News
Sports highlighted during U.N. human rights declaration anniversary
Ban Ki-moon says Navratilova ‘inspired’ him
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Dec. 10, 2013, said Martina Navratilova “inspired” him. (Photo courtesy of John Wright Photo)
UNITED NATIONS—LGBT activists this week used the 65th anniversary of the ratification of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights at the U.N. to highlight efforts to combat homophobia and transphobia in sports.
Gay MSNBC anchor Thomas Roberts on Dec. 10 moderated a U.N. panel at the U.N. on which retired tennis champion Martina Navratilova, former Washington Wizards center Jason Collins, South African activist Thandeka “Tumi” Mkhuma, intersex advocate Huda Viloria, Anastasia Smirnova of the Russian LGBT Network and U.N. Assistant Secretary General for Human Rights Ivan Simonovic sat. Singer Melissa Etheridge and Jessica Stern, executive director of the International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission, were among those who also attended the event.
U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said in a video that Navratilova, who came out in 1981, “inspired” him. He added the retired tennis champion “paved the way for” Collins and other LGBT athletes to publicly declare their sexual orientation or gender identity and expression.
“They understand an abuse against any of us is an affront to all,” said Ban. “Human rights can only be visible when we stand in solidarity as one.”
Smirnova said the attention the Kremlin’s LGBT rights record has received ahead of the 2014 Winter Olympics that will take place in Sochi, Russia, in February has allowed her organization to “shed light on the most ugly developments happening in the country.” She added the Olympics and other international sporting events can be “a great celebration of excellence and diversity.”
“As a celebration of diversity, it has great potential to show common universal commitment to humanity, to show dignity, to show international solidarity with those who are experiencing hardships,” said Smirnova.
Mkhuma paid tribute to former South African President Nelson Mandela during the panel, noting he unified his country through sports. The anti-Apartheid champion presented the 1995 Rugby World Cup championship trophy to Francois Pienaar, a white South African who was the then-captain of the Springboks, while wearing the team jersey with his number.
Mkhuma said her stepfather, who is a pastor, kicked her out of her home when she was 16 because she is a lesbian. South African authorities have yet to arrest the person who beat and raped her in 2009.
Mkhuma said the lesbian soccer team she joined has become her family and “my community.”
“As a survivor of rape, it is still hard for me to live in South Africa,” she said as her voice quivered and Navratilova comforted her. “It is all our responsibility to end hate and to end violence.”
The U.N. General Assembly on Dec. 10, 1948, ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The U.N. in 2011 adopted a resolution in support of LGBT rights.
“The [U.N.’s] Universal Declaration of Human Rights promises a world in which everyone is born free and equal in dignity and rights — no exceptions, no one left behind,” said U.N. High Commission for Human Rights Navi Pillay in July during a Cape Town, South Africa, press conference at which the U.N. launched a campaign in support of global LGBT rights. “Yet it’s still a hollow promise for many millions of LGBT people forced to confront hatred, intolerance, violence and discrimination on a daily basis.”
U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Samantha Power on Tuesday described the Russian law that bans gay propaganda to minors as “outrageous” and “dangerous” during a meeting with nearly 30 LGBT rights advocates at the U.S. Mission to the U.N. in New York that IGLHRC organized. Turkish Parliamentarian Melda Onur, Maria Fontenelle of the St. Lucian LGBT advocacy group United and Strong, Thilaga Sulathireh of the Malaysian organization Justice for Sisters and Family Equality Council Executive Director Gabriel Blau are among those who attended the roundtable.
LGBT rights advocates from Namibia, Malawi, Cameroon, Zimbabwe and other African countries also took part in an IGLHRC briefing in lower Manhattan on Dec. 9.
“To deny gays and lesbians the right to live freely and to threaten them with discrimination and even death is not a form of moral or religious Puritanism,” said Power. “It’s in fact barbarism.”
Etheridge joined “Milk” producer Bruce Cohen and Smirnova on Dec. 9 for the formal launch of the “Uprising of Love” campaign that seeks to support LGBT Russians. Collins is among those who attended a Manhattan fundraiser for United for Equality in Sports and Entertainment the following day.
U.S. Ambassador to Japan Caroline Kennedy on Dec. 5 held a reception at her Tokyo residence to commemorate the ratification of Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Gay Pennsylvania state Rep. Brian Sims is among those who spoke.
“Today, we recognize that human rights include women’s rights, reproductive rights, racial and ethnic justice, the rights of the ill and infirmed, the rights of the differently abled, and the rights of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender communities,” said Sims in his speech.
Colombia
Claudia López criticizes Trump over threats against Colombian president
Presidential candidate would become country’s first lesbian head of government
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Colombian presidential candidate Claudia López has criticized President Donald Trump after he suggested the U.S. will target Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
“Colombia is very sick, too, run by a sick man, who likes making cocaine and selling it to the United States, and he’s not going to be doing it very long,” Trump told reporters on Air Force One on Sunday.
Trump made the comments a day after American forces carried out an overnight operation and seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro and Flores on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
Petro is a former Bogotá mayor and senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s. He has urged Colombians to take to the streets and “defend national sovereignty.”
“Colombians are the ones who decide who governs Colombia,” said López on her X account. “President Gustavo Petro won free elections and has a constitutional mandate.”
López did not mention Trump by name in her comment.
The first-round of Colombia’s presidential election will take place on May 31. The country’s 1991 constitution prevents Petro from seeking re-election.
López in 2019 became the first woman and first lesbian elected mayor of Bogotá, the Colombian capital and the country’s largest city. She took office on Jan. 1, 2020, less than a month after she married her wife, Colombian Sen. Angélica Lozano.
“This year we will decide at the polls what direction (the country) is heading and what leadership will advance Colombia,” said López in her X post. “Supporting soft dictatorships and attacking democracies is an absurd and unacceptable political action by the United States towards Colombia, Venezuela, and Latin America.”
Quién gobierna en Colombia lo decidimos los colombianos.
El presidente @petrogustavo ganó unas elecciones libres y tiene un mandato constitucional. Este año decidiremos en las urnas qué rumbo y a cargo de qué liderazgo avanza Colombia.
Sostener dictablandas y atacar democracias… https://t.co/K61G2QUcck— Claudia López Hernández (@ClaudiaLopez) January 5, 2026
López would be Colombia’s first female president if she wins the election. López would also become the third openly lesbian woman elected head of government — Jóhanna Sigurðardóttir was Iceland’s prime minister from 2009-2013 and Ana Brnabić was Serbia’s prime minister from 2017-2024.
The LGBTQ+ Victory Institute in 2024 honored López at its annual International LGBTQ Leaders Conference in D.C. The Washington Blade interviewed her during the gathering.
Minnesota
Tim Walz drops out of Minn. governor’s race
The longtime LGBTQ ally and Democratic party figure blames ongoing fraud investigations supported by Trump and the GOP for his withdrawal.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz announced Monday that he is withdrawing from the 2026 Minnesota governor’s race, citing what he described as political interference and attacks from Republican Party leaders.
Walz made the announcement on social media, where the post quickly gained traction, drawing more than 30,000 likes on Instagram and 23,000 reactions on Facebook.
In his statement, the incumbent governor directly blamed former President Donald Trump and his allies, both in Washington and in Minnesota, for fueling what he characterized as politically motivated accusations of widespread fraud tied to federal nutrition programs in the state.
According to a 2024 ABC News story, more than 70 people have been charged as part of a “wide-ranging criminal conspiracy” that allegedly exploited two federally funded nutrition programs during the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in more than $250 million in fraudulent claims.
“I won’t mince words here,” Walz wrote. “Donald Trump and his allies — in Washington, in St. Paul, and online — want to make our state a colder, meaner place. They want to poison our people against each other by attacking our neighbors. And, ultimately, they want to take away much of what makes Minnesota the best place in America to raise a family.”
In his announcement, Walz also cited recent reports from Somali American child care center operators in Minnesota who said they have faced violent threats and vandalism after right-wing YouTuber Nick Shirley posted a video alleging fraud at their facilities. Following the video’s release, the Trump-Vance administration cut federal child care funding nationwide.
Walz also criticized the federal government’s decision to withhold child care funding from states amid the allegations.
“They’ve already begun by taking our tax dollars that were meant to help families afford child care,” he added. “And they have no intention of stopping there.”
Last week, a Department of Health and Human Services official confirmed that the Trump administration is pausing child care funding to all states following the Minnesota allegations, stating that funds will be released “only when states prove they are being spent legitimately.”
“Republicans are playing politics with the future of our state,” Walz said. “And it’s shameful.”
Walz previously served as the Democratic vice presidential nominee alongside then–Vice President Kamala Harris during her unsuccessful 2024 presidential campaign.
Meanwhile, longtime Trump ally and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell announced in December that he is running for Minnesota governor and has already received Trump’s endorsement.
Walz has been a longtime ally of the LGBTQ community, dating back to 1999, when he served as a football coach and teacher at Mankato West High School in Mankato, Minnesota, about 80 miles southwest of Minneapolis.
It is also possible that U. S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) is considering entering the race to succeed him.
Colombia
Blade travels to Colombia after U.S. forces seize Maduro in Venezuela
Former Venezuelan president, wife seized on Saturday
Washington Blade International News Editor Michael K. Lavers will be on assignment in Colombia through Jan. 10.
Lavers arrived in Bogotá, the Colombian capital, on Monday. American forces two days earlier carried out an overnight operation and seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital.
Maduro and Flores on Monday pled not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
Maduro in 2013 became Venezuela’s president after his predecessor, Hugo Chávez, died.
The country’s ongoing economic and political crises have prompted millions of Venezuelans to flee to neighboring Colombia and other countries throughout Latin America and around the world. The seizure of Maduro and Flores threatens to further destabilize Venezuela and the broader region.
The Washington Blade, which has reported from Colombia several times over the last decade, has interviewed several LGBTQ Venezuelan opposition leaders. The Blade has also extensively covered the plight of LGBTQ Venezuelans and Venezuelans with HIV/AIDS who have left their country because of violence, persecution, discrimination, and a lack of medications.
“LGBTQ Venezuelans in Colombia and elsewhere have a unique perspective on the events that have transpired in their homeland over the last two days, and how they continue to reverberate throughout the hemisphere,” said Lavers. “It is critically important for the Washington Blade to document the situation in the region as it continues to evolve and to show how it will impact LGBTQ communities.”
“The Blade has a long history of covering the plight of LGBTQ communities around the world and this trip reflects our commitment to the region,” said Blade Editor Kevin Naff. “This reporting will help shine a light on the challenges facing LGBTQ Venezuelans and those living with HIV and how they are coping with the unfolding events.”
Lavers last reported from Colombia in 2021. His coverage included a trip to Cúcuta, a Colombian city that is on the country’s border with Venezuela.
Claudia López criticizes Trump over threats against Colombian president
Tim Walz drops out of Minn. governor’s race
Blade travels to Colombia after U.S. forces seize Maduro in Venezuela
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