News
LGBT forum for 2020 hopefuls gets boost from GLAAD, Cory Booker
Hype builds as Dems Dems strut their stuff
Hype continues to build for an upcoming Democratic presidential forum on LGBT issues as GLAAD announced Wednesday it would become a national partner for the event and a new candidate — Cory Booker — has announced he’ll participate.
GLAAD, the Los Angeles-based LGBT media watchdog group, will join the LGBT group One Iowa, The Gazette, and The Advocate as national partners for the upcoming forum, which will take place in Iowa on Sept. 20.
“LGBTQ issues and the LGBTQ community have been largely left out of the 2020 presidential primary conversation so far, and this forum will bring these important topics to a national audience for the first time in this election cycle,” GLAAD CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said in a statement.
The event is set to take place at Coe College’s Sinclair Auditorium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. According to GLAAD, more than 350 people have RSVP’d.
As part of the partnership, the event will be livestreamed through GLAAD’s partnership across social and digital channels to a national and international audience, the LGBT media group announced.
Ellis also referenced a recent annual survey from GLAAD finding young Americans, who traditionally are the most supportive of LGBT people, are less supportive than in years past — blaming Trump for those numbers.
“We look forward to hearing how each 2020 candidate will fight for LGBTQ acceptance during this campaign and beyond and, as president, how each of them would repair the damage done to LGBTQ equality and acceptance by the Trump administration,” Ellis said.
This year’s survey, conducted by the Harris Poll, found the number of Americans ages 18-34 who are comfortable in all seven proposed scenarios with LGBT people dropped from 53 percent to 45 percent. That’s the second consecutive year that this age group has shown a drop.
Previously, candidates named as attendees for the LGBT forum were Joseph Biden, Julian Castro and Marianne Williamson and Joe Sestak. But on Wednesday, Booker announced on Twitter he’d also take part.
“Looking forward to this important conversation on September 20th,” Booker tweeted.
The upcoming forum recalls a similar event in 2008 when a plethora of Democratic candidates were seeking the presidential nomination. The forum was coordinated by the Human Rights Campaign and then-president Joe Solmonese. Lesbian singer Melissa Ethridge served as a moderator.
For the upcoming forum, the moderators will be Lyz Lenz, a columnist for The Gazette; Zach Stafford, editor-in-chief for The Advocate; and Keenan Crow, One Iowa director of policy and advocacy.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
The Washington Blade this week welcomed Emma LaPointe as its summer intern.
Emma is studying journalism, political science, and German studies at the University of Arizona. She is from Tucson, Ariz., and is interning with the Blade as part of a continued partnership with the Washington Center.
“I am super excited to spend my summer with the Washington Blade and to learn more about D.C.,” said Emma. “I have loved reporting on the LGBTQ+ community back in Tucson, and I am excited to continue the work here.”
Emma’s internship will end on July 31.
Hungary
Charges against Budapest mayor for organizing Pride march dropped
Country’s new government took office last month
Hungarian authorities on Thursday dropped charges against Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony over his role in organizing the city’s 2025 Pride march.
Karácsony spoke at the event, even though then-Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government banned it.
More than 100,000 people defied the ban and participated in the march that took place on June 28, 2025. The Associated Press notes the Budapest Chief Prosecutor’s Office in January charged Karácsony with “organizing the unlawful assembly despite a prohibition order.”
Karácsony, who has been Budapest’s mayor since 2019, described himself as a “proud defendant” after his indictment.
“It seems that in this country, this is the price you pay if you stand up for your own freedom and the freedom of others,” he said in a statement, according to the AP. “If anyone thinks they can ban me, deter me, or prevent me and my city from doing so, they are gravely mistaken.”
Budapest is Hungary’s capital and largest city.
Prime Minister Péter Magyar took office last month after his center-right Tisza party ousted Orbán’s Fidesz-KDNP coalition in elections that took place on April 12.
Hungarian police on May 29 announced they will allow the Budapest Pride march to take place this year.
The European Union’s top court, the EU Court of Justice, days after Orbán’s ouster struck down Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ propaganda law that MPs approved in 2021. The BBC notes Hungarian authorities cited the decision in their decision to drop the charges against Karácsony.
Authorities in Pécs, a city near Hungary’s border with Croatia, have also dropped charges against Géza Buzás-Hábel, who organized a 2025 Pride event.
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