News
DelBene draws on Supreme Court ruling in new effort for LGBTQ troops, veterans
Wash. lawmaker to urge Trump admin to undo trans military ban
On the heels of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in favor of LGBTQ rights, a Washington State congresswoman is drawing on that decision to assist LGBTQ service members and veterans.
Rep. Suzan DelBene (D) reintroduced on Tuesday the Voices for Veterans Act, which will expand the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans to include LGBTQ veterans in its membership and scope.
DelBene, who first introduced the legislation in 2014, said Tuesday in an interview with the Washington Blade the bill is needed to address the “lack of representation of the LGBTQ community on the advisory board.”
“We’re reintroducing [it] again to continue to push forward so that LGBTQ voices are represented as they should be and they deserve to be,” DelBene said.
The Advisory Committee on Minority Veterans, established by Congress in 1994, advises the VA Secretary on meeting minority veterans needs on compensation, health care, rehabilitation, outreach and other VA benefits in addition to recommending program changes to address those needs.
Asked what congressional action she expects on the Voices for Veterans Act, DelBene said she’ll continue to build support for it, but conceded action may come at a later time.
“It also helps for us to have this momentum heading into the next Congress if we’re unable to get it passed this year,” DelBene said.
At the same time, DelBene is gathering signatures for an upcoming letter to the Justice Department and Pentagon calling for elimination of the transgender military ban in light of the Supreme Court’s ruling anti-LGBTQ discrimination is prohibited under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The letter is set to made public next week.
Although Title VII doesn’t have an impact on the transgender military ban at face value, it did establish anti-transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination. Given U.S. legal jurisprudence has established laws related to sex should be subject to heightened scrutiny, or a greater assumption they’re unconstitutional, that should make the transgender military ban vulnerable if subject to judicial review.
Asked to assess how the Trump administration has responded to that court ruling, DelBene said it “has on an ongoing basis made assaults on the LGBTQ community to take down their rights, especially in the military.”
“We have to see change,” DelBene added. “The issues had to go to the Supreme Court to be addressed. We should be looking at the Equality Act, and we’re going to follow that course and we have to address disparities in the LGBTQ community across the board.”’
Although the House has passed the Equality Act, DelBene pointed out the Senate under Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is “unlikely” to take that up.
“We need to move forward and fight for rights in particular for trans rights the administration has been denying,” DelBene added.
Asked if she had any engagement with the Trump administration on the transgender military ban, DelBene said she has “not directly led yet,” but will build support for the letter, then “follow up when we release it.”
Congress
Sens. Butler, Smith introduce Pride in Mental Health Act to aid at-risk LGBTQ youth
Bill is backed by Democrats in both chambers
U.S. Sens. Laphonza Butler (D-Calif.) and Tina Smith (D-Minn.) introduced the Pride in Mental Health Act on Thursday, legislation that would strengthen resources in mental health and crisis intervention for at-risk LGBTQ youth.
“Accessing mental health care and support has become increasingly difficult in nearly every state in the country,” said Butler, who is the first Black LGBTQ senator. “Barriers get even more difficult if you are a young person who lacks a supportive community or is fearful of being outed, harassed, or threatened.”
“I am introducing the Pride in Mental Health Act to help equip LGBTQ+ youth with the resources to get the affirming and often life-saving care they need,” she said.
“Mental health care is health care,” said Smith. “And for some LGBTQ+ youth, receiving access to the mental health care they need can mean the difference between living in safety and dignity, and suffering alone through discrimination, bullying, and even violence.”
The Minnesota senator added that data shows LGBTQ students are experiencing “an epidemic” of “anxiety, depression and other serious mental health conditions.”
For example, a 2023 study by The Trevor Project found that 54 percent of LGBTQ youth reported symptoms of depression, compared to 35 percent of their heterosexual counterparts.
Joining the senators as cosponsors are Democratic U.S. Sens. Ed Markey (Mass.), Bob Casey (Penn.), Peter Welch (Vt.), Alex Padilla (Calif.), Jeff Merkley (Ore.), Cory Booker (N.J.), and Tammy Baldwin (Wis.). Baldwin was the first LGBTQ woman elected to the House in 1999 and the first LGBTQ woman elected to the Senate in 2013.
Leading the House version of the bill are LGBTQ Democratic U.S. Reps. Sharice Davids (Kan.), Eric Sorensen (Ill.), and Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), along with 163 other House members.
Organizations that have backed the Pride in Mental Health Act include the Human Rights Campaign, GLSEN, American Academy of Pediatrics, National Education Association (NEA), National Center for Transgender Equality, Seattle Indian Health Board, PFLAG National, The Trevor Project, American Psychological Association, Whitman-Walker Institute, InterACT: Advocates for Intersex Youth, National Alliance on Mental Illness, American Federation of Teachers (AFT), Mental Health America, and Center for Law and Social Policy.
District of Columbia
D.C. mayor honors 10th anniversary of Team Rayceen Productions
LGBTQ entertainment, advocacy organization praised for ‘vital work’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser today issued an official proclamation declaring Monday, March 18, 2024, as Team Rayceen Day in honor of the local LGBTQ entertainment and advocacy organization Team Rayceen Productions named after its co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis.
“Whereas Rayceen, along with Team Rayceen Productions co-founder, Zar, have spent 10 years advocating for the Black LGBTQI+ community using various forms including in-person events, social media, and YouTube,” the proclamation states.
The proclamation adds that through its YouTube Channel, Team Rayceen Productions created a platform for “Black LGBTQIA+ individuals to discuss various topics including spotlighting nonprofit organizations and small businesses, voter registration and participation, the state of LGBTQIA+ rights and resources in D.C, gender equality and equity, and the amplification of opportunities to bring the community together.”
It also praises Team Rayceen Productions for its partnership with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in helping to produce “exciting events like the District of Pride talent showcase held each June and the iconic 17th Street High Heel Race celebrated in October.”
“Whereas I thank Team Rayceen Productions for its vital and necessary work and am #DCProud to wish you all the best as you continue to support Black LGBTQIA+ residents across all 8 Wards,” the proclamation continues.
“Now, therefore, I, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., do hereby proclaim March 18, 2024, as TEAM RAYCEEN DAY in Washington, D.C. and do commit this observance to all Washingtonians,” it concludes.
“We thank Mayor Bowser for this special proclamation, which highlights where it all began, with the Black LGBTQIA+ community of Washington, D.C,” Team Rayceen Productions says in a statement. “Starting with The Ask Rayceen Show, Reel Affirmation, and events with D.C. Public Library to Art All Night, Silver Pride by Whitman-Walker, and events with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, we are #dcproud of what we have accomplished in the Nation’s Capital,” the statement says.
“For TEAM RAYCEEN DAY, we thank the diverse group of individuals who have made everything we have done possible by volunteering their time and talents over the past decade – as online co-hosts, event staff, performers, DJs, photographers, and more,” says the statement.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court declines to hear case over drag show at Texas university
Students argue First Amendment protects performance
The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday declined to hear a First Amendment case over a public university president’s refusal to allow an LGBTQ student group to host a drag show on campus.
The group’s application was denied without the justices providing their reasoning or issuing dissenting opinions, as is custom for such requests for emergency review.
When plaintiffs sought to organize the drag performance to raise money for suicide prevention in March 2023, West Texas A&M University President Walter Wendler cancelled the event, citing the Bible and other religious texts.
The students sued, arguing the move constituted prior restraint and viewpoint-based discrimination, in violation of the First Amendment. Wendler had called drag shows “derisive, divisive and demoralizing misogyny,” adding that “a harmless drag show” was “not possible.”
The notoriously conservative Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk, who former President Donald Trump appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Texas, ruled against the plaintiffs in September, writing that “it is not clearly established that all drag shows are inherently expressive.”
Kacsmaryk further argued that the High Court’s precedent-setting opinions protecting stage performances and establishing that “speech may not be banned on the ground that it expresses ideas that offend” was inconsistent with constitutional interpretation based on “text, history and tradition.”
Plaintiffs appealed to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is by far the most conservative of the nation’s 12 appellate circuit courts. They sought emergency review by the Supreme Court because the 5th Circuit refused to fast-track their case, so arguments were scheduled to begin after the date of their drag show.
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