Category: From Washington Blade

A complaint filed with the Federal Election Commission Monday by the nonpartisan Campaign Legal Center alleges a wide scope of campaign finance law violations by openly gay freshman Congressman George Santos (R-N.Y.) and his 2022 campaign committee, Devolder-Santos for Congress. Santos has been under fire for weeks after a series of exposés revealed the congressman […]

Zach Coltrain lives in two worlds. In one, he traverses the serene landscapes of Appalachian State University in North Carolina’s Blue Ridge Mountains — studying the use of music as a therapeutic intervention. In the other, he navigates the thorny world of politics in the neighboring state of Virginia, which saw a conservative shift after […]

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg pushed back on negative reporting this week by Fox News during an interview Thursday with Bret Baier, the network’s chief political anchor. Buttigieg was targeted for having traveled to The Hague in the Netherlands with his husband Chasten last spring aboard on a military aircraft to attend the Invictus Games; an […]

The Irish government has committed to banning so-called conversion therapy in the country this year. The Irish Mirror newspaper reported Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth Minister Roderic O’Gorman, who is openly gay, last month described conversion therapy as a”cruel process rooted in the promotion of shame.” O’Gorman also stressed “a process that seeks for somebody to change […]

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals last week ruled, in a 7-4 vote, that a Florida school district did not violate the U.S. Constitution nor federal civil rights laws by requiring students to use bathrooms corresponding to their biological sex as listed on their birth records. All seven judges in the majority were appointed […]

When the Washington Blade caught up with Gisele Barreto Fetterman this month, she was looking forward to some upcoming travel plans. First up is a trip to Washington in January to witness the swearing-in ceremony for her husband, Pennsylvania Lt. Gov. John Fetterman, who was just elected to represent the Keystone State in the U.S. […]

A controversial bill that would further limit access to comprehensive sexual education and anti-LGBTQ discrimination preventative classes in schools in Poland was vetoed last week by President Andrzej Duda. The measure, similar in nature to an earlier measure also vetoed by Duda, would have implemented restrictions on curriculum and school activities, giving the country’s central […]

Lesbian, queer and transgender women across Africa are still forced into heterosexual marriages, and many of them have to keep their sexual orientation and/or gender identity a secret because they are afraid of being victimized or even killed. Guadalupe Dansokho, a lesbian woman from Senegal, was forced to marry a man. The couple divorced in […]

President Joe Biden on Tuesday signed the Respect for Marriage Act into law. “Today’s a good day,” said Biden during a signing ceremony that took place on the White House’s South Lawn. “Today America takes a big step towards equality.” The ceremony took place five days after the Respect for Marriage Act passed in the […]

The Barbados High Court on Monday struck down a colonial-era law that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations. The ruling specifically struck down Sections 9 and 12 of the Barbados Sexual Offenses Act. Men who were found guilty of engaging in consensual same-sex sexual relations under Section 9 could have faced up to life in prison. […]

Survivors of last month’s mass shooting at an LGBTQ nightclub in Colorado Springs, Colo., and a survivor of the 2016 massacre at Pulse Nightclub in Orlando, Fla., are set to testify before the House Oversight Committee this Wednesday. The hearing is slated to address the escalating violence and threats against LGBTQ people, which led to […]

I have accomplished many goals in my life that fill me with pride. I am an international advocate for Aidsfonds in the Netherlands — promoting the work of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. I am active in politics, with a focus on advocating for the LGBTQ+ community and the destigmatization for people with […]

Russian authorities have released WNBA star Brittney Griner. Griner was released in exchange for Viktor Bout, a Russian arms dealer who was serving a 25-year prison sentence in the U.S. Griner is serving a nine-year prison sentence after a Russian court convicted her on the importation of illegal drugs after Russian customs officials found vape […]

As many as several dozen LGBTQ activists wearing white robes and carrying photos of victims of gun violence were planning a procession along city streets from the As You Are LGBTQ bar on Capitol Hill on Wednesday afternoon, Dec. 7, to the nearby St. Mark’s Episcopal Church. The church, located at 301 A St., S.E., […]

The upper chamber of the Russian State Duma voted Nov. 30 to approve legislation banning LGBTQ propaganda as well as materials that promote discussion of gender reassignment and mention of LGBTQ issues to minors, which is categorized as promotion of pedophilia. Violation of the ban will result in fines of up to 10 million rubles ($160,212.80.) […]

It hit me one morning this fall as I woke up: I’ve turned 70. As I’ve been celebrating this milestone, I’ve marveled at the changes that have occurred for our LGBTQ community during my lifetime. Marriage equality, Pete Buttigieg (or any LGBTQ person) running for president and/or the fab queer rom-com “Bros” would have been […]

A district court in the Tokyo Prefecture ruled on Wednesday that Japan’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage is legal. The court added that the absence of a legal system to protect same-sex families infringed upon their human rights. In a statement to Reuters, Nobuhito Sawasaki, an attorney for the plaintiffs told the wire service, “This […]

Passage of the Respect for Marriage Act became all but certain with the U.S. Senate’s procedural 61-35 vote on Monday night to forego additional debate in the chamber over the landmark legislation. From here, the bill will return to the U.S. House of Representatives, which will consider — and is expected to approve — an […]

It was 7:15 a.m. and I had just landed after traveling across the country from working with my military unit. My phone started ringing. “Did you see it? and “How are you feeling?” were the messages that started pouring in. Then I saw the news: “Colorado Springs LGBTQ+ Club Q Shooting.” I was struck with […]

Shortly after five people were murdered and dozens injured over the weekend when a gunman opened fire in a Colorado Springs LGBTQ nightclub, Fox News host Tucker Carlson defended his and his allies’ escalating use of incendiary anti-LGBTQ rhetoric. During his show on Monday night, Carlson inveighed against individuals and groups that responded to the […]