National
DNC 2012: Gay speakers, issues take center stage on final night
Prime speaking slots for Frank, Baldwin, Zach Wahls
Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) at the Democratic National Convention (Blade photo by Michael Key)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Gay issues and speakers took center stage on the final night of the 2012 Democratic National Convention, capping the three-day gathering that was more LGBT-inclusive than any previous iteration of the quadrennial affair.
One of the speeches that came earlier in the evening was from Zach Wahls, an Iowa youth with lesbian parents who gained notoriety for speaking out against a proposed ban on marriage equality in his state. He’s also an Eagle Scout who’s been pushing the Boy Scouts to end its gay ban.
Zach Wahls (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Wahls, who’s straight, said support for the right of gay couples like his parents to marry is a reason he’s supporting the re-election of President Obama, who came out in favor of marriage equality in May.
“President Obama understands that. He supports my moms’ marriage,” Wahls said. “President Obama put his political future on the line to do what was right. Without his leadership, we wouldn’t be here. President Obama is fighting for our families, all of our families. He has our backs. We have his.”
Notably, Wahls cushioned his support for marriage equality by saying the belief that nuptials should be limited to one man, one woman shouldn’t be considered “a radical view,” saying, “For many people, it’s a matter of faith. We respect that.”
But that didn’t stop Wahls from criticizing Romney for opposing same-sex marriage and his support for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
“Gov. Romney says he’s against same-sex marriage because every child deserves a mother and a father,” Wahls said. “I think every child deserves a family as loving and committed as mine. Because the sense of family comes from the commitment we make to each other to work through the hard times so we can enjoy the good ones. It comes from the love that binds us; that’s what makes a family. Mr. Romney, my family is just as real as yours.”
Wahls took to the podium immediately after a video was played showing the Democratic Party’s commitment to marriage equality, including a video with previously recorded remarks of Obama saying the relationships of gay and men women should be respected.
But that video wasn’t the only time support for marriage equality was celebrated on Thursday night. Democratic National Convention Chair and Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, touted the first-ever inclusion of a marriage equality plank in the Democratic Party platform.
“For the first time, a major party platform recognizes marriage equality as a basic human right!” Villaraigosa said. “This is a reflection of who we are as a party and who we can be as a nation, because as Democrats, as Americans, whenever we’ve opened up our party and our country, whenever we’ve opened up doors for more of our people, whenever we’ve deepened our democracy and renewed our commitment to equal justice under the law, we’ve grown stronger as a nation.”
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Villaraigosa was among those who had called for a marriage equality plank prior to its inclusion in the party platform. His invocation of the marriage equality plank in the platform elicited thunderous applause from the audience.
Another video that played at the convention cited Obama’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” playing footage of the signing ceremony for repeal legislation in December 2010 in which Obama said, “For we are not a nation that says ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ we are a nation that says out of many, we are one.”
Following the video, Iraq war veteran and retired Army Capt. Jason Crow, who’s straight, came to the stage to commend Obama for ending the military’s gay ban and expanding veterans’ benefits.
“It was wrong that men and women I served with could be told they weren’t good enough just because of their sexual orientation,” Crow said. “Soldiers who I trusted with my life, and fought alongside with, could be discharged because of who they loved. President Obama did the right thing by ending ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.'”
Support for President Obama also came from Alejandra Salinas, a 23-year-old law student at Boston College and member of the LGBT and Latino community.
The outgoing president of the College Democrats of America, Salinas praised Obama for both his support for the LGBT community and the Latino community.
“This president, on so many issues — immigration, LGBT rights, women’s health — has proven that he cares about all of us, and that he’ll keep on expanding opportunity,” Salinas said. “As a young, LGBT Latina, it seems to me that Mitt Romney only cares about an elite few.”
Perhaps the two most high-profile openly gay public officials — Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) — took to the stage earlier in the evening. Both are set to leave the U.S. House at the end of this year, although Baldwin may return to Congress as U.S. senator if she’s successful in her campaign for a seat to represent Wisconsin in that chamber.
Frank, the longest-serving openly gay member of Congress, assailed Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney both for his positions on LGBT rights and claims regarding his success as governor of Massachusetts, calling the candidate “Myth Romney” for the allegedly false assertions he’s made.
Frank took a jab at Romney over his changing positions on gay rights over the course of this year, saying he once sought to surpass the late Sen. Ted Kennedy, but now looks to anti-gay former U.S. Rick Santorum on the issue. Frank was referring to a 1994 letter from Romney in which he pledged to Log Cabin Republicans to be a leader on gay rights and to support the Employment Non-Discrimination Act — a position he no longer holds.
But a significant portion of Frank’s speech was devoted to criticizing Romney for wanting to repeal financial reform, which Frank took the lead in passing as chair of a House banking committee.
“As governor of Massachusetts, the real Mitt Romney’s record on job creation was terrible,” Frank said. “During his term, net job growth was less than one percent, about one-fifth the national average, 47th in the country. The myth of Romney is that he never raised our taxes. In fact, the real Mitt Romney called his tax hikes “fees.” And in his first year alone, he raised fees more than any other governor in office. Some of those fees? Mitt created a $10 fee for a “certificate of blindness.” He increased the cremation inspection fee from $50 to $75. Maybe he didn’t call them taxes, but they felt like taxes.”
The line about gay rights was apparently an ad-lib because it wasn’t included as part of his prepared remarks.
Asked whether the line was an ab-lib and if Frank was winging it while speaking, Harry Gural, a Frank spokesperson said, “He doesn’t ‘wing it’ — his comments are always very well thought through. He never simply reads speeches, even his most lengthy and complex ones. That’s what makes him such a compelling speaker.”
Earlier in the day, Frank faced criticism for saying during the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT caucus meeting that the Log Cabin Republicans were an “Uncle Tom” organization. In a statement, R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of Log Cabin, responded with his own attack, saying, “It’s a badge of honor to be attacked by a partisan hack like Barney Frank.”
Baldwin’s speech marked the first time an openly gay U.S. Senate candidate spoke before a major party’s national convention.
Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) (Blade photo by Michael Key)
“But the Wisconsin I know, knows that having two sets of rules makes no kind of sense,” Baldwin said. “We believe in hard work. For decades, we’ve worked to make things: paper, engines, tools, ships—and, yes, cheese, brats, and beer. Give our workers a fair shot, and we’ll compete against anyone.”
Baldwin identified Obama’s repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as evidence of his work in making “historic progress toward equality” for the country and made an oblique reference to Romney’s support for a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage.
“He repealed ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,’ so that no American ever again has to lie about who they are in order to serve the country we love,” Baldwin said. “Republicans want to write discrimination into our Constitution. But the Wisconsin I know believes that with each passing year and each generation, our country must become more equal, not less.”
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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