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Kevin McCarthy on same-sex marriage: ‘I support the law of the land’

Republican leader pressed on views after Liz Cheney reversal

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Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (left) proposed in 2016 an LGBTQ amendment Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) helped to defeat.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), eager to capitalize on the U.S. government coming to the brink of a shutdown with Democrats in control of Congress, was thrown off on Thursday when asked about an LGBTQ issue in other news of the week.

In the wake of Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — now ostracized in the Republican Party for opposing former President Donald Trump — telling “60 Minutes” she “was wrong” to oppose same-sex marriage, McCarthy initially ducked when asked by the Washington Blade during his weekly news conference whether his views have changed.

“Look, same-sex marriage is the law of the land, and it’s what America holds and that’s the law of the land,” McCarthy said.

Pressed by the Blade on whether his views have changed, McCarthy repeated, “It’s the law of the land. I support the law of the land. I don’t see how that’s different. I don’t see how that’s news.”

McCarthy’s response leaves room for interpretation. To support the law of the land is to support same-sex marriage, but not exactly a ringing endorsement and would certainly be a different position for McCarthy.

The Washington Examiner reported McCarthy’s words in response to Blade questioning as him having “effectively endorsed” same-sex marriage. The Guardian reported McCarthy “stumbled through an answer” on the issue.

The Washington Blade placed a call to the Republican leader’s congressional office seeking clarification on whether McCarthy intended to signal he supports same-sex marriage with those words.

McCarthy — like Cheney, who once had a public spat with her lesbian sister Mary Cheney over same-sex marriage — has a record in opposition to same-sex marriage, having cast votes against it before his comments this week.

First seated as a member of the U.S. House in 2007, McCarthy missed out on key votes on same-sex marriage, including the Defense of Marriage Act and the Federal Marriage Act.

However, McCarthy as House majority whip in 2011 voted as a member of the congressional Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group in favor of taking up in court defense of DOMA, which barred federal recognition of same-sex marriage, after the Obama administration declined to defend it. The U.S. Supreme Court struck down DOMA in 2013, before ruling in favor of marriage equality nationwide in 2013.

In a related vote on LGBTQ issues, McCarthy played a key role in defeating a 2016 amendment proposed by Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) aimed at upholding an executive order against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in the workplace among federal contractors.

The new comments demonstrate radically changed views since that time in the American public’s support of same-sex marriage. According to a Gallup poll in June, support for same-sex marriage reached a record high of 70 percent this year.

For the first time, a majority of Republicans, 55 percent said they supported same-sex marriage, the Gallup poll found. As pointed out by the Examiner, that’s nearly double the support from 10 years ago in 2011.

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Congress

House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban

‘Big Beautiful Bill’ now heads to the Senate

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U.S. House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael. Key)

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.

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Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer

Va. congressman fought for LGBTQ rights

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U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) speaks at a Barack Obama rally on Oct. 19, 2012. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Democratic U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia died on Wednesday, according to a statement from his family.

The 75-year-old lawmaker, who served in Congress since 2009, announced last month that he will not seek reelection and would step down from his role as the top Democrat on the powerful U.S. House Oversight Committee because his esophageal cancer had returned.

“We were fortunate to share Gerry with Northern Virginia for nearly 40 years because that was his joy, his purpose, and his passion,” his family said in their statement. “His absence will leave a hole in our hearts, but we are proud that his life’s work will endure for future generations.”

“He looked out for the disadvantaged and voiceless. He always stood up for what is right and just,” they said.

Connolly was memorialized in statements from colleagues and friends including House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries (N.Y.), Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.), former President Joe Biden, and U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).

Several highlighted Connolly’s fierce advocacy on behalf of federal workers, who are well represented in his northern Virginia congressional district.

The congressman also supported LGBTQ rights throughout his life and career.

When running for the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors in 1994, he fought the removal of Washington Blade newspapers from libraries. When running in 2008 for the U.S. house seat vacated by Tom Davis, a Republican, Connolly campaigned against the amendment to Virginia’s constitution banning same-sex marriage and civil unions in the state.

In Congress, he supported the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling on marriage equality, the Biden-Harris administration’s rescission of the anti-trans military ban, and the designation within the State Department of a special LGBTQ rights envoy. The congressman also was an original cosponsor of the Equality Act and co-sponsored legislation to repeal parts of the Defense of Marriage Act.


 

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Congress

Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances

Judiciary Committee markup slated for Wednesday morning

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U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.)’s “Protect Children’s Innocence Act,” which would criminalize guideline-directed gender affirming health care for minors, will advance to markup in the House Judiciary Committee on Wednesday morning.

Doctors and providers who administer medical treatments for gender dysphoria to patients younger than 18, including hormones and puberty blockers, would be subject to Class 3 felony charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison if the legislation is enacted.

LGBTQ advocates warn conservative lawmakers want to go after families who travel out of state to obtain medical care for their transgender kids that is banned or restricted in the places where they reside, using legislation like Greene’s to expand federal jurisdiction over these decisions. They also point to the medically inaccurate way in which the bill characterizes evidence-based interventions delineated in standards of care for trans and gender diverse youth as “mutilation” or “chemical castration.”

Days into his second term, President Donald Trump signed “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,” an executive order declaring that the U.S. would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another, and it will rigorously enforce all laws that prohibit or limit” medical treatments and interventions intended for this purpose.

Greene, who has introduced the bill in years past, noted the president’s endorsement of her bill during his address to the joint session of Congress in March when he said “I want Congress to pass a bill permanently banning and criminalizing sex changes on children and forever ending the lie that any child is trapped in the wrong body.”

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