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National news in brief: April 13

Tammy Baldwin shines in fundraising, GLAAD & Miss Universe agree on trans inclusion, Lambda Legal sues Ohio school over t-shirt, and more

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Tammy Baldwin, gay news, gay politics dc

Rep. Tammy Baldwin Tweeted (D-Wisc.) this week the results of her first-quarter fundraising. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Baldwin raises $2 million in 1st quarter

MADISON — In a message via Twitter on Wednesday, Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) announced she secured $2 million in the first quarter of 2012 from 24,260 supporters in her bid to become the first openly gay person elected to the U.S. Senate.

“The support for our campaign to fight for the middle class and stand up to the powerful special interests is humbling and invigorating,” Baldwin wrote in a subsequent tweet.

Baldwin — who is seeking to replace Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.) — says she’s in a “strong position” with $2.7 million in cash on hand and more than 40,000 individual supporters for her campaign, and has in previous cycles outraised her closest Republican rival, former Gov. Tommy Thompson, by a factor of four.

GLAAD, Miss Universe agree on trans inclusion

NEW YORK — After initially barring Jenna Talackova from competing for the Canadian Miss Universe title, the organization behind the pageant has reinstated the trans beauty queen and said it will no longer bar trans contestants from participating, according to GLAAD.

“For more than two weeks, the Miss Universe Organization and Mr. Trump made it clear to GLAAD that they were open to making a policy change to include women who are transgender,” said GLAAD spokesperson Herndon Graddick. “We appreciate that he and his team responded swiftly and appropriately”

“Jenna and all of the LGBT advocates who have called for this change and spoken out in support of transgender women are to be commended,” Graddick continued. “At a time when transgender people are still routinely denied equal opportunities in housing, employment and medical care, today’s decision is in line with the growing levels of public support for transgender people across the country.”

Pro-Prop 8 witness opposes N.C. amendment

RALEIGH — A central witness for the proponents of Proposition 8 in the Perry v. Schwarzenegger federal case has used a News & Observer editorial to advocate against North Carolina’s proposed constitutional amendment banning state recognition of same-sex couples.

David Blankenhorn and Elizabeth Marquart began the piece by asserting their opposition to same-sex marriage, but go on to say the proposed amendment goes too far and could have far-reaching legal consequences not yet known.

“For one thing, it means that North Carolina could not, now or ever, take any step or devise any policy to extend legal recognition and protection to same-sex couples,” the pair write. “No domestic partnership laws. No civil unions. Nothing.”

Polling for the amendment has been mixed recently, and some advocates are optimistic that this could be the first such ballot measure defeated since such a measure was voted down in Arizona in 2006, before a less stringent version passed two years later.

Lambda Legal sues Ohio school over T-shirt

WAYNESVILLE, Ohio — When Maverick Couch wore a T-shirt to school reading, “Jesus is not a Homophobe” on the 2011 National Day of Silence, the school threatened him with suspension.

Couch, however, researched his free speech rights and came to the conclusion the school could not bar him from wearing the shirt, so the high school student challenged the school.

A year later, Lambda Legal announced it would represent Couch as he sues the Waynesville school district for the right to wear the shirt.

“Schools should be in the business of educating students about First Amendment freedoms, not trampling on their right to express themselves,” said Christopher Clark, Senior Staff Attorney for Lambda Legal.

Earlier this week, the school agreed to allow Couch to wear the shirt as the case proceeds through the courts.

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.

According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.

The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.

The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.

In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.

The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.

New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.

“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”

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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.

The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”

“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.

Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”

His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.

“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”

“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free

Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

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The U.S. Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022, to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, the U.S. Supreme Court)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.

The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.

An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.

They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.

Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.

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