At least one person died on Saturday when a van drove into a crowd at Berlin’s annual Pride march.

The incident took place shortly before 10 p.m. local time (4 p.m. ET) in Tiergarten park.

Authorities say a 21-year-old German man of Lebanese descent who tried to join the Islamic State drove the van into the crowd. German Interior Minister Alexander Dobrindt on Sunday told reporters during a press conference the suspect also attacked people with a machete.

Dobrint said the suspect injured 29 people — with some of them in critical condition.

He and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz confirmed authorities are investigating the attack as “an Islamist terrorist attack.” Officers killed the suspect in the Berlin suburb of Spandau on Sunday after he reportedly charged at them with a knife.

A memorial service and rally took place in Berlin on Sunday.

Hundreds of thousands of people participate in the annual Christopher Street Day parade — which is one of Europe’s largest Pride events — that winds its way through Berlin.

Tiergarten is near June 17 Street and the Brandenberg Gate where post-parade parties and concerts take place. Authorities cancelled the remaining Pride events after Saturday’s attack.

“We strongly condemn the fatal attack at the Christopher Street Day celebration in Berlin,” said the U.S. Embassy in Germany on Sunday. “This attack undermines the fundamental values of freedom and respect which underpin open and democratic societies. Our thoughts are with the victims, their families, and the first responders.”

European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni are among those who condemned the attack.

“It is difficult for us to put into words the shock and grief of the queer community,” said Alva Träbert of Federation Queer Diversity, a German LGBTQ and intersex rights group known by the acronym LSVD, on Sunday in a statement. “Our solidarity goes out to all the victims and their families. The community’s grief now needs space to be expressed. This act, which according to the current state of the investigation was motivated by Islamist extremism, is to be condemned in the strongest possible terms. We owe our thanks and deep respect to the entire Berlin Pride team for their organization and to the emergency services for their swift assistance.”

Träbert added the attack “was not directed at a party, but at a political demonstration for the human rights of LGBTQIA+ people” and was “also an attack on democratic values themselves.” Träbert also urged the German government in the wake of the attack to do more to protect LGBTQ and intersex Germans.

The Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes the annual D.C. Pride parade, in a statement said it “is deeply saddened by the attack during Berlin Pride and our hearts are with everyone affected, especially the victims, attendees, the organizers, and the families, friends, and loved ones whose lives have been impacted.”

“We send our love and unwavering support to the entire Berlin LGBTQ+ community during this difficult time.,” said the Capital Pride Alliance.

⁠”Pride is rooted in community, resilience, and the belief that everyone deserves to gather safely and authentically,” it added. “In moments like these, we are reminded that our greatest strength is standing together.”⁠

Dutch authorities to ‘take extra measures’ during World Pride in Amsterdam

The attack took place on the same day that World Pride began in Amsterdam.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema on Sunday said authorities will “take extra measures … where necessary” during the event and the city’s annual Pride, which will take place on Aug. 1. Dutch Prime Minister Rob Jetten, who is gay, on social media said he expressed his condolences to Merz.

“The horrific act of aggression last night at the Pride in Berlin is a direct attack on our free and tolerant society,” said Jetten on X.

“My thoughts are with the victims and their loved ones,” he added. “In these difficult times, we stand shoulder to shoulder with our German neighbors.”

Less than a year after losing Virginia’s gubernatorial race, former Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears is campaigning across the state against constitutional amendments that would protect marriage equality and reproductive freedom.

She is launching a statewide “Life and Marriage Tour” ahead of November’s election.

Although same-sex couples can legally marry under the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision, Virginia’s constitution still contains language that defines marriage as between one man and one woman. Supporters say removing the language would protect marriage equality should federal precedent change.

The original ban was written into the state constitution in 2006. 

It has been hinted at in the past by Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas that he would consider revisiting Obergefell v. Hodges regarding contraception and marriage rights for same-sex couples. He stated this in his concurring opinion regarding the Dobbs v. Jackson ruling, which allows for state-level abortion bans.

Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman said removing the ban would bring the state’s constitution in line with existing law.

“20 years after banning marriage equality, it’s time for our commonwealth to fully complete our evolution — and finish the job on protecting marriage equality for all,” Rahaman said.

In an email to supporters, Earle-Sears said these amendments “raise serious concerns” and could alter principles about which Virginians care.

“That is why our efforts are focused not only on informing voters, but also encouraging them to carefully consider these proposals and vote NO on both amendments,” Earle-Sears said.

Virginia voters will consider three constitutional amendments this November.

Earle-Sears is campaigning for voters to reject two of them: the Virginia Remove Constitutional Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment and the Right to Reproductive Freedom Amendment.

A “Yes” vote on the Same-Sex Marriage Ban Amendment would include removing a provision that states marriage is between one man and one woman and prohibitng the state from denying a marriage license to two adults based on their sex, gender, or race, according to the Virginia Department of Elections.

In 2025, during debates against now Gov. Abigail Spanberger, Earle-Sears argued it is not discrimination to think that gay people should not be allowed to marry. She claims it conflicts with her faith.

According to ABC 8, in 2024 she wrote that she had a “moral opposition” to marriage equality, after former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, a Republican, signed a marriage equality bill that barred denying marriage licenses based on sex, gender, or race.

According to the Virginia Department of Elections, a “Yes” vote on the Reproductive Freedom amendment supports adding a section to the state constitution that would give Virginians the right to make and carry out decisions regarding reproductive healthcare, except in specific exemptions.

The Virginia Department of Elections wrote that if accepted, the amendment would allow the state government to pass laws to regulate abortion care in the third trimester of pregnancy, but require abortion care when it is medically needed to protect the life and health of the pregnant person or because the fetus is not viable.

During the 2025 election cycle, Earle-Sears was clear on her anti-abortion stance.

According to the Virginia Independent, she utilized campaign funds to donate to the Family Foundation of Virginia. The group is a faith-based, anti-abortion, and anti-in vitro fertilization non-profit.

The “Life and Marriage Tour” will include traveling throughout Virginia to speak with citizens, churches, community organizations, and local leaders. The exact locations have yet to be announced.

Uncloseted Media published this article on July 23.

By SPENCER MACNAUGHTON | Earlier this month, hundreds of people filled a conference room in San Diego. These included Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, Assistant Secretary of Health Admiral Brian Christine, OpenAI executive Dean Ball, and the attorneys general of West Virginia and Idaho.

They all came together for Alliance Defending Freedom’s 2026 Summit. The Christian legal group, also a Southern Poverty Law Center-designated anti-LGBTQ hate group, described the event as a “gathering of leaders from many different spheres, including law, public policy, media, business, education, and Christian leadership.”

Johnson — who has said that “homosexual relationships are inherently unnatural and … society cannot give its stamp of approval to such a dangerous lifestyle” — was a featured speaker.

In his speech, he seemed unconcerned with the separation of church and state: “It is so encouraging to Kelly and I to be among friends and fellow warriors for this cause and people who understand that God is not done with America yet. … ADF’s on the very tip of the spear, front line, defending those very truths and keeping the door open for the spread of the Gospel. This is our moment. I’m telling you, I believe the next season … is going to be the greatest season of this ministry since its inception.”

That ministry is one that has espoused aggressively anti-LGBTQ views since its inception in the early 1990s. It was co-founded by a group of evangelical men, including Alan Sears, who co-authored a book called “The Homosexual Agenda: Exposing the Principal Threat to Religious Freedom Today.” Since then, ADF has opposed gay marriage and supported bans on gay sex and on gender-affirming care for minors.

After helping overturn Roe v. Wade, ADF lawyers have led key victories at the Supreme Court. In 303 Creative v. Elenis, SCOTUS ruled that a website designer could refuse service to gay weddings. And this year they convinced the Court to overturn Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy and to uphold state laws in West Virginia and Idaho that ban trans girls from playing on girls’ sports teams.

At the summit, ADF President Kristen Waggoner, who has promoted conversion therapists and consistently misgenders trans people, interviewed these states’ attorneys general.

“The lawyers who were defending women’s sports were among the best I’ve ever seen in my entire life,” West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey told Waggoner.

Similar to Johnson, Trump’s Assistant Secretary of Health Christine showed his commitment to governing based on conservative Christianity. He gave a Bible-thumping speech against gender transition and trans healthcare, saying that it “contradicts … the deeper moral order that is woven into creation itself. For Genesis 1:27 informs us that God created man in his own image. … Male and female” He also said the “complementary relationship between man and woman is divine” and advocated for youth with gender dysphoria to receive care from a pastor.

All of these remarks from politicians made me think of the interview I published earlier this week with Pete Hegseth’s pastor, Doug Wilson. He wants a Christian theocracy in America and told me that: both the perpetrator and the victim should be disciplined in some cases of marital rape; that transgender people are “sad;” that execution is justifiable for certain homosexual acts; and that gay sex should be illegal.

The ADF Summit is glossy and polished. And while its messaging may be less explicit than Pastor Wilson’s, the track record of the organizations shows they have the exact same desires. They’re just deeply strategic in what they say and when and how they say it.

I believe the political power players who attended this year’s summit know this. They know they are endorsing an organization whose members have essentially called for the illegalization of most — if not all ‚ forms of queer behavior and presentation.

In the last few years, these perspectives have become increasingly embedded in the highest rooms of the federal government and they have been effective in stripping away LGBTQ rights. Wilson, who just installed a full-time pastor in Washington to lead services, says there are 10 to 20 government officials who align with his church’s ideology.

It is vital for Americans to keep their eyes wide open to the ultimate goal of groups like ADF: to create a United States that leaves LGBTQ people without rights and that pushes us back in the closet.