News
Senate may cue up marriage vote soon, but 60 votes not assured
Some Republican leaders doubt there’s sufficient support
Legislation seeking to codify same-sex marriage may be cued up as soon as this week in the U.S. Senate after lawmakers returned from August recess, although reaching the 60-vote threshold to end a filibuster is unassured.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) took to the Senate floor on Wednesday to make the case for the Respect for Marriage Act, which he said was needed in the aftermath of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe v. Wade.
“Over the past few months, both sides have engaged in good-faith conversations about how to pass marriage equality into law,” Schumer said. “I truly hope – for the sake of tens of millions of Americans — that there will be at least ten Republicans who will vote with us to pass this important bill soon. Democrats are ready to make it happen — and willing to debate reasonable compromises on the specifics — so I urge my colleagues on the other side to join us.”
The likeliest scenario, as of Wednesday, was for Senate Democrats to start the procedural process Thursday to set up for votes on the Respect for Marriage Act early next week, two Democratic aides familiar with the bill told the Blade.
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the only open lesbian in the Senate, has been a proponent of the legislation and would be a likely candidate to go to the floor to seek a vote on the legislation.
Whether or not there are 60 votes in the Senate to end a filibuster is another matter. Supporters of the legislation have been bullish about obtaining 10 Republican votes to aid the united Democratic caucus in cutting off debate to move forward with the bill, but only four Republicans have signaled support in some capacity: Susan Collins (Maine), Rob Portman (Ohio), Thom Tillis (N.C.) and Ron Johnson (Wis).
“As for vote count, still the same,” one Senate Democratic aide told the Blade on Wednesday. “We don’t have 10 firm commitments from Republicans, but we are close and believe that the votes are there without the firm commitments.”
Johnson also has indicated his support would be conditional upon the inclusion of language to accommodate objections to same-sex marriage on religious grounds. Language being drafted by Baldwin and Collins for such an amendment, Democratic aides familiar with the bill told the Blade, would affirm the 1993 Religious Freedom Restoration Act, but go no further.
A competing amendment on religious exemptions, however, is expected to come from Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah), according to a report in Politico. His office didn’t immediately respond Wednesday to the Blade’s request to comment on the nature of the amendment or the support obtained for the measure.
Concerns that there aren’t enough votes to advance the Respect for Marriage Act were piqued last week in the aftermath of an article in Politico with the headline: “Same-sex marriage bill teeters on verge of GOP filibuster.” The article points out numerous Republicans who are possible “yes” votes, such as Sens. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and Lisa Murkowksi (R-Alaska), have yet to declare outright support for the legislation.
Murkowski, who was an early Republican supporter of same-sex marriage, stands out in the group as among the Republicans who have yet to declare a position on the Respect for Marriage Act, although a spokesperson for the Alaska Republican confirmed to the Blade she remains undecided.
“Sen. Murkowski has long supported marriage equality,” said Hannah Ray, a Murkowksi spokesperson. “She is reviewing the House-passed bill and tracking negotiations in the Senate over possible modifications to the text of the Respect for Marriage Act introduced by Sens. Baldwin and Collins, so at this time she has not announced how she will vote.”
The conclusion of the Politico article that sufficient support remains in question, however, appears largely based on quotes from senior Republicans in the Senate who reportedly cast doubt about whether enough members of their caucus would break away to support the bill. Senate Minority Whip John Thune (R-S.D.) was quoted as saying right now no one knows “the exact answer” on the number of votes; he reportedly added he hasn’t done a formal whip count.
Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) was reportedly more blunt in his assessment: “I don’t see 10 Republicans,” Cornyn was quoted as saying. “I assume if people were inclined to support it, they would have already declared in support of it.”
Blade readers will remember Cornyn was the member of the Senate Judiciary Committee who pressed now U.S. Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson during her confirmation hearing about the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 decision in favor of same-sex marriage, asking her whether she could understand observers being surprised by the outcome.
Despite Cornyn’s projections, Republicans in the Senate have had a history of keeping their cards close to their vests on measures relating to LGBTQ rights before some ultimately break away to vote in the favor of the legislation. Such has been the case in the past 12 years with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and the Employment Non-Discrimination Act.
Bolstering the prospects for the Respect for Marriage Act is that the bill would reaffirm existing law as opposed to make changes. The legislation also wouldn’t codify same-sex marriage into the U.S. code, but rather repeal from the books the Defense of Marriage Act, which the Supreme Court struck down in 2013, and require states to recognize same-sex marriages performed elsewhere.
A final push for the legislation among its supporters was evident in recent days as expectations for a vote increased. The Human Rights Campaign was set on Thursday to deliver to the Pittsburgh office of the undecided Toomney letters urging him to support the Respect for Marriage Act
Within the Republican Party, more than 400 prominent Republicans signed a letter organized by the LGBTQ group Freedom for All Americans and issued on Tuesday urging support for the Respect for Marriage Act. Among the co-signers are former Republican National Committee chair Ken Mehlman, who’s gay; Mehmet Oz, the Republican Senate nominee in Pennsylvania; and former president George W. Bush’s daughter Barbara Bush.
“As Republicans and conservatives, we believe strong families and lasting relationships strengthen communities, and civil marriage is a fundamental freedom central to individual liberty and the pursuit of happiness,” the letter says. “We stand with the 71 percent of Americans today, including a majority of registered Republicans, who support the freedom to marry for all Americans.”
Baldwin, for her part, said in a statement to the Blade on Wednesday she continues to remain optimistic about reaching the necessary 60 votes on the Respect for Marriage Act and work continues behind the scenes on those efforts.
“I am continuing my work to build the Republican support needed to pass our bipartisan legislation to protect marriage equality and ensure Americans in same-sex and interracial marriages are guaranteed the same rights and freedoms of every other marriage,” Baldwin said. “These loving couples deserve this certainty and the American people overwhelmingly agree.”
Advocacy groups are demanding the Trump-Vance administration not to deport two gay men to Iran.
MS Now on Jan. 23 reported the two men are among the 40 Iranian nationals who the White House plans to deport.
Iran is among the countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death.
The Washington Blade earlier this month reported LGBTQ Iranians have joined anti-government protests that broke out across the country on Dec. 28. Human rights groups say the Iranian government has killed thousands of people since the demonstrations began.
Rebekah Wolf of the American Immigration Council, which represents the two men, told MS Now her clients were scheduled to be on a deportation flight on Jan. 25. A Human Rights Campaign spokesperson on Tuesday told the Blade that one of the men “was able to obtain a temporary stay of removal from the” 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, and the other “is facing delayed deportation as the result of a measles outbreak at the facility where they’re being held.”
“My (organization, the American Immigration Council) represents those two gay men,” said American Immigration Council Senior Fellow Aaron Reichlin-Melnick in a Jan. 23 post on his Bluesky account. “They had been arrested on charges of sodomy by Iranian moral police, and fled the country seeking asylum. They face the death penalty if returned, yet the Trump (administration) denied their asylum claims in a kangaroo court process.”
“They are terrified,” added Reichlin-Melnick.
My org @immcouncil.org represents those two gay men. They had been arrested on charges of sodomy by Iranian moral police, and fled the country seeking asylum. They face the death penalty if returned, yet the Trump admin denied their asylum claims in a kangaroo court process.
They are terrified.
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) January 23, 2026 at 8:26 AM
Reichlin-Melnick in a second Bluesky post said “deporting people to Iran right now, as body bags line the street, is an immoral, inhumane, and unjust act.”
“That ICE is still considering carrying out the flight this weekend is a sign of an agency and an administration totally divorced from basic human rights,” he added.
Deporting people to Iran right now, as body bags line the street, is an immoral, inhumane, and unjust act. That ICE is still considering carrying out the flight this weekend is a sign of an agency and an administration totally divorced from basic human rights. www.ms.now/news/trump-d…
— Aaron Reichlin-Melnick (@reichlinmelnick.bsky.social) January 23, 2026 at 8:27 AM
HRC Vice President of Government Affairs David Stacy in a statement to the Blade noted Iran “is one of 12 nations that still execute queer people, and we continue to fear for their safety.” Stacy also referenced Renee Good, a 37-year-old lesbian woman who a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent shot and killed in Minneapolis on Jan. 7, and Andry Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan asylum seeker who the Trump-Vance administration “forcibly disappeared” to El Salvador last year.
“This out-of-control administration continues to target immigrants and terrorize our communities,” said Stacy. “That same cruelty murdered Renee Nicole Good and imprisoned Andry Hernández Romero. We stand with the American Immigration Council and demand that these men receive the due process they deserve. Congress must refuse to fund this outrage and stand against the administration’s shameless dismissal of our constitutional rights.”
Maryland
Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities
Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14
FreeState Justice this week spoke with the Washington Blade about their priorities during this year’s legislative session in Annapolis that began on Jan. 14.
Ronnie L. Taylor, the group’s community director, on Wednesday said the organization continues to fight against discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. FreeState Justice is specifically championing a bill in the General Assembly that would expand access to PrEP in Maryland.
Taylor said FreeState Justice is working with state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Arundel and Howard Counties) on a bill that would expand the “scope of practice for pharmacists in Maryland to distribute PrEP.” The measure does not have a title or a number, but FreeState Justice expects it will have both in the coming weeks.
FreeState Justice has long been involved in the fight to end the criminalization of HIV in the state.
Governor Wes Moore last year signed House Bill 39, which decriminalized HIV in Maryland.
The bill — the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act — is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in 2024. FreeState Justice said Marylanders prosecuted under Maryland Health-General Code § 18-601.1 have already seen their convictions expunged.
Taylor said FreeState Justice will continue to “oppose anti anti-LGBTQ legislation” in the General Assembly. Their website later this week will publish a bill tracker.
The General Assembly’s legislative session is expected to end on April 13.
Central America
Dignidad para vidas LGBTQ en Centroamérica
Embajada canadiense en El Salvador se presentó ‘Historias de vida desde los cuerpos y territorios de la disidencia LGBTIQ+’
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador — “A los 16 años, mi papá me echó”. Esa frase directa, sin adornos ni concesiones, es parte de una de las historias más impactantes del libro “Historias de vida desde los cuerpos y territorios de la disidencia LGBTIQ+”, presentado el 23 de enero. El testimonio pertenece a Estrella Cerón, mujer trans salvadoreña, cuya vida quedó marcada por la expulsión familiar y la violencia cotidiana ejercida contra su identidad.
Estrella relata que fue descubierta abrazando a un muchacho en la panadería que pertenecía a su familia, lugar donde también trabajaba. La respuesta fue inmediata: no le permitieron cambiarse de ropa ni llevar sus pertenencias. Salió “sucia, con olor a grasa, sin zapatos”. Su padre lloró al verla irse, pero no la detuvo. “Así ándate”, le dijo. Ese episodio no solo marcó su historia personal, sino que hoy se convierte en un reflejo de una realidad compartida por muchas personas trans en El Salvador y la región.
Durante la presentación del libro, Cerón tomó la palabra y compartió lo que significó volver a su historia frente a otras personas. Reconoció que no fue un proceso sencillo, pues implicó enfrentarse a recuerdos profundamente dolorosos.
“Fue doloroso hablarlo, sentí como un muro que fui rompiendo a poco a poco, saliendo adelante y pues hasta el día de hoy me siento más empoderada y más fuerte”, expresó. Sus palabras resonaron entre las y los asistentes, evidenciando que narrar la propia vida puede convertirse en un acto de sanación y afirmación personal.
Este momento público subrayó uno de los ejes centrales del proyecto: el derecho de las personas LGBTQ a contar sus historias en sus propios términos, sin miedo y con dignidad.
Rostros de la Equidad: un proyecto regional de memoria y justicia
La presentación de las publicaciones se realizó en el marco del proyecto Rostros de la Equidad, impulsado por COMCAVIS TRANS, con el apoyo de OIKOS y la Embajada de Canadá en El Salvador. El evento reunió a activistas, representantes de organizaciones sociales, cooperación internacional y público en general.
Como parte de este proyecto se presentaron dos materiales: el libro “Historias de vida desde los cuerpos y territorios de la disidencia LGBTIQ+” y el glosario vivencial y de conceptos sobre la diversidad sexual y de género. Ambos productos buscan aportar a la visibilización, sensibilización y defensa de los derechos humanos de las personas LGBTQ en Centroamérica.
El proyecto se concibió como un proceso colectivo, regional y participativo, en el que las voces protagonistas fueran las de quienes históricamente han sido marginadas.
El libro de historias de vida se distancia de la lógica del simple recopilatorio de testimonios. Tal como lo expresa su prólogo, se trata de “un acto de memoria, reparación, justicia personal y colectiva”. Su objetivo es mostrar voces que han resistido al silencio y al miedo, y que hoy deciden narrar sus verdades.
Las historias incluidas atraviesan experiencias de expulsión familiar, discriminación, violencia institucional, migración forzada y exclusión social. Sin embargo, también dan cuenta de procesos de resistencia, organización comunitaria, reconstrucción personal y esperanza.
En ese equilibrio entre dolor y dignidad, el libro se convierte en una herramienta política y pedagógica que interpela a la sociedad y a las instituciones.
Junto al libro se presentó el glosario vivencial y de conceptos sobre la diversidad sexual y de género, una propuesta que busca ir más allá de las definiciones tradicionales. El glosario no se limita a explicar términos, sino que los conecta con experiencias reales de personas LGBTQ.
Cada concepto está atravesado por el derecho a la identidad, el reconocimiento y la dignidad. De esta forma, las palabras dejan de ser etiquetas para convertirse en relatos vivos que reflejan cuerpos, territorios e historias concretas.
Las organizaciones impulsoras señalaron que el glosario pretende ser una herramienta accesible para procesos formativos, educativos y comunitarios, aportando a una comprensión más humana de la diversidad sexual y de género.
El respaldo internacional y el valor de la resistencia
Durante la presentación, la embajadora de Canadá en El Salvador, Mylène Paradis, reconoció el trabajo de COMCAVIS TRANS, OIKOS y de todas las personas que hicieron posible Rostros de la Equidad.
“Las historias de vida reunidas en este libro nos recuerdan que resistir no es solo sobrevivir, sino también afirmar la propia existencia, reclamar derechos y construir esperanza incluso en contextos adversos”, afirmó Paradis, destacando la importancia de apoyar iniciativas que promueven la justicia social y los derechos humanos.
Su intervención subrayó el valor político de la memoria y el papel de la cooperación internacional en el acompañamiento de procesos liderados por organizaciones locales.
Un proceso regional de escucha y construcción colectiva
El libro y el glosario son el resultado de una consulta a 10 personas LGBTQ: cuatro de Guatemala, dos de El Salvador y cuatro de Honduras. Además, se realizaron grupos focales en cada uno de estos países para profundizar en las experiencias compartidas.
El proceso inició en agosto de 2024 y concluyó con la presentación pública de los resultados en enero de 2026. Para las organizaciones participantes, este trabajo evidenció la necesidad de generar espacios seguros de escucha y diálogo en la región.
La dimensión regional del proyecto permite identificar patrones comunes de violencia, pero también estrategias compartidas de resistencia y organización.
Georgina Olmedo, encargada del área de formación y nuevos liderazgos de COMCAVIS TRANS El Salvador, destacó que el libro busca reconocer las historias que atraviesan las personas LGBTQ.
“Son historias marcadas por la resistencia, la dignidad, el aprendizaje y toda la esperanza”, señaló, subrayando que muchas de estas vivencias continúan siendo invisibilizadas en el discurso público.
Para Olmedo, visibilizar estas narrativas es un paso necesario para transformar las realidades de exclusión y violencia que enfrenta esta población.
Escuchar sin juzgar: el valor del acompañamiento
Desde OIKOS, Jason García resaltó que el libro incluye voces de Guatemala y Honduras, lo que le otorga un carácter regional. Señaló que fue un honor conocer historias de personas que se atrevieron a contar lo que nunca antes habían contado.
García explicó que muchas de las personas participantes expresaron estar cansadas de ocultar quiénes son y que, durante el proceso, encontraron por primera vez espacios donde fueron escuchadas sin ser juzgadas.
“Cada historia que se comparte es un recordatorio de que ninguna violencia puede apagar la dignidad de una persona”, afirmó, destacando los procesos de sanación y reconstrucción que emergen incluso en contextos adversos.
Marielos Handal, integrante del equipo de OIKOS que acompañó la investigación, compartió una reflexión sobre los retos que implicó construir estas publicaciones. Las entrevistas, explicó, dejaron nudos en la garganta, silencios densos y muchas preguntas abiertas.
Entre ellas, cómo continuar escribiendo después de escuchar relatos de abandono, rechazo y violencia sistemática; cómo narrar sin revictimizar, sin simplificar ni maquillar la verdad, pero tampoco explotarla.
Estas preguntas atravesaron todo el proceso editorial, marcando el cuidado con el que se construyeron tanto el libro como el glosario, priorizando siempre la dignidad de las personas participantes.
Palabras que se convierten en dignidad colectiva
La presentación cerró con un llamado a leer estas publicaciones no desde la lástima, sino desde la responsabilidad colectiva de reconocer las deudas históricas con las personas LGBTQ en Centroamérica.
Historias de vida desde los cuerpos y territorios de la disidencia LGBTQ y su glosario vivencial se consolidan como documentos necesarios en un contexto marcado por la exclusión, pero también por la lucha, la memoria y la esperanza.
En cada relato, como el de Cerón, queda claro que narrar la propia historia es un acto profundamente político: contar lo vivido no borra el dolor, pero lo transforma en palabra, memoria y dignidad compartida.
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