News
Del. Norton, Capital Pride disagree over why she missed parade
Delegate claims no invite, but organizers say that is customary
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) marching in the 2016 Capital Pride Parade. Norton and Capital Pride are sparring over her absence from the parade this year. (Washington Blade file photo by Blake Bergen)
Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) is attributing her absence from this weekend’s Capital Pride parade to the lack of an invitation to the event and a requirement that she pay to take part, although organizers dispute her account and say the fee is customary.
Benjamin Fritsch, a Norton spokesperson, said in a statement shared with the Washington Blade and other media outlets the delegate “assumed she would go to the Capital Pride Parade” — which he said she has done each year even before her nearly 26 years in Congress — but this year never received an invite.
“She has always received a letter of invitation from the parade organizers, but this year did not receive one, so her staff reached out to them well in time for her to participate,” Fritsch said. “The organizers said they would put her on a waitlist. They also said that the congresswoman would have to pay more than $600, and an additional smaller fee to be put on the waitlist. Therefore, she decided not to participate.”
Although Norton was absent from the parade, other officials who took part included D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), D.C. Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), D.C. Council member and former D.C. Mayor Vince Gray (D-Ward 7).
Bernie Delia, president of Capital Pride Alliance, responded to Norton by saying organizers have never extended invitations to elected officials to participate in the event at least the past nine years.
“Months in advance of the parade we inform prior parade entrants that the registration is open,” Delia said. “In this case we did what we have always done – hold a spot in the line-up for D.C. Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton for when she showed up, as she has done for every previous Capital Pride Parade.”
Delia said a Norton staffer called late last week seeking to register. Although the staffer was told that would result in an automated system generating an email indicating Norton was on a wait list, Capital Pride organizers explained they would manually override that and place the delegate’s contingent in the parade, Delia said.
The $600 fee, Delia said, is standard for participation in the parade and the same amount charged to all political contingents in the past. Delia acknowledged Capital Pride charges a $10 fee for being on the wait list, but said Norton was never really on it and that $10 “is credited to the account balance for the entry fee.”
“We regret the confusion and look forward to Del. Norton’s participation in future Capital Pride Parades,” Delia concluded.
Delia’s assertion that all political entrants must pay a $600 fee is consistent with Capital Pride’s website, which says “all politicians/individuals with a legislative agenda that are or will be running for political office” are considered “Tier 2” non-profits and must pay a $600 fee for participation in the parade.
The kerfuffle between Norton and Capital Pride organizers came as No Justice No Pride protesters disrupted the parade and forced it to be rerouted over objections to involvement of police and corporate sponsors in the event as well as insufficient diversity on the Capital Pride board.
State Department
Democracy Forward files FOIA request for State Department bathroom policy records
April 20 memo outlined anti-transgender rule
Democracy Forward on Tuesday filed a Freedom of Information Act request for records on the State Department’s new bathroom policy.
A memo titled “Updates Regarding Biological Sex and Intimate Spaces, Including Restrooms” that the State Department issued on April 20 notes employees can no longer use bathrooms that correspond with their gender identity.
“The administration affirms that there are two sexes — male and female — and that federal facilities should operate on this objective and longstanding basis to ensure consistency, privacy, and safety in shared spaces,” State Department spokesperson Tommy Piggot told the Daily Signal, a conservative news website that first reported on the memo. “In line with President Trump’s executive order this provides clear, uniform guidance to the department by grounding policy in biological sex as determined at birth.”
President Donald Trump shortly after he took office in January 2025 issued an executive order that directed the federal government to only recognize two genders: male and female. The sweeping directive also ordered federal government agencies to “effectuate this policy by taking appropriate action to ensure that intimate spaces designated for women, girls, or females (or for men, boys, or males) are designated by sex and not identity.”
Democracy Forward’s FOIA request that the Washington Blade exclusively obtained on Tuesday is specifically seeking a copy of the memo that details the State Department’s new bathroom policy. Democracy Forward has also requested “all” memo-specific communications between the State Department’s Bureau of Global Public Affairs and the Daily Signal from April 1-21.
Federal Government
House Republicans push nationwide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Measures would restrict federal funding for LGBTQ-affirming schools
Republicans have been gaining ground in reshaping education policy to be less inclusive toward LGBTQ students at the state level, and now they are turning their focus to Capitol Hill.
Some GOP lawmakers are pushing for a nationwide “Don’t Say Gay” bill, doubling down on their commitment to being the party of “traditional family values” by excluding anyone who does not identify with their sex at birth.
The largest anti-LGBTQ education legislation to reach the House chamber is House Bill 2616 — the Parental Rights Over the Education and Care of Their Kids Act, or the PROTECT Kids Act. The PROTECT Kids Act, proposed by U.S. Rep. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), and co-sponsored by U.S. Reps. Burgess Owens (R-Utah), Mary Miller (R-Ill.), Robert Onder (R-Mo.), and Kevin Kiley (R-Calif.), would require any public elementary and middle schools that receive federal funding to require parental consent to change a child’s gender expression in school.
The bill, which was discussed during Tuesday’s House Rules Committee hearing, would specifically require any schools that get federal money from the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965 — which was created to minimize financial discrepancies in education for low-income students — to get parental approval before identifying any child’s gender identity as anything other than what was provided to the school initially. This includes getting approval before allowing children to use their preferred locker room or bathroom.
It reads that any school receiving this funding “shall obtain parental consent before changing a covered student’s (1) gender markers, pronouns, or preferred name on any school form; or (2) sex-based accommodations, including locker rooms or bathrooms.”
LGBTQ rights advocates have criticized both national and state efforts to require parental permission to use a child’s preferred gender identity, as it raises issues of at-home safety — especially if the home is not LGBTQ-affirming — and could lead to the outing of transgender or gender-curious students.
A follow-up bill, HB 2617, proposed by Owens, one of the bill’s co-sponsors, prevents the use of federal funding to “advance concepts related to gender ideology,” using the definition from President Donald Trump’s 2025 Executive Order 14168, making that an enshrined definition in law of sex rather than just by executive order. There is also a bill making its way through the senate with the same text— Senate Bill 2251.
Advocates have also criticized this follow-up legislation, as it would restrict school staff — including teachers and counselors — from acknowledging trans students’ identities or providing any support. They have said that this kind of isolation can worsen mental health outcomes for LGBTQ youth and allows for education to be politicized rather than being based in reality.
David Stacy, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president of government affairs, called this legislation out for using LGBTQ children as political pawns in an ideology fight — one that could greatly harm the safety of these children if passed.
“Trans kids are not a political agenda — they are students who deserve safety and affirmation at school like anyone else,” Stacy said in a statement. “Despite the many pressing issues facing our nation, House Republicans continue their bizarre obsession with trans people. H.R. 2616 does not protect children. It targets them. This bill is cruel, and we’re prepared to fight it.”
This is similar to Florida House Bills 1557 and 1069, referred to as the “Don’t Say Gay” bill and “Don’t Say They” bill, respectively, restricting classroom discussions on sexual orientation and gender identity, prohibiting the use of pronouns consistent with one’s gender identity, expanding book banning procedures, and censoring health curriculum.
The American Civil Liberties Union is tracking 233 bills related to restricting student and educator rights in the U.S.
Botswana’s government has repealed a provision of its colonial-era penal code that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
The country’s High Court in 2019 struck down the provision. The Batswana government in 2022 said it would abide by the ruling after country’s Court of Appeals upheld it.
The government on March 26 announced the repeal of the penal code’s “unnatural offenses” section that specifically referenced any person who “has carnal knowledge of any person against the order of nature” and “permits any other person to have carnal knowledge of him or her against the order of nature.”
Lesbians, Gays and Bisexuals of Botswana, a Batswana advocacy group known by the acronym LEGABIBO, challenged the criminalization law with the support of the Southern Africa Litigation Center. LEGABIBO in a statement it posted to its Facebook on April 25 welcomed the repeal.
“For many, these provisions were not just words on paper — they were lived realities,” said LEGABIBO. “They affected access to healthcare, safety, employment, and the freedom to love and exist openly.”
“LEGABIBO believes that the deletion of these sections is a necessary and long-overdue step toward restoring dignity and aligning our legal framework with constitutional values of equality and human rights,” it added. “It is a clear message that LGBTIQ+ persons are not criminals, and that their lives and relationships deserve protection, not punishment.”
LEGABIBO further stressed that “while this does not erase the harm of the past, it creates space for healing, inclusion, and continued progress toward full equality.”
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House Republicans push nationwide ‘Don’t Say Gay’ bill
Botswana repeals colonial-era sodomy law
LGBTQ people are leaving Orthodox Judaism behind
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