National
Jose Antonio Vargas ‘optimistic’ about immigration reform
National Council for La Raza honored gay former Washington Post reporter on March 5


Jose Antonio Vargas accepts an award from the National Council of La Raza in D.C. on March 5. (Photo courtesy of National Council of La Raza)
“When we talk about immigration, we’re talking about why our country looks the way it does,” Jose Antonio Vargas said, specifically applauding the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force and the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation for their efforts. “I would think and I would hope and I would pray that the LGBT community should be at the center of that conversation.”
Vargas, who publicly disclosed his immigration status for the first time in an essay he wrote for the New York Times Magazine in June 2011, spoke with the Blade the day after the National Council of La Raza honored him along with California Attorney General Kamala Harris, New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg and United We Dream at their annual awards ceremony at the National Building Museum in D.C.
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist has repeatedly said his decision to come out as gay in 1999 while in high school in Mountain View, Calif., was less difficult than disclosing his immigration status, although his grandfather kicked him out of the house. Vargas, whose mother sent him from the Philippines to live with his grandparents outside San Francisco when he was 12, reiterated this point during a Center for American Progress forum on undocumented LGBT immigrants on Friday.
“I ruined the plan,” he said as he discussed his grandfather’s reaction to his decision to come out as gay. “The plan was to come to America, marry a woman and get my papers that way.”
Vargas has remained among the most high profile undocumented immigrants since disclosing his status.
He founded Define American, an organization that advocates on behalf of undocumented immigrants seeking citizenship, in 2011. Vargas last month testified in support of comprehensive immigration reform before the Senate Judiciary Committee.
“It was definitely very stressful,” Vargas told the Blade as he recalled his testimony. His grandmother who once asked him whether he had to talk about his sexual orientation when he discussed his immigration status sat a few feet behind him during the hearing. “I’m only one person and it’s only one story, but there was an obligation to try to speak to the collective universal experience as much as possible.”
His advocacy on behalf of undocumented immigrants has not come without controversy.
He faced criticism for lying to his editors at the Post and other publications for which he worked about his status.
“Of course there’s criticism because I lied — I lied to my colleagues, I lied to my employers,” Vargas told the Blade immediately after the Center for American Progress forum during which he spoke. “I have no control over peoples’ judgment. All I ask for I guess is empathy.”
He responded further.
“It was either lie or don’t work,” Vargas said. “I wanted to work. I wanted to pay taxes. I wanted to contribute to my home. So that’s what I had to do.”
A Williams Institute report released during the Center for American Progress forum notes at least 267,000 of the more than 900,000 foreign-born LGBT adults currently living in the United States are undocumented.
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano said during the same Senate Judiciary Committee hearing at which Vargas testified the Uniting American Families Act that would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their foreign-born partners for immigration purposes would not increase the risk of fraud among those seeking to enter the country. She wrote to Congress last fall that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement would instruct personnel to consider “long-term, same-sex partners” as families while weighing the potential deportations of undocumented immigrants.
Napolitano told the Blade late last month the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the White House from placing a hold on marriage-based green card applications for bi-national same-sex couples in response to requests from New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand and others.
Vargas said he remains hopeful about the prospects of comprehensive immigration reform.
“I’m optimistic about it because frankly everybody realizes and acknowledges the urgency,” he said. “We’re talking about a legacy issue for the White House as well and doing what’s right.”
Vargas once again sought to personalize the issue during the Center for American Progress forum as he discussed a man with whom he recently spoke after a panel at Elmhurst College outside Chicago. He said the man told him “he would like to give him papers,” but appeared to have an issue with his sexual orientation.
“I am not going back in the closet for anybody,” Vargas said. “The country will only get gayer, it will only get browner, it will only get more Asian. This is the inevitability. In 21st century American politics diversity is destiny. Ignore it at your peril.”
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.”
-
U.S. Supreme Court3 days ago
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
-
Out & About4 days ago
Celebrate the Fourth of July the gay way!
-
Virginia4 days ago
Va. court allows conversion therapy despite law banning it
-
Opinions4 days ago
Can we still celebrate Fourth of July this year?