National
Obama urges Md. voters to uphold marriage law
Spoke at Baltimore campaign fundraiser on Tuesday

President Barack Obama on Tuesday urged Maryland voters to support the state’s same-sex marriage law in a likely November referendum that could repeal the statute.
“We’re moving forward to a country where we treat everybody fairly and everybody equally, with dignity and respect,” he said during a campaign fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency in Baltimore. “And here in Maryland, thanks to the leadership of committed citizens and Gov. O’Malley, you have a chance to reaffirm that principle in the voting booth in November. It’s the right thing to do.”
Obama’s comments come less than a month after the Maryland Marriage Alliance submitted 113,000 signatures – more than double the 55,736 signatures they needed to collect by the end of the month to put the same-sex marriage law on the ballot. An unofficial count posted to the Maryland State Board of Elections’ website on Tuesday shows that officials have validated 109,317 of the 113,000 signatures.
An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted after Obama publicly endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples during an interview with ABC News last month showed that his support of nuptials for gays and lesbians has had a significant impact on public opinion among African Americans on the issue. The poll found that 59 percent of black respondents said they support marriage rights for same-sex couples — an 18-point increase from surveys that had been taken before the president backed the issue.
A second survey from Public Policy Polling found that 57 percent of Maryland voters would support marriage rights for same-sex couples in the referendum. The same poll found that 55 percent of the state’s black voters back nuptials for gays and lesbians.
“We are grateful the president highlighted the marriage referendum in his remarks today,” said Josh Levin, campaign director for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, after the fundraiser. “Voters identify with his journey on the issue and are re-thinking their own position on same-sex marriage. A strong majority already realize this is about treating gays and lesbians fairly under the law and about dignity for all Maryland families, not just some families. The president’s history-making leadership on marriage equality has inspired new conversations around kitchen tables and in church pews, not just in Maryland but all over the country.”
Maryland’s gay lawmakers welcomed Obama’s comments.
“What the president said was great,” said state Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County.) “In a heavily Democratic state that will vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama for president, having his support for this referendum is fantastic.”
Delegate Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) agreed.
“He came out incredibly strongly about what the right thing to do is in Maryland in November,” she told the Blade. “His support for marriage as we’re seeing in our baseline polling in this state has done a lot to swing public opinion here.”
“I feel really good about how things are going here in Maryland because of the president’s strong support,” added Del. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City.) “It’s caused people to stop and think again about this issue and it’s really turned the tables I think on the other side.”
The Maryland Marriage Alliance did not immediately return the Blade’s requests for comment.
Florida
Federal judge halts enforcement of Fla. trans healthcare ban
Advocacy groups challenged Senate Bill 254

In his 44 page ruling, Judge Robert Hinkle of the U. S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida has barred the state from any further enforcement action against transgender youth or their parents from seeking appropriate gender-affirming care.
Hinkle’s ruling allows Florida parents challenging the ban to access necessary medical care for their trans children while the legal challenge to the bans continues. The ruling blocks enforcement of Florida state Boards of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine rules banning established medical care for trans adolescents as well as provisions in Senate Bill 254 that codify those rules into state law with added criminal and civil penalties.
In his summary Hinkle wrote: “Gender identity is real. Those whose gender identity does not match their natal sex often suffer gender dysphoria. The widely accepted standard of care calls for evaluation and treatment by a multidisciplinary team. Proper treatment begins with mental health therapy and is followed in appropriate cases by GnRH agonists and cross-sex hormones. Florida has adopted a statute and rules that prohibit these treatments even when medically appropriate.”
In today’s ruling the court indicated that the plaintiff parents are likely to succeed in their claims that SB 254 and the Boards of Medicine rules unconstitutionally strip them of the right to make informed decisions about their children’s medical treatment and violate the equal protection rights of trans youth by denying them medically necessary, doctor-recommended healthcare.
The challenge to the Boards of Medicine and SB 254 healthcare bans is likely to proceed quickly to trial.
The families are represented by Southern Legal Counsel, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, the National Center for Lesbian Rights and the Human Rights Campaign, which issued the following statement:
“Today’s ruling is a powerful affirmation of the humanity of transgender people, the efficacy of well-established, science-based medical care, and of the rights of parents to make informed healthcare decisions for their children. The court recognized the profound harm the state of Florida is causing by forcing parents to watch their kids suffer rather than provide them with safe and effective care that will allow them to thrive. We are incredibly relieved that these Florida parents can continue to get healthcare for their children while we proceed to challenge these bans and eventually see them fully overturned.”
Read the ruling:
Washington
Events roundup: Federal gov’t celebrates Pride month
Bidens to host White House Pride reception on Thursday

The White House, U.S. federal agencies, and Congress are honoring Pride month with a slate of official and unofficial events this year, many taking place this week.
Details for some events have not yet been announced, so this article will be updated when new information becomes available – such as details about the U.S. State Department’s Pride reception, which is expected to happen later this month.
- The U.S. Department of the Interior kicked off Pride month with a celebration on June 1, where DoI Secretary Deb Haaland raised the Progress Pride Flag alongside members of Interior’s LGBTQ community.
- Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs hosted a flag raising ceremony on June 1 at the John A. Wilson Building. The Mayor’s Office is also sponsoring a District of Pride Showcase at the Lincoln Theatre on June 29.
- On June 2, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security held a flag raising ceremony at the agency’s headquarters with DHS Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas.
- Speaker Emerita U.S. Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will throw out the ceremonial first pitch during the Washington Nationals Night OUT game on Tuesday, Major League Baseball’s longest-running annual Pride event. The Speaker will be honored this year for her advancement of LGBTQ civil rights throughout her career in Congress.
- The U.S. Department of Defense’s DoD Pride, an LGBTQ employee resource group for service members and DoD civilian employees, will hold its annual Pride month event on June 7 at the Pentagon.
- President Joe Biden and First Lady Dr. Jill Biden are hosting a Pride month celebration on the South Lawn of the White House on June 8, which will feature a performance by singer-songwriter Betty Who.
- The LGBTQ Victory Fund’s June 22 Federal PAC Reception will feature LGBTQ members of Congress: U.S. Reps. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.), Eric Sorensen (D-Ill.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.), Robert Garcia (D-Calf.), and Sharice Davids (D-Kan.).
- On June 28, Vice President Kamala Harris and Second Gentleman Doug Emhoff are hosting a reception in celebration of Pride at the Vice President’s residence, in collaboration with GLAAD.
National
Same-sex marriage support remains strong at 71 percent high
Supreme Court issued Obergefell ruling in 2015

A Gallup Poll released Monday showed that support for same-sex marriage is maintaining a position of 71 percent of Americans who think it should be legal, matching the previous year’s percentage.
Gallup noted that public support for legally recognizing gay marriages has been consistently above 50 percent since the early 2010s.

The latest figures are from Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs poll, conducted May 1-24.
When Gallup first polled about same-sex marriage in 1996, barely a quarter of the public (27 percent) supported legalizing such unions. It would take another 15 years, until 2011, for support to reach the majority level. Then in 2015, just one month before the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell v. Hodges decision, public support for legalizing gay marriage cracked the 60 percent level. In 2021, it reached the 70 percent mark for the first time and has been there each of the past three years.
Support Relatively Low Among Republicans, Weekly Churchgoers
Gallup has recorded increases in support for same-sex marriage across all major subgroups over time. Today, majorities of all but two key subgroups — Republicans (49 percent) and weekly churchgoers (41 percent) — say gay marriages should be legally recognized.
Republican support for gay marriage has hovered around the 50 percent mark since 2020, with slight majorities backing it in 2021 and 2022. The latest 49 percent recorded for this group is statistically similar to the level of support Gallup has recorded in recent years.
Like all other subgroups, weekly churchgoers (41 percent) are more supportive of gay marriage now than they were in the previous two decades. However, their level of support has been steady since 2018 — ranging between 40 percent and 44 percent.

Bottom line
Same-sex marriage has received majority support in the U.S. for over a decade, and support has been on an upward trajectory for most of Gallup’s polling since 1996.
Gay marriage became the law of the land after the Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell decision, and President Joe Biden signed bipartisan legislation to ward off future judicial attempts at undoing its legality late last year.
Among many groups — including older adults, Protestants and residents of the South — perspectives on gay marriage have gone from majority opposition to majority support over the course of Gallup’s trend spanning more than a quarter of a century. But two groups remain holdouts on the issue, with Republicans evenly divided on the legality of same-sex unions and weekly churchgoers maintaining their position against it.
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