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Santos sponsors anti-trans resolution, backs AR-15 measure

Democratic N.Y. governor sharply criticized embattled Republican congressman

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4 years ago

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U.S. Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) (Public domain photo)

Republican New York Congressman George Santos has co-sponsored two resolutions in the U.S. House of Representatives, one that directly targets transgender women and a second that promotes the AR-15 assault rifle as the “national gun of America.” 

House Resolution 115 and House Resolution 1095, were both introduced and co-sponsored by his fellow Republican lawmakers. 

HR 115, introduced by U.S. Rep. Debbie Lesko (R-Ariz.), seeks to implement a “Women’s Bill of Rights,” so as to “reaffirm legal protections afforded to women under federal law.” The resolution, however, directly challenges liberal gender norms by limiting the statutes to “biological differences between the sexes.” 

Lesko’s resolution only recognizes the biological origins of a person’s birth certificate, thereby eliminating trans rights be recognized publicly in this symbolic but showing telling of Republican political ideological goals.

Insofar as women’s rights go, the bill tries to provide six points, three “for purposes of federal law” focusing only on long-held defined gender terms for specific biological roles: “sex” to be defined as “biological sex at birth,” words such as “woman” and “girl”, and “man” and “boy” would be defined based on the sex assigned at birth, and “mother” and “father” are defined via their assigned sex. 

Likewise, the language allows discrimination under the basis of the person’s sex “when they serve an important governmental objective and are substantially related to achieving that objective.” 

“Protecting women’s rights should not be a partisan issue, yet the left cannot even define the word ‘woman,’” said Lesko in a statement. “I am proud to once again introduce this important legislation to affirm the basic biological truth that men and women are different and safeguard the rights of women in our laws.”

The Republican Long Island congressman has made homophobic allegations in the past in spite of his known gender orientation.

“The family unit has been under attack for decades, decades!” Santos said on John Stubbins’s conservative “Indivisible” show. “In different ways, right? The flavor of the decade is same-sex couples. ‘Oh, that’s so OK!’ Look, to each their own, I don’t have anything against that but they’re teaching in school how kids that, you know, you don’t need a mommy and a daddy, you can have two mommies, you can have two daddies. I think that’s a little much for kids, right?”

HR 1095, on the other hand, seeks to make the AR-15 semi-automatic assault rifle the nation’s national gun. The resolution was introduced by U.S. Rep. Barry Moore (R-Ala.).

Santos’ backing of this bill as an out LGBTQ congressman disregards the damage automatic rifles have caused to the LGBTQ community — such as the Pulse and Club Q nightclub mass shootings. 

An angered New York Gov. Kathy Hochul (D) called Santos support of the AR-15 bill “disgusting.” In a statement the governor said:

“It’s outrageous and appalling that New York Congressman Santos would attach his name to legislation that would designate the AR-15 as the ‘national gun of the United States.’ This weapon of war has been used in mass shootings across the United States — from my hometown of Buffalo, where the shooter used a modified AR-15 to murder ten people in a despicable act of white supremacist terrorism, to Parkland, Fla., where the shooter killed seventeen innocent people with an AR-15-style weapon. The families and friends of those killed in Parkland have become heroic advocates for gun safety — including the Beigel-Schulman family of Dix Hills, who fight for change in memory of their son, Scott. This bill, which attempts to glorify the weapons that have been part of such horrific tragedies, adds unforgivable insult to injury for those families. It should never become law, and Congressman Santos should immediately remove his name from it, if he has any respect for New Yorkers.”

Both resolutions have yet to make it through to the House floor. 

George Santos backs bill making AR-15 the ‘national gun’ of U.S.:

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Congress

HRC president campaigns for Chris Pappas in NH

Gay congressman running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen

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1 week ago

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August 31, 2026

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Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson, left, campaigns with U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in Manchester, N.H., on Aug. 30, 2026. (Photo courtesy of the Human Rights Campaign)

Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson on Sunday campaigned for U.S. Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) in New Hampshire.

Robinson traveled to Manchester, the state’s largest city, nine days before the Sept. 8 primary that will determine who will vie for retiring U.S. Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.)’s seat.

Former U.S. Sen. John E. Sununu, who represented New Hampshire in the U.S. Senate from 2003-2009, will face off against former U.S. Sen. Scott Brown, who represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 2010-2013, in the Republican primary.

Karishma Manzur is among the Democrats challenging Pappas.

A poll the University of New Hampshire Survey Center released on Aug. 26 shows Sununu is ahead of Brown. The same survey shows Pappas ahead of Manzur and his other Democratic challengers.

The UNH Survey Center poll shows Sununu ahead of Pappas by a 45-43 percent margin if they were to face off in the general election. The margin of error is +/-2.1 percent.

Pappas would become the first openly gay man elected to the U.S. Senate if he were to win in November.

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Congress

Chris Van Hollen says the Democratic Party needs change. Is he the one to lead it?

Senator is backing anti-establishment Democrats across the country

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2 weeks ago

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August 26, 2026

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By LEE O. SANDERLIN | The Democratic Party is having something of an identity crisis — losing to President Donald Trump twice in three elections will do that.

Should the party embrace anti-establishment figures who espouse progressive policy ideas like Medicare for all and rhetoric about unrigging the economy for the 1 percent? Or should Democrats try to appeal to moderates who want to return to semi-normalcy in a time of political upheaval?

Although he’s been in Congress since 2002, with key leadership roles throughout his tenure, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, 67, counts himself firmly in the anti-establishment camp.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Congress

House blocks effort to codify transgender servicemember ban into law

Lawmakers approved two anti-trans NDAA amendments

Published

2 months ago

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July 22, 2026

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The Pentagon (Photo by icholakov/Bigstock)

The U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday rejected an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act that would have codified a ban transgender servicemembers in the military.

The bipartisan vote was 212-217.

The NDAA is for the 2027 fiscal year and sets policies for the Defense Department programs and activities and the national security programs of the Department of Energy.

U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) proposed the amendment on July 21. It stated that all personnel are required to serve in accordance with their biological sex, citing military readiness and discipline.

Human Rights Campaign Senior Director of Government Affairs Jennifer Pike Bailey stated that she is grateful for the bipartisan vote that rejected President Donald Trump and Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s “dangerous and discriminatory policy that has kicked brave transgender servicemembers out of the military and weakened our national security.”

“Everyone who meets the same rigorous standards should be able to serve their country. We should honor that patriotism, particularly in this moment where we are witnessing brave servicemembers making the ultimate sacrifice for our country, instead of ending their careers and politicizing their existence. We’re grateful that a permanent extension of this ban failed, and we will keep fighting to reverse this senseless policy,” Bailey said.

Mark Takano, chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, stated that he and his members put in countless hours of work to kill the amendment.

“When Americans know they or their families are going to be targeted by or not supported by the military, that leads them to avoid signing up to serve or staying in the service — making it harder to keep the ranks of the armed services full and our nation safe. My colleagues in the Equality Caucus and I will continue working to prevent these attacks on our servicemembers and their families from becoming law,” Takano said.

According to the Congressional Equality Caucus, two other bills could potentially be passed that would also target the transgender community, both of which were proposed by U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.).

The first was a bill that would have prohibited gender-related medical care under TRICARE and to prevent TRICARE from covering certain gender-related medical procedures and treatments, which was approved in a vote of 219-208.

The second was a bill that would have prohibited male participation in female sports at DoDEA schools. DoDEA schools are Department of Defense Dependents Schools, which is a network of primary and secondary schools.

The amendment was approved in a vote of 221-203. 

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