistro at the Bijou located on Gay Street by restaurant owner Martha Boggs.

“I didn’t want his hate in my restaurant,” Boggs told Metro Pulse, a Scripps publication. “I told him he wasn’t welcome here. … I feel like he’s gone from being stupid to being dangerous, and I wanted to stand up to him.”

Last week Campfield appeared on the Michelangelo Signorile radio show, and shocked listeners by claiming that HIV is “virtually impossible” to transmit through heterosexual sex.

“My understanding is that it is virtually — not completely, but virtually — impossible to contract AIDS through heterosexual sex… very rarely [transmitted],” Campfield said on Sirius satellite radio. “What’s the average lifespan of a homosexual? It’s very short. Google it yourself.”

Newark mayor slams Gov. Christie

NEWARK — Responding to a call by N.J. Gov. Chris Christie to put same-sex marriage up for a vote in the Garden State, the mayor of the state’s largest city told reporters “we should not be putting civil rights issues to a popular vote subject to the sentiments of the day.”

“No minority should have their rights subject to the passions and sentiments of the majority,” Newark Mayor Corey Booker told reporters at a press conference last week. “This is a fundamental bedrock of what our nation stands for. And I get very concerned that we have created in our state, we refuse to address, call it like it is… that we’ve created a second-class citizenship in our state.”

LGBT group to Colbert: reenter GOP race

WASHINGTON — Catholics for Equality, an organization of pro-gay Catholics, is calling on comedian Stephen Colbert to reenter the GOP primary.

Colbert briefly flirted with the idea of entering the GOP primaries and held a rally in South Carolina in mid-January prior to that state’s primary vote, but was unable to qualify for the ballot. Catholics for Equality is calling on fellow Catholic Stephen Colbert to restart his primary campaign, saying his views reflect the views of most mainstream Catholics.

“Colbert is the only Republican Catholic contender who reflects comprehensive Catholic social justice teaching,” the group said in a press release.

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Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner

Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’

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Queen Jean (Screen capture via vulture/YouTube)

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.

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Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor

Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance

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Madonna surprised New York fans with an impromptu show in Times Square. (Photo by Alex Antonioni; courtesy Warner Records)


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. 

Madonna performs in Times Square on Thursday. (Photo by Alex Antonioni; courtesy Warner Records)
(Photo by Ricardo Gomes; courtesy Warner Records)

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Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping

Marriage equality support lowest since 2016

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Progress rainbow flag and trans flag flying. (Washington Blade Photo by Michael Key)

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.

New data from Gallup shows a decline in LGBTQ support. (Graph courtesy of Gallup)

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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