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Jindal caves on same-sex marriage in Louisiana

GOP hopeful had sought to delay implementation of marriage ruling

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Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, Republican Party, CPAC, Conservative Political Action Conference, gay news, Washington Blade

Bobby Jindal, Louisiana, Republican Party, CPAC, Conservative Political Action Conference, gay news, Washington Blade

Gov. Bobby Jindal (R-La.) is recognizing same-sex marriages in Louisiana. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

After fighting to the furthest extent possible against the U.S. Supreme Court, the administration of Gov. Bobby Jindal announced on Thursday it would begin to recognize same-sex marriages.

According to NOLA.com, Louisiana’s Department of Vital Records is now recognizing them after the federal district court that once upheld the marriage ban in the state reversed its decision and upon guidance from the U.S. Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. The Washington Blade confirmed with the agency the state will now recognize same-sex marriages.

“Today the Eastern District Court of Louisiana ordered the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to begin issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples who complete a marriage application at the Department’s Office of Vital Records in Orleans Parish,” Olivia Hwang, spokesperson for the agency is quoted as saying.

Jindal, who’s running for the Republican nomination for president as a social conservative, has stalled on implementation of the Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage at every possible turn.

After the Supreme Court decision was handed down, he said his administration wouldn’t recognize same-sex marriages — including for tax purposes and other states benefits — until action from the Fifth Circuit, which was considering litigation directly challenging the state’s marriage ban.

But after the Fifth Circuit acted on Thursday, reversing the judgment of a district court that upheld Louisiana’s ban on same-sex marriage and remanding the litigation to the court, Jindal delayed implementation again, saying through a spokesperson the district court would have to issue judgment before the state would recognize same-sex marriage.

Only after U.S. District Judge Martin Feldman issued judgment in the litigation, Robicheaux v. Caldwell, did Jindal’s administration concede Louisiana was a marriage-equality state.

Kenneth Upton, senior counsel Lambda Legal and attorney for same-sex couples in the case, said Jindal dragged out implementation of the Supreme Court decision.

“While we wonder why Gov. Jindal insisted on dragging his feet in complying with the U.S. Supreme Court ruling and the subsequent very clear order from the Fifth Circuit, we are pleased for our clients and all same-sex couples in Louisiana that they will now be able to marry and have their marriages recognized by the state,” Upton said.

Jindal is facing litigation filed by American Civil Liberties Union over his religious freedom executive order allowing individuals to refuse to recognize same-sex marriage, including for the purposes of anti-LGBT discrimination. The governor signed the executive order after legislation along those lines failed in the legislature.

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Hungary

Hungarian authorities lift Budapest Pride ban

Country’s new government took office last month

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Budapest Pride participants march over the Erzsebet Bridge in Budapest, Hungary, on June 28, 2025, despite an official ban. The country's new government will allow this year's Budapest Pride march to take place without restrictions. (Courtesy photo)

Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the annual Budapest Pride march to take place.

“The Budapest Metropolitan Police has approved the 2026 Budapest Pride Parade and also has issued restrictive orders in relation to three counter-demonstrations,” a Budapest Metropolitan Police spokesperson told Politico.

Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.

Hungarian lawmakers last year passed a bill that banned Pride events and allowed authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify participants. MPs later amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in last year’s Budapest Pride parade. The event became one of the largest protests against then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and his government since he took office in 2010.

Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12. The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021.

The EU on May 29 announced it will release more than €16 billion ($18.59 billion) in funds to Hungary that it withheld while Orbán was in office.

The Budapest Pride march will take place on June 27.

“We will march freely in fresh air for our rights, for the democratic Hungary,” said Budapest Pride on its Facebook page.

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Colombia

Claudia López comes up short in Colombian presidential election

Former Bogotá mayor would have been country’s first lesbian head of government

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Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López speaks at the LGBTQ+ Victory Institute's International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. on Dec. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Former Bogotá Mayor Claudia López on Sunday finished fifth in the first round of Colombia’s presidential election.

López, a centrist who ran as an independent, received 225,517 votes. This figure is .95 percent of the total votes cast.

López was the Colombian capital’s mayor from 2020-2023. She was a member of the Colombian Senate from 2014-2018. López, whose wife is outgoing Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano, would have become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she would have won the election.

The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute honored López in D.C. in 2024.

“We need to listen to each other again, we need to have a coffee with each other again, we need to touch each other’s skin,” she told the Washington Blade during an interview. She hadn’t yet declared her candidacy, and did not specifically discuss her plans to run.

Runoff to take place June 21

Abrelardo de la Espriella, a far-right lawyer who has praised U.S. President Donald Trump and Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele, on Sunday finished first with 43.74 percent of the vote. Senator Iván Cepeda, a member of outgoing President Gustavo Petro’s Historic Pact party, came in second with 40.9 percent of the vote.

Neither men received a majority of votes. A runoff between them will take place on June 21.

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Ghana

Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ bill

Measure that would criminalize allyship awaits president’s signature

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Ghanaian flag (Public domain photo from Pixabay)

Ghanaian lawmakers on Friday approved a bill that would, among other things, criminalize LGBTQ allyship.

Reuters reported MPs approved the Human Sexual Rights and Family Values Bill, 2025, in a voice vote after parliament’s Constitutional and Legal Affairs Committee backed it.

MPs in 2024 approved a similar bill, but it faced legal challenges and then-President Nana Akufo-Addo didn’t sign it. Lawmakers last year reintroduced the measure after President John Dramani Mahama took office.

The bill awaits his signature.

Rightify Ghana, a Ghanaian LGBTQ advocacy group, in a series of social media posts notes MPs passed the bill days before the 4th African Inter-Parliamentary Conference on Family Values and Sovereignty will take place in Accra, the country’s capital.

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