Local
Gay congressmen thank supporters at Stein Club inaugural reception
Takano, Pocan join LGBT Democrats in toast to Obama victory
Gay U.S. Reps. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wisc.) joined about a hundred LGBT Democratic activists from across the country at an inaugural reception Saturday night hosted by D.C.ās Gertrude Stein Democratic Club.
Takano and Pocan, who won election to their first term in Congress in November, said people attending the event were among the large number of LGBT supporters from across the country that gave money and provided long distance phone banking help to their campaigns.
āLet me just say whatās so gratifying about this election and being the first openly gay member of Congress from the state of California is that you helped me win in a part of the state that was known to be very socially conservative,ā Takano told the gathering.
Pocan, who won the seat that lesbian House member Tammy Baldwin gave up to wage her successful race for the U.S. Senate, coasted to victory in November in a strong Democratic district in Madison, Wisc., after winning a hotly contested Democratic primary.
āI really appreciate all of the help that you gave for all of our seven folks who got elected his year because itās nice to increase our numbers in the House and to have Tammy Baldwin in the Senate,ā Pocan said.
He was referring to the all-time high figure of seven openly gay or bisexual members of Congress who either won re-election or election in November.
Gay incumbent Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) won their re-election bids. Reps. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) and Kyrsten Siema (D-Ariz.), whoās openly bisexual, joined Takano and Pocan in winning their seats as first-term House members.
Stein Club President Martin Garcia led a toast at the gathering in celebration of President Obamaās election to a second term and to what he said was the promise of continued advances in the fight for LGBT equality.
“We have folks from all over the country here with us celebrating the election of President Barack Obama,” Garcia said. “And Mark Takano and Mark Pocan, it was fantastic to have them there.”
Pocan, who introduced his husband, Phil Frank, told of how he and Frank were greeted by House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) during a picture-taking session at the time he and other House members were sworn into office.
āHe bounced back and forth to take pictures and we get ready and he comes up and I say I want to introduce you to my husband, Phil,ā Pocan said. āOh ā he smiled. And he had a look like light bulbs went on in his head.ā
Pocan said he expects that he, Baldwin and the other gay House members will continue to educate and enlighten their congressional colleagues and others they interact with.
āSo all the hard work that we do to try and fight for real equality, having members at the table and having folks like you working for different organizations and working at the Capitol doing the job that you do ā thatās how weāre ultimately going to get things done,ā he said.
Takano said it was a testament to his skilled campaign manager, a hardworking campaign staff, and his aggressive outreach to the large number of Latino and African American voters in his district who, in the past, had supported Republican candidates, that he won his race
In what to some was an unexpected turn of events, Takano said, āthe first openly gay member of Congress in the state of California was not elected from San Francisco, was not elected from Los Angeles, was not elected from San Diego, but was elected from an area that has not sent a Democrat to Congress in 20 years.ā
Among those attending the event was Stein Club co-founder Paul Kuntzler, 72, who said the first presidential inauguration he attended was that of President John F. Kennedy in January 1961. Kuntzler said he was a volunteer in the Kennedy campaign in Michigan in 1960 at the age of 18.
Virginia
Norfolk transgender resource center vandalized
Anti-trans graffiti spraypainted onto Southeastern Transgender Resource Center’s windows
The Norfolk Police Department is investigating the vandalism of a transgender resource center’s building.
Tarena Williams, founder of the Southeastern Transgender Resource Center, told WAVY that someone spraypainted anti-trans graffiti on the windows of her organization’s offices on Sunday or Monday morning. Williams told the Hampton Roads television station that seeing the messages was like “walking into hell.”
āI opened up STRC, even the Lamina House,ā she told WAVY. āI opened up that to get away from those types of words. This is a place you can come to get away from that, but to see that sprayed over the window. Itās kind of like you are walking into hell. ā¦ To be honest, I was like in shock.ā
Authorities are investigating the vandalism.
West Virginia
Appeals court strikes down W.Va. transgender athlete ban
Ruling finds law violates studentsā constitutional rights, Title IX
BY LORI KERSEYĀ | The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down West Virginiaās ban on transgender athletes, finding the law violates trans studentsā rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution and Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs.
The case, B.P.J. vs. the West Virginia Board of Education, was filed in May 2021 on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old trans middle school student and track athlete who would be barred from participating if the ban is upheld. Pepper-Jackson is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Lambda Legal.
In April 2021, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed into law a bill prohibiting trans women and girls in the state from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The U.S. Court of Appeals in February 2023 blocked the state from removing Pepper-Jackson from her schoolās track and field team as legal advocates appealed a lower courtās ruling upholding the ban.
In Tuesdayās ruling, Judge Toby Heytens wrote that offering Pepper-Jackson the āchoiceā between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is not a real choice.
āThe defendants cannot expect that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches and even opponents as a boy,ā the judge wrote.
āBy participating on boys teams, B.P.J. would be sharing the field with boys who are larger, stronger, and faster than her because of the elevated levels of circulating testosterone she lacks,ā he wrote. āThe Act thus exposes B.P.J. to the very harms Title IX is meant to prevent by effectively āexclud[ing]ā her from āparticipation inā all non-coed sports entirely.ā
In a statement Tuesday, Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLUās LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the courtās ruling āa tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are.ā
āIt also continues a string of federal courts ruling against bans on the participation of transgender athletes and in favor of their equal participation as the gender they know themselves to be,ā Block wrote. āThis case is fundamentally about the equality of transgender youth in our schools and our communities and weāre thankful the 4th Circuit agreed.ā
āWe hope todayās ruling sends a message of hope to the trans youth of West Virginia,ā Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, said in the statement. āAnd a message of warning to politicians who continue to dehumanize this vulnerable population.ā
West Virginia is one of 21 states that have banned trans student-athletes over the last three years, according to the ACLU.
In a statement Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey vowed to defend the ban and said he is ādeeply disappointedā in the decision.
āThe Save Womenās Sports Act is āconstitutionally permissibleā and the law complies with Title IX,ā Morrisey said. āI will keep fighting to safeguard Title IX. We must keep working to protect womenās sports so that womenās safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field. We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.ā
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Lori Kersey is a reporter with a decade of experience reporting in West Virginia. She covers state government for West Virginia Watch.
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The preceding article was previously published by the West Virginia Watch and is republished with permission.
Nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent journalism not hidden behind a paywall. Mountaineers are always free, and so is West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House set for April 17
Event marks 59th anniversary of historic push for gay rights in nationās capital
D.C.ās Rainbow History Project announced it will hold a reenactment on Wednesday, April 17, of the historic first protest for gay rights in the form of a picket line in front of the White House that took place on that same day in 1965.
In a statement released last week, Rainbow History Project says the reenactment will mark the 59th anniversary of an event that is credited with bringing attention for the first time to the federal governmentās longstanding discrimination against a minority group referred to then as homosexuals or gays and lesbians.
The statement notes that the 1965 event was organized by the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the first politically active LGBT organization in the nationās capital founded by local gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny.
āThe picket took place on the White House sidewalk, Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., on April 17, 1965,ā the statement says. āFor exactly one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., members of the Mattachine Society of Washington walked in a circle, non-stop, in silence, carrying posters of their demands,ā the statement continues.
āThe White House picket is the origin story for public demonstrations for gay rights in the U.S., and the origin story for Pride Marches and the annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations which occur across the globe,ā according to the statement.
It says those picketing in the April 1965 event, which included Kameny and longtime local D.C.-area lesbian activist Lilli Vincenz, both of whom held doctorate degrees, called on the government to adopt the Mattachine Society of Washingtonās four major demands: an end to the exclusion of homosexuals from federal government employment; an end to the ban on gays and lesbians from serving in the U.S. military; an end to the āblanket denialā of security clearances for gay people; and an end to the āgovernment refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.ā
Among those who chose not to respond to the request for a meeting was President Lyndon B. Johnson, who occupied the White House at the time of the 1965 picketing.
Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Projectās director of archiving and one of the lead organizers of the April 17 reenactment event, said the event is aimed, among other things, at drawing attention to how far the LGBTQ community has come since 1965. He said the event is not in any way a protest of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Slatt called staunch supporters of the LGBTQ community.
āWe are just reenacting this historical event and pointing out how far weāve come,ā Slatt told the Washington Blade. āIf you think about what it means in 1965 when these people were protesting and LBJ would not even respond to them. And now, we are at a place where Vice President Harris speaks on a stage at Capital Pride.ā
The Rainbow History Project statement notes that the reenactment event will also be held in honor of Kameny, who died in 2011, and Vincenz, who passed away in 2023, both of whom participated in a similar reenactment event in 2008.
Among those who will be participating in this weekās reenactment on April 17 will be longtime local LGBTQ rights activist Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler will be carrying a replica of his own picket sign he held at the 1965 event, the statement says.
It says Rainbow History Project volunteers will also carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.
Similar to the 1965 event, the reenactment picketing at the White House will begin on April 17 at about 4:15 p.m., according to Slatt of the Rainbow History Project.
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