News
Anti-LGBTQ activist brags about being Trump appointee — but White House denies it
AFA led the charge on ad featuring brides kissing on Hallmark Channel
Tim Wildmon, president of the notoriously anti-LGBTQ American Family Association, is bragging about his new membership in a Trump faith advisory council — but the White House is flat-out denying the appointment.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Judd Deere told the Washington Blade on Wednesday Wildmon’s claims of his appointment are completely baseless.
“I have no idea what he’s talking about,” Deere said. “There is no such thing as a White House Faith Council or Advisory Board. There is a Faith & Opportunity Initiative led by an advisor, Pastor Paula White, but it does not include a council or advisory board.”
A spokesperson for the American Family Association didn’t respond to the Blade’s request to comment on why the White House would contradict Wildmon about news of his appointment.
Wildmon’s claim he obtained the appointment came to light Wednesday after Sarah Kate Ellis, CEO of the LGBTQ watchdog GLAAD, slammed Wildmon’s claim of appointment in a news statement.
“Tim’s addition to the White House’s Faith Advisory Council sends a solemn message to LGBTQ Americans and allies who are tired of the Trump administration’s attacks on LGBTQ and other marginalized communities,” Ellis said.
Trump’s advisors in the past have included many anti-LGBTQ activists, such as Gary Bauer, president of American Values; Jerry Falwell Jr., president of Liberty University; Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church of Dallas; Tony Perkins, president of Family Research Council; and Ralph Reed, founder of the Faith & Freedom Coalition.
Wildmon, in a statement Monday declaring himself an appointee to a Trump faith council, said Trump is “a flawed man,” but at the same time “not ashamed of the Bible, the Constitution, the family and the free enterprise system.”
“This is a critical time for America,” Wildmon said in a statement. “We need to pray for God to intervene. We need to ask the Lord to protect, strengthen, encourage and guide our nation and our president. I believe the only hope for him, and this nation, is God.”
Drew Anderson, a GLAAD spokesperson, said the LGBT group is standing by its statement based on Wildmon’s claim and history of anti-LGBTQ activists having access to the Trump White House.
Wildmon, whose long anti-LGBTQ history goes back years, has at times called being gay “unnatural,” “immoral” and “unhealthy.”
According to GLAAD, Wildmon has condemned, among other things, the Supreme Court decision striking down the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act and the drafting of openly gay player Michael Sam into the National Football League.
The news comes shortly after the fiasco at the Hallmark Channel, which pulled a TV ad showing a lesbian couple kissing during a wedding ceremony, then apologized and reinstated it after outrage that followed.
Ellis pointed out One Million Moms, a division of the American Family Association, was responsible for convincing the channel to withdraw the ad in the first place.
“As evidenced by the American Family Association’s recent attacks on The Hallmark Channel, Disney, and other inclusive brands, Tim Wildmon is covertly the chief conductor of anti-LGBTQ activists and the vicious attempt to roll back LGBTQ equality and acceptance,” Ellis said.
Belarus
Belarusian president signs bill to allow LGBTQ rights crackdown
Alexander Lukashenko known as ‘Europe’s last dictator’
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko on Wednesday signed a bill that will allow his government to crack down on LGBTQ advocacy.
The measure that Lukashenko, who is known as “Europe’s last dictator” and is a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin, signed would punish anyone found guilty of “propaganda of homosexual relations, gender change, refusal to have children, and pedophilia” with fines, community labor, and 15 days in jail.
The House of Representatives, the lower house of the Belarusian National Assembly, last month approved the bill. The Council of the Republic, which is the parliament’s upper chamber, passed it on April 2.
Belarus borders Poland, Ukraine, Russia, Latvia, and Lithuania.
Kazakhstan is among the countries that have enacted Russian-style anti-LGBTQ propaganda laws in recent years.
The European Commission in 2022 sued Hungary, which is a member of the EU, over its anti-LGBTQ propaganda law. Hungarian voters on April 12 ousted Viktor Orbán, a Putin ally who had been their country’s prime minister since 2010.
District of Columbia
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Matthew Mahl once served as head of LGBT Liaison Unit
D.C. police announced on April 14 that they have placed one of their lieutenants, Matthew Mahl, on administrative leave and revoked his police powers after receiving information that he was arrested in Maryland one day earlier.
Although the initial D.C. police announcement doesn’t disclose the reason for the arrest it refers to a statement by the Harford County, Md. Sheriff’s Office that discloses Mahl has been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor and child porn solicitation.
“On Tuesday, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office contacted MPD’s Internal Affairs Division shortly after arresting Lieutenant Matthew Mahl,” the D.C. police statement says.
“The allegations in this case are extremely disturbing, and in direct contrast to the values of the Metropolitan Police Department,” the statement continues. “MPD’s Internal Affairs Division will investigate violations of MPD policy once the criminal investigation concludes,” it says.
“MPD is not involved in the criminal investigation and was not aware of the investigation until yesterday,” the statement adds.
Mahl served as acting supervisor of the MPD’s then Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit in 2013 when he held the rank of sergeant. D.C. police officials placed him on administrative leave and suspended his police powers that same year while investigating an undisclosed allegation.
A source familiar with the investigation said Mahl was cleared of any wrongdoing a short time later and resumed his police duties. Around the time he was promoted to lieutenant several years later Mahl took on the role as chairman of the D.C. Police Union, becoming the first known openly gay officer to hold that position.
NBC 4 reports that Mahl, 47, has served on the police force for 23 years and most recently was assigned to the department’s Special Operations Division.
Records related to Mahl’s arrest filed in Harford County District Court, show Sheriff’s Department investigators state in charging documents that he allegedly committed the offenses of Sexual Solicitation of a Minor and Child Porn Solicitation on Monday, April 13, one day before he was arrested on April 14.
The court records show he was held without bond during his first appearance in court on April 14. A decision on whether he would be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held without bond was scheduled to be determined during an April 15 bond hearing. The outcome of that hearing could not be immediately determined.
National
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
Capitol Police arrested five protesters
A group of protesters interrupted Office of Management and Budget Director Russell Vought during his testimony before Congress on Wednesday.
Vought was at the Cannon House Office Building to give testimony to the House Budget Committee.
Committee Chair Jodey Arrington (R-Texas) began the hearing by touting what he described as economic accomplishments of the Trump-Vance administration’s economic accomplishments. Ranking Member Brendan Boyle (D-Pa.) disputed those claims in his opening statement.
Boyle went on to admonish Vought for not attending a committee hearing in the previous year.
Vought, the “Project 2025” architect, was invited to speak after Arrington and Boyle made their statements.
Shortly after Vought began reading his statement, Housing Works CEO Charles King stood up in the gallery and began shouting, “PEPFAR saves lives: spend the money!”
The U.S. Capitol Police moved quickly to escort King from the room. Other activists began chanting with King as they unfolded signs bearing a picture of Vought’s face and statements such as, “Vought’s cuts kill people with AIDS,” and “Protect PEPFAR from Vought.”
The group of HIV/AIDS activists included independent activists, former U.S. Agency for International Development and PEPFAR staff, members of Health GAP, Housing Works, and the Treatment Action Group. Six activists were escorted from the hearing and the U.S. Capitol Police detained five of them.
The HIV/AIDS treatment activists protested at the hearing in response to the dismantling of global health programs, including PEPFAR, a federally-funded program credited with saving millions of lives from HIV/AIDS, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
“Russell Vought is directly responsible for illegally withholding Congressionally appropriated funds for PEPFAR and related global health initiative,” King said in a statement provided to the Washington Blade. “These funding disruptions have already contributed to preventable deaths and threaten to reverse decades of progress in the fight against HIV worldwide. Enough is enough. Congress must ensure Vought stops this deadly sabotage.”
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