Connect with us

National

EXCLUSIVE: Baldwin calls for marriage equality plank in Dem platform

Renews call for ENDA to address workplace discrimination

Published

on

Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin, gay news, Washington Blade

U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin speaking at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund’s annual brunch at the Washington Hilton. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Senate candidate Tammy Baldwin has joined the chorus of those calling for an endorsement of marriage equality in the Democratic Party platform, saying the inclusion of such language would be a “statement of values.”

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade on Sunday, Baldwin said the inclusion of same-sex marriage in the platform would be “very important.”

“I think that would be tremendous, and we have to be focusing on advancing equality in so many different realms,” Baldwin said. “It’s a statement of values, and I think it’s very important to be included.”

The candidate made the remarks prior to her speech at the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund’s annual brunch at the Washington Hilton.

Baldwin’s support for marriage equality in the platform puts her in the company of nearly two dozen U.S. senators, along with others, including Democratic National Convention chair Antonio Villaraigosa, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren. A former U.S. senator from Wisconsin, Russ Feingold, has also called for the inclusion of the language.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, said he “welcomes” Baldwin’s support for a marriage equality plank in the platform.

“Rep. Baldwin, a candidate for the U.S. Senate, joins numerous party leaders and tens of thousands of Democrats who have signed our online petition in speaking up for the Democratic values of freedom, family and inclusion that are the core of the case for the freedom to marry,” Wolfson said.

The platform committee is set to debate platform language when it gathers for the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C. DNC officials have declined to say whether the platform will include marriage equality.

Baldwin is seeking the Democratic nomination in the race to represent Wisconsin in the Senate and replace retiring Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wis.). Her election would make her the first openly gay person elected to the Senate. Baldwin, who has represented Wisconsin’s second congressional district for seven terms, was the first non-incumbent openly gay person elected to Congress in 1998.

During the interview, Baldwin also responded to recent news that the Obama administration won’t issue an executive order at this time barring federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT workers, saying, “We’ve got to keep on organizing.”

Like the White House, Baldwin emphasized the importance of legislation to address the problem — known as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, a bill that would bar workplace discrimination against LGBT workers.

“We also have to focus on the importance of passing an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act through the Congress,” Baldwin said. “We embrace executive orders when they can occur. This president has issued several that have advanced our protections as a community significantly, but there’s no substitute for having Congress act in sending the president the bill to sign.”

LGBT advocacy groups expressed disappointment when the administration announced it wouldn’t take executive action against workplace discrimination. Asked why she thinks the administration declined to issue the directive, Baldwin said she hasn’t “been privy to those conversations” on the executive order.

But Baldwin admitted that movement on ENDA is unlikely in the current Congress given Republican control of the House and said the focus should be on increasing co-sponsors for the bill.

“There’s not a pro-equality majority controlling the House of Representatives right now,” Baldwin said. “So, on the House side, we really have to continue to build support for the day on which we first have a leadership that’s pro-equality. And that’s signing on more and more co-sponsors to legislation.”

As a co-chair of the House LGBT Equality Caucus, Baldwin said she’s focused on briefings on Capitol Hill, recalling one that took place on March 29 hosted by Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.) “on issues of workplace discrimination and why these protections are so desperately needed.”

Asked whether she wants to see President Obama conclude his evolution on same-sex marriage before Election Day, Baldwin laughed and said he’s “moving in the right direction on this issue.”

Baldwin noted that Obama announced early last year that his administration would no longer defend the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act in court and “all the steps we’ve taken to protect families of LGBT communities who work in the federal workforce.”

In 2009, Obama issued a memorandum extending limited benefits to the partners of federal employees. The administration cited DOMA as the reason why major benefits like health care couldn’t be offered.

“He’s evolving in the right direction, and I’m encouraging that,” Baldwin said.

Baldwin’s statement on Obama’s marriage evolution is somewhat different than that of her fellow U.S. Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren, who said in a separate interview with the Blade that she wants to see Obama complete his evolution because “marriage equality is morally right.”

Baldwin came to the Victory Fund brunch after announcing that she topped $2 million in fundraising for the first quarter of 2012, giving her a total of $2.7 million in cash on hand.

Asked about the extent to which she attributed those numbers to her support from the LGBT community, Baldwin said they’re from a “tremendous outpouring of grassroots support” and 91 percent of her donors contributed $100 or less to her campaign.

“This is a grassroots campaign,” Baldwin said. “There’s tremendous excitement on many, many different levels. I’m going to be a fighter for the working people and middle class in the state of Wisconsin; I’m not afraid to stand up to big and powerful interests, and I’m going to be a leader on equality issues.”

Republican candidates in the race haven’t fared as well in fundraising. Former Gov. Tommy Thompson reportedly raised about $660,000 while former Rep. Mark Neumann raised $650,000.

Baldwin said she hasn’t encountered any attacks related to her sexual orientation thus far in her Senate bid and said she expects the race for the Senate to focus on economic issues.

“I think almost everybody agrees that voters are going to be thinking about the economy and jobs and growth,” Baldwin said. “That’s what I expect everyone to stick to. So, that’s what I’m expecting at this point.”

One piece of pro-LGBT legislation that Baldwin sponsors in the House, the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act, recently saw a big boost in the Senate when 20 new co-sponsors signed on in support. All the new co-sponsors for the legislation — which would extend health and pension benefits to the domestic partners of federal employees — were Democrats.

Asked whether the legislation could see movement during the 112th Congress, Baldwin said the addition of 20 co-sponsors to the Senate version of the bill represents progress and she hopes “it’ll continue to gain ground and traction.”

“One of things that we’re talking about at this particular celebration earlier today is the difference that our allies can make one conversation at a time, persuading others to get on board to become informed to advance equality,” Baldwin said. “We’ve got to keep on doing that in both chambers of the Congress.”

During her speech at the Victory Fund brunch, Baldwin pressed the need for passage of ENDA as well as DOMA repeal. She touted being the author of legislation that would institute the “Buffett rule” and make the top 1 percent of income earners pay the same tax rate as other Americans.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

New York

Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced

One of the victims, John Umberger, was D.C. political consultant

Published

on

(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced three men convicted of killing a D.C. political consultant and another man who they targeted at gay bars in Manhattan.

NBC New York notes a jury in February convicted Jayqwan Hamilton, Jacob Barroso, and Robert DeMaio of murder, robbery, and conspiracy in relation to druggings and robberies that targeted gay bars in Manhattan from March 2021 to June 2022.

John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from D.C., and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died. Prosecutors said Hamilton, Barroso, and DeMaio targeted three other men at gay bars.

The jury convicted Hamilton and DeMaio of murdering Umberger. State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in prison.

Barroso, who was convicted of killing Ramirez, received a 20 years to life sentence.

Continue Reading

National

Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information

Crucial datasets included LGBTQ, HIV resources

Published

on

HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Nine private medical and public health advocacy organizations, including two from D.C., filed a lawsuit on May 20 in federal court in Seattle challenging what it calls the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s illegal deletion of dozens or more of its webpages containing health related information, including HIV information.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS itself, and several agencies operating under HHS and its directors, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“This action challenges the widespread deletion of public health resources from federal agencies,” the lawsuit states. “Dozens (if not more) of taxpayer-funded webpages, databases, and other crucial resources have vanished since January 20, 2025, leaving doctors, nurses, researchers, and the public scrambling for information,” it says.

 “These actions have undermined the longstanding, congressionally mandated regime; irreparably harmed Plaintiffs and others who rely on these federal resources; and put the nation’s public health infrastructure in unnecessary jeopardy,” the lawsuit continues.

It adds, “The removal of public health resources was apparently prompted by two recent executive orders – one focused on ‘gender ideology’ and the other targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) programs. Defendants implemented these executive orders in a haphazard manner that resulted in the deletion (inadvertent or otherwise) of health-related websites and databases, including information related to pregnancy risks, public health datasets, information about opioid-use disorder, and many other valuable resources.”

 The lawsuit does not mention that it was President Donald Trump who issued the two executive orders in question. 

A White House spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit. 

While not mentioning Trump by name, the lawsuit names as defendants in addition to HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Matthew Buzzelli, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health; Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Thomas Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration; and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

The 44-page lawsuit complaint includes an addendum with a chart showing the titles or descriptions of 49 “affected resource” website pages that it says were deleted because of the executive orders. The chart shows that just four of the sites were restored after initially being deleted.

 Of the 49 sites, 15 addressed LGBTQ-related health issues and six others addressed HIV issues, according to the chart.   

“The unannounced and unprecedented deletion of these federal webpages and datasets came as a shock to the medical and scientific communities, which had come to rely on them to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, assist physicians and other clinicians in daily care, and inform the public about a wide range of healthcare issues,” the lawsuit states.

 “Health professionals, nonprofit organizations, and state and local authorities used the websites and datasets daily in care for their patients, to provide resources to their communities, and promote public health,” it says. 

Jose Zuniga, president and CEO of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), one of the organizations that signed on as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the deleted information from the HHS websites “includes essential information about LGBTQ+ health, gender and reproductive rights, clinical trial data, Mpox and other vaccine guidance and HIV prevention resources.”

 Zuniga added, “IAPAC champions evidence-based, data-informed HIV responses and we reject ideologically driven efforts that undermine public health and erase marginalized communities.”

Lisa Amore, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s largest LGBTQ supportive health services provider, also expressed concern about the potential impact of the HHS website deletions.

 “As the region’s leader in HIV care and prevention, Whitman-Walker Health relies on scientific data to help us drive our resources and measure our successes,” Amore said in response to a request for comment from  the Washington Blade. 

“The District of Columbia has made great strides in the fight against HIV,” Amore said. “But the removal of public facing information from the HHS website makes our collective work much harder and will set HIV care and prevention backward,” she said. 

The lawsuit calls on the court to issue a declaratory judgement that the “deletion of public health webpages and resources is unlawful and invalid” and to issue a preliminary or permanent injunction ordering government officials named as defendants in the lawsuit “to restore the public health webpages and resources that have been deleted and to maintain their web domains in accordance with their statutory duties.”

It also calls on the court to require defendant government officials to “file a status report with the Court within twenty-four hours of entry of a preliminary injunction, and at regular intervals, thereafter, confirming compliance with these orders.”

The health organizations that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs include the Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy Health, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society. 

The Fast-Track Cities Institute and International Association of Providers of AIDS Care are based in D.C.

Continue Reading

U.S. Federal Courts

Federal judge scraps trans-inclusive workplace discrimination protections

Ruling appears to contradict US Supreme Court precedent

Published

on

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Screen capture: YouTube)

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has struck down guidelines by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designed to protect against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The EEOC in April 2024 updated its guidelines to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which determined that discrimination against transgender people constituted sex-based discrimination as proscribed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To ensure compliance with the law, the agency recommended that employers honor their employees’ preferred pronouns while granting them access to bathrooms and allowing them to wear dress code-compliant clothing that aligns with their gender identities.

While the the guidelines are not legally binding, Kacsmaryk ruled that their issuance created “mandatory standards” exceeding the EEOC’s statutory authority that were “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent.”

“Title VII does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women,” he wrote in the opinion.

The case, which was brought by the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, presents the greatest setback for LGBTQ inclusive workplace protections since President Donald Trump’s issuance of an executive order on the first day of his second term directing U.S. federal agencies to recognize only two genders as determined by birth sex.

Last month, top Democrats from both chambers of Congress reintroduced the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive protections against discrimination into federal law, covering employment as well as areas like housing and jury service.

Continue Reading

Popular