News
State Department urges Zimbabwe to stop LGBT crackdown
Police arrested 44 Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe members in Harare on Aug. 11

The State Department on Thursday condemned Zimbabwe for its ongoing crackdown on LGBT rights activists following two police raids on an advocacy group’s offices earlier this month.
āWe are deeply concerned when security forces become an instrument of political violence used against citizens exercising their democratic rights,ā said spokesperson Victoria Nuland.Ā āWe call upon the government of Zimbabwe to end this pattern of abuse and to eradicate the culture of impunity that allows members of the security sector to continue to violate the rights of the Zimbabwean people.ā
Police on Aug. 11 arrested 44 members of Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe at the groupās offices in Harare, the countryās capital, after it unveiled a report that documented LGBT human rights abuses in the southern African nation. GALZ said on its website that riot police beat activists with batons and their fists before taking them into custody. Authorities subsequently released them without charge, but GALZ reported that police have since gone to 10 membersā homes ā the group said police detained and interrogated three activists before releasing them.
āThis is an outrageous breach of the rights of these activists, who are being harassed for their real or perceived sexual orientation,ā said Audrey Gaughran of Amnesty International. āThe authorities must call a halt to the ongoing arbitrary detention and interrogation of GALZ members. The police action is a blatant violation of the basic human rights of these individuals. They have not committed any crime under Zimbabwean law.ā
In a separate incident on Monday, GALZ said authorities confiscated computers and publications from the groupās Harare office. It noted that police seized the same equipment that they had returned after a May 2010 raid in which two activists were arrested.
GALZ co-chair Talent Nyathi told the Blade from Bulawayo, the countryās second largest city, that his group welcomes the State Departmentās statement. He urged American officials, however, to do more to stop the ongoing crackdown.
āThey must not just talk,ā he said. āThey must also do something to stop these attacks on LGBT persons.ā
The ongoing crackdown also coincides with the process to rewrite Zimbabwe’s constitution that began in 2010. Zimbabweans are expected to vote on it and elect a new government sometime next year, but President Robert Mugabe has yet to announce when the election will take place.
Nyathi stressed that he feels authorities continue to target his group because LGBT rights have become politicized in Zimbabwe. He once again urged authorities to end their crackdown against GALZ and other advocacy organizations.
āWe demand to be respected as [an] LGBT community,ā said Nyathi. āWe are also human beings who want equality and tolerance and it is the duty of the government not to harm its citizens but protect them all the times.ā
Federal Government
Education Department moves to end support for trans students
Mental health services among programs that are in jeopardy

An email sent to employees at the U.S. Department of Education on Friday explains that “programs, contracts, policies, outward-facing media, regulations, and internal practices” will be reviewed and cut in cases where they āfail to affirm the reality of biological sex.ā
The move, which is of a piece with President Donald Trump’s executive orders restricting transgender rights, jeopardizes the future of initiatives at the agency like mental health services and support for students experiencing homelessness.
Along with external-facing work at the agency, the directive targets employee programs such as those administered by LGBTQ resource groups, in keeping with the Trump-Vance administration’s rollback of diversity, equity, and inclusion within the federal government.
In recent weeks, federal agencies had begun changing their documents, policies, and websites for purposes of compliance with the new administration’s first executive action targeting the trans community, āDefending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.ā
For instance, the Education Department had removed a webpage offering tips for schools to better support homeless LGBTQ youth, noted ProPublica, which broke the news of the “sweeping” changes announced in the email to DOE staff.
According to the news service, the directive further explains the administration’s position that āThe deliberate subjugation of women and girls by means of gender ideology ā whether in intimate spaces, weaponized language, or American classrooms ā negated the civil rights of biological females and fostered distrust of our federal institutions.”
A U.S. Senate committee hearing will be held Thursday for Linda McMahon, Trump’s nominee for education secretary, who has been criticized by LGBTQ advocacy groups. GLAAD, for instance, notes that she helped to launch and currently chairs the board of a conservative think tank that “has campaigned against policies that support transgender rights in education.”
NBC News reported on Tuesday that Trump planned to issue an executive order this week to abolish the Education Department altogether.
While the president and his conservative allies in and outside the administration have repeatedly expressed plans to disband the agency, doing so would require approval from Congress.

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].Ā
Congratulations to Ryan Levi on assuming the presidency of the D.C. chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (DCNLGJA).
“I’m incredibly excited to take on this new leadership role with an organization full of incredible journalists,ā Levi said. āIn these uncertain and challenging times for many in our queer and trans community, I hope NLGJA can continue to be a space for queer and trans D.C. journalists to connect with their peers, find support, grow in their careers, and build community.”
Leviās background includes being a reporter and producer with Tradeoffs Washington, D.C., where he reported and produced podcast episodes for the national nonprofit health policy news organization. Topics included ransomware attacks on hospitals, bias and AI in health care, and bringing Medicaid to incarcerated people. He was the lead reporter on The Fifth Branch, a special three-part series on mental health crisis response. His reporting was featured on NPR, PBS NewsHour, The Marshall Project, and Slate. He was a producer for KQED News, San Francisco, where he reported and produced sound-rich feature stories, developed, and executed engagement strategy, provided editorial feedback, and mixed pieces for the weekly Bay Curious podcast. Before that he was a producer and reporter at KBIA News in Columbia, Missouri.
Levi earned his bachelorās degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and a bachelorās degree in Spanish, College of Arts and Science. He has won numerous honors and recognition for his work, including: Region 2 Edward R. Murrow Best News Series award for Three Refugees, Three Journeys to California; and second place 2017 Hearst Journalism Awards Radio Competition (reporter).
Canada
Canadian LGBTQ group cancels WorldPride participation over Trump policies
Egale Canada cites need to āsafeguard our trans and nonbinary staffā

Egale Canada, one of Canadaās largest LGBTQ advocacy organizations, announced in a Feb. 6 statement that its members will not be attending any events in the U.S., including WorldPride set to take place in Washington from May 17-June 8, because of policies put in place by President Donald Trump.
The statement says the decision not to come to the U.S. resulted in its cancellation of plans to attend a meeting of the Commission on the Status of Women at U.N. headquarters in New York in March, at which it planned to discuss LGBTQ related issues.
āAfter deep consideration, we have decided not to engage in-person in this yearās Commission on the Status of Women or any other UN, OAS (Organization of American States) or global convergings, including WorldPride, taking place in the United States in the foreseeable future,ā the statement says.
āThis decision is foremost based on the need to safeguard our trans and nonbinary staff who would face questionable treatment at land and aviation borders to attend such convenings, and to stand in solidarity with global colleagues who are experiencing similar fear around entry to the U.S.,ā the statement continues.
āIt is also founded in the unique situation that has been thrust on Canadians (and citizens of other countries) regarding economic warfare and threats to our national sovereignty,ā according to the statement. āWe cannot in good conscience engage in a process of disentangling our organization from the U.S. goods and services (as we have recently released in a statement) and then proceed to travel to the U.S.ā
The Egale Canada statement marks the first known time that an international LGBTQ rights organization has declared it will not come to the U.S. to attend WorldPride because of the controversial policies adopted by the Trump-Vance administration, which so far have included a roll back of programs and policies in support of transgender people.
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