National
Arlen Specter hailed as pro-gay moderate
Voted for DOMA, but later came out against anti-gay law
LGBT groups hailed former U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter for his support for LGBT rights upon his passing on Sunday despite the long-term lawmaker’s controversial end in politics after he shifted party affiliation from Republican to Democratic.
On Sunday, major media outlets reported Specter had died of complications of non-Hodgkin’s lymphonia at the age of 82 in his home in Philadelphia. In 2005, Specter announced he was suffering from the disease, but continued serving as he underwent chemotherapy.
Specter for most of his career as a senator was a Republican and was known as a moderate voice within his party.
In 1996, Specter was among the Republicans who voted in favor of a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, but also voted for the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act. In 2004, Specter voted for a U.S. constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage throughout the country, but when this measure came before the Senate again in 2006, Specter — along with Sen. Judd Gregg — reversed his position and voted “no.”
As his re-election approached in 2010, Specter announced he could no longer be part of a party that he said was too conservative and switched his affiliation to Democrat. At the time, he also adopted a uniformly pro-LGBT voting record, not only voting for hate crimes protection legislation and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, but calling for DOMA repeal. In a piece in The Huffington Post, Specter called DOMA a “relic of a more tradition-bound time and culture.”
However, after changing parties, Specter ultimately lost the Democratic nomination in his bid for re-election to former Rep. Joe Sestak, who lost in the general election to current Sen. Pat Toomey.
Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement Specter’s support for hate crimes protections and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal “was critical” as was his decision to change his position on the Federal Marriage Amendment.
“While we disagreed with his support for some conservative judicial nominees which will leave a lasting negative impact on our community, he was willing to work across party lines to get things done,” Griffin said.
Griffin added he had the opportunity to host Specter in Los Angeles while working with him to raise funds for stem cell research “at a time when it was difficult for a Republican senator to speak out.”
LGBT political groups had kind words for Specter while refraining from commenting about his change in party affiliation toward the end of his career.
R. Clarke Cooper, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, commended Specter for his work and his partnership with his organization, but also recalled a personal experience with the late senator.
“Sen. Specter was a longtime ally of Log Cabin Republicans and a public servant committed to the rule of law,” Cooper said. “I remember traveling with him during the Bush administration and his keen interest in the U.S. support of civil society organizations abroad.”
Jerame Davis, executive director of the National Stonewall Democrats, said Specter was an important moderate voice as a Republican, but needed to become a Democrat to continue to serve as the voice of reason.
“As a Republican, Arlen Specter was a moderate and often stood with Democrats on LGBT issues,” Davis said. “In 2009, he realized he was the last of a dying breed of reasonable Republicans in the GOP and joined the Democratic Party.”
Malcolm Lazin, executive director of the Philadelphia-based Equality Forum, had kind words for the late senator.
“He was a poor Jewish boy from Kansas,” Lazin said. “Whatever he made in the world, really was as a result of his remarkable intelligence and work ethic.”
Over his course of his career as a federal prosecutor in Philadelphia in the 1970s, Lazin said he knew Specter on a personal level. The not-yet senator was an honorary campaign chair for Lazin and would advise him in meetings that took place about once a week.
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.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free
Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.
Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.
The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.
An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.
They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.
Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.
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