News
In first, Senate confirms out lesbian as U.S. ambassador
Chantale Wong also first ambassador who’s LGBTQ person of color
Breaking a new barrier after the U.S. ambassadorial corps had been previously represented by the LGBTQ community exclusively in the past by gay men, the U.S. Senate confirmed late Tuesday the first-ever out lesbian to the position of U.S. ambassador.
Chantale Wong was confirmed as director of the Asian Development Bank, a regional development bank that seeks to promote social and economic development in the Asia-Pacific region, by a bipartisan vote of 66-31. In addition to being the first out LGBTQ lesbian confirmed as U.S. ambassador, she is also the first out LGBTQ person of color confirmed to the role.
After the Jim Hormel became the first openly gay ambassador in 1999 when former President Bill Clinton gave a recess appointment as U.S. ambassador to Luxembourg, all future appointments and confirmations from the LGBTQ community to the position as ambassador had been gay men.
When President Biden took office, LGBTQ rights supporters sense a new opportunity began a renewed push a woman to represent the LGBTQ community in the position as U.S. ambassador. One the stated initiatives of the LGBTQ Victory Institute was the appointment of a lesbian to the ambassadorial corps.
Annise Parker, president of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, said in a statement Wong is “a symbol of hope and strength for LGBTQ leaders and community members fighting for LGBTQ rights across the globe.”
“Millions of people still live in countries that criminalize LGBTQ people and deny them the right to marry, including many members states of the Asian Development Bank. Her appointment is a powerful statement to those nations,” Parker said.
Imani Rupert-Gordon, executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, said in a statement Tuesday upon Wong’s confirmation demonstrates Biden’s commitment to LGBTQ people.
“When President Biden took office a year ago, he pledged to transform the Executive Branch by including appointments that reflected the full diversity of our great nation – including people of color and members of the LGBTQ+ community,” Rupert-Gordon said. “From appointing Secretary Buttigieg and Admiral Rachel Levine – the first Senate-confirmed openly gay and transgender cabinet-level appointments respectively – to today’s confirmation of Ambassador Wong, it is clear that President Biden is intent on fulfilling that promise.”
Wong, formerly CFO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, budget director at NASA and acting budget director of the U.S. Treasury Department, has also served as a U.S. representative to the Asian Development Bank. Wong has a master’s degree in Public Administration from Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and a master’s in Environmental Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Her undergraduate degree is in civil and structural engineering from the University of Hawaii.
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.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert
A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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