National
Fast Five Fix: March 6
Where the GOP candidates lie on LGBT issues, Obama’s transgender childhood nanny, gay massacre in Iraq, Kirk Cameron’s homophobia, and more

ThinkProgress has a great chart of where the GOP candidates are on LGBT issues. For details, click the picture. (Screen shot via ThinkProgress.org)
Tap tap tap. Is this thing on? We’ve missed you last week as we took some time off from the fix. Glad to be back. Just in time for this amazing story via OutrageDC about Barack Obama’s childhood transgender nanny’s struggle to survive in Indonesia. Here’s some more news:
- IGLHRC is sounding the alarm over the apparent massacre of at least 40 people perceived to be either gay or lesbian in Iraq, with Americablog reporting authorities have done nothing in response.
- GLAAD is taking Kirk Cameron to task for anti-gay comments on CNN’s Pierce Morgan; while his Growing Pains co-star Tracy Gold has tweeted her strong support for the LGBT community, meanwhile TV’s coolest dad, Alan Thicke, retweeted a #NOH8 message.
- A brash and brazen band of Ohio activists want to put that state’s constitutional ban against same-sex marriage to voters in an attempt to overturn it, according to the Columbus Dispatch. We haven’t seen any recent polling on the issue in the buckeye state, but we salute their moxie.
- Meanwhile, Towleroad tells us Maine Bishop Richard Malone says that the Catholic Church in that state will not take an active role in fighting a ballot proposal to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples in that state.
- Only eight months after helping to win marriage equality in New York, Gay City News reports Empire State Pride Agenda has unceremoniously removed their short-lived executive director, Ross Levi, who’d been with the organization for twelve years, but only 22 months at the top spot. If that’s the award for winning, what would they have done to him had they lost?
Finally, in video, a high school junior in Virginia is claiming he’s been suspended from school for being gay, after his Principal sent him home for wearing high heels. Meanwhile, check out the awesomely supportive Superintendent (via Richmond’s NBC 12):
Bonus history MUST READ: ThinkProgress on the incredible dirty little secret about there being no dirty little secret in the 2003 Lawrence v. Texas U.S. Supreme Court case that struck down Sodomy laws.
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.
