National
DOMA ruled unconstitutional in Calif. employee case
Federal court also strikes down portion of U.S. tax code
Another federal court has ruled against Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act in a California case challenging the constitutionality of the law as well as a portion of the federal tax code.
On Thursday, the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California declared the laws unconstitutional because they preclude plaintiffs from allowing their partners — whether in a union of marriage or a domestic partnership — from participating in a long-term care insurance program maintained by the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS. The decision was signed by U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken.
“The Court finds that § 3 of the DOMA violates the equal protection rights of Plaintiff same-sex spouses, and subparagraph (C) of § 7702B(f) violates the equal protection rights of Plaintiff registered domestic partners,” Wilken writes. “Therefore, both provisions are constitutionally invalid to the extent that they exclude Plaintiff same-sex spouses and registered domestic partners from enrollment in the CalPERS long-term care plan.”
The class-action lawsuit, known as Dragovich v. Department of the Treasury, was filed against both federal and state defendants because they precluded California public employees from taking part in CALPERS. The San Francisco-based Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center filed the case along with Zelle Hofmann Voelbel & Mason LLP.
The decision by Wilken, who was appointed in 1993 by former President Clinton, enjoins both federal and state officials from blocking these workers from participating in these programs. However, a stay could be granted if an appeal is filed.
DOMA, a 1996 law that bars federal recognition of same-sex marriage, applies to CalPERS because the law regulates state-sponsored long-term care plans.
But Title 26 U.S.C. § 7702B(f), also enacted in 1996 as part of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act, or HIPAA, was also struck down because it has language excluding same-sex partners from the program. That portion of the law aims to provide favorable federal tax treatment to participants in state-maintained long-term care insurance plans for state employees like CalPERS.
Michael Dragovich, the lead plaintiff in the case and a nurse specializing in liver transplants at the University of California, San Francisco, praised the decision for allowing him and his partner to participate fully in CalPERS, which he joined as a state employee in 1997.
“I’ve been in a committed relationship with my partner for more than 30 years,” Dragovich said. “I am so pleased that our relationship will now be treated equally to the committed relationships of my heterosexual co-workers.”
Elizabeth Kristen, senior staff attorney for the Legal Aid Society–Employment Law Center and director of its gender equity program, said the decision upholds fairness under the law.
“Lesbian and gay couples are entitled to fair and equal treatment from the federal government,” Kristen said. “Judge Wilken’s ruling ensures that both same-sex spouses and registered domestic partners will be treated fairly with respect to the CalPERS long term care insurance program.”
In the determination that DOMA is unconstitutional, Wilkens brings up examples of statements made by members of Congress in 1996 suggesting an anti-gay animus, including an attempt to overturn to defund D.C.’s domestic partnership law in the early 1990s.
“Congress discussed registered domestic partnership laws prior to and during 1996, when the statutes challenged here were passed,” Wilken writes. “These discussions occurred after the District of Columbia passed, in April 1992, the Health Care Benefits Expansion Act, which established a domestic partnership registry in that jurisdiction. Congress reacted to the new law by barring any local or federal funding to implement, enforce or administer the registry.”
Douglas Nejaime, who’s gay and a law professor at Loyola University, said the decision is noteworthy because it strikes down both DOMA and separately finds excluding California registered domestic partners under the long-term care insurance regulations violates constitutional equal protection principles.
“The other interesting thing here is that the case implicates the relationship between state programs and federal regulation in a way that will continue to arise and produce issues not simply regarding marriage recognition for same-sex couples but recognition of non-marital same-sex relationships that are treated as ‘spousal’ relationships under state law,” NeJaime said.
According to the decision, plaintiffs had sought summary judgment in the case to obtain immediate relief. State defendants and lawyers for attorneys working for the Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group under U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) had opposed this motion. Nonetheless, the court denied these requests and granted summary judgment in favor of plaintiffs.
Wilken’s decision marks the fourth time a federal court has ruled against DOMA. The first time was in 2009 when U.S. District Judge Joseph Tauro in Masschusetts ruled against DOMA in two separate cases: Gill v. Office of Personnel Management and Commonwealth of Massachusetts v. Department of Health & Human Services. Those case are now pending before the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.
The third time took place in February. U.S. District Judge Jeffrey White of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California ruled against DOMA in the case of Golinski v. United States. The case is before the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and oral arguments are scheduled for September.
But NeJaime said this case is unlike the Golinski case because of the standard of review that Wilken exercised. In the Golinksi case, White conducted both a heightened scrutiny and rational basis analysis review. In the Dragovich case, Wilken finds that he’s constrained under Ninth Circuit precedent and thus applies only rational basis review, but still determines DOMA fails under this more deferential standard.
The decision also marks the first time that a court has made a decision on DOMA following President Obama’s announcement that he support same-sex marriage, although no reference to Obama’s words appears in the ruling.
National
LGBTQ Catholic groups slam Trump over pope criticism
‘Moral truth and compassion always overcome ignorant hate’
LGBTQ Catholic groups have sharply criticized President Donald Trump over his criticisms of Pope Leo XIV.
Leo on April 13 told reporters while traveling to Algeria that he had “no fear of the Trump administration” after the president described him as “weak on crime” and “terrible for foreign policy” in response to his opposition to the Iran war. (Trump on the same day posted to Truth Social an image that appeared to show him as Jesus Christ. He removed it on April 13 amid backlash from religious leaders.)
Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, during a Fox News Channel interview on the same day said “in some cases, it would be best for the Vatican to stick to matters of morality, to stick to matters of what’s going on with the Catholic church, and let the president of the United States stick to dictating American public policy.” Vance on April 14 once again discussed Leo during an appearance at a Turning Point USA event in Athens, Ga., saying he should “be careful when he talks about matters of theology.”
Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni; former U.S. Ambassador to the Vatican Miguel Díaz; and Oklahoma City Archbishop Paul Coakley, president of the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, are among those who have criticized Trump over his comments. The president, for his part, has said he will not apologize to Leo.
“The world is being ravaged by a handful of tyrants,” said Leo on Thursday at a cathedral in Bamenda, Cameroon.
Francis DeBernardo is the executive director of New Ways Ministry, a Maryland-based LGBTQ Catholic organization. He told the Washington Blade on Thursday that Trump’s comments about Leo “are one more example of the ridiculous hubris of this leader (Trump) whose entire record shows that he is nothing more than a middle-school bully.”
“LGBTQ+ adults were often bullied as children, and they have learned the lesson that bullies act when they feel frightened or threatened,” said DeBernardo. “But secular power does not threaten the Vicar of Christ, and Pope Leo’s response illustrates this truth perfectly.”
DeBernardo added Trump “is obviously frightened that Pope Leo, an American, has more power and influence than the president on the world stage.”
“Like most Trumpian bullying, this strategy will backfire,” DeBernardo told the Blade. “Moral truth and compassion always overcome ignorant hate. Trump’s actions are not an example of his power, but of his impotence.”
Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of DignityUSA, an LGBTQ Catholic organization, echoed DeBernardo.
“He [Trump] has demonstrated throughout both presidencies that he doesn’t understand the basic concepts of any faith system that is founded on the dignity of human beings, the importance of common good,” Duddy-Burke told the Blade on Thursday during a telephone interview. “It’s just appalling.”
Duddy-Burke praised Leo and the American cardinals who have publicly criticized Trump.
“The pope’s popularity — given how much more respect Pope Leo has than the man sitting in the White House — is a blow to his ego,” Duddy-Burke told the Blade. “That seems to be a sore sport for him.”
“It’s such an imperialistic world view,” she added.
Leo ‘is the real peacemaker’
The College of Cardinals last May elected Leo to succeed Pope Francis after his death.
Leo, who was born in Chicago, is the first American pope. He was the bishop of the Diocese of Chiclayo in Peru from 2015-2023.
Francis made him a cardinal in 2023.
Juan Carlos Cruz — a gay Chilean man and clergy sex abuse survivor who Francis appointed to the Pontifical Commission for the Protection of Minors — has traveled to Ukraine several times with Dominican Sister Lucía Caram since Russia launched its war against the country in 2022. Cruz on Thursday responded to Trump’s criticism of Leo in a text message he sent to the Blade from Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital.
“I am in Ukraine under many attacks,” said Cruz. “Trump is an asshole and has zero right to criticize the Pope who is the real peacemaker.”
Tennessee
Charlie Kirk Act advances in Tenn.
Bill would limit protests, protects speakers opposing ‘transgender’ identities
The Tennessee legislature has passed Senate Bill 1741 / House Bill 1476, dubbed the “Charlie Kirk Act,” which, if signed by Republican Gov. Bill Lee, would reshape how public colleges and universities regulate speech on campus.
The measure targets all public higher education institutions and requires them to adopt a “free expression” policy modeled on the University of Chicago’s framework. That framework emphasizes that universities should not shield students from controversial or offensive ideas and requires state schools to formally embrace institutional neutrality — meaning they do not publicly take a stance on political or social issues.
Under the legislation, publicly funded schools cannot disinvite or cancel invited speakers based on their viewpoints or in response to protests from students or faculty. Student organizations, however — like Turning Point USA, an American nonprofit that advocates for conservative politics on high school, college, and university campuses, founded by Charlie Kirk, and often lack widely represented liberal counterparts — would retain broad authority to bring speakers to campus regardless of controversy.
The law includes broad protections for individuals and organizations expressing religious or ideological beliefs, including opposition to abortion, homosexuality, or transgender identity, regardless of whether those views are rooted in religious or secular beliefs. It further prohibits public institutions from retaliating against faculty for protected speech or scholarly work.
The bill, which has been hailed by supporters as an effort to “preserve campus free speech,” ironically also limits protest activity. Shouting down speakers, blocking sightlines, staging disruptive walkouts, or physically preventing entry to events are now considered “substantial interference” under the legislation, making those who engage in such actions subject to discipline.
Some of those disciplinary consequences include probation, suspension, and even expulsion for students, while faculty who protest in ways deemed to violate the policy could face unpaid suspensions and termination after repeated violations.
Supporters of the bill argue it strengthens free expression on campus. State Rep. Gino Bulso (R-Brentwood), the bill’s sponsor, said it reinforces a commitment to “civil and robust” debate at public universities.
“The Charlie Kirk Act creates critical safeguards for students and faculty and renews the idea that our higher education institutions should be centers of intellectual debate,” Bulso told Fox 17. “This legislation honors the legacy of Charlie Kirk by promoting thoughtful engagement and defending religious freedom.”
Critics, including Democratic lawmakers, have raised concerns that the legislation effectively elevates certain ideological viewpoints — particularly those tied to religious objections to LGBTQ identities — while exposing students and faculty to punishment for protest or dissent.
“It’s ironic that this body is talking about free speech when we had professors in Tennessee schools expelled and suspended when they did not mourn the death of Charlie Kirk — when they said that his statements were problematic and that the way he died did not redeem the way he lived,” state Rep. Justin Jones (D-Nashville) told WKRN.
Kirk, the right-wing activist and founder of Turning Point USA, for whom the bill is named, was assassinated in September 2025 at a public event at Utah Valley University. His legacy and rhetoric remain deeply polarizing, particularly among LGBTQ advocates, who have cited his history of anti-LGBTQ statements in opposing his campus appearances.
The bill now heads to Lee’s desk for his signature.
National
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
Capitol Police arrested five protesters
A group of protesters interrupted Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought during his testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
Vought was at the Cannon House Office Building to give testimony to the House Budget Committee.
Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) began the hearing by touting what he described as economic accomplishments of the Trump-Vance administration’s economic accomplishments. Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) disputed those claims in his opening statement.
Boyle went on to admonish Vought for not attending a committee hearing in the previous year.
Vought, the “Project 2025” architect, was invited to speak after Arrington and Boyle made their statements.
Shortly after Vought began reading his statement, Housing Works CEO Charles King stood up in the gallery and began shouting, “PEPFAR saves lives: spend the money!”
The U.S. Capitol Police moved quickly to escort King from the room. Other activists began chanting with King as they unfolded signs bearing a picture of Vought’s face and statements such as, “Vought’s cuts kill people with AIDS,” and “Protect PEPFAR from Vought.”
The group of HIV/AIDS activists included independent activists, former U.S. Agency for International Development and PEPFAR staff, members of Health GAP, Housing Works, and the Treatment Action Group. Six activists were escorted from the hearing and the U.S. Capitol Police detained five of them.
The HIV/AIDS treatment activists protested at the hearing in response to the dismantling of global health programs, including PEPFAR, a federally-funded program credited with saving millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Russell Vought is directly responsible for illegally withholding Congressionally appropriated funds for PEPFAR and related global health initiative,” King said in a statement provided to the Washington Blade. “These funding disruptions have already contributed to preventable deaths and threaten to reverse decades of progress in the fight against HIV worldwide. Enough is enough. Congress must ensure Vought stops this deadly sabotage.”
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