National
All in the ‘Family’
Family Equality Council looks to future with new executive director
Family Equality Council Executive Director Gabriel Blauās faith background has always proven an integral part of his LGBT advocacy.
He founded the God and Sexuality National Academic Conference at Bard College in 1998 that brought together scholars and advocates to present lectures and workshops on gender, sexuality and religion because he āwasnāt finding the kind of leaders and resourcesā he said he needed as an LGBT person of faith. Blau later led the $18 million campaign to raise funds that would allow Congregation Beit Simchat Torah, an LGBT synagogue in New York City, to move into a new location in Manhattan.
Blau told the Washington Blade during an interview at his D.C. office that his faith background has proven an asset in his new position.
āAs a family organization, weāre one of the few that is not either just a right-wing group or a faith-based group,ā he said. āThe concept of family values has been so really tarnished by other family values groups, and often in the name of faith and often in the name of whatās right and what God wants. I think understanding that is critical to being able to fight it and to fight for real family values for valuing families.ā
Blau joined Family Equality Council in January as its deputy director of strategic advancement. The organizationās board of directors in August appointed him to succeed long-time Executive Director Jennifer Chrisler, who resigned earlier this year to accept a senior administrative position at Smith College in Massachusetts.
Alan Bernstein, board chair of the Council, said in a press release that Blau represents a new generation of LGBT leaders in the country.
āOne whose personal experiences and passion for social change can inspire our families and policy makers,ā Bernstein said. āHe is uniquely qualified to lead Family Equality Council at this pivotal moment in our organizationās history and in the LGBT movement. We look forward to having him lead the organizationās efforts from our nationās capital where we can continue the progress weāve made in being recognized as the leading national voice on issues related to LGBT family equality.ā
Blau commutes between D.C. and New York where he lives with his husband Dylan and their 5-year-old son, Elijah. He also spends one week a month working out of the Family Equality Councilās Boston office.
Family Equality Councilās mission evolves, remains the same
Blau told the Blade his organization is more āimportant than weāve ever beenā since a group of gay fathers founded it in 1979, but in ādifferent ways.ā
The Family Equality Council signed onto amicus briefs in two cases that prompted the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down Californiaās Proposition 8 and find a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. It also wrote the brief the Voices of Children submitted in the two cases.
The organization also meets regularly with members of the Obama administration and lobbies members of Congress to support a number of LGBT-specific measures. These include the Every Child Deserves a Family Act that would prohibit discrimination in the adoption or foster care system based on sexual orientation, gender identity and expression or marital status.
Family Equality Council has also spoken out against a 2012 Virginia law that allows private adoption and foster care agencies to reject prospective parents based on their religious or moral beliefs. Blau last month criticized Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette after his officeĀ described marriage as a way to āregulate sexual relationships between men and womenāĀ in a brief it filed in a lesbian coupleās federal lawsuit that challenges the stateās ban on gay nuptials and same-sex second parent adoptions.
āWeāre now in a world where we can achieve legal equality in ways that the people who first got together in 1979 could not have even imagined,ā Blau says. āHaving an organization that has that kind of history and is every day ā day in and day out ā thinking about family issues is critical to that conversation.ā
Blau also spoke to the Blade about the controversy that erupted before last monthās Dallas Pride parade after organizers and local authorities warned participants against nudity and sexual conduct during the annual display.
“To make the parade more ‘family friendly’ and to accommodate comfort for the increasing number of attending heterosexuals and corporate sponsorship, participants are being asked to cover up,” local LGBT advocate Daniel Scott Cates wrote on his Facebook page asĀ the Associated Press reported on Sept. 17.Ā āThe āqueerā is effectively being erased from our Pride celebration.ā
Blau said he and his husband bring their son to New Yorkās annual Pride parade each year. He added his organization has worked with 20 Pride organizations so far this year to help them create what he described as family-friendly spaces.
āItās healthy for every community to have a conversation about what it means to have a Pride celebration, what is the LGBT community in any given area,ā Blau says. āWhen that community includes children, that community needs to figure out what that means for them. We as an organization do not in any way dictate what the answer is.ā
Russia LGBT rights crackdown āscary moment in historyā
Family Equality Council last month sharply criticized a Russian proposal that seeks to allow authorities to deny parental custody based on their sexual orientation. Blau also spoke with the Blade days after a video that claims gays and lesbians adopt children so they can rape them emerged.
āWeāre not an international organization, but many families in Russia are fleeing and seeking asylum in the U.S.,ā he says. āWhen they are here, they are part of our community.ā
Blau said Family Equality Council supporters have contacted him to see what they can do to challenge Russia over its LGBT rights record that includes a law that bans gay propaganda to minors. He added his organization continues to monitor the situation and work with international LGBT organizations to respond to the situation.
āWe have had the opportunities to speak directly with people who are directly affected by what is happening in Russia,ā Blau says, without naming specific groups. āFor many of us it is a very scary moment in history.ā
Group seeks to ābetterā use its resources
Blau says his organization has begun a six month review of its strategic plan that will reconsider its priorities as the LGBT rights movement continues to gain ground across the country.
In the meantime, he says Family Equality Council remains focused on its core mission and constituency while launching new efforts. These include its Outspoken Generation initiative that seeks to encourage children of LGBT parents to talk about their experiences.
āThe landscape is changing on a weekly basis, which is a great thing, but itās challenging,ā Blau says. āWeāre always looking at better ways to use our resources, to secure the parent-child relationship, to create not just equality in law but in culture and in society using the tools we have.ā
The White House
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
Nancy Pelosi is also among this year’s honorees
Beloved LGBTQ advocate Judy Shepard is among the 19 honorees who will receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the highest civilian award in the U.S., the White House announced on Friday.
The mother of Matthew Shepard, who was killed in 1998 in the country’s most notorious anti-gay hate crime, she co-founded the Matthew Shepard Foundation with her husband Dennis to raise awareness about anti-LGBTQ violence.
The organization runs education, outreach, and advocacy programs, many focused on schools.
Shepard was instrumental in working with then-President Barack Obama for passage of the landmark Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act in 2009, which was led in the House by then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.), who will also be honored with a Presidential Medal of Freedom during the ceremony on Friday.
Also in 2009, Shepard published a memoir, “The Meaning of Matthew: My Son’s Murder in Laramie, and a World Transformed,” and was honored with the Black Tie Dinner Elizabeth Birch Equality Award.
Other awardees who will be honored by the White House this year are: Actor Michelle Yeoh, entrepreneur and former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Jesuit Catholic priest Gregory Boyle, Assistant House Democratic Leader Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), former Labor and Education Secretary and former U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Dole (R-N.C.), journalist and former daytime talkshow host Phil Donahue, World War II veteran and civil rights activist Medgar Evers (posthumous), former Vice President Al Gore, civil rights activist and lawyer Clarence B. Jones, former Secretary of State and U.S. Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), former U.S. Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) (posthumous), Olympic swimmer Katie Ledecky, educator and activistĀ Opal Lee, astronaut and former director of NASA’s Johnson Space Center Ellen Ochoa, astronomer Jane Rigby, United Farm WorkersĀ President Teresa Romero, and Olympic athlete Jim Thorpe (posthumous).
National
United Methodist Church removes 40-year ban on gay clergy
Delegates also voted for other LGBTQ-inclusive measures
The United Methodist Church on Wednesday removed a ban on gay clergy that was in place for more than 40 years, voting to also allow LGBTQ weddings and end prohibitions on the use of United Methodist funds to āpromote acceptance of homosexuality.ā
Overturning the policy forbidding the church from ordaining āself-avowed practicing homosexualsā effectively formalized a practice that had caused an estimated quarter of U.S. congregations to leave the church.
The New York Times notes additional votes “affirming L.G.B.T.Q. inclusion in the church are expected before the meeting adjourns on Friday.” Wednesday’s measures were passed overwhelmingly and without debate. Delegates met in Charlotte, N.C.
According to the church’s General Council on Finance and Administration, there were 5,424,175 members in the U.S. in 2022 with an estimated global membership approaching 10 million.
The Times notes that other matters of business last week included a “regionalization” plan, which gave autonomy to different regions such that they can establish their own rules on matters including issues of sexuality ā about which international factions are likelier to have more conservative views.
Rev. Kipp Nelson of St. Johns’s on the Lake Methodist Church in Miami shared a statement praising the new developments:
āIt is a glorious day in the United Methodist Church. As a worldwide denomination, we have now publicly proclaimed the boundless love of God and finally slung open the doors of our church so that all people, no matter their identities or orientations, may pursue the calling of their hearts.
“Truly, all are loved and belong here among us. I am honored to serve as a pastor in the United Methodist Church for such a time as this, for our future is bright and filled with hope. Praise be, praise be.ā
Federal Government
Republican state AGs challenge Biden administration’s revised Title IX policies
New rules protect LGBTQ students from discrimination
Four Republicans state attorneys general have sued the Biden-Harris administration over the U.S. Department of Education’s new Title IX policies that were finalized April 19 and carry anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ students in public schools.
The lawsuit filed on Tuesday, which is led by the attorneys general of Kentucky and Tennessee, follows a pair of legal challenges from nine Republican states on Monday ā all contesting the administration’s interpretation that sex-based discrimination under the statute also covers that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The administration also rolled back Trump-era rules governing how schools must respond to allegations of sexual harassment and sexual assault, which were widely perceived as biased in favor of the interests of those who are accused.
āThe U.S. Department of Education has no authority to let boys into girlsā locker rooms,āĀ Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said in a statement. āIn the decades since its adoption, Title IX has been universally understood to protect the privacy and safety of women in private spaces like locker rooms and bathrooms.”
“Florida is suing the Biden administration over its unlawful Title IX changes,” Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis wrote on social media. “Biden is abusing his constitutional authority to push an ideological agenda that harms women and girls and conflicts with the truth.”
After announcing the finalization of the department’s new rules, Education Secretary Miguel Cardona told reporters, āThese regulations make it crystal clear that everyone can access schools that are safe, welcoming and that respect their rights.”
The new rule does not provide guidance on whether schools must allow transgender students to play on sports teams corresponding with their gender identity to comply with Title IX, a question that is addressed in a separate rule proposed by the agency in April.
LGBTQ and civil rights advocacy groups praised the changes. Lambda Legal issued a statement arguing the new rule āprotects LGBTQ+ students from discrimination and other abuse,āĀ adding that it “appropriately underscores that Title IXās civil rights protections clearly cover LGBTQ+ students, as well as survivors and pregnant and parenting students across race and gender identity.”