News
Rick Perry: ‘I totally support’ Trump’s transgender military ban
Energy sec’y bases objections on dubious claims about cost of care


Energy Secretary Rick Perry (R-Texas) says he supports Trump’s transgender military ban. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Energy Secretary Rick Perry took time Friday during his visit to an air conditioning manufacturer in Texas to declare support for President Trump’s ban on transgender military service.
Perry told reporters he backs the policy change after his visit to the Daikin Texas Technology Park in Waller, Texas, basing his reasoning on the cost of transition-related care, according to the Texas Tribune.
“I totally support the president in his decision,” Perry was quoted as saying. “The idea that the American people need to be paying for these types of operations to change your sex is not very wise from a standpoint of economics.”
Trump made dubious claims about “tremendous medical costs and disruption” posed by transgender military service when announcing his ban Wednesday on Twitter.
According to a study the RAND Corp., costs associated gender reassignment surgery would actually be very little. The study estimated those surgeries would consume between $2.4 million and $8.4 million annually out of the Pentagon’s multi-billion dollar budget.
“I think the president makes some good decisions about making sure that we have a force that is capable,” Perry reportedly added.
As ThinkProgress reported, the U.S. military actually spends ten times as much $84 million on erectile dysfunction medication than it would under RAND Corp.’s estimate for gender reassignment surgery.
Asked about that cost comparison, Perry reportedly quipped, “You know what, I don’t check on the price of Viagra.”
Perry has a long anti-LGBT history as Texas governor and perennial Republican presidential candidate, which includes declares support for the now lifted ban on gay troops in the Boy Scouts of America. As energy secretary, penned an op-ed against his alma mater Texas A&M over the election of its first openly gay student president, Bobby Brooks, saying the system was rigged in his favor in a “quest for diversity.”
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023

The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert

A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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