National
Members of Congress launch anti-bullying caucus
Lawmakers pledge to pass legislation barring student harassment

A bipartisan group of House lawmakers led by Rep. Mike Honda (D-Calif.) launched on Thursday an anti-bullying caucus that aims to draw attention to LGBT youth and others who experience harassment.
During a news conference on Capitol Hill, Honda said lawmakers formed the Congressional Anti-Bullying Caucus, which he chairs, to carry the message against “the bullying epidemic” in schools, the workplace and assisted living facilities. Honda said stories about bullying are common among constituents of all lawmakers.
“This is going to be — from a national point of view right down to the local — a clarion call to make sure that all of us understand what this thing called bullying is,” Honda said.
Members of the caucus who spoke during the conference didn’t focus per se on the bullying of LGBT students in school — an issue that has received significant attention in recent years because of gay youths who have committed suicide after being harassed — although a few members of the caucus talked about incidents of anti-LGBT bullying in their districts.
Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) said transgender people in her district have experienced violence as a result of what she described as being bullied.
“Finally, let me just say in my own district in the last few months there have been three cases of transgendered individuals who were killed, who were killed, who were killed because of their identity, because they were bullied, and this is bad,” Lee said. “I want to make sure we all recognize that it is deadly.”
Legislation pending before Congress that aims to stop bullying against LGBT students is the Student Non-Discrimination Act, which would make LGBT status a protected class among students, and the Safe Schools Improvement Act, which would require schools to set up anti-bullying policies. In April, President Obama endorsed both pieces of legislation.
Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), a former school nurse, talked about the story of Lawrence King, a gay student from California in her district, who died after being shot in 2008 by a classmate whom he asked to be his Valentine.
“His death and other similar tragedies remind us that bullying — particularly bullying directed at LGBT youth — must be stopped,” Capps said.
Capps said starting the anti-bullying caucus is “an important step,” but passage of the Safe Schools Improvement Act would be “the first thing we can do” to stop bullying.
Rep. Judy Chu (D-Calif.) said she has personal interest in stopping bullying because she has a nephew, Harry Lew, who killed himself about a year ago while serving in Afghanistan as a result of hazing.
“Two of his peers punched and kicked him, forced him to do push ups and crunches wearing his heavy full-body armor and poured the entire contents of a sandbag into his face and mouth,” Chu said. “This went on for three-and-a-half hours. Harry was serving his country and was the victim of harassment, and 20 minutes after the torment stopped, he climbed into a foxhole and killed himself. He was only 21 years old.”
As of Friday, 46 U.S. House members were among its members, including Reps. Pete Stark (D-Calif.), Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.) and Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.). Four Republicans are members: Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), Charles Bass (R-N.H.), Robert Dold (R-Ill.) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.). Following the news conference, Honda told the Washington Blade he expects more members to sign on, but didn’t disclose any names.
Ros-Lehtinen, who has a transgender son and is a co-sponsor of many pro-LGBT bills, was among the speakers at the news conference.
“We may be from different sides of the aisle, but we all believe that it is time to stand up and stop bullying — both offline and online,” Ros-Lehtinen said. “Every American deserves to live a life that is free from persecution and harassment. No one has the right to victimize others because of their gender, or their age, or their race, or creed, ethnicity or sexual orientation.”
Also present at the news conference was Lee Hirsh, director of the 2011 documentary film “Bully,” and David and Tina Long, the parents of a child, Tyler Long, who hung himself after being bullied and whose story was told during the movie.

Tina Long, mother of Tyler Long, who committed suicide after being bullied (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Long’s eyes filled with tears as she told her story.
“There is a problem and we’re going to take care of it,” Long said. “And if it takes federal legislation to make this happen, then that’s what we have to do. … We have this opportunity, and if we don’t take it, how many more parents are going to lose their children? You never want to have to bury your child for something that is preventable.”
Only one openly gay member of Congress is a member of the caucus: Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.). Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) are set to leave the U.S. House at the end of this year. Scott Fay, chief of staff for Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), said his boss will join the caucus at a later time.
Federal Government
RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth
‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.
The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.
“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”
While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.
The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”
Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.
“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”
GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”
Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.
“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.
“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”
“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”
“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.”
Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.
“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”
The White House
Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador
Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.
Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.
“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”
“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.
Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.
U.S. Federal Courts
Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy
Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.
The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”
Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.
“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.
Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.
The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.
Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”
Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.
“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”
“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”
Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.
Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.
Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.
The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.
Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.
A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order. The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.
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