Politics
LGBTQ leaders, DNC chair address LGBTQ Caucus meeting at Democratic convention
Danica Roem, Sarah McBride among attendees
CHICAGO — A coalition of LGBTQ leaders addressed the second meeting of the LGBTQ Caucus at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago’s McCormick Place Convention Center on Wednesday.
In order of appearance, speakers included Democratic National Committee LGBTQ Caucus Chair Earl Fowlkes, Harris-Walz National LGBTQ+ Engagement Director Sam Alleman, congressional candidate and Delaware state Sen. Sarah McBride (D), senior advisor to Vice President Kamala Harris Sergio Gonzales, LGBTQ Victory Fund and Institute President Annise Parker, Chasten Buttigieg, Texas state Rep. Julie Johnson (D), Democratic National Committee Chair Jaime Harrison, actor and LGBTQ activist Wilson Cruz, writer and LGBTQ activist Charlotte Clymer, Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem (D), National LGBTQ Task Force President Kierra Johnson, Stonewall veteran and transgender rights activist Miss Major Griffin-Gracy, and U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.).
Fowlkes celebrated the record-breaking number of LGBTQ delegates in Chicago this year — more than 800, up from 635 in 2020 — and invited those who were in the room to gather near the stage for photos. He also noted his formation of a trans advisory commission, an ad-hoc committee to the LGBTQ caucus.
“I don’t think I have to tell anyone how clear as day the difference between our ticket is and their ticket is when it comes to issues for our community,” Alleman said. Outlining the Out for Harris national LGBTQ organizing program, he noted the events and investments in earned and paid media, along with metrics.
Up next, Alleman said, will be continued onboarding of sub-groups and state programs with a focus on Broadway, drag performers, queer women, Black LGBTQ people, and “mama bears and allies.” He said Out for Harris will also scale national direct voter contact and organizing efforts through an organizing call on Aug. 29, weekly direct voter contact trainings and activations, which will become daily on Oct. 12, and get out the vote (GOTV) efforts.
McBride, the Democratic Party’s endorsed candidate for Delaware’s open congressional seat, said that while to she hopes to “join you in four years not just as Delaware’s next member of Congress, but as the first openly trans member of Congress in American history,” she is “running to make historic change on all of the issues that matter.”
“Right now, there is a cruel and concerted effort,” McBride said, to “roll back the clock on our progress” and “target some of the most vulnerable but badass members of the LGBTQ community for hate and discrimination — trans young people.”
“We also know what is possible when it comes to all of the issues that we face, because at the end of the day, as Audre Lorde reminds us, there is no such thing as a single issue cause, because no one lives single issue lives,” she said.
“As someone who has worked up close with the vice president now for a number of years,” said Gonzales, who has been a senior advisor to Harris from the time she began serving in the U.S. Senate in 2017, “the only thing I really want to focus on today for his remarks is just to make sure that you know we are on the cusp of electing a leader and a champion who has been in the LGBTQ community for years.”
But while “we know that Kamala Harris has showed up for our community time and again,” Gonzales said, now “Kamala Harris needs you” because “this is going to be a really tight election” and “we know the ugliness of the other side, the kind of hate that they’re spewing towards our community in particular.”
After outlining the services provided by the Victory Fund, which works to elect LGBTQ people to public office, and the Victory Institute, which provides training, professional development, and networking services, Parker discussed the stakes of November’s elections.
“Kamala Harris is going to have coattails,” she said, “but she’s going to need us at the grassroots pushing up. And people are going to show up for the trans school board candidate in their community. People are going to show up for a state rep who is non binary in their community. People going to show up for a lesbian or gay man who is running for city council. Even if they’re not excited about the top of the ticket, as we are, they will show up in their community for people they know.”
“Politics has always pushed me to try to do the right thing, and I don’t think me becoming a parent has changed my political convictions, but it sure has scared the daylight out of me,” said Buttigieg, who is raising a son and daughter with husband Pete Buttigieg, secretary of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
“I hope that we can remind one another that, yes, some dreams have come true because of politics and because of progress, because of the people linking arms in this room saying ‘we demand more, we demand better,'” he said, but there are kids out there who are afraid to be who they are or unable to be open about who they are for fear for their safety. “So let’s go out there and show them that there can be a better way, and I know we can do that by electing Kamala Harris and Tim Walz this November.”
Noting that she formed the first-ever LGBTQ caucus in the Texas legislature, Johnson said the message from her opponents during her primary campaign was “that the gay community, that the trans community, were terrible, were going to destroy our society and ruin the American family.”
“I was the only Democrat on TV, and my message was, I am gay all day, I am gay, gay, gay, gay, gay,” she said. “My message to you is this, don’t hide from your truth. Own it. Campaign on it. People value it. They will vote for you, and you will win, just like I did in the state of Texas.”
“I describe this convention as a big and probably the hardest family reunion in the world,” Harrison said, “because, in family reunions, people are laughing, they’re hugging, they’re dancing, and they’re crying sometimes, but those reunions are filled with love and happiness, joy” while “the other party is a party that’s built around fear; they want to make you afraid of everything.”
“When they come for one of us, they come for all of us,” he said. “I want every LGBTQ+ person who is growing up in this country to understand you matter, you are enough, and we are going to fight for you.”
Cruz defined the two tickets in stark and diametrically opposite terms. “We can have a White House that believes in equality for all of us,” he said, “or we can have a dictatorship hellbent on ending American democracy itself.”
“And that’s why I’m showing up,” said the actor, who is board chair of SMYAL, the LGBTQ youth-serving organization in D.C. “A brighter future is worth fighting for. For our young people, our freedoms are worth fighting for. We have made incredible progress, and we are not going back.”
Clymer thanked the DNC for “a fantastic convention this week,” adding that, “very respectfully, I also want to say something that I think needs to be heard.” At a time when “trans people are being viciously, directly attacked on a daily basis, and in a year when we are about to elect the first trans member of Congress, it is absolutely ridiculous that Sarah McBride is not on the speaking program” in the evening primetime sessions at the United Center.
When Terry McAuliffe lost the Virginia gubernatorial race to Republican Glenn Youngkin in 2021 “there was a lot of talk about CRT (critical race theory) and LGBTQ rights and all the hateful speech that is usually brought up in the analysis of why Democrats lose,” Clymer said. “What was missing in that post-election analysis is that a progressive trans woman was elected to the state Senate and outperformed the top of the ticket in her district.”
She was referring to Roem, the next speaker to take the stage. “Throughout this week, I’ve gotten the chance to hear people describe Vice President Harris as being fearless,” the Virginia state senator said, “and we heard even earlier about how she was that kid standing up to the playground bully as a child,” referring to an anecdote that was repeated by Harrison.
Roem explained how she learned to be fearless, too, as she gradually came out as trans, beginning around the time when Harris, then the newly elected district attorney of San Francisco, “started officiating [same-sex] weddings, and she did it with the same joy that’s the cornerstone of her campaign today.”
She “supported us before it was popular, even in the Democratic Party, not because it was easy, but because it was right,” Roem said.
“I met President Carter at the convention in Denver in 2008,” Johnson said. “You may not know that his administration was the first administration to entertain a queer delegation, and the Task Force led that delegation — yes, my president, President Carter, was the only president that the National LGBTQ Task Force Action Fund ever endorsed until just this year, when we endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris.”
She added, “It is only fitting, given that together, she and Tim [Walz] have a nearly unmatched record for being champions of LGBTQ+ people, and with you, with us, with our peoples, we can secure the presidency, the Senate and the House, and ensure the Equality Act is finally, finally passed — an Equality Act that was first introduced by President Carter, and we’re gonna finish that business with this next administration.”
After she was introduced by Johnson, members of the audience approached the stage to hear Miss Major draw the contrast between Harris, the first presidential candidate she has ever endorsed, and Trump, who she feels is beneath contempt.
The activist spoke with the Washington Blade last week for a profile focused on her decades of work as an activist, her involvement in this election, her work with the Task Force, and her take on the Harris campaign’s commitment to not go back.
Vermont’s first woman and first LGBTQ member of Congress took the stage to share how she “learned recently that there is this incredible thing that happens when we experience a sense of awe.”
“And when you experience that, something changes inside of you,” Balint said. “We know this intuitively, but the data also bears it out — you are more open to the world; you have more humility; you have more curiosity, which is why we seek it.”
“I want you to remember you have a part in this. You do not need to be in elected office to transform your community, to transform the people around you. Lean hard into your humility and your curiosity and your generosity. Others will be drawn to you.”
Congress
Bill seeks to block global gag rule expansion
Policy now bans US foreign aid to groups promoting ‘gender ideology’
Lawmakers on Wednesday introduced a bill that would block the expansion of the global gag rule.
President Ronald Reagan in 1985 implemented the global gag rule, also known as the “Mexico City” policy, which bans U.S. foreign aid for groups that support abortion and/or offer abortion-related services.
Trump reinstated the rule during his first administration. The Biden-Harris administration shortly after it took office in 2021 rescinded it.
The Trump-Vance administration earlier this year expanded the global gag rule to ban U.S. foreign aid for groups that promote “gender ideology.” The expansion took effect on Feb. 26.
U.S. Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.) introduced the Protecting Human Rights and Public Health in Foreign Assistance Act in the U.S. Senate. U.S. Reps. Grace Meng (D-N.Y.), Lois Frankel (D-Fla.), Diana DeGette (D-Colo.), Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.), Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.), and Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) introduced it in the U.S. House of Representatives.
“Using taxpayer money to export the Trump administration’s anti-trans, anti-science, and anti-abortion ideological agenda isn’t just immoral — it’s antithetical to efficient, effective, and rights-based foreign assistance,” said Council for Global Equality Senior Policy Fellow Beirne Roose-Snyder on Wednesday in a press release.
Meng added the Trump-Vance administration’s “crusade against healthcare and global aid is putting millions of lives at risk worldwide.”
“No one will flourish under the new expanded global gag rule,” said the New York Democrat. “These policies weaponize foreign aid and will result in greater harm, particularly for women and girls, marginalized communities, and LGBTQI+ individuals.”
“They should never have been implemented at all, let alone without even a basic public comment process,” she added. “This legislation will reverse these dangerous policies.”
The White House
From red carpet to chaos: A first-person narrative of the WHCD shooting
The Blade’s WH correspondent Joe Reberkenny recounts his night at the WHCD after a shooter attempted to gain entry.
It started as any White House Correspondents’ Dinner is supposed to go—I assume. I’ve never been to one before this, but based on other events I’ve attended at the Hilton, including an HRC gala, it all seemed fairly normal.
There was a lot of traffic. Police had blocked off streets encompassing a large portion of Adams Morgan—particularly around the hotel. The president was making his first appearance after boycotting the event during his first term, so there was a sense of anticipation. It took me about 45 minutes to go just under a mile from my apartment to about three blocks from the hotel in my Uber. I waited until the last possible second before I felt like I was going to be late—6:30—to get out of the car, because it was raining and I was wearing my green tux.
I walked up to a group of people checking tickets at the base of the hotel. They seemed to just be glancing at the tiny, index-card-sized tickets rather than conducting any kind of full security screening outside. As I walked from that first checkpoint to the drive-around drop-off area, I joined what was essentially one long line for the red carpet. It eventually split into people who wanted photos and those who didn’t—but again, there was no real need to show anything beyond that small ticket upon entering, and even that wasn’t being checked closely.
A light went off in my head; I felt that, given the speed at which security was checking tickets, they couldn’t fully see the foil logo and tiny table numbers from that distance. I remember thinking that if I had a similarly sized piece of paper, I could have gotten through up to that point.
I also noticed there was no real security checkpoint or metal detectors upon initially entering the hotel grounds—unlike what I had seen at the HRC gala the year before.
I waited about 35 minutes in line in the car drop-off area—without cars, since it had been repurposed to corral press and their guests before entering the building and heading onto the red carpet. I took my photo, then went up the escalator to meet my date, Jacob Bernard from Democracy Forward. They wouldn’t let him onto the red carpet without his ticket, so I gave him his, which I had been holding. He was already inside the venue despite not having his ticket on him and had been at one of the pre-parties.
That also struck me as odd—that you could access a pre-dinner party without a ticket or going through any visible security.
After I found him, we took a photo together at a step-and-repeat past the main red carpet area around 7:45. Oddly enough, a group of my friends—gays who I regularly see on the dance floors of the gay bars of Washington, who work in various government and media-adjacent fields—found me, and we took pictures together. None were White House correspondents or held a “hard pass” to the White House (security credentials that allow entry into the White House complex).
Another light went off in my head that indicated party crashers probably shouldn’t be getting inside to an event that is supposed to be one of the most secure rooms in the country.
After the photos, I could see groups of people being moved from pre-party spaces in various meeting rooms on other floors and directed toward the main floor where the red carpet had been.
My guest and I went back up to the main floor and walked through a small security checkpoint that included only a handful of metal detectors. From there, I went down the stairs from the lobby into the International Ballroom, where we took our seats at Table 200. I talked to a few people I knew—very traditional pre-event chit-chat. The vibes felt good. It was my first time attending, and I was genuinely excited.
Around 8:15, the Marine Corps Band played and “Commandant’s Four” color guard presented the flags. We were then told to take our seats.
They introduced the head table—the president, first lady, vice president, and members of the White House Correspondents’ Association board. Weijia Jiang, senior White House correspondent for CBS News and president of the WHCA, gave a brief speech, essentially saying we would eat first and then move into the main program, which was supposed to feature mentalist Oz Pearlman.
At this point my table, 200 which included members of the Wall Street Journal, the Blade, and a European outlet all started eating. About 15 minutes later, Washington Hilton staff began clearing plates and preparing to bring out the next course.
As they cleared the plates, I heard four loud bangs.
I saw hotel employees immediately start ducking. They seemed to understand the gravity of the situation much faster than most attendees, including myself. At first, it sounded like a tray might have fallen over (but I later found out that wasn’t the case).
After about 30 seconds of watching some people duck, others look around in confusion, and some continue eating and drinking, I got down. I kneeled with my chair in front of me as a kind of barrier. Being at Table 200, I felt somewhat removed from where the actual incident occurred.
Then I saw the president being whisked away quickly by Secret Service, along with the first lady and others at the head table.
My reporter instincts kicked in. I grabbed my phone and started filming. I saw SWAT team members rush into the ballroom and onto the stage, clearing the area. I captured a video of people looking around, confused about what had just happened.
A few minutes later, the room was told by the WHCA president to hold on—that they would provide more information and guidance on what would happen next. There was some indication that they might try to continue the event despite what had occurred.
Everyone started frantically checking X to see if any major outlets were reporting. I was receiving texts from family, friends, and colleagues about the rapidly unfolding situation.
I walked to the bathroom—twice, technically. I couldn’t find it initially because it was hidden behind black curtains. (Later, those curtains were removed, and the men’s room was in clearer view.)
During the first walk to the bathroom, I called my editor to tell him what was happening. He instructed me to start sending copy to another editor, who would get it online. The ballroom had almost no service—it’s in the basement of a 12-story hotel—so it was a challenge. I utilized SMS fallback (since iMessage wasn’t working) to send updates.
I returned to the table, where people were still hovering—calling editors, scrolling, texting, sending photos and copy. I was already drafting my story and sending it in chunks, adding details as I gathered more information.
I walked my guest toward the bathroom again, which was on the opposite side of the ballroom from our table, so I had to cross what felt like a sea of journalists, PR officials, guests, and others on their phones, talking and scrolling. My guest pointed out that the press pool was being held in an alcove away from the ballroom doors and escalator exit—not in the ballroom with everyone else.
“Alive” by the Bee Gees was playing over the speakers in the bathroom, which felt a little too on the nose.
On my way out, I heard someone speaking over a microphone and rushed to the ballroom entrance. WHCA President Weijia Jiang was speaking. She announced that the event was over and the space was being evacuated.
She also said that President Trump would hold a press conference at the White House in about 25 minutes.
That’s when I knew it was a race against the clock.
I called my editor a second time to update him and asked if I should head to the briefing (knowing the answer would be yes). He confirmed.
Then the crowd began to move. People grabbed purses, bottles—some left belongings behind. Even though it was technically becoming a crime scene, no one was actively forcing us out. It felt more like a collective understanding: It was time to go.
I texted my guest: “OK, I have to go to the White House. I’m so sorry to leave you.”
I made my way with the sea of people toward the one exit we were allowed to use and zipped between women in fancy gowns and men looking like penguins.
I put on my hard press pass, opened the Capital Bikeshare app, reserved the closest e-bike, and headed out.
I walked up Columbia Road to 20th and Wyoming, grabbed the bike, and rode down Wyoming, then 18th, cut over to U Street, and went straight down 16th to the White House. That ride was exhilarating. I also filmed an Instagram Reel updating my followers on what was going on. I could see tourists and D.C. residents alike looking at me from their cars and the sidewalk, obviously confused as to why a man dressed in a tux had hopped on a bike.
I got off the bike where 16th Street meets Lafayette Square and darted toward the first White House security checkpoint, where they were verifying press credentials. Luckily, I had mine. After that, it turned into a mad dash. Everyone who made it through started moving quickly.
The sound of heels on what I think was cobblestone—or maybe brick—sticks with me. My own shoes were clacking as I ran toward the White House alongside other journalists in heels and dress shoes.
At the Secret Service checkpoint, there was a separate line for hard pass holders. Having my hard pass let me skip much of the impeccably dressed line of journalists who didn’t think to bring their hard pass with them.
It was probably the most exquisitely dressed press crowd I’ve ever seen—tuxedos, gowns, full makeup. It felt like something out of “The Hunger Games.”
I went through security, put my belongings through the metal detector, entered my code, grabbed my things, and ran to the briefing room.
The White House
Grindr to host first-ever White House Correspondents’ Dinner party
App’s head of global government affairs a long-time GOP-aligned lobbyist
Gay dating and hookup app Grindr will host its first-ever White House Correspondents’ Weekend party on April 24.
The event is scheduled for the night before the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, an annual gathering meant to celebrate the First Amendment, honor journalism, and raise money for scholarships.
The White House Correspondents’ Dinner is organized by the White House Correspondents’ Association, a group of journalists who regularly cover the president and the administration.
An invitation obtained by the Washington Blade’s Joe Reberkenny and Michael K. Lavers reads:
“We’d be thrilled to have you join us at Grindr’s inaugural White House Correspondents’ Dinner Weekend Party, a Friday evening gathering to bring together policymakers, journalists, and LGBTQ community leaders as we toast the First Amendment.”
The Blade requested an interview with Joe Hack, Grindr’s head of global government affairs, but was unable to reach him via phone or Zoom. He did, however, provide a statement shared with other outlets, offering limited explanation for why the company decided 2026 was the year for the app to host this event.
“Grindr represents a global community with real stakes in Washington. The issues being debated here — HIV funding, digital privacy, LGBTQ+ human rights — are daily life for our community. Nobody does connections like Grindr, and WHCD weekend is the most iconic place in the country to make them. We figured it was time to host.”
Hack said the company has been “well received” by lawmakers in both parties and has found “common ground” on issues such as HIV funding and keeping minors off the app. He credited longstanding relationships in Washington and what he described as Grindr’s “respectful” approach to lobbying.
Hack, a longtime Republican-aligned lobbyist, previously worked for several GOP lawmakers, including U.S. Sens. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.), Jon Kyl (R-Ariz.), George Voinovich (R-Ohio), Bill Frist (R-Tenn.), and U.S. Rep. Randy Forbes (R-Va.).
According to congressional disclosure forms compiled by OpenSecrets, Grindr spent $1.3 million on lobbying in 2025— more than Tinder and Hinge’s parent company Match Group.
“This is going to be elevated Grindr,” Hack told TheWrap when describing the invite-only party that has already generated buzz on social media. “This isn’t going to be a bunch of shirtless men walking around. This is going to be very elevated, elegant, but still us.”
He also pointed to the company’s work on HIV-related initiatives, including efforts to maintain federal funding for healthcare partners that distribute HIV self-testing kits through the app.
The event comes at a particularly notable moment for an LGBTQ-focused connection platform to enter the Washington social circuit at a high-profile political weekend, as LGBTQ rights remain under constant attack from conservative lawmakers, particularly around transgender healthcare, sports participation, and public accommodations.
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