Tag: LGBTQrights

WorldPride organizers may warn trans people from abroad not to attend event

*Reported by the Washington Blade.

One of the lead organizers of WorldPride 2025, set to take place in D.C. May 17-June 8, told members of the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, known as COG, on April 9 that due to the recently implemented anti-trans policies of the Trump administration, it may be dangerous for trans people traveling from abroad to attend WorldPride in D.C, according to a report by WTOP News.

The WTOP report says the message of concern was delivered by Ryan Bos, executive director of D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance, which is the lead organizer of WorldPride 2025. The news report says Bos spoke at a meeting of COG, which consists of local government officials from D.C. and the surrounding suburban counties in Maryland and Virginia.

“It’s possible that we may actually issue a statement telling trans folks internationally not to come, or if they come, they come at their own risk,” WTOP quoted Bos as saying.

“So, these are the things that we will be discussing with the D.C. government and our partners to determine how best to communicate that to ensure that we’re getting the resources to the folks that need it,” Bos said according to the WTOP report.

WTOP reported that some members of the COG board expressed concern over the news that it may be harmful for trans people to travel to the D.C. area for WorldPride.

 “It’s really shameful that you all are having to consider making statements like that,” WTOP quoted Frederick County, Md., Executive Jessica Fitzwater as saying. “It’s really heartbreaking.”

D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who attended the COG meeting, told Bos, “I’m disheartened to hear that, but I hope you also recognize you’ve got partners in this room that want to be right there with you to make sure this is a wonderful, successful event, a safe event, that’s going to take place across the whole region,” WTOP reports.

Capital Pride Alliance, in response to a request for further comment on Bos’s remarks at the COG meeting, said in a brief statement that Bos’s presentation was limited to what “may happen.” The statement said no official decision has been made regarding a possible warning for trans people considering attending WorldPride. 

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Voices: Leaving America for LGBTQ safety?

*Opinion written by Harvey Haberman on the Dallas Voice.

I recently received a message on Facebook from my friends from Florida (and I use the term “from” loosely because they no longer live there) who, like several other friends, are leaving the country. They have moved to Curaçao in the Dutch West Indies. It’s an LGBTQ-friendly country that they felt was a safe haven in a world marching toward authoritarianism.

I don’t blame them for leaving, nor do I blame my other friends who have moved to Ireland, Canada and Mexico. They believe the handwriting on the walls of social media warning that the United States is becoming 1930s Germany.

And, frankly, that scares me.

What I find frightening is that a billionaire huckster and his cronies can so easily create chaos in a country which I had seen as being on the right track. Instead, they have derailed the country for no other reason than to grab power and steal money from American’s pockets.
What I find even more frightening is that so many of my friends are willing to give up and leave.

And it’s frightening also because I know the poem that starts, “First they came for the socialists, and I did not speak out — because I was not a socialist.”

That poem was a sad commentary on Germany at the time, but the key take away for me from it is that part: “and I did not speak out because I was not a socialist.”

The poem as a whole was not so much about the oppression of certain groups, but instead about the inaction and silence of the general populace: They let it happen. In their complacency they collaborated with the Nazis as surely as if they were active supporters.

But the poem says nothing about packing up and leaving.

If all the Jews had left Germany, Hitler would have still been in power, and he would have found other scapegoats. He would have still been in power and would have continued his quest for an empire. He would have still bombed England and invaded France.

Hitler was successful, at least for a while, because not enough people spoke out.

My partner and I have discussed whether moving out of the country would be the prudent thing to do. But while it may be the prudent thing to do, I see it as capitulation. Leaving the country would leave a lot of our friends behind. I would be leaving behind my home, my family, my country. And that would be playing into the hands of a megalomaniac and a damned stupid one at that.I was heartened by Cory Booker, senior senator from New Jersey, standing up in the Senate and delivering his epic marathon speech against Trump and Musk and the whole cabal that backs them. I am heartened by the Supreme Court election in Wisconsin where — even as Elon Musk gave million-dollar checks to a few individual voters and backed a massive media campaign to install a right-wing candidate — Susan Crawford, the progressive candidate, triumphed.

Small victories as these are, they show that people are still willing to stand up and speak out against the most un-American administration in history.

A couple of weeks ago I attended a protest outside the Tesla Service Center calling for Musk to get out of the government — a government to which he was not elected. Though the turnout was small, it was visible. The turnout protesting the unlawful kidnappings by ICE drew hundreds more. And those protests are going on in every city in America. Over this past weekend, on April 5, millions turned out at events around the country in a massive national call for the administration and its unelected minions to keep their “Hands Off” things like Social Security and more.

People are speaking out. And the LGBTQ community knows a lot about speaking out. We have done it before, and we can and will do it now.

Now, I’m a stubborn old goat. My friends and I worked hard to build a community here, and, though they are a small thing, the rainbow sidewalks in Oak Lawn let me and the world know that we are here and not going away. And no matter how Trump and Musk and his cronies try to erase history and erase us, I refuse to let their fear campaign chase me away.

So, to anyone who feels they must leave, please do it safely. But as for me — I ain’t going nowhere! And I ain’t staying quiet.

Hardy Haberman is a longtime local LGBT activist and a board member of the Woodhull Freedom Alliance. His blog is at DungeonDiary.blogspot.com.

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Slovakia could ban gay couples from adopting & nonbinary people from existing

*This is reported by LGBTQ Nation.

Slovakia is considering changes to its constitution to limit LGBTQ+ people’s rights.

This past Wednesday, lawmakers voted to advance the amendments that, if adopted, would limit adoption to only heterosexual married couples and define all people as only being male or female.

The Christian-majority Central European nation currently does not recognize same-sex relationships at all, and its constitution was amended in 2014 to state that marriage “is a unique union between a man and a woman.” But anyone can adopt a child under current Slovak law.

Slovakia also does not recognize nonbinary people under the law, according to Amnesty International. The proposed constitutional amendments would write that lack of recognition into the constitution, making it harder for the legislature to change it later.

Other changes that were advanced on Wednesday include allowing healthcare providers to refuse abortion care and requiring parental approval for sex education in schools. The legislature is also considering lower gestational limits for abortion and a ban on in-vitro fertilization and surrogacy.

“This swathe of amendments is an attempt to buttress an increasingly hostile environment for LGBTIQ+ people, undermine gender equality, rule of law, and broader human rights protections in Slovakia,” said Director of Amnesty International Slovakia Rado Sloboda. “Constitutionalizing the possibility to refuse abortion care on ‘conscientious objection’ grounds would put people’s health and lives at grave risk.”

“If passed, these draconian measures would further undermine gender equality and deepen the crackdown on LGBTIQ+ people’s rights, mirroring the dangerous practices of other countries in the region, such as Hungary and Poland. Members of the Slovak Parliament must vote to reject this multi-pronged assault on human rights.”

Bloomberg reports that 81 lawmakers supported the changes in the first reading yesterday, and they will require at least 90 votes to pass the next round of voting. The nation’s parliament has 150 members.

Slovakia is a European Union member state, and the rollbacks of LGBTQ+ and reproductive rights could lead to tensions with European Union laws.

Prime Minister Robert Fico of the left-nationalist Direction—Social Democracy party returned to power in 2023 with a socially conservative platform.

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U.K.’s LGBTQ workers still feel pressured to ‘be less gay,’ report says

*This is reported by NBC News. 

LGBTQ professionals in Britain still feel pressured to downplay their identity at work, with some changing their appearance, voice or behavior to avoid discrimination or to be taken seriously, a new report said on Thursday.

Pride in Leadership, a network of LGBTQ business leaders, called for stronger rights protecting members of the community and urged companies to do more to stamp out homophobia and transphobia disguised as “banter.”

The not-for-profit, which surveyed 1,000 LGBTQ professionals between June and November of last year in its first such report, said 85% of respondents encountered career obstacles due to their identity.

It found that 34% of respondents said their identity negatively affected their earlier education, with some still feeling like they have to “be less gay” after being encouraged to suppress their sexuality when they were younger.

Over half said it influenced their career choices, prompting them to avoid certain sectors or roles due to fears of discrimination or lack of support.

“This research reflects what I’ve seen as a gay leader,” Matt Haworth, co-founder of Pride in Leadership, said. “From homophobia in meetings to being invited on trade missions to a country where I could be sentenced to death just for being me… the playing field is far from level.”

Haworth added, “Everyone deserves a fair chance to succeed — regardless of who they love or how they identify.”

Official data from the 2021 Census showed that around 1.5 million people in England and Wales identified as gay, lesbian, bisexual or another sexual orientation.

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‘Colorado is for everyone’: Polis signs bill repealing same-sex marriage ban

*This is reported by KDVR.

 Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed the “Protecting the Freedom to Marry Act” on Monday, repealing the state’s same-sex marriage ban from Colorado law.

The bill removes language that says marriage is only between a man and woman and aligns statute with the Colorado Constitution after voters in November decided to repeal that ban. The state House passed the bill in March after the Senate passed it in early February.

“Colorado is for everyone, no matter who you are or who you love,” Polis said in a press release. “Last November, the voters got rid of outdated language in our constitution that banned same-sex marriage. This is a long overdue step in the right direction and today’s law I’m signing ensures that Coloradans can marry who they love in our Colorado for all.”

First Gentleman Marlon Reis, in the press release, said this bill defends the progress made for LGBTQ+ rights.

“I am personally grateful to Senator Danielson, Representatives Garcia and Titone, and the countless community leaders and advocates whose hard work has made today possible,” Reis said. “This landmark legislation fulfills the hopes and dreams of so many across our LGBTQ+ and allied communities, and affirms that progress hard won is always worth defending, and in the end, love triumphs over all.”

Colorado’s previous same-sex marriage ban had been unenforceable since the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 Obergefell v. Hodges decision.

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Protesters rally for the fourth week against Hungary’s law banning LGBTQ Pride events

*This is reported by NBCNews.

Thousands of protesters rallied for the fourth week in Hungary’s capital on Tuesday, denouncing a new law passed by populist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s nationalist government banning LGBTQ Pride events.

The legislation, fast-tracked through parliament in March, prohibits events depicting homosexuality to those under the age of 18 and has drawn comparisons to Russia’s anti-LGBTQ policies. It comes as Orbán’s administration is increasingly accused of democratic backsliding ahead of national elections next year.

The weekly protests in Budapest have persisted, and on Tuesday, demonstrators filled the Erzsébet Bridge over the Danube, demanding the withdrawal of the law. Some planned to remain on the bridge throughout the night and said there were plans to shut down all five central Danube bridges.

No violence was immediately reported.

The law makes it an offense to hold or attend events such as Pride, which some legal experts and human rights groups say is Orbán’s latest crackdown on Hungary’s LGBTQ community and an arbitrary restriction on the right to assembly.

Viktória Vajda, one of the protesters, said the time for trying to find common ground with Orbán’s government “has passed.”

“If we don’t stand up for the rights of minorities and for our own fundamental rights, then who will when they come for us?” she said. “We’ve reached the point where we have to stand up and say, ‘No more’.”

The protests have defied police orders to disperse from bridges and main thoroughfares in Budapest. And in a rare instance of a street protest outside the Hungarian capital, several hundred demonstrators in the eastern city of Miskolc also protested on Tuesday against the law.

Orbán, who critics say has eroded Hungary’s democracy and overseen widespread corruption, has in recent years taken aim at the country’s LGBTQ community, prohibiting same-sex adoption and — in a 2021 “child protection” law — banning any LGBTQ content including in television, films, advertisements and literature that is available to those under 18.

As part of the new law, authorities may use facial recognition tools to identify those who attend prohibited events — such as the popular Budapest Pride, which draws tens of thousands each year — and can issue fines for violators of up to 200,000 Hungarian forints ($545).

Orbán’s party is pushing for a constitutional amendment next week that will codify the ban on public LGBTQ events. The Hungarian leader has also pledged to introduce new legislation that will ban demonstrators from blocking traffic on bridges and busy roads, arguing the right of assembly and expression cannot override the rights of commuters.

János Stummer, a member of the opposition Momentum party who was at the protest, said that while the ban on Pride was harmful to members of the LGBTQ community, the law is also about “Orbán unilaterally, arbitrarily deciding which events can be held in this country and which cannot.”

Orbán’s government argues that it’s protecting children from “sexual propaganda.”

But with Orbán’s party lagging in polls, critics views the legislation as part of a broader effort to scapegoat sexual minorities and mobilize his conservative base.

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Gay men discuss the best places to live if they get priced out of bigger cities

*This is reported by Queerty.

A couple of social media postings over the weekend struck a chord with many people. They both addressed good places for gay guys to live in the US — especially if hotspots such as New York City are out of their budget.

On Threads, user @justintycarey asked, “Where are you all moving to gay/queer Americans? I live in Philadelphia after nearly 7 years in New York. It’s fine for now and it’s more affordable (I live alone) but I don’t think it’s my vibe at all. I used to live in Portland, ME which was progressive and beautiful. Walkable too! But I realized it wasn’t my thing culturally.

“Now I’m stuck! I don’t know what’s good. I want a quiet life but I also want access to New York and other metro areas.” He also wanted a good arts scene.

Fans of Philadelphia told him not to give up on the city – especially if, as indicated later, he arrived during the chilly winter months.

“I moved to Philly from New York and spent the first year or two planning my escape, but it grew on me,” said one. “It’s a place that takes some time to find your people and neighborhood. I’ve been here for 10 years now and can’t picture myself anywhere else.”

Others praised parts of New Jersey.

“Have you considered the suburbs? I’m in south jersey and while I miss the city ‘vibe’, my community feels much tighter and, as a whole, more progressive. I can get to NYC in an hour or Philly in 20 mins. It’s not for everyone but walkable and quiet with access to city.”

Another pointed to the Jersey coast.

“Asbury Park, NJ! Yes, it’s a shore town, but most people are residential there. Very queer-friendly with a quiet town vibe. Access to the train is right in Long branch — it’s under 1.5 hours to NYC by NJ transit. Art scene is pretty good too with lots of potential for growth.”

Other suggestions within commuting distance of New York City came flocking in.

“Northampton, Massachusetts, springs to mind, depending on how far from NYC you want. If you want closer to NYC, then Warwick, NY or New Paltz, or if closer, then Montclair, NJ. All are walkable, gay friendly, progressive, pretty, stuff to do, not huge cities.”

Others wanted to know why the poster wasn’t keen on Portland. He said he highly rated the place but was used to cities that are more ethnically diverse, even if the Maine location was slowly increasing in diversity.

Boston

Over on X, user @fruitsnacks42 was also pondering locations to live… in a more snappy fashion. He said he was “Too poor to be an NYC gay, too dumb to be a DC gay, too ugly to be an LA gay, too fat to be a SF gay, too lib to be a Miami gay … just damaged enough to be a Boston gay.”

The tweet received over 44k likes.

In the replies, commentators urged him to consider cities such as Atlanta, Seattle, Chicago or Austin. Bostonites also defended their city.

Others pointed to San Francisco’s thriving bear scene, suggesting the “too fat for SF” was out of line. A few also suggested it was wrong to assume all the gay men in DC are smart.

Best gay-friendly cities

Obviously, on social media, people are likely to praise their home cities… but where are the best places to live if you’re queer?

In 2023, real estate data company Clever composed a ranking of the 15 top LGBTQ-friendly cities. It looked at whether cities scored well on the Human Rights Campaigns equality tally, and such factors as the size of the queer population, the number of gay bars and the numer of local Pride events. The top 15 were as follows:

15. Milwaukee, Wisconsin

14. Baltimore, Maryland

13. Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

12. Richmond, Virginia

11. San Jose, California

10. New Orleans, Louisiana

9. Chicago, Illinois

8. Sacramento, California

7. San Diego, California

6. Los Angeles, California

5. Denver, Colorado

4. Portland, Oregon

3. Las Vegas, Nevada

2. Hartford, Connecticut

1. San Francisco, California

It should be noted that this ranking was from 2023 and some factors may have changed, particularly regarding anti-trans laws.

If you’re older and thinking about your later years, Life Care Retirement recently merged date on LGBTQ-friendly cities with retirement hotspots. It came up with the following top ten locations for seniors.

10. Dayton, Ohio

9. Tucson, Arizona

8. Tampa, Florida

7. King City, Oregon

6. Seattle, Washington

5. Minneapolis, Minnesota

4. West Palm Beach, Florida

3. Alexandria, Virginia

2. Austin, Texas

1. Fort Lauderdale, Florida

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Montana Republicans Say No to Prosecuting Parents for Trans Care

*This is reported by Mother Jones.

Five days after President Donald Trump declared “gender ideology” to be “one of the most prevalent forms of child abuse,” Montana’s Republican-controlled House of Representatives killed a bill that would have enshrined much the same idea into state law by criminalizing parents and medical providers.

Montana Senate Bill 164 would have made it a felony for any adult to help transgender children under 16 to gain access to gender-affirming medical care—including hormones, puberty blockers, and surgeries—classifying such help as child endangerment. On Tuesday, House lawmakers voted 58-40 to reject the proposed law, with 17 Republicans joining Democrats to block it from advancing to its final reading. 

“I think it’s overly broad,” the lone Republican to speak against the bill, Rep. Brad Barker, said Tuesday. Barker said that while he generally opposes gender-affirming care for trans youth, SB164 was “the wrong approach.” 

“I don’t like the thought of criminalizing parents,” Barker added, entreating fellow Republicans to “vote with your conscience.” 

The bill carried penalties of up to five years in prison and $10,000 in fines for any adults, including parents and doctors, who provided children with surgery, puberty blockers, or hormone replacement therapy for the purpose of “altering the appearance” of the child or affirming the child’s gender. If “serious bodily injury” occurred, the maximum punishment was 10 years imprisonment and $25,000 in fines.

“Turning parents and doctors into felons is absolutely not the approach that best serves this state,” Democratic Rep. SJ Howell, the first non-binary person to be elected to the Montana legislature, said on the House floor.

The bill cleared the Senate in February, 30-20, with two Republicans voting against it. In that floor debate, the legislation’s sponsor, Republican Sen. John Fuller, called it a “simple bill” to protect Montana’s children. “The state does have a compelling interest, a very compelling interest, to avoid the sterilization and sexual mutilation of children,” he said. In 2023, Fuller sponsored a law that threatened medical providers’ licensing if they offered gender-affirming care to minors, a law that courts have blocked while litigation proceeds.

“This bill is not about politics, it’s about safeguarding the health and innocence of Montana youth,” one of SB164’s House supporters, Republican Rep. Braxton Mitchell, said Tuesday. But more than a quarter of members of his own party disagreed, suggesting a potential turning point for the Montana legislature, at least on trans issues.

Tuesday’s vote was the second time this year a large swath of Republicans crossed party lines to block an anti-trans bill. Last year, Montana’s first openly transgender lawmaker, Rep. Zooey Zephyr, said her Republican colleagues often privately bemoan the transphobic culture wars and apologize to her for their votes on anti-LGBTQ legislation. 

Even so, Republican Gov. Greg Gianforte signed two anti-trans bills into law last month—a bathroom ban and a law prohibiting trans girls and women from playing on women’s sports teams from kindergarten through college. The bathroom ban has been temporarily blocked. A state law that prohibited trans women from participating in female collegiate sports was ruled unconstitutional in 2022.

The right to privacy is enshrined in the Montana constitution, and state courts have strongly affirmed its application to healthcare laws. Last December, the Montana Supreme Court upheld a lower court’s preliminary injunction on a law that would have made gender-affirming medical care providers vulnerable to licensing board disciplinary proceedings. And last summer, it ruled that a parental consent law for minors seeking abortion was unconstitutional. (In January, Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen asked the U.S. Supreme Court to declare that ruling an unconstitutional infringement on parental rights. The Supreme Court has not decided whether to hear the case.)

If it had passed, SB164 would have become the first law in the country defining gender-affirming care as a form of felony child endangerment. (Child endangerment and abuse fall under different statutes, but both evoke the same myth that gender-affirming care is dangerous for youth.)

Montana, however, wouldn’t have been the first state to direct child welfare workers to investigate families of trans children. In 2022, Texas Republican Gov. Greg Abbott ordered the state’s Department of Family and Protective Services to open child abuse investigations into parents who seek gender-affirming care for their children. That directive remains partially blocked after families of trans children and the LGBTQ advocacy group PFLAG sued. 

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Bondi: Justice Department cut funding for Maine corrections department over transgender inmate

*This is reported by The Hill.

The Justice Department revoked funding for the Maine Department of Corrections over the state’s placement of a transgender woman in a women’s prison, Attorney General Pam Bondi said Tuesday. 

Bondi made the announcement during an interview with Fox News, saying the department pulled all “nonessential” funding from the state corrections department on Monday after federal officials learned “a guy” was serving time in one of the state’s two women’s facilities. Bondi said the inmate was convicted of murder. 

The loss in funding for the department totaled upward of $1.5 million, according to Fox News. The Justice Department did not return a request for comment. 

In a news release, Maine’s corrections department said it received formal notice from the Department of Justice on Monday that certain federal grants “are being terminated because they ‘no longer effectuate the program goals or agency priorities.’” The cuts will impact state-run initiatives related to substance abuse treatment and support for children with incarcerated parents, the corrections department said. 

The notice from the Justice Department, a copy of which was obtained by The Hill, does not mention transgender inmates. “While the Department is aware of related public statements by the United States Attorney General, the notice is the only communication that has been received by the Department,” Maine’s corrections department said. 

The move by the Justice Department is the latest development in a monthlong battle between the Trump administration and Maine over the state’s refusal to ban transgender student-athletes from girls’ and women’s sports as ordered by the president.  

Another Trump executive order directs transgender women in federal women’s prisons to be moved to men’s facilities. A federal judge temporarily blocked the administration from enforcing that order in February. 

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Trump admin cut off food aid for kids in Maine to punish state over trans athletes. They’re suing.

*This is being reported by LGBTQNation.

When Maine Gov. Janet Mills (D) told President Donald Trump, “See you in court,” she meant it.

On Monday, Maine sued the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins over the department’s halt on federal funding for education programs in the state in retaliation for its refusal to ban transgender women and girls from school sports.

As Reuters notes, Rollins announced the funding freeze in an April 2 letter to Mills, saying that the decision was “only the beginning” but that the governor could “end it at any time by protecting women and girls in compliance with federal law.” The funding freeze jeopardizes programs that provide free or reduced-price meals to children in Maine schools, childcare centers, and after-school programs.

Mills has publicly clashed with the administration, and with Trump specifically, over its assertion that allowing transgender women and girls to participate in women’s and girls’ sports violates Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex in schools that receive federal funding.

In February, the Maine Principals Association announced that it would not comply with Trump’s February 5 executive order banning transgender student-athletes from participating in girls’ and women’s sports. After Trump threatened to cut off the state’s funding, Mills and Maine Attorney General Aaron Frey accused the president of using school children “as pawns in advancing his political agenda” and vowed to “take all appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.”

“The State of Maine will not be intimidated by the president’s threats,” Mills said.

During a February 21 meeting with Democratic and Republican governors at the White House, Trump singled out Mills, asking whether she planned to comply with his anti-trans executive order. Mills said that her state was “complying with the state and federal laws.” When Trump continued to petulantly insist that Mills comply with his order, the governor told the president she would see him in court.

In its lawsuit, Maine calls the USDA’s funding freeze a “blatantly unlawful action” in violation of the Administrative Procedures Act. Rollins, the state argues, “took this action without following any of the statutory and regulatory requirements that must be complied with when terminating federal funds based on alleged violations of Title IX.”

The state argues that Rollins provided no legal basis for her assertion that by allowing trans students to participate in women’s and girls’ sports, Maine is in violation of Title IX and that her interpretation of the law is wrong. “Indeed, several federal courts have held that Title IX and the Equal Protection Clause require schools to permit transgender girls and women to play on girls’ and women’s teams,” the complaint reads.

However, the state is not asking the court to interpret Title IX. It merely asks the court to vacate Rollins’s “arbitrary, capricious” funding freeze for failing to meet the “statutory and regulatory requirements that the federal government must comply with before it may freeze federal funds owed to a state.”

In a statement, Frey said that Trump “and his cabinet secretaries do not make the law, and they are not above the law, and this action is necessary to remind the president that Maine will not be bullied into violating the law.”

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