National
Gay bi-national couple makes post-DOMA history
Marsh and Popov first gay couple to win approval for marriage-based green card application


The first gay couple to receive an approval for a green card petition, Julian Marsh (right) and Traian Povov. (Photo courtesy The DOMA Project)
For Julian Marsh, being the first U.S. citizen to have a marriage-based green-card application approved for a same-sex spouse is “beyond anything we could ever imagine.”
Marsh and his spouse, Traian Popov, talked about the elation they felt upon learning their I-130 application was accepted on Friday — just two days after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act is unconstitutional — in an interview Sunday with the Washington Blade.
“I call that like winning a lottery; it’s like the luck of the draw,” Marsh said. “I’m sure there were other [applications] there that people could have picked up and processed, but, for whatever reason, they picked up ours. I feel real happy they did.”
The DOMA Project, which handled the filing for the Fort Lauderdale couple, is claiming them as the first gay couple to have their marriage-based green card application in the aftermath of the end of DOMA, which prohibited the federal recognition of same-sex couples.
Before the Supreme Court ruled last week the anti-gay law was unconstitutional, DOMA was the sole reason cited by U.S. Citizenship & Immigration Services for denying applications submitted by numerous legally married gay couples.
Marsh, an internationally acclaimed DJ, said the green-card approval represents the extent to which times have changed for LGBT people over decades leading to the Supreme Court decision striking down DOMA.
“It has invigorated us, shows us that love can win and we can push boundaries,” Marsh said. “I go back to the days when if you went into a bar, you’d probably have eggs thrown at you. You’d have to go through the back door. … I remember back in the 1970s, that’s where I kind of started, life was not like this at all.”
Popov, a Bulgarian national and doctorate student pursuing a degree in conflict analysis and resolution, said he’s “ecstatic” not just for himself, but the estimated 28,500 gay bi-national couples.
“Because of what we have now, U.S. spouses can petition and eventually get a green card for them if they’re willing to stay in the United States, which is a right that every U.S. citizen should have,” Popov said.
The couple doesn’t have yet have a green card; that process takes about six to nine months after the application is approved.
After meeting in 2011, the couple married in Brooklyn in 2012 and filed for the green card in February with no intention of being the first gay couple to win approval. Marsh and Popov learned via email on June 28 their application was approved, which, coincidentally, was Marsh’s birthday.
USCIS didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment over the weekend about the approval or to confirm whether the agency was accepting I-130 green card applications from married bi-national same-sex couples.
Lavi Soloway, co-founder of The DOMA Project and a gay immigration attorney who handled the couple’s case, said in a statement the approval represents the Obama administration’s commitment to recognizing married same-sex couples equally under the law in the aftermath of DOMA.
“This historic first green-card approval confirms that for immigration purposes the Supreme Court ruling striking DOMA will extend recognition to same-sex couples in all 50 states, as long as they have a valid marriage,” Soloway said.
What’s next for the couple? They say they want Florida to enact a change in law that would enable the state to recognize their union. The Sunshine State has a constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage and marriage-like unions.
“The least we would want right now is Florida to recognize same-sex marriages within the state — even if they don’t allow them here at least recognize them,” Marsh said. “We’re legally married in this country, and we’re legally married in New York. If a straight couple got married and moved here, they’d be legally married. We demand that same right.”
And Marsh criticized U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.). In the same day last month, Rubio said he would have walked away from any immigration bill that has language that would have helped gay bi-national couples and said he opposes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
“What we want to say to Marco Rubio is what are you hiding Marco?” Marsh said. “Why are you being so anti-gay? Look at all the other politicians who are anti-gay! Guess what they turned to be themselves? That’s what we’ve got to say to Marco Rubio: Take a look in the mirror, Marco! I’m not joking.”
Soloway drew a contrast between Rubio’s treatment of his own constituents and the Supreme Court decision bringing relief to Marsh and Popov.
“The Supreme Court ruling affirmed that committed and loving bi-national lesbian and gay couples in Florida and across the country deserve to be treated with respect and equal recognition under the law by the federal government,” Soloway said. “In start contrast to Sen. Rubio’s disparaging tone rejecting the dignity of lesbian and gay Americans, the Supreme Court ruling and the green card approval have brought justice to Julian and Traian.”
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs

The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
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