World
Conclave chooses next pope
Cardinals on Wednesday elected Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio as the church’s next pope
Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio (Photo by Aibdescalzo via Wikimedia Commons)
The College of Cardinals on Wednesday elected Buenos Aires Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio as the Catholic Church’s next pope.
His election as the first Latin American pontiff took place less than two days after the papal conclave to choose Pope Benedict XVI’s successor began. The white smoke that symbolized Bergoglio’s election rose from a chimney on top of the Sistine Chapel shortly after 7 p.m. in Rome after the cardinals chose him on the fifth ballot.
Bergoglio, who took the name Francis I, was born in Buenos Aires to an Italian immigrant father in 1936.
He became archbishop of the Argentine capital in 1998.
Bergoglio, a Jesuit who was elected cardinal in 2001, was reportedly the runner-up in 2005 when the College of Cardinals elected Benedict to succeed Pope John Paul II. He is also among those who led the opposition to Argentina’s same-sex marriage law that President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner signed in 2010.
“We are not talking about a mere bill, but rather a machination of the Father of Lies that seeks to confuse and deceive the children of God,” he said before Argentine lawmakers passed it. “Here also is the envy of the devil through which sin entered the world, which deviously seeks to destroy the image of God, man and woman who have received the mandate to grow, reproduce and dominate the Earth.”
Esteban Paulon, president of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Trans Federation of Argentina, highlighted these statements against nuptials for gays and lesbians as he spoke about Bergoglio’s election from his home in Rosario.
“At least in terms of LGBT rights it was a clear signal that the church was radicalizing the discourse,” he told the Blade.
Fernández also criticized the now pope’s position on that issue–and his claim that adoption rights for gays and lesbians constitutes discrimination against children.
A human rights lawyer in 2005 accused Bergoglio, who has also described abortion as the “death penalty,” of conspiring with the country’s military junta to kidnap two Jesuit priests in 1976.
In spite of the aforementioned controversies, he has reached out to people with HIV/AIDS.
The National Catholic Reporter reported he kissed and washed the feet of 12 AIDS patients during a 2001 visit to a hospice.
“As a cardinal, this man who is now Pope Francis has said some pretty harsh things in the past,” Marianne Duddy-Burke, executive director of Dignity USA, a group for LGBT Catholics, told the Washington Blade. “We would hope that he recognizes that he is a pope for a church that includes lots of LGBT people and our families and that he would take the time to listen to us, to our experiences, to the experiences of kids who’ve been raised by same-sex parents before he starts making papal pronouncements on these issues and risks alienating even more people.”
Francis DiBernardo, executive director of New Ways Ministry in Mount Rainier, Md., echoed Duddy-Burke.
“As he begins his papacy, we request that Pope Francis make one of his top priorities the re-evaluation of the Catholic hierarchy’s approach to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) issues,” he said, referring to Francis’ statements against same-sex marriage and adoption rights for gays and lesbians. “We hope that in his new office, he will have the wisdom to hear all sides of these complex issues and that he will inject pastoral messages into his statements.”
Ryan Fecteau, a gay student at the Catholic University of America in D.C., also reacted to the new pope’s election.
“Though Pope Francis has expressed anti-gay sentiment in the past, he comes from a country that has legalized marriage for same-sex couples,” he told the Blade. “We must have optimism in knowing that the first Jesuit pope has witnessed the power of love without exception. And we must hope it has changed his views for the better.”
National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown is among those who welcome the pontiff’s opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples.
“Cardinal Jorge Bergoglio will follow in the steps of Pope Benedict XVI and provide a consistent and strong voice in support of marriage and children,” he said in a statement. “Our prayers go out to Pope Francis as he leads the world’s over 1 billion Catholics in the weeks, months, and years ahead.”
Benedict on Feb. 11 became the first pope to resign since 1415.
Italian newspapers reported in the days after Benedict’s surprise announcement that he announced his resignation on the same day he learned male prostitutes are blackmailing gay Vatican priests. La Repubblica said report also detailed an underground network of gay priests.
Argentines react to the new pope
Fernández congratulated Francis in a statement she issued shortly after the College of Cardinals elected him.
“It is our desire that you have, assuming the helm and guidance of the church… successfully carry out your extremely important pastoral charge in pursuit of justice, equality, fraternity and peace for mankind,” she said.
Paulon again highlighted to the Blade the role Francis played in the campaign against Argentina’s same-sex marriage law.
He also noted a sense of pride among Argentinians over his election.
“Of course in Argentina there is a sense of joy among a good part of the population for the pope,” he said.
Duddy-Burke further acknowledged the church’s center continues to shift away from Europe.
“It’s a time of transition and prayer for all Catholics,” she said. “We join in praying for the pope and his ministry.”
Cuba
Trans parent charged with kidnapping, allegedly fled to Cuba with child
Cuban authorities helped locate Rose Inessa-Ethington
Federal authorities have charged a transgender woman with kidnapping after she allegedly fled to Cuba with her 10-year-old child.
An affidavit that Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent Jennifer Waterfield filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Utah on April 16 notes the child is a “biological male who identifies as a female” and “splits time living with divorced parents who share custody” in Cache County, Utah.
Waterfield notes the child on March 28 “was supposed to be traveling by car to” Calgary, Alberta, “for a planned camping trip with his transgender mother, Rose Inessa-Ethington, Rose’s partner, Blue Inessa-Ethington, and Blue’s 3-year-old child.”
The affidavit notes the group instead flew from Vancouver, British Columbia, to Mexico City on March 29. Waterfield writes the Inessa-Ethingtons and the two children then flew from Mérida, Mexico, to Havana on April 1.
The 10-year-old child called her biological mother on March 28 after they arrived in Canada. The custody agreement, according to the affidavit, required Rose Inessa-Ethington to return the child to her former spouse on April 3.
“Interviews of MV [Minor Victim] 1’s family members provided significant concerns for MV 1’s well-being, as MV 1 was born a male, however, identifies as a female child, which is largely believed to be due to manipulation by Rose Inessa-Ethington,” reads the affidavit. “Concerns exist that MV 1 was transported to Cuba for gender reassignment surgery prior to puberty.”
The affidavit indicates authorities found a note in the Inessa-Ethingtons’ home with “instruction from a mental health therapist located in Washington, D.C., including instruction to send the therapist the $10,000.00 and instructions on gender-affirming medical care for children.”
The affidavit does not identify the specific “mental health therapist” in D.C.
A Utah judge on April 13 ordered Rose Inessa-Ethington to “immediately” return the child to her former spouse. The former spouse also received sole custody.
“Your affiant believes that due to the extensive planning and preparation exhibited by both Rose Inessa-Ethington and Blue Inessa-Ethington to isolate MV 1 and take MV 1 to Havana, Cuba, without notifying or requesting permission from MV 1’s mother indicates they are likely not planning to return to the United States,” wrote Waterfield.
The affidavit notes Cuban authorities found the Inessa-Ethingtons and the child.
A press release the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah issued notes the Inessa-Ethingtons “were deported from Cuba” on Monday “with the assistance of the FBI.”
The couple has been charged with International Parental Kidnapping. The Inessa-Ethingtons were arraigned in Richmond, Va., on Monday. The press release notes a federal court in Salt Lake City will soon handle the case.
The New York Times reported the child is now back with their biological mother.
“We are grateful to law enforcement for working swiftly to return the child to the biological mother,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Melissa Holyoak of the District of Utah in the press release.
The case is unfolding against the backdrop of increased tensions between Washington and Havana after U.S. forces on Jan. 3 seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores.
President Donald Trump shortly after he took office in January 2025 issued an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two genders: male and female. A second White House directive banned federally-funded gender-affirming care for anyone under 19.
The U.S. Supreme Court last year in the Skrmetti decision upheld a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care for minors.
Cuba’s national health care system has offered free sex-reassignment surgeries since 2008.
Activists who are critical of Mariela Castro, the daughter of former President Raúl Castro who spearheads LGBTQ issues as director of Cuba’s National Center for Sexual Education, have previously told the Washington Blade that access to these procedures is limited. The Blade on Wednesday asked a contact in Havana to clarify whether Cuban law currently allows minors to undergo sex-reassignment surgery.
Australia
Australia lifts additional restrictions on LGBTQ blood donors
Gay, bisexual men, trans people in long-term monogamous relationships can now donate
The Australian Red Cross Blood Service (Lifeblood) has lifted additional restrictions on LGBTQ people who want to donate blood.
The Star-Observer, an Australian LGBTQ newspaper, reported new Lifeblood rules that took effect on Monday will allow “gay and bisexual men and transgender people in long-term monogamous relationships to donate blood and platelets for the first time.”
The new policy defines “long-term monogamous relationships” as those that are at least six months.
All potential donors — regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity — will answer the same questions about recent sexual activity.
“Previous donor rules prevented many people from the LGBTQIA+ community from donating blood or platelets if they’d had sex within the past three months,” said Lifeblood CEO Stephen Cornelissen in a press release that announced the new policy. “These latest changes mean many gay and bisexual men and transgender people in long-term, monogamous relationships will become eligible to donate blood or platelets for the first time.”
Lifeblood in 2025 ended its blanket ban on sexually active LGBTQ people from donating blood.
Rodney Croome, an Australian LGBTQ activist who is the spokesperson for Let Us Give, a campaign that has championed the changes, donated blood on Monday.
“After three decades of advocacy, and for the first time in my life, I was able to donate blood today,” said Croome in a Facebook post that showed him donating blood. “From today, gay men, and bisexual men and transgender women who have sex with men, are able to give blood without the traditional three month abstinence period. All donors are now asked the same questions about sex regardless of the gender of our sexual partners.”
Croome in the post said “there are still problems with the new donor regime,” but said Let Us Give will continue to work with Lifeblood.
“Those who may have not been monogamous in the recent past should not be subject to a six month wait time,” he wrote. “Three months is considered more than enough in the UK, US and Canada. It should be here too. People on PrEP and trans people also face continued barriers. Let Us Give will continue to work towards greater equity in donation.”
European Union
Top EU court strikes down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law
Ruling issued days after voters outed Prime Minister Viktor Orbán
The European Union’s top court on Tuesday struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law.
Hungarian MPs in 2021 approved Act LXXIX of 2021.
“It shall be forbidden to make accessible to persons who have not attained the age of 18 years advertisement that depicts sexuality in a gratuitous manner or that propagates or portrays divergence from self-identity corresponding to sex at birth, sex change or homosexuality,” it reads.
The European Commission in 2022 challenged the law. Sixteen EU countries — Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, the Netherlands, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, and Sweden — joined the lawsuit. The European Parliament also supported it. Outgoing Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, for his part, said his government would defend the law.
The EU Court of Justice heard the case in 2024.
A press release that announced the ruling on Tuesday said Hungary “acted in breach of EU law.”
“The court finds, for the first time, a separate infringement of Article 2 TEU (Treaty on European Union), which lists the values on which the (European) Union is founded and which are common to all the Member States,” it reads. “The aspects of the amending law targeting content which portrays or promotes deviation from the self-identity corresponding to the sex assigned at birth, gender reassignment, or homosexuality constitute a coordinated series of discriminatory measures which are in breach, in a way that is both manifest and particularly serious, of the rights of non-cisgender persons — including transgender persons — or non-heterosexual persons, as well as the values of respect for human dignity, equality and respect for human rights, including the rights of persons belonging to minorities.”
“Consequently, that law is contrary to the very identity of the (European) Union as a common legal order in a society in which pluralism prevails,” notes the press release. “Hungary cannot validly rely on its national identity as justification for adopting a law which is in breach of the values referred to above.”
The Háttér Society, a Hungarian LGBTQ rights group, said the ruling “is a milestone for the protection of human rights in the European Union, and it is also a historic victory for LGBTQI people in Hungary.”
The court issued its ruling nine days after Péter Magyar ousted Orbán in Hungary’s elections.
Orbán took office in 2010.
He and his government faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown that included laws that banned Pride events and other public LGBTQ events. (Upwards of 100,000 people last June denied the prohibition and marched in Budapest’s annual Pride parade.)
“Those amendments constitute a particularly serious interference with several fundamental rights protected by the (EU) Charter (of Fundamental Rights), namely the prohibition on discrimination based on sex,” notes the court’s press release.
The EU since Orbán took office has withheld upwards of €35 billion ($41.2 billion) in funds to Hungary in response to concerns over corruption, rule of law, and other issues. Magyar has said he will work with Brussels to unfreeze the money.
ILGA-Europe Deputy Director Katrin Hugendubel urged Maygar’s government to repeal the law.
“With this ruling, the CJEU (The EU Court of Justice) is confirming what we have been saying for six years,” said Hugendubel. “There is now no excuse for the Commission not to require Hungary to quickly withdraw the law. Hungary cannot enter a post-Orbán era without repealing this legislation, including the Pride ban.”
“If Péter Magyar truly aims to be pro-EU, he must place this at the top of his agenda for his first 100 days in office, as an essential part of his EU facing reforms,” added Hugendubel.
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