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Ahead of Houston vote, both sides ramping up efforts

Experts predict close vote on Tuesday

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Houston, Yes on 1, gay news, Washington Blade
Houston, Yes on 1, gay news, Washington Blade

(Image courtesy Houston Unites)

One day before Houston voters head to the polls to vote on an LGBT-inclusive comprehensive non-discrimination ordinance, both sides are ramping up their game ahead of what’s now expected to be a close vote.

The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), which will go before voters on Tuesday as Proposition 1, would prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination — as well as bias against other groups of people — in the nation’s fourth largest city. The covered areas would be employment, services, contracting practices, housing and public accommodations.

Sean Theriault, who’s gay and a political scientist at University of Texas, Austin, said the landscape in Houston has changed rapidly in the aftermath of TV advertisements stoking fears about the measure allowing transgender people to use the bathroom consistent with their gender identity.

“Two weeks ago, I thought it was in the bag for our side,” Theriault said. “But, I must confess I’m a bit more nervous today. Turnout appears to be up in some conservative areas and the evil forces appear to be all over the media.”

Theriault’s assessment is consistent with the views of other political observers in Texas who say the race is tightening despite polls earlier this month showing a substantial lead in support for HERO.

On Saturday, the Human Rights Campaign announced in a blog post the organization has sent more than 30 staffers to Houston. The organization says the effort is now the largest mobilization of staff for a campaign in the LGBT group’s history.

Trevor Chandler, HRC’s associate regional field director, said in the blog post staffers are going door-to-door and making phone calls in a final wave of get-out-the-vote efforts.

“With only a few days to go this fight is going to go down to the wire,” Chandler said. “HRC staff are activating our members and recruiting volunteers to make that happen.”

In a Sunday blog post, the LGBT group Freedom of All Americans said it has sent nearly its entire staff to Houston this week to work on the get-out-the-vote efforts.

Following a wave of anti-trans TV ads, Texas Gov. Greg Abbott encouraged Houston residents on his personal Twitter account to reject HERO based on discredited assertions the measure would allow unlawful conduct in public restrooms.

Supporters of HERO say misconduct in restrooms would still be punishable under the law in the event the ordinance is approved.

On other side, President Obama and Vice President Joseph Biden have expressed support for HERO through the White House. Democratic presidential candidates Hillary Clinton, Bernard Sanders and Martin O’Malley have also expressed support for the measure. Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Julian Castro also supports HERO.

The Faith Family Freedom Fund, a super fund affiliated with the anti-LGBT Family Research Council, issued an email blast drawing attention to Clinton’s endorsement of HERO and seeking to raise funds for the opposite purpose.

“Hillary’s public support tells us that she recognizes the national significance a win or loss on this vote would have,” it says. “The Faith Family Freedom Fund is doubling-down on our efforts to make sure Houston voters are given all the facts as they vote on this and we’re asking for your support.”

By way of fundraising emails from HRC, celebrities who’ve expressed support for HERO include the first openly gay NFL draft pick Michael Sam, actress Sally Field, gay actor Matt Bomer and gay actor Jim Parsons of “The Big Bang Theory.”

Theriault cautioned, however, that celebrity endorsements may not have a positive impact on HERO.

“Frankly, I’m not sure how helpful it is to have all the L.A. celebrities come to town,” Theriault said. “Probably good for fundraising, but not necessarily good for appealing to the undecided voter.”

Other endorsements HRC has touted include local faith leaders who spoke Monday at Houston’s Grace Lutheran Church as well as leaders from the local chapter of the NAACP.

Polls are open in Houston on Tuesday between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Central Time.

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New York

Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced

One of the victims, John Umberger, was D.C. political consultant

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

A New York judge on Wednesday sentenced three men convicted of killing a D.C. political consultant and another man who they targeted at gay bars in Manhattan.

NBC New York notes a jury in February convicted Jayqwan Hamilton, Jacob Barroso, and Robert DeMaio of murder, robbery, and conspiracy in relation to druggings and robberies that targeted gay bars in Manhattan from March 2021 to June 2022.

John Umberger, a 33-year-old political consultant from D.C., and Julio Ramirez, a 25-year-old social worker, died. Prosecutors said Hamilton, Barroso, and DeMaio targeted three other men at gay bars.

The jury convicted Hamilton and DeMaio of murdering Umberger. State Supreme Court Judge Felicia Mennin sentenced Hamilton and DeMaio to 40 years to life in prison.

Barroso, who was convicted of killing Ramirez, received a 20 years to life sentence.

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National

Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information

Crucial datasets included LGBTQ, HIV resources

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is named as a defendant in the lawsuit. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Nine private medical and public health advocacy organizations, including two from D.C., filed a lawsuit on May 20 in federal court in Seattle challenging what it calls the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’s illegal deletion of dozens or more of its webpages containing health related information, including HIV information.

The lawsuit, filed in the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington, names as defendants Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and HHS itself, and several agencies operating under HHS and its directors, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the Food and Drug Administration.

“This action challenges the widespread deletion of public health resources from federal agencies,” the lawsuit states. “Dozens (if not more) of taxpayer-funded webpages, databases, and other crucial resources have vanished since January 20, 2025, leaving doctors, nurses, researchers, and the public scrambling for information,” it says.

 “These actions have undermined the longstanding, congressionally mandated regime; irreparably harmed Plaintiffs and others who rely on these federal resources; and put the nation’s public health infrastructure in unnecessary jeopardy,” the lawsuit continues.

It adds, “The removal of public health resources was apparently prompted by two recent executive orders – one focused on ‘gender ideology’ and the other targeting diversity, equity, and inclusion (‘DEI’) programs. Defendants implemented these executive orders in a haphazard manner that resulted in the deletion (inadvertent or otherwise) of health-related websites and databases, including information related to pregnancy risks, public health datasets, information about opioid-use disorder, and many other valuable resources.”

 The lawsuit does not mention that it was President Donald Trump who issued the two executive orders in question. 

A White House spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached for comment on the lawsuit. 

While not mentioning Trump by name, the lawsuit names as defendants in addition to HHS Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr., Matthew Buzzelli, acting director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention; Jay Bhattacharya, director of the National Institutes of Health; Martin Makary, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration; Thomas Engels, administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration; and Charles Ezell, acting director of the Office of Personnel Management. 

The 44-page lawsuit complaint includes an addendum with a chart showing the titles or descriptions of 49 “affected resource” website pages that it says were deleted because of the executive orders. The chart shows that just four of the sites were restored after initially being deleted.

 Of the 49 sites, 15 addressed LGBTQ-related health issues and six others addressed HIV issues, according to the chart.   

“The unannounced and unprecedented deletion of these federal webpages and datasets came as a shock to the medical and scientific communities, which had come to rely on them to monitor and respond to disease outbreaks, assist physicians and other clinicians in daily care, and inform the public about a wide range of healthcare issues,” the lawsuit states.

 “Health professionals, nonprofit organizations, and state and local authorities used the websites and datasets daily in care for their patients, to provide resources to their communities, and promote public health,” it says. 

Jose Zuniga, president and CEO of the International Association of Providers of AIDS Care (IAPAC), one of the organizations that signed on as a plaintiff in the lawsuit, said in a statement that the deleted information from the HHS websites “includes essential information about LGBTQ+ health, gender and reproductive rights, clinical trial data, Mpox and other vaccine guidance and HIV prevention resources.”

 Zuniga added, “IAPAC champions evidence-based, data-informed HIV responses and we reject ideologically driven efforts that undermine public health and erase marginalized communities.”

Lisa Amore, a spokesperson for Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s largest LGBTQ supportive health services provider, also expressed concern about the potential impact of the HHS website deletions.

 “As the region’s leader in HIV care and prevention, Whitman-Walker Health relies on scientific data to help us drive our resources and measure our successes,” Amore said in response to a request for comment from  the Washington Blade. 

“The District of Columbia has made great strides in the fight against HIV,” Amore said. “But the removal of public facing information from the HHS website makes our collective work much harder and will set HIV care and prevention backward,” she said. 

The lawsuit calls on the court to issue a declaratory judgement that the “deletion of public health webpages and resources is unlawful and invalid” and to issue a preliminary or permanent injunction ordering government officials named as defendants in the lawsuit “to restore the public health webpages and resources that have been deleted and to maintain their web domains in accordance with their statutory duties.”

It also calls on the court to require defendant government officials to “file a status report with the Court within twenty-four hours of entry of a preliminary injunction, and at regular intervals, thereafter, confirming compliance with these orders.”

The health organizations that joined the lawsuit as plaintiffs include the Washington State Medical Association, Washington State Nurses Association, Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, Academy Health, Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society. 

The Fast-Track Cities Institute and International Association of Providers of AIDS Care are based in D.C.

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U.S. Federal Courts

Federal judge scraps trans-inclusive workplace discrimination protections

Ruling appears to contradict US Supreme Court precedent

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Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas (Screen capture: YouTube)

Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk of the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas has struck down guidelines by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission designed to protect against workplace harassment based on gender identity and sexual orientation.

The EEOC in April 2024 updated its guidelines to comply with the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), which determined that discrimination against transgender people constituted sex-based discrimination as proscribed under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

To ensure compliance with the law, the agency recommended that employers honor their employees’ preferred pronouns while granting them access to bathrooms and allowing them to wear dress code-compliant clothing that aligns with their gender identities.

While the the guidelines are not legally binding, Kacsmaryk ruled that their issuance created “mandatory standards” exceeding the EEOC’s statutory authority that were “inconsistent with the text, history, and tradition of Title VII and recent Supreme Court precedent.”

“Title VII does not require employers or courts to blind themselves to the biological differences between men and women,” he wrote in the opinion.

The case, which was brought by the conservative think tank behind Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation, presents the greatest setback for LGBTQ inclusive workplace protections since President Donald Trump’s issuance of an executive order on the first day of his second term directing U.S. federal agencies to recognize only two genders as determined by birth sex.

Last month, top Democrats from both chambers of Congress reintroduced the Equality Act, which would codify LGBTQ-inclusive protections against discrimination into federal law, covering employment as well as areas like housing and jury service.

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