National
U.S. Rep. from Maine comes out
Gubernatorial hopeful becomes eighth out member of Congress
Mike Michaud (Photo public domain)
U.S. Rep. Michael Michaud (D-Maine), who’s running for governor in the 2014 election, surprised his state’s political establishment on Monday by announcing he’s gay in an op-ed column released to three news outlets.
Michaud, 58, who’s serving his sixth term in Congress, is considered the favorite to win the Democratic nomination for governor next spring. He’s also considered to have a good chance of winning the general election against incumbent Gov. Paul LePage, a Republican who opposes same-sex marriage.
In the op-ed column he submitted to the Associated Press, the Bangor Daily News and the Portland Press Herald, Michaud said he decided to come out in response to questions raised about his personal life through “whisper campaigns, insinuations and push-polls” orchestrated by people opposed to his candidacy.
“They want people to question whether I’m gay,” he wrote in his column.
“Allow me to save them the trouble with a simple, honest answer: ‘Yes, I am. But why should it matter?’” he said in the column.
“That may seem like a big announcement to some people,” he continued. “For me, it’s just a part of who I am, as much as being a third-generation millworker or a lifelong Mainer. One thing I do know is that it has nothing to do with my ability to lead the state of Maine.”
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, a national advocacy group that helps elect openly LGBT candidates for public office, said Michaud is the first sitting member of Congress to come out as gay in 17 years. The group said he now becomes the eighth openly LGBT member of Congress.
“We applaud Congressman Michaud and look forward to working with him in the future,” said Chuck Wolfe, Victory Fund’s executive director. “As the eighth authentic LGBT voice in Congress, his example will promote understanding and show the importance of being open and honest about who you are.”
Fred Sainz, vice president of communications for the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT advocacy group, called Michaud a “tireless fighter for Maine” over a period of decades.
“He has a tremendous story to tell,” Sainz said. “What he made clear today is that being gay is just one part of it. It’s a measure of our success that his sexual orientation going forward will be a non-issue.”
Ali Vander Zanden, interim executive director of the statewide LGBT rights group Equality Maine, said Michaud has been a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage, during his career as a congressman and a member of the Maine legislature.
“The reaction that I’ve seen from LGBT people in Maine has been overwhelmingly positive and supportive,” said Vander Zanden.
“People are delighted that we now have an openly gay congressman,” she said. “I think any openly gay elected official or candidate is good for Maine and good for the LGBT community.”
She said Michaud would be a strong contender for Equality Maine’s endorsement when the group begins its candidate endorsement process later this year and early next year.
So far, no other candidate has emerged to oppose Michaud in the Democratic primary for governor scheduled for next June. Political observers say the popular congressman would be the odds-on favorite to win his party’s primary.
The AP reported that a poll released in October showed that Michaud and LePage were running about even in the general election in November 2014. But observers note that LePage won his race for governor in 2010 after running against a Democrat and an independent candidate, Eliot Cutler, who’s running again this time. Some observers say LePage could win the race if two or more candidates divide the opposition vote.
Vander Zanden said Cutler has expressed strong support for LGBT rights, including support for marriage equality in a state whose voters approved a ballot measure last year legalizing same-sex marriage.
She said LePage, while expressing opposition to same-sex marriage, has not voiced an opinion on other LGBT issues in recent years.
“Growing up in a large Franco-American Catholic family, it’s never been in my nature to talk about myself,” Michaud [pronounced ‘me-show’] said in his op-ed column.
“I write this now merely to let my opponents and the outside interests who fund them know that I am not ashamed of who I am,” he said. “And if seeing someone from my background, in my position, openly acknowledge the fact that he’s gay makes it a little bit easier for future generations to live their lives openly and without fear, all the better.”
Michaud added, “I don’t plan to make my personal life or my opponents’ personal lives an issue in this campaign. We’ve had enough negativity in our politics and too many personal attacks over the last few years. We owe it to the people of Maine to focus on how we get our state back on track.”
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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