News
Carney on Michael Sam, Russia, DOJ announcement
White House ‘marvels’ at gay football player’s ‘courage’
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney addressed Michael Sam, Russia and Eric Holder’s announcement on Monday. (Washington Blade file photo by Damien Salas).
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney on Monday responded to the multiple LGBT news stories that broke over the weekend, including Missouri defensive lineman Michael Sam’s decision to come out as gay.
In addition to inquiries about Sam, Carney over the course of his regular briefing fielded questions on Russia’s handling of the Olympics and U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder’s announcement extending rights to married same-sex couples.
In the aftermath of Sam’s decision to come out as gay and potentially be the National Football League’s first out player, the Associated Press’ Julie Pace asked if the president had any response.
Carney said he had nothing to provide directly from Obama other than to say his views are in line with the support that first lady Michelle Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden expressed on Twitter.
“I have nothing specifically from the president at this time except to say that he shares the sentiments expressed by the first lady and the vice president and so many others in marveling at his courage, and congratulating him on the decisions he’s made, with the support he’s had from his team, and wishing him well in the future, including in professional football,” Carney said.
Asked to comment on the talk that coming out would impair Sam’s chances of finding a team, Carney said any player should be judged on his performance.
“Without having this be a reflection of the conversation with the president, I can tell you that in general that it is his view it should not have an effect,” Carney said. “Any athlete’s abilities should be measured by what — in a traditional way in terms of how he or she performs in the sport, and on the field in this case. And in this case, his performance has been exceptional.”
Following Sam’s announcement that he is gay, he fell 70 slots on CBS’ draft prospect board overnight. He’s now listed at 110, although CBS had him at 160 the next morning.
When the Washington Blade noted during the briefing that President Obama called NBA player Jason Collins on the phone last year after he came out, but apparently didn’t do the same for Sam, Carney replied, “I just don’t have any updates for you on the president.”
Asked by the Blade why Obama would reach out to Collins when he came out, but not Sam, Carney would neither confirm nor deny a phone call will take place.
“I don’t have anything on the president’s schedule right now,” Carney said.
With regard to Russian LGBT protests during the Olympics, Carney said in response to a Blade question the administration has already expressed its views on the crackdown against those in Russia.
“I think broadly speaking in terms of the matter of LGBT rights in Russia, the president has been very clear,” Carney said. “I think he was clear in his interview with Bob Costas at NBC on the evening of the opening ceremonies. So, we strongly express our views when it comes to any crackdown on those who are expressing their opinions peacefully, but I don’t have anything specific with regards to the games themselves on these matters, and our views on that matter haven’t changed.”
According to a tally in the New York Times, at least 61 individuals on the first day of the Olympics were arrested nationwide in Russia for protesting. At least 10 were arrested for demonstrating in favor of LGBT rights and say they were subjected to harsh treatment by police, including threats of sexual assault.
On Thursday, President Obama said in an interview with NBC News “there is no doubt” he included openly gay people as part of the U.S. delegation to the Olympics to demonstrate the United States doesn’t abide by discrimination, including on the basis of sexual orientation.
Also coming up during the briefing was Holder’s announcement that the Justice Department would extend additional rights to married same-sex couples, such as the ability to file jointly for bankruptcy and refuse to testify against a spouse in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling against the Defense of Marriage Act.
Calling the change a “substantive policy decision,” Fox News’ Ed Henry noted that Holder pledged the Justice Department would extend benefits to married same-sex couples to the furthest extent possible across the country, even in non-marriage equality states, and asked for the president’s views.
“I would refer you to the Department of Justice for specifics of that,” Carney replied.
But maintaining the announcement was “a pretty important policy announcement from the administration” Henry asked how important this policy decision was to the president.
“That American citizens enjoy equal rights?” Carney replied. “Pretty important. Profoundly so.”
Arguably as evidenced by the question from Fox News, the announcement from Holder received criticism from conservative groups and significant attention from mainstream media outlets, some of which referred to the change as “sweeping.”
Asked by the Blade if the administration was surprised by the media reaction, Carney refused to characterize the response.
“I don’t have a characterization to make about the coverage or the reaction except to say the president believes every American ought to be afforded equal rights, and he certainly supports that instance of his view, or actions taken that reflect his view in this case,” Carney said.
The White House
Karine Jean-Pierre becomes Biden’s fourth openly LGBTQ senior adviser
Press secretary’s promotion was reported on Monday
Following White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre’s promotion to a top role on Monday, four of the 10 officials serving as senior advisers to President Joe Biden are openly LGBTQ.
The other LGBTQ members of the president’s innermost circle are White House Communications Director Ben LaBolt, senior adviser to first lady Jill Biden Anthony Bernal, and White House Director of Political Strategy and Outreach Emmy Ruiz.
Jean-Pierre became the first Black and the first LGBTQ White House press secretary in May 2022. She spoke with the Washington Blade for an exclusive interview last spring, shortly before the two-year anniversary of her appointment to that position.
“Jill and I have known and respected Karine a long time and she will be a strong voice speaking for me and this Administration,” Biden said in 2022 when announcing her as press secretary.
Breaking the news of Jean-Pierre’s promotion on Monday, ABC noted the power and influence of the White House communications and press office, given that LaBolt was appointed in August to succeed Anita Dunn when she left her role as senior adviser to the president.
As press secretary, Jean-Pierre has consistently advocated for the LGBTQ community — pushing back forcefully on anti-LGBTQ legislation and reaffirming the president and vice president’s commitments to expanding rights and protections.
TEL AVIV, Israel — I was sound asleep at 11 p.m. (4 p.m. ET) on Monday when Tzofar, an app that notifies users of incoming rockets, started to go off. The blaring alarm woke me up. It indicated a “red alert” for “incoming (missiles and rocket fire.)”
I sat up in bed, opened the app to see whether I was under “red alert.” I was just south of it, so I did not need to seek refuge in the stairwell, which is the building’s designated safe room. Less than a minute later I heard a series of loud booms that shook the building.
Hezbollah launched five ballistic missiles from Lebanon towards an Israel Defense Forces base north of Tel Aviv. The explosions that I heard were Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system intercepting them.
The whole situation was over in less than two minutes — it was the third “red alert” for “incoming (missiles and rocket fire)” that I received on my phone on Monday, which was a year since Hamas launched its surprise attack against southern Israel.
Hamas at around 11 a.m. (4 a.m. ET) launched five rockets that triggered alerts in southern Tel Aviv. Iron Dome intercepted four of them. Shrapnel from the rocket that hit the ground left two women slightly injured. I heard the interceptions in the distance. I walked onto my balcony a couple of minutes later, and saw a man hugging a young woman who was standing on her balcony across the street. She was clearly upset.
I walked to a nearby coffee shop about half an hour later, and ordered an iced coffee. I walked back to my building and started working again. I called my mother a short time later to let her know that everything was fine. I also sent several text messages to my husband and other loved ones and friends that reiterated that point.
The Houthis in Yemen launched a ballistic missile towards Israel shortly after 5:30 p.m. (10:30 a.m. ET) that the IDF intercepted. I was in Hostage Square outside the Tel Aviv Museum of Art when I heard warning messages on people’s phones. I looked at the Tzofar app, and saw Hostage Square was outside of the “red alert” area. I then logged onto two Israeli media outlets’ — the Times of Israel and Haaretz — websites that I have bookmarked on my phone and read the IDF had intercepted the Houthi missile.
More than a thousand people were gathered in Hostage Square less than 90 minutes later, watching an Oct. 7 memorial concert on a large screen that had been set up. The IDF Home Front Command has limited the number of people who can gather in one place in Tel Aviv because of the continued threats of rocket and missile attacks from Gaza and Lebanon.
This limit is 2,000.
The sounds of war have been a constant backdrop of this trip.
I begin every day with a swim in the Mediterranean Sea at Hilton Beach, which is Tel Aviv’s gay beach. These swims help me stay somewhat sane while I am here in Israel.
Israeli fighter jets and helicopters with missiles strapped to them regularly fly north along the coast towards Lebanon. Drones can also be heard. This scene plays out against the context of people swimming, kayaking, and paddleboarding in the water, and others walking and jogging on the nearby beach promenade.
The Nova Music Festival site where Hamas militants killed 360 people and took 40 others hostage on Oct. 7 is located outside of Re’im, a kibbutz that is roughly two miles from the Gaza Strip. It is about an hour and 20 minutes south of Tel Aviv.
I visited the site on Oct. 5.
Large IDF Home Front Command banners warn visitors they had 15 seconds to reach makeshift shelters — large concrete barriers placed together — in case of incoming rockets.
“If you receive an alert, lie on the ground and protect your head with your hands for 10 minutes,” the banner reads.
There were no alerts while I was at Nova. I did, however, hear several Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.
I stopped at a roadside restaurant in Yad Mordechai, a kibbutz that is roughly three miles north of the Erez crossing between Israel and Gaza, after I left Nova. I had a sandwich for lunch and ordered an ice coffee for the drive back to Tel Aviv. I was walking to my car and I heard two distant Israeli airstrikes in Gaza. The second one shook the ground beneath my feet.
I was back in Tel Aviv less than an hour later. It was the last day of Rosh Hashanah, and Shabbat. Hilton Beach, where I had taken my morning swim earlier in the day, was packed.
Life, at least for Israelis who live in Tel Aviv, goes on amid the sounds of war.
Politics
Trump, GOP candidates spend $65 million on anti-trans ads
The strategy was unsuccessful for the GOP in key 2022, 2023 races
With just four weeks until Election Day, Donald Trump and Republican candidates in key down-ballot races have spent more than $65 million on anti-trans television ads since the start of August, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
The move signals that Republicans believe attacking the vice president and other Democratic candidates over their support for trans rights will be an effective strategy along with exploiting their opponents’ perceived weaknesses on issues of immigration and inflation.
However, as Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson told the Times, conservatives had tried using the transgender community as a cudgel to attack Democrats during the 2022 midterms and in the off-year elections in 2023. In most cases, they were unsuccessful.
The GOP’s decision to, nevertheless, revive anti-trans messaging in this election cycle “shows that Republicans are desperate right now,” she said. “Instead of articulating how they’re going to make the economy better or our schools safer, they’re focused on sowing fear and chaos.”
The Times said most Republican ads focus on issues where they believe their opponents are out of step with the views held by most Americans — for example, on access to taxpayer funded transition-related healthcare interventions for minors and incarcerated people.
At the same time, there is hardly a clear distinction between ads focusing on divisive policy disagreements and those designed to foment and exploit rank anti-trans bigotry.
For example, the Trump campaign’s most-aired ad about Harris in recent weeks targets her support for providing gender affirming care to inmates (per an interview in 2019, when she was attorney general of California, and a questionnaire from the ACLU that she completed in 2020 when running for president).
The ad “plays on anti-trans prejudices, inviting viewers to recoil from images of Ms. Harris alongside those of people who plainly do not conform to traditional gender norms, to try to portray Ms. Harris herself as out of the ordinary,” the Times wrote in an article last month analyzing the 30-second spot, which had run on television stations in Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin.
Karine Jean-Pierre becomes Biden’s fourth openly LGBTQ senior adviser
Full-spectrum funny: an interview with Randy Rainbow
To West Africa with love
Sounds of war
