National
Griffin says LGBT youth will motivate him at HRC
Activist wants Obama to endorse marriage equality, issue ENDA exec order

Chad Griffin has an image in mind as he prepares for his role to become the new president of the Human Rights Campaign: young LGBT Americans who lie awake in bed at night worrying about their future.
Griffin, a Los Angeles-based activist who has a long career in progressive advocacy and roots on both the East and West Coast, said growing up in a small town in Arkansas he identified as that young person who couldn’t acknowledge or be open about who he was.
“Some people know me as a guy who lives in L.A. and used to live in Washington, but my entire childhood was in Arkansas, and it’s where my entire family lives today,” Griffin said.
Griffin said his motivation over the next few years at HRC will be to impact the lives of “that young kid, the young student, who lives in Fresno or Bakersfield or Arkansas, or Washington, D.C., for that matter.”
“The fact that every single night, where we all have very lucky lives and live in places where we’re accepted, there are thousands, if not millions, of kids who go to bed every night staring at the ceiling — something that so many of us all did — not being able to go to sleep out of fear of waking up the next day and facing that next day,” Griffin said.
Griffin spoke with the Washington Blade over the phone from Dulles Airport as he awaited his flight back to Los Angeles. He was on his way to attend on Saturday Dustin Lance Black’s play ‘8,’ which is about the enactment of Proposition 8 in California.
The new HRC president, who’s set to take on his role in June, comes to the organization after having started and served as board president for the American Foundation for Equal Rights. The group, founded in 2009, is responsible for the ongoing litigation against California’s marriage ban.
During the interview, Griffin was hesitant to talk about specific policies he’d like to pursue, noting Joe Solmonese is still running HRC, but said he wants to continue the positive change the LGBT community has seen over the past few years.
“It means changes in the workplaces, changes at the state and local level, and, obviously, it means significant policy changes at the federal level,” Griffin said. “So much has been accomplished over the past several years, but we’re not finished. And that kid is still waking up staring at the ceiling because he or she lives in a country where their government directly and intentionally discriminates against them.”
Griffin said his sense of urgency will be his top challenge at the helm of HRC, saying, “If in fact patience is a virtue, it’s a virtue I do not possess. I voice frustration consistently at the pace at which we make progress.”
“If you were to talk to anyone who knows me, I think that they would describe first and foremost my lack of patience and how self-critical I am when I can’t achieve what we need to achieve,” Griffin said.
When he comes to HRC in June, the race for the White House will be well underway, as well as the race for control of Congress. The LGBT community will see measures on marriage in Minnesota and Maine, and possibly Washington State and Maryland. (The anti-gay ballot measure in North Carolina is set for a vote in May prior to when Griffin will take over HRC.)
Griffin said he has a background as a political strategist and is used to working behind-the-scenes, developing campaign plans and executing them.
“If you’re going to win the war, you’ve got to fight the battle on every single front,” Griffin said. “So that’s at the federal level. It’s on the state and local level. With any campaign, with limited resources, you have to be smart about your investments and about your plan, but I am not one who believes we should forego any avenues of victory.”
The incoming HRC president also comes into the role as many critics contend HRC has been too cozy with the Obama administration and too afraid to criticize Democratic lawmakers.
Griffin said observers should look to his previous work to discover that he’s “not one who’s shy about disagreeing with friends and colleagues” when he believes they’re wrong.
“I have a long record in that and think that’s the best way to judge how I will act,” Griffin said. “I’m not one who is thought to be shy or easily intimidated, and you typically will always know what I’m thinking and how I feel.”
Asked about criticism that HRC caters too much to more affluent members of the LGBT community by hosting black-tie dinners while others in the community feel left behind, Griffin said the organization’s outreach will be inclusive.
“LGBT people comes in all ages, all religions, all political affiliations, all colors,” Griffin said. “They are all part of the inclusion strategy and they are my motivation.”
Griffin said he’s on board with two major asks for President Obama from the LGBT community: an endorsement of same-sex marriage and an executive order requiring federal contractors to have LGBT-inclusive non-discrimination policies.
“I fundamentally believe that not only the president but our members of Congress and all of our leaders should support marriage equality, and we should do everything in our power to get them to that position,” Griffin said.
Griffin called the proposed directive for federal contractors “something that should happen, and should happen as quickly as possible,” but said it’s only the first step and passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act is necessary.
“It’s so frustrating that we’re in a country where we still don’t have an inclusive ENDA,” Griffin said. “That is something that has to remain a priority, but I would think that the executive order that has been discussed and proposed and pushed forward is a good step and should happen.”
As Griffin takes on his new role, he said the work at AFER against Proposition 8 will continue. The only change, he said, will be that he’s stepping down as board president, although he’ll continue to serve on the board. Griffin said there are no plans to absorb AFER into HRC.
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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