National
DOJ finalizes rule to protect LGBT inmates against prison rape
Memo says immigration detention facilities will have to follow suit
The Justice Department made final a rule Thursday to prevent sexual abuse in federal prisons that included provisions aimed at providing better protection for LGBT inmates.
The rule, the first-ever federal effort to set standards at all jail facilities, is in accordance with the Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003. It was first proposed last year.
According to a statement from the Justice Department, the standards require, among other things, that facilities try to prevent sexual violence in prison by incorporating the unique vulnerabilities of LGBT people as well as intersex and gender nonconforming inmates into training and screening protocols.
“Sexual violence, against any victim, is an assault on human dignity and an affront to American values,” President Obama wrote in a memorandum accompanying the announcement. “The Prison Rape Elimination Act of 2003 (PREA) was enacted with bipartisan support and established a ‘zero tolerance standard’ for rape in prisons in the United States.”
The standards include specialized training for prison staff and screenings in detention settings to determine if LGBT inmates are at higher risk for being targeted for sexual abuse. The new rule has particular impact on transgender inmates. Agencies must train security staff on respectful searches of transgender inmates; transgender people can’t be assigned to a male or female facility based solely on their anatomy; and transgender inmates will be given the opportunity to shower separately from other inmates.
LGBT advocates hailed the codification of the rule for extending new protections for LGBT inmates — who are seen as being more vulnerable to sexual violence while in prison. According to the National Center for Transgender Equality, one in three former transgender inmates report being sexually abused.
Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force, said “no one — and I mean no one” should be subjected to the pain and indignity of rape — even individuals who are incarcerated.
“By adopting these national standards to prevent, detect and respond to prison rape, the federal government put its foot down and said ‘no more.’ LGBT people, often the targets of brutality in detention settings, stand much to gain,” Carey said. “Lives are literally on the line, and these historic standards will help combat this terrible epidemic and lift our common humanity.”
Mara Keisling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality, also called the finalization of the rule significant.
“We have an obligation as civilized people to protect the people we incarcerate,” Keisling said. “That has always been an American promise, but one we have barely tried to keep. These new standards, if fully implemented, have the potential to help us keep that promise at least in terms of sexual assault.”
The memorandum says that rule applies to facilities administered by agencies other than the Justice Department. Such facilities would likely include immigration detention facilities run by the private companies or the Department of Homeland Security. Agencies with federal confinement facilities not subject to the Justice Department’s final rule must propose within 120 days any rules or procedures necessary to satisfy the requirements of the law, and make final any such rules or procedures within 240 days of their proposal.
Peter Boogard, a DHS spokesperson, said his department “fully embraces” the law and looks forward to implementing the provisions under the new rule.
“The regulations will build on the substantial improvements we have made to agency policy and procedures to prevent, detect and respond to sexual abuse in immigration detention,” Boogard said. “DHS will move swiftly to promulgate these regulations and will work with the attorney general and others to ensure that the regulations satisfy the requirements of the statute.”
Mary Meg McCarthy, executive director of Heartland Alliance’s National Immigrant Justice Center, urged the Obama administration to monitor DHS closely to ensure the department implements the rule in a timely manner.
“The U.S. government has finally acknowledged that immigrant detainees must be protected from sexual violence while in immigration custody,” said McCarthy said. “We wish the regulations applied to immigration detention facilities immediately. Instead, DHS has another year to implement a law that has been on the books for nearly a decade. Some of the individual provisions announced today are evidence of the Obama administration’s commitment to protecting immigrants from abuse, particularly those who are vulnerable because of their sexual orientation or sexual identity.”
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

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.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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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