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Pentagon expects decision on trans military ban in spring

Report won’t be made public until after final decision

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Ashton Carter, Department of Defense, gay news, Washington Blade
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Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said the Pentagon would begin a six-month review of the trans ban in July. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Pentagon has affirmed it intends to make a determination on the transgender military ban this spring after the conclusion this month of an internal six-month review.

Matthew Allen, a Pentagon spokesperson, said Defense Secretary Ashton Carter will make a decision at that time in response to a Washington Blade inquiry this week for an update on the review.

“The transgender working group appointed by the secretary of defense will conclude its deliberations by the end of January and present its findings and recommendations directly to the secretary soon thereafter,” Allen said. “The secretary will take whatever time he needs to analyze, evaluate, and discuss the Working Group’s findings with his immediate staff and the senior leadership of the department. We do, however, anticipate a final decision from the secretary sometime in the spring.”

In July, Carter announced the Pentagon would undertake a review of transgender military service, which is currently banned as a result of medical regulation. At the time, Carter said the review would be conducted under the presumption the policy would be changed. In an attempt to limit transgender discharges, the secretary also directed that all separations of troops for gender identity would be handled by a senior civilian official.

According to the Pentagon, the working group’s recommendations will address accessions, retention, transition and medical care for transgender service members and potential applicants to the armed forces.

Although the Pentagon is set to complete its report by the end of the January, Allen indicated no part of the report will be officially made public until the final policy determination is made.

“Materials from the working group will be released only after the secretary makes a final decision and has determined what is appropriate for public release,” Allen said.

Media reports last year indicated the Pentagon was set to lift the trans ban on May 27, but Allen disavowed that was the target date, even with the expectation of a spring decision.

“Any end to the current prohibition on accessing transgender persons, or their open service in the military services, will be informed by the working groupā€™s recommendations and final decisions made by the secretary of defense,” Allen said.

Aaron Belkin, director of the Palm Center, said the only determination Carter could make based on available data is lifting the ban on transgender service.

“If the new DOD policy is based on the successful experiences of our allies who allow transgender personnel to serve, and on the scientific consensus of the the American Medical Association and retired Surgeons General that there is no medically valid reason to exclude transgender individuals from military service, then I believe that full repeal will take place and implementation will be successful,ā€ he said.

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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court begins fall term with major gender affirming care case on the docket

Justices rule against Biden admin over emergency abortion question

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The Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022 to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, The Supreme Court of the U.S.)

The U.S. Supreme Court’s fall term began on Monday with major cases on the docket including U.S. v Skrmetti, which could decide the fate of 24 state laws banning the use of puberty blockers and hormone treatments for transgender minors.

First, however, the justices dealt another blow to the Biden-Harris administration and reproductive rights advocates by leaving in place a lower court order that blocked efforts by the federal government to allow hospitals to terminate pregnancies in medical emergencies.

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services had issued a guidance instructing healthcare providers to offer abortions in such circumstances, per the federal Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act, which kicked off litigation over whether the law overrides state abortion restrictions.

The U.S. Court of appeals for the 5th Circuit had upheld a decision blocking the federal government from enforcing the law via the HHS guidance, and the U.S. Department of Justice subsequently asked the Supreme Court to intervene.

The justices also declined to hear a free speech case in which parents challenged a DOJ memo instructing officials to look into threats against public school officials, which sparked false claims that parents were being labeled “domestic terrorists” for raising objections at school board meetings over, especially, COVID policies and curricula and educational materials addressing matters of race, sexuality, and gender.

Looking to the cases ahead, U.S. v. Skrmetti is “obviously the blockbuster case of the term,” a Supreme Court practitioner and lecturer at the Harvard law school litigation clinic told NPR.

The attorney, Deepak Gupta, said the litigation “presents fundamental questions about the scope of state power to regulate medical care for minors, and the rights of parents to make medical decisions for your children.”

The ACLU, which represents parties in the case, argues that Tennessee’s gender affirming care ban violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment by allowing puberty blockers and hormone treatments for cisgender patients younger than 18 while prohibiting these interventions for their transgender counterparts.

The organization notes that “leading medical experts and organizations ā€” such as the American Medical Association, the American Psychiatric Association, and the American Academy of Pediatrics ā€” oppose these restrictions, which have already forced thousands of families across the country to travel to maintain access to medical care or watch their child suffer without it.”

When passing their bans on gender affirming care, conservative states have cited the Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization (2022), which overturned constitutional protections for abortion that were in place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973.

The ACLU notes “U.S. v. Skrmetti will be a major test of how far the court is willing to stretch Dobbs to allow states to ban other health care” including other types of reproductive care like IVF and birth control.

Also on the docket in the months ahead are cases that will decide core questions about the government’s ability to regulate “ghost guns,” firearms that are made with build-it-yourself kits available online, and the constitutionality of a Texas law requiring age verification to access pornography.

The latter case drew opposition from liberal and conservative groups that argue it will have a chilling effect on adults who, as NPR wrote, “would realistically fear extortion, identity theft and even tracking of their habits by the government and others.”

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Lesbian software developer seeks to preserve lost LGBTQ history

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ā€˜There's so much history, and we have to transfer it to the digital,ā€™ says Kristen Gwinn-Becker.

Up until the early 2010s, if you searched ā€œBabe Ruthā€ in the Baseball Hall of Fame, nothing would pop up. To find information on the greatest baseball player of all time, you would have to search ā€œRuth, George Herman.ā€ 

That is the way online archival systems were set up and there was a clear problem with it. Kristen Gwinn-Becker was uniquely able to solve it. ā€œI’m a super tech geek, history geek,ā€ she says, ā€œI love any opportunity to create this aha moment with people through history.ā€ 

Gwinn-Becker is the founder and CEO of HistoryIT, a company that helps organizations create digital archives that are genuinely accessible. ā€œI believe history is incredibly important, but I also think it’s in danger,ā€ she says. ā€œLess than 2% of our historical materials are digital and even less of that is truly accessible.ā€

Gwinn-Beckerā€™s love for history is personal. As a lesbian, growing up, she sought out evidence of herself across time. ā€œI was interested in stories, interested in people whose lives mirrored mine to help me understand who I was.ā€ 

ā€œ[My identity] influences my love of history and my strong belief in history is important,ā€ she says.

Despite always loving history, Gwinn-Becker found herself living and working in San Francisco during the early dot com boom and bust in the ā€˜90s. ā€œIt was an exciting time,ā€ she recounts, ā€œif you were intellectually curious, you could just jump right in.ā€

Being there was almost happenstance, Gwinn-Becker explained: ā€œI was 20 years old and wanted to live in San Francisco.ā€ Quickly, she fell in love with ā€œall of the incredible new tools.ā€ She was working with non-profits that encouraged her to take classes and apply the new skills. ā€œI was really into software, web, and database development.ā€ 

But history eventually pulled her back. ā€œTech was fun, but I didn’t want to be a developer,ā€ she says. Something was missing. When the opportunity to get a Ph.D. in history from George Washington University presented itself, ā€œI got to work on the Eleanor Roosevelt papers, who I was and remain quite passionate about.ā€ 

Gwinn-Beckerā€™s research on Eleanor Roosevelt planted the seeds of digital preservation. ā€œEleanor Roosevelt doesn’t have a single archive. FDR has lots but the first ladies donā€™t,ā€ she says. Gwinn-Becker wondered what else was missing from the archive ā€” and what would be missing from the archive if we didnā€™t start preserving it now.

Those questions eventually led Gwinn-Becker to found HistoryIT in 2011. Since then, the company has created digital archives for organizations ranging from museums and universities to sororities, fraternities, and community organizations.

This process is not easy. ā€œDigital preservation is more than scanning,ā€ says Gwinn-Becker. ā€œMost commercial scannersā€™ intent is to create a digital copy, not an exact replica.ā€ 

To digitally preserve something, Gwinn-Beckerā€™s team must take a photo with overhead cameras. ā€œThere is an international standard,ā€ she says, ā€œyou create an archival TIFF.ā€ 

ā€œItā€™s the biggest possible file we can create now. Thatā€™s how you future-proof.ā€

Despite the common belief that the internet is forever, JPEGs saved to social media or websites are a poor archive. ā€œItā€™s more expensive for us to do projects in the 2000 to 2016 period than to do 19th-century projects,ā€ explains Gwinn-Becker, since finding adequate files for preservation can be tricky. ā€œThe images themselves are deteriorated because they’re compressed so much,ā€ she says.

Her clients are finding that having a strong digital archive is useful outside of the noble goal of protecting history. ā€œIt’s a unique trove of content,ā€ says Gwinn-Becker. One client saw a 790% increase in donations after incorporating the digital archive into fundraising efforts. ā€œItā€™s important to have content quickly and easily,ā€ says Gwinn-Becker, whose team also works with clients on digital strategy for their archive.

One of Gwinn-Beckerā€™s favorite parts of her job is finding what she calls ā€œhidden histories.ā€

ā€œWe [LGBTQ people] are represented everywhere. We’re represented in sports, in religious history, in every kind of movement, not only our movement. I’m passionate about bringing those stories out.ā€ 

Sometimes queer stories are found in unexpected places, says Gwinn-Becker. ā€œWe work with sororities and fraternities. There are a hell of a lot of our stories there.ā€

Part of digital preservation is also making sure that history being created in the moment is not lost to future generations. HistoryIT works with NFL teams, for example. One of their clients is the Panthers, who hired Justine Lindsay, the first transgender cheerleader in the NFL. Gwinn-Becker was excited to be able to preserve information about Lindsay in the digital record. ā€œItā€™s making history in the process of preserving it,ā€ says Gwinn-Becker.

Preserving queer history, either through ā€œhidden historiesā€ or LGBTQ-specific archives, is vital says Gwinn-Becker. ā€œThink about whose history gets marginalized, whose history gets moved to the sidelines, whose history gets just erased,ā€ she prompts. ā€œIn a time of fake news, we need to point to evidence in the past. Queer people have existed since there were humans, but their stories are hidden,ā€ Gwinn-Becker says.

Meanwhile, Gwinn-Becker accidentally finds herself as part of queer history too. Listed as one of Inc. Magazineā€™s Top 250 Female Founders of 2024, she is surrounded by names like Christina Aguilera, Selena Gomez, and Natalie Portman. 

One name stuck out. ā€œNever in my life did I think I’d be on the same list ā€“ other than the obvious one ā€“ with Billie Jean King. That’s pretty exciting,ā€ she said. 

But she canā€™t focus on the win for too long. ā€œWhen I go to sleep at night, I think ā€˜there’s so much history, and we have to transfer it to the digital,ā€™ā€ she says, ā€œWe have a very small period in which to do that in a meaningful way.ā€

(This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.)

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Bidenā€™s acknowledgment of LGBTQ History Month ā€˜consequentialā€™

Equality Forum honors 31 new ā€˜iconsā€™ as annual commemoration kicks off

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Rep. Mark Pocan was honored with Equality Forumā€™s International Role Model Award. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

President Joe Biden signed a letter acknowledging Equality Forumā€™s LGBTQ History Month launch event held on Sunday, writing that, ā€œby celebrating stories of bravery, resilience and joy, your example inspires hope in all people seeking a life true to who they are.ā€

Malcolm Lazin, Equality Forum executive director, said Bidenā€™s letter is ā€œconsequential.ā€ He noted that one year before the White House delivered a proclamation for Black History Month, it issued a letter signed by the president.

ā€œIt’s our hope that next year, our nation’s 47th president will issue that proclamation for LGBT History Month,ā€ Lazin said.

Equality Forum is an LGBTQ civil rights organization with an educational focus based in Philadelphia. The groupā€™s work includes coordinating LGBTQ History Month, producing documentary films and overseeing the application for and installation of government-approved queer historic markers.

When spearheading LGBTQ History Month for the first time back in 2006, Lazin said many pushed back against the idea. Some media outlets claimed it was trying to turn straight people gay or promote pedophilia. 

But Lazin said the homophobic reactions died down when people were educated on topics that typically werenā€™t taught in a widespread way.

ā€œWe were demonized, marginalized, and vilified,ā€ Lazin said. ā€œOne of the certain principal ways you’re going to make headway is if you humanize who we are, and also educate people about the important contributions we make to our common society.ā€

Education has always been Equality Forumā€™s solution to societal backlash or controversy since its inception, Lazin said.

The organization got its start in 1993 under the name PrideFest Philadelphia. Lazin, who was the founder, said it was created during a time when Pride parades were the main focus of the LGBTQ community. 

In an effort to shift focus onto civil rights issues, PrideFest hosted its first LGBTQ summit that eventually transformed into an event featuring national and international organizations. Lazin said it was an effort to educate people on LGBTQ history as well as inform the community on queer rights around the world.

Though that event was terminated in 2020, Lazin is still focused on educating both queer and straight people on LGBTQ civil rights. Equality Forum honors 31 ā€œLGBTQ iconsā€ each year for every day in October.

This initiative began when Equality Forum started coordinating LGBTQ History Month back in 2006, but Lazin didnā€™t notice their efforts taking off until about five years in.

ā€œIn year one, people thought, ā€˜Oh yeah, those are like all the important names of the gay community,ā€™ā€ he said. ā€œPeople paid a little bit more attention the following years, and all of a sudden they’re recognizing, ā€˜Oh, in a certain sense I was clueless about the role models that the gay community has.ā€™ā€

This yearā€™s icons being recognized include names like singers George Michael, Luther Vandross, and Sam Smith; pioneering drag queen William Dorsey Swann; ā€œThe Bachelorā€ star Colton Underwood; Wisconsin Congressman Mark Pocan; and longtime Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff.

Pocan received the International Role Model Award during Sundayā€™s LGBTQ History Month launch event. Itā€™s the longest-standing LGBTQ award in the nation, and has been presented to prominent figures like former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg.

He said accepting the award allowed him to reflect on the progress thatā€™s been made in a relatively short time.

ā€œI was preparing to make some remarks for the event, and I realized that I’ve been kind of in the front row of a lot of the history making in the country, because more of our history is in the last several decades,ā€ Pocan told the Washington Blade. ā€œThere are significant moments in the past, but where the real improvements have happened have been more recent.ā€

In 1995, former President Bill Clinton invited Pocan, who is gay, and other LGBTQ elected officials to The White House for the first time. When they arrived and were going through security, Pocan said they noticed everyone was wearing blue gloves.

Initially assuming it was due to enhanced security following the aftermath of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Pocan said they later discovered the Secret Service agents thought they could contract AIDS from out elected officials.

He said the Secret Service issued an apology letter and the Clinton administration made it clear that wasnā€™t their policy. Even more memorable for Pocan was when then-Vice President Al Gore made it a point to shake everyoneā€™s hands at the event.

Comparing that memory to Bidenā€™s recent letter puts the advancements of LGBTQ rights into perspective for Pocan. He said thatā€™s the reason recognizing and remembering queer history is vital.

ā€œIf you donā€™t know the history, itā€™s too easy to repeat it,ā€ he said.

The fight to recognize the global work done toward advancing LGBTQ civil rights, however, isnā€™t over, Lazin said.

Many states are working to restrict LGBTQ topics from being taught in schools. Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed HB 1069 last year, dubbed ā€œDonā€™t Say Gayā€ by critics, to prohibit lessons on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The New College of Florida faced backlash when photos of hundreds of library books, many containing LGBTQ topics, overflowing a dumpster were shared online. A New College spokesperson said the books were “taken after discovering that the library did not follow all of the state administrative requirements while conducting the routine disposition of materials.”

Despite what the future may hold for LGBTQ content in schools, Lazin said the resources Equality Forum promotes, including the website featuring 31 queer icons in October, are always available.

ā€œAt least on this site, students, teachers, and guidance counselors have resources,ā€ he said. ā€œSo if you’re an English teacher and you want to be celebrating LGBT History Month, click on poets, or click on authors. You’ve got a whole rich range of people to be able to bring into your curriculum.ā€

The reality of what LGBTQ History Month has become today is more than the work of one organization; Lazin said itā€™s the combined effort of local communities that are curious about their own history.

ā€œWhile we could not possibly take on doing the history of all the cities around the country or in North America or around the world, it really has helped to encourage people to appreciate that history and to make sure that it is well documented,ā€ Lazin said.

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