News
WH unsure if Biden briefed on 2021 breaking record for anti-trans violence
Psaki calls killings ‘terrible, heartbreaking’
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday she was unsure whether President Biden has been briefed on continued violence against transgender and non-binary people, with 2021 totaling out at 45 deaths and the highest number of killings ever reported.
Psaki, asked by the Washington Blade just days before the Transgender Day of Remembrance on Nov. 20, said reports of the violence are “terrible, heartbreaking” after saying she was uncertain whether Biden was briefed.
“I’m not sure, Chris, and I’m happy to ask the president’s — see with out domestic policy team if they briefed on that,” Psaki said. “That’s devastating, and that’s terrible, heartbreaking to hear. It is a commitment by the president to address violence, address threats to transgender people and anyone who is facing those threats, but I will see if he’s been briefed on that.”
When the Blade followed up with an inquiry on what options are on the table to combat the violence, Psaki said she needed to do more research.
“In terms of reducing violence?” Psaki said. “Let me just see if he’s been briefed, and I’ll talk to our domestic policy team and maybe we can connect you directly with them.”
Biden as 2020 presidential candidate highlighted ongoing anti-transgender violence, including its disproportionate reported impact on transgender people of color. In his comprehensive LGBTQ platform, Biden repeatedly pledged he’d take step to protect LGBTQ people from violence.
In fact, Biden predicted the killing of transgender people would end if former President Trump were voted out of office, telling attendees at the Human Rights Campaign dinner in 2019: “The fastest way to end it is to end the Trump administration.”
The year 2021 reached new record for anti-transgender upon the death of Marquiisha “Quii” Lawrence, a 28-year-old Black transgender woman who was shot and killed in her home in Greenville, S.C.
Joni Madison, interim president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement this week announcing 2021 has broken the record for violence against transgender and non-binary a “tragic and deeply upsetting moment.”
“With the death of Marquiisha Lawrence, 2021 has become the deadliest year ever for transgender and gender non-conforming people,” Madison said. “Each of these 45 names represents a whole person and a rich life torn from us by senseless violence, driven by bigotry and transphobia and stoked by people who hate and fear transgender people and the richness of their experience.”
Madison concluded: “Every life has value. Marquiisha’s life had value. At this moment, HRC vows to double down on our efforts to dismantle this culture of hate and stigma, and to honor these lives with action.”
The White House has given recognition to the grim milestone via White House Deputy Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, who’s a lesbian and tweeted about the issue last week,
“This year is the deadliest on record for transgender and non-binary people,” Jean-Pierre tweeted. “It’s unacceptable. Our hearts are with all who knew and loved the 45 people who have been killed this year. The march to end this epidemic of violence continues.”
A White House official, in response to a follow-up email from the Blade on whether Biden has been briefed on anti-transgender violence, pointed to a White House interagency transgender working group announced earlier this year.
“The Biden-Harris Administration has established a government-wide interagency working group to understand and address violence facing transgender Americans,” the official said. “The working group is focused on reviewing policies that are upstream drivers of violence to help develop policy recommendations that will advance safety, opportunity, and inclusion for transgender Americans. The grim milestone that 2021 has become the deadliest year on record for transgender and non-binary people is a difficult reminder that our ongoing efforts remain critical to advance equality and to root out discrimination and violence facing LGBTQ+ Americans.”
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023
The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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