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Same-sex marriage supporters again gather outside Supreme Court

Rally drew several hundred people as justices heard oral arguments on DOMA’s constitutionality

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gay marriage, same sex marriage., marriage equality, Supreme Court, rainbow flag, gay news, Washington Blade
gay marriage, same sex marriage, marriage equality, gay news, Washington Blade

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Several hundred same-sex marriage supporters once again gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices heard oral arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

National Black Justice Coalition CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Tyler Deaton of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron and Earl Fowlkes of the Center for Black Equality are among those who spoke at a rally near the steps of the Supreme Court. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church gathered along First Street, N.E., but the vast majority of those who gathered outside the court backed nuptials for gays and lesbians.

“I think it’s important for all of us, regardless of whether we’re LGBTQ, to be here in support of change and [in] support of getting DOMA overturned and expanding federal benefits to all legally married couples,” D.C. resident June Crenshaw told the Washington Blade.

Yonkers, N.Y., City Councilmember Michael Sabatino and his husband Robert Voorheis visited Edith Windsor, the New York City widow who challenged DOMA after she paid $363,000 in estate taxes following her partner’s 2009 death, on Tuesday night. Sabatino told the Blade while he and Voorheis stood outside the Supreme Court with a sign that included a picture of them on their wedding day in Canada that she seemed “pretty relaxed” and “looked very well.”

“It was just great to spend a little quiet time with her before her big day today,” Voorheis said. “I am so excited about being here. It is a culmination of years of work to get to this point and I’m really optimistic. I’m really excited and I’m very proud of Edie.”

Brian Cain of Raleigh, N.C., held a poster with a picture of his husband Juan Grajales, whom he married last September in Mexico City, while standing near the court’s steps.

DOMA prevents gays and lesbians from sponsoring their foreign-born partners for immigration purposes, but Cain told the Blade he is hopeful the justices will overturn the statute that then-President Clinton signed into law in 1996.

“[Juan is] very proud that I’m here,” Cain said. “He is hopeful because this is all we have.”

Several thousand same-sex marriage supporters and opponents descended upon the court on Tuesday as the justices heard oral arguments in the case that challenges the constitutionality of California’s voter-approved Proposition 8 that banned nuptials for gays and lesbians in the Golden State in 2008.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris told the Blade after yesterday’s oral arguments that she feels the justices will uphold two lower court rulings that found Prop 8 unconstitutional.

Crenshaw, who was outside the court on Tuesday with other same-sex marriage supporters, was less optimistic about the case’s outcome.

“There’s all kinds of possibilities,” she said. “I’m very hopeful that the Supreme Court will decide on the right side of the law and support equality.”

Shauna Vert of Ottawa said nuptials for gays and lesbians has “always been a no-brainer” to her. Canada is among the countries in which same-sex couples can legally marry, but she told the Blade she feels opponents of the issue have a right to their opinion.

“I’m glad they’re using their freedom of speech,” Vert said. “We’re going to win anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”

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New York

Two teens shot steps from Stonewall Inn after NYC Pride parade

One of the victims remains in critical condition

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The Stonewall National Memorial in New York on June 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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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New York

Zohran Mamdani participates in NYC Pride parade

Mayoral candidate has detailed LGBTQ rights platform

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NYC mayoral candidate and New York State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani (Screen capture: NBC News/YouTube)

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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U.S. Supreme Court

Supreme Court upholds ACA rule that makes PrEP, other preventative care free

Liberal justices joined three conservatives in majority opinion

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The U.S. Supreme Court as composed June 30, 2022, to present. Front row, left to right: Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John G. Roberts, Jr., Associate Justice Samuel A. Alito, Jr., and Associate Justice Elena Kagan. Back row, left to right: Associate Justice Amy Coney Barrett, Associate Justice Neil M. Gorsuch, Associate Justice Brett M. Kavanaugh, and Associate Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson. (Photo Credit: Fred Schilling, the U.S. Supreme Court)

The U.S. Supreme Court on Friday upheld a portion of the Affordable Care Act requiring private health insurers to cover the cost of preventative care including PrEP, which significantly reduces the risk of transmitting HIV.

Conservative Justice Brett Kavanaugh authored the majority opinion in the case, Kennedy v. Braidwood Management. He was joined by two conservatives, Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Amy Coney Barrett, along with the three liberal justices, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan, and Ketanji Brown-Jackson.

The court’s decision rejected the plaintiffs’ challenge to the Affordable Care Act’s reliance on the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force to “unilaterally” determine which types of care and services must be covered by payors without cost-sharing.

An independent all-volunteer panel of nationally recognized experts in prevention and primary care, the 16 task force members are selected by the secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to serve four-year terms.

They are responsible for evaluating the efficacy of counseling, screenings for diseases like cancer and diabetes, and preventative medicines — like Truvada for PrEP, drugs to reduce heart disease and strokes, and eye ointment for newborns to prevent infections.

Parties bringing the challenge objected especially to the mandatory coverage of PrEP, with some arguing the drugs would “encourage and facilitate homosexual behavior” against their religious beliefs.

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