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GOP candidates split wins on Super Tuesday

No clear front-runner after biggest night of primary season

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Rick Santorum, Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich (Blade file photos by Michael Key)

The field of Republican presidential candidates didn’t become any more clear Tuesday night after results were declared for the largest number of contests on a single day during the GOP primary season.

On Super Tuesday, when 10 states held primaries to award a total of 437 delegates, each of the Republican candidates who had previously won states — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum and former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich — took claim to new victories. Libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas) didn’t win any states.

Romney won six states: Alaska, Ohio, Massachusetts, Vermont, Idaho and Virginia. Santorum had three in his column: Tennessee, North Dakota and Oklahoma. Gingrich picked up a win in his home state of Georgia.

The contest in Ohio was the most highly contested between Romney and Santorum. A winner in the state, where total of 66 delegates were up for grabs, wasn’t declared until after midnight.

With 99 percent of precincts reporting, Romney won 38 percent of the vote, while Santorum had 37 percent. The win for Romney was narrow even though he reportedly outspent Santorum in Ohio by a 12 to 1 ratio.

Ed Mullen, executive director of Equality Ohio, said a win for Romney was more favorable than a win for the more anti-gay Santorum.

“While Gov. Romney has expressed anti-LGBT positions during the campaign, it is heartening to see that Ohioans rejected the radical anti-LGBT positions of Rick Santorum, who traveled the state with Maggie Gallagher,” Mullen said.

Gallagher, founder of the National Organization for Marriage and one of the most high-profile anti-gay activists, campaigned with Santorum in Ohio and spoke on his behalf at rallies.

But Romney’s other wins aren’t surprising. Massachusetts is the state where Romney has served in his highest capacity as a government official, and Vermont is nearby in geography and Republicans there have a similar temperament. Idaho has a large presence of Mormons, which is Romney’s religion. In Virginia, Romney was one of two candidates on the ballot along with Paul.

Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality, said Romney’s win in Massachusetts “was not unexpected” as she cautioned a Romney presidency would “be very bad news for LGBT people across America.”

“To go from President Barack Obama, who has accomplished more than any president in U.S. history to embrace the full dignity of LGBT people across the United States and around the globe, to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who has actively opposed justice for LGBT youth and families at every turn, would be a tremendous setback for LGBT Americans,” Suffredini said.

As governor, Romney opposed a Massachusetts Supreme Court granting same-sex couples the right to marry and renewed enforcement of a 1913 anti-miscegenation law to block gay couples from other states from coming to the state to marry. According to MassEquality, Romney abolished the Governor’s Commission on GLBT Youth and rescinded an executive order prohibiting sexual orientation discrimination in the state workforce. Another Republican, former Gov. William Weld, had put those measures in place.

Despite the split wins among the candidates, Romney still has the lead in terms of total delegates won in the Republican primary. According to the Associated Press, Romney has 212 while Santorum has 84, Gingrich has 72 and Paul has 22.

Jimmy LaSalvia, executive director of GOProud, said Romney has won “the lion’s share of delegates at stake” and Super Tuesday “all but guarantees that Romney will be the eventual nominee of the Republican Party.” LaSalvia has personally endorsed the candidate in the Republican primary.

“Obviously this process is technically not over,” LaSalvia said. “Despite the large delegate lead enjoyed by Gov. Romney, other candidates in the field have made it clear that they intend to continue on. The question that Republicans, and conservatives in particular, must begin to ask themselves is whether continuing this process is in the best interest of our movement, the party and – most importantly – our country.”

LaSalvia also took a dig at President Obama, saying he and “the left” are “fanning the flames of the culture wars” to distract Americans from economic issues facing the country.

Heads of LGBT groups in Tennessee and Oklahoma said they weren’t surprised Santorum won in their states because they said his anti-gay message resonate with voters there.

Chris Sanders, chair of Tennessee Equality Project’s Nashville Committee, said Tennessee’s LGBT community “is disgusted but not surprised” with Santorum’s win.

“Santorum’s comments about our community track closely with the kind of anti-equality legislation we’re fighting in this state,” Sanders said. “The results show that we have significant work to do in Tennessee if we are going to move the culture in favor of equality and away from the worst discriminatory policies and rhetoric.”

Tennessee State Sen. Stacey Campfield was among those who came to support Santorum even though the lawmaker was initially Gingrich’s co-chair of his Tennessee. He’s sponsor of the legislation commonly known as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill, which would prohibit discussion about homosexuality in schools from kindergarten through eighth grade.

Toby Jenkins, executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, also he’s “not surprised” with Santorum’s win in his state.

“He used a lot of buzzwords and fear statements that are people out here in this part of the country identify with because he panders to their worst fears and makes all sorts of outrageous suggestions about the LGBT community,” Jenkins said. “The reality is we’re not some outside force. Most of us out here are products of Oklahoma.”

Santorum has made his opposition to LGBT rights — in particular his opposition to same-sex marriage — well-known throughout his campaign across the country.

Jenkins said he isn’t aware of any anti-gay rhetoric from Santorum while he was in the state, but heard reports of people who were escorted out of his events because they pressed him on social issues.

Each of the Republican candidates who’ve won states have staked out anti-gay positions. Romney, Santorum and Gingrich have a signed a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage committed themselves upon election to the White House to backing a Federal Marriage Amendment, defending the Defense of Marriage Act and setting up a commission on religious freedom to investigate alleged harassment of opponents of same-sex marriage.

Santorum has said he’d reinstate “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” while Gingrich has said he’d order an “extensive review” of going back to the policy. Romney said he has no plans to return to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

The next major contest will take place on Saturday in Kansas, where 40 delegates are in play. The U.S. protectorates, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands, are also set to hold conventions.

NOTE: This post has been updated.

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Federal Government

RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth

‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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.”




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The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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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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