National
RNC 2012: Economy the priority for gay GOP delegates
Gay delegates dismissive of marriage rights, party platform
David Rappel, a gay Republican delegate from Los Angeles (Blade photo by Michael Key)
TAMPA, Fla. — Gay delegates attending the Republican National Convention share a similar mindset when discussing their vision for the country: the economy is a priority, LGBT rights are not.
The Washington Blade spoke with a handful of out delegates who were committed to electing Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney as they dismissed the notion that issues such as marriage equality and workplace non-discrimination protections had significant importance.
David Rappel, a gay 46-year-old travel agent from Los Angeles, said he wanted to represent his party on the national stage at this convention because he’s a conservative who has a long history as a Republican activist at the local and state level.
“I believe in the conservative message of lower taxes and of free trade, and people need to be independent of government,” Rappel said.
Asked whether he’s bothered by belonging to a party and supporting a presidential candidate that take a hard line against LGBT rights, Rappel invoked former President Ronald Reagan.
“I don’t agree with everything they say, but I agree with over 80 percent of what they say,” Rappel said. “Yes, we disagree on same-sex marriage, and some of my friends, we disagree on same-sex marriage, but that still does not preclude me from being a Republican.”
Rappel was similarly dismissive when asked about the anti-gay language in the Republican Party platform that strongly limits marriage to opposite-sex couples and endorses a Federal Marriage Amendment, calling the manifesto “worthless.”
“It doesn’t make a difference,” Rappel said. “No one reads a single word of the platform except for the press. There’s no one that’s ever run on any political platform.”
David Valkema, a gay 46-year-old business executive from Long Beach, Ind., similarly said he wanted to take part in the 2012 convention after participating in the 2004 and 2008 conventions.
“I see the new Republican Party that’s emerging in the last four years being united on issues that affect all of us — not just straight people, or religious people, but all Americans — gay, straight, white, black, Latino, Asian — and we are uniting as a party behind the core issues that really make us Republicans,” Valkema said. “I’m proud first-generation American, primarily. Secondarily, I’m a constitutional conservative who belongs to the Republican Party and I believe that change is only going to be effected by the two parties.”
The Long Beach, Ind., resident emphasized that being gay is only one part of him and he’s more concerned about the keeping the United States from adopting leftist policies than advancing LGBT rights.
“I don’t want to see it become any more socialist,” Valkema said. “You know what? I can redistribute my wealth much better than the government can, and I do. I give a lot away to charity. That’s not coerced wealth distribution.”
Valkema, who was pledged to Romney, touted being “a proud first-generation American” and said his parents were born and raised in the Netherlands, but immigrated to the United States after World War II after “they saw the storm clouds of socialism on the horizon.”
Asked whether he’s bothered by the anti-gay language in the Republican platform, Valkema replied he took part in drafting the Indiana state Republican platform, which makes no reference to marriage — even though that state is considering a constitutional amendment to ban marriage rights for gay couples.
“Now it’s OK, legally, for a Republican in Indiana, per the rules of the party, to feel however they want to feel about marriage, and I think you’re finding that across the board, state by state by state,” Valkema said. “And that’s where change happens in America — in the laboratory of the states.”
Additionally, Valkema professed a personal lack of interest in whether government recognition of same-sex unions is called marriage, civil unions, or some other name.
“You can call it marriage, you can call it partnerships, you can call it civil unions — for all I care you can call it jumping over the broomstick,” Valkema said. “What I care about are the equal rights inherent in a contractual union between a couple of the same sex. That’s all I care about.”
Pressed on whether he thinks civil unions are inherently inferior tom marriage, Valkema replied, “In your mind maybe, and if what you need is social acceptance, go somewhere else. Don’t go to the government for social acceptance, OK?”
It’s unclear how many openly LGBT delegates were in attendance at the convention in Tampa because the Republican National Committee doesn’t keep track of which of its delegates identify as LGBT. On the other hand, the Democrats do keep track and the Democratic National Committee works with states in setting goals for LGBT representation at the convention. Earlier this week, the National Stonewall Democrats announced Democrats would have a record 486 openly LGBT delegates at the convention as part of a group of 534 LGBT participants that include alternate delegates, standing committee members and pages.
Seth Kaufer, a gay Republican alternate delegate from Philadelphia. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Seth Kaufer, a gay 32-year-old physician and alternate delegate from Philadelphia, said his sexual orientation hasn’t been an issue — either in the process of becoming a delegate or in the treatment he’s received at the convention.
“There’s a lot of other things that describe me, and our party just doesn’t like to label people like that,” Kaufer said. “Democrats want to put everyone into a group, do identity politics, put up a specific ethnic candidate in a certain district. I see it all the time in Philadelphia. … You have a black district you have to put a black person [in]; you have a gay district, you have to put in a gay person there. That doesn’t even come into our thinking. You’re based on your merits, what you’ve done for the party.”
Kaufer also expressed confidence that limited measures such as domestic partnership would be able to pass even if Republicans controlled both the White House and Congress.
“Everyone talks about marriage, but there’s a lot of things we can agree on, but there’s things like non-discrimination in the workplace, partnership rights, financial equality,” Kaufer said. “I think that is the stuff we can all agree on and probably pass regardless of Republicans or Democrats are in control.”
But informed that Romney is opposed to any kind of relationship recognition for gay couples, Kaufer said he’s not a one-issue voter and “it’s selfish to look at one little thing when the economy is 100 percent — that affects everyone right now.”
“Those are all campaign issues,” Kaufer said. “But it was the same thing when Bush was president and the whole Congress was Republican. Not one thing was passed that was anti-gay.”
Despite Kaufer’s assertion that nothing anti-gay was passed under the Bush administration, Congress attempted to pass a Federal Marriage Amendment in 2004 and 2006, although the efforts failed the measure didn’t receive the supermajority of votes necessary for passage.
Florida
DeSantis signs emergency bill that restores Fla. ADAP funding
Temporary funds to last through June 30
After the Florida Department of Health made huge cuts to the AIDS Drug Assistance Program in January, Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis has signed emergency legislation restoring HIV access to more than 12,000 Floridians.
Two months ago, as the Washington Blade reported, the Sunshine State cut the vast majority of those in ADAP by shifting the income levels required for eligibility — without following standard procedure when changing government policy outside of legislative or executive action.
The bill, signed by DeSantis on Tuesday, passed both chambers of the Florida Legislature unanimously and appropriates $30.9 million in emergency bridge funding through June 30, 2026. It restores Florida’s ADAP income eligibility to 400 percent of the Federal Poverty Level — the level it was prior to the January cuts. The legislation also requires the FDOH to submit detailed monthly financial reports to legislative leadership beginning April 1.
Under the old policy, eligibility would have been limited to those making no more than 130 percent of the federal poverty level, or $20,345 per year.
“For 10 weeks, 12,000 Floridians living with HIV did not know if they could fill their next prescription. Today, they can,” Esteban Wood, director of advocacy and legislative affairs at AIDS Healthcare Foundation, said in a statement.
The detailed reports now required to be sent to legislative leadership must include all federal revenues and expenditures, including manufacturer rebates; enrollment figures by county and insurance status; prescription utilization by drug class; and any projected funding shortfalls. This is the first time the Legislature has required this level of financial transparency from the program.
DeSantis signed the legislation one day after a Leon County Circuit Court judge denied AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s request for an injunction to block the significant changes the DeSantis administration is making to the program, which it claims faces a $120 million shortfall for calendar year 2026.
AIDS Healthcare Foundation, a national organization focused on protecting and expanding HIV healthcare access and prevention methods, filed a lawsuit over the change in eligibility, arguing the Florida Department of Health did not follow the laid out path for formally changing policy and was acting outside established procedures.
Typically, altering eligibility for a statewide program requires either legislative action or adherence to a multistep rule-making process, including: publishing a Notice of Proposed Rule; providing a statement of estimated regulatory costs; allowing public comment; holding hearings if requested; responding to challenges; and formally adopting the rule. According to AIDS Healthcare Foundation, none of these steps occurred.
The long-term structure of ADAP will be determined by the 2026–2027 fiscal year state budget, something that lawmakers have until June 30 to finish.
Federal Government
Markwayne Mullin confirmed as next DHS secretary
Okla. senator to succeed Kristi Noem
The U.S. Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as the next secretary of Homeland Security on Monday, as the agency continues to grapple with what lawmakers have described as a “never-ending” funding standoff, with Democrats attempting to withhold funding from one of the nation’s largest and most costly agencies.
Mullin — a Republican senator from Oklahoma, former mixed martial arts fighter, and plumbing business owner — was confirmed in a 54–45 vote. Two Democrats — U.S. Sens. John Fetterman (D-Pa.) and Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) — sided with Republicans in supporting his confirmation.
The new agency head is expected to follow the policy direction set by President Donald Trump, emphasizing stricter immigration enforcement. This includes proposals to support immigration agents at polling sites and to cut funding to so-called “sanctuary cities.”
Mullin replaces Kristi Noem, who was fired earlier this month following a widely scrutinized 2-day congressional hearing on Capitol Hill.
During the hearing, Noem faced intense questioning over her response to several crises, including the fatal shooting of two American citizens in Minneapolis by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, a $220 million border security advertising campaign that featured her on horseback near Mount Rushmore amid one of the largest federal workforce reductions in U.S. history, and the federal response to major natural disasters such as the July 2025 Texas floods and Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Noem had previously drawn criticism for a series of policy decisions in South Dakota that broadly focused on restricting the rights of LGBTQ individuals. In 2023, she signed House Bill 1080, banning gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors. She also signed legislation and executive orders restricting trans athletes’ participation in women’s sports, as well as the state’s “Religious Freedom Restoration Act,” which critics argued enabled discrimination against LGBTQ individuals. Additionally, the state canceled contracts related to LGBTQ support services — including suicide prevention and health care navigation programs‚ and later agreed to a $300,000 settlement with trans advocacy group, The Transformation Project.
Despite her removal from DHS, Noem will remain in the Trump-Vance administration as a special envoy for the “Shield of the Americas,” an initiative aimed at promoting U.S. influence in the Western Hemisphere, including efforts to counter cartel networks, reduce Chinese influence, and manage migration.
The new head of DHS has served in Congress since 2013, in both houses of the federal legislature. While in the Senate and a member of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, Mullin has been a vocal critic of policies aimed at expanding LGBTQ inclusion. He led a group of lawmakers in urging the Administration for Community Living to reverse a rule requiring states to prioritize Older Americans Act services based on sexual orientation and gender identity, arguing the policy could have unintended consequences.
Mullin also makes history as the first Native American — and a citizen of the Cherokee Nation — to lead the Department of Homeland Security. He was also among the 147 Republicans who voted to overturn the 2020 presidential election results despite no evidence of widespread fraud, and was present in the U.S. House of Representatives chamber on Jan. 6.
Federal Government
Protesters say SAVE Act targets voters, transgender youth
Bill described as ‘Jim Crow 2.0’
Members of Congress, advocates, and people from across the country gathered outside the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday to protest proposed federal legislation that voting rights activists have deemed “Jim Crow 2.0.”
The Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act would amend the National Voter Registration Act of 1993 to require in-person proof of citizenship for anyone seeking to vote in U.S. elections.
President Donald Trump has also pushed for the proposed legislation to include a section that would ban gender-affirming medical care for transgender minors, even with parental consent, and prohibit trans people from participating in school or professional sports consistent with their gender identity rather than their sex assigned at birth.
In addition to changing voter registration requirements, the bill would limit acceptable forms of identification to documents such as a birth certificate or passport — records that the Brennan Center for Justice estimates more than 21 million Americans do not have — effectively restricting access to the ballot. It would also ban online voter registration, DMV voter registration efforts, and mail-in voter registration.
A 2021 investigation by the Associated Press found that fewer than 475 people voted illegally or improperly, a tiny fraction of the estimated 160 million Americans who voted in the 2020 election.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) spoke at the event.
“It will kick millions of American citizens off the rolls. And they don’t even require you to be told,” the highest-ranking Democrat in the Senate told protesters and reporters outside the Capitol. “If this law passes — and it won’t — you’re gonna show up in November … and they’ll say… sorry, you’re no longer on the voting rolls.”
He, like many other speakers, emphasized the bill in the context of American history, pointing to what he described as its racist roots and its impact on Black and brown Americans.
“I have called this act, over and over again, Jim Crow 2.0 … because they know it’s the truth.”
U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) was one of the lawmakers leading opposition to the legislation and spoke at the rally.
“It’s not just voting rights that are on the line — our democracy is on the line,” the California lawmaker said. “It’s not a voter I.D. bill. It’s a bait and switch bill.”
He added historical context, noting the significance of voting rights legislation passed more than 60 years ago. In 1965, Alabama civil rights activists marched to protest barriers to voter registration. Alabama state troopers violently attacked peaceful demonstrators at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, using tear gas, clubs, and whips against more than 500 — mostly Black — protesters.
“61 years ago — not to the day — but this week, President Lyndon Johnson came to the Capitol and addressed a joint session of Congress in the wake of Bloody Sunday and pushed Congress to pass the Voting Rights Act,” Padilla said. “61 years later, Donald Trump and this Republican majority wants to take us backwards. We’re not gonna let that happen.”
U.S. Sen. Ben Ray Luján (D-N.M.) also spoke, emphasizing that he views the effort as a Republican-led and Trump-backed attempt to restrict voting access, particularly among Black, brown, and predominantly Democratic communities.
“President Trump told Republicans when they were meeting behind closed doors that ‘The SAVE Act will guarantee Republicans win the midterms and ensure they do not lose an election for 50 years,’” Luján said. “The first time I think Donald Trump’s been honest … This voter suppression bill is only that. Taking away vote by mail? I hope my Republican colleagues from states that voted for Donald Trump or where vote by mail is popular have the courage and the backbone to stand up and say no to this nonsense, because their constituents are going to push back.”
U.S. Sen. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-Del.) also spoke.
“Our Republican colleagues have already cut Medicaid, Medicare, people don’t know how they’re gonna be able to afford energy,” she said, providing context for the broader political moment. “We’re in the middle of a war that they can’t even get straight while we’re in it and don’t have a way to get out of it. And we are now faced with defending our democracy?”
She then showed the crowd something that she said has been with her throughout her political journey in Washington.
“I brought with me something that I carried on the day that I was sworn into the House of Representatives when I was elected in 2016, and I carried it with me on the day that I was sworn in as United States senator. And I also carried it with me when I was trapped up in the gallery on Jan. 6 and all I could think to do was pray … This document allowed my great great great grandfather, who had been enslaved in Georgia, to have the right to vote. We took this and turned it into a scarf. It is the returns of qualified voters and reconstruction code from 1867. This is my proof of what we’ve been through. This is also our inspiration.”
“I got to travel between the Edmund Pettus Bridge two times. And even as I thought about this moment, I recognized that while we wish we weren’t in it, while we don’t know why we’re in it, I do know we were made for it … So I came today to tell you that, um, just like the leader said, that he calls it Jim Crow 2.0. I call it Jim Crow 2.NO.”
Kelley Robinson, president of the Human Rights Campaign, the largest LGBTQ advocacy organization in the U.S., also spoke, highlighting the impact of the bill’s proposed provisions affecting trans people.
“This bill is not about saving America. This bill is about stealing an election. This bill is about suppressing voters,” Robinson said. “This bill not only tries to disenfranchise voters that deserve their right to vote, it also tries to criminalize trans kids and their families … It tries to criminalize doctors providing medically necessary care for our trans youth.”
The SAVE Act passed the U.S. House of Representatives on Feb. 11 but has not yet been considered in the U.S. Senate.
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