National
Perkins advises parents not to ‘condone and enable’ homosexuality
Anti-gay leader compares homosexuality to drug use
Family Research Council Tony Perkins speaks before a National Press Club luncheon (Blade photo by Michael Key)
A prominent social conservative leader compared homosexuality to drug use on Wednesday while urging parents not to “condone and enable” a child being gay.
Tony Perkins, president of the anti-gay Family Research Council, made the remarks while speaking at the National Press Club luncheon after being asked if he would disown one of his children if they came out as gay.
Perkins, the father of five children, replied that he wouldn’t “disown my children for anything,” but advised parents they should express disapproval if their children make such an announcement.
“And if we really love them, we’ll be willing to tell them the truth that the choices that they have made, continuing what they’re doing, are both destructive to them personally and society as a whole,” Perkins said. “And so while I would disagree with my child getting involved in that lifestyle, I would not in any way — nor would I ever encourage a parent — to disown a child because of something like that that occurs. Love them compassionately, pray for them, but don’t condone and enable that behavior, whatever it might be.”
Perkins said as a parent he has “a responsibility for the environment in which I raise my children,” suggesting that sexual orientation is determined by parenting — a notion disputed by major psychiatric groups. Later in his comments, Perkins compared homosexuality to drug use.
“I believe as a parent we have the ability to protect them from a lot of unfortunate experiences that have shaping influences upon their lives,” Perkins said. “That’s not to say that those whose children may have ended up in homosexuality were not good parents. We can’t guarantee that. We can do our very best job as a parent and still something may happen, whether they end up in drugs or whether they end up in some other lifestyle that they end up.”
At the beginning of his response, Perkins said similar inquiries has been posed to him previously on national TV as what he called a “gotcha” question. The inquiry on Wednesday came from National Press Club President Theresa Werner, who was reading questions submitted in advance by reporters and attendees at the event.
Michael Cole-Schwartz, an HRC spokesperson, responded by saying Perkins is spreading lies about LGBT people and that parents should provide “unconditional support” to children who come out.
“Tony Perkins continues to spread lies and misinformation and his comments are offensive to the millions of LGBT people and those who love and respect us,” Cole-Schwartz said. “LGBT young people need unconditional support, not leaders or parents who will compare their inherent identities to things like substance abuse. It’s time Tony Perkins disavows that junk science and learns what the experts have to say about sexual orientation and gender identity.”
In response to another question submitted by the Washington Blade, Perkins said he thinks the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney is getting better about talking about views of marriage and gay rights favorable to social conservatives. Perkins gave general praise to Romney, despite grumblings throughout his campaign from social conservatives who’ve said they suspect the candidate doesn’t share their views.
“I think Mitt Romney is doing a good job in becoming more comfortable in talking about the issues of faith, talking about the social issues of marriage, and life in particular,” Perkins said. “There is no question that we have theological differences when it comes to our religions, but we have a shared concern over where this country is headed today. And we have a shared value system that we believe can put American on the right way. I believe that Gov. Romney is doing a good job in reaching out and bringing in all concerns within the conservative movement, including those of social conservatives.”
A substantial portion of Perkins’ prepared remarks was devoted to following up on a shooting at the Family Research Council’s D.C. headquarters in which a guard, Leo Johnson, was wounded and the accused assailant was a volunteer for the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community. In addition to ammunition and guns, the assailant was carrying a backpack filled with sandwiches from Chick-fil-A, which had been under scrutiny for the anti-gay views of its owners.
In the wake of the shooting, Perkins said the mission of his organization to advocate social conservative values remains unchanged.
“As I said here today, I pledge to redouble our efforts to persuade our fellow citizens on these issues and to move the electorate to embrace the core principles a majority of this nation have long espoused,” Perkins said. “But I also pledge to redouble our efforts to advocate these ideas with civility and compassion. … Our aim is to speak the truth in love, and if we fail to do so, we will acknowledge it, and we will set the record straight, and that includes what we say regarding homosexuality. And I would hope the other side would make a similar commitment.”
Perkins accused organizations like the Southern Poverty Law Center, which has labeled the Family Research Council a hate group, of fostering “an environment of hostility” that encourage incidents like the shooting to take place. Perkins said he’s renewing the call on Southern Poverty Law Center and the Human Rights Campaign to stop its characterization of the Family Research Council as a hate group.
“It is time for the vindictiveness to end, and I say with confidence to SPLC and HRC, it’s time to dial down the demonization of those who differ with you,” Perkins said. “It’s time to start hurling labels of hate and have a legitimate debate about policies that govern our nation.”
Cole-Schwartz responded to the accusations against HRC by saying his organization want civil discussion, but criticized the Family Research Council for its statements about LGBT people.
“HRC welcomes reasoned debate over public policy but that must be predicated on truth, not wholesale denigration of LGBT people and our families,” Cole-Schwartz said. “When the FRC is ready to give up on their hateful lies, we’ll be ready to stop calling them out for it.”
Asked whether during the question-and-answer portion if the suspected shooter should be charged with a hate crime, a kind of law that the Family Research Council opposes, Perkins said he’d leave that decision to law enforcement, but noted the FBI is investigating it as an act of domestic terrorism. Perkins added on the day of shooting, employees at his organization prayed for the alleged perpetrator as well as other involved.
“We pray for him, we pray for his spiritual well-being, but I will echo, once again, we will not allow these types of threats or acts of violence in any way to deter us from standing for the things that we represent here in Washington,” Perkins said.
State ballot measures related to marriage also came up during the event. During his prepared remarks, Perkins noted that 7 of the 9 states identified as swing states in the presidential election have approved constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage. He also predicted anti-gay forces would have a favorable outcome in the four states where marriage is coming up on the ballot: Minnesota, Maryland, Washington State and Maine.
Perkins spoke before attendees at the National Press Club prior the 2012 Values Voter Summit, a three-day national event held that will be this week in D.C. for social conservatives. Among the high-profile speakers scheduled at the event are Republican vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) and former U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum. LGBT groups including the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations sent a joint letter to public these officials asking them not to participate in the event, although none have cancelled their participation as a result.
Among Perkins’ guests alongside him at the table near the podium were Bishop Harry Jackson of Hope Christian Church, a leader in the fight against Maryland’s same-sex marriage law, and anti-gay Rep. Louie Gohmert (R-Texas.)
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.
Idaho
Idaho advances bill to restrict bathroom access for transgender residents
HB 752 passed in state House of Representatives on Monday
The Idaho House of Representatives passed House Bill 752 on Monday, a measure that would make it a crime for a person to use a bathroom other than the one designated for their “biological sex.”
The story was first reported by the Idaho Capitol Sun after the bill cleared the House.
House Bill 752 would make it a criminal offense — either a misdemeanor or a felony, depending on the number of prior offenses — for individuals who “knowingly and willfully” enter a bathroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex.
The bill would apply to public buildings, including government-owned spaces, and places of “public accommodation,” a category that includes private businesses.
According to the bill’s text, it would “prohibit a person from entering a restroom or changing room designated for the opposite sex; provide a penalty; provide exceptions; define terms; and declare an emergency and provide an effective date.”
A first offense would be a misdemeanor, punishable by up to one year in prison. A second or subsequent offense within five years would be a felony, punishable by up to five years in prison.
The bill passed in a 54–15 vote on Monday. Six Republicans broke with their party’s majority to join nine Democrats in opposing the measure.
The bill’s sponsor, state Rep. Cornel Rasor, a Republican from Sagle near the Washington-Idaho border, told House lawmakers that the legislation is intended to protect women and girls.
“It prevents discomfort and voyeurism escalation and assaults, while preserving single-user options and narrow exceptions so no one is denied access for emergency aid,” Rasor said.
State Rep. Chris Mathias, a Democrat from Boise, disagreed, arguing that the legislation would unfairly target transgender Idahoans.
“The truth of the matter is — and I know a lot of people don’t want to say it — but forcing people who don’t look like the sex they were assigned at birth, or transgender folks, to use other people’s bathrooms is going to put a lot of people in danger,” Mathias said.
The Idaho American Civil Liberties Union made a statement about the bill following its passage.
“Idaho lawmakers continue pushing these harmful, invasive bathroom laws, yet cannot present credible evidence that transgender people using gender-aligned bathrooms threaten public safety,” the Idaho ACLU said. “The bill does nothing to address real criminal acts, such as sexual assault or voyeurism, and disregards concerns from law enforcement about the burden enforcement would place on local resources.”
In addition to human rights advocates, who have spoken out against similar bills advancing in state legislatures across the country, Idaho law enforcement groups have also opposed the measure. They argue that the way the legislation is written would “pose significant practical enforcement challenges,” noting that officers are tasked with maintaining public safety — not conducting gender checks or policing bathroom access.
During a committee hearing last week, law enforcement representatives and several trans Idahoans testified that the bill would make many residents less safe.
“Officers responding to a complaint would be placed in the difficult position of determining an individual’s biological sex in order to enforce the statute,” Idaho Fraternal Order of Police President Bryan Lovell wrote. “In many circumstances, there is no clear or reasonable way for officers to make that determination without engaging in questioning or investigative actions that could be viewed as invasive and inappropriate.”
The Idaho Sheriffs’ Association requested that lawmakers amend the bill to require that individuals be given an opportunity to leave a bathroom immediately before facing potential prosecution.
The bill now heads to the Idaho Senate for consideration. To become law, it must pass both chambers and avoid a veto from the governor.
A separate bathroom bill, House Bill 607, which would be enforced through civil lawsuits, passed the House last month but has not yet received a committee hearing in the Senate.
State Department
Report: US to withhold HIV aid to Zambia unless mineral access expanded
New York Times obtained Secretary of State Marco Rubio memo
The State Department is reportedly considering withholding assistance for Zambians with HIV unless the country’s government allows the U.S. to access more of its minerals.
The New York Times on Monday reported Secretary of State Marco Rubio in a memo to State Department’s Bureau of African Affairs staffers wrote the U.S. “will only secure our priorities by demonstrating willingness to publicly take support away from Zambia on a massive scale.” The newspaper said it obtained a copy of the letter.
Zambia is a country in southern Africa that borders Tanzania, Malawi, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia, Angola, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The Times notes upwards of 1.3 million Zambians receive daily HIV medications through PEPFAR. The newspaper reported Rubio in his memo said the Trump-Vance administration could “significantly cut assistance” as soon as May.
“Reports of (the) State Department withholding lifesaving HIV treatment in return for mining concessions in Zambia does not make us safer, stronger, or more prosperous,” said U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), the ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, on Tuesday. “Monetizing innocent people’s lives further undermines U.S. global leadership and is just plain wrong.”
The Washington Blade has reached out to the State Department for comment.
Zambia received breakthrough HIV prevention drug through PEPFAR
Rubio on Jan. 28, 2025, issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
The State Department last September announced PEPFAR will distribute lenacapavir in countries with high prevalence rates. Zambia two months later received the first doses of the breakthrough HIV prevention drug.
Kenya and Uganda are among the African countries have signed health agreements with the U.S. since the Trump-Vance administration took office.
The Times notes the countries that signed these agreements pledged to increase health spending. The Blade last month reported LGBTQ rights groups have questioned whether these agreements will lead to further exclusion and government-sanctioned discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.
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