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Trump reiterates anti-LGBTQ themes in presidential campaign announcement

Advocacy groups condemned the former president

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Former President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Announcing his plans to run again for president in 2024, former President Donald Trumpā€™s speech on Tuesday night from his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida recycled themes of economic populism, international trade, and fear mongering over immigration from Latin American countries that were central to his 2016 campaign.

Trump did touch on more current subjects, however, first by downplaying the defeat suffered by Republican candidates in last weekā€™s midterm elections, as well as those who have blamed him for the partyā€™s weaker-than-expected showing at the ballot box.

He then recited popular recent Republican talking points about President Joe Bidenā€™s age, inflation, energy prices, election integrity, and instability overseas, blaming the current administration for Americaā€™s dicey withdrawal from Afghanistan and Russiaā€™s invasion of Ukraine.

Next, the former president expressed admiration for China and Singaporeā€™s ruthless prosecution of drug dealers, suggesting that American leaders emulate their example, before turning his attention to matters concerning transgender youth in schools and in the military.

Schools engaged in ā€œradical civics and gender insanityā€ will lose federal funding, Trump promised.

ā€œWe will not let men, as an example, participate in womenā€™s sports. No men! My people tell me ā€˜Sir, thatā€™s politically incorrect to say.ā€™ I say, ā€˜thatā€™s okay, Iā€™ll say it anyway,ā€™ā€ he said. ā€œAs commander-in-chief, I will get Bidenā€™s radical left ideology out of our military.ā€

Trump appeared to reference Bidenā€™s reversal, with an executive order, of the Trump administrationā€™s ban on trans Americans from serving in the armed forces.

As the former president delivered his speech, LGBTQ groups published statements condemning Trumpā€™s planned 2024 run.

GLAADā€™s statement read:

ā€œGLAAD documented more than 200 attacks against LGBTQ people throughout the Trump-Pence administration.  It was an administration defined by anti-LGBTQ actions and rhetoric and policy that empowered white supremacists and fueled racism, xenophobia, antisemitism and misogyny. The unmistakable message from the 2022 midterms is that Americans value freedom, support the democratic process, and reject the divisive policies of the recent past. GLAAD urges the media to include former President Trumpā€™s record against LGBTQ equality in their campaign reporting.ā€

A statement from LGBTQ Victory Fund President Annise Parker read in part:

ā€œAnother Donald Trump presidency presents a serious threat to our nationā€™s LGBTQ community which continues to face rampant homophobia and transphobia fueled by his divisiveness. Donald Trump and those who wish to follow in his footsteps continue to use our community ā€” and LGBTQ kids in particular ā€” as political pawns in their quest for power.”

The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release documenting ā€œTrumpā€™s timeline of hate.ā€ Joni Madison, the groupā€™s interim president, condemned the former presidentā€™s reelection bid, writing in part that:

ā€œEven as Republican voters have become increasingly supportive of LGBTQ+ people ā€” registering majority approval of nondiscrimination projections and marriage equality ā€” [Trump] and his extremist MAGA supporters have worked tirelessly to try to slander and demonize us, our relationships, and our families. His time in office saw a relentless onslaught of unconscionable executive orders that made it harder to live as an LGBTQ+ person in this country.ā€

Among the songs that played before Trump took the stage was ā€œDo You Hear the People Sing?ā€ from Victor Hugoā€™s ā€œLes MisĆ©rables,ā€ a tune whose next refrain is ā€œsinging the song of angry men.ā€

Trumpā€™s decision to run again for the presidency, and to announce his candidacy so early is widely believed to be ā€” at least in part ā€” a means of dodging the many investigations by state and federal law enforcement agencies in which the former president has become enmeshed.

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State Department

Protesters demand US fully restore PEPFAR funding

Activists blocked intersection outside State Department on Thursday

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HIV/AIDS activists block an intersection outside the State Department on Feb. 6, 2025. They were demanding the Trump-Vance administration to fully restore PEPFAR funding. (Photo courtesy of Housing Works)

Dozens of HIV/AIDS activists on Thursday protested outside the State Department and demanded U.S. officials fully restore President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief funding.

The activists ā€” members of Housing Works, Health GAP, and the Treatment Action Group ā€” blocked an intersection for an hour. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell told the Washington Blade that police did not make any arrests.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Jan. 24 directed State Department personnel to stop nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending for 90 days in response to an executive order that President Donald Trump signed after his inauguration. Rubio later issued a waiver that allows PEPFAR and other ā€œlife-saving humanitarian assistanceā€ programs to continue to operate during the freeze.

The Blade on Wednesday reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya and other African countries have been forced to suspend services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding.

ā€œPEPFAR is a program that has saved 26 million lives and changed the trajectory of the global HIV/AIDS epidemic,” said Housing Works CEO Charles King in a press release. “The recent freeze on its funding is not just a bureaucratic decision; it is a death sentence for millions who rely on these life-saving treatments. We cannot allow decades of progress to be undone. The U.S. must immediately reaffirm its commitment to global health and human dignity by restoring PEPFAR funding.” 

ā€œWe demand Secretary Rubio immediately reverse his deadly, illegal stop-work order, which has already disrupted life-saving HIV services worldwide,” added Russell. “Any waiver process is too little, too late.”

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The White House

Trump bars trans women and girls from sports

The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

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President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.

In a signing ceremony for ā€œKeeping Men Out of Womenā€™s Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on womenā€™s sports is over.”

Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.

A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found ā€œno direct or consistent researchā€ pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are ā€œreduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.ā€

Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.

The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.

ā€œIf youā€™re going to have womenā€™s sports, if youā€™re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that youā€™re going to preserve womenā€™s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.

Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump ā€œdoes expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in womenā€™s sports.ā€

One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.

The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.

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California

Los Angeles Blade names new publisher

Alexander Rodriguez brings deep media, business experience to outlet

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Alexander Rodriguez (Photo courtesy of Alexander Rodriguez)

The Los Angeles Blade, Southern Californiaā€™s leading LGBTQ news outlet, today announced the appointment of a new publisher, Alexander Rodriguez. 

Rodriguez has a long background in queer media, business development, and a deep commitment to the Los Angeles community. He has worked as a lead writer and podcast host for Metrosource Magazine and for GED Magazine; content director for FleshBot Gay; and as host and producer for the ā€œOn the Rocksā€ podcast. On the business side, Rodriguez spent years working in business development in the banking industry throughout Los Angeles. He also has an extensive background in event planning and management and has served on the boards of many LGBTQ non-profits. As a TV and radio personality, he has served as emcee for LGBTQ events around the nation. 

ā€œIā€™m excited to bring my diverse media and business experience to the Los Angeles Blade,ā€ Rodriguez said. ā€œWe will continue the Bladeā€™s mission of serving as our communityā€™s news outlet of record during these challenging times and work toward building bridges within our community and beyond.ā€

 Rodriguez starts in his new role on Monday, Feb. 3.

ā€œWe are thrilled to welcome Alexander to the Blade team,ā€ said Kevin Naff, one of the owners of the Los Angeles Blade. ā€œHis multimedia and business side experience will help us grow the Blade in L.A. and continue our commitment to best-in-class journalism serving the LGBTQ community in Southern California.ā€

Rodriguez becomes the Los Angeles Bladeā€™s second publisher following the unexpected death of founding publisher Troy Masters in December. Masters served in the role for nearly eight years. The community will come together for a celebration of Mastersā€™s life on Monday, Feb. 10, 7-9 p.m. at the Abbey. 

ā€œTroyā€™s legacy is in good hands with Alexander at the helm alongside our new local news editor, Gisselle Palomera,ā€ Naff added.

The Los Angeles Blade, launched in 2017, celebrates its eighth anniversary in March. It is the sister publication of the Washington Blade, founded in 1969, which offers unmatched coverage of queer political news and is the only LGBTQ outlet in the White House press pool and the White House Correspondentsā€™ Association, and the only LGBTQ outlet with a dedicated seat in the White House briefing room.

Alexander Rodriguez can be reached at [email protected].

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