News
Obama admin to recognize Michigan same-sex marriages
Holder’s announcement benefits more than 300 couples who wed in Wolverine State
U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder has announced the federal government will recognize Michigan same-sex marriages (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key).
The marriages of same-sex couples who wed in Michigan when marriage equality was briefly allowed in the state will be recognized for federal purposes, U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Friday.
“I have determined that the same-sex marriages performed last Saturday in Michigan will be recognized by the federal government,” Holder said. “These families will be eligible for all relevant federal benefits on the same terms as other same-sex marriages.”
More than 300 same-sex couples wed in Michigan on Saturday after U.S. District Judge Bernard Friedman struck down the state’s 2004 ban on same-sex marriages. But after Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette appealed the decision and requested a stay, the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals indefinitely halted the weddings pending appeal of the lawsuit.
Snyder announced the marriages were legal under state law, but couples will receive no state benefits until the stay is lifted. As they criticized Snyder for withholding the state benefits, Democratic members of Michigan’s federal delegation to Congress called on the Obama administration to deem the marriages valid for the purposes of federal recognition.
In his statement announcing the decision, Holder noted a similar situation in which he deemed same-sex marriages performed in Utah were valid in the eyes of the Obama administration.
“For purposes of federal law, as I announced in January with respect to similarly situated same-sex couples in Utah, these Michigan couples will not be asked to wait for further resolution in the courts before they may seek federal benefits to which they are entitled,” Holder said.
After a federal court struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, an estimated 1,300 same-sex couples wed in the state before the U.S. Supreme Court halted the weddings with stay pending appeal. Gov. Gary Herbert announced he wouldn’t recognize the weddings, but Holder announced they would be valid at the federal level.
The Human Rights Campaign, which had also called for federal recognition of the Michigan same-sex marriages, praised Holder in an organizational statement.
“Last week 300 committed and loving same-sex couples were legally wed in Michigan,” the statement says. “As such they deserve the recognition and treatment that all other married couples receive. Attorney General Eric Holder has once again demonstrated his steadfast commitment to equality and upholding the core values of the U.S. Constitution by affirming federal recognition of these marriages.”
Rep. Dan Kildee (D-Mich.), who organized a letter to Holder seeking federal benefits for married same-sex couples, called the development “welcome news” and turned to Snyder for additional action.
“These legally married and loving couples shouldn’t have to wait any longer for the recognition and benefits they are entitled to under the U.S. Constitution,” Kildee said. “It’s my hope that Governor Rick Snyder and Attorney General Bill Schuette will also drop their appeals in this matter and recognize the inherent rights of these Michiganders to love and marry one another.”
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision against the Defense of Marriage Act, Holder said the Justice Department continues to work to ensure same-sex marriages are recognized under federal law.
“Last June’s decision by the Supreme Court in United States v. Windsor was a victory for equal protection under the law and a historic step toward equality for all American families,” Holder said. “The Department of Justice continues to work with its federal partners to implement this decision across the government. And we will remain steadfast in our commitment to realizing our country’s founding ideals of equality, opportunity, and justice for all.”
Holder’s full statement follows:
Netherlands
Blade participates in Dutch university course on international LGBTQ rights law
Michael K. Lavers will be in the Netherlands through World Pride
THE HAGUE, Netherlands — International News Editor Michael K. Lavers is participating in a course at Leiden University in the Netherlands that examines the role that international law plays in the LGBTQ and intersex rights movement.
The course — Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Law — begins on Wednesday and ends on Aug. 4.
Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights, is among the presenters. The course also includes a visit to the International Criminal Court.
Lavers will remain in the Netherlands through Aug. 10 to cover World Pride in Amsterdam. Photo Editor Michael Key will be joining him.
Brazil
US official protested at 2026 International AIDS Conference
White House funding cuts have adversely impacted global HIV/AIDS fight
HIV/AIDS activists on Sunday protested a Trump-Vance administration official at the 2026 International AIDS Conference in Rio de Janeiro.
Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and others disrupted U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator Jeff Graham, who is leading the Trump-Vance administration’s AIDS 2026 delegation, as he spoke. They were protesting the Trump-Vance administration’s cuts to U.S. foreign aid that they maintain have had a devasting impact on the global HIV/AIDS fight.
“The U.S. government has stolen HIV treatment from 77,163 HIV positive children, slashed PrEP enrollment by 42 percent, closed 1,700 PEPFAR HIV treatment sites, decimated programs led by and for key populations, implementers report slashing condom programming by 93 percent, and so much more,” said Russell in a Bluesky post that contained pictures of her and other activists on stage at AIDS 2026.
The US government has stolen HIV treatment from 77,163 HIV positive children, slashed PrEP enrolment by 42%, closed 1700 PEPFAR HIV treatment sites, decimated programs led by and for key populations, implementers report slashing condom programming by 93% and so much more
— Asia Russell (@asia-ilse.bsky.social) July 26, 2026 at 2:26 PM
Secretary of State Marco Rubio shortly after the Trump-Vance administration took office issued a waiver that allowed PEPFAR and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate during a freeze on nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending. HIV/AIDS service providers around the world with whom the Washington Blade has spoken say PEPFAR cuts and the loss of funding from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which officially closed on July 1, 2025, has severely impacted their work.
The International AIDS Society in a press release it issued last week noted PEPFAR “has saved more than 26 million lives” since President George W. Bush implemented it in 2003, “and changed the trajectory of the HIV pandemic.” The group also said PEPFAR “was a a success under the first Trump administration, with major progress toward the 95-95-95 goals.”
The UNAIDS’s 95-95-95 goals are 95 percent of people with HIV knowing their status, 95 percent of people with HIV having access to antiretroviral therapy, and 95 percent of those receiving ART having suppressed viral loads by 2030.
“Since the start of the second Trump administration, however, it has undergone major disruptions,” added the International AIDS Society.
“No one has to accept being lied to by this administration, particularly not the scientists and communities and activists who know the best what is at stake and what is actually happening,” said Russell on Bluesky.
many many people stood up and applauded during our protest, and thanked us afterward.
No one has to accept being lied to by this administration, particularly not the scientists and communities and activists who know the best what is at stake and what is actually happening
— Asia Russell (@asia-ilse.bsky.social) July 26, 2026 at 2:45 PM
AIDS 2026 will end on Friday.
Maryland
Advocates for trans students urge Md. to fight White House threats
Four school districts under federal investigation
By JESSICA CALEFATI | Allies of transgender children are urging state education officials to fight back against the Trump-Vance administration, which has threatened to punish a growing number of Maryland school districts over local policies that affirm students’ gender identities.
The advocates testified Tuesday morning before the Maryland State Board of Education — one day after the U.S. Education and Justice departments alleged that Anne Arundel County’s school system violated federal student privacy law by withholding a student’s gender identity from their parents. A spokesperson for the district said Monday legal counsel had not yet reviewed the claims and that the district had no further comment.
School districts in Prince George’s, Montgomery, and Frederick Counties were already under investigation for allegedly violating Title IX, the civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination. The federal government last month threatened to revoke funding from the districts because they allow trans students to use restrooms and locker rooms that align with their identities.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Blade participates in Dutch university course on international LGBTQ rights law
US official protested at 2026 International AIDS Conference
Advocates for trans students urge Md. to fight White House threats
‘Heated Rivalry’ star takes it off in new ads for Under Armour
Trump ends direct HIV prevention funding to community groups
Pentagon says hormones make trans troops unfit but gives them to men
At Alliance Defending Freedom’s summit, church and state are one
Winsome Earle-Sears launches campaign against Va. marriage equality amendment
Calendar: July 24-30
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Calendar: July 24-30
