News
At Log Cabin dinner, calls for party to return to ‘big tent’
Ridge says ‘narrow thinking’ on social issues is leading to failure in nat’l elections
Former Gov. Tom Ridge delivers the keynote address at the Log Cabin annual dinner. (Washington Blade photo by Lee Whitman)
Amid discontent with the GOP over the federal government shutdown, one prominent Republican took to the stage at a gay rights event Wednesday night to urge the party to return to its days of “the big tent.”
Tom Ridge, the former Pennsylvania governor and secretary of Homeland Security under the Bush administration, issued the call for inclusion during his keynote address at the 2013 Spirit of Lincoln dinner, an annual event held in D.C. by the Log Cabin Republicans.
“If we want to win, we need to be a party worthy of the 21st century,” Ridge said. “A nonjudgmental party where all who support us are welcome. A party where diversity of view, race, ethnicity, gender and religion are relished and promoted and nourished.”
During the 30-minute speech, Ridge talked about his own evolution on the issue of marriage equality, saying he didn’t support marriage rights for gay couples when he was elected governor of Pennsylvania, but later changed his mind.
“My support of marriage equality wasn’t a decision made at one point in time,” Ridge said. “There was no epiphany; it evolved. It simply came to make sense – that all of us are equal in the eyes of the God we worship and the same should be true of the government to which we ‘render unto Caesar.'”
Ridge was among 131 Republicans who signed a friend-of-the-court brief urging the Supreme Court to strike down California’s Proposition 8.
As members of the Republican party are beginning to take differing views on gay rights and marriage equality, Ridge said the regressive views taking prominence in the Republican Party are what’s keeping the party from making gains at the national political level.
“Our own narrow thinking on social issues is one of the principal reasons we have lost the last two national elections,” Ridge said.
Ridge also made reference to actions that Republican lawmakers took in recent weeks that led to the shutdown of the federal government.
“And if you supplement our offensive and exclusionary view on social issues with the debacle of the past few weeks, we should be concerned about our brand, our message and our future,” Ridge said. “The majority of Americans don’t like Obamacare, but they like the flawed and failed tactics to default even less.”
Ridge didn’t completely abandon the party line during his speech. A portion was dedicated to the memory of President Reagan and his ability to attract “the center, conservative Democrats and independents” to the Republican Party. Additionally, Ridge was critical of Obamacare, which he called “a flawed law worthy of repeal,” generating enthusiastic applause from the audience.
“You know I am pro-choice, but in mandating that these institutions perform abortions or provide other services contrary to its values, the government is forcing its views on the practices of these religious institutions,” Ridge continued. “It is a scary, slippery slope.”
Despite his urge for inclusion, Ridge was careful to include in his speech a call for acceptance of individuals who have not embraced ideas like marriage equality.
“If we want a government that acknowledges our God-given right to freely choose how we live — in regard to marriage and other issues – we must demand a government that respects the rights of others to choose and follow their conscience just the same,” Ridge said.
Ridge’s speech was well-recevied by the estimated 165 people who attended the dinner. Bob Kabel, a gay D.C. Republican activist and member of the Republican National Committee, said Ridge’s speech was “very well written and well delivered” and praised its call for inclusion.
“It was a lot about Reagan, it was a lot about his aspirations for people, his views of politics, which is to be a party of inclusion, not exclusion, and we’ve really gotten away from that,” Kabel said.
Speaking with the Washington Blade prior to his speech, Ridge said it’s important for the public and the younger generation to hear a message of inclusion because an emphasis on social issues is scaring them off.
“Sometimes we appear very self-righteous, very judgmental and among many constituencies that doesn’t appeal to in addition to general America, young people, whom I think we need to attract to our party, don’t like self-righteous judgmental people leading the mindset,” Ridge said. “Unfortunately, some of those folks make the most noise.”
Ridge said he believes some Republicans “will never accept necessarily the gay and lesbian community,” but nonetheless urged members of the party to be tolerant.
“I’m not trying to change their mind, just changing their heart, so they’re more tolerant and accepting of other peoples’ life and lifestyles, because within the Log Cabin community there’s a value system that’s consistent with the traditional Republican message on fiscal policy, defense and the like,” Ridge said.
Prior to Ridge’s speech, Gregory Angelo, executive director of the Log Cabin Republicans, delivered his own remarks invoking the memory of Reagan and calling for a “big tent” within the Republican Party. Angelo said he invited Nancy Reagan to attend the dinner, but she declined because she’s not making social appearances.
However, Angelo read a letter that he said came from her assistant saying she appreciates the memory of her husband’s opposition to the Briggs Initiative in California during the 1970s and further appreciates that Log Cabin holds him in such high esteem.
Rep. Issa makes appearance
Ridge wasn’t the only high-profile Republican to make an appearance at the Log Cabin dinner. Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), chair of the House Committee on Oversight & Government Regulation, was among the invited guests. Issa didn’t speak publicly, but spoke with attendees briefly before the dinner began.
Issa was invited even though he scored “0” on the Human Rights Campaign’s most recent congressional scorecard. An opponent of same-sex marriage, Issa has voted for the Federal Marriage Amendment and against a version of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal.
Asked by the Washington Blade during the dinner why he was interested in appearing at a gay rights event, Issa said, “I’ve done it past years all the way to my freshman year in Congress.”
“The way I look at Log Cabin Republicans in my view is the Carl DeMaio race in San Diego and a huge amount of races for Republicans across the country are the No. 1 challenge for these individuals here tonight is moving an agenda that they find supportive,” Issa told reporters.
In response to another Blade question on whether his position on same-sex marriage has changed, Issa talked about “issues,” but said following the Supreme Court decisions in June “gay marriage has become the law of the land more or less.” Issa also expressed interest in domestic partner benefits for federal employees, an issue over which his committee has jurisdiction.
A bill introduced by gay Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) called the Domestic Partnership Benefits & Obligations Act would extend those benefits to federal employees if they’re in same-sex relationships, but live in non-marriage equality states and don’t have access to travel to marry.
Issa also commented on ENDA, saying he hasn’t taken a position it, nor has he had a chance to review the current bill.
“My assumption is that the bill we could pass in the House, the bill we could pass in the Senate would be different, but that’s not unusual because when it comes to employment non-discrimination in any area, it’s important that you get in a way that isn’t simply a litigation,” Issa said. “You know, I don’t want to empower the trial lawyers in any legislation I do.”
It’s not the first time that lawmakers with unfavorable records have made appearances at Log Cabin events. Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) made an appearance at a private Log Cabin event in 2010 and was honored with the organization’s Barry Goldwater award.
Other lawmakers who were scheduled to make an appearance at the dinner were Reps. Pete King (R-N.Y.) and Ted Poe (R-Texas), who have similarly abysmal records on gay rights in Congress. Neither actually made an appearance at the dinner. It wasn’t immediately clear why King and Poe didn’t appear after they were scheduled to attend.
Log Cabin’s Angelo said he invited Issa and the other lawmakers to the dinner because the organization wants to reach out to all lawmakers within the party.
“I’m not going to refuse to interact or engage with or welcome to our event anyone who’s interested to engage with Log Cabin Republicans,” Angelo said. “I can tell you that I’ve had meetings with senior staff or the actual members themselves of all those individuals, and there are meetings that lead me to believe that we continue to grow in our relationship with those congressmen. I think them coming tonight is certainly a sign that shows they’re willing to engage with gay Republicans and we’re headed in the right direction as a party.”
Canada
Shooter who killed 7 people inside Canada school was transgender
Advocacy groups have condemned efforts to link trans people to mass shootings
Canadian authorities on Wednesday said the person who killed seven people and injured more than two dozen others at a school in Tumbler Ridge, British Columbia, the day before was transgender.
Dwayne McDonald, the deputy commissioner for the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in British Columbia, during a press conference said Jesse Van Rootselaar, 18, “was born as a biological male who approximately … six years ago began to transition as female and identified as female both socially and publicly.” McDonald added it is “too early to say whether” the shooter’s gender identity “has any correlation in this investigation.”
The shooter died by suicide, and authorities found her body inside the school.
“We have a history of police attendance at the family residence,” said McDonald. “Some of those calls were related to mental health issues.”
Egale Canada, the country’s LGBTQ and intersex rights group, on Wednesday said it is “heartbroken by the horrific shooting in Tumbler Ridge.”
“Our deepest condolences are with the victims, their families, and the entire community as they navigate unimaginable grief,” said the group in a statement. “We unequivocally condemn this act of violence. There is no place for violence in our schools or in our communities. At this profoundly difficult time, we hold the people of Tumbler Ridge in our thoughts and stand in solidarity with all those affected.”
Mass shootings are relatively rare in Canada, unlike in the U.S.
GLAAD notes statistics from the Gun Violence Archive that indicate trans people carried out less than 0.1 percent of the 5,748 mass shootings in the U.S. between Jan. 1, 2013, and Sept. 15, 2025. The Human Rights Campaign, the National LGBTQ Task Force, and other advocacy groups last August condemned efforts to scapegoat the community after a trans woman shot and killed two children and injured 17 others inside the Annunciation Catholic School in Minneapolis.
Russia
Russia’s anti-LGBTQ crackdown takes absurd turn
Authorities targeted one of the country’s largest bookstore chains last month
While MAGA continues to attack LGBTQ rights in the U.S. — including erasing queer history and removing children’s books with LGBTQ characters from libraries and pushing an ever‑broader censorship agenda — and as the UK faces MAGA‑inspired campaigns demanding the removal of LGBT literature from public libraries, Russia’s assault on LGBTQ‑related media has taken an extreme and frankly absurd turn. It is a cautionary tale for Western countries of just how far censorship can go once it becomes normalized. From books to anime, TV shows, and even academia, queer existence is being systematically erased.
In January, one of Russia’s largest private bookstore chains, Chitai‑Gorod-Bukvoed, faced the risk of being shut down over alleged “LGBT propaganda” under a law that prohibits any positive mention of LGBTQ content and equates LGBTQ material with pornography and pedophilia.
Among the books targeted were “Beartown,” “Us Against You,”and “The Winners”by Fredrik Backman, “The Left Hand of Darkness” by Ursula K. Le Guin, and “The Heart’s Invisible Furies” by John Boyne.
According to Chitai‑Gorod-Bukvoed CEO Alexander Brychkin, once it became known in mid‑December that law enforcement agencies had launched inspections, the Chitai‑Gorod–Bukvoed network immediately removed these titles from sale nationwide. In a comment to Kommersant, Brychkin stressed that the chain “operates strictly within the legal framework,” noting that the books were not listed in any official register of banned materials at the time the inspections began and had been on sale for several years.
Previously, two of the biggest online film distribution companies were charged as well under the “LGBT Propaganda law.”
Private businesses had no more right to speak up than writers or artists who are persecuted for their work. This is a nightmare scenario for many Americans who believe the free market itself can protect freedom of expression. This is the reality of modern‑day Russia.
A censored version of the anime “Steins;Gate” has also been released on Russia’s most prominent streaming platform, “Kinopoisk,” in which the storyline of one of the main characters was altered due to the ban on so‑called “LGBT propaganda,” as reported by opposition outlets Verstka and Dozhd, as well as fans on Reddit.
In the original series, the character Ruka Urushibara is a young person with an androgynous appearance who struggles to accept themself in a male body — an obvious indication that Ruka is a transgender girl. Ruka wears women’s clothing and dreams of becoming a girl. In episode eight, Ruka is given the chance to intervene in the past by sending a message to their mother in order to be born female.
In the Kinopoisk version, released in late 2025, Ruka is instead portrayed as a girl living with HIV — something entirely absent from the original anime and invented in translation. The storyline and dialogue were rewritten accordingly, completely distorting the original meaning: in this version, Ruka attempts to change the past in order to be born “healthy,” without HIV, rather than to be born a girl. This is not only absurd, but deeply offensive to the LGBTQ community, which has long been stigmatized in relation to HIV.
A similar distortion appears in “Amediateka”’s translation — or, better to say, rewriting — of the new AMC series “Interview with the Vampire.” Translators rewrote dialogue in ways that fundamentally misrepresented the plot, downplaying the openly queer nature of the characters to the point that romantic partners were translated merely as “friends” or “pals,” rendering entire scenes meaningless. At the same time, even brief critical references to Russian or Soviet politics were removed.
As for queer romance, such as the popular Canadian TV show “Heated Rivalry,”it has no official Russian translation at all and circulates only through fan translations. The show remains popular among millennials and Gen Z, and Russian social media platforms like X (Twitter) and Instagram are full of positive reviews. Yet, in theory, promoting such a show could put someone at risk under the law. People still watch it, still love it, still build fan communities, but it all exists quietly, pushed under the carpet.
The prohibition is not total, but it is a grotesque situation when even such a nice and harmless show is stigmatized.
Books suffer even more. Some classics fall under bans, and books are physically destroyed. In other cases, the outcome is worse: texts are rewritten and censored, as with “Steins;Gate.” This affects not only fiction but also nonfiction. For example, in “Deep Color” by Keith Recker, an American researcher of visual arts, all mentions of queer, feminism or BDSM culture were erased in the Russian edition. Even historically necessary references were removed, including mentions of the pink triangle used by the Nazis.
In the Russian edition of Skye Cleary’s “The Thirst for Authenticity: How Simone de Beauvoir’s Ideas Help You Become Yourself,” dozens of paragraphs were blacked out. Passages discussing the fluidity of gender and a person’s right to define themselves outside the rigid male–female binary were removed. Sections on contraception and abortion, critiques of biological reductionism and social pressure on women, details of Simone de Beauvoir’s intimate life and her relationships with women, as well as reflections on non‑monogamous relationships, were all excised. Even footnotes referencing quotes about gender identity were hidden.
Those two books are one of the many examples of the fate of Russian-translated nonfiction. Actually, even books about animal reproduction were demanded to be censored because of the “LGBT propaganda law”. Apparently, the authorities couldn’t accept a neutral scientific description of same-sex behavior and reproductive diversity in animals.
The authorities know what they are doing. Most people are less likely to read dense nonfiction or search actual studies about animal sexual behavior than to watch a popular TV show about queer hockey players, which makes visual media easier to censor quietly and effectively. So they really could show LGBTQ as something negative and absolutely unnatural for most of the Russian population.
And this is the core of the problem. This is not just censorship of content — it is the rewriting of history, even the narrative around biology. It is the deliberate marginalization of queer existence, the systematic erasure of queer people’s ability to see themselves reflected in culture, literature, and art.
The U.S. still retains independence in academia, publishing, and private business when it comes to queer voices. Russia does not. History shows where this path leads: Nazi Germany burned books; the Taliban destroyed cultural and historical materials. This is always one of the first steps toward genocide — not immediate, perhaps, but inevitable once dehumanization becomes official policy. It never stops with just one group. In Russia, immigrants, people from the North Caucasus and Central Asia, Ukrainians, and even disabled citizens face daily dehumanization — it’s all part of the same system.
And now, alarmingly, the U.S. seems to be following in Russia’s footsteps — the same path that enabled war in Ukraine and the thriving of authoritarianism.
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate this week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
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