National
HRC, Sebelius unveil report on medical facilities
Evaluating LGBT-friendliness of hospitals, other providers
HRC President Chad Griffin unveils Healthcare Equality Index (Blade photo by Chris Johnson)
Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin and Secretary of Health & Human Services Kathleen Sebelius unveiled HRC’s annual report evaluating the LGBT friendliness of medical facilities throughout the country at a media appearance Tuesday.
The two appeared together at a news conference at Howard University Medical Center — a facility that received a perfect score in the new report — to talk about the findings in HRC’s 2012 Healthcare Equality Index, which is the fifth such report from the organization.
Griffin said during the news conference that medical facilities shouldn’t deny a patient the ability to see a loved one — whether it’s a same-sex or opposite-sex partner — while visiting a hospital.
“At no time are we more vulnerable than when we’re lying on an emergency room gurney or in a hospital bed,” Griffin said. “It’s a scary time; not a time to be alone, and we desperately need our loved one by our side. And of course, that’s exactly where they want to be, not sitting in a waiting room feeling scared or helpless, or even worse, in a car racing home to find legal papers that prove our relationships while critical medical decisions are being made without us.”
Sebelius noted the Obama administration’s work on improving LGBT health, mentioning accomplishments such as the hospital visitation memorandum and a move to bar insurers from discriminating on the basis of LGBT status.
“A lot of these improvement don’t get the biggest press headlines, but they reflect how every day in dozens of small ways every agency and division in our department is working to make things better for LGBT individuals and families we serve,” Sebelius said.
This year’s index includes 407 respondents that volunteered to fill out a survey on key aspects of treatment of LGBT patients and staff, including patient non-discrimination policies, visitation polices, employment non-discrimination policies and training in LGBT patient-centered care.
The report saw a 40 percent increase in participating respondents from last year. Additionally, there were 237 facilities — a 162 percent increase — in facilities that received a perfect score and were dubbed a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality.”
Wayne Frederick, Howard University provost and chief academic officer, said Howard University Hospital was “delighted” to be included among the facilities that received a perfect score in the index.
“Patient-centered care is a universal standard and is expected of all health care providers and health care institutions,” Frederick said. “It is a standard that is deserved by all people regardless of race, nationality, gender, sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Health also received a perfect score in the index and is the only non-hospital organization in the district to receive a perfect score in the report.
Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker’s executive director, said he’s “excited and honored” his organization’s work has been recognized by HRC.
“Whitman-Walker was founded more than 30 years ago to offer high quality and affirming health care for metropolitan D.C.’s LGBT community at a time when that was almost non-existent,” Blanchon said. “We are very proud to not only be recognized but to join the company of other health care groups around the nation who are working to ensure equal access to high quality care.”
Although more facilities than ever volunteered to fill out the survey, 18 states aren’t represented: Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, West Virginia, Vermont and Connecticut.
On the same day that HRC issued its report, the Department of Health & Human Services issued its own annual report identifying seven key LGBT accomplishments in the past year as well as goals moving forward. Among them are the National Institutes of Health issuing a report identifying LGBT health gaps and opportunities; the Centers for Disease Control issuing data on domestic violence for LGBT couples; and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services making a training video about LGBT elder Americans.
Griffin emphasized the importance of health care equity by narrating his own story about making his first visit to the doctor after coming out as gay while living in Los Angeles and wanting to correct his patient record by saying he had previously incorrectly identified as straight.
“My doctor didn’t make me feel comfortable,” Griffin said. “He didn’t sort of have the answers to the questions and I didn’t feel comfortable, which is what I expected with my doctor. So, I left and I immediately changed doctors and got a doctor that was referred by friends, and I was very comfortable with being honest with that doctor and asking every question I had as a young person struggling to come out of the closet. That was so important and so helpful.”
CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article said Whitman-Walker was the only non-hospital organization to receive a perfect score in the Healthcare Equality Index. It’s the only non-hospital organization in D.C., not the country. The Blade regrets the error.
U.S. Supreme Court
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
27 states have passed laws limiting participation in athletics programs
The U.S. Supreme Court on Thursday agreed to hear two cases involving transgender youth challenging bans prohibiting them from participating in school sports.
In Little v. Hecox, plaintiffs represented by the ACLU, Legal Voice, and the law firm Cooley are challenging Idaho’s 2020 ban, which requires sex testing to adjudicate questions of an athlete’s eligibility.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals described the process in a 2023 decision halting the policy’s enforcement pending an outcome in the litigation. The “sex dispute verification process, whereby any individual can ‘dispute’ the sex of any female student athlete in the state of Idaho,” the court wrote, would “require her to undergo intrusive medical procedures to verify her sex, including gynecological exams.”
In West Virginia v. B.P.J., Lambda Legal, the ACLU, the ACLU of West Virginia, and Cooley are representing a trans middle school student challenging the Mountain State’s 2021 ban on trans athletes.
The plaintiff was participating in cross country when the law was passed, taking puberty blockers that would have significantly reduced the chances that she could have a physiological advantage over cisgender peers.
“Like any other educational program, school athletic programs should be accessible for everyone regardless of their sex or transgender status,” said Joshua Block, senior counsel for the ACLU’s LGBTQ and HIV Project. “Trans kids play sports for the same reasons their peers do — to learn perseverance, dedication, teamwork, and to simply have fun with their friends,” Block said.
He added, “Categorically excluding kids from school sports just because they are transgender will only make our schools less safe and more hurtful places for all youth. We believe the lower courts were right to block these discriminatory laws, and we will continue to defend the freedom of all kids to play.”
“Our client just wants to play sports with her friends and peers,” said Lambda Legal Senior Counsel Tara Borelli. “Everyone understands the value of participating in team athletics, for fitness, leadership, socialization, and myriad other benefits.”
Borelli continued, “The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit last April issued a thoughtful and thorough ruling allowing B.P.J. to continue participating in track events. That well-reasoned decision should stand the test of time, and we stand ready to defend it.”
Shortly after taking control of both legislative chambers, Republican members of Congress tried — unsuccessfully — to pass a national ban like those now enforced in 27 states since 2020.
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.”
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