National
Minnesota to keep N.C. travel ban as other states demur
Gov. Dayton enacted policy in protest over HB2


Gov. Mark Dayton will keep the travel ban to N.C. (Photo public domain)
Minnesota has become the first state to announce it will retain its travel ban to North Carolina enacted in protest over anti-LGBT bill House Bill 2 despite the governor signing into law a replacement measure.
Gov. Mark Dayton signed the travel ban in April, directing state employees not to travel to North Carolina for nonessential business, after the enactment of HB2 in the state.
Although North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper, a fellow Democrat, has signed into law a replacement measure he says alleviates the situation, Sam Fettig, a Dayton spokesperson, told the Washington Blade on Wednesday, “No, we are not going to lift the ban.”
Criticized by LGBT rights supporters as a deal that doubles down on discrimination, the agreement between Cooper and Republican leaders in the legislature was reached amid an ongoing economic boycott of state as result of HB2.
The new law, House Bill 142, prohibits municipalities, state agencies and the University of North Carolina from the “regulation of access” to bathrooms, locker rooms and showers without the legislature’s permission. It also bans municipalities from enacting LGBT-inclusive nondiscrimination measures that would apply to private employment or public accommodations until 2020.
Numerous cities that had enacted similar travel bans in protest of HB2 — the District of Columbia, New York City, Oakland, Seattle, San Fransisco, Santa Fe, Salt Lake City and Cincinnati — have declared those bans will remain in place in the aftermath of the deal because of the discriminatory impact of the new law.
But the states haven’t been as forthcoming. At least six — California, Minnesota, New York, Vermont, Connecticut and Washington State — had enacted travel bans to North Carolina as a result of HB2.
A spokesperson for New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, Rich Azzopardi, stopped short of affirming the ban will remain in place, although he said it remains for the time being.
“Our review of the new North Carolina law is ongoing, and the Governor’s Executive Order currently remains in effect,” Azzopardi said.
In Washington State, the travel ban has actually expired as a result of the new law in North Carolina. The memo that Inslee signed in 2016 states the travel ban would remain in effect “so long as the recently approved HB2 exists in its current form.”
Tara Lee, an Inslee spokesperson, confirmed that as a result of the deal Cooper signed into law “the travel ban no longer applies.”
“However, the governor feels that the changes to their state law are a disappointing half-measure towards the equal protections every person should receive,” Lee said.
In response to a follow-up inquiry on whether Inslee is considering putting a new travel ban in place, Lee replied, “We are considering options.”
California has ban on travel to North Carolina as result of Assembly Bill 1887, a law signed by Gov. Jerry Brown that allows the attorney general to maintain a list of states with laws rolling back LGBT rights and prohibit state-sponsored travel to those states. An official with Attorney General Xavier Becerra’s office said his office is reviewing whether North Carolina no longer warrants inclusion on the travel restriction list after the HB2 deal.
Connecticut Gov. Dan Malloy is also reviewing the new law in North Carolina before making a decision on whether to affirm the travel ban he signed last year, a spokesperson said.
“We don’t have an update, yet,” said Malloy spokesperson Kelly Donnelly. “We are still reviewing the new legislation.”
The offices of Vermont Gov. Phil Scott, a Republican, didn’t respond to a request for comment on the travel ban former Gov. Peter Shumlin, a Democrat, enacted last year.
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”