News
White House has no comment on Utah same-sex marriages
Carney defers to DOJ on whether gay couples’ unions are valid
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney has no comment on Utah same-sex marriage litigation (Washington Blade photo by Damien Salas).
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday he has no comment on the stay placed by the Supreme Court on same-sex marriages in Utah, but reiterated President Obama’s support for marriage equality.
Under questioning from the Washington Blade, Carney said the White House has nothing to say about Kitchen v. Herbert, the litigation that brought same-sex marriage to Utah before the Supreme Court halted the weddings Monday as the lawsuit continues through the courts.
“We have no comment on the specifics of this case because the United States government is not a party to this litigation, but speaking broadly, as you know, the president’s views on marriage equality are well-established,” Carney said.
Carney went into detail about the president’s support for marriage rights for gay couples — first made public by the president in 2012 during an interview with Good Morning America’s Robin Roberts — as well as Obama’s opposition to taking those rights away.
“He believes that loving, committed gay and lesbian couples that want to get married and have access to the full benefits, protections and obligations that marriage brings should be able to do so,” Carney said. “He has also long opposed divisive and discriminatory efforts to deny rights and benefits to same-sex couples, and he believes strongly that protections shouldn’t be taken away from gay and lesbian couples who want to take care of their families.”
Carney said Obama opposes efforts to take rights away from gay couples amid questions over whether couples who already married in Utah will be recognized as legally married by Utah and the federal government. On Tuesday, Dena Iveerson, a Justice Department spokesperson, said, “We are reviewing the court’s decision.”
According to the Salt Lake Tribune, at least 1,324 same-sex marriages were performed in Utah after the district court ruled in favor of marriage equality on Dec. 20, but before the Supreme Court issued its stay.
Asked whether there are any conversations happening the White House and the Justice Department about whether the federal government will consider those marriages valid, Carney referred all inquiries to the department.
“I would refer you to the Department of Justice,” Carney said. “Again, this is matter that’s in litigation now, we’re not a party to the litigation. The views of the president are well known, and when it comes to questions like that, I think, the Justice Department is the best place to ask them.”
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’
Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences,” said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw
School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ‘warmth, humor, kindness’
Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.
Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.
“Patrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,” Martinez said. “He was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.”
In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.
“Patrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,” his colleagues said in their posting. “His daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.”
The posted message adds, “Patrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.”
The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon.
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