News
Boehner tells LGBT caucus ‘no way’ ENDA will pass
Speaker holds first-ever meeting with group seeking to advance LGBT rights
House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) told attendees last week at his first-ever meeting with the LGBT Equality Caucus there was “no way” the Employment Non-Discrimination Act would pass this year, according to a gay lawmaker who attended the meeting.
Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who’s gay and one of the caucus co-chairs, volunteered information Tuesday nightĀ about the meeting in Statuary Hall of the U.S. CapitolĀ when the Washington Blade asked him about his views on the absence of the ENDA from the State of the Union address.
“A number of us did meet with, actually the caucus met with Speaker Boehner,” Takano said. “He said no way was it going to get done in this session.”
Calling the discussion between Boehner and the lawmakers “a historic sort of meeting,” Takano later clarified he was referring to the LGBT Equality Caucus, a 113-member group of lawmakers committed to advancing LGBT rights, and said the meeting took place “a few days ago” or last week.
A “session” of Congress is equivalent to one of the two years in which a particular Congress meets before a new Congress is seated, so Takano’s account of the meeting indicates ENDA won’t see a House vote in 2014.
Asked to clarify whether he meant that ENDA won’t come up this year, Takano said, “Yeah. He said it wasn’t going to happen in this session.”
Despite his account of the meeting, Takano remained optimistic about the passage of ENDA at a later time, perhaps after Election Day this year, saying “it’s still a huge priority for me to get that done.”
“There’s obviously differences between the two parties on ENDA, but, you know, who knows what can happen in a lame duck Congress?” Takano said.
Others with knowledge of the meeting declined to divulge on the record significant information, saying the meeting wasn’t open to staffers and not meant to be public. No one would disclose the exact date of the meeting or identify who participated.
But House aides did confirm the historic nature of the meeting, saying Boehner has never before met with the LGBT Equality Caucus and the discussion took place within the speaker’s office. Aides said Boehner has also met with the Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional Hispanic Caucus, but discussions in meetings like these are private.
Michael Steel, a Boehner spokesperson, responded to the Blade’s inquiries about the meeting by saying the speaker meets all the time with various groups on Capitol Hill.
āJohn Boehner is the speaker of the whole House, and often meets with groups of members from both sides of the aisle,” Steel said.
One aide said the entire 113-member caucus didn’t attend the meeting, although it was attended by more lawmakers than just the six co-chairs of the group, who consist of openly LGB members of the U.S. House. The co-chairs are Takano as well as Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.).
Brad Jacklin, executive director of the LGBT Equality Caucus, confirmed a meeting took place, but offered only a few details.
“A number of members asked to meet with the speaker, who tries to accommodate such requests,” Jacklin said. “It was a members-only meeting and was off the record. The Equality Caucus and its leadership continues to work together to educate members of the House on LGBT issues and build bipartisan support for legislation like ENDA.”
Jacklin took note that just this week, Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) signed on as the sixth House Republican to co-sponsor the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Immediately after the announcement, he received significant attention in the media for physically threatening a reporter from New York-affiliate NY1 who asked him about the current investigation into his potential violation of campaign finance law.
Maryland
Montgomery County police chief discusses arrest of trans student charged with planned school shooting
County executive tells news conference studentās trans identity is irrelevant to criminal charge
Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Marcus Jones joined other county and law enforcement officials at a news conference on Friday, April 19, to provide details of the police investigation and arrest of an 18-year-old high school student charged two days earlier with threats of mass violence based on information that he allegedly planed a mass shooting at the high school and elementary school he attended in Rockville, Md.
In charging documents and in a press released issued on April 18, Montgomery CountyĀ PoliceĀ identified the arrested student as āAndrea Ye, of Rockville, whose preferred name is Alex Ye.ā
One of the charging documents states that a friend of Ye, who police say came forward as a witness who played a crucial role in alerting authorities to Yeās threats of a school shooting, noted that Ye told the witness that Ye identified as the transgender student he wrote about asĀ aĀ character in a 129-page manifesto outlining plans for a schoolĀ shooting. Police have said Ye told them theĀ manifestoĀ was a fictional story he planned to publish. Ā
At the news conference on Friday, Police Chief Jones and other law enforcement officials, including an FBI official and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, referred to the student as Alex Ye and Mr. Ye. None of the officials raised the issue of whether Ye identified as a transgender man, seven though one of the police documents identifies Ye as a ābiological female.ā
County Executive Elrich appeared to express the views of the public officials at the news conference when one of the media reporters, during a question-and-answer period, asked Elrich why he and the others who spoke at the news conferment failed to āadmit that this individual was transgender.ā
āBecause itās not a lead,ā Elrich replied, asking if the press and law enforcement authorities should disclose that someone arrested for murder is āa white Christian male whoās heterosexual.ā Elrich stated, āNo, you donāt ā You never publish somebodyās sexual orientation when we talk about this. Why you are focusing on this being a transgender is beyond me. Itās not a news story. It is not a crime to be transgender.ā
The reporter attempted to respond but was cut off by the press conference moderator, who called on someone else to ask the next question.
In his remarks at the press conference Chief Jones praised the so far unidentified witness who was the first to alert authorities about Yeās manifestoĀ appearingĀ to make threats of a mass school shooting.
āNow, this is a situation that highlights the critical importance of vigilance and community involvement in preventing potential tragedies,ā Jones said. āI commend the collaborative efforts of the Montgomery County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Rockville City Police Department, and the Montgomery County Public Schools, as well as Montgomery County Health and Human Services,ā he told the gathering.
āThanks to their swift action and cooperation a potentially catastrophic event was prevented,ā Jones said.
Jones pointed out that during the current school year, police have received reports of 140 threats to the public schools in Montgomery County. He said after a thorough investigation, none of them rose to the level where an arrest was made. Instead, police and school officials took steps to arrange for the student making the threats and their parents to take remedial action, including providing mental health services.
āBut this case is different,ā Jones said. āThis case is entirely different that takes it to a different level. It was a concerned witness who brought this matter to light by rereporting the suspectāsĀ manifestoĀ to the authorities. This underscores the value of community engagement and the āsee something say somethingā approach,ā he said.
Jones mentioned at the press conference that Ye was being held without bond since the time of his arrest but was scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on Friday shortly after the press conference took place to determine whether he should be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held.
In his manifesto obtained by police, Ye writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act. Ye also contemplates targeting an elementary school and says that he wants to be famous.
In charging documents reported on by WJLA 7 and WBAL 11, the 129-page document, which Ye has referred to as a book of fiction, included writings that said, in part:
“I want to shoot up a school. I’ve been preparing for months. The gun is an AR-15. This gun is going to change lives tomorrow … As I walk through the hallways, I cherry pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets. I need to figure out how to sneak the gun in. I have contemplated making bombs. The instructions to make them are surprisingly available online. I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets. High school’s the best target; I’m the most familiar with the layout. I pace around my room like an evil mastermind. I’ve put so much effort into this. My ultimate goal would be to set the world record for the most amount of kills in a shooting. If I have time, I’ll try to decapitate my victims with a knife to turn the injuries into deaths.”
Federal Government
Lambda Legal praises Biden-Harris administration’s finalized Title IX regulations
New rules to take effect Aug. 1
The Biden-Harris administration’s revised Title IX policy “protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination and other abuse,” Lambda Legal said in a statement praising the U.S. Department of Education’s issuance of the final rule on Friday.
Slated to take effect on Aug. 1, the new regulations constitute an expansion of the 1972 Title IX civil rights law, which prohibits sex-based discrimination in education programs that receive federal funding.
Pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in the landmark 2020 Bostock v. Clayton County case, the department’s revised policy clarifies that discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity constitutes sex-based discrimination as defined under the law.
āThese regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights,ā Education Secretary Miguel Cardona said during a call with reporters on Thursday.
While the new rule does not provide guidance on whether schools must allow transgender students to play on sports teams corresponding with their gender identity to comply with Title IX, the question is addressed in a separate rule proposed by the agency in April.
The administration’s new policy also reverses some Trump-era Title IX rules governing how schools must respond to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which were widely seen as imbalanced in favor of the accused.
Jennifer Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said during Thursday’s call that the department sought to strike a balance with respect to these issues, “reaffirming our longstanding commitment to fundamental fairness.”
āWe applaud the Biden administration’s action to rescind the legally unsound, cruel, and dangerous sexual harassment and assault rule of the previous administration,” Lambda Legal Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project Director Sasha Buchert said in the group’s statement on Friday.
“Todayās rule instead appropriately underscores that Title IX’s civil rights protections clearly cover LGBTQ+ students, as well as survivors and pregnant and parenting students across race and gender identity,” she said. “Schools must be places where students can learn and thrive free of harassment, discrimination, and other abuse.”
Maryland
Rockville teen charged with plotting school shooting after FBI finds āmanifestoā
Alex Ye charged with threats of mass violence
BY BRETT BARROUQUERE | A Montgomery County high school student is charged with what police describe as plans to commit a school shooting.
Andrea Ye, 18, of Rockville, whose preferred name is Alex Ye, is charged with threats of mass violence. Montgomery County Police and the FBI arrested Ye Wednesday.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
-
Africa5 days ago
Congolese lawmaker introduces anti-homosexuality bill
-
District of Columbia2 days ago
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House draws interest of tourists
-
District of Columbia1 day ago
New D.C. LGBTQ+ bar Crush set to open April 19
-
Arizona2 days ago
Ariz. governor vetoes anti-transgender, Ten Commandments bill