News
Retrocesos en derechos LGBTQ en las Américas ‘son muy preocupantes’
Retrocesos en derechos LGBTQ en las Américas ‘son muy preocupantes’


Nota del editor: Esa nota es la primera parte de una entrevista de tres partes con la Comisionada Flávia Piovesan de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos. Las otras dos partes saldrán en el sitio web del Washington Blade durante los próximos días.
La Comisionada Flávia Piovesan de la Comisión Interamericana de Derechos Humanos el viernes dijo al Washington Blade durante una entrevista en Chile que los retrocesos de derechos humanos para la población LGBTQ en las Américas “son muy preocupantes.”
“En la región tenemos un gran empoderamiento de los grupos más conservadores que son muy focalizados incluso en la Asamblea General de la OEA”, afirmó Piovesan al Blade.
Desde que Donald Trump se sentó en la Casa Blanca los derechos de la población LGBTQ se estancaron y años de conquistas comenzaron a retroceder.
La administración de Trump en 2019 prohibió nuevamente a las personas abiertamente trans de las fuerzas armadas.
La Casa Blanca ha defendido la libertad religiosa en casos de derechos LGBTQ que se han presentado ante la Corte Suprema. El Departamento de Estado el año pasado lanzó la Comisión de Derechos Inalienables con miembros que se oponen la igualdad en el matrimonio y otros derechos para la población LGBTQ.
El vicepresidente Pence en 2015, cuando era gobernador de Indiana, firmó una ley que permite a las empresas negarse a servir a parejas del mismo sexo. Los legisladores la enmendaron en medio de llamamientos para boicotear el estado y indignación de empresas y activistas LGBTQ.
Piovesan dijo al Blade que los retrocesos de derechos humanos para la población LGBTQ no solo afectan a Estados Unidos.
Según la Comisionada y Relatora para los derechos LGBTQ, “hay un movimiento religioso que combate la llamada ideología de género, que ataca a través de la religión los derechos de las personas LGBTI”.
“Hay una libertad religiosa que involucra un derecho a tener una religión, de no tener cualquier religión o de cambiarse de religión, pero el punto básico es un Estado secular y laico, en el que la religión no admite el dominio íntimo del sagrado dominio personal, el mundo interior”, explicó la Comisionada de la CIDH al Blade.
Bajo su perspectiva la religión “no puede incidir con la relación pública y secular que debe llevar el Estado. Ese es un punto clave que me parece, es muy importante”.
“Si hay algunos intentos religiosos de combatir y atacar los derechos de las personas LGBTI, el punto de partida es la igualdad y prohibición de discriminación. El derecho a la libertad religiosa encuentra este límite en la igualdad y la prohibición de la discriminación”, subrayó Piovesan.
“Tenemos derechos logrados y conquistados. Hay que tener una lucidez y una seriedad para aplicar las estrategias más efectivas para cambiar eso”, concluyó.
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.

Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
Congress
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

The Republican-led U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 215-214 for passage of the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” reconciliation package, which includes provisions that would prohibit the use of federal funds to support gender-affirming care.
But for an 11th hour revision of the bill late Wednesday night by conservative lawmakers, Medicaid and CHIP would have been restricted only from covering treatments and interventions administered to patients younger than 18.
The legislation would also drop requirements that some health insurers must cover gender-affirming care as an “essential health benefit” and force states that currently mandate such coverage to find it independently. Plans could still offer coverage for transgender care but without the EHB classification patients will likely pay higher out of pocket costs.
To offset the cost of extending tax cuts from 2017 that disproportionately benefited the wealthiest Americans, the reconciliation bill contains significant cuts to spending for federal programs like Medicaid and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
The Human Rights Campaign criticized House Republicans in a press release and statement by the group’s president, Kelley Robinson:
“People in this country want policies and solutions that make life better and expand access to the American Dream. Instead, anti-equality lawmakers voted to give handouts to billionaires built on the backs of hardworking people — with devastating consequences for the LGBTQ+ community.
“If the cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP or resources like Planned Parenthood clinics weren’t devastating enough, House Republicans added a last minute provision that expands its attacks on access to best practice health care to transgender adults.
“This cruel addition shows their priorities have never been about lowering costs or expanding health care access–but in targeting people simply for who they are. These lawmakers have abandoned their constituents, and as they head back to their districts, know this: they will hear from us.”
Senate Republicans are expected to pass the bill with the budget reconciliation process, which would allow them to bypass the filibuster and clear the spending package with a simple majority vote.
Changes are expected as the bill will be reviewed and amended by committees, particularly the Finance Committee, and then brought to the floor for debate — though modifications are expected to focus on Medicaid reductions and debate over state and local tax deductions.

2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










