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Gigi Sohn withdraws nomination for FCC commissioner

U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) on Tuesday said he opposed her

Published

2 years ago

on

Gigi Sohn (Screen capture via C-SPAN)

President Joe Biden’s nominee for commissioner at the Federal Communications Commission withdraw her candidacy on Tuesday following a long and contentious battle for her confirmation in the U.S. Senate.

“When I accepted his nomination over 16 months ago, I could not have imagined that legions of cable and media industry lobbyists, their bought-and-paid-for surrogates, and dark money political groups with bottomless pockets would distort my over 30-year history as a consumer advocate into an absurd caricature of blatant lies,” Gigi Sohn said in a statement.

“The unrelenting, dishonest and cruel attacks on my character and my career as an advocate for the public interest have taken an enormous toll on me and my family,” she said.

The campaign against Sohn, who would have been the FCC’s first gay commissioner, included allegations last month by media outlets like Fox News, the Daily Mail, Breitbart, that she opposed measures to fight sex trafficking, accusations that were widely condemned as homophobic smears.

Sohn withdrew her nomination for the post hours after U.S. Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) announced he would not support her, citing “her years of partisan activism, inflammatory statements online and work with far-left groups.”

During a Q&A with reporters following Tuesday’s press briefing, White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said, “We appreciate Gigi Sohn’s candidacy for this important role. She would have brought tremendous talent, intellect, and experience, which is why the president nominated her in the first place.”

Jean-Pierre continued, “We also appreciate her dedication to public service, her talents, and her years of work as one of the nation’s leading public advocates on behalf of all Americans.”

The LGBTQ Victory Institute addressed Sohn’s decision on Twitter, writing: “Thank you, @gigibsohn, for your leadership and deep commitment to our country. We know public service is not simply a job but who you are at your core — and we are here to support whatever your next chapter brings.”

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Politics

Biden-Harris administration sets record for number of confirmed LGBTQ judges

Mary Kay Costello Senate confirmation took place Tuesday

Published

24 hours ago

on

September 18, 2024

By

U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The U.S. Senate voted 52-41 on Tuesday to confirm Mary Kay Costello as a judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, thereby setting a record for the number of LGBTQ federal judicial appointments made under the Biden-Harris administration, 12.

The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights says less than three percent of the country’s nearly 900 federal judges are LGBTQ. Until this week, the Obama-Biden administration had appointed the most, 11, over two terms.

Costello is a prosecutor who has served as assistant U.S. attorney in Philadelphia since 2008.

In a post on X, the U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee’s Democratic majority wrote that she “exhibits a breadth of experience and a strong dedication to public service” and is “ready to serve as a federal judge.”

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin (Ill.), the Democratic majority whip and chair of the committee, shared another post on X celebrating the administration’s record-breaking number of LGBTQ judicial appointments, writing, “We’re diversifying the federal judiciary for generations to come.”

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Politics

PREVIEW: Biden grants exclusive interview to the Blade, congratulates Sarah McBride

The sit-down took place in the Oval Office on Thursday

Published

6 days ago

on

September 13, 2024

By

President Joe Biden and Christopher Kane in the Oval Office on Sept. 12, 2024 (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride, who is favored to become the first transgender member of Congress after winning the Democratic primary this week, received a congratulatory call on Wednesday from a powerful friend and ally: President Joe Biden.

The president shared details about their conversation with the Washington Blade during an exclusive interview in the Oval Office on Thursday, which will be available to read online early next week.

“I called her and I said, ‘Sarah,’ I said, ‘Beau’s looking down from heaven, congratulating you,'” Biden said, referring to his late son, who had served as attorney general of Delaware before his death from cancer in 2015.

McBride had worked on Beau Biden’s campaign in 2006 and on his reelection campaign in 2010. Two years later, when she came out as transgender, the AG called to say, “I’m so proud of you. I love you, and you’re still a part of the Biden family.”

The president told the Blade that McBride welled with emotion — “she started to fill up” — as she responded that the “‘only reason I’m here is because of Beau. He had confidence in me.’”

When the two worked together, “[Beau] was getting the hell kicked out” of him because “he hired her,” Biden said, but “now she’s going to be the next congresswoman, the next congresswoman from Delaware.”

Later, when asked how he will remain involved in the struggle for LGBTQ rights after leaving office, the president again mentioned McBride. “Delaware used to be a pretty conservative state, and now we’re going to have — Sarah is going to be, I pray to God, a congresswoman.”

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Harris puts Trump on his heels in high-stakes debate

Little mention of LGBTQ issues during 90-minute showdown

Published

1 week ago

on

September 10, 2024

By

Donald Trump and Kamala Harris (Screen capture: CNN/YouTube)

In the presidential debate hosted by ABC News in Philadelphia on Tuesday, Vice President Kamala Harris put Donald Trump on the defensive over issues from foreign policy and the ongoing criminal prosecutions against him to his record and moral character.

The 90-minute exchange featured no discussion of LGBTQ issues, apart from a baseless accusation by Trump that his opponent “wants to do transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison.”

The remark echoed statements Trump has made recently on the campaign trail, for example in Wisconsin on Monday where he said that children are, however implausibly, returning home from school having underwent sex change operations.

Similarly, during the debate the former president asserted without evidence that Democrats favor abortions up to and following delivery, which would amount to infanticide.

“There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born,” interjected ABC News anchor Linsey Davis, a moderator, who then allowed Harris to respond.

“Well, as I said, you’re gonna hear a bunch of lies, and that’s not actually a surprising fact,” the vice president replied before addressing the question at hand, which concerned abortion.

While Harris did not address the matter of “transgender operations on illegal aliens that are in prison,” viewers on X were quick to mock the comment.

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