National
Exclusive: Democracy for America to ask members to support state marriage campaigns
The Vermont-based organization claims more than a million members


Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley at a recent D.C. fundraiser for Marylanders for Marriage Equality (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The Washington Blade has learned that Democracy for America will ask its supporters to donate to the four statewide same-sex marriage campaigns.
“It happens that marriage equality’s not simply just an issue for progressives or sort of a lefty kind of issue anymore—it’s now become really more of a mainstream issue,” said DFA executive director Arshan Hasan in an exclusive interview on Thursday. The political action committee that former Vermont Gov. Howard Dean founded after his 2004 presidential campaign claims more than a million members across the country. “The people who stand opposed to it are becoming sort of a smaller and smaller and narrower and narrower group of people. It’s important for DFA to stand up for fairness and for equality.”
Hasan, who co-managed the canvassing program against the ultimately successful 2009 referendum that struck down Maine’s same-sex marriage law that state lawmakers had passed earlier that year, noted recent polls in both the Pine Tree State and Maryland that indicate a majority of voters would back nuptials for gays and lesbians at the ballot box. A SurveyUSA poll last month showed Washington’s same-sex marriage referendum leads by a 56-38 percent margin. A Star Tribune Minnesota Poll in late September indicated the campaign over a proposed state constitutional amendment that would define marriage as between a man and a woman remains a statistical dead heat.
“Even if it weren’t this close, I think it would still be imperative for DFA to get involved and help out,” said Hasan. “Especially in the case of Minnesota, but in all of these cases I hope that our contribution will be enough to sort of push them over the edge. We’re not going to take it for granted that we’re doing well in Maine. We won’t take it granted that we’re doing well in Maryland too. We think that every little bit will help. We think for each of these campaigns more than a little bit. So I think it will get us closer to our goal.”
Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, welcomed DFA’s support.
“We’re thrilled at DFA’s endorsement of Maryland’s Question 6,” he said. “While we have the momentum, this will be a close race. We need a full-court press by all those who support fairness and equality under the law. Let’s make Maryland the first state in the nation to win marriage equality by popular vote.”
Other statewide same-sex marriage campaign managers agreed.
“Minnesotans United for All Families is thrilled to welcome DFA to our broad coalition working to defeat this amendment,” said Richard Calrborn of Minnesotans United for All Families. “The momentum we have seen to defeat this amendment in Minnesota is incredible, with more than 650 businesses, faith communities, nonprofits, political organizations and community leaders standing united to say ‘no’ to limiting the freedom to marry in our state.”
“We’re very grateful for DFA’s endorsement,” added Matt McTighe, campaign manager for Mainers United for Marriage. “Its commitment to grassroots organizing is exactly in line with the heart of our campaign, one-on-one conversations about why marriage matters to all Maine families. DFA joins a diverse group of more than 155 coalition partners, working to win the freedom to marry in Maine.”
DFA earlier this year supported the campaign against North Carolina’s Amendment 1 that banned nuptials for gays and lesbians. The group also donated $30,000 in direct and in-kind contributions to the 2009 campaign against efforts to repeal Maine’s same-sex marriage law.
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.”
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