In an action one civil rights lawyer called “a deeply disturbing message about the value placed on LGBTQ lives,” the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to hear an appeal from a man on death [...]
Before a crowd of adoring supporters in South Bend who braved the rain to hear him speak, Pete Buttigieg made his 2020 presidential campaign official by declaring he’d pursue the Democratic nomination to run for [...]
The Pentagon initiated Friday the transgender military ban in accordance with Trump administration plans for the policy, returning the U.S. military to restrictions on LGBT service that harken to the days of “Don’t Ask, Don’t [...]
Openly gay Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg has leapt into a surprisingly strong position in the latest poll of Iowa Democratic caucus-goers: Third place. Right behind former Vice President Joe Biden, in first with 25 [...]
Jussie Smollett’s defense attorney Mark Geragos has slammed the city of Chicago’s pending civil suit against the “Empire” star demanding he repays the city $130,000 — the cost of the police investigation into the incident [...]
The D.C.-based National LGBTQ Task Force was part of a coalition of more than 15 national civil rights and progressive advocacy groups that launched a campaign last week to encourage members of marginalized communities to [...]
Massachusetts became the 16th state in the nation to ban “ex-gay” conversion therapy on Monday after Gov. Charlie Baker signed a measure into law prohibiting the widely discredited practice for youth. Brendan Moss, a Baker [...]
More than two years after the Trump administration withdrew federal guidance on rules barring anti-LGBT discrimination in homeless shelters, Secretary of Housing & Urban Development Ben Carson said Wednesday his department won’t reissue the documents [...]
A congressional hearing Tuesday on the Equality Act, legislation seeking to prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination in fundamental aspects of life such as employment and housing, quickly got sidetracked into fears over men participating in women’s sports. [...]
Pete Buttigieg claimed a $7 million haul in first quarter fundraising for the exploratory committee for his 2020 presidential bid — an impressive score for an openly gay candidate who was virtually unknown months ago. [...]
The run-off election Tuesday night in Chicago resulted in a history victory for Lori Lightfoot, who became the first openly lesbian and black woman elected mayor of the city. The Associated Press called the race [...]
BY JAMES WELLEMEYER, Washington Blade The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States has designated Grindr a national security risk, according to an exclusive report from Reuters published on March 27. Reuters could not obtain CFIUS’s [...]
Police in Fairmount Heights, Md., a small town in Prince George’s County just across the border from D.C., are appealing to the public for information about the murder of a 27-year-old transgender woman who was [...]
Washington, DC – Today, Democratic National Committee Chair Tom Perez announced the appointment of Joe Solmonese to be Chief Executive Officer of the 2020 Democratic National Convention Committee. Solmonese just recently served as the Transition [...]
Human Rights Campaign launched its new campaign “Americans for the Equality Act,” a video series which features celebrities who support the Equality Act, on Monday. The proposed bill would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and prohibit discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity.
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) announced Thursday a vote would take place on the House floor next on a resolution against President Trump’s transgender military ban. Hoyer, the No. 2 in the Democratic caucus, [...]
A prominent LGBTI activist from San Francisco claims the Cuban government has prohibited him from entering the country.
The Democratic field of contenders continues to grow and I am impressed by the wide range of talent in the party. On Nov. 7, 2018 I wrote that Democrats need a coherent message and younger candidates to win in 2020. My thought was there should be no one over 70 on the ticket. I stand by that today.
Fifteen months after firing all members of the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, President Trump has restaffed the advisory body with nine new appointments.
With court orders barring President Trump from enforcing his transgender military ban out of the way, the Defense Department late Tuesday unveiled its plan to make the policy a reality, announcing it would begin April [...]
Optimistic about the prospects of enshrining a prohibition on anti-LGBT discrimination into federal law with a new Democratic majority in the U.S. House, Democrats on Wednesday introduced legislation known as the Equality Act to make [...]
The two men who allegedly helped “Empire” star Jussie Smollett stage a fake homophobic and racist attack say that they have “tremendous regret” for how the incident has affected minority communities and victims of [...]
It’s pronounced “Boot-a-judge.” That was the first thing South Bend, Indiana, Mayor Pete Buttigieg cleared up for the Washington Blade in response to questions about his 2020 presidential run in a Jan. 31 interview. Buttigieg, [...]
Masterpiece Cakeshop — famed for its case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court after its owner refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — has reached a new agreement with the State [...]
A hearing on Capitol Hill Wednesday became a veritable tale of two cities as transgender troops testified about their commitment to military service while Trump administration officials sought to explain why they would seek to [...]
The Democratic Party’s support for LGBT rights and the election of a record number of LGBT people — nearly all Democrats — to public office in the 2018 midterm elections were widely discussed at the [...]
Tennis great Martina Navratilova is taking heat for her recent comments on transgender athletes. Navratilova, a lesbian and an 18-times Grand Slam winner, called it “cheating” for trans women to compete in women’s sports.
Vice President Mike Pence backs the newly announced Trump administration global initiative calling on nation’s to decriminalize homosexuality, a spokesperson for his office told the Washington Blade on Wednesday. The global initiative seems aimed at [...]
Pete Buttigieg would make history if he becomes the first openly gay Democratic presidential nominee — and his path to the nomination may depend on whether the LGBT community supports him in his pursuit.
President Trump on Friday declared a national emergency in order to secure funding for a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He made the announcement in the White House Rose Garden before he signed a spending [...]
As legislative sessions continue across the country, South Dakota is leading the way with anti-LGBT bills through its recent advancement of a ‘Don’t Say Trans’ bill — but at least 78 anti-LGBT measures have been [...]
U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement this week confirmed to the Washington Blade that it is currently housing 45 transgender women at a privately-run detention center in Texas. Danielle Bennett on Tuesday said the trans women [...]
NEWS ANALYSIS Jan. 28, 2019, Heritage Foundation, Washington, D.C.: Four self-defined feminists present on a panel entitled “The Inequality of the Equality Act: Concerns from the Left.” Featured speakers: Jennifer Chavez, lawyer and board member [...]
A group of bipartisan lawmakers on Thursday introduced bills that would allow openly transgender people to enlist in the military and protect trans servicemembers who are already serving. U.S. Reps. Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), Joseph Kennedy [...]
Top officials in the Department of Health & Human Services laid out details on Wednesday of President Trump’s plan to end the HIV/AIDS epidemic by 2030, asserting “significant new resources” would be in the upcoming [...]
As the Trump administration pursues a transgender military ban, at least four lawmakers have invited transgender people with records of military service to attend to President Trump’s State of the Union address in the House [...]
MEXICALI, Mexico — Cindy Campos was washing clothes on a concrete washboard in the courtyard of Cobina Posada del Migrante, a migrant shelter in the Mexican border city of Mexicali, shortly after 4 p.m. on Jan. 27.
Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam is facing growing calls to resign from the Human Rights Campaign and others after his medical school yearbook page with a picture of two men in blackface and a Ku Klux [...]
Several members of Congress invited actively-serving and veteran transgender service members as their honored guests to President Trump's State of the Union Address on Tuesday, Feb. 5. For many of the legislators, the Supreme Court’s [...]
Barbra “Babs” Siperstein, a transgender Democratic activist in New Jersey who’s credited with taking a lead role in pushing a pro-trans state birth certificate law for her state, died over the weekend at age 76, [...]
The White House remains silent on President Trump’s reported meeting with anti-LGBT activist Ginni Thomas, the spouse of conservative U.S. Associate Justice Clarence Thomas, despite objections from LGBT rights advocates who say the meeting was [...]
Houston, TX police are searching for a suspect after a black, trans woman was shot five times on Thursday, Jan. 24 in the parking lot of a Chevron station shortly after 11 a.m. by a [...]
Last week, the American Civil Liberties Union took action against two major companies that their clients allege have participated in sex discrimination: McDonald's and Chili's. Additionally, the ACLU is awaiting news from the Supreme Court about cases that consider whether or not federal workplace discrimination law protects LGBTQ people from discrimination on the basis of sex.
Various news outlets report that openly gay "Empire" star Jussie Smollett was attacked in a hate crime while exiting a Chicago Subway sandwich shop. According to a TMZ report, sources said two men yelled homophobic slurs at [...]
The American Bar Association, the nation’s top voluntary bar association for lawyers, has adopted a resolution taking a stand for LGBT parents in the aftermath of states enacting laws enabling anti-LGBT discrimination in adoption. According to the LGBT [...]
Pete Buttigieg, a combat veteran and mayor of South Bend, Ind., has signaled he plans to throw his name into the pool of 2020 presidential candidates, raising the possibility of a Millennial and an openly [...]
Vice President Mike Pence, who’s notorious for his anti-LGBT record, responded Thursday to criticism over his wife Second Lady Karen Pence teaching at a school that excludes LGBT teachers and students, calling criticism of the [...]
A Russian social media operation aimed at helping Republican nominee Donald Trump win the 2016 presidential election included efforts to polarize voters around LGBTQ issues and, in some cases, pushed LGBTQ voters to support Democratic candidate Bernie Sanders. The operation also posted a message aimed at lonely LGBTQ teenagers, an effort that is believed was intended to blackmail vulnerable youth.
The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday issued stays on lower court orders against President Trump’s transgender military ban, apparently allowing the policy to go into effect. In orders from the court, the Supreme Court granted stays [...]
In her first news conference after announcing her 2020 presidential run, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said she takes “full responsibility” for legal briefs as California attorney general seeking to deny gender reassignment surgery for transgender [...]
