News
Heitkamp, Donnelly come out for same-sex marriage
Support caps off week of string of announcements
Sens. Joe Donnelly and Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) have come out for same-sex marriage (Photos public domain)
A pair of newcomers to the Senate Democratic caucus who hail from what are considered “red” states have become the latest in ongoing trend of U.S. senators coming out for marriage equality.
In separate statements on Friday morning, Sens. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) and Joe Donnelly (D-Ind.) made their announcements in support for same-sex marriage.
Heitkamp, who issued a statement on her website, based her new support for same-sex marriage on the belief that the federal government shouldn’t be able to discriminate against gay couples.
“In speaking with North Dakotans from every corner of our great state, and much personal reflection, I have concluded the federal government should no longer discriminate against people who want to make lifelong, loving commitments to each other or interfere in personal, private, and intimate relationships,” Heitkamp said. “I view the ability of anyone to marry as a logical extension of this belief. The makeup of families is changing, but the importance of family is enduring.”
In an announcement via Facebook, Donnelly also said he’s concluded that same-sex couples should be able to marry while touting his LGBT record in his previous role as a U.S. House member as well as opposition to constitutional amendments — within Indiana and at the federal level — banning same-sex marriage.
“With the recent Supreme Court arguments and accompanying public discussion of same-sex marriage, I have been thinking about my past positions and votes,” Donnelly said. “In doing so, I have concluded that the right thing to do is to support marriage equality for all.”
But Donnelly has a less than stellar voting record on LGBT issues. On one hand, He voted for “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in May 2010 even before the Pentagon issued its report on open service. On the other, Donnelly voted for a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act in 2007, but only after voting “yes” on the motion to recommit, which would have killed the bill. Donnelly voted against hate crimes protection legislation in 2010.
Heitkamp and Donnelly’s support means only four Democratic senators haven’t made announcements in favor of marriage equality: Sens. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), Joe Manchin (D-W.V.), Mary Landrieu (D-La.) and Tim Johnson (D-S.D.). Virtually the entire Republican caucus hasn’t made any announcements in favor of marriage equality — with the exception of Sens. Rob Portman (R-Ohio) and Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), as we reported previously.
Their announcements also cap off a week in which a total of six U.S. senators have announced their support for marriage equality. Heitkamp and Donnelly are joining Kirk, Bob Casey (D-Pa.), Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).
Iran
Grenell: ‘Real hope’ for gay rights in Iran as result of nationwide protests
Former ambassador to Germany claimed he has sneaked ‘gays and lesbians out of’ country
Richard Grenell, the special presidential envoy for special missions of United States, said on X on Tuesday that he has helped “sneak gays and lesbians out of Iran” and is seeing a change in attitudes in the country.
The post, which now has more than 25,000 likes since its uploading, claims that attitudes toward gays and lesbians is shifting amid massive economic protests across the country.
“For the first time EVER, someone has said ‘I want to wait just a bit,’,” the former U.S. ambassador to Germany wrote. “There is real hope coming from the inside. I don’t think you can stop this now.”
Grenell, who was named as Trump’s nominee in December 2024, has been a longtime supporter of the president and has been commended for his loyalty during both Trump administrations.
“Richard Grenell is a fabulous person, A STAR,” Trump posted on Truth Social days before his official appointment to the ambassador role. “He will be someplace, high up! DJT”
Iran, which is experiencing demonstrations across all 31 provinces of the country — including in Tehran, the capital — started as a result of a financial crisis causing the collapse of its national currency. Time magazine credits this uprising after the U.N. re-imposed sanctions in September over the country’s pursuit of nuclear weapons.
As basic necessities like bread, rice, meat, and medical supplies become increasingly unaffordable to the majority of the more than 90 million people living there, citizens took to the streets to push back against Iran’s theocratic regime.
Grenell, who was made president and executive director of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts last year by Trump, believes that people in the majority Shiite Muslim country are also beginning to protest on human rights abuses.
Iran is among only a handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Virginia
Mark Levine loses race to succeed Adam Ebbin in ‘firehouse’ Democratic primary
State Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker won with 70.6 percent of vote
Gay former Virginia House of Delegates member Mark Levine (D-Alexandria) lost his race to become the Democratic nominee to replace gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) in a Jan. 13 “firehouse” Democratic primary.
Levine finished in second place in the hastily called primary, receiving 807 votes or 17.4 percent. The winner in the four-candidate race, state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker, who was endorsed by both Ebbin and Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger received 3,281 votes or 70.6 percent.
Ebbin, whose 39th Senate District includes Alexandria and parts of Arlington and Fairfax Counties, announced on Jan. 7 that he was resigning effective Feb. 18, to take a job in the Spanberger administration as senior advisor at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
Results of the Jan. 13 primary, which was called by Democratic Party leaders in Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax, show that candidates Charles Sumpter, a World Wildlife Fund director, finished in third place with 321 voters or 6.9 percent; and Amy Jackson, the former Alexandria vice mayor, finished in fourth place with 238 votes or 5.1 percent.
Bennett-Parker, who LGBTQ community advocates consider a committed LGBTQ ally, will now compete as the Democratic nominee in a Feb. 10 special election in which registered voters in the 39th District of all political parties and independents will select Ebbin’s replacement in the state senate.
The Alexandria publication ALX Now reports that local realtor Julie Robben Linebery has been selected by the Alexandria Republican City Committee to be the GOP candidate to compete in the Jan. 10 special election. According to ALX Now, Lineberry was the only application to run in a now cancelled special party caucus type event initially called to select the GOP nominees.
It couldn’t immediately be determined if an independent or other party candidate planned to run in the special election.
Bennett-Parker is considered the strong favorite to win the Feb. 10 special election in the heavily Democratic 39th District, where Democrat Ebbin has served as senator since 2012.
Congress
Van Hollen speaks at ‘ICE Out for Good’ protest in D.C.
ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7
U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) is among those who spoke at an “ICE Out for Good” protest that took place outside U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s headquarters in D.C. on Tuesday.
The protest took place six days after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old woman in Minneapolis.
Good left behind her wife and three children.
(Video by Michael K. Lavers)
Grenell: ‘Real hope’ for gay rights in Iran as result of nationwide protests
Rollback of health IT standards will harm LGBTQ patients
Mark Levine loses race to succeed Adam Ebbin in ‘firehouse’ Democratic primary
National LGBTQ Task Force brings Creating Change conference back to D.C.
Van Hollen speaks at ‘ICE Out for Good’ protest in D.C.
Hundreds protest ICE killing of Renee Nicole Good in D.C.
PHOTOS: ‘ICE Out For Good’
A Shakespearean tragedy comes to life in exquisite ‘Hamnet’
Calendar: January 9-15
