News
U.S. Olympic Committee bans anti-gay discrimination
Change comes against mounting pressure to respond to Russia law
Members of All Out and Athlete Ally on August 7 presented a petition with more than 300,000 signatures to the International Olympic Committee that urges it to pressure Russia to end its gay crackdown. (Photo courtesy of All Out)
The U.S. Olympic Committee Board of Directors on Thursday voted to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy.
U.S. Olympic Committee CEO Scott Blackmun made the announcement earlier on Friday during a speech he delivered in Colorado Springs, Colo., as he discussed a Russian law that bans gay propaganda to minors. Blackmun also referenced the reassurances the International Olympic Committee has said it has received from the Kremlin that the statute will not impact athletes and others who plan to attend the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia.
“Even though we have been assured by the IOC that the new law will not directly impact anybody in Russia for the games, it is important for us to emphasize that we believe the law is inconsistent with the fundamental principles of the Olympic and Paraolympic movements,” Blackmun said.
The policy change took place three days after U.S. Reps. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and more than three dozen other members of Congress urged Blackmun in a letter to outline the steps the U.S. Olympic Committee plans to take to protect athletes who travel to the Sochi games. The Dutch LGBT advocacy group COC Nederland has also sought similar assurances from their country’s Olympic committee amid growing outrage over the gay propaganda law and Russia’s LGBT rights record.
IOC President Thomas Bach earlier this week reiterated the Olympic charter bans all forms of discrimination in a letter to the LGBT advocacy group All Out. He did not specifically say whether it includes sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
The Olympic body in August also announced athletes are not allowed to publicly challenge Russia’s gay propaganda law during the Sochi games.
“We are actively seeking more clarity from the IOC on what will and will not be regarded as violations of Rule 50 in the games environment and we will absolutely communicate what we learn to athletes and administrators alike,” Blackmun said during his speech.
Blackmun also reiterated the IOC’s position that it cannot urge the Russian government to modify or repeal the law.
“The fact that we do not think it is our role to advocate for a change to the Russian law does not mean that we support the law, and we do not,” he said.
Ros-Lehtinen described the U.S. Olympic Committee’s decision to add sexual orientation to its non-discrimination policy as “a positive step forward toward living up to the ideals” of the games in a statement to the Washington Blade on Friday. She added she feels there is “still much work to be done to ensure the rights and freedoms of all LGBT individuals are protected, in and out of sports.”
“I urge the International Olympic Committee to include LGBT individuals in its goal of building a better world through sports by instituting similar non-discrimination polices as the USOC has done,” the Florida Republican said.
District of Columbia
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
‘This is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on March 20 signed a bill approved by the D.C. Council that requires health insurance companies to cover the costs of HIV prevention or PrEP drugs for D.C. residents at risk for HIV infection.
Like all legislation approved by the Council and signed by the mayor, the bill, called the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act, was sent to Capitol Hill for a required 30-day congressional review period before it takes effect as D.C. law.
Gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5) last year introduced the bill.
Insurance coverage for PrEP drugs has been provided through coverage standards included in the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare. But AIDS advocacy organizations have called on states and D.C. to pass their own legislation requiring insurance coverage of PrEP as a safeguard in case federal policies are weakened or removed by the Trump administration, which has already reduced federal funding for HIV/AIDS-related programs.
Like legislation passed by other states, the PrEP D.C. Amendment Act requires insurers to cover all PrEP drugs approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
Studies have shown that PrEP drugs, which can be taken as pills or by injection just twice a year, are highly effective in preventing HIV infection.
“I think this is a win for our community,” Parker said after the D.C. Council voted unanimously to approve the bill on its first vote on the measure in February. “And this is a win in the fight against HIV/AIDS.”
Vice President JD Vance and his wife, second lady Usha Vance, will visit Hungary next week.
An announcement the White House released on Thursday said the Vances will be in Budapest, the Hungarian capital, from April 7-8.
JD Vance “will hold bilateral meetings with” Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. The announcement further indicates the vice president “will also deliver remarks on the rich partnership between the United States and Hungary.”
The Vances will travel to Hungary less than a week before the country’s parliamentary elections take place on April 12.
Orbán, who has been in office since 2010, and his Fidesz-KDNP coalition government have faced widespread criticism over its anti-LGBTQ crackdown.
The Associated Press notes polls indicate Orbán is trailing Péter Magyar and his center-right Tisza party.
President Donald Trump removed Attorney General Pam Bondi from her post Thursday, following growing criticism over how she and the Department of Justice handled a range of issues, including matters related to sex offender and Trump ally Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump announced Bondi’s removal on Truth Social, where he also said Todd Blanche will serve as acting head of the Justice Department.
“Pam Bondi is a great American patriot and a loyal friend, who faithfully served as my attorney general over the past year,” Trump wrote on the platform. “Pam did a tremendous job overseeing a massive crackdown on crime across our country, with murders plummeting to their lowest level since 1900.”
Trump was seen as recently as Wednesday with the now-former attorney general at a Supreme Court hearing on citizenship.
The decision contrasts with Trump’s previous public praise of Bondi, the 87th U.S. attorney general and former 37th attorney general of Florida, who served in that role from 2011-2019 before joining the Trump-Vance administration. He has frequently lauded her loyalty and said he speaks with her often. Bondi was also one of president’s defense lawyers during his first impeachment trial.
Privately, however, Trump had grown frustrated that Bondi was not “moving quickly enough” to prosecute critics and political adversaries he wanted to face criminal charges, according to multiple sources. The New York Times reported that her inability to charge former FBI Director James B. Comey and New York Attorney General Letitia James with any crimes is a large factor in the president’s choice to fire her from the government’s primary law enforcement agency.
The move comes as Trump has sought to minimize public turmoil within his administration, avoiding the perception of a revolving-door Cabinet that defined his first term.
Lee Zeldin, a former Republican congressman from New York who unsuccessfully ran for governor, has emerged as a leading contender to lead the Justice Department. He has been one of Trump’s most reliable allies.
“He’s our secret weapon,” Trump said of Zeldin in February during a White House event promoting the coal industry, adding, “He’s getting those approvals done in record-setting time.”
Bondi has also growing faced scrutiny from Congress.
The House Oversight Committee recently subpoenaed her to testify about the department’s handling of certain files, where she declined to answer key questions during a contentious House Judiciary Committee hearing in February.
The Tampa native has a long history of opposing LGBTQ rights through her roles in government. As Florida attorney general, she fought against the legalization of same-sex marriage, arguing it would cause “serious public harm,” pushing forward a legal battle that cost taxpayers nearly half a million dollars. She also asked the Florida Supreme Court to overturn a lower court ruling that found the state’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional.
More recently, Bondi established a “Title IX Special Investigations Team” within the Justice Department focused on restricting transgender women and girls from participating in women’s and girls’ sports teams and accessing facilities aligned with their gender identity. She also told Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia to turn over the medical records of anyone under 19 who received gender-affirming care.
Her removal follows Trump’s decision last month to oust another controversial female Cabinet figure, Kristi Noem.
Mayor Bowser signs bill requiring insurers to cover PrEP
JD Vance to travel to Hungary next week
Pam Bondi ousted as attorney general
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