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Kamala Harris wants your vote
The conflict is internal. It’s a secret struggle, really, that Kamala Harris has been forced to face in public. The Democratic presidential candidate doesn’t like to brag. It’s unbecoming, it’s immodest, it places the individual ahead of the community. Instead, Harris, who was inculcated in the spirit of the 1960s civil rights and social and economic justice movements, profoundly believes in community and coalition building.
“That’s exactly how I was raised,” Harris tells the Los Angeles Blade in a June 18 phone interview. “It’s not about you. It’s about getting the job done.”
The job done of winning the presidency means not taking any group or voter for granted, including the LGBT community. Harris’ struggle to tout her own achievements, which she discusses in her memoir The Truths We Hold: An American Journey, stands in sharp contrast to the man she intends to defeat, Donald Trump, the biggest chest-pounding, klieg lights-seeking braggadocio con artist the world has seen in decades. Harris, a former district attorney and California attorney general who believes Trump is a racist, thinks the House should launch impeachment proceedings into the president’s illegal behavior. She also thinks Trump should be prosecuted after he leaves office.
Some wonder if Harris is “tough enough” to go up against Trump. They need only look at her precision prosecution of Attorney General Jefferson Beauregard Sessions during a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing. Despite being interrupted by her Republican colleagues, Harris forced the flabbergasted Sessions to throw his hands in the air. “I’m not able to be rushed this fast!” Sessions said, as if needing a fan and mint julep. “It makes me nervous.”
Or juxtapose a visibly frightened Trump crouching behind a lectern during a disturbance at a rally before four burly men rushed to his rescue—to Harris who was initially surprised but sat calmly when a white man rushed the stage, grabbed her microphone and had only black lesbian MoveOn.org communications director Karine Jean-Pierre for protection.
Harris calmly walked off the stage, smiling, while the man was hustled away. She then calmly returned to deliver her talk about pay equity. No one talks about the courage it takes for Harris to stand alone onstage, despite what one presumes is an ongoing avalanche of death threats from Trump supporters.
The field of 23 Democratic presidential contenders is expected to narrow after the June 26-27 debates. But while Harris is top-tier, she is not a shoo-in for the nomination, which is still a long ways away.
“I hate to say this—but we need a man. Nothing against her. I’m sure she’s smart and great. But I’m going with Joe Biden. He’s got thick skin and he’s the only one who can beat Trump,” one white gay man tells the Los Angeles Blade on background.
Biden’s “thick skin” is now under scrutiny. Though he had been advised against it, on Juneteenth, the former vice president cited working with notorious racist segregationist senators James Eastland (a Mississippi plantation owner who believed integration would lead to “”mongrelization”) and Herman Talmadge (who as Georgia governor closed schools rather than desegregate) as an example of civility and bipartisanship.
New Jersey Sen. Cory Booker, an African American presidential candidate, was offended and said Biden should apologize. Biden took umbrage and pushed back. “Cory should apologize,” Biden told reporters. “He knows better. There’s not a racist bone in my body; I’ve been involved in civil rights my whole career. Period. Period. Period.”
Harris said Biden’s remarks concerned her “deeply. If those men had their way, I wouldn’t be in the United States Senate and on this elevator right now,” she told Capitol Hill reporters.
It is unclear if Biden, the frontrunner in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination, will lose support as some younger progressive politicos claim he is “out of touch” with current sensibilities around race, while older politicos try to explain his gaffe.
Several younger LGBT voters support South Bend, Ind. Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who smartly talks about the future. They think Buttigieg, a vet who served in Afghanistan, can take down the bully Trump and shame him for ducking the Vietnam War. Buttigieg has stepped off the campaign trail to deal with the shooting of a black man by a while police officer in South Bend, which has resurrected past racial complaints over a housing policy. But Buttigieg will be standing next to Biden during the second Democratic debate on June 27, a visual that screams generational divide.
Harris will be standing next to Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders and New York Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand.
California Attorney General candidate Kamala Harris with Equality California Executive Director Geoff Kors at an EQCA event (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
Harris will have a strong LGBT cheering section glued to TVs across California, including longtime friend Mark Leno, the first openly gay man elected to the State Senate who brought Harris to her first Human Rights Campaign gala in 1999 and Palm Springs City Councilmember Geoff Kors who, as executive director of Equality California, first introduced Harris to the broader LGBT community when she was the San Francisco DA running for attorney general.
Sen. Kamala Harris and Kate Kendell, Campaign Manager for
Take Back the Court, at a Pride event (Photo courtesy Kendell)
Kors and Kate Kendell, former executive director of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, also worked closely with Harris when San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom decided to issue marriage licenses to same sex couples in 2004 and Harris was recruited to officiate at City Hall. They teamed up again to fight the anti-gay marriage Prop 8, which her 2010 opponent, Republican LA DA Steve Cooley supported.
Kris Perry, former plaintiff in the federal lawsuit against Prop 8, whose wedding to Sandy Stier Harris officiated when Prop 8 was defeated, tells the Los Angeles Blade she supports Harris “100%.” Perry’s son Spencer works on Harris’ presidential campaign.
Attorney General Harris officiating at the wedding of Kris Perry and Sandy Stier, with Elliot Perry looking on. (Photo courtesy Perry)
The documentary “The Case Against 8” shows the wedding and the moments before when fellow Prop 8 plaintiffs Paul Katami and Jeff Zarrillo in LA are being told to “step aside” to let straight couples get their licenses since the Los Angeles County Registrar/Clerk’s had not yet received official word from the state to go ahead after the Supreme Court decision. The couple is stunned but their legal team gets Harris on the phone—she’s celebrating with Perry & Stier, Chad Griffin, Cleve Jones and others in San Francisco—and Harris directs Clerk Dean Logan to start the marriages now. She tells him to “enjoy it.” Logan says he will—he’s a strong LGBT ally.
Interestingly, Harris confirms that she intentionally uses the couple in her book as an example of finding the commonality in people. In the chapter “Wedding Bells,” she talks about Prop 8 and officiating at their wedding—and then, in the same chapter, she talks about meeting, falling in love with and marrying white California attorney Doug Emhoff, who brings to the interracial marriage two adult step-children. Thought there is no blaring neon light signaling her intention, Harris uses her own personal story and a public exercise of her office to illustrate that a straight inter-racial couple and a lesbian couple, both with children folded into a blended family, have the experience of love in common.
Attorney General Harris at Equality California event (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
Indeed, while Harris works at finding commonality and building coalitions, she is herself the walking positive personification of intersectionality and an example of why identity politics still serve to combat invisibility and under-representation.
Her brilliant parents immigrated from Jamaica and India. She fought hard to become the first female, the first black and the first Asian-American district attorney in San Francisco. Then she fought to become California’s first female, black, and Asian-American attorney general. She then the second black woman in U.S. history to win a Senate seat.
“I grew up exposed to many cultures, and it certainly did teach me from birth about the fact that people have so much more in common than what separates them,” Harris tells the Los Angeles Blade. “I didn’t have to learn it from reading about it. I didn’t know the word ‘intersectionality’ but I’ve always known the commonality between people. A mother’s love for her child, a parent’s desire for their family to be healthy and safe. These are universal truths, regardless of the last name and how you spell it, or what your grandmother’s language is, or the God you pray to. That’s how I’ve always lived my life, which is knowing the commonality between people.”
It was a point she made in her Oct. 31, 2017 keynote HRC address in Washington DC.:
“I believe this is a moment when our country is witnessing an assault on our deepest values and ideals. Where people don’t trust our government, its institutions, or leaders.
So to restore that trust, HRC I believe we must speak truth.
Even when it makes people uncomfortable.
Even when others are silent.
And as the poet Audre Lorde reminds us, “there are so many silences to be broken.”
So let’s speak truth. From Charlotte to Charlottesville, we have been reminded racism in this country is real.
Sexism, anti-Semitism are real in this country.
Homophobia and transphobia are real in this country.
And we must speak that truth, so we can deal with it…..
And we need to speak another truth. That despite the forces of hate and division that are trying to tear us apart, Americans have so much more in common than what separates us. That is a truth.
I remember, for example, many years ago I was sent to go speak in the Castro to a group of young gay men. I was there – apparently you were too – I was there campaigning against a ballot measure that would have required young women to notify their parents before getting an abortion.
And so I was going to speak in this home in the Castro with a group of twenty, thirty year old men, and I remember scratching my head, thinking “Ok now what am I going to say to this group that for the most part has not had to deal with an unintended pregnancy?”
So I said to them, “I guess you guys are wondering what you could possibly have in common with a 16-year-old pregnant girl.” And as you can imagine, everyone laughed.
And then I asked them, “Well, when you were 16, did you want to speak with your parents about your sexuality?” And the room went silent.
Because they knew we have so much more in common than what separates us. And I think it’s what Bayard Rustin meant when he said, “You have to join every movement for the freedom of people.”
Sen. Kamala Harris at 2019 HRC/LA gala (Photo by Karen Ocamb)
Two years later, at the HRC/LA gala last April, Harris again underscored how the country is at an inflection point and each citizen has a responsibility to respond.
“These last two years and some months have certainly caused a lot of us to start talking to an inanimate object called a television and to shout at that thing,” Harris said, prompting agreeing chuckles from the crowd. “It has caused a lot of us to sign up for individual or group therapy, it has caused a lot of us to feel a lot of despair and depression and anxiety and fear. And I say, ‘Don’t let the bad guys win!’”
Harris also referenced poet Emma Lazarus’ famous quote “Until we are all free, we are none of us free.”
“Let’s pass the Equality Act in the U.S,” she said. “Until all of us are equal, none of us are equal.”
That these are not just “freedom” talking points pulled out for an LGBT gala is illustrated by a funny vignette in her memoir. Harris and her younger sister Maya were raised by her civil rights activist mother Shyamala. At one rally, when Harris was still in a stroller, she starting acting out, being fussy. When her mother asked her what she wanted, toddler Harris said, “Fweedom!”
In 2014, out legal eagle Chris Geidner reported on Harris the “progressive prosecutor” at a Center for American Progress’ Making Progress Policy Conference:
“If there’s a distrust of law enforcement — and, by extension, government — all of the systems break down, at least for certain populations,” she said. “When I charge a case … it’s in the name of the people and the premise there is that a crime against any of us is a crime against all of us. If there are specific communities that are not receiving the full benefit of the protections we created, it’s a problem for all of us.”
Asked about the history of distrust between the black community and law enforcement, Harris said, “It’s all of our responsibilities to acknowledge it and deal with it where it occurs. And it’s not just because it’s the morally right thing to do, I believe it’s in the best interest of public safety for everyone.”
A funny vignette in a lengthy profile of Harris in the May issue of The Atlantic suggests gay people are part of her everyday consciousness, not just called forth when required. It’s a vignette she later talked about on The Daily Show With Trevor Noah.
Screengrab from CNN reporter Maeve Reston’s tweet
Harris and her sister, followed by a slew of journalists, visited Styled by Naida, “a vintage-clothing store run by Naida Rutherford, who grew up in the foster-care system and was homeless before she steadied herself economically by hosting stylish garage sales,” Elizabeth Weil reported.
After picking out a hat and a black belt:
“Harris noticed a brightly colored sequined coat, a chessboard of turquoise, purple, yellow, green, and sky blue. The jacket was just about the furthest fashion choice imaginable from Harris’s standard dark blazer. Still, Rutherford, a good saleswoman, encouraged Harris, a good candidate, to try it on, and Harris did. She looked in the mirror, the horde of journalists to her back. “This really would be perfect for the Pride parade,” she said.
A nice, unguarded human moment. The jacket was way too big, and she’ll almost certainly never wear it anywhere but the parade. But you’d have to be a monster—and a tone-deaf politician—not to want to support Rutherford. Harris bought the coat.”
Kamala (comma-la) Harris was born on Oct. 20, 1964, five years before the Stonewall Rebellion, and never needed an epiphany to discover that LGBT people were OK.
“I grew up in a community and a culture where everyone was accepted for who they were, so there wasn’t a moment where it was like, ‘Okay, now let’s let this person in.’ Everyone was a part of everything. It was about community,” Harris says. “It was about coalition building. It was about equality, inclusion. I mean, I had an uncle who was gay. [But] there was no epiphany” about gay people.
In fact, with the exception of Buttigieg’s very presence, Harris is the only top-tier presidential candidate to constantly reference homophobia and transphobia in her speeches.
But some trans people are still angry over how Harris backed the Department of Corrections in its 2015 denial of gender reassignment surgery for then 51-year-old inmate Michelle-Lael Norsworthy.
The Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson asked Harris about the issue in January at Harris’ first news conference after announcing her 2020 presidential bid.
“I was, as you are rightly pointing out, the attorney general of California for two terms and I had a host of clients that I was obligated to defend and represent and I couldn’t fire my clients, and there are unfortunately situations that occurred where my clients took positions that were contrary to my beliefs,” Harris said.
“And it was an office with a lot of people who would do the work on a daily basis, and do I wish that sometimes they would have personally consulted me before they wrote the things that they wrote?” Harris said. “Yes, I do.”
“But the bottom line is the buck stops with me, and I take full responsibility for what my office did,” Harris said.
Harris confirmed to the Los Angeles Blade that she worked behind the scenes with the California Department of Corrections & Rehabilitation to establish a process enabling transgender inmates to receive transition-related care, including gender reassignment surgery, and she worked on getting Norsworthy paroled.
“I did it quietly, because I actually disagreed with my client initially, when they had the policy, and so I did it behind the scenes,” Harris tells the Los Angeles Blade. “I helped to resolve and change the policy. The issue for me was to make sure the right thing would happen.”
But Harris adds: “Let me just be very clear. I don’t want to take full credit for that, because I don’t deserve full credit for that. I don’t want what I said to be interpreted as that. There were a lot of people involved in that.”
But Harris’ responses have been so cerebral, some feel she doesn’t see the humanity in trans individuals.
“I understand not only their humanity, but I also understand the unfair challenges that they face in a society that still hasn’t come to appreciate their full humanity,” Harris tells the Los Angeles Blade. “And I know the hate that also has been targeted at our transgender friends, and I know that it resulted in lethal proportions. That’s why, when I was the vice president of the National District Attorneys Association, I led the national DAs in a training on the ways that we can get rid of the ‘gay panic defense,’ because I knew it was being used as justification for the killing of many people, including transgender people.”
Transphobia “is something I care deeply about. I have known many people who are transgender, and talked with them and really shared their pain around what their life experience has been like because of the ignorance that still exists about who they are and the challenges they face,” Harris says.
That includes all healthcare concerns.
On Thursday, June 20, Harris introduced the PrEP Access and Coverage Act, legislation to guarantee insurance coverage for PrEP and create a grant program to fund access for uninsured patients.
“PrEP is a critical advancement in the fight against HIV that can finally provide peace of mind to Americans who live in the shadow of the HIV epidemic. But for too many in our country, lack of insurance coverage and exorbitant costs have put PrEP out of reach—and that needs to change. We must truly commit ourselves to HIV prevention by finally requiring every health insurance plan—public and private—to cover PrEP and all of the required tests and follow-up doctors’ visits. We must also provide the resources necessary to help people without insurance access PrEP. Nearly four decades since the beginning of the HIV/AIDS crisis that took so many lives and caused countless others to live in fear, we can and will stop the spread of this disease,” said Harris in a statement.
Harris says that if elected president, she would sign an executive order to protect DREAMers and put them on a path to citizenship. The Los Angeles Blade asked if she would sign an executive order for the Equality Act, the LGBT civil rights bill that would prohibit discrimination against LGBT people in employment, housing and public accommodations.
At the recent Poor People’s Campaign forum on poverty, Harris noted her efforts to help LGBT homeless youth in San Francisco. But, other that the Campaign’s leader, Bishop William Barber, LGBT people are being left out of the discussions and debates over the economy, pay equity, and jobs. The last report with research from the Williams Institute, the Center for American Progress and the Movement Advancement Project was in 2015 under President Obama.
The report found that: “Due to discriminatory laws, America’s 5.1 million LGBT women face lower pay, frequent harassment, compromised access to health care, and heightened violence. Anti-LGBT laws, together with inequitable and outdated policies, mean that LGBT women’s economic security is compromised by reduced incomes and added costs ranging from health care to housing.”
“LGBT women face added challenges not solely because of their gender, but also because of who they are and whom they love. Discrimination and stigma, combined with the struggles faced by all women, make LGBT women and their families especially vulnerable,” said Ineke Mushovic, executive director of the Movement Advancement Project.
“Making matters worse, the burden falls most acutely on those who can least afford it: LGBT women raising children, older LGBT women, LGBT women of color, LGBT immigrants, and those LGBT women and families who are already living near or below the poverty line.”
The Equality Act, which has passed in the House, would help counter some of these issues. While Harris did not commit to issuing the legislation as an executive order, she did commit to making it a top priority as president.
“One of my first orders of business would be to get the Equality Act passed,” Harris says. “Listen, I believe in the words and the spirit behind the Constitution of the United States and all of its amendments and those words we spoke in 1776 at the founding of our nation—that we are all equal and should be treated that way. That’s why I fought against Prop 8. I don’t believe that it is reflective of our democracy or the spirit of our founding, that any person would be treated differently under the law.
“So it is for all of those reasons that the Equality Act would be a first order of business for me,” Harris continues, “and to do everything that I can within my power to make sure that we make that point about who we are as a nation. I often look at the words inscribed on that marble at the United States Supreme Court, and it says, ‘Equal Justice Under Law.’ I truly believe that. That is our goal. That is our ideal. That is part of who we are as a nation and we have to fight for that every day.”
Cover photo of Sen. Harris at 2018 Pride parade courtesy Harris’ 2020 presidential campaign.
New Jersey
NJ activist reportedly under consideration for Menendez’s Senate seat
Christian Fuscarino would be country’s first openly gay US senator
A prominent LGBTQ activist is reportedly among those under consideration for U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.)’s Senate seat once he resigns next month.
Newsweek on Tuesday reported Garden State Equality Executive Director Christian Fuscarino is among those who New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy could potentially appoint to Menendez’s seat.
A federal jury on July 16 convicted Menendez of corruption charges. The New Jersey Democrat on Tuesday announced he will resign from the U.S. Senate on Aug. 20.
Newsweek described Fuscarino, who has been Garden State Equality’s executive director since 2016, as “a staunch supporter of Murphy” who could become the country’s first openly gay U.S. senator. The article further notes Murphy “has shown a penchant for making historic appointments, which adds weight to Fuscarino’s candidacy.”
Fuscarino on Thursday in a statement to the Washington Blade said he was “taken by surprise” when he learned he is under consideration for Menendez’s seat.
“I understand how significant becoming our nation’s first openly queer male U.S. senator would be, and I am humbled to even be suggested,” said Fuscarino.
“All that I am is because of the queer and trans movement, having started community organizing under the mentorship of Kevin Jennings, founder of GLSEN and current leader of Lambda Legal, when I was just 14 years old,” he added. “It was the stories shared at gay bars, HIV/AIDS advocates, and Pride organizers who guided me over the last two decades, energizing communities to fight for lived equality. It is because of this movement and all those who sacrificed more so that one day a queer man would even be considered for U.S. senate.”
Newsweek reported New Jersey Congressman Andy Kim, state Sen. Vin Gopal, Attorney General Matt Platkin, former state Sen. Loretta Weinberg, Jeannine LaRue, and New Jersey Cannabis Regulatory Commission Chair Dianna Houenou are among those who Murphy is also considering for Menendez’s seat.
The person who Murphy appoints would serve the remainder of Menendez’s term, which ends in January.
Fuscarino on Tuesday said Menendez “made the right decision in stepping down.”
His statement notes Republicans have nominated Curtis Bashaw, who is gay, to run for Menendez’s seat. Kim last month won the Democratic primary for the race.
“Republicans have nominated a candidate who has pledged allegiance to the vulgarities that define former president Trump,” said Fuscarino on Tuesday. “Make no mistake that Republican candidate — while he would be the first openly gay male senator in U.S. history — would represent a false sense of diversity.”
“I have no doubt that Gov. Phil Murphy will appoint a new senator — whose value system seeks to unify all communities — with established credentials in advancing true diversity, equity, and inclusion for all,” he added.
Fuscarino told the Blade that “while I would accept this appointment, this is exactly that — an appointment, not a campaign or an election.”
“As I wrote in a statement earlier this week, I have complete confidence Gov. Phil Murphy will select the most qualified individual for this temporary role,” he said. “This decision rests entirely with him and there are a lot of factors to consider.”
The Blade has reached out to Murphy’s office for comment.
India
Indian Supreme Court continues to review marriage equality ruling
Fight for full LGBTQ rights in country continues
On July 10, as India’s Supreme Court was engrossed in a pivotal review petition concerning marriage equality, an unexpected twist unfolded.
Justice Sanjiv Khanna, the court’s most senior judge, made the surprising decision to recuse himself from considering the pleas. This unforeseen development added a dramatic layer to a historic and closely watched judicial review.
The pleas seek a review of the Supreme Court’s ruling from last year that declined to legally recognize same-sex marriage. Reports indicate Khanna cited personal reasons for his recusal, adding a layer of intrigue to the already high-stakes proceeding.
In the wake of Khanna’s unexpected recusal, the Supreme Court is set to undergo a significant shift.
According to the court’s procedural rules, Chief Justice Dhananjaya Yeshwant Chandrachud will reconstitute a new 5-judge constitution bench. This pivotal move marks a crucial step in the ongoing legal saga, ensuring the review of the marriage equality case continues with a fresh panel at the helm.
The Supreme Court, led by Chandrachud, on July 9 made a crucial decision regarding the review petition. It declined to grant an open court hearing, stating the constitutional bench review would be conducted in chambers rather than in open court.
The Supreme Court’s clarification came after petitioners, challenging last October’s marriage equality ruling, fervently urged the top court for an open court hearing. Their plea sought transparency and public scrutiny, hoping to bring the issue back into the spotlight.
The court in its October 2023 ruling said the power to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples lies with parliament, not the judiciary, underscoring the need for legislative action to address this crucial issue.
Although the top court refused to grant marriage rights to the queer community in India, it did recognize their right to live free from discrimination. The court affirmed queer people should have the same access to goods and services as their heterosexual counterparts, ensuring protection against bias and unequal treatment in everyday life. This decision, while falling short of full marriage rights, marked a crucial step forward in the fight for equality and dignity for the LGBTQ community in India.
The Supreme Court last year in a landmark ruling said transgender people in heterosexual relationships have the right to marry under the existing legal provisions.
Neeraj Kishan Kaul brought the review petition before the Supreme Court, requesting an open hearing on the case seeking legal recognition of same-sex marriages.
The petition specifically addressed the inclusion of same-sex marriages under the Special Marriage Act (SMA) of 1954, the Foreign Marriage Act of 1969, and the Citizenship Act of 1955, as well as under common law and other existing statutes. This plea highlighted the broad legal framework that could accommodate same-sex marriages, urging the court to reconsider its stance in a transparent and public forum.
The Supreme Court last October also declined to grant adoption rights to the LGBTQ community. The court upheld Regulation 5(3) of the Indian CARA Regulations, asserting that this provision could not be declared void.
According to CARA Regulations, specifically Regulation 5(3), “No child shall be given in adoption to a couple unless they have at least two years of a stable marital relationship, except in cases of relative or step-parent adoption.” This regulation underscores the stringent criteria set for adoption, emphasizing the importance of a stable and legally recognized marriage, thereby excluding LGBTQ couples from adopting children under the current legal framework.
The regulation outlines the eligibility criteria for prospective adoptive parents. According to Regulation 2(b) and (c), a single female can adopt a child of any gender, whereas a single male is not eligible to adopt a girl child.
Although the 2023 judgment did not favor the LGBTQ community regarding marriage equality, the Supreme Court made a significant acknowledgment. It recognized being a member of the LGBTQ community is a natural phenomenon and not an “urban or elite” phenomenon, as previously suggested by the government.
Marriage equality in Thailand gives Indian activists hope; challenges remain
Negha Shahin, who in 2022 became the first trans actress to win a Kerala State Film Awards, told the Washington Blade that LGBTQ Indians continue to face systemic discrimination and legal challenges, particularly in the fight for marriage equality.
“We live in 2024 when humanity has made remarkable advancements in science and technology. We understand the complex theories behind black holes and have successfully sent rockets into space. Yet, it is deeply disappointing that we still fail to recognize and uphold the basic rights of the queer community,” said Shahin. “For years, activists and allies have been advocating for the recognition of same-sex marriages, striving for a society where love and commitment are acknowledged and respected regardless of gender or sexual orientation.”
She said the Supreme Court’s denial of marriage rights for same-sex couples is a major setback. Shahin added it underscores the gap between technological advancements and social progress.
“Denying this right to same-sex couples not only perpetuates inequality but also inflicts emotional and social harm on a significant segment of our population,” said Shahin. “We must increase the chances of achieving marriage equality by pushing for legislative changes.”
“Our lawmakers have a responsibility to create laws that reflect the values of equality and justice for all citizens,” she added. “Without ensuring the basic rights of gender and sexual minorities, we cannot truly claim that India is progressing. It is time for India to bridge this gap and ensure that the rights of the LGBTQIA community are fully recognized and protected. Only then can we truly say that we are growing as nation.”
Shahin discussed the recent passage of a marriage equality law in Thailand, which shares a maritime border with India. (Same-sex couples can also legally marry in Nepal, which borders India.)
She noted Thailand is a monarchy, whereas India is a democracy. Shahin told the Blade that one may have expected India to extend marriage rights to same-sex couples first, given the country’s democratic values and its emphasis on equality.
“Seeing a neighboring country like Thailand legalize same-sex marriage may create pressure on Indian lawmakers to address the issue more seriously,” she said. “It highlights the disparity in rights between countries and could push Indian politicians to consider similar legalization to avoid falling behind in terms of human rights.”
Souvik Saha, founder of People for Change, one of India’s premier LGBTQ rights groups, told the Blade that as an activist who works for LGBTQ rights in Jharkhand state, he sees recent developments regarding the Supreme Court’s review petition on same-sex marriage as a significant step forward.
“The recusal of a judge and the constitution of a new bench indicate a reevaluation of existing legal perspectives, potentially paving the way for progress towards marriage equality in India,” said Saha. “The global trend towards marriage equality, such as Thailand’s recent move, can certainly influence India’s judicial decisions and societal perceptions.”
“Thailand’s legalization of same-sex marriage in 2024 reflects a growing global acceptance and recognition of LGBT rights. This shift is noteworthy because it demonstrates that cultural attitudes and legal frameworks are evolving to embrace equality and human rights,” he added.
The Supreme Court in 2018 decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations in India.
Saha said there has been increasing momentum towards broader inclusion and equality since that landmark ruling. The U.N. Development Program’s 2020 report on LGBTQ rights in India he notes indicates this progress has been uneven.
The UNDP notes legal recognition and protection against discrimination are crucial steps towards achieving full equality. The involvement of civil society organizations and advocacy groups, such as those in Jharkhand, plays a crucial role in pushing for inclusive policies and legal reforms.
Ankush Kumar is a reporter who has covered many stories for Washington and Los Angeles Blades from Iran, India, and Singapore. He recently reported for the Daily Beast. He can be reached [email protected]. He is on Twitter at @mohitkopinion.
Africa
Namibian government appeals ruling that struck down sodomy laws
Advocacy group accuses officials of buying ‘cheap campaign points’
The Namibian government has appealed a ruling that struck down the country’s apartheid-era sodomy laws.
The country’s High Court last month ruled the statutes are unconstitutional.
The Namibian Broadcasting Corporation reported Justice Minister Yvonne Dausab; Prosecutor General Martha Imalwa; Attorney General Festus Mbandeka; and the Home Affairs, Safety, and Security and Defense Ministries appealed the ruling to the Namibian Supreme Court on July 20.
“The government has given notice that they will appeal the landmark decriminalization ruling to the Supreme Court,” said Omar van Reene, founder of the Namibia Equal Rights Movement, a Namibian advocacy group, on Wednesday in a statement posted to Facebook. “This is done with two motives: 1) to buy cheap campaign points to their minority homophobic base (and) 2) showing that they are fighting against ‘homosexuality’ in the country.”
Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990.
“We know our constitution is clear, that apartheid-era laws have no place in a born-free Namibia,” said van Reene. “So, fear not, dive into community and not into despair. We will win at the Supreme Court, and this will actually only further entrench, solidify and enshrine our constitutional rights.”
Neighboring Botswana and Angola are among the countries that have decriminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations over the last decade.
The Namibian Supreme Court last year ruled the country must recognize same-sex marriages legally performed elsewhere. The landmark decision sparked criticism among leading politicians and religious officials.
Congress
Netanyahu mocks gay pro-Palestinian protesters
Israeli prime minister spoke to joint session of Congress
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday mocked gay pro-Palestinian protesters in a speech that he delivered to a joint session of Congress.
“Some of these protesters hold up signs proclaiming ‘Gays for Gaza,'” said Netanyahu. “They might as well hold up signs saying ‘Chickens for KFC.'”
Netanyahu spoke to Congress less than a year after Hamas, which the U.S. has designated a terrorist organization, launched from the Gaza Strip a surprise attack against communities in southern Israel.
The Israeli government says Hamas militants killed roughly 1,200 people on Oct. 7, 2023, including at least 260 partygoers and others at the Nova Music Festival. Dozens of people who were taken hostage on Oct. 7 remain alive in Gaza.
The Hamas-controlled Gaza Health Ministry says nearly 38,000 people have died in the enclave since the war began.
The International Criminal Court on May 20 announced it plans to issue arrest warrants for Netanyahu, Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and three Hamas leaders — Yehya Sinwar, Mohammed Deif, and Ismail Haniyeh. Karim Khan, the ICC’s chief prosecutor, said the five men have committed war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza and Israel.
Outright International and the National LGBTQ Task Force are among the groups that have publicly called for a ceasefire. ACT UP, the Audre Lorde Project, and No Pride in Genocide have organized protests against the war since Oct. 7.
Gay U.S. Reps. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) and Mark Takano (D-Calif.), lesbian U.S. Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.), and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) are among the lawmakers who refused to attend Netanyahu’s speech.
Thousands of people have protested Netanyahu since he arrived in D.C. on Monday.
The Associated Press reported police on Wednesday used pepper spray to disperse protesters near the Capitol after they became “violent” and “failed to obey” orders to move away from a police line. Protesters, according to the AP, also vandalized a Christopher Columbus moment in front of Union Station and set a Netanyahu effigy on fire.
Netanyahu in his speech said Iran is “funding and promoting anti-Israel protests in America.”
“When the tyrants of Tehran, who hang gays from cranes and murder women for not covering their hair, are praising, promoting, and funding you, you have officially become Tehran’s useful idiots,” he said.
The White House
Harris becomes the de facto 2024 Democratic Party nominee for president
Advocacy groups praise vice president, President Biden
Less than three days after President Joe Biden announced his decision to step off the ticket and endorsed Kamala Harris to run in his stead, the vice president had emerged as her party’s de facto pick to take on the Republican nominee Donald Trump in November.
According to data from the Associated Press, by Monday 2,868 of the nearly 4,000 delegates who represent Democratic voters had endorsed Harris, well exceeding the 50 percent threshold necessary for her to lock up the nomination, which will be made official during the Democratic National Convention next month. The first ballots will be cast between Aug. 1 and Aug. 7.
“When I announced my campaign for president, I said I intended to go out and earn this nomination,” the vice president said in a statement Monday. “Tonight, I am proud to have secured the broad support needed to become our party’s nominee,” she said, adding, “I look forward to formally accepting the nomination soon.”
Virtually all prominent Democrats whose names were floated as potential rivals quickly lined up behind Harris, including Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, who was tapped to co-chair the campaign, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the first openly gay Cabinet member, who is considered a top contender to be her running-mate for vice president.
As of midday Wednesday, endorsements had come from over 90 percent of House Democrats, including Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) as well as from every Democratic governor and every Democratic U.S. senator except for Jon Tester (D-Mont.) and Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) (who was just convicted on charges related to an international bribery scheme and announced plans to resign from Congress.)
Also supporting Harris are major organizations that are allied with the party (limited, of course, to those permitted under FEC rules to endorse political candidates). Among them are major labor unions like SEIU and IBEW, advocacy shops like Emily’s List and Gen Z for Change, and civil rights groups like UnidosUS and the Human Rights Campaign.
And in a signal of the popularity of a reconfigured Democratic ticket led by the vice president, her campaign announced that a record breaking sum in excess of $100 million was raised between Saturday afternoon and Tuesday morning with mostly small-dollar contributions from 1.1 million supporters, 60 percent of whom were first-time donors.
The journey toward Harris’s nomination began with the president’s shaky performance against Trump during the televised CNN debate on June 27, which led to a chorus of calls for the 81-year-old to step aside as polls showed he had no clear path to winning the race.
By and large, the Democratic donors, celebrities, and elected officials who pushed for a new ticket did so despite their admiration and affinity for Biden and respect for his record as president. Within the party and beyond, his decision to walk away was celebrated as a patriotic sacrifice of personal ambition for the good of the country.
After Biden backed Harris, she visited campaign headquarters in Wilmington, Del., on Monday, where she delivered remarks about how she will parlay her experience as a prosecutor who went after “predators” and “fraudsters” into her work arguing the case against Trump and ultimately defeating him in November.
Harris also reaffirmed her loyalty to and kinship with Biden while reassuring campaign staff, who had just weathered — by far (at least, so far) — the rockiest period of the 2024 cycle.
“I know it’s been a rollercoaster, and we’re all filled with so many mixed emotions about this,” she said, adding, “I just have to say: I love Joe Biden.”
The president, who was isolating and recovering from COVID-19 at his home in Rehoboth Beach, Del., called in to the event with words of support and encouragement for the team and for Harris, to whom he said, “I’m watching you, kid,” and “I love ya.”
The next day, Harris headlined a rally in the key battleground state of Wisconsin, where the reception she received was widely described as palpably energetic and enthusiastic, especially when compared to similar campaign affairs prior to the vice president’s emergence this week as the presumptive Democratic nominee.
Putting aside voters’ apparent enthusiasm for her candidacy, the massive uptick in fundraising dollars, the rapid coalescence of support for her nomination from virtually the entire Democratic Party along with the various affiliated interests and entities, and the deftness with which she navigated an especially fraught conflict of which she was in the very center both personally and politically, any lingering questions about whether Harris has the full suite of skills and attributes of a top-tier candidate for national political office may have dissipated with her performances in these and other recent public appearances.
If, in fact, they persist, concerns about Harris’s ability to rise to the occasion largely stem from her 2020 Democratic presidential primary campaign, which folded ahead of the Iowa caucuses amid criticism that the California Democrat failed to articulate a cohesive and authentic message about her reasons for running and her vision for America.
As San Francisco Chronicle Washington Correspondent Shira Stein said during Jake Tapper’s CNN program on Tuesday, Harris has sharpened her skills as a politician over the past four years as she has served as vice president.
The political landscape has also shifted in ways that seem more broadly favorable to her candidacy in 2024. For example, voters might be more receptive to a nominee who built her career as a smart-on-crime prosecutor now that conversations about justice in policing are less salient than they were in the aftermath of George Floyd’s murder while concerns about public safety are now more ascendant.
The 2020 campaign aside, to the extent that Harris may have other handicaps — missteps while in office, controversial elements of her prosecutorial record, her perceived shortcomings as a candidate — they are, largely, already known, Stein said. “She’s been in political life for quite a long time.”
Far less clear is what the polls will look like over the months ahead as Harris reintroduces herself to voters and the dust settles from recent events that have caused tremendous upheaval in the 2024 race, including Biden’s departure from the ticket.
LGBTQ groups and leaders back Harris while thanking Biden
In written statements and public remarks over the past few days, LGBTQ leaders and organizations highlighted Biden and Harris’s records advancing rights and protections for the community, touted their administration’s legacy as the most pro-LGBTQ in history. (Washington Blade editor and co-owner Kevin Naff published an op-ed Wednesday titled, “Joe Biden, our fiercest ally“.)
They voiced confidence in Harris’s vision for building on that progress over the next four years and chronicled the ways in which she — in her roles as San Francisco district attorney, California attorney general, U.S. senator, and vice president — had a hand in many of the major milestones in the fight for LGBTQ civil rights that were won over the past few decades, from the legalization of same-sex marriage to ending the so-called “gay and trans panic defense.”
Several who spoke out to support Harris noted that she would be the first Black woman and the first South Asian presidential nominee to lead a major party ticket, having previously broken barriers throughout her career in elected office.
“We are deeply grateful to President Biden for his more than 50 years of public service and his longtime support for the LGBTQ+ community,” HRC President Kelley Robinson said. “Today’s announcement reflects what President Biden has done his entire career and will be core to his legacy: Putting the needs of Americans and his country above his own.”
“We owe the Biden-Harris team a debt of gratitude for leading the country out of a state of chaos and constant crisis under former President Trump,” she said. “And the Human Rights Campaign endorses the tough, formidable, and experienced Vice President Kamala Harris for president. Vice President Harris has the support of millions of Americans, as primary voters have already made the decision to put her on the ticket.”
Robinson said, “Vice President Kamala Harris is a trailblazer and has been a champion for LGBTQ+ equality for decades: from leading the fight in San Francisco against hate crimes and her work in California to end the so-called gay and transgender ‘panic defense’ to her early support for marriage equality and her leadership serving as our vice president.”
“Convicted felon Donald Trump has already shown that he aims to destroy democracy and divide the country in his quest for power,” she said. “Vice President Kamala Harris is a true champion of unity and accountability – and will fight for a country where no one is above the law and ‘justice for all’ means something.”
HRC, Robinson wrote, “could not be prouder to endorse Vice President Kamala Harris and commit to channeling our resources and supporters to work to elect the first Black and South Asian woman president of the United States.”
LGBTQ+ Victory Institute President Annise Parker said her organization “commends President Joe Biden on leading the most progressive and inclusive presidential term in American history” under which “LGBTQ+ people have received a record number of federal appointments, including cabinet members, judges and around 14 percent of political appointments.”
“His dedication to supporting LGBTQ+ communities and championing pro-equality legislation and executive action has created the most inclusive and affirming administration our country has ever seen,” Parker said. “And, despite attacks on LGBTQ+ liberties in state governments nationwide, the Biden administration has reinforced its dedication to LGBTQ+ equality through action.”
“We are sincerely grateful for President Biden’s leadership, partnership and service to our nation,” she said. “We know we have a trusted ally in Vice President Kamala Harris who works tirelessly toward full LGBTQ+ equality.”
Noting how Harris’s identity would make her nomination historic for the party and the country, Parker said she “is an enthusiastic supporter of pro-equality policies and LGBTQ+ communities” and added that “the record-breaking LGBTQ+ inclusivity of the Biden/Harris administration will continue under Harris’ leadership” while “the possibility that someone like Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg could be her running mate is monumental.”
“The prospect of a Harris/Buttigieg ticket would be a watershed moment in our decades-long efforts to make all levels of government more inclusive and could be the most historic Presidential ticket ever in our nation,” she said.
National LGBTQ+ Task Force Action Fund Executive Director Kierra Johnson said: “We are grateful for President Biden’s decades of service and allyship to LGBTQ communities — and for everything his administration has done to move our community forward.
“At this critical moment for our democracy and our freedoms, we have both hope and excitement for Vice President Kamala Harris and what she can do for our country. We fully expect a continued commitment to always putting our communities first.
We now recommit to moving forward in the democratic process, the upcoming convention and the November elections.
The Task Force action fund calls on LGBTQ+ people and our allies to take action and engage in the political process. Only through a show of voting power in the Nov. 5 election will we begin building the democracy we deserve.”
Gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who on Saturday became the 36th Democrat on Capitol Hill to call for Biden to exit the race, urged the president to hand “the torch to Vice President Harris as the Democratic Party presidential nominee.”
“It has become clear to me that the demands of a modern campaign are now best met by the Vice President, who can seamlessly transition into the role of our party’s standard bearer,” he wrote.
Another gay Democrat in the California delegation, U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia, told Lesley Marin of CBS News on Monday that “we’re going to unite behind Vice President Harris,” noting “the incredible record that she’s been a partner of,” which has included “lowering the price of insulin, infrastructure, investments in climate change, [and] her incredible work in protecting women’s right to choose.”
“At the same time, she’s a prosecutor,” Garcia said. “Look at her work as attorney general. She’s going to prosecute the case against Donald Trump.”
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.), the openly gay chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus, also spoke in support of Harris during an interview with CBS News Sunday, arguing that “She’s ready to win Wisconsin,” which is “one of those pivotal states” along with Michigan and Pennsylvania that “are on the top of the list” for Democrats to win in November.
Harris has “the energy to run around the state and do all the campaigning and show that contrast with” the Republican nominee who is “old” and “tired,” the congressman said, using an argument against Trump that has been rolled out by a number of Democrats following Biden’s withdrawal from the race on Sunday.
The vice president will be especially effective in relaying to voters how Trump’s appointment of three conservative justices to the U.S. Supreme Court during his first term led to a decision revoking constitutional protections for abortion that were in place since Roe v. Wade was decided in 1973, Pocan said. As a result, he added, “now we are in 1849 law in Wisconsin” with respect to reproductive rights.
An ally both politically and personally
In a written statement to the Blade, Harris for President Senior Spokesperson Kevin Munoz said, “Vice President Harris has been a steadfast ally and fighter for LGBTQ+ Americans since her early days in office.”
He added, “Like President Biden, she’s never shied away from fighting for us, as demonstrated by her record throughout her time in public service, as well as being a part of the most pro-LGBTQ+ administration in history. Vice President Harris has had the LBGTQ+ community’s back, and this November, we’ll have hers.”
High-profile LGBTQ officials serving in the Biden-Harris government include Buttigieg, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, and Ben LaBolt and Karine Jean-Pierre, who respectively serve as communications director and press secretary for the White House.
Two gay men who were on her staff prior to her election as vice president spoke with the Blade for a story in June that accompanied the newspaper’s exclusive interview with Harris. Munoz and Sergio Gonzales, senior advisor to Harris and the campaign, were among the six LGBTQ aides and officials who participated in a three-part profile series last year (during which time the operation in Wilmington was far leaner than it is now.)
Those who are close with the vice president (or those who follow her speeches closely) understand she has deep ties to the community and treasured relationships with LGBTQ friends and colleagues like Jim Rivaldo, a political consultant who helped elect gay rights pioneer Harvey Milk before leading Harris to victory in her first district attorney’s race in 2003.
As vice president, Harris not only shared in the credit for her administration’s pro-LGBTQ wins while maximizing representation from the community in positions of power and influence in American government, but she also found ways to signal her support through other personal, individual means.
For example, Harris in 2022 became the first sitting VP to host a Pride month celebration at the vice presidential residence at the Naval Observatory, which became an annual tradition under her tenure.
Rosenberg Foundation President Tim Silard, who worked under Harris when she was San Francisco district attorney, shared a statement with the Blade by text voicing his support for her candidacy.
“Vice President Harris will be the most outstanding President in my lifetime,” he said. “She has been an unwavering champion of the LGBTQ community, fighting to make all of our families safer and expanding civil rights and our opportunities to thrive.”
Silard added, “I know she will take on bullies at home and abroad and bring our nation together in new and exciting ways. I could not be prouder to support her and will do anything I can to help elect her.”
National
Trans experiences with the internet range from ‘harrowing’ to ‘powerful’
New survey provides insights into the stakes of web use for LGBTQ adults
Alex, 29, would not have met their friends without the internet. While living in a small city surrounded by farmland, finding community was not always easy.
Alex tried out one of those apps for adults seeking to make friends. It turned out to be a remarkable success. “I’ve made my friend group as a direct result of using the internet,” they said, explaining that even though all the friends are trans, due to their diverse interests, “we would have been hard-pressed to have ever really run into each other by happenstance.”
Making friends online is also safer for Alex. Before they pursued HRT and surgery and looked more “visibly queer,” they were in scary situations. “I’ve had pickup trucks chase me while driving, people call out slurs while driving by me, and I’ve been shot at,” they said.
Having the internet available for appointments, work, and social activities is fundamental to their life.
But the web was not always such a friendly place for Alex. “There’s so much hate and falsehoods out there about trans people,” they said. “It’s why it takes so long for some of us to learn about who we are.”
This dissonance is widespread within the LGBTQ community. A recent report—”ctrl+alt+lgbt: Digital Access, Usage, and Experiences of the LGBTQ+ Community”—by LGBT Tech and Data for Progress provides insight into that phenomenon.
Shae Gardner, director of policy at LGBT Tech, explained that most of the research about the LGBTQ community’s internet use historically has focused on youth. The project aimed to fill the gap. From surveys with 1,300 people across the country, the report found that while the internet is a foundational space for LGBTQ community building and self-expression, it also comes with a high risk for bullying and harassment.
These findings intensify when looking specifically at the data for underrepresented groups within the LGBTQ population like the transgender community, who are by far the group that faces the most harassment online, per the Anti-Defamation League. Gardner explained that the survey was over-sampled for transgender individuals intentionally. “We really wanted to understand that specific experience,” Gardner said.
The Blade interviewed five trans people about their experiences to gain insight into how different community members felt while navigating the web and specifically identified sources who do not have public platforms and therefore do not face heightened public scrutiny. Due to concern for backlash, all sources for this story spoke on condition of anonymity with gender-ambiguous names and they/them pronouns.
Four out of five of the people interviewed emphasized that the internet is a vital resource for accessing healthcare.
Riley, 24, explained, “I have such immense dread about transitioning because I don’t want to have to interact with doctors around my identity. I feel like I don’t have access to providers who are able to understand me.”
The internet, for many, provides a safe location to access health information and care without the judgment of doctors. Kai, 23, and Cameron, 27, both shared that the internet was an important place for them to learn specifics around trans healthcare and seek out trans-friendly providers. Alex agreed and added that they have made it so all of their doctors’ appointments through tele-health.
These experiences are consistent with the larger trans community. LGBT Tech’s survey found that 70% of transgender adults use the internet to find LGBTQ-friendly healthcare. By comparison, only 41% of cisgender LGBTQ adults use the internet to find the same friendly care.
All the sources interviewed said they sought LGBTQ community online with varying degrees of success.
Jordan, 24, said that not only is social media a good way to stay connected with people they know, but it also helps them find a broader community. “It’s nice to follow other trans and queer people whose experiences can inspire me or make me feel seen.”
Cameron emphasized that the internet provides connections to activities and communities around town. “Social media has facilitated my in-person queer and trans community,” they explained. “I learn a lot about what queer events are happening around town via social media. I have a wonderful community playing queer sports that I wouldn’t have found without the internet.”
Kai shared that it hasn’t been a successful pursuit for them: “I wish it did more than it does.”
Per Trans Tech’s survey, transgender adults “often” use social media to connect with existing LGBTQ friends and family 41% of the time (as opposed to “sometimes” “rarely” or “never”). This is 21% more than the LGBTQ community at large. The survey also reveals that transgender adults are 20% more likely to “often” use social media to connect with new LGBTQ community than the LGBTQ community at large.
Everyone but Cameron has experienced some form of direct bullying or harassment for being transgender, either online or in person. The survey found that 83% of transgender adults have faced bullying online. By comparison, 59% of the cisgender LGBTQ community faced bullying online.
“Technology is only as good as its application. And this is the other side of the dual-edged sword,” said Gardner.
Gardner explained that the online and in-person harassment was mirrored. “The experiences of anti-LGBTQ bullying were very high, both for LGBTQ+ individuals and especially for trans individuals, but those numbers were nearly equitable to the experiences that that they have in the real world with anti-LGBTQ+ bullying,” she said. The survey found that 82% of transgender adults faced bullying in person.
The survey found despite the comparable levels of harassment and high levels of misinformation (93% of transgender adults saw anti-LGBTQ misinformation online), respondents overwhelmingly felt safe online—67% of trans adults and 76% of cisgender LGBTQ adults.
When she compared this phenomenon to her life, Gardner wasn’t surprised. “The harassment that I have faced online has certainly felt less immediately threatening than what I’ve faced in person. The mental toll it takes is significant, but I would argue individuals probably have an easier time getting away from it.”
That doesn’t stop Gardner from noting, “We need to be fighting [harassment] in both places.”
She explained that, “when we are staring down the barrel of record-setting anti-LGBTQ+ legislation yet again, it is so integral to keep fighting for digital spaces to be as safe as possible.”
Regardless of its safety, it is a space that is a constant for many. “I use the internet constantly,” said Alex. “I use the internet a lot at work since I have a desk job,” said Jordan.
When reflecting on the internet, Riley summed up the tensions they experience. “It can be harrowing often but simultaneously it’s where I feel a sense of community and access.”
(This story is part of the Digital Equity Local Voices Fellowship lab through News is Out. The lab initiative is made possible with support from Comcast NBCUniversal.)
California
Villaraigosa announces bid for Calif. governor in 2026
Former Los Angeles mayor has long supported LGBTQ rights
Former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa announced on Tuesday his candidacy for California governor in the 2026 election, joining an expanding roster of contenders vying to succeed Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The former mayor has a long track record in support of the LGBTQ community, even preceding his declaration as chairman of the 2012 Democratic National Convention that he favored a same-sex marriage legalization plank in the party’s platform, support that ultimately led to support from the Vice President Biden and later President Barack Obama.
Villaraigosa, who previously ran for governor in 2018 and finished third in the primary behind Newsom and Republican John Cox, brings a long history in California politics, having served as Assembly speaker, a Los Angeles City Council member, and the city’s mayor.
Villaraigosa, 71, has maintained a presence in state politics despite leaving elected office in 2013.
His campaign is positioning him as a seasoned “problem solver,” with a focus on the state budget, education, and reducing costs for small businesses and middle-class families.
“We have serious problems, and money alone won’t fix them,” Villaraigosa stated. “We need to focus on better outcomes, fixing what’s broken, and investing in what works. I’m a problem solver, and with your support, that’s exactly what I’ll do as governor.”
In his campaign video, Villaraigosa highlighted his achievements as mayor and Assembly speaker, emphasizing his experience in bipartisan legislation and a tough stance on crime, which is anticipated to be a central issue in the 2026 election. His tenure as mayor was marked by significant restructuring of the Los Angeles Police Department and efforts to improve the city’s education system.
Villaraigosa joins a crowded Democratic field that includes Lt. Gov. Eleni Kounalakis, former Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, state Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Thurmond, and former state Controller Betty Yee. Attorney General Rob Bonta is also considering a run, though he has indicated he will decide after the November election.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra has not ruled out a bid but has not provided a definitive answer.
The race remains wide open, although Kounalakis has already amassed significant campaign funds, with her campaign reporting over $9 million on hand. Current Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass and Congresswoman Katie Porter are among the names rumored to potentially join the race later.
Newsom’s tenure will conclude in early 2027, setting the stage for a competitive race to replace him. Villaraigosa’s entry into the race signals a significant development, given his extensive background in state and local governance and his focus on pragmatic solutions for California’s pressing issues.
The 2026 gubernatorial election will be Villaraigosa’s second attempt at the state’s highest office.
Villaraigosa’s dedication to diverse and inclusive leadership is evident through his ongoing recognition of leaders who champion these values. As recently as Jan. 18, the Antonio Villaraigosa Leadership Award was presented to San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria at the 37th Tribute to Mayors Signature Event.
The award, given annually by the Latino Leaders Network, honors mayors from cities with significant Latino populations who have shown a commitment to uniting diverse communities.
“Getting an award in Mayor Villaraigosa’s name is really meaningful to me,” Gloria stated. “I was the nerdy kid who would watch C-SPAN and read the newspaper when I was young. Seeing a charismatic and energetic leader like Villaraigosa made me believe I could achieve similar goals in public service.”
Villaraigosa, who grew up in East Los Angeles during the 1950s and 1960s when sexism and homophobia pervaded the culture, has a track record fighting for LGBTQ issues.
“I think it’s prevalent in every community but in the Latino community, one could argue, it was even more prevalent, more extreme in terms of sexism and homophobia,” Villaraigosa told Karen Ocamb in a 2018 interview for Los Angeles Blade.
“I grew up with a mom that was very progressive and a victim of domestic violence. I grew up in a home with alcoholism and a father who left three terrorized kids,” explaining his outlook.
“I’m not running for anything else,” said Villaraigosa. “So, a popularity contest is not what I’m looking for. You’re never gonna see Antonio Villaraigosa — candidate for president or vice president. I want to be a damn good governor.”
BY DIANA LAMBERT AND MONICA VELEZ | LAist — A trailblazing state law prohibiting California school boards from passing resolutions that require teachers and school staff to notify parents if they believe a child is transgender isn’t likely to put an end to this polarizing issue.
The Support Academic Futures and Educators for Today’s Youth, or SAFETY Act, was signed by Gov. Gavin Newsom on July 15. It will prohibit school districts from requiring staff to disclose to parents’ information related to a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity, and will protect school staff from retaliation if they refuse to notify parents of a child’s gender preference. The legislation, which will go into effect Jan. 1, also provides additional resources and support for LGBTQ students at junior high and high schools.
“California is the first state to pass a law explicitly prohibiting school districts from enacting forced outing policies in the nation,” said Mike Blount, spokesperson for the author of the bill, Assemblymember Chris Ward (D-San Diego).
The legislation was passed in response to the more than a dozen California school boards that proposed or passed parental notification policies in just over a year. The policies require school staff to inform parents if a child asks to use a name or pronoun different from the one assigned at birth, or if they engage in activities and use facilities designed for the opposite sex. At least seven California school districts passed the controversial policies, often after heated public debate.
First lawsuit filed
By Tuesday evening, the conservative nonprofit Liberty Justice Center said it had filed a lawsuit challenging the new law on behalf of Chino Valley Unified, which passed a parental notification policy last year.
“School officials do not have the right to keep secrets from parents, but parents do have a constitutional right to know what their minor children are doing at school,” said Emily Rae, senior counsel at the Liberty Justice Center in a press release. “Parents are the legal guardians of their children, not Gov. Newsom, Attorney General (Rob) Bonta, or Supt. (Tony) Thurmond. We will continue to defend parents’ rights and children’s well-being by challenging invasive laws like AB 1955 in court, at no cost to taxpayers.”
Other opponents, including Assemblyman Bill Essayli (R-Riverside) indicated that the issue will be settled in court. He is “committed to challenging the bill in court, and he’s confident he’s on the right side constitutionally,” said Shawn Lewis, Essayli’s chief of staff. Essayli plans to work with a coalition of advocates to challenge the bill, Lewis said.
Election issue
Parental rights is the overarching issue for the Republican Party, but right now it is focused on the parental notification issue, Essayli said in an August interview with EdSource. “This is an issue we want to run on in 2024,” he said.
The newly passed legislation also resulted in a flurry of press releases and social media comments from opponents and supporters. Even Tesla CEO Elon Musk weighed in, calling the new law the “final straw” in his decision to move the headquarters for X, formerly known as Twitter, to Texas.
“I did make it clear to Gov. Newsom about a year ago that laws of this nature would force families and companies to leave California to protect their children,” Musk wrote on X.
Proponents of the parental notification policies have said that parents have the right to know what is going on with their children at school and that minors do not have a right to privacy. Opponents say these policies could endanger already vulnerable students who should be able to decide when they want to come out to their parents.
Chino Valley Unified in San Bernardino County, Murrieta Valley Unified, and Temecula Valley Unified in Riverside County, in Orange County, in Anderson Union High School District in Shasta County, and Rocklin Unified and Dry Creek Joint Elementary School District in Placer County are among the districts that have passed parental notification policies.
California’s parental notification board policies have their origin in Assembly Bill 1314, proposed by Essayli, which was denied a committee hearing at the state Capitol last year. After that, Essayli, parents’ rights groups and attorneys wrote a model board policy for school boards.
On Monday, Essayli released a statement about the new law: “Today, Gov. Gavin Newsom defied parents’ constitutional and God-given right to raise their children by signing AB 1955 which codifies the government’s authority to keep secrets from parents,” he said. “AB 1955 endangers children by excluding parents from important matters impacting their child’s health and welfare at school. Governor Newsom signing AB 1955 is both immoral and unconstitutional, and we will challenge it in court to stop the government from keeping secrets from parents.”
Eight states have passed laws requiring school districts to inform parents if their children ask to use names or pronouns associated with another gender, according to the Movement Advancement Project.
LGBTQ rights threatened
School parental notification policies have impacted the mental health of LGBTQ students and can lead to bullying, harassment, and discrimination, according to a press release from Ward’s office.
“Politically motivated attacks on the rights, safety, and dignity of transgender, nonbinary, and other LGBTQ+ youth are on the rise nationwide, including in California,” said Ward, who introduced the legislation along with the California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus.
“While some school districts have adopted policies to forcibly out students, the SAFETY Act ensures that discussions about gender identity remain a private matter within the family,” he said. “As a parent, I urge all parents to talk to their children, listen to them, and love them unconditionally for who they are.”
The California Teachers Association and its members have been major opponents of parental notification policies, saying that they drive a wedge between educators and students, and endanger already vulnerable students. Teachers working in districts with parental notification policies have worried they could lose their jobs if they do not comply with the district requirement or end up in court if they disobey federal and state laws and policies.
“This historic legislation will strengthen existing protections against forced outing and allow educators to continue to create a safe learning environment where all students feel accepted, nurtured, and encouraged to pursue their dreams,” said California Teachers Association President David Goldberg. “As educators, we are charged with providing a high-quality education to every student. No educator should experience retaliation or have their livelihood jeopardized for following the law and providing safe and supportive learning environments for our students.”
Policies spawn lawsuits
Attorney General Rob Bonta has said parental notification policies break California state law and violate students’ civil rights and their right to privacy. He issued warnings to districts and filed a lawsuit against Chino Valley Unified in San Bernardino County last year.
A lawsuit was also filed against Temecula Valley Unified by a coalition of students, teachers and parents who oppose the district’s parental notification policy, along with a policy that bans “critical race theory.”
California courts have had differing opinions. In San Diego, U.S. District Judge Roger Benitez last year ruled that Escondido Union School District violated parents’ rights when it followed California state policy and allowed students to decide whether to tell their parents they identify as transgender.
In Sacramento earlier that year, U.S. District Judge John Mendez dismissed a lawsuit against Chico Unified. The suit claimed that district policies allowed school staff “to socially transition” students and prohibited staff from informing parents of the change. Mendez said students have a right to tell their parents about their gender and sexuality on their own terms.
The new law will also require districts to provide support or affinity groups and safe spaces for LGBTQ students; anti-bullying and harassment policies and complaint procedures; counseling services; anti-bias or other training to support LGBTQ students and their families; suicide prevention policies and procedures; and access to community-based organizations to support LGBTQ students as well as local physical and mental health providers with experience in treating and supporting families of LGBTQ youth.
California Legislative LGBTQ Caucus Chair Susan Eggman said the legislation reaffirms California’s position as a leader and safe haven for LGBTQ youth.
“I am also deeply grateful for all the parents, teachers, youth, LGBTQ+ leaders, and so many other groups who came together to support this bill,” Eggman said. “Their support reaffirmed what this caucus already knew: Safe and supportive schools for all our children should be our top priority. And at the end of the day, that’s what this bill does, ensures our K-12 campuses remain safe and affirming places for our youth no matter how they identify.”
United Nations
UN officials reiterate calls for countries to decriminalize homosexuality
Volker Türk and Winnie Byanyima issued statement before global AIDS conference
The U.N. human rights chief and UNAIDS’s executive director have reiterated their calls for countries to decriminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations.
“Laws criminalizing LGBTQ+ people must be consigned to history,” said Volker Türk and Winnie Byanyima in a statement they released on July 19.
The 25th International AIDS Conference began in Munich on Monday.
The statement notes Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Barbados, Belize, Bhutan, Botswana, the Cook Islands, Dominica, Gabon, India, Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia, Nauru, Palau, St. Kitts and Nevis, Seychelles, Singapore, and Trinidad and Tobago over the last decade have repealed laws that criminalized consensual same-sex sexual relations.
The Namibian High Court on June 21 struck down the country’s Apartheid-era sodomy laws.
Dominica’s High Court of Justice in April ruled provisions of the country’s Sexual Offenses Act that criminalized anal sex and “gross indecency” were unconstitutional. Justice Kimberly Cenac-Phulgence in the decision said “the laws commonly known as buggery and gross indecency laws, contravenes the constitution of the Commonwealth of Dominica, namely the right to liberty, freedom of expression, and protection of personal privacy.”
Burkina Faso’s military government earlier this month said it plans to criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations in the country. Ugandan activists continue to challenge their country’s Anti-Homosexuality Act.
Activists maintain criminalization laws harm people with HIV/AIDS, among other groups. Türk and Byanyima in their statement say these statutes “harm public health.”
“Criminalization of LGBTQ+ people generates justified fear amongst people who need access to health services, and amongst the frontline workers who provide those services,” they said.
“In criminalizing countries, there is decreased provision and uptake of HIV prevention services, and decreased uptake of HIV care and treatment services,” added Türk and Byanyima.
They conclude the “decriminalization of LGBTQ+ people is vital for protecting everyone’s human rights and everyone’s health.”
World
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
South Korean Supreme Court upholds same-sex couples’ health benefits
SOUTH KOREA
The South Korean Supreme Court delivered a victory for same-sex couples last week, upholding a lower court ruling that found same-sex couples must be given equal access to benefits under the country’s National Health Insurance Service.
The ruling is a landmark as the first legal recognition of same-sex couples in the East Asian nation.
The Supreme Court ruled that the NHIS refusal to provide spousal benefits to same-sex couples was unconstitutional discrimination. The ruling is final.
The case was filed by a gay couple, So Seong-wook and Kim Yong-min, in 2021 after the NHIS revoked So’s registration as a dependent of Kim and imposed a new premium. So and Kim had been a couple since 2017 and had held a marriage ceremony in 2019.
The NHIS allows married or common-law heterosexual couples to register as dependents in employer-backed insurance but had no policy recognizing same-sex couples.
The Seoul Administrative Court ruled for the NHIS in 2022, but the following year that decision was overturned by the Seoul High Court, which ruled for the couple that the denial was discriminatory.
“When I listened to the verdict, I was so moved that I couldn’t hold back my tears,” So told reporters outside the court. “It took four years to earn this dependent status. We need to fight harder to legalize same-sex marriage going forward.”
The advocacy group Marriage for All Korea said in a statement that the decision was just a first step.
“This decision brings hope to other same-sex couples living in Korean society and is a huge milestone toward marriage equality and equal citizenship for LGBTQ people. However, same-sex couples who are not legally recognized in their marriage still experience various forms of discrimination,” the statement says.
“The lengthy and arduous lawsuits that same-sex couples must endure to gain single rights as a spouse, as seen in this case, should no longer be necessary. Fundamentally, we will continue to push for a broader marriage equality movement to eliminate all institutional discrimination that hinders same-sex couples from legally marrying and fully enjoying their rights as spouses, and for LGBTQ people in Korea to enjoy equal citizenship.”
Several bills to recognize same-sex marriage or civil unions and to ban discrimination against LGBTQ people have been introduced by opposition members in South Korea’s parliament over the years, but none has progressed.
LITHUANIA
A final attempt to pass a long-stalled civil union bill before the end of the current session of Parliament came to an anticlimactic end on July 18, as the government withdrew the bill from the agenda before the final day session began.
The civil union bill had long been a bone of contention in the fractious governing coalition whose largest party is the conservative Homeland Union and includes the more progressive Freedom Party, which had made the bill a priority.
The bill passed through two readings in parliament in part with the support of leftist opposition parties, but when the opposition withdrew their support of the bill — in part to deny the government a win on the issue — the coalition no longer had enough votes to get it passed, as a segment of the Homeland Union opposed it.
Over the past month, the Freedom Party had attempted to strong-arm the Homeland Union holdouts into supporting the bill, by threatening to block Lithuania’s appointment of a European commissioner unless the party supported the bill.
In the last few days of parliament’s session before the legislature is dissolved for October elections, it seemed that the parties had come to an agreement, and the civil union bill was going to be put on the agenda for a final vote on the final day of the session.
But the opposition Social Democrats refused to play ball, once again preferring to deny the government a victory on the file, even though the Social Democrats had campaigned on supporting civil unions in the past. Without their votes, the bill would be doomed to fail.
The government withdrew the bill from the agenda rather than allow it to fail. This will allow the bill to be brought back by the new parliament in October, rather than starting the process over again.
Despite the bill’s withdrawal, anti-LGBTQ protesters met outside the parliament and burned rainbow flags. Vilnius police said they are investigating potential charges of incitement to hatred.
The two-round parliamentary election is scheduled for Oct. 13 and Oct. 27, and polling shows the Social Democrats currently hold a wide lead.
Lithuania is one of only five European Union countries that do not recognize same-sex unions. The others are Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, and Poland, the latter of which has proposed a civil union bill that its government hopes to pass in the fall.
UNITED KINGDOM
The newly elected Labour government under Prime Minister Keir Starmer included a ban on conversion therapy in the King’s Speech that opened parliament on July 17, indicating that the bill will be a priority item during the session.
The King’s Speech is a tradition in UK politics, where the monarch reads a speech prepared by the government outlining its priorities for the upcoming session of parliament, usually lasting about a year.
During the election campaign, Starmer had pledged to back a transgender-inclusive ban on the abusive practice of conversion therapy, an issue which has become a political lightning rod in the UK over the past decade as a wave of anti-trans hysteria has gripped the media and much of the political class.
The previous Conservative government had pledged to ban conversion therapy six years ago but failed to bring a bill forward after floating the idea that the bill would allow conversion therapy for trans youth.
The UK LGBTQ advocacy group Stonewall praised the commitment to a conversion therapy ban in a statement.
“We welcome the new government’s commitment to banning conversion practices. Each day that these abusive practices remain legal, our communities are put at risk,” the statement says. “The government needs to urgently publish a comprehensive bill to ban these abhorrent practices once and for all.”
But the new government’s approach to trans issues is not entirely praiseworthy.
Two weeks ago, new Labour Secretary of State for Health Wes Streeting announced that his government was defending and extending a ban on puberty blockers for trans youth that was put in place by the Conservatives. That action has been denounced by trans activists and legal experts.
JAPAN
A trans woman is suing for the right to change her legal gender without first divorcing her wife, in a challenge to the nation’s laws surrounding both same-sex marriage and gender recognition.
The woman, who has not been identified, is in her 50s and has been in a long-term marriage to her wife, who is in her 40s, and neither partner wants to divorce. While she has legally changed her name to a woman’s name, her identification still lists her as “male,” which forces her to have uncomfortable conversations outing her trans status whenever she needs to show official documents.
Since 2003, it has been possible for trans people to update their legal gender in Japan, but only if they are unmarried. That essentially forces any married trans person to divorce their partner if they want to update their gender.
In 2010, the Japanese Supreme Court upheld the requirement that trans people be unmarried to update their legal gender, calling the situation “reasonable” and saying it did not violate the constitution.
But the woman’s lawyers believe the legal situation has changed.
Since 2021, several district courts across Japan have found that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. While that has not yet legalized same-sex marriage, these cases will eventually be decided by the Supreme Court. If the court agrees with the lower courts that the ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, then it should also find the divorce requirement for trans people to be unconstitutional.
Yoko Mizutani, one of the woman’s lawyers, says this case may also contribute to legalizing same-sex marriage.
“Many of those concerned have resigned to the notion that if same-sex marriages are not recognized, the unmarried requirement of the act will not change. If we win this petition, it could also help resolve the issue of same-sex marriage.”
SPAIN
The Constitutional Court has provisionally blocked an anti-LGBTQ law passed by the government of the Madrid Community that stripped a number of legal protections from LGBTQ people; citing constitutional, discriminatory, and jurisdictional issues.
Last year, the local government, which is led by the right-wing People’s Party and supported by the far-right Vox party, passed a bill that stripped legal recognition of trans youth, stopped allowing legal gender change without a medical diagnosis, allowed anti-LGBTQ discrimination and authorized conversion therapy.
Despite these legal protections being stripped at the local level, national laws still afforded LGBTQ people all of these rights and protections.
The national government, which is currently led by the left-wing People’s Socialist Party, filed for the injunction against the law, which it called unconstitutional, which the Constitutional Court has accepted.
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