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Gay Republican falls short in Mass.

Tisei loses tight contest to incumbent Democrat

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Richard Tisei, Republican, Massachusetts, gay news, Washington Blade
Richard Tisei, Republican, Massachusetts, gay news, Washington Blade

Richard Tisei (photo courtesy of Tisei)

Massachusetts incumbent Democratic Rep. John Tierney won re-election Tuesday in a tight race over challenger Richard Tisei, a gay Republican.

With 100 percent of precincts reporting, Tierney led by a slim 48-47 percent.

Tierney had attacked Tisei as a Tea Party Republican in the final weeks of the campaign.

“I’m the only gay, pro-choice Republican who wouldn’t sign the [Grover] Norquist pledge being called an extremist anywhere in the country,” Tisei told the Washington Blade during an interview in Boston last month. “It’s funny because people who know me find it laughable. I don’t think he’s realized how much he’s damaged his own credibility. Trying to paint me as some type of right wing extremist is just so off-the-wall that it damages his own credibility.”

Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown, House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio,) former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the Boston Globe are among those that endorsed Tisei’s campaign. The Victory Fund also backed the former state Senate minority leader.

Retiring gay Massachusetts Congressman Barney Frank said in September that he feels Tisei would be “no use to us in Congress” on LGBT issues. Supporters are quick to note Tisei was an early supporter of marriage rights for same-sex couples in the commonwealth and adding gender identity and expression to the Massachusetts anti-discrimination law.

Tisei’s campaign benefitted from the ongoing scandal surrounding Tierney’s wife and brothers-in-law’s involvement in an illegal gambling ring.

“A lot of people in the district are ready for a change and they are looking for a different type of congressman than we have right now,” Tisei told the Blade. “I’ve gotten a great reception from folks.”

 

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Hungary

Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban

Country’s new government took office last month

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Budapest Pride participants march over the Erzsebet Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, on June 28, 2025, despite an official ban. The country's new government will allow this year's Budapest Pride march to take place without restrictions. (Courtesy photo)

Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.

“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.

Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.

Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.

The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.

The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.

“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.

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Colombia

Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election

Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government

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Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López speaks at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. on Dec. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.

López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.

López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.

“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.

Runoff to take place June 21

Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.

Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.

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Ghana

Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ bill

Measure that would criminalize allyship awaits president’s signature

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Ghanaian flag (Public domain photo from Pixabay)

Ghanaian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ allyship.

Reuters reported MPs approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, in a voice vote after parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee backed it.

MPs in 2024 approved a similar bill, but it faced legal challenges and then-President Nana Akufo-Addo didn’t sign it. Lawmakers last year reintroduced the measure after President John Dramani Mahama took office.

The bill awaits his signature.

Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ advocacy group, in a series of social media posts notes MPs passed the bill days before the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty will take place in Accra, the country’s capital.

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