National
Barr declares ‘zero tolerance’ for hate crimes in Pride Month statement
Barr only Trump official to recognize Pride Month .
U.S. Attorney General William Barr affirmed on Thursday his position of “zero tolerance” for hate crimes against LGBT people in a statement to Justice Department employees recognizing Pride Month.
In the statement, which was sent to Justice Department employees on Thursday and shared with the Washington Blade, Barr declares the department is “fortunate to have many talented and dedicated LGBT public servants who work hard on behalf of the American people.”
“While we recognize and celebrate these employeesā contributions to the department and the nation, it remains the fact that LGBT individuals are too often subjected to discrimination, harassment and violence,” Barr continues. “The department has zero tolerance for violence that is motivated by hatred for our fellow citizens, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We will vigorously prosecute such hate crimes.”
The statement echoes testimony Barr gave in his confirmation hearing when he said he’d have “zero tolerance” for hate crimes, including violence against LGBT people, and would enforce the 2009 Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.
Barr also points in the statement out he updated the Justice Department equal opportunity statement statement affirming non-discrimination for LGBT employees at the Justice Department.
“All employees deserve to be treated with respect and to be judged on merit alone,” Barr says.
Barr updated the EEO statement amid complaints of discrimination against LGBT employees within the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Prisons, which were brought to his attention by DOJ Pride, the affinity group for LGBT employees within the department.
“As Pride month concludes, I want our LGBT colleagues to know that I value their dedication, integrity and the contributions they make to the pursuit of justice,” Barr writes.
A Justice Department spokesperson confirmed the accuracy of the statement, which Barr issues during the first Pride Month that has occurred since his confirmation as U.S. attorney general.
Nothing in the statement recognizes the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which the LGBT community is celebrating this year concurrent with Pride Month.
The Pride Month recognition comes just weeks after he met with LGBT attorneys and law enforcement officials within DOJ Pride for Pride Month, as exclusively reported by the Washington Blade. The statement is also issued shortly after LGBT employees at the Justice Department took part in an official ceremony recognizing Pride Month, which included a showing of the 2010 PBS documentary āStonewall Uprising.”
Although the Pride statement recognizes anti-LGBT violence, it says nothing in particular about violence against transgender people, especially transgender people of color, who are afflicted with violence at disproportionate rates.
On the same day Barr issued his statement, news emerged that Brooklyn Lindsay, a 32-year-old trans woman, was found beaten to death in Kansas City. At least 11 black transgender women have been the victims of fatal violence in 2019, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
But the statement is far and beyond what other Trump administration Cabinet officials have done for Pride Month. The Blade is unaware of any other Cabinet-level Trump official issuing a Pride Month statement. Trump recognized Pride Month via tweet, but issued no official proclamation.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has faced criticism from LGBT groups for not issuing a Pride Month statement for 2019. Instead, Pompeo reissued to employees an old statement he issued in 2018.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to maintain anti-LGBT litigation positions and defends in court the transgender military ban.
The Justice Department during the Trump administration has previously asserted LGBT people aren’t protected under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars discrimination on the basis of sex in the workforce.
It remains to be seen whether the Justice Department will reverse its litigation position regarding Title VII now that the issue is before the Supreme Court, but that seems unlikely.
The full statement follows:
STATEMENT FROM THE ATTORNEY GENERAL
Colleagues-
During the month of June, the Federal Government and communities across the United States acknowledge the outstanding contributions and accomplishments of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) Americans. The Department of Justice is fortunate to have many talented and dedicated LGBT public servants who work hard on behalf of the American people.
While we recognize and celebrate these employeesā contributions to the Department and the Nation, it remains the fact that LGBT individuals are too often subjected to discrimination, harassment, and violence. The Department has zero tolerance for violence that is motivated by hatred for our fellow citizens, including on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. We will vigorously prosecute such hate crimes. As Attorney General, I have also reaffirmed the Departmentās commitment to keeping our workplace free from discrimination and harassment, including against LGBT employees. All employees deserve to be treated with respect and to be judged on merit alone.
As Pride month concludes, I want our LGBT colleagues to know that I value their dedication, integrity, and the contributions they make to the pursuit of justice. Thank you for your service.
William P. Barr
Attorney General
Michigan
Mich. Democrats spar over LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes law
Lawmakers disagree on just what kind of statute to pass
Michigan could soon become the latest state to pass an LGBTQ-inclusive hate crime law, but the stateās Democratic lawmakers disagree on just what kind of law they should pass.
Currently, Michiganās Ethnic Intimidation Act only offers limited protections to victims of crime motivated by their ārace, color, religion, gender, or national origin.ā Bills proposed by Democratic lawmakers expand the list to include āactual or perceived race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, ethnicity, physical or mental disability, age, national origin, or association or affiliation with any such individuals.ā
Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana Nessel have both advocated for a hate crime law, but house and senate Democrats have each passed different hate crimes packages, and Nessel has blasted both as being too weak.
Under the house proposal that passed last year (House Bill 4474), a first offense would be punishable with a $2,000 fine, up to two years in prison, or both. Penalties double for a second offense, and if a gun or other dangerous weapons is involved, the maximum penalty is six years in prison and a fine of $7,500.
But that proposal stalled when it reached the senate, after far-right news outlets and Fox News reported misinformation that the bill only protected LGBTQ people and would make misgendering a trans person a crime. State Rep. Noah Arbit, the bill’s sponsor, was also made the subject of a recall effort, which ultimately failed.
Arbit submitted a new version of the bill (House Bill 5288) that added sections clarifying that misgendering a person, āintentionally or unintentionallyā is not a hate crime, although the latest version (House Bill 5400) of the bill omits this language.
That bill has since stalled in a house committee, in part because the Democrats lost their house majority last November, when two Democratic representatives resigned after being elected mayors. The Democrats regained their house majority last night by winning two special elections.
Meanwhile, the senate passed a different package of hate crime bills sponsored by state Sen. Sylvia Santana (Senate Bill 600) in March that includes much lighter sentences, as well as a clause ensuring that misgendering a person is not a hate crime.
Under the senate bill, if the first offense is only a threat, it would be a misdemeanor punishable by one year in prison and up to $1,000 fine. A subsequent offense or first violent hate crime, including stalking, would be a felony that attracts double the punishment.
Multiple calls and emails from the Washington Blade to both Arbit and Santana requesting comment on the bills for this story went unanswered.
The attorney generalās office sent a statement to the Blade supporting stronger hate crime legislation.
āAs a career prosecutor, [Nessel] has seen firsthand how the stateās weak Ethnic Intimidation Act (not updated since the late 1980ās) does not allow for meaningful law enforcement and court intervention before threats become violent and deadly, nor does it consider significant bases for bias. It is our hope that the legislature will pass robust, much-needed updates to this statute,ā the statement says.
But Nessel, who has herself been the victim of racially motivated threats, has also blasted all of the bills presented by Democrats as not going far enough.
āTwo years is nothing ā¦ Why not just give them a parking ticket?ā Nessel told Bridge Michigan.
Nessel blames a bizarre alliance far-right and far-left forces that have doomed tougher laws.
āYou have this confluence of forces on the far right ā¦ this insistence that the First Amendment protects this language, or that the Second Amendment protects the ability to possess firearms under almost any and all circumstances,ā Nessel said. āBut then you also have the far left that argues basically no one should go to jail or prison for any offense ever.ā
The legislature did manage to pass an āinstitutional desecrationā law last year that penalizes hate-motivated vandalism to churches, schools, museums, and community centers, and is LGBTQ-inclusive.
According to data from the U.S. Department of Justice, reported hate crime incidents have been skyrocketing, with attacks motivated by sexual orientation surging by 70 percent from 2020 to 2022, the last year for which data is available.
Twenty-two states, D.C., Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands have passed LGBTQ-inclusive hate crime laws. Another 11 states have hate crime laws that include protections for āsexual orientationā but not āgender identity.ā
Michigan Democrats have advanced several key LGBTQ rights priorities since they took unified control of the legislature in 2023. A long-stalled comprehensive anti-discrimination law was passed last year, as did a conversion therapy ban. Last month the legislature updated family law to make surrogacy easier for all couples, including same-sex couples.
A bill to ban the āgay panicā defense has passed the state house and was due for a Senate committee hearing on Wednesday.
Indiana
Drag queen announces run for mayor of Ind. city
Branden Blaettne seeking Fort Wayne’s top office
In a Facebook post Tuesday, a local drag personality announced he was running for the office of mayor once held by the lateĀ Fort Wayne Mayor Tom Henry, whoĀ died last monthĀ just a few months into his fifth term.
Henry was recently diagnosed with late-stage stomach cancer and experienced an emergency that landed him in hospice care. He died shortly after.
WPTA, a local television station, reported that Fort WayneĀ resident Branden Blaettne, whose drag name is Della Licious, confirmed he filed paperwork to beĀ one of the candidatesĀ seeking to finish out the fifth term of the late mayor.
Blaettner, who is a community organizer, told WPTA he doesnāt want to āget Fort Wayne back on track,ā but ratherĀ keep the momentum started by HenryĀ going while giving a platform to the disenfranchised groups in the community. Blaettner said he doesnāt think his local fame as a drag queen will hold him back.
āItās easy to have a platform when you wear platform heels,ā Blaettner told WPTA. āThe status quo has left a lot of people out in the cold ā both figuratively and literally,ā Blaettner added.
The Indiana Capital Chronicle reported that state Rep. Phil GiaQuinta, who has led the Indiana House Democratic caucus since 2018, has added his name to a growing list of Fort Wayne politicos who want to be the cityās next mayor. A caucus of precinct committee persons will choose the new mayor.
According to theĀ Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, the deadline for residents to file candidacy was 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday. A town hall with the candidates is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Thursday at Franklin School Park. The caucus is set for 10:30 a.m. on April 20 at the Lincoln Financial Event Center at Parkview Field.
At least six candidates so far have announced they will run in the caucus. They include Branden Blaettne, GiaQuinta, City Councilwoman Michelle Chambers, City Councilwoman Sharon Tucker, former city- and county-council candidate Palermo Galindo, and 2023 Democratic primary mayoral candidate Jorge Fernandez.
Arizona
Ariz. governor vetoes anti-transgender, Ten Commandments bill
Katie Hobbs has pledged to reject anti-LGBTQ bills that reach her desk
BY CAITLIN SIEVERS | A slew of Republican bills, including those that would have allowed discrimination against transgender people and would have given public school teachers a green light to post the Ten Commandments in their classrooms, were vetoed by Gov. Katie Hobbs on Tuesday.
Hobbs, who has made it clear that sheāll use her veto power on any bills that donāt have bipartisan support ā and especially ones that discriminate against the LGBTQ community ā vetoed 13 bills, bringing her count for this year to 42.
Republicans responded with obvious outrage to Hobbsās veto of their āArizona Womenās Bill of Rights,ā which would have eliminated any mention of gender in state law, replacing it with a strict and inflexible definition of biological sex. The bill would have called for the separation of sports teams, locker rooms, bathrooms, and even domestic violence shelters and sexual assault crisis centers by biological sex, not gender identity, green-lighting discrimination against trans Arizonans.
āAs I have said time and again, I will not sign legislation that attacks Arizonans,ā Hobbs wrote in a brief letter explaining why she vetoed Senate Bill 1628.
The Arizona Senate Republicansā response to the veto was filled with discriminatory language about trans people and accused them of merely pretending to be a gender different than they were assigned at birth.
āWith the radical Left attempting to force upon society the notion that science doesnāt matter, and biological males can be considered females if they āfeelā like they are, Katie Hobbs and Democrats at the Arizona State Legislature are showing their irresponsible disregard for the safety and well-being of women and girls in our state by killing the Arizona Womenās Bill of Rights,ā Senate Republicans wrote in a statement.
The Senate Republicans went on to accuse the Democrats who voted against the bill of endangering women.
āInstead of helping these confused boys and men, Democrats are only fueling the dysfunction by pretending biological sex doesnāt matter,ā Senate President Warren Petersen said in the statement. āOur daughters, granddaughters, nieces, and neighbors are growing up in a dangerous time where they are living with an increased risk of being victimized in public bathrooms, showers, and locker rooms because Democrats are now welcoming biological males into what used to be traditionally safe, single-sex spaces.ā
But trans advocates say, and at least one study has found, that thereās no evidence allowing trans people to use the bathroom that aligns with their identity makes those spaces less safe for everyone else who uses them.
In the statement, the billās sponsor, Sen. Sine Kerr (R-Buckeye), claimed that the bill would have stopped trans girls from competing in girls sports, something she said gives them an unfair advantage. But Republicans already passed a law to do just that in 2022, when Republican Gov. Doug Ducey was still in office, though that law is not currently being enforced amidst a court challenge filed by two trans athletes.
Republicans also clapped back at Hobbsā veto of Senate Bill 1151, which would have allowed teachers or administrators to teach or post the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, a measure that some Republicans even questioned as possibly unconstitutional.
In a statement, the billās sponsor, Sen. Anthony Kern (R-Glendale), accused Hobbs of āabandoning Godā with her veto.
āAs society increasingly strays away from God and the moral principles our nation was founded upon, Katie Hobbs is contributing to the cultural degradation within Arizona by vetoing legislation today that would have allowed public schools to include the Ten Commandments in classrooms,ā Kern said in the statement.
In her veto letter, Hobbs said she questioned the constitutionality of the bill, and also called it unnecessary. During discussion of the bill in March, several critics pointed out that posting the Ten Commandments in public school classrooms, tenets of Judeo-Christian religions, might make children whose families practice other religions feel uncomfortable.
āSadly, Katie Hobbsā veto is a prime example of Democratsā efforts to push state-sponsored atheism while robbing Arizonaās children of the opportunity to flourish with a healthy moral compass,ā Kern said.
Another Republican proposal on Hobbsās veto list was Senate Bill 1097, whichĀ would have madeĀ school board candidates declare a party affiliation. School board races in Arizona are currently nonpartisan.Ā
āThis bill will further the politicization and polarization of Arizonaās school district governing boards whose focus should remain on making the best decisions for students,ā Hobbs wrote in her veto letter. āPartisan politics do not belong in Arizonaās schools.ā
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Caitlin joined the Arizona Mirror in 2022 with almost 10 years of experience as a reporter and editor, holding local government leaders accountable from newsrooms across the West and Midwest. She’s won statewide awards in Nebraska, Indiana and Wisconsin for reporting, photography and commentary.
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The preceding piece was previously published by the Arizona Mirror and is republished with permission.
Amplifying the voices of Arizonans whose stories are unheard; shining a light on the relationships between people, power and policy; and holding public officials to account.
Arizona Mirror is part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
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