National
Santorum wins in Alabama, Mississippi
Gingrich fades; Romney takes Hawaii
Republican presidential hopeful Rick Santorum scored two wins in the GOP primaries on Tuesday by adding Alabama and Mississippi to his column after prevailing in Kansas over the weekend.
The former U.S. senator, who’s known for his strong opposition to same-sex marriage and other anti-gay views, edged out his competitors in the most recent contests — former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich and libertarian Rep. Ron Paul (R-Texas).
In Alabama, Santorum won 35 percent of the vote with 98 percent of precincts reporting. Gingrich and Romney were tied with 29 percent of the vote.
In Mississippi, with 99 percent of precincts reporting, Santorum captured 33 percent of the vote, while Gingrich had 31 percent and Romney had 30 percent. Hawaii also held a contest on Tuesday; Romney won there with 45 percent of the vote to Santorum’s 25 percent and Gingrich’s 11.
Speaking at his campaign headquarters at Lafayette, La., Tuesday night, Santorum told supporters, “We did it again.”
“The most common thing I heard from people — and I know I’m not alone — is people come up and say, ‘I’m praying for you,'” Santorum said. “I just want to thank you for that. I want to thank God for giving us the strength everyday to go out there and to be clear in our message and our vision for this country.”
Santorum said the “best chance” for Republicans to win the November election is to nominate a conservative — likely a reference to Romney, who’s viewed as a more moderate candidate — and said he expects to have “a huge win” in the Louisiana primary, which will have its contest on March 24.
Hastings Wyman, who’s gay and editor of the Southern Political Report, said the results on Tuesday give Santorum “a big boost” — mostly because they show Santorum’s competitor as the anti-Romney alternative, Gingrich, has run out of steam.
“It sends a strong message to Gingrich that it’s time he got out,” Wyman said. “I don’t know whether he will or not, but if he can’t win those two states, there’s nowhere else he can win really.”
Although Romney has amassed more delegates leading up to the convention than either Santorum or Gingrich, Wyman said Santorum’s wins show he continues to have strength and could give Romney a run for his money for the Republican presidential nomination.
“I think Santorum is going to give Romney a strong race,” Wyman said. “He’s more youthful. The polls show he does very well with women, and think that’s because they find him personally attractive. I don’t mean some sort of sexually way, or anything like that. It’s just he’s young and handsome and they kind of like him. Romney’s too aloof, Gingrich is too cerebral, Paul is kind of the class nerd. I think Santorum comes across as somebody they really like.”
The candidate’s wins on Tuesday build off of his win on Saturday in the Kansas caucuses. Santorum won a majority of the vote in the state, while Romney came in a distant second with 20.9 percent of the vote.
But Thomas Witt, chair of the Kansas Equality Coalition, said he doesn’t think Santorum’s win in the state amounted to much because of the low turnout in the primary.
“I think there’s some perspective we can put Santorum’s victory in here,” Witt said. “There’s about 725,000 registered Republicans in the State of Kansas. Fewer than 30,000 participated in the caucuses. Of those, 15,000 voted for Santorum. That’s 2 percent of the Republicans in Kansas voting for Santorum. Polls have margins of error bigger than the number of Republicans that voted for him.”
Witt said he’s unaware of any anti-gay rhetoric that Santorum may have employed while campaigning in Kansas, which is known for being a socially conservative state. The activist said he followed news coverage carefully and talked to people at one of Santorum’s events in Topeka, but nothing related to LGBT issues came up.
Santorum is known for his opposition to LGBT rights. He’s signed a pledge from the National Organization for Marriage committing himself to back a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage throughout the country, defend the Defense of Marriage Act in court and establish a commission of “religious liberty” to investigate the alleged harassment of those opposed to same-sex marriage. He has also said he would restore “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” if elected president.
Other contests on Saturday took place in U.S. protectorates: Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Romney won in the first two places. Paul won the Virgin Islands, but Romney took more delegates because of the system there.
The next contest is set to be the Missouri caucuses on Thursday. Santorum won the primary in the state on Feb. 7, but his win was symbolic because delegates weren’t awarded then. Missouri has 52 delegates up for grabs during its caucuses. Following Missouri, the next contest will be Puerto Rico on Friday, Illinois on Sunday and Louisiana on March 24.
Federal Government
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
Agency proposing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity
The U.S. Census Bureau is seeking public comment on a proposed test of sexual orientation and gender identity questions on the American Community Survey. The test would begin this summer and continue into next year.
The Census Bureau published the request as a Federal Register notice. In its press release the agency noted that the ACS is an ongoing survey that collects detailed housing and socioeconomic data. It allows the Census Bureau to provide timely and relevant housing and socioeconomic statistics, even for low levels of geography.
As part of the process for adding new questions to the ACS, the Census Bureau tests potential questions to evaluate the quality of the data collected.
The Census Bureau proposes testing questions about sexual orientation and gender identity to meet the needs of other federal agencies that have expressed interest in or have identified legal uses for the information, such as enforcing civil rights and equal employment measures.
The test would follow the protocols of the actual ACS — with one person asked to respond to the survey on behalf of the entire household. These particular questions are asked about people 15 years of age or older. Households are invited to respond to the survey online, by paper questionnaire or by phone.
The current Federal Register notice gives the public a final opportunity to provide feedback before the Census Bureau submits its recommendations to the Office of Management and Budget for approval. The public may provide feedback through May 30 online.
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
In a statement shared via the Human Rights Campaign, Shepard said, “This unexpected honor has been very humbling for me, Dennis, and our family. What makes us proud is knowing our President and our nation share our lifelong commitment to making this world a safer, more loving, more respectful, and more peaceful place for everyone.
“I am grateful to everyone whose love and support for our work through the years has sustained me.
“If I had the power to change one thing, I can only dream of the example that Matt’s life and purpose would have shown, had he lived. This honor reminds the world that his life, and every life, is precious.”
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
“Judy Shepard has been a champion for equality and President Biden’s choice to honor her with the Presidential Medal of Freedom is a testament to what she’s done to be a force of good in the world,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said in a statement.
“A mother who turned unspeakable grief over the loss of her son into a decades-long fight against anti-LGBTQ+ hatred and violence, Judy continues to make a lasting impact in the lives of the LGBTQ+ community,” she said.
“It is because of her advocacy that the first federal hate crimes legislation became law and that countless life-saving trainings, resources and conversations about equality and acceptance are provided each year by the Matthew Shepard Foundation,” Robinson said. “We are honored that Judy is a member of the HRC family and know that her work to create a more inclusive and just world will only continue.”
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activist Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm Workers President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to “promote acceptance of homosexuality.”
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining “self-avowed practicing homosexuals” effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality — about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
“It is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.”
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