News
White House won’t predict whether Trump will undo LGBT orders
Many fear president-elect will reverse executive actions
White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
On the day after President-elect Donald Trump’s surprise win, White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest wouldn’t say whether he thinks the new president would reverse the Obama administration’s LGBT executive actions.
In response to a question from the Washington Blade on whether the White House could protect them, Earnest declined to speculate “about what President-elect Trump may or may not do,” but insisted President Obama undertook those actions “with a long-term perspective.”
“His approach to policymaking has been to be cognizant of the long-term implications of the decisions he’s making and it means that he’s making these decisions with the assumption that the decisions will be durable, they’ll be in place for some time and that the benefits that the American people will enjoy as a result of those decisions will be present for a long time,” Earnest said. “So that’s been his approach since his first day in office, but ultimately the approach that President-elect Trump takes is one that he alone will determine.”
Many fear Trump, who has pledged to undo Obama’s executive actions he thinks are unconstitutional or harmful to business, would reverse the president’s executive actions in favor of LGBT rights, such as the 2014 directive prohibiting anti-LGBT workplace discrimination among federal contractors. Trump has already said he’d rescind the Obama administration guidance barring schools from discriminating against transgender students, including by barring them from using the restroom consistent with their gender identity.
Trump also said he would appoint to the U.S. Supreme Court justices in the mold of the late U.S. Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, which could conceivably reverse the decision in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide, although such an outcome would be difficult to achieve.
Asked for President Obama’s message to LGBT people as well as other groups, such as immigrants and Muslims, who fear persecution under a Trump administration, Earnest said people who believe “passionately and strongly” about LGBT issues should continue to stand up for what they believe.
Echoing remarks President Obama made in the White House Rose Garden on Trump’s win, Earnest said “progress in our country hasn’t moved along a straight line and progress that we make in some of these areas is characterized by two steps forward and one step back.”
“Sometimes it’s characterized by delayed progress,” Earnest said. “The observation President Obama would make is the best response to that is not to lose hope, or to be cynical, or to withdraw from the public discourse. It actually calls for greater engagement. It calls for more people who passionately and strongly feel about these issues to stand up for what they believe in.”
Earnest noted the nation is committed to democratic institutions, which he said serve both the American people well and are important for our leaders to rely on because they have “served very well some of country’s greatest presidents.”
“Our country has benefited from a steadfast commitment to a set of democratic institutions, and these institutions have been durable even through a civil war, through a couple of world wars, through financial calamities, and the president has enormous confidence and faith in those institutions, in part, because those institutions are made up of patriotic Americans,” Earnest said.
Earnest drew on remarks Hillary Clinton made Wednesday in her concession speech, saying she put it best when she said, “It’s worth fighting for what’s right.”
“I think Secretary Clinton intended that as very good advice for people who may be feeling discouraged today, and it’s understandable that people are feeling discouraged because you’re going to be disappointed when the candidate that you supported in the election doesn’t win,” Earnest said. “But even the losing candidate in this case does not think that should be used as an excuse to withdraw from the public debate and public discourse. If anything, it should serve as a motivation to become even more deeply engaged and more deeply involved and not just in a presidential election.”
In June, the Washington Blade published an article on Obama’s executive actions related to LGBT rights, as compiled by the Center for American Progress, that a President Trump could undo. Here’s the list:
Obama’s LGBT executive actions Trump could undo
∙ Executive Order prohibiting federal contractors from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity.
∙ Final rule in May 2016 that protected LGBT people from discrimination in healthcare and insurance under the Affordable Care Act.
∙ Prison Rape Elimination Act implementation regulations in May 2012 to directly protect LGBT people.
∙ Equal Access to Housing in HUD Programs Regardless of Sexual Orientation or Gender Identity Rule in February 2012, protecting LGBT people in all HUD-funded programs.
∙ Comprehensive guidance in May 2016 on their interpretation of Title IX, clarifying that public schools receiving federal funding must treat transgender students in accordance with their gender identity.
∙ Guidance in July 2013 that all immigration visa petitions filed on behalf of a same-sex spouse would be reviewed in the same manner as those filed on behalf of an opposite-sex spouse.
∙ The Global Equality Fund, launched in 2011, which supports programs that advance the human rights LGBT persons around the world.
∙ Public endorsement of the Equality Act in November 2015, supporting comprehensive federal nondiscrimination protections for LGBT people.
Source: Center for American Progress
Celebrity News
My evening with Madonna
Gay icon headlined the World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key will be on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10. They will be covering World Pride in Amsterdam.
AMSTERDAM — Madonna and 6,000 of her closest friends celebrated World Pride at Amsterdam’s AFAS Live concert hall early Sunday morning. I was fortunate enough to be one of them.
Madonna last Wednesday nearly broke the internet when she said on social media in Dutch that “I got somethin’ I wanna talk about,” referring to an opening line in “Danceteria,” one of the tracks on her “Confessions II” album that has received rave reviews since its July 2 release. The track has been on near constant replay on my playlist since I first heard it.
— Madonna (@Madonna) July 28, 2026
MISTR — a telehealth platform that offers free access to PrEP, Doxy PEP, STI testing, and long-term care that has organized Madonna’s Club Confessions shows in the U.S. and the U.K. — later confirmed the rampant speculation. I woke up on July 30 to an email in my inbox from MISTR and the World Pride Music Festival PR team that said I was on the press list.
Madonna was indeed going to headline the World Pride Music Festival that Jake Resnicow and Insomniac produced, and I was going to be there. OMFG!!!!
The gay icon had one more surprise in store.
The Dutch internet on Saturday once again broke over speculation that Kylie Minogue was going to appear alongside Madonna. I was getting ready to leave our hotel in Amsterdam on Saturday night when I saw a video of the two of them together.
“Madonna is now teasing Kylie Minogue on her social media … she may be one of her ‘special guests’ tonight,” I wrote in a text to Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff at 8:46 p.m.
“Have fun! This is turning into the gayest concert ever,” he responded.
I arrived at AFAS Live shortly before 11 p.m. My press contact walked me and two other Dutch journalists into the venue’s cavernous main room known as the Black Box. We made small talk for a few minutes before I started to walk around and listen to Josh Harrison who was on the decks.
Madonna was scheduled to take the stage at 1:30 a.m., but she is known for being late — she is Madonna and she does what she wants. Hayla, a British singer, and Bebe Rexha are among those who performed ahead of Madonna. Thousands of sweaty men — including a group of Australians next to me who were eagerly awaiting Kylie’s anticipated appearance — packed the Black Box and were dancing, anticipating what was to come.
MISTR CEO Tristan Schukraft at one point came on stage and declared Madonna was indeed in the building. The moment for which we were all eagerly waiting finally came shortly before 2:30 a.m.
“Mother is here and this is gay heaven,” said Madonna when she took the stage.
Stuart Price, who produced her “Confessions on a Dance Floor” album in 2005, manned the decks during Madonna’s set.
She opened it with “I Feel So Free” from “Confessions II.” Madonna then sang “Bring Your Love” and “Danceteria” to which this reporter — and everyone else — sang along.
Madonna then teased a surprise before she began to perform “Love Sensation.” Kylie soon appeared on stage. It was nearly too much for my fellow partygoers from Australia. It was indeed the gayest concert ever!
Madonna and Kylie performed “Love Sensation” together. They then sang “Hung Up” and “Sorry” from “Confessions on a Dance Floor” to round out the set that ended shortly after 3 a.m.
Madonna and I share the same birthday — Aug. 16 — and I would like to think she and Kylie gave me an early birthday present. In all seriousness though, it was an amazing night for me and for everyone else who was fortunate enough to be there.
“On the dance floor I feel so free,” says Madonna in the opening of “I Feel So Free.”
For those few precious hours at AFAS Live I did not think about the Trump-Vance administration and the myriad ways it is destroying the U.S. I did not think about the National Guard troops deployed to D.C. I did not think about the pointless wars that continue to ravage Ukraine and other countries around the world. I simply lost myself on the dance floor and celebrated an icon who has always stood with my community.
Thank you, Madonna.
Netherlands
Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade draws hundreds of thousands
Gay Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten among participants
Editor’s note: International News Editor Michael K. Lavers and Photo Editor Michael Key are on assignment in the Netherlands through Aug. 10.
AMSTERDAM — Hundreds of thousands of people lined Amsterdam’s canals on Saturday for the city’s annual Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade.
Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is openly gay, is among those who participated in the parade that featured more than 80 boats. Participants held signs and posters that, among other things, read “proud to be intersex” and “lesbians love you and a free Palestine.”
The Washington Blade saw at least two attendees holding fans that read “fuck Trump.” One of the boats also compared President Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin as “the kissing couple.”
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
The parade took place a week after a terrorist attack at Berlin’s Christopher Street Day left one person dead and more than two dozen others injured.
It passed the Homomonument, a memorial to gays and lesbians who have suffered persecution. The Homomonument has been transformed into a makeshift memorial to the victims of the July 25 terrorist attack in the German capital.
View on Threads
The Canal Parade took place during World Pride, which will end in Amsterdam on Aug. 9.
European Union
Poland’s top court rejects recognition of same-sex marriages from other EU countries
Ruling sets up potential clash with bloc
Poland’s top court this week rejected the recognition of same-sex marriages legally performed in other EU countries.
The EU Court of Justice in Luxembourg last November ruled in favor of a same-sex couple who challenged Poland’s refusal to recognize their German marriage. Poland’s Supreme Administrative Court in March reaffirmed the decision.
The couple, who lives in Poland, brought their case to Polish courts in 2019. The Supreme Administrative Court referred it to the EU Court of Justice.
The Polish government in May announced it will recognize same-sex marriages legally performed in other EU countries. Polish President Karol Nawrocki on July 17 vetoed bills that would have extended rights to same-sex couples.
The Constitutional Tribunal ruling, which it issued on July 28, was unanimous and final. It also sets up a potential clash between it and the EU Court of Justice.
My evening with Madonna
PHOTOS: Petal Release Party
Madonna headlines World Pride Music Festival in Amsterdam
Reggie White relishing first season as artistic director of Woolly Mammoth
PHOTOS: Amsterdam Pride Canal Parade
BLADE ENDORSEMENT: Susan Stewart for mayor of Rehoboth Beach
PHOTOS: Lambda Legal in the Pines
Calendar: July 31-August 6
Taiwan’s government has failed to update process to change gender markers on ID documents
