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Gay candidate touts progressive values in bid to replace Markey

Sciortino seeks to fill House seat vacated after special election

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Carl Sciortino, Democratic Party, Massachusetts, Middlesex, gay news, Washington Blade
Carl Sciortino, Democratic Party, Massachusetts, Middlesex, gay news, Washington Blade

Gay Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino (D-Middlesex) is seeking to represent Massachusetts in Congress. (Photo by Seth Rau)

As Democrats celebrated Massachusetts Rep. Ed Markey’s win on Tuesday in the special election for an open U.S. Senate seat, a gay candidate is already working to build support for a bid to replace Markey in the House.

In an interview with the Washington Blade, Massachusetts State Rep. Carl Sciortino, 34, touted his progressive values as he talked about seeking to represent Massachusetts’ 5th congressional district in the U.S. House. A victory would make him the eighth sitting openly gay member of Congress.

“I have a strong progressive track record in the state legislature, where I served for nine years,” Sciortino said. “And I think there are many issues facing our country that will affect us for many years, and I want to bring a solid, progressive voice to the debate.”

At the top of the list for Sciortino — who launched his campaign in February — are climate change, Social Security, immigration as well as campaign finance reform in the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision in Citizens United, which he said is “blocking a healthy democracy.”

“There are many things on the table that we are struggling with as a country right now, and I think at a core level, we’re really talking about whether the American Dream is available for another generation,” Sciortino said.

The lawmaker said he’d also advance his record on LGBT issues in Congress, which he said he sees as “core economic and fairness issues for families who happen to be LGBT.” He’s credited with helping beat back a constitutional amendment opposing marriage equality in Massachusetts and was lead sponsor of the state’s m0re recently signed transgender civil rights law.

“At a very base level, of course, we have to get an inclusive-ENDA passed,” Sciortino said. “Employment protections are crucial, and the fact that as a country we still can have a qualified worker fired for no other reason than they are gay or transgender is totally unacceptable.”

Marc Solomon, national campaign director for Freedom to Marry, spoke highly of Sciortino and his efforts to combat a constitutional amendment in Massachusetts that would have rescinded marriage equality in the state after it was put in place by the State Supreme Court. At the time, Solomon was the head of MassEquality.

“Carl is one, I’d say, of a handful of elected officials for whom I would do pretty much anything — and I’m not exaggerating,” Solomon said. “And it’s because he’s committed, he’s passionate, he’s smart and he knows how to get things done. He has the great combination of having really strong progressive convictions while at the same time knowing how to build alliances with others to get laws passed.”

In October, Solomon is set to officiate over the congressional hopeful’s wedding to his partner of more than five years, Pem Brown, a 29-year-old consultant for non-profit communications. The ceremony will take place in Boston at the Old South Meeting House, where the LGBT community gathered in 2003 to celebrate on the night of the Goodridge decision that brought marriage equality.

Throughout the campaign, Sciortino said his plans to marry someone of the same gender haven’t been an issue for voters.

“I think it’s significant that an openly gay candidate running for Congress can be planning my wedding while running for office and, frankly, no one really cares in a big way that we’re getting married,” he said.

Sciortino’s candidacy was dependent on a Democratic win in the Senate race on Tuesday between Rep. Markey (D-Mass.), and Gabriel Gomez, a former Navy SEAL. Now that Markey has won the Senate seat, his congressional seat is vacated, giving Sciortino the opportunity to run.

Another special election at a yet-to-be-determined date will be held to see who will represent Massachusetts’ 5th congressional district in Congress. It’s already a crowded field: others who’ve announced their candidacy include State Sen. Karen Spilka, State Sen. William Brownsberger, State Sen. Katherine Clark and Middlesex Sheriff Pete Koutoujian.

Nathan Gonzalez, deputy editor of the Rothenberg Political Report, said it’s too early to handicap the race, but noted even at this early stage that Sciortino will face a crowded field.

“From what I know, I’m expecting him to be a serious and credible candidate, but I don’t think he will be the only one that those adjectives fit,” Gonzalez said.

This week, Sciortino is making a trip to D.C. to get himself better acquainted with lawmakers as well as activist organizations working on progressive and LGBT work. He didn’t immediately recall which stakeholders he’ll meet once he arrives in Washington.

“I will be walking in as a freshman member of Congress in the middle of a term and this is an opportunity to make the rounds, build support for the campaign and build relationships,” Sciortino said.

One event he will attend is a fundraiser that will take place in the home of gay Democratic lobbyist and activist Robert Raben. Gay Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) is expected to attend.

Sciortino said he sees former Rep. Barney Frank as a role model in terms of both his service to Massachusetts and to the LGBT community.

“He was fighting for LGBT equality even as a closeted member of the state legislature in the ’70s and deserves, I think, our collective appreciation,” Sciortino said. “And I can only hope to be as witty and sharp as he’s always been, so he’s a good role model in that way as well.”

In addition to legislative work, Sciortino is pushing for more action from the Obama administration. He praised Obama for his LGBT accomplishments — and put passage of hate crimes protections legislation at the top of his list — but joined in the call for an executive order prohibiting federal contractors from engaging in LGBT workplace discrimination.

“He deserves our appreciation, but, that being said, we have to hold his feet to the fire and keep pushing for it as a community until we have full equality — and a ban on discrimination for federal contractors has to be part of that strategy because when companies can continue to discriminate against our families and our community, it sends a message that it’s OK,” Sciortino said.

Chuck Wolfe, CEO of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, was among those who spoke highly of the candidate, whom his organization has endorsed.

“Carl has been a proven leader on LGBT issues in the Massachusetts Legislature,” Wolfe said. “He’ll continue that outspoken advocacy in Congress, where we need more authentic LGBT voices speaking truth to power.”

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Congress

McBride, other US lawmakers travel to Denmark

Trump’s demand for Greenland’s annexation overshadowed trip

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U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) is among the U.S. lawmakers who traveled to Denmark over the past weekend. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Delaware Congresswoman Sarah McBride is among the 11 members of Congress who traveled to Denmark over the past weekend amid President Donald Trump’s continued calls for the U.S. to take control of Greenland.

McBride, the first openly transgender person elected to Congress, traveled to Copenhagen, the Danish capital, with U.S. Sens. Chris Coons (D-Del.), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), and Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and U.S. Reps. Steny Hoyer (D-Md.), Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.), Madeleine Dean (D-Pa.), Don Bacon (R-Neb.), and Sarah Jacobs (D-Calif.). The lawmakers met with Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen and Greenlandic MP Pipaluk Lynge, among others.

“I’m grateful to Sen. Coons for his leadership in bringing together a bipartisan, bicameral delegation to reaffirm our support in Congress for our NATO ally, Denmark,” said McBride in a press release that detailed the trip. “Delaware understands that our security and prosperity depend on strong partnerships rooted in mutual respect, sovereignty, and self-determination. At a time of growing global instability, this trip could not be more poignant.”

Greenland is a self-governing territory of Denmark with a population of less than 60,000 people. Trump maintains the U.S. needs to control the mineral-rich island in the Arctic Ocean between Europe and North America because of national security.

The Associated Press notes thousands of people on Saturday in Nuuk, the Greenlandic capital, protested against Trump. British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is among those who have criticized Trump over his suggestion the U.S. would impose tariffs against countries that do not support U.S. annexation of Greenland.  

A poll that Sermitsiaq, a Greenlandic newspaper, and Berlingske, a Danish newspaper, commissioned last January indicates 85 percent do not want Greenland to become part of the U.S. The pro-independence Demokraatit party won parliamentary elections that took place on March 12, 2025.

“At this critical juncture for our countries, our message was clear as members of Congress: we value the U.S.-Denmark partnership, the NATO alliance, and the right of Greenlanders to self-determination,” said McBride on Sunday in a Facebook post that contained pictures of her and her fellow lawmakers meeting with their Danish and Greenlandic counterparts.

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Van Hollen speaks at ‘ICE Out for Good’ protest in D.C.

ICE agent killed Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis on Jan. 7

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U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks at the 'ICE Out for Good' rally in D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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)

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Advocates say MTG bill threatens trans youth, families, and doctors

The “Protect Children’s Innocence” Act passed in the House

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) speaks at a press conference on Sept. 20 for her anti-trans legislation. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Georgia Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene has a long history of targeting the transgender community as part of her political agenda. Now, after announcing her resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives, attempting to take away trans rights may be the last thing she does in her official capacity.

The proposed legislation, dubbed “Protect Children’s Innocence Act” is among the most extreme anti-trans measures to move through Congress. It would put doctors in jail for up to 10 years if they provide gender-affirming care to minors — including prescribing hormone replacement therapy to adolescents or puberty blockers to younger children. The bill also aims to halt gender-affirming surgeries for minors, though those procedures are rare.

Greene herself described the bill on X, saying if passed, “it would make it a Class C felony to trans a child under 18.”

According to KFF, a nonpartisan source for health policy research, polling, and journalism, 27 states have enacted policies limiting youth access to gender-affirming care. Roughly half of all trans youth ages 13–17 live in a state with such restrictions, and 24 states impose professional or legal penalties on health care practitioners who provide that care.

Greene has repeatedly introduced the bill since 2021, the year she entered Congress, but it failed to advance. Now, in exchange for her support for the National Defense Authorization Act, the legislation reached the House floor for the first time.

According to the 19th, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.), the first trans member of Congress, rebuked Republicans on the Capitol steps Wednesday for advancing anti-trans legislation while allowing Affordable Care Act tax credits to expire — a move expected to raise health care costs for millions of Americans.

“They would rather have us focus in and debate a misunderstood and vulnerable one percent of the population, instead of focusing in on the fact that they are raiding everyone’s health care,” McBride said. “They are obsessed with trans people … they are consumed with this.”

Polling suggests the public largely opposes criminalizing gender-affirming care.

A recent survey by the Human Rights Campaign and Global Strategy Group found that 73 percent of voters in U.S. House battleground districts oppose laws that would jail doctors or parents for providing transition-related care. Additionally, 77 percent oppose forcing trans people off medically recommended medication. Nearly seven in 10 Americans said politicians are not informed enough to make decisions about medical care for trans youth.

The bill passed the House and now heads to the U.S. Senate for further consideration.

According to reporting by Erin Reed of Erin In The Morning, three Democrats — U.S. Reps. Henry Cuellar and Vicente Gonzalez of Texas and Don Davis of North Carolina — crossed party lines to vote in favor of the felony ban, joining 213 Republicans. A total of 207 Democrats voted against the bill, while three lawmakers from both parties abstained.

Advocates and lawmakers warned the bill is dangerous and unprecedented during a multi-organizational press call Tuesday. Leaders from the Human Rights Campaign and the Trevor Project joined U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Dr. Kenneth Haller, and parents of trans youth to discuss the potential impact of restrictive policies like Greene’s — particularly in contrast to President Donald Trump’s leniency toward certain criminals, with more than 1,500 pardons issued this year.

“Our MAGA GOP government has pardoned drug traffickers. They’ve pardoned people who tried to overthrow the government on January 6, but now they want to put pediatricians and parents into a jail cell for caring for their kids,” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “No one asked for Marjorie Taylor Greene or Dan Crenshaw or any politician to be in their doctor’s office, and they should mind their own business.”

Balint, co-chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, questioned why medical decisions are being made by lawmakers with no clinical expertise.

“Parents and doctors already have to worry about state laws banning care for their kids, and this bill would introduce the risk of federal criminal prosecution,” Balint said. “We’re talking about jail time. We’re talking about locking people up for basic medical care, care that is evidence-based, age-appropriate and life-saving.”

“These are decisions that should be made by doctors and parents and those kids that need this gender-affirming care, not certainly by Marjorie Taylor Greene.”

Haller, an emeritus professor of pediatrics at St. Louis University School of Medicine, described the legislation as rooted in ideology rather than medicine.

“It is not science, it is just blind ideology,” Haller said.

“The doctor tells you that as parents, as well as the doctor themselves, could be convicted of a felony and be sentenced up to 10 years in prison just for pursuing a course of action that will give your child their only chance for a happy and healthy future,” he added. “It is not in the state’s best interests, and certainly not in the interests of us, the citizens of this country, to interfere with medical decisions that people make about their own bodies and their own lives.”

Haller’s sentiment is echoed by doctors across the country.

The American Medical Association, the nation’s largest organization that represents doctors across the country in various parts of medicine has a longstanding support for gender-affirming care.

“The AMA supports public and private health insurance coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria and opposes the denial of health insurance based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” their website reads.

Rodrigo Heng-Lehtinen, senior vice president of public engagement campaigns at the Trevor Project, agreed.

“In Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill [it] even goes so far as to criminalize and throw a parent in jail for this,” Heng-Lehtinen said. “Medical decisions should be between patients, families, and their doctors.”

Rachel Gonzalez, a parent of a transgender teen and LGBTQ advocate, said the bill would harm families trying to act in their children’s best interests.

“No politician should be in any doctor’s office or in our living room making private health care decisions — especially not Marjorie Taylor Greene,” Gonzalez said. “My daughter and no trans youth should ever be used as a political pawn.”

Other LGBTQ rights activists also condemned the legislation.

Tyler Hack, executive director of the Christopher Street Project, called the bill “an abominable attack on the transgender community.”

“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s last-ditch effort to bring her 3-times failed bill to a vote is an abominable attack on the transgender community and further cements a Congressional career defined by hate and bigotry,” they said. “We are counting down the days until she’s off Capitol Hill — but as the bill goes to the floor this week, our leaders must stand up one last time to her BS and protect the safety of queer kids and medical providers. Full stop.”

Hack added that “healthcare is a right, not a privilege” in the U.S., and this attack on trans healthcare is an attack on queer rights altogether. 

“Marjorie Taylor Greene has no place in deciding what care is necessary,” Hack added. “This is another attempt to legislate trans and queer people out of existence while peddling an agenda rooted in pseudoscience and extremism.”

U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, also denounced the legislation.

“This bill is the most extreme anti-transgender legislation to ever pass through the House of Representatives and a direct attack on the rights of parents to work with their children and their doctors to provide them with the medical care they need,” Takano said. “This bill is beyond cruel and its passage will forever be a stain on the institution of the United States Congress.”

The bill is unlikely to advance in the Senate, where it would need 60 votes to pass.

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