National
HRC pledges $1 million for same-sex marriage efforts
Campaigns in Maryland, Washington, Minnesota and Maine each received $250,000.
HRC President Chad Griffin (Blade photo by Michael Key)
The Human Rights Campaign on Monday announced it has given an additional $1 million to support same-sex marriage efforts in four states.
Campaigns in Maryland, Washington, Minnesota and Maine each received $250,000 to either defend their state’s same-sex marriage laws, defeat a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman or allow nuptials for gays and lesbians. HRC has so far contributed $4.8 million to marriage-related efforts in this election cycle. This figure includes $853,000 to the legislative campaign to secure passage of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law earlier this year and $728,000 in cash and in-kind donations to Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the group defending the statute ahead of the November referendum on it.
“This is a tipping point year in the fight for marriage equality that requires significant investment,” said HRC President Chad Griffin. “We are committed to making sure this is the year that our opponents can no longer claim Americans will not support marriage equality at the ballot box.”
Recipients were quick to welcome the additional HRC funds.
“It’s a fantastic investment that they’re making in our work here,” Josh Levin, campaign director of Marylanders for Marriage Equality, told the Blade. “They’ve been a tremendous partner throughout the legislative fight and this has shown they are dedicated to winning here and confident that we have the resources to be successful.”
“It’s great to have their support,” added Matt McTighe, campaign manager of Mainers United for Marriage, which seeks marriage rights for gays and lesbians in the Pine Tree State. “We’re thrilled to have it and it’s just a great validation of the work that we’re doing in Maine.”
Zach Silk, campaign manager of Washington United for Marriage, the group defending the Evergreen State’s same-sex marriage law, echoed McTighe and Levin.
“We are incredibly grateful for HRC’s contribution to the campaign,” he told the Blade. “They’ve played a sustained and continued role in our campaign since before the legislative battle. They’ve been on the ground here in Washington State since last fall, and [has] really stood shoulder-to-shoulder with us fighting the key moments of the campaign.”
Groups plan to use HRC money to fund ad buys, voter outreach
Levin declined to comment on either the amount of money his group has raised or the amount of money HRC has given to the campaign, but McTighe told the Blade that Mainers United for Marriage has raised slightly under $2 million. Washington United for Marriage said in a press release earlier this month that its budget is more than $5.4 million — including the $2.5 million that Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and his wife MacKenzie donated last month.
Minnesotans United for All Families, which opposes the proposed state constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman, has raised slightly more than $5.7 million as of July 23. Campaign spokesperson Kate Brickman told the Blade that 80 percent of this money has come from inside the state, while 91 percent of the 25,000 individual campaign donors are Minnesotans.
Brickman added the HRC funds will help the campaign respond to what she expects will be a flood of pro-amendment ads in the weeks leading up to the November vote.
“For us it’s a matter of us to be able to combat that late in the game and respond to the hurtful [and negative ads,]” she said.
McTighe also discussed how his campaign plans to use some of the HRC money it received.
“Media buys are a huge part of it because that’s something that’s really competitive in a presidential election year — there’s a lot of competition to buy up time from our opponents, from the other campaigns,” he said. “One thing we’ve been doing over the last two years in Maine is really trying to have as many one-on-one conversations as possible through our field and canvass operations. We’re going to continue to fund that work and try to do paid media as well.”
Like in Maine and Minnesota, Silk said the additional funds will go towards what he described as an “aggressive advertising campaign” in Washington ahead of the referendum.
“This will be an important part of it,” he said.
A CNN/ORC International poll in June that 54 percent of Americans support marriage rights for same-sex couples.
A survey that Hart Research Associates conducted late last month found that 54 percent of Maryland voters would vote for the state’s same-sex marriage law in November. A Public Policy Polling poll in June noted 51 percent of Washington voters back their state’s same-sex marriage law. A Critical Insights survey last month indicates that 57 percent of Maine voters support extending marriage rights to gays and lesbians.
A PPP survey in June found that only 43 percent of Minnesotans support their state’s proposed constitutional amendment to ban nuptials for same-sex couples, compared to 49 percent of voters who oppose it.
HRC spokesperson Fred Sainz conceded to the Blade that the presidential election, high-profile congressional races and other ballot initiatives are among the hurdles that same-sex marriage supporters will face in the coming weeks and months. He stressed, however, that momentum remains on their side.
“The good news for us, which is really, really, really good news, is the atmospherics are positive ones,” said Sainz. “The public opinion polls are continuing to head in the right directions — all the public opinion polls in these four states are headed in the right direction, the president’s support for marriage equality is good. Every single federal court that has expressed an opinion on this issue has expressed it in our favor, so the atmospherics are definitely very positive and are all trending in the right direction.”
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
Congress
Ogles faces bipartisan backlash over anti-gay social media post
Tenn. congressman blamed the comment on staffer
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, is facing backlash from LGBTQ advocates and fellow Republicans after a social media post declared that “homosexuality has no place in America.”
“Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month,” the congressman wrote in a post on X that was later deleted.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 6.3 percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ.
Following widespread criticism, Ogles removed the post and blamed it on a staff member.
“The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded,” Ogles said in a statement.
The Washington Blade reached out to Ogles’s office for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Among those condemning the message was U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who called it “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post.
“Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact, Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also criticized Ogles’s remarks.
“For all of recorded history, homosexuals have been a part of humanity,” Cruz told TMZ DC. “I think the behavior of consenting adults is their business.”
Chris Sanders, the executive director for the Tennessee Equality Project and Tennessee Equality Project Foundation provided a statement to the Blade about Ogles’s comment.
“The Tennessee Nuclear Family Month resolution has really backfired on conservatives by ensnaring Congressman Ogles in scandal. He used the resolution as a pretext to say that our community doesn’t belong in America, resulting in incredible backlash from across the partisan divide,” Sanders said. “It is a good opportunity for him to pause and reflect on whether it’s time for him to resign. Fighting one’s own constituents is not the purpose of serving in Congress.”
Human Rights Campaign Senior Press Secretary Jarred Keller provided a statement to the Blade regarding Ogles’s comments.
“LGBTQ+ people are woven into the fabric of America, and any politician who questions that is severely out of touch with reality. When so many people are worried about whether they can afford gas to get to work or groceries for their families, the last thing we need is right-wing Republicans targeting marginalized communities with hateful attacks,” Keller said. “Representative Ogles should spend less time attacking LGBTQ+ people and start addressing the issues that actually matter, because last I checked, our community isn’t the reason families are struggling to make ends meet.”
The controversy comes as Tennessee continues to advance legislation affecting LGBTQ residents. The state already has several laws on the books that LGBTQ advocates have criticized, including the Adult Entertainment Act, enacted in 2023, which restricts certain “adult cabaret performances.”
Lawmakers have also introduced additional measures this legislative session, including the “No Pride Flag or Month Act,” which would prohibit state employees, volunteers, and agents from displaying Pride flags or participating in Pride observances while acting in an official capacity.
Another proposal, the “Banning Bostock Act” would seek to limit the application of state anti-discrimination protections based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. Tennessee lawmakers have also passed other measures restricting LGBTQ rights and access to gender-affirming health care.
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