Congress
Democratic leaders urged to restrict Supreme Court jurisdiction over marriage, abortion
Roe v. Wade overturned last month

In a letter to Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill, 10 Democratic members of the U.S. House of Representatives asked for support in establishing and protecting nationwide privacy rights that include abortion and marriage equality.
The letter, addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), calls on party leaders to support a push to restrict the U.S. Supreme Court’s jurisdiction over matters and decisions regarding certain privacy-related rights.
“We write to urge your support for restricting the Supreme Court’s appellate jurisdiction in the areas of abortion, marriage equality, non-procreative intimacy and contraception,” the members of Congress wrote. “In doing so, we can ensure that, as Congress takes legislative action to codify each of these fundamental rights, a radical, restless and newly constituted majority on the court cannot further undermine the protections we would enact.”
Although Congress cannot remove the Supreme Court from cases falling under its original jurisdiction, Article III of the Constitution does grant Congress the power to strip the court’s jurisdiction in appellate cases.
Appellate jurisdiction pertains to a court hearing, reversing or amending a lower court’s previous decision on a case.
The signatories of the letter to Democratic leadership pointed to instances in which the Supreme Court itself has reaffirmed such congressional power in the past.
“Most recently, in Patchak v. Zinke (2018), Justice Thomas held for the court that, ‘When Congress strips federal courts of jurisdiction, it exercises a valid legislative power no less than when it lays taxes, coins money, declares war, or invokes any other power that the Constitution grants it,” they wrote. “‘Indeed, this court has held that Congress generally does not violate Article III when it strips federal jurisdiction over a class of cases.’”
The letter comes amid a new era of heightened tension between the Supreme Court and a number of members of Congress who have accused it of threatening the rights of certain groups of Americans after ruling on several controversial cases heard during its latest term.
In relaying what they feel to be the urgency of enacting such restrictions, the letter’s signatories pointed to the Supreme Court’s decision last month in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization that ended the nationwide right to abortion. More privacy-related rights, they say, are now under threat.
“As a result of the Supreme Court’s actions, millions of people will no longer have access to abortion care, a crisis disproportionately impacting women, people of color, LGBTQIA+ people, and the undocumented,” the signatories wrote. “Moreover, Justice Thomas’ concurrence in Dobbs laid out a clear plan for the Supreme Court to overturn Obergefell v. Hodges (2015), Lawrence v. Texas (2003), and Griswold v. Connecticut (1965) in the near future, placing the rights to marriage equality, non-procreative intimacy and contraception in jeopardy.”
The letter was signed by U.S. Reps. Mondaire Jones (D-N.Y.), Marie Newman (D-Ill.), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.), Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-N.J.), Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.), Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.), Cori Bush (D-Mo.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Kaiali’i Kahele (D-Hawaii).
Congress
Congress passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ with massive cuts to health insurance coverage
Roughly 1.8 million LGBTQ Americans rely on Medicaid

The “Big, Beautiful Bill” heads to President Donald Trump’s desk following the vote by the Republican majority in the U.S. House of Representatives Thursday, which saw two nays from GOP members and unified opposition from the entire Democratic caucus.
To partially offset the cost of tax breaks that disproportionately favor the wealthy, the bill contains massive cuts to Medicaid and social safety net programs like food assistance for the poor while adding a projected $3.3 billion to the deficit.
Policy wise, the signature legislation of Trump’s second term rolls back clean energy tax credits passed under the Biden-Harris administration while beefing up funding for defense and border security.
Roughly 13 percent of LGBTQ adults in the U.S., about 1.8 million people, rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurer, compared to seven percent of non-LGBTQ adults, according to the UCLA School of Law’s Williams Institute think tank on sexual orientation and gender identities.
In total, the Congressional Budget Office estimates the cuts will cause more than 10 million Americans to lose their coverage under Medicaid and anywhere from three to five million to lose their care under Affordable Care Act marketplace plans.
A number of Republicans in the House and Senate opposed the bill reasoning that they might face political consequences for taking away access to healthcare for, particularly, low-income Americans who rely on Medicaid. Poorer voters flocked to Trump in last year’s presidential election, exit polls show.
A provision that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation — reportedly after the first trans member of Congress, U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and the first lesbian U.S. senator, Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), shored up unified opposition to the proposal among Congressional Democrats.
Congress
Ritchie Torres says he is unlikely to run for NY governor
One poll showed gay Democratic congressman nearly tied with Kathy Hochul

Gay Democratic Congressman Ritchie Torres of New York is unlikely to challenge New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) in the state’s next gubernatorial race, he said during an appearance Wednesday on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”
“I’m unlikely to run for governor,” he said. ““I feel like the assault that we’ve seen on the social safety net in the Bronx is so unprecedented. It’s so overwhelming that I’m going to keep my focus on Washington, D.C.”
Torres and Hochul were nearly tied in a poll this spring of likely Democratic voters in New York City, fueling speculation that the congressman might run. A Siena College poll, however, found Hochul leading with a wider margin.
Back in D.C., the congressman and his colleagues are unified in their opposition to President Donald Trump’s signature legislation, the “Big Beautiful Bill,” which heads back to the House after passing the Senate by one vote this week.
To pay for tax cuts that disproportionately advantage the ultra-wealthy and large corporations, the president and Congressional Republicans have proposed massive cuts to Medicaid and other social programs.
A provision in the Senate version of the bill that would have blocked the use of federal funds to reimburse medical care for transgender youth was blocked by the Senate Parliamentarian and ultimately struck from the legislation, reportedly after pressure from transgender U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) and lesbian U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.).
Torres on “Morning Joe” said, “The so-called Big Beautiful Bill represents a betrayal of the working people of America and nowhere more so than in the Bronx,” adding, “It’s going to destabilize every health care provider, every hospital.”
Congress
House Democrats oppose Bessent’s removal of SOGI from discrimination complaint forms
Congressional Equality Caucus sharply criticized move

A letter issued last week by a group of House Democrats objects to Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent’s removal of sexual orientation and gender identity as bases for sex discrimination complaints in several Equal Employment Opportunity forms.
Bessent, who is gay, is the highest ranking openly LGBTQ official in American history and the second out Cabinet member next to Pete Buttigieg, who served as transportation secretary during the Biden-Harris administration.
The signatories to the letter include a few out members of Congress, Congressional Equality Caucus chair and co-chairs Mark Takano (Calif.), Ritchie Torres (N.Y.), and Becca Balint (Vt.), along with U.S. Reps. Nikema Williams (Ga.), Hank Johnson (Ga.), Raja Krishnamoorthi (Ill.), Delia Ramirez (Ill.), Joyce Beatty (Ohio), Lloyd Doggett (Texas), Eleanor Holmes Norton (D.C.), Josh Gottheimer (N.J.), and Sylvia Garcia (D-Texas).
The letter explains the “critical role” played by the EEO given the strictures and limits on how federal employees can find recourse for unlawful workplace discrimination — namely, without the ability to file complaints directly with the Employment Opportunity Commission or otherwise engage with the agency unless the complainant “appeal[s] an agency’s decision following the agency’s investigation or request[s] a hearing before an administrative judge.”
“Your attempt to remove ‘gender identity’ and ‘sexual orientation’ as bases for sex discrimination complaints in numerous Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO) forms will create unnecessary hurdles to employees filing EEO complaints and undermine enforcement of federal employee’s nondiscrimination protections,” the members wrote in their letter.
They further explain the legal basis behind LGBTQ inclusive nondiscrimination protections for federal employees in the EEOC’s decisions in Macy v. Holder (2012) and Baldwin v. Foxx (2015) and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020).
“It appears that these changes may be an attempt by the department to dissuade employees from reporting gender identity and sexual orientation discrimination,” the lawmakers wrote. “Without forms clearly enumerating gender identity and sexual orientation as forms of sex discrimination, the average employee who experiences these forms of discrimination may see these forms and not realize that the discrimination they experienced was unlawful and something that they can report and seek recourse for.”
“A more alarming view would be that the department no longer plans to fulfill its legal obligations to investigate complaints of gender identity and sexual orientation and ensure its
employees are working in an environment free from these forms of discrimination,” they added.
-
Federal Government2 days ago
Treasury Department has a gay secretary but LGBTQ staff are under siege
-
Virginia3 days ago
Defying trends, new LGBTQ center opens in rural Winchester, Va.
-
District of Columbia2 days ago
Gay GOP group hosts Ernst, 3 House members — all of whom oppose Equality Act
-
Opinions4 days ago
USAID’s demise: America’s global betrayal of trust with LGBTQ people