National
Lesbian NYC Council speaker discusses Obama, wedding
Quinn mum on plans for mayoral run in 2013

NEW YORK—New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn’s May 19 wedding to long-time partner Kim Catullo was quite possibly the Empire State’s political marriage of the year — Gov. Andrew Cuomo, U.S. Sens. Charles Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg were among those who attended the ceremony in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, while retired New York Court of Appeals Chief Judge Judith Kaye officiated the wedding.
“When New York State passed marriage equality, one could feel the joy on the streets,” Quinn told the Washington Blade in a recent interview, referencing the same-sex marriage bill that the state Senate narrowly passed in June 2011. Cuomo almost immediately signed it into law. “Everywhere couples went, people asked when are they getting married, what will their wedding be like? You could see and feel their happiness. The fear and gloom that opponents predicted did not come true, the world did not end when gay people could marry. Just the opposite, people felt love and joy. We had the opportunity to publicly commit in a legal ceremony in front of our family and friends, that we are a couple, we are family. And we are just as important as any other family. I will always be grateful for that day and remember that day for the rest of my life.”
Quinn became speaker in 2006. A Quinnipiac University poll last month shows that she remains the front-runner among likely Democratic mayoral candidates who seek to succeed Bloomberg in 2013.
Quinn declined to respond to the Blade’s questions about her presumptive mayoral campaign, but LGBT issues remain an integral part of her overall agenda.
She introduced a bill in 2004 that would have required city contractors to offer equal benefits to registered same-sex domestic partners and married heterosexual couples. Quinn, 46, also worked with Bloomberg and the city’s Department of Education to implement an anti-bullying curriculum in the city’s public schools — a state law, the Dignity in All Schools Act, which specifically bans harassment based on a student’s sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom, took effect in July.
Quinn, who was executive director of the New York City Anti-Violence Project from 1996 to 1999, routinely speaks out against anti-LGBT violence in the five boroughs. She joined other New York City officials who criticized Puerto Rico Gov. Luís Fortuño and his administration for what they contend was an unwillingness to stop anti-LGBT violence on the island in the wake of gay teenager Jorge Steven López Mercado’s 2009 murder. Quinn also continues to boycott the city’s annual St. Patrick’s Day Parade because organizers prohibit gay men and lesbians from marching.
The once vocal Bloomberg critic faced widespread criticism from LGBT Democrats, fellow progressives and others in 2008 when she supported the extension of term-limits that allowed the mayor and other city officials, including herself, to run for a third-term. Quinn earlier in the same year also acknowledged a City Council slush fund appropriated more than $17 million to community organizations that did not exist since 2001. She sparked further controversy in July when she demanded that the president of New York University remove Chick-fil-A from campus in response to CEO Dan Cathy’s opposition to same-sex marriage.
Quinn did not comment about those criticisms, but she stressed she feels that nuptials for same-sex couples and the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act remain top priorities for LGBT Americans going into the presidential election. Quinn further pointed to immigration reform that she said would allow “for families to stay connected until” DOMA is repealed and passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act as important priorities.
Quinn, who was a delegate to the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, further applauded President Obama’s record in support of same-sex marriage and other issues. She spoke to the Blade hours after she attended a celebration at the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in Manhattan that commemorated the first anniversary of the repeal of the ban on openly gay service members.
“I am very confident that when people think about what the president offers, his message that we all need to work together, and we can’t leave anyone behind, they will come out and vote for him,” said Quinn. “This message clearly includes members of the LGBT community. He has supported issues for our community more than any other president. We must get out there, urge our friends and family to vote, become involved, go to a swing state if need be. We can’t go back to a time when we lost rights. We must go forward and re-elect President Obama.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”