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Trump’s win and its impact on LGBTQ Americans is 2024’s top story

Sarah McBride, sinking corporate support for DEI among year’s headlines

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President Trump’s victory was the story of the year. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The year 2024 didn’t end the way many LGBTQ rights supporters expected, with the re-election of Donald Trump and the anti-LGBTQ promises of the Project 2025 blueprint for his new administration. Here are the top 10 stories of the year as determined by Blade staff.

#10 LGBTQ federal workers face tough decisions amid Trump transition

There is always turnover in the federal government during presidential transitions, but the 2024 election may cause an unprecedented exodus from the public sector with President-elect Donald Trump’s plans to disband, reorient, or disempower agencies like the Education Department, the Justice Department, and the EPA in his second term. Project 2025 presents additional challenges for those who may wish to stay in their jobs after the incoming administration takes over, between the mandate to overhaul the federal civil service and — for LGBTQ employees who spoke with the Blade — the document’s proposals for removing anti-discrimination protections while stopping agencies from working to expand the community’s rights and protections.

#9 Documents show plans for ‘Christian nationalism’ in Trump second term

Activists protest outside of the Heritage Foundation in downtown Washington on Jan. 1, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

During the campaign, President-elect Donald Trump sought to distance himself from Project 2025, the document penned by many of the advisers closest to him both now and during his first administration, which promises a second term whose governing mandate is shaped by Christian nationalism. Other right-wing think tanks and organizations whose leaders are close to the former and future president, however, have advanced policy documents that also would make Christian nationalism a guiding principle of governance and public policy. Among them is the Center for Renewing America, which is led by Russell Vought, who was director of the Office of Management and Budget in the first Trump administration.

#8 Biden-Harris administration releases new Title IX regulations

The Biden-Harris administration in April released new Title IX regulations, clarifying that prohibitions on sex-based discrimination in educational programs that receive federal funding includes that which is based on sexual orientation and gender identity. Lambda Legal praised the move, writing in a statement that it “protects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination and other abuse.” The policy also reverses some Trump-era Title IX rules governing how schools must respond to reports of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which were widely seen as imbalanced in favor of the accused. Conservative state attorneys general sued the administration to challenge the new interpretation of the policy.

#7 Anti-trans attack ads 

Republicans spent at least $215 million on anti-trans attack ads that were run on TV for GOP campaigns in 2024, with most coming from President-elect Donald Trump’s team. After the election, Democrats debated the extent to which Republican messaging on trans rights helped to deliver major victories from the White House to the races that won the GOP control over both chambers of Congress. While the quantitative evidence of their efficacy has been mixed, with research by groups like GLAAD concluding that the commercials “yielded no statistically significant shift in voter choice, mobilization or likelihood to vote,” they tended to make viewers’ attitudes toward trans people more negative.

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

The Biden-Harris administration named a record number of LGBTQ appointees to serve at all levels of the federal government, and likewise sought to appoint jurists to the federal bench who reflected America’s diversity. With the Senate’s confirmation in September of Mary Kay Costello’s nomination to serve on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the White House secured its 12th judicial appointment for an LGBTQ candidate — surpassing, within in four years, the record that was set during the Obama-Biden administration over the course of two terms.

#5 Biden pardons discharged LGBTQ veterans

In June, President Joe Biden issued historic pardons for approximately 2,000 LGBTQ service members who had been discharged from the military and were court-martialed over their sexual orientation or gender identity under discriminatory policies of the past, like “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” The administration announced that recipients of certificates of pardon will be able to petition for a change in their discharge status, which can facilitate their access to benefits through the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. Efforts to restore justice to those harmed by anti-LGBTQ policies in the military are ongoing, however, as bureaucratic and administrative hurdles continue to stand in the way.

#4 Corporate America goes soft on LGBTQ support

Several major publicly traded companies announced cuts in 2024 to LGBTQ-focused diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts — from sponsorship of Pride month events to participation in the Human Rights Campaign’s Corporate Equality Index survey. The trend marks a decisive shift away from years of corporate allyship amid right-wing pressure campaigns and calls for boycotts like that which has continued to harm sales at Bud Light after more than a year. LGBTQ employees at Target who were involved in the retailer’s annual Pride collection shared concerns with the Blade over the company’s decision to radically scale back the LGBTQ-themed merchandise offered in June 2024.

#3 McBride wins historic election to Congress

Rep.-elect Sarah McBride (D-Del.) gives a victory speech in Wilmington, Del. on Nov. 5. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

Delaware State Sen. Sarah McBride became the first transgender candidate elected to Congress in November, with her successful bid for Delaware’s at-large congressional seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. In response, U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) led a campaign to exclude her from women’s bathrooms in the Capitol, prompting the enactment of a new policy by Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson (La.) under which single-sex facilities in the building will be reserved for “individuals of that biological sex.” The effort presages the challenges McBride is likely to face after she is seated alongside House GOP lawmakers who are committed to both anti-trans policies and anti-trans politics.

#2 Washington Blade interviews President Biden in exclusive first and Vice President Harris in Pride exclusive

Vice President Harris sat down for an exclusive Pride month interview with the Blade. (Washington Blade photo by Jono Madison/Jono Photography)

In September, the Washington Blade sat down with President Joe Biden in the Oval Office, marking his first interview with an LGBTQ outlet for a discussion about his legacy of advancing rights and protections for the community during his presidency and over his decades of public service as vice president and U.S. senator. And Vice President Kamala Harris spoke with the Blade in June for an exclusive interview focused on the stakes of the election for LGBTQ communities as well as her record of fighting for LGBTQ equality, beginning with her first elected role as district attorney of San Francisco.

#1 Trump wins the presidency after Biden drops out and Harris runs atop the ticket

After surviving two assassination attempts and a campaign cycle in which his opponent dropped out of the race to make way for Vice President Kamala Harris to run against him with just a few months before Election Day, Donald Trump was elected president in 2024. Support for Harris among LGBTQ voters was even greater than the margin by which President Joe Biden had an edge over Trump in 2020, signaling the extent to which America’s LGBTQ communities are anxious over the status of their rights and freedoms under Trump 2.0.  

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U.S. Federal Courts

Renee Good’s family files two federal lawsuits

ICE officer killed lesbian mother of three in Minneapolis in January

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A protest near the White House on Jan. 10, 2026, in response to Renee Good's death in Minneapolis. Good's partner and her family have filed two federal lawsuits. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The family of lesbian woman who a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement killed in Minneapolis in January have filed two federal lawsuits.

The Associated Press notes Renee Good’s partner, Becca Good, and her brother, Brent Ganger, in the lawsuits accuse the Trump-Vance administration and ICE officer Jonathan Ross of “unjustified and excessive use of force.”

Renee Good was a 37-year-old mother of three.

Ross on Jan. 7 shot and killed her in Minneapolis.

The shooting took place during the Trump-Vance administration’s so-called Operation Metro Surge that targeted Somalis and other immigrant groups in Minneapolis. U.S. Customs and Border Protection agents on Jan. 24 shot and killed Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old nurse who worked for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, in Minneapolis.

Both shooting sparked outrage across the U.S. and around the world.

“Every morning, she is my first thought. I think about how the kids are growing up without their mama, and how I will grow old without the love of my life. I think about how we should have had 40 more years together. But I also think about what she would have wanted after all of this,” said Becca Good in a statement the Human Rights Campaign released after she and her partner’s family announced the lawsuits.

“As we have tried to navigate our own massive loss, I am also devastated by how many other lives have been destroyed in this darkest of times. So many other families are dealing with the loss of their loved ones; to everyone who has had to witness it — the pain of this moment extends far beyond our family,” added Becca Good. “What happened to us should never happen to any family. No child should grow up without a parent because of it. No one should lose their sister or their daughter. No one should have to live without their soulmate. Accountability — real accountability — is the only way to make sure that no other family has to go through what we have.”

HRC President Kelley Robinson in her own statement said the Good family “is one of our own — and today, the Human Rights Campaign joins them in demanding justice.”

“It has been eight months and 24 days since Renee was shot and killed by an ICE agent, and the United States government has failed to take responsibility for its actions,” said Robinson. “Her partner, Becca, and brother Brent, have made the brave and bold decision to hold the government accountable, and we stand with them. Like every person murdered by ICE, Renee should be alive today. The Goods were robbed of what every American family deserves: to be together.”

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Federal Government

988 restores crisis services for LGBTQ youth

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U.S. Sen.Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) helped secure funding for 988 and led the push to get Press 3 reinstated as policy. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The lifesaving 988 call-in number to help people experiencing mental health crises or suicidal thoughts has once again restored its specialized services for LGBTQ youth.

The lifeline, which used to have the option to “press 3” to be directly sent to specialized services for LGBTQ youth facing mental health crises or suicidal thoughts, was returned on Wednesday following an over-year-long battle with the Trump-Vance administration, which removed the service in May 2025.

The Press 3 option rolled out as a pilot program in 2022 through a government contract with the Trevor Project, a suicide prevention and crisis intervention organization for LGBTQ people.

Then, in June 2025, the federal government announced that the lifeline would be eliminated within a month. By July 2025, 988 Lifeline’s “Press 3” services were terminated.

Openly gay U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) helped lead Congress in reversing the removal of the lifesaving resource from American phones. As a member of the Senatw Labor-HHS Appropriations Subcommittee, she started the process of securing $535 million for 988 — a $15 million increase — as well as dedicated funding for LGBTQ youth specialized services.

Then, in September 2025, Baldwin, along with U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), introduced bipartisan legislation in the Senate, the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act, to codify the 988 Lifeline’s specialized services for LGBTQ young people.

At the same time, U.S. Rep Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-Ill.) introduced the legislation in the House of Representatives alongside U.S. Reps. Michael Lawler (R-N.Y.) Sharice Davids (D-Kan.) Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) and Seth Moulton (D-Mass.)

The Senate passed Baldwin’s bipartisan funding bill in January 2026, funding the Department of Health and Human Services with explicit language mandating the return of 988’s LGBTQ youth specialized services.

In February 2026, Congress passed legislation mandating that the previously eliminated “Press 3” specialized services be restored and funded with $33,100,000 — but it was unclear if the Press 3 option would still be allowed under current executive orders, namely Executive Order 14168, or “Defending Women From Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government.”

Despite the securing of federal funding for the Press 3 resource, the battle to get the 988 LGBTQ+ Youth Access Act through Congress is ongoing — and would provide codafied protection from this removal ever happening again.

According to data on the Trevor Project’s website, LGBTQ young people are more than four times as likely to attempt suicide than their peers.

Baldwin’s office touts the immense help the lifeline provides to LGBTQ people in their moments of greatest need. The press release on the reinstatement of Press 3 highlighted the continued demand for the service:

“The volume of calls, texts, and chats 15 percent higher than a year earlier and nearly 50 percent higher than two years ago. Since the lifeline launched, it has received over 27 million contacts, including over 18 million calls, 4 million texts, and 3 million chats.”

Advocates for LGBTQ rights and mental health awareness have agreed with the increasing numbers and hailed the return as a win for everyone.

“Suicide and mental health struggles touch every community across our state, and that’s why creating the 988 crisis lifeline to make sure help is there for everyone is one of my proudest accomplishments,” said Baldwin said in a statement. “But, last year, the Trump administration decided to make these real struggles a political football and ripped away the specialized line that helped LGBTQ children. This was a deliberate choice. The Trump administration chose to put children’s lives on the line to score some political points.

“I’ve fought tooth and nail to restore this lifesaving resource. When I realized the Trump administration was not going to do it on their own, I wrote it into federal law to require them to restore the Press 3 option,” the Wisconsin senator said. “This lifesaving resource never should have gone away in the first place, but I am glad the lifesaving support Press 3 provides is once again there for people who need it.”

“I’m proud that we secured the funding to restore this lifesaving LGBTQ+ crisis line and successfully pressured the Trump administration to bring the program back,” Krishnamoorthi said. “When an LGBTQ+ young person reaches out for help in a moment of crisis, they deserve to reach a counselor trained to understand and support them. This program should never have been taken away, and now we need to make sure it stays available for every young person who needs it. I’m grateful to the Trevor Project, NAMI Chicago, Equality Illinois, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, and all the advocates and young people who worked alongside us to bring these services back.”

Jaymes Black, CEO of The Trevor Project who works with the SAMHSA, in their press three operations celebrated the return of the resource. 

“We are grateful to see that the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline’s ‘Press 3’ specialized services for LGBTQ+ youth have been restored. Resuming this national resource will be critical in addressing the public health crisis of suicide among LGBTQ+ young people, and supporting the estimated more than 1.8 million LGBTQ+ youth who seriously consider attempting suicide in the U.S. each year,” Black said via a statement. “We are thankful for the large coalition of bipartisan lawmakers, mental health advocates, allies, and supporters who fought tirelessly for this restoration. We will monitor the launch and usage of these important services to ensure all LGBTQ+ youth are supported with clinically best standards.”

If you or someone you know needs mental health resources and support, please call, text, or chat with the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline or visit 988lifeline.org for 24/7 access to free and confidential services. Trans Lifeline, designed for transgender or gender-nonconforming people, can be reached at (877) 565-8860. The lifeline also provides resources to help with other crises, such as domestic violence situations. The Trevor Project Lifeline, for LGBTQ+ youth (ages 24 and younger), can be reached at (866) 488-7386. Users can also access chat services at TheTrevorProject.org/Help or text START to 678678.

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California

Calif. governor signs 6 pro-LGBTQ bills, vetoes 1

Gavin Newsom rejected measure he claimed is legislative overreach

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom, center, at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Last week, California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed and vetoed a slew of bills into state law. Among them were seven pertaining to California’s LGBTQ community. Newsom signed six while vetoing one. His actions drew applause and scorn from advocacy groups in the state. 

The six signed bills:

Assembly Bill 1775 allows transgender veterans, who were banned from service last year by the Trump-Vance administration, to access housing assistance, use California’s discharge upgrade assistance program, and get support for gaining employment. 

Assembly Bill 1930 strengthens privacy protections for healthcare patients and providers by creating clear guidelines for California agencies, individuals, and corporations to respond to out-of-state subpoena requests relating to abortion or gender-affirming care. This includes a requirement to contact the California Attorney General at least seven days prior to responding to the subpoena or providing legal documents. This should add additional protection to those residing in California from investigations in states where abortion or gender-affirming care has more restrictions. 

Senate Bill 934 targets conversion therapy in California and increases the amount of time a patient has to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit against a provider for attempting to change the patient’s sexual orientation or gender identity. The bill takes aim at the widely debunked practice that treats queerness as a mental disorder that could be cured through psychotherapeutic methods. Conversion therapy has been illegal in California since 2012; however, a recent Supreme Court decision threw the ban into question, prompting lawmakers to write this new bill that legally defines it as medical malpractice. 

Senate Bill 1023 expands access to PrEP, a medication that protects people from contracting HIV. The bill requires insurers to cover the drug through the medical benefit and the pharmacy benefit pathways, allowing for more providers to give patients PrEP. 

Senate Bill 1114 strengthens privacy protections for voluntary self-identification data about sexual orientation and gender identity. The bill limits when California government agencies can share this data and bars it from being disclosed outside of the state government, with few exceptions. 

Senate Bill 1328 expands support for LGBTQ students and staff in California colleges. The bill requires any institution of higher education to designate an employee at any campus, satellite campus, branch campus, or outreach center to support the needs of LGBTQ individuals. 

Equality California, the largest statewide LGBTQ civil rights group in the country, commended the governor for his support of legislation that protects and supports the queer community amid escalating threats, attacks, and rollbacks from the federal government. 

Executive Director Tony Hoang said in a written statement, “California is once again demonstrating that when LGBTQ+ people are targeted, our state will respond with action,” adding, “We are grateful to Gov. Newsom for signing these measures.”

The vetoed bill:

Assembly Bill 2164 would have banned California from extraditing anyone residing in California for providing abortions or gender-affirming care in another state. Newsom vetoed this bill despite agreeing with its principles, claiming in a written statement that “extradition is an exclusively executive function” and that he did not want to limit the “executive authority of an incoming governor.” 

This bill was created in response to Louisiana’s attempt to extradite a California physician for allegedly sending abortion pills in the mail to a Louisiana woman. Newsom responded forcefully to the extradition request, publicly denying it and stating, “We will not allow extremist politicians from other states to reach into California and try to punish doctors based on allegations that they provided reproductive health care services.” 

In a written statement responding to the veto, Lizzy Hinkley, the legal director of the bill’s lead sponsor, Abortion Coalition for Telemedicine, criticized Newsom, stating, “[the] outgoing governor’s principled stance is cold comfort to Californians living and working in the real world post-Dobbs. A high-brow, academic justification for refusing to codify legal protections only reveals an ignorance for the lived reality of patients and providers — and does nothing to help them.” 

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