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LGBT groups take part in D.C. immigration rally

Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force addressed crowd

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Rea Carey, NGLTF, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, immigration reform, gay news, Washington Blade
Rea Carey, NGLTF, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, immigration reform, gay news, Washington Blade

Rea Carey of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force speaks during a rally for immigration reform at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday. (Photo by Kathy Plate)

Rev. Sarah Lamming of St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church in Annapolis, Md., moved to the United States from England nearly four years ago. She and her American-born wife married in Maryland in January, but she cannot obtain a spousal green card because the Defense of Marriage Act prevents the federal government from recognizing their marriage for immigration purposes.

Lamming added during an interview at Immigration Equality’s office in Northwest D.C. on Wednesday that the work visas that she had until 18 months ago did not reference her relationship. She even removed her wedding rings each time she went to a U.S. embassy or tried to re-enter the country.

“That’s frustrating because that’s not how I’ve lived my life — we’ve lived our life in the last four years,” Lamming said.

Lamming and her wife were among the tens of thousands of people who attended a rally in support of comprehensive immigration reform on the West Lawn of the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.

Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, addressed the crowd as Immigration Equality Executive Director Rachel Tiven and representatives from the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT and allied organizations joined her on stage. Freedom to Marry, GLAAD, GetEQUAL, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Trans-Latin@ Coalition and the Queer Undocumented Immigrant Project are among the 26 LGBT advocacy groups that issued a statement earlier in the day that urged Congress to pass a “fair and comprehensive” immigration reform bill.

“Immigration is a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and human rights issue,” Carey said.

Carey referenced a trans Mexican woman whom she said suffered “horrific abuse” while at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detention facility. She also noted during her speech that bi-national same-sex couples are threatened with “forced separation” because they cannot sponsor their partner for immigration purposes.

“It is cruel and unfair to force loving couples and families to live apart …to make them choose between family and country,” Carey said.

Members of the Latino GLBT History Project and Casa Ruby were among those who also took part in the rally.

Jim Bolas of Brooklyn, N.Y., attended the rally with his partner of five years, Christophe Lepage, who returned to France after he lost his work visa because his company laid him off during the 2008 financial crisis. They told the Blade as they and other Immigration Equality supporters prepared to leave for the Capitol they felt it was important to participate in the event.

“We really want to make sure that LGBTQ families and couples are represented in the immigration arguments,” Bolas said.

The rally took place as a bi-partisan group of U.S. senators appear poised to introduce a comprehensive immigration reform bill in the coming days.

“The ‘Gang of 8’ senators of which I am one — Democrats and Republicans — have come to an agreement on all the major issues,” U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.) said as he addressed the crowd. “We are writing the bill as we speak.”

The Senate Judiciary Committee is expected to begin considering the proposal next week. Tiven and New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler told the Blade on Monday it is unlikely to contain any LGBT-specific language.

Neither Menendez nor U.S. Rep. Luis Gutierrez (D-Ill.,) who addressed the march as several of his congressional colleagues stood on stage with him, referenced bi-national same-sex couples during the event.

“There is success only when there is a consistent and persistent demand from the people,” the Illinois congressman told reporters from Spanish-language media outlets during an impromptu press conference after he spoke. “They have once again shown with their cries today that they will be consistent and persistent. And if Congress does not act, you will see the mobilization of our community on every street corner, in every neighborhood, in every house, in every city and in every state in the United States. We will not rest.”

Carey told the Blade during the rally her organization will continue to work to ensure lawmakers include the Uniting American Families Act that would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their partners for immigration purposes into any final measure.

“We would be very disappointed if it’s not included in the base bill, but we’ve got a long road to go on this bill,” she said. “There are a lot of stops along this train ride and we intend to push for the inclusion of bi-national couples every step of the way.”

President Obama in January unveiled his immigration reform proposal that includes bi-national couples. Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano in February told the Senate Judiciary Committee the White House supports a provision that would allow gays and lesbians to sponsor their foreign-born partners for immigration purposes.

Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy is expected to add UAFA as an amendment to the ‘Gang of 8’ bill once the Senate Judiciary Committee begins to consider it next week.

“We will then be pushing our allies on the Hill strongly to protect the language on the Senate floor,” HRC spokesperson Michael Cole-Schwartz said in response to the Blade’s question about whether the organization would publicly endorse an immigration reform measure that does not include bi-national same-sex couples.

Lamming and others who attended the rally said they hope Congress will support an LGBT-inclusive bill.

“This bill does not treat a section of the population with dignity,” she said. “This law precludes me from becoming part of the United States and my family is suffering from that.”

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray appeared to agree as he spoke at the march.

“We want a law that protects the most vulnerable among us: our women, our children and our LGBT communities,” he said.

Immigration, gay news, Washington Blade

Tens of thousands gathered at the U.S. Capitol on April 10 for a rally in support of comprehensive immigration reform. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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Federal Government

RFK Jr.’s HHS report pushes therapy, not medical interventions, for trans youth

‘Discredited junk science’ — GLAAD

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

A 409-page report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services challenges the ethics of medical interventions for youth experiencing gender dysphoria, the treatments that are often collectively called gender-affirming care, instead advocating for psychotherapy alone.

The document comes in response to President Donald Trump’s executive order barring the federal government from supporting gender transitions for anyone younger than 19.

“Our duty is to protect our nation’s children — not expose them to unproven and irreversible medical interventions,” National Institutes of Health Director Dr. Jay Bhattacharya said in a statement. “We must follow the gold standard of science, not activist agendas.”

While the report does not constitute clinical guidance, its findings nevertheless conflict with not just the recommendations of LGBTQ advocacy groups but also those issued by organizations with relevant expertise in science and medicine.

The American Medical Association, for instance, notes that “empirical evidence has demonstrated that trans and non-binary gender identities are normal variations of human identity and expression.”

Gender-affirming care for transgender youth under standards widely used in the U.S. includes supportive talk therapy along with — in some but not all cases — puberty blockers or hormone treatment.

“The suggestion that someone’s authentic self and who they are can be ‘changed’ is discredited junk science,” GLAAD President and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement. “This so-called guidance is grossly misleading and in direct contrast to the recommendation of every leading health authority in the world. This report amounts to nothing more than forcing the same discredited idea of conversion therapy that ripped families apart and harmed gay, lesbian, and bisexual young people for decades.”

GLAAD further notes that the “government has not released the names of those involved in consulting or authoring this report.”

Janelle Perez, executive director of LPAC, said, “For decades, every major medical association–including the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics–have affirmed that medical care is the only safe and effective treatment for transgender youth experiencing gender dysphoria.

“This report is simply promoting conversion therapy by a different name – and the American people know better. We know that conversion therapy isn’t actually therapy – it isolates and harms kids, scapegoats parents, and divides families through blame and rejection. These tactics have been used against gay kids for decades, and now the same people want to use them against transgender youth and their families.

“The end result here will be a devastating denial of essential health care for transgender youth, replaced by a dangerous practice that every major U.S. medical and mental health association agree promotes anxiety, depression, and increased risk of suicidal thoughts and attempts.

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice, and no amount of pressure can force someone to change who they are. We also know that 98% of people who receive transition-related health care continue to receive that health care throughout their lifetime. Trans health care is health care.”

“Today’s report seeks to erase decades of research and learning, replacing it with propaganda. The claims in today’s report would rip health care away from kids and take decision-making out of the hands of parents,” said Shannon Minter, legal director of NCLR. “It promotes the same kind of conversion therapy long used to shame LGBTQ+ people into hating themselves for being unable to change something they can’t change.”

“Like being gay or lesbian, being transgender is not a choice—it’s rooted in biology and genetics,” Minter said. “No amount or talk or pressure will change that.” 

Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown released a statement: “Trans people are who we are. We’re born this way. And we deserve to live our best lives and have a fair shot and equal opportunity at living a good life.

“This report misrepresents the science that has led all mainstream American medical and mental health professionals to declare healthcare for transgender youth to be best practice and instead follows a script predetermined not by experts but by Sec. Kennedy and anti-equality politicians.”




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The White House

Trump nominates Mike Waltz to become next UN ambassador

Former Fla. congressman had been national security advisor

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U.N. headquarters in New York (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced he will nominate Mike Waltz to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N.

Waltz, a former Florida congressman, had been the national security advisor.

Trump announced the nomination amid reports that Waltz and his deputy, Alex Wong, were going to leave the administration after Waltz in March added a journalist to a Signal chat in which he, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, and other officials discussed plans to attack Houthi rebels in Yemen.

“I am pleased to announce that I will be nominating Mike Waltz to be the next United States ambassador to the United Nations,” said Trump in a Truth Social post that announced Waltz’s nomination. “From his time in uniform on the battlefield, in Congress and, as my National Security Advisor, Mike Waltz has worked hard to put our nation’s Interests first. I know he will do the same in his new role.”

Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio will serve as interim national security advisor, “while continuing his strong leadership at the State Department.”

“Together, we will continue to fight tirelessly to make America, and the world, safe again,” said Trump.

Trump shortly after his election nominated U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) to become the next U.S. ambassador to the U.N. Trump in March withdrew her nomination in order to ensure Republicans maintained their narrow majority in the U.S. House of Representatives.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Second federal lawsuit filed against White House passport policy

Two of seven plaintiffs live in Md.

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Lambda Legal on April 25 filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of seven transgender and nonbinary people who are challenging the Trump-Vance administration’s passport policy.

The lawsuit, which Lambda Legal filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland in Baltimore, alleges the policy that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers “has caused and is causing grave and immediate harm to transgender people like plaintiffs, in violation of their constitutional rights to equal protection.”

Two of the seven plaintiffs — Jill Tran and Peter Poe — live in Maryland. The State Department, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, and the federal government are defendants.

“The discriminatory passport policy exposes transgender U.S. citizens to harassment, abuse, and discrimination, in some cases endangering them abroad or preventing them from traveling, by forcing them to use identification documents that share private information against their wishes,” said Lambda Legal in a press release.

Zander Schlacter, a New York-based textile artist and designer, is the lead plaintiff.

The lawsuit notes he legally changed his name and gender in New York.

Schlacter less than a week before President Donald Trump’s inauguration “sent an expedited application to update his legal name on his passport, using form DS-5504.”

Trump once he took office signed an executive order that banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers. The lawsuit notes Schlacter received his new passport in February.

“The passport has his correct legal name, but now has an incorrect sex marker of ‘F’ or ‘female,'” notes the lawsuit. “Mr. Schlacter also received a letter from the State Department notifying him that ‘the date of birth, place of birth, name, or sex was corrected on your passport application,’ with ‘sex’ circled in red. The stated reason was ‘to correct your information to show your biological sex at birth.'”

“I, like many transgender people, experience fear of harassment or violence when moving through public spaces, especially where a photo ID is required,” said Schlacter in the press release that announced the lawsuit. “My safety is further at risk because of my inaccurate passport. I am unwilling to subject myself and my family to the threat of harassment and discrimination at the hands of border officials or anyone who views my passport.”

Former Secretary of State Antony Blinken in June 2021 announced the State Department would begin to issue gender-neutral passports and documents for American citizens who were born overseas.

Dana Zzyym, an intersex U.S. Navy veteran who identifies as nonbinary, in 2015 filed a federal lawsuit against the State Department after it denied their application for a passport with an “X” gender marker. Zzyym in October 2021 received the first gender-neutral American passport.

Lambda Legal represented Zzyym.

The State Department policy took effect on April 11, 2022.

Trump signed his executive order shortly after he took office in January. Germany, Denmark, Finland, and the Netherlands are among the countries that have issued travel advisories for trans and nonbinary people who plan to visit the U.S.

A federal judge in Boston earlier this month issued a preliminary injunction against the executive order.  The American Civil Liberties Union filed the lawsuit on behalf of seven trans and nonbinary people.

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