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Minnesota House approves marriage bill

Vote took place six months after voters rejected proposed gay nuptials ban

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Minnesota, gay news, Washington Blade

Minnesota State Capitol (Photo by History127 via Wikimedia Commons)

The Minnesota House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill that would extend marriage to same-sex couples in the state.

The measure that state Rep. Karen Clark (D-Minneapolis) introduced passed by a 75-59 vote margin after lawmakers debated it for nearly three hours.

“I do believe we are on the verge of changing Minnesota’s history,” Clark said before legislators approved House File 1054. Her long-time partner, Jacqueline Zita, was inside the chamber for the vote. “We are strengthening the meaning of marriage by opening it to couples who are committed.”

State Rep. Rena Moran (D-St. Paul) referenced the Declaration of Independence and the civil rights movement as she spoke in support of HF 1054.

“Either we’re equal or we’re not equal,” she said. “Equal is really equal, so today I stand believing that we are on the right side of history.”

State Rep. Tim Faust (D-Hinckley) discussed his own marriage as he discussed why he now supports nuptials for gays and lesbians in Minnesota.

“Today we have the opportunity — the opportunity to give a part of our population, fellow brothers and sisters of God the same rights that most of us have taken for granted since the day we knew what the opposite sex was,” he said.

Same-sex marriage advocates quickly applauded the vote.

“Today, Minnesota moves one significant step closer to finally securing the freedom to marry for same-sex couples,” Minnesotans United, a group that supports the same-sex marriage bill, said. “This is the first time in history that legislation to extend civil marriage to same-sex couples has passed a body of the Minnesota Legislature, and we are deeply grateful to the 75 leaders in Minnesota House of Representatives who listened to their constituents and chose to stand on the side of love and family by voting yes.”

“Thank you Minnesota House,” former Minnesota Vikings punter Chris Kluwe added in a post to his Twitter account after the vote. “Equality is only equality if everyone has it. You’ve made society that much better today.”

Neighboring Iowa is among the nine states and D.C. in which gays and lesbians can currently marry.

Delaware’s same-sex marriage law will take effect on July 1, while gays and lesbians can begin to tie the knot in Rhode Island on Aug. 1.

Minnesota voters last November rejected a proposed constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage in the state as between a man and a woman.

State Rep. Kelby Woodard (R-Belle Plaine) said HF 1054 would classify “half of Minnesotans as bigots” as he spoke against it.

“We are being asked to redefine marriage,” he said. “We are redefining today in this bill the definition of marriage that has been the bedrock of society for thousands of years.”

State Rep. Glenn Gruenhagen (R-Glencoe) cited 2,500 studies he said confirms the benefit of “traditional marriage for men, women and especially children.” State Rep. Peggy Scott (R-Andover) added HF 1054 would remove “gender-specific terminology” from Minnesota’s marriage laws.

“There will be consequences intended and not intended to the very essence of who we are and what we become,” state Rep. Tony Albright (R-Prior Lake) said.

Minnesota Family Council President Tom Prichard is among those who criticized lawmakers for supporting HF 1054.

“The passage of the marriage redefinition bill marks an unprecedented assault on the religious freedoms and the well-being of children,” he said.

The Minnesota Catholic Conference said in a statement it is “disappointed” legislators voted “to redefine the legal definition of marriage as the union of one man and one woman.”

“In doing so, it has set in motion a transformation of Minnesota law that will focus on accommodating the desires of adults instead of protecting the best interest of children,” the group added. “This action is an injustice that tears at the fabric of society and will be remembered as such well into the future.”

Lawmakers on Thursday also rejected a proposed amendment to HF 1054 sponsored by state Rep. Tim Kelly (R-Red Wing) that would have converted all Minnesota marriages to civil unions by a 22-111 vote margin.

The Minnesota Senate on Monday is scheduled to vote on the same-sex marriage bill.

Governor Mark Dayton has said he will sign it into law if lawmakers approve it.

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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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