National
Pelosi endorses executive order against LGBT job discrimination
Democratic leader calls workplace protections ‘long overdue’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) endorsed on Thursday the idea of President Obama issuing an executive order barring federal contractors from engaging in anti-LGBT job discrimination.
Asked by the Washington Blade if she’d back an executive order providing job protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity, Pelosi replied, “Yes, and yes. I think it is all long overdue.”
“And I have long in my time in Congress supported ending discrimination in the workplace for lesbians, gays, bisexuals and transgenders,” Pelosi said.
The potential executive order has been seen as an alternative to passage of the Employment Non-Discrimination Act while Republicans remain in control of the U.S. House.
Pelosi joins a chorus of other lawmakers who’ve said they’d support an executive order mandating that federal contractors have non-discrimination policies protecting LGBT workers. Other who’ve voiced support for this potential directive are gay Rep. Jared Polis (D-Colo.) as well as Sens. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Jeff Merkley (D-Ore). Mary Kay Henry, the lesbian head of the Service Employees International Union, has also backed the potential directive.
The White House hasn’t said one way or the other whether Obama would be open to issuing the executive order. The president has supported ENDA as a means to end workplace discrimination against LGBT people.
Shin Inouye, a White House spokesperson, reiterated Obama’s commitment to pass ENDA as he maintained he couldn’t speak to the president’s position on taking administration action to confront LGBT workplace discrimination.
“The administration continues to examine steps the federal government can take to help secure equal rights for LGBT Americans,” Inouye said. “While I can’t speak to this specific proposal, we’ve already taken steps such as extending benefits to the same-sex domestic partners of federal employees and ensuring equal access to HUD programs, and we hope to continue making progress. The president has long supported an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act.”
Advocates hailed Pelosi’s endorsement of the executive order as a further step from her in the advocacy that she has sustained for LGBT people over the course of her time in Congress.
Richard Socarides, president of Equality Matters, was among those commending Pelosi for articulating support for the potential directive.
“While she has probably supported it in principle before, it’s exciting to see Nancy Pelosi today join the growing list of leaders who are calling on President Obama to put his words into action and issue a non-discrimination executive order which would apply to federal contractors, as President Clinton’s applies to direct federal employees,” Socarides said.
“It’s time the government stopped doing business with businesses that discriminate against LGBT Americans,” Socarides said. “We all agree, so why not put some teeth behind it.”
Tico Almeida, a civil rights litigator who served as a lead counsel for ENDA in the House Education & Labor Committee, also said Pelosi’s endorsement helps in the effort to encourage Obama to issue the executive order.
“During my time in the U.S. House working as ENDA’s lead counsel, it was clear from every meeting that I attended with Rep. Nancy Pelosi that she believes strongly and passionately that LGBT Americans should have the freedom to work without fear of harassment or discrimination on the job,” Almeida said. “Her endorsement of the ENDA Executive Order for federal contractors builds momentum for this common sense policy that will save money for the U.S. taxpayers who should not have to subsidize discrimination.”
An executive order prohibiting LGBT job discrimination could complement ENDA even after the legislation is passed. Having both the order and law in place would provide two avenues for LGBT people seeking remedies for discrimination they feel they’ve experienced in the workforce.
The directive would provide recourse through the Department of Labor while ENDA would provide recourse through the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Other workers — including racial minorities and women — currently have both remedies to protect them.
Watch the video of Pelosi’s endorsement here (via Think Progress):
Federal Government
UPenn erases Lia Thomas’s records as part of settlement with White House
University agreed to ban trans women from women’s sports teams

In a settlement with the Trump-Vance administration announced on Tuesday, the University of Pennsylvania will ban transgender athletes from competing and erase swimming records set by transgender former student Lia Thomas.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found the university in violation of Title IX, the federal rights law barring sex based discrimination in educational institutions, by “permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.”
The statement issued by University of Pennsylvania President J. Larry Jameson highlighted how the law’s interpretation was changed substantially under President Donald Trump’s second term.
“The Department of Education OCR investigated the participation of one transgender athlete on the women’s swimming team three years ago, during the 2021-2022 swim season,” he wrote. “At that time, Penn was in compliance with NCAA eligibility rules and Title IX as then interpreted.”
Jameson continued, “Penn has always followed — and continues to follow — Title IX and the applicable policy of the NCAA regarding transgender athletes. NCAA eligibility rules changed in February 2025 with Executive Orders 14168 and 14201 and Penn will continue to adhere to these new rules.”
Writing that “we acknowledge that some student-athletes were disadvantaged by these rules” in place while Thomas was allowed to compete, the university president added, “We recognize this and will apologize to those who experienced a competitive disadvantage or experienced anxiety because of the policies in effect at the time.”
“Today’s resolution agreement with UPenn is yet another example of the Trump effect in action,” Education Secretary Linda McMahon said in a statement. “Thanks to the leadership of President Trump, UPenn has agreed both to apologize for its past Title IX violations and to ensure that women’s sports are protected at the university for future generations of female athletes.”
Under former President Joe Biden, the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.
Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.
The Trump-Vance administration last week put the state of California on notice that its trans athlete policies were, or once were, in violation of Title IX, which comes amid the ongoing battle with Maine over the same issue.
New York
Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade
One of the victims remains in critical condition

On Sunday night, following the annual NYC Pride March, two girls were shot in Sheridan Square, feet away from the historic Stonewall Inn.
According to an NYPD report, the two girls, aged 16 and 17, were shot around 10:15 p.m. as Pride festivities began to wind down. The 16-year-old was struck in the head and, according to police sources, is said to be in critical condition, while the 17-year-old was said to be in stable condition.
The Washington Blade confirmed with the NYPD the details from the police reports and learned no arrests had been made as of noon Monday.
The shooting took place in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of Manhattan, mere feet away from the most famous gay bar in the city — if not the world — the Stonewall Inn. Earlier that day, hundreds of thousands of people marched down Christopher Street to celebrate 55 years of LGBTQ people standing up for their rights.
In June 1969, after police raided the Stonewall Inn, members of the LGBTQ community pushed back, sparking what became known as the Stonewall riots. Over the course of two days, LGBTQ New Yorkers protested the discriminatory policing of queer spaces across the city and mobilized to speak out — and throw bottles if need be — at officers attempting to suppress their existence.
The following year, LGBTQ people returned to the Stonewall Inn and marched through the same streets where queer New Yorkers had been arrested, marking the first “Gay Pride March” in history and declaring that LGBTQ people were not going anywhere.
New York State Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, whose district includes Greenwich Village, took to social media to comment on the shooting.
“After decades of peaceful Pride celebrations — this year gun fire and two people shot near the Stonewall Inn is a reminder that gun violence is everywhere,” the lesbian lawmaker said on X. “Guns are a problem despite the NRA BS.”
New York
Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade
Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

Zohran Mamdani, the candidate for mayor of New York City who pulled a surprise victory in the primary contest last week, walked in the city’s Pride parade on Sunday.
The Democratic Socialist and New York State Assembly member published photos on social media with New York Attorney General Letitia James, telling followers it was “a joy to march in NYC Pride with the people’s champ” and to “see so many friends on this gorgeous day.”
“Happy Pride NYC,” he wrote, adding a rainbow emoji.
Mamdani’s platform includes a detailed plan for LGBTQ people who “across the United States are facing an increasingly hostile political environment.”
His campaign website explains: “New York City must be a refuge for LGBTQIA+ people, but private institutions in our own city have already started capitulating to Trump’s assault on trans rights.
“Meanwhile, the cost of living crisis confronting working class people across the city hits the LGBTQIA+ community particularly hard, with higher rates of unemployment and homelessness than the rest of the city.”
“The Mamdani administration will protect LGBTQIA+ New Yorkers by expanding and protecting gender-affirming care citywide, making NYC an LGBTQIA+ sanctuary city, and creating the Office of LGBTQIA+ Affairs.”
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