National
Freedom to Marry launches campaign to bolster same-sex marriage support among conservatives
Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) attended campaign kick-off event

Freedom to Marry on Tuesday formally launched a new campaign designed to bolster support of nuptials for same-sex couples among conservatives.
Members of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry will work to pass state laws that allow same-sex marriage and lobby lawmakers on Capitol Hill to support a bill that would repeal the Defense of Marriage Act. The campaign also seeks to highlight conservatives who can effectively discuss marriage rights for gays and lesbians in the media.
“I am a conservative and as a conservative I believe in limited government and limited government isn’t something that takes rights away from our friends and family,” said Craig Stowell, Republican co-chair of Standing Up for New Hampshire Families, at the campaign’s kick-off event at the Capitol Hill Club in Southeast Washington. “The government shouldn’t be managing the personal lives of any decent law abiding citizen in any state.”
Tyler Deaton of the New Hampshire Young Republicans and New Hampshire Republicans for Freedom and Equality; Nicole Neily, vice president of Dezenhall Resources, former Republican National Convention staffer Madeline Koch, Sarah Longwell of the D.C. communications firm Berman and Company, Torrey Shearer and Will Rinehart were the members of the Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry Leadership Committee also attended the D.C. event. CNN commentator Margaret Hoover is also a member of the campaign’s leadership committee.
Stowell, a former Marine, became emotional as he discussed the struggles he said his gay brother Calvin experienced growing up.
“There were nights that I worried that he wouldn’t be around when I woke up in the morning, but you know what, he pulled through it and he has always been there for me,” he said. “When I got married, he was my best man. And when I had a daughter, he stepped up to be the godfather. And I want to be able to be there for him in those moments in life.”
Florida Congresswoman Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, who is the only GOP sponsor of the DOMA repeal bill — the Respect for Marriage Act — also spoke.
“This is more than just about sexual orientation, it’s about the fundamental rights that we all share as Americans,” she said. “It’s bad enough we have to deal with the over-regulation of our economy. No one should have to deal with the government red tape when it comes to committing themselves to those whom they love. So with your help, our country will indeed continue on its path towards that most perfect union for each and every one of us.”
An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll in March showed that support for marriage rights for same-sex couples among Republicans has grown by 41 percent since 2009. A survey that ABC News and the Washington Post conducted shortly after President Obama publicly backed nuptials for gays and lesbians in May indicated that 46 percent of self-identified Republicans between 18-44 support same-sex marriage.
Stowell and others pointed to the 119 Republicans in the New Hampshire House who voted against a bill in March that would have struck down the state’s same-sex marriage law as further proof that support for this issue continues to grow. “We worked hard to preach our values of the state that freedom means freedom for everyone and that 2,000 loving and committed gay and lesbian couples that married in our state only makes it stronger,” Stowell told the Blade. “We made the case strongly. Our opponents invested millions of dollars, but you know what, we beat them overwhelmingly in a Republican super-majority by a 2-1 margin. It doesn’t get any better than that.”
Ros-Lehtinen, who has a transgender son, told the Blade that she remains optimistic that Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry and other efforts will spur more of her GOP colleagues to support the repeal of DOMA and back relationship recognition for same-sex couples.
“It’s a whole new image for Republicans and we’ve got to win the hearts and minds of the next generation,” she stressed. “The Republicans can’t be the party of middle age and beyond.”
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin Republicans, shared a similar view.
“There’s now compelling data to prove that this is an issue that we’re going to win on,” he said, referring to polls that continue to indicate support for marriage rights for same-sex couples among younger Republicans in particular continues to grow. “If we don’t move forward on this particular issue within the conservative ranks within the Republican Party, it will have a diminishing effect on the party.”
Robert Kabel, chair of the D.C. Republican Committee, and Robert Turner, II, president of the D.C. Chapter of Log Cabin Republicans, were also among those who attended the campaign kick-off event.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
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.”
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