National
Marjorie Taylor Greene to Pete Buttigieg: ‘Stay out of our girls’ bathrooms’
Congresswoman also dead names trans swimmer Lia Thomas
Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), recently condemned for speaking at a conference hosted by white nationalist Nick Fuentes, had choice words over the weekend for Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and his husband Chasten Buttigieg, telling them to “stay out of girls’ bathrooms.”
“And you know what?” Greene said at a rally headlined by former President Donald Trump, as reported by Rolling Stone, “Pete Buttigieg can take his electric vehicles and his bicycles and he and his husband can stay out of our girls’ bathrooms.”
Taylor, who lost her committee assignment after being seated in Congress for embracing QAnon conspiracy theories, chose the Buttigiegs as the targets for her message even though neither the gay Cabinet official nor his husband have any direct relationship to the issue of access to bathrooms by transgender people.
The mention of electric vehicles and bicycles appears to be a reference to Buttigieg’s recent comments urging American drivers to consider alternative fuel vehicles in response to concerns about rising gas prices.
Rolling Stone speculates on her meaning in a bit of editorializing: “It’s impossible to know what exactly Greene means by this. It could be a dog whistle for devotees of any number of bigoted slurs, conspiracies, and stereotypes, but the details don’t really matter. Making ugly, dumb statements is her profession, and rewarding ugly, dumb statements is the modern GOP’s modus operandi, and so she’ll keep doing it.”
Greene also included University of Pennsylvania athlete Lia Thomas, a transgender woman who this month became an NCAA swimming champion, among the targets in her remarks to the Trump-supportive crowd.
“Yeah, and Lia Thomas? Lia’s going to remember his name is William, and he needs to go back to men’s swimming, because we’re going to kick the biological men out of the women’s sports,” Greene said.
The Washington Blade has placed a request with the Department of Transportation seeking comment on Greene’s words for Buttigieg.
National
Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
Designer/activist wins for work on ‘Cats: The Jellicle Ball’
It was a historic night at the 79th annual Tony Awards on Sunday as Queen Jean won the award for Best Costume Design of a Musical, making her the first out transgender person to win a Tony.
“This experience has been monumental. We are here for the legacy of queer people, trans people,” she said. “We are taking up space in ways we have to take up space. We have to shift the paradigm. So I just want to say, thank you all so much for this incredible honor. The world right now is deeply, deeply combating so many ailments, and we know as a society that when we come together, we can make real, permanent change.”
She won the award for her work on “Cats: The Jellicle Ball” and was also nominated for best costume design of a play for “Liberation.”
In addition to her stage work, Queen Jean is the founder of Black Trans Liberation, an organization that supports trans and gender-nonconforming people in New York City.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
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