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Strike up the band

LGBT ensemble set for return appearance in Inauguration Parade

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D.C. Different Drummers, Lesbian & Gay Band Association, Presidential Inauguration 2013, gay news, Washington Blade
D.C. Different Drummers, Lesbian & Gay Band Association, Presidential Inauguration 2013, gay news, Washington Blade

Members of the Different Drummers prepare to march with the Lesbian & Gay Band Association in the 2013 Presidential Inauguration Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

It won’t be hard to pick out the Lesbian & Gay Band Association amid all the other contingents on Monday during the 57th Presidential Inauguration Parade.

The honor guard will be carrying a rainbow Pride flag as it leads the rest of the band members across Pennsylvania Avenue. One of the selections the band will play is “Edge of Glory,” a hit from gay icon Lady Gaga. And the band members will be clad in fitted black outfits with purple accents.

Adam DeRosa, president of the Lesbian & Gay Band Association, says the outfits were chosen with a nod to symbolism.

“Purple is in some ways, if you’re going to narrow it down to one color, a much more of a universal for the gay community,” DeRosa says. “And for the camera, again, we wanted it to be something that was really going to stick out.”

The band association — an organization of 32 local bands from across the country — will send 240 members to participate in the second-term inauguration of President Obama — a U.S. president who rode into re-election with a message of support from the LGBT community after, among other achievements, coming out in favor of same-sex marriage and repealing “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.”

DeRosa, a 37-year-old French horn player with the Ft. Lauderdale-based South Florida Pride Wind Ensemble, said the LGBT achievements seen under the Obama administration are one of the reasons he and other association members want to take part in the inauguration — taking particular note of the victory on Election Day for marriage equality in Maine, Maryland and Washington State.

“Because we’re a national and international group, we have, for instance, a band that’s in Seattle, and we now have members of the organization that are married since that election in November,” DeRosa says. “This is very real to us, and we absolutely are honored to part of it in that respect.”

In addition to the rainbow flag at the head of the unit, the honor guard in front will bear an American flag and a flag representing the band association. Members will carry state flags to represent each of the local bands participating in the contingent — making for a total of at least 20 flags.

Besides Lady Gaga, other songs the band is set to play are standard brass tunes intermixed with modern songs. On the playing list is a mashup of “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Simple Gifts” as well as “Gimme Everything Tonight,” a more recent song by Pitbull. When the band reaches the glass box where President Obama and first lady Michelle Obama will sit, the band will break into a rendition of “Tonight” from “West Side Story.”

Other local members involved in the association express similar excitement about participating in the parade based on work that President Obama has done on LGBT issues during his first four years in office.

Rachel See, a 37-year-old transgender French horn player for the Capital Pride Symphonic Band, says participating is “just a real honor” because, as an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board, she was helped by Obama’s memoranda instituting non-discrimination protections for transgender U.S. government employees.

“As a federal employee, I came out as transgender last year and the policy the administration has put into place supporting transgender federal employees and transgender people across the nation have been wonderful,” See says. “I’m glad to see that it was done and look forward to the next four years.”

Derrick Johnson, a 27-year-old black gay man and drum major in D.C. Different Drummers, says he feels “a symbolic connection” with Obama because they share the same race and because of the leadership Obama has exercised on LGBT issues during his first term.

“The correlation is definitely there,” Johnson says. “Breaking that barrier of the stereotypical president definitely helped to create a shift in thought and mindset in our country, and hopefully our world, in acceptance of differences and various demographics — and also coming down the pike and seeing his outright acceptance of gay rights definitely speaks highly toward the African-American community.”

D.C. Different Drummers, Lesbian & Gay Band Association, Presidential Inauguration 2013, gay news, Washington Blade

Members of the Lesbian & Gay Band Association marched in the 2009 Presidential Inauguration Parade. (Washington Blade file photo by Henry Linser)

It’s not the first time the association has participated in the inaugural parade. For the first time ever, the association was selected to march in the 2009 inaugural parade after Obama first won election to the White House. During the inaugural festivities for former President Bill Clinton, the group performed on the sidelines, but didn’t take part in the inaugural parade itself. The association didn’t participate in the inaugural festivities for former President George W. Bush.

Lacey Janet Rose, the Presidential Inaugural Committee’s deputy director of constituency press, says inauguration organizations are thrilled the association — which was selected among 2,800 bands that submitted applications — will have the opportunity to take part in the inaugural parade a second time.

“We are thrilled that the Lesbian and Gay Band Association has accepted their invitation to join President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden’s Inaugural parade,” Rose said in a statement. “The 2013 parade participants will showcase extraordinary talent and reflect the vibrant diversity of America. President Obama and Vice President Biden are proud to have the participation of the Lesbian and Gay Band Association for the second time in history.”

DeRosa, who’ll perform in the parade in a non-musical role as an honor guard, says despite the excitement, members were asked to commit to take part as the application was being compiled even before election results were known — regardless of whether the winner was Obama or Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney.

“We basically had a pre-registration for us to understand who really was committed to this, but again, that was all happening prior to the election results, so people were really committed to being part of this event really regardless of what the outcome was,” DeRosa says. “So the gist of that alone logistically has helped us out. We had a much firmer number in our application to know exactly how many people, and because of that, we see that we’re going to have a larger group than we did last time.”

A number of prominent public officials supported the band’s application to perform. Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.), Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (N.Y.), Rep. Ed Pastor (D-Ariz.) and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) were among 30 lawmakers who sent letters to the committee advocating for the association’s participation.

Democratic National Committee Chair Debbie Wassserman Schultz, who represents DeRosa’s district of Fort Lauderdale in Congress, expressed similar excitement about the band’s participation in the parade in a statement issued by the association.

“I have been deeply heartened by President Obama’s commitment to creating one of the most open and inclusive administrations in history,” Wasserman Schultz says. “By choosing the LGBA for the Inaugural Parade this spirit will continue by treating Americans to the performance of a talented, worthy and deserving musical group.”

It’s because of this sense of openness and inclusion that DeRosa says association members are eager for a repeat performance in the nation’s presidential inauguration festivities.

“We feel a little bit more confident this time around since we’ve done it before,” DeRosa says. “But definitely still exciting, definitely still a lot of work to do. And really just trying to make it to be really representing the community as best as we can and see that we’re going to give an experience to our members that’s something they won’t forget.”

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New York

Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced

One of the victims, John Umberger, was D.C. political consultant

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced three men convicted of killing a D.C. political consultant and another man who they targeted at gay bars in Manhattan.

NBC New York notes a jury in February convicted Jayqwan Hamilton, Jacob Barroso, and Robert DeMaio of murder, robbery, and conspiracy in relation to druggings and robberies that targeted gay bars in Manhattan from March 2021 to June 2022.

John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from D.C., and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died. Prosecutors said Hamilton, Barroso, and DeMaio targeted three other men at gay bars.

The jury convicted Hamilton and DeMaio of murdering Umberger. State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in prison.

Barroso, who was convicted of killing Ramirez, received a 20 years to life sentence.

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National

Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information

Crucial datasets included LGBTQ, HIV resources

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Nine private medical and public health advocacy organizations, including two from D.C., filed a lawsuit on May 20 in federal court in Seattle challenging what it calls the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s illegal deletion of dozens or more of its webpages containing health related information, including HIV information.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS itself, and several agencies operating under HHS and its directors, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“This action challenges the widespread deletion of public health resources from federal agencies,” the lawsuit states. “Dozens (if not more) of taxpayer-funded webpages, databases, and other crucial resources have vanished since January 20, 2025, leaving doctors, nurses, researchers, and the public scrambling for information,” it says.

 “These actions have undermined the longstanding, congressionally mandated regime; irreparably harmed Plaintiffs and others who rely on these federal resources; and put the nation’s public health infrastructure in unnecessary jeopardy,” the lawsuit continues.

It adds, “The removal of public health resources was apparently prompted by two recent executive orders – one focused on ‘gender ideology’ and the other targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) programs. Defendants implemented these executive orders in a haphazard manner that resulted in the deletion (inadvertent or otherwise) of health-related websites and databases, including information related to pregnancy risks, public health datasets, information about opioid-use disorder, and many other valuable resources.”

 The lawsuit does not mention that it was President Donald Trump who issued the two executive orders in question. 

A White House spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit. 

While not mentioning Trump by name, the lawsuit names as defendants in addition to HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Matthew Buzzelli, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health; Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Thomas Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration; and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

The 44-page lawsuit complaint includes an addendum with a chart showing the titles or descriptions of 49 “affected resource” website pages that it says were deleted because of the executive orders. The chart shows that just four of the sites were restored after initially being deleted.

 Of the 49 sites, 15 addressed LGBTQ-related health issues and six others addressed HIV issues, according to the chart.   

“The unannounced and unprecedented deletion of these federal webpages and datasets came as a shock to the medical and scientific communities, which had come to rely on them to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, assist physicians and other clinicians in daily care, and inform the public about a wide range of healthcare issues,” the lawsuit states.

 “Health professionals, nonprofit organizations, and state and local authorities used the websites and datasets daily in care for their patients, to provide resources to their communities, and promote public health,” it says. 

Jose Zuniga, president and CEO of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), one of the organizations that signed on as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the deleted information from the HHS websites “includes essential information about LGBTQ+ health, gender and reproductive rights, clinical trial data, Mpox and other vaccine guidance and HIV prevention resources.”

 Zuniga added, “IAPAC champions evidence-based, data-informed HIV responses and we reject ideologically driven efforts that undermine public health and erase marginalized communities.”

Lisa Amore, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s largest LGBTQ supportive health services provider, also expressed concern about the potential impact of the HHS website deletions.

 “As the region’s leader in HIV care and prevention, Whitman-Walker Health relies on scientific data to help us drive our resources and measure our successes,” Amore said in response to a request for comment from  the Washington Blade. 

“The District of Columbia has made great strides in the fight against HIV,” Amore said. “But the removal of public facing information from the HHS website makes our collective work much harder and will set HIV care and prevention backward,” she said. 

The lawsuit calls on the court to issue a declaratory judgement that the “deletion of public health webpages and resources is unlawful and invalid” and to issue a preliminary or permanent injunction ordering government officials named as defendants in the lawsuit “to restore the public health webpages and resources that have been deleted and to maintain their web domains in accordance with their statutory duties.”

It also calls on the court to require defendant government officials to “file a status report with the Court within twenty-four hours of entry of a preliminary injunction, and at regular intervals, thereafter, confirming compliance with these orders.”

The health organizations that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs include the Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy Health, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society. 

The Fast-Track Cities Institute and International Association of Providers of AIDS Care are based in D.C.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Federal judge scraps trans-inclusive workplace discrimination protections

Ruling appears to contradict US Supreme Court precedent

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Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Screen capture: YouTube)

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has struck down guidelines by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designed to protect against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The EEOC in April 2024 updated its guidelines to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which determined that discrimination against transgender people constituted sex-based discrimination as proscribed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To ensure compliance with the law, the agency recommended that employers honor their employees’ preferred pronouns while granting them access to bathrooms and allowing them to wear dress code-compliant clothing that aligns with their gender identities.

While the the guidelines are not legally binding, Kacsmaryk ruled that their issuance created “mandatory standards” exceeding the EEOC’s statutory authority that were “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent.”

“Title VII does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women,” he wrote in the opinion.

The case, which was brought by the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, presents the greatest setback for LGBTQ inclusive workplace protections since President Donald Trump’s issuance of an executive order on the first day of his second term directing U.S. federal agencies to recognize only two genders as determined by birth sex.

Last month, top Democrats from both chambers of Congress reintroduced the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive protections against discrimination into federal law, covering employment as well as areas like housing and jury service.

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