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Vice-President & local leaders discuss reproductive rights & Prop 1

The Vice-President has brought together leaders from across the nation who are fighting to protect reproductive health care & abortion access

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U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA) speaking at event on reproductive rights, Oct. 17, 2022 (Photo Credit: Office of Sen. Alex Padilla)

LOS ANGELES – Mayor Eric Garcetti opened an event Monday afternoon which was organized as a conversation about protecting reproductive rights and the need for passage of Proposition 1, a California Ballot Proposition and State Constitutional Amendment that, if approved by voters, would establish a Constitutional right to reproductive freedom in California.

The event, facilitated by Vice-President Kamala Harris at the Nate Holden Performing Arts Center in LA, included discussions and remarks from Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rep. Karen Bass (D-CA-37), Celinda Vázquez, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA), Director Melanie Fontes Rainer, the Office of Civil Rights, U.S. Department of Human Health & Services

California Attorney General Rob Bonta and California’s Senate President pro Tempore State Senator Toni G. Atkins, were also in attendance.

Sen. Padilla highlighted California’s leadership in protecting a woman’s right to choose and Proposition 1, which will appear on the November ballot in California and would codify the right to abortion access in the state constitution.

Padilla also raised the alarm about the increasing number of Republican state legislatures working to claw back women’s reproductive rights and the need to act urgently to stop them by codifying the right to an abortion into federal law.

“Abortion is a fundamental right in America,” said Senator Padilla. “While in California, the right to an abortion is currently safe, the worst thing we could do is grow numb to this crisis. For years, Republicans in Congress and in state legislatures have worked to strip away the reproductive rights of women across the country—and in June they got their wish. That’s why we must continue to grow our Democratic majorities so we can prevent a national abortion ban. We won’t give up the fight to codify Roe, and protect once and for all the right to an abortion.”

Rep. Karen Bass introduced and welcomed Celinda Vázquez, Vice President of Public Affairs for Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, on stage. Bass then praised Harris’ leadership and welcomed Harris on stage. Bass and Harris hugged. Bass, Vázquez and Harris then sat down to discuss abortion. 

The Vice President highlighted the administration’s efforts to preserve access to abortion and reproductive healthcare. HHS contacted pharmacies to describe “their legal requirement to administer medication as prescribed,” Harris said, and that DOJ has a task force to pursue “whatever litigation is appropriate.” 

“This is about freedom and liberty,” Harris said. “22 days, there is an election, that is a fact. We need to hold on to what we have, and we need two more senators,” Harris said adding, “We’re going to have to protect these rights by having national legislation,” Harris said. “We need people in Congress to recognize that responsibility.” 

The Vice-President has brought together leaders from across the nation who are on the frontlines fighting to protect reproductive health care and abortion access. Earlier this month, she traveled to Connecticut and Texas to participate in conversations with reproductive rights leaders, she chaired the Second Meeting of the Interagency Task Force on Reproductive Healthcare Access, and she convened student leaders at the White House.

Since May, she has held more than 20 convenings and met with 180+ state legislators from 18 states to discuss protecting reproductive rights. The Vice President has also convened health care providers, constitutional law experts, faith leaders, state attorneys general, disability rights leaders, higher education leaders, students, and advocates.

Proposition 1 will appear on the November 8 General Election Ballot for California Voters. It was authored by the President Pro Tempore of the California State Senate, Toni Atkins, D-San Diego and co-authored by the Speaker of the California State Assembly, Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood.

Proposition 1 is a direct response to the June 2022 Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, overturning the 1973 Roe v. Wade decision, ruling that the Constitution of the United States does not confer a right to abortion.

Watch the conversation here:

Transcript: Remarks by Vice President Harris in a Conversation on Protecting Reproductive Rights

REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  How was that?  How was that for a welcome home?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It is good to be home.  It’s good to be home. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Well, we love having you in L.A.  Absolutely.  So, why don’t we get right to it?  This is an important moment in the time of our fight for rights.  So, tell us what it is like for you to be championing this issue?  How has it been?  I read off all of the meetings, all of the state legislatures.  You’re going around the country.  What’s it feel like?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It’s a combination of feelings that I think we all have about this.  And when I’m traveling the country, one of the feelings that I hear most is fear.  It’s fear.
 
But I’ll tell you, you know, here’s how I think about it: You know, people have asked me, “Well, what has caused you to focus a large part of your work on…” — as you said — “…the health, safety, and well-being of women and children?” 
 
And, as you know, I was raised by a mother who had two goals in her life: to raise her two children — my sister, Maya, and me — and to end breast cancer.  She was a breast cancer researcher, a scientist. 
 
And so, from my earliest days of life, I remember my mother being so passionate about women’s health and access to health, and it was always grounded, so much of her work, in the importance of women having dignity in the healthcare system — in the healthcare delivery system and — and having rights and having power over the decisions that were being made so that it would be theirs to make, whatever it was. 
 
And that’s how I was raised.  I mean, you know, I was raised hearing the phrase “mammary gland” all the time.  It was — it was just a common word in our household. 
 
And so, when I think about this issue and this fight right now, it’s an extension of that.  And so, to your point, I have been traveling the country in so-called red states and so-called blue states, talking with leaders on the ground — in particular a lot of state-elected leaders, legislators — about what we can do collectively to build up support for what we need to do, which is to empower women and restore their rights on this issue.
 
But it’s — really, it’s — it was unthinkable, I think, for so many of us.  We knew it might happen, but let — I mean, let’s just pause for a moment.  The highest court in our land, the United States Supreme Court, just took a constitutional right that had been recognized from the people of America, from the women of America.
 
And if I may, I would like to put it in context to how I feel about this in the context of being Vice President.  So, as Vice President, in the last a year and a half, I have, as of now — my staff has counted — I have now met directly or by phone with 100 world leaders, presidents, prime ministers, chancellors, kings.  And here’s what I think we all know about what those experiences are like: The United States — we, as Americans — can walk in those rooms with a certain level of authority —
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  That’s right.
 
THE PRESIDENT:  — chin up, shoulders back — to talk in those rooms about the importance of democracy, the importance of rule of law, the importance of human rights.  And in that way, we have held ourselves out to be and have been considered a role model on these matters. 
 
But what we, as role models, all know is that when you are role model, people watch what you do to see if it matches what you say. 
 
And the point then is a realization that this issue is not only directly impacting the people of America, but when we think about autocratic governments around the world who can then look to their people and say, “Well, you want to hold up America and rights as an example of what we should do?  Well, look at what they just did.”  So, by extension, what just happened will invariably impact women around the world. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  That’s right.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, there’s a lot of fear.  But also, as we all know, we know how to fight.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Oh, yeah.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Because when you know what you stand for, you know what to fight for.  (Applause.) 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Celinda.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  We do know how to fight.  So, what steps is the administration taking to protect reproductive rights?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, well — and, first, can I just say, it’s so good to be with the two of you on this stage?  It’s so good to be home. 
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  So good.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Celinda, you have been such an extraordinary fighter.  You and I’ve been in many of these rooms together in these past many, many months.  And I cannot thank you enough for being on the ground and the courage that it takes for our frontline folks, like you, to do what you are doing.  And to all of those who are here on the frontline, I applaud you.  Let us applaud them.  (Applause.) 
 
Because around the country and here, it is not without risk that you do what you do.
 
To Madam Congresswoman — (laughter).  It’s not a political event, I know.  (Laughs.)  You — you and I have worked together for so many years when I was AG and you were at the capitol — at the state capitol, and then in Washington, D.C.
 
You are a courageous, fearless fighter on so many of these issues.  And, in particular, what you have done throughout your career to be a strong voice for women, for children, for all communities, for the coalition: I thank you.  And it’s an honor to be on the stage with you as well.  (Applause.) 
 
And so, what we are doing as an administration is a number of things.  Through the Health and Human Services agency, led by a Californian, Secretary Xavier Becerra — (applause) — we are — we’ve been actually sending out a number of things that are really intended to make sure that there’s clarity in the midst of the confusion. 
 
And one of the things that HHS did that I think is very significant is sent out to pharmacies information about their legal requirement to administer medication as prescribed.  And — and I also applaud that agency for also having announced that they will investigate where there are any violations of the rules of conduct on that issue.
 
The Department of Education has been extraordinary.  Secretary Cardona has been doing some important work around making sure that that we protect students and their reproductive rights, including their ability to take leave from school for whatever reproductive healthcare they need, and make sure that there’s no discrimination in that regard.
 
The Department of Justice has been coordinating with a number of agencies as appropriate but has also set up, for example, a process of eliciting pro bono hours, because there are going to be so many folks who are on the ground doing the work who are not sure of the legal risks that they are taking in these various states.
 
They’ve also set up a task force, led by Vanita Gupta, who is a great civil rights lawyer, and they are pursuing whatever litigation is appropriate.
 
Also, through the Department of Justice, they’ve set up a hotline for providers, so there is an ability to report threats and things of that nature.
 
The FCC and the FTC are doing — the Federal Trade Commission, and the Federal Communications Commission — are doing important work to, one, check with the biggest providers to see what their privacy policies are and their data retention policies are.  And that’s extremely important. 
 
I think I have a website here, but I’ll tell you that the — that they’ve also set up a number for people to issue complaints and to register complaints around privacy violations, which is a big issue, because, of course, there are an assortment of mobile apps that folks use to monitor their menstruation cycle.  There are mobile apps that folks use to just get directions to go to a facility to get their healthcare, and we want to make sure that that information is not being violated. 
 
So, that is the kind of work that’s happening through our administration.
 
The President has signed two executive orders that relate to making a very clear statement that we intend to protect and defend the right that people have for travel and for access to emergency healthcare. 
 
The VA is doing great work, in terms of the number of women who are veterans, in ensuring that they will be able to have access to all of the care that they require — including the Department of Defense, because — think about it, if you’re a servicemember — and there are at least 300,000 women, I believe, who are in active service right now — you don’t have any choice where you’re deployed and could very well be deployed to a state where it’s been rendered illegal.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Right.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And so, they’re working through what they can do to ensure that the servicemembers are not subject to — to those kinds of threats to their healthcare and their independence.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Well, you know, Madam Vice President, this is kind of on the same lines of that.  I’m wondering what kind of stories you might be hearing from people.
 
You know, in another life, I worked in healthcare.  I’ve worked in the emergency room and also in primary care.  Every now and then, you hear a story in the news like a woman — a woman that has an ectopic pregnancy; or the 10-year-old girl; or a woman who is — if she carries the pregnancy to term, might not live.  As you’ve gone around the country, are you hearing stories like that?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I am hearing those stories.  And those are the stories that are the public stories.  But as you and I know, what we’re hearing about only is just a fraction of what’s actually happening.  Many of you know: As a former prosecutor, the bulk of my career as a prosecutor, I was focused on violent — crimes of violence against women and children, and, in particular, I specialized in child sexual assault cases. 
 
The vast majority of those cases are not reported.  And the idea that laws would be passed, as it relates to people who have endured and survived such violation and violence, and to then say to them, “And you will also not have autonomy over your body on this issue” — it’s immoral.  It’s immoral.
 
As a former prosecutor having handled those cases, I can tell you the vast majority of those cases are not reported for a variety of reasons that have to do with the nature of it all, including it might be about a family member, it might be about someone who otherwise could harm that person or their family.
 
And what’s happening in these states on that and so many other related issues is abhorent: punishing women, criminalizing healthcare providers.  In fact, I’m going to — I don’t know if everybody in the audience can see this.
 
(The Vice President holds up a map.)
 
This is a map of the United States.  So, you don’t need to see — you don’t need to read the words to see the point that I’m going to make. 
 
So, you see all the different colors.  So, one of the colors on this map is — represents the states in which abortion is banned from conception with no exceptions.  One color is abortion banned from conception with an exception for rape, but not incest.  Another, banned from conception with exceptions for rape and incest.  There’s a 6-week ban on here, a 15-week ban, an 18-week ban.  You get the point.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Not incest?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Absolute —
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  No.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  But absolute confusion —
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Yeah.  That’s (inaudible).
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — which also creates an environment that is ripe for misinformation, disinformation, and predatory practices.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Yeah.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, in addition to what I’m seeing around the country, there’s fear.  There’s also just absolute and utter confusion about what are — for any individual: What are my rights?  And that is something that, we as opinion leaders, of which there are so many here, we have to continue to use our voice and our platform in a way that informs people about their rights with an — with a full appreciation that it’s so confusing they may not be aware.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  So, you’ve touched upon this, but how else do you see the fight for reproductive freedom impacting the everyday lives of Americans?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (The Vice President reaches for the map.)
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  Right, so —
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  (Laughs.)  So, okay.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  — just a little expansion. 
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I love Venn diagrams.  Okay?  (Laughs.) 
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  Just a little expansion. 
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I really do.  I love Venn diagrams — you know, the three circles — sometimes there are more.
 
So I asked my team,  “Do — do me a Venn diagram on — from which states are we seeing attacks on reproductive healthcare, voting rights, LGBTQ+ rights.”  You would not be surprised to know that there is a significant overlap.  Right? 
 
So that’s what — so when we talk about who’s being impacted, well, you know, if you read the Dobbs decision — or you don’t need to, I’ll just tell you — Clarence Thomas said the quiet part out loud: They’re coming for the right to conception, the right to marry the person you love.
 
But I do see in, then, this moment, another thing in that Venn diagram, which is the reminder about the importance of coalition building, of bringing together all those folks who have been fighting forever on reproductive healthcare and maternal mortality, something that Karen Bass has been a leader on, bringing together the folks that have been fighting forever on voting rights, bringing together all the folks who — who are responsible for the victory on marriage — but we still have so much more work to do — and building our coalition.
 
Because here’s the thing: There was a movement that was started generations ago that culminated in Roe v. Wade.  We are now the ones that are responsible for picking up that movement.  And as with any movement in our country that has been about progress and the expansion of rights, one of the most productive ingredients of those movements has been the coalition and our commitment to building that coalition and growing it, for a number of reasons, one is that we all have so much more in common than what separates us.  But the other is, almost everyone should understand what rights of theirs are subject to and now exposed to attack.
 
And on this point — my final point on this would be, we need to take back the flag on this.  Because this is absolutely about freedom and liberty. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Yes.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  This is about freedom and liberty, which are foundational notions for the existence of our country.  These are founding principles that we, as Americans, hold dear: freedom and liberty.  And that means all of us are susceptible.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  And for freedom and liberty, we need to hold on to the House and the Senate, I’m just saying.  (Applause.) 
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, it’s not a political event, but that doesn’t mean we don’t speak truth.  (Laughter.) 
 
So, in fact, so, 22 days, there’s an election.
 
REPSENTATIVE BASS:  Yes.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That’s a — that’s a fact.  It is a fact that there is a bill in Congress that the congressmember was a part of leading — the Women’s Health Protection Act — which would codify, which means put into law, the protections of Roe v. Wade.
 
The Court took it away; Congress can put it back.
 
The President of the United States — our President, Joe Biden, has said he will not let this thing called the “filibuster” get in the way of signing that law.  All of those are facts.
 
It is also the fact that, in order for that bill to get to the President’s desk so he can sign it into law, we need two more senators.  We need to hold on to what we have, and we need two more senators.  That is a fact.
 
It is also fact, by the way, that in that same context, the President has said he will sign into law the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act.  (Applause.) 
 
Two more senators.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  I could think of two.  (Laughter.)
 
You know, along with this, in terms of, you know, understanding that the Dobbs decision was about the right to privacy and, Madam Vice President, you know, I’m not a lawyer, but I do wonder, like: How far could they go?
 
I mean, you know, Jim Crow laws?  I mean, could business say, “Well, it’s my right to only allow certain people to come in”?  How far — what are the implications?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  I mean, I think you should — that everything that you can imagine, you should assume is possible.
 
It was unimaginable that the court of Thurgood Marshall would do what this court just did.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Right.  Right.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And — and that’s, again, why I think that the point that you made about, you know, who is vulnerable to this moment: Everyone is vulnerable to this moment.
 
And we just — we have to understand that, I think, in so many ways, we are living in unsettled times. 
 
You think about it on the global stage, there is a war in Europe.  You know, for 70 years, there was an assumption that, in spite of the differences among nations, that there was still certain international rules and norms, including the importance of sovereignty and territorial integrity.  But with Russia’s unprovoked aggression in Ukraine, we see that we can’t necessarily take that for granted. 
 
Unsettled times.  Unsettled times.
 
The Voting Rights Act, guided by the United States Supreme Court in Shelby v. Holder, a decision they rendered in 2013, and then you look at what happened in 2020, which is historic numbers of people voted in the midst of a pandemic, including an historic number of young voters, and almost immediately thereafter — because that scared people —
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Right.  (Laughter.)
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — there are children here — they started passing laws making it illegal to give people food and water if they’ve been standing in line for hours to vote; passing laws making it intentionally more difficult for people to vote.  Unsettled times.
 
We thought the issue of voting rights had been settled. 
 
Unsettled times.  In this year of our Lord 2022, taking away a woman’s ability to make decisions about her own body.
 
So, I think we have to listen to the words of Coretta Scott King.  You’ve heard me paraphrase her so many times on this.  She famously said: The fight for civil rights — which is the fight for justice, it’s the fight for equality, fight for freedom — the fight for civil rights must be fought and won with each generation.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Yes.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Because let’s always remember that these rights will not be permanent if we are not prepared to be vigilant.
 
And in that way, this is so much about a democracy.  I think about democracy in this regard.  I think — I think of democracy as there’s a duality to it, in that, when it is intact, it is strong in terms of what it does to create a system that preserves and fights for rights, civil rights, human rights.  So, there’s an aspect to it that is about strength in terms of what it can do to lift people up.
 
On the other hand, it’s very fragile.  It’s extremely fragile.  It will only be as strong as our willingness to fight for it.  And so, fight we will.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  You have touched upon many of these topics, but how are you seeing the intersection of attacks on — well, no, I think we already — we already did that.
 
But we have an expert here — our congresswoman worked on the floor — a maternal morbidity expert, and all of the things.  What — what is the administration doing to address the maternal mortality crisis, which, we know, we you’ve done a lot of work previously?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Thank you, Celinda.  Maternal mortality — and, again, I recognize and thank Karen Bass for her work as a leader on this for so many years.
 
In America today, Black women are three times more likely to die in connection with childbirth.  Native women, twice as likely.  Rural women, one and a half times likely.  And as it relates to, for example, the experience of Black women, it is unrelated to their educational level or their socioeconomic level.  It is very clear it literally has to do with the fact that when she walks into that clinic or that doctor’s office or that emergency room, she is not taken as seriously.
 
And so, there is a lot of work that needs to happen that also understands and appreciates that, for so many of these women — for example, women in rural America — are living in the midst of healthcare deserts.  There’s no hospitals.  I — I have somebody that’s very close to me whose relative just died, just weeks ago, in connecti- — during childbirth, and the baby died, in rural America.  Because there was nowhere, where she lived, to get her the kind of care that the complication required.  Right?
 
So, this is a big issue.  But the idea that in this country, at this time, it is still such an issue of the proportion.
 
And so, there are a number of things.  One, when I was in the Senate, we had a bill that would address the bias in the healthcare delivery system and require training of healthcare providers — of all types of healthcare providers.  And I wrote into it, in particular, that the trainers would include doulas, who — (applause) — yes — who provide some of the best care and could teach a few things to others.
 
We are doing the work as an administration of — you know, I’m very proud of this — we have lifted this issue up to the stage of the White House, actually convened a group of leaders to come to the White House to present on this issue. 
 
We have done the work of also extending in states Medicaid coverage and encouraging, in extension — can you believe?  Okay, so Medicaid — (applause) — Medicaid covers, but we’re changing this — only two months of postpartum care.  Two months.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  You better not have a problem. 
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  You just gave birth to a human being.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Right?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  So, there is — so we’re extending it to 12 months — right? —
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Excellent.  That’s great.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  — for all that that requires and it requires, you know, the details of pelvic examinations.  It requires the details of whatever kind of healthcare that might be, you know, in any level of the body.  Healthcare — for mental healthcare, physical.
 
And so, this is some of the work we are doing, and — and it’s a good start.  There’s more work to be done, also recognizing that the disparities exist based on also lack of access to transportation, lack of access to all types of healthcare, in addition to maternal healthcare.  Because there is so much of this that also can be attributed to unique stressors, right?
 
Take, for example, the fact that poverty is trauma inducing.  And what that might mean, in terms of the unique stressors that low-income women are facing that can have an impact on their pregnancy. 
 
And so, all of this work is being done by our administration in conjunction with the Congress.  We have the “Momnibus” — we called it the “Momnibus.”  An omnibus bill.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Yes.  Yes, that’s great.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And we —
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  That was a great effort.  Members of the Congressional Black Caucus that led that effort.  
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Exactly. 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  You know, when you were talking about maternal mortality, especially amongst Black women, when Beyoncé and Serena Williams get into trouble —
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Right?
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  — when they’re in the delivery room, we know this is a huge problem.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  That’s exactly right.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  The idea that you have high rates of maternal death in the United States of America is an outrage in and of itself. 
 
How about a few words on contraception, in terms of what the administration has done?
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, we have done some good work in terms of making clear that there is a right to contraception.
 
But, you know, I mean, to your point about what’s at risk, they pulled it back, but you saw what happened with the University Idaho — right? — which was — which was the issue was that the university — they pulled it back, so it’s no longer the case — but had essentially said that they would not provide contraception at the university. 
 
And you mentioned earlier that the convenings that I’ve been doing, one of them was with university presidents.  And I brought them in because, of course, they’re — the 18- through 24-year-old population is most at risk on this issue.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Right.  That’s right.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And I brought them in and asked them, “Well, what’s your plan?” 
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  (Laughs.)  And they said? 
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  And it was a good and productive meeting.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  What did they say?
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  (Inaudible.)
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  It was a (inaudible) meeting.
 
But, you know, for example, “What’s the plan?”  And I’ve just recently convened a bunch of extraordinary college student leaders, just in the White House, in my office, last week.  Just brilliant.  They’re brilliant.  They’re so good.  Like, the future of our country is so bright if they’re leading.  And — and — (applause) — yes.
 
And so, they — but we were talking about — for example, universities, colleges, community colleges, any, you know, educational institutions for educating after high school — what are they doing about privacy protocols as it relates to their health clinics? 
 
What are they doing as it relates to absenteeism, because they may be in a state where she has to go to another state to receive her abortion care? 
 
What are they doing in terms of — many universities, for example, will have — this might not be the right word — but bereavement funds, right?  So if a student has a death in the family and they can’t afford the transportation, that there’ll be assistance with that. 
 
Well — well, maybe we should be considering the fact that there are going to be students who can’t afford to leave the state and pay tuition and pay for books and pay for dorms, right?  And how are they thinking about that approach?
 
And so those issues have come up.  In connection also has been the issue of contraception and what are they doing to ensure that they are complying with the law but, at the same time, doing everything they can to fulfill a right that their students have.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Well, Madam Vice President, I know you have so many places to go.  We would love to keep you here all day.  So we want you to come back again soon.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Of course.
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  But maybe you can share some final thoughts.  Final thoughts about today, where you’re going, where you been.
 
THE VICE PRESIDENT:  Well, a few things.  You know, one of the — you know, the additional facts — if we don’t have the issue in California, we have an — we have extraordinary members of Congress.  Mayor Garcetti is here.  Rob Bonta, the Attorney General.  Alex Padilla, the senator.  Toni Atkins, who convened a bunch of state legislators for a previous meeting that I did in San Francisco.
 
But elections matter on this one, as with everything else.  When I’m traveling the country, I remind folks: Elections matter in terms of who your local prosecutor is.  If you’re in a state that has criminalized this, that matters. 
 
Who your governor is matters.  Governor Newsom has done an extraordinary job on this.  Because it’s going to be about whether, depending on the composition of their legislature, do they need to veto stuff that would be bad and restricting rights, or are they going to sign legislation that is about preserving and expanding rights where they’ve been taken away in particular.
 
And so, 22 days.  And the reality of it is that we’re going to have to protect these rights ultimately by having national legislation. 
 
And there’s only one path to getting there.  There’s only so much that the executive branch can do on this.  We have three coequal branches of government.  The Court has acted, and now we need Congress to act.  And so we need people in Congress to recognize that responsibility.
 
So I’d urge everyone to just remember that and to talk with your friends and your neighbors, in particular in states where these rights are being attacked, and to remind them.
 
And then my last point would be just to repeat: I think the coalition-building piece on this is so extraordinarily important.  You know, this is an intergenerational movement.  This is a movement among so many people who are allies, who are — who are in this together for so many reasons.
 
So let’s just stay committed to it all and know that this moment was meant for those of us who are here to recognize we cannot afford to throw up our hands on this; we got to roll up our sleeves.
 
Thank you all.  (Applause.)
 
REPRESENTATIVE BASS:  Roll up our sleeves!  Thank you.  Thank you so much.  It’s an honor to have you here.  Thank you.
 
MS. VÁZQUEZ:  Gracias, Madam Vice President.

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State Department

State Department’s 2024 human rights report could jeopardize LGBTQ+ asylum cases

‘Targeted and malicious act’ will ‘directly endanger lives’

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COBINA Posada del Migrante is a migrant shelter in Mexicali, Mexico, that Centro Comunitario de Bienestar (COBINA) operates. Advocacy groups say the State Department's 2024 human rights report that "erases" LGBTQ+ people will jeopardize the cases of those who have asked for asylum in the U.S. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Advocacy groups say the State Department’s 2024 human rights report that “erased” LGBTQ+ people will jeopardize the cases of those who are seeking asylum in the U.S.

Immigration Equality notes the report “serve as key evidence for asylum seekers, attorneys, judges, and advocates who rely on them to assess human rights conditions and protection claims worldwide.”

The 2024 report the State Department released on Aug. 12 did not include LGBTQ+-specific references. Immigration Equality Director of Law and Policy Bridget Crawford in a statement said country-specific reports within the larger report “should be accurate, fact-based, and reflect the lived reality of LGBTQ people — not ignore and actively hide it.”

“When adjudicators see less information in these reports than in prior years, they may wrongly assume conditions have improved,” said Crawford. “In truth, the absence of reporting is a purely political move, not based in fact or reality.”

Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration Executive Director Steve Roth in a statement condemned the Trump-Vance administration’s “deliberate erasure of LGBTIQ communities from the 2024 human rights report — an unprecedented move that violates international standards.”

“This is a targeted and malicious act that will directly endanger lives,” he said.

Roth, like Immigration Equality, noted courts “around the world rely on these reports to evaluate asylum claims.”

“Stripping out documentation of LGBTIQ persecution removes a vital tool in assessing claims for protection, jeopardizing the ability of LGBTIQ asylum seekers to access safety,” said Roth.

Congress requires the State Department to release a human rights report each year.

The State Department usually releases them in the spring, as opposed to August. Then-State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who president Donald Trump has nominated to become deputy representative at the U.N., during her last press briefing on Aug. 12 defended the delay and the report itself.

“We weren’t going to release something compiled and written by the previous administration,” said Bruce. “It needed to change based on the point of view and the vision of the Trump administration, and so those changes were made.”

Asylum courts ‘will have less credible data to rely on’

Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ+ and intersex rights under the Biden-Harris administration, co-founded the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice with several other former State Department officials. 

The Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice in response to the report said the U.S. has “betrayed the trust of human rights defenders who risked their safety to share the truth” and added “some (of them) are now less safe.”

“Asylum courts in the U.S. and globally will have less credible data to rely on,” said the group.

Human Rights Watch echoed the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice.

“The human rights report has been used in U.S. asylum court cases to show that an asylum seeker could not be returned to a country where similarly situated people were being persecuted,” said Human Rights Watch in response to the 2024 report. “That essential resource for keeping people safe is not only no longer reliable or helpful, but in some cases could put people at risk by denying abuses in places where the United States or other countries intend to deport asylum seekers and immigrants.”

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State Department

LGBTQ people ‘erased’ from State Department’s 2024 human rights report

Document released Tuesday after months of delay

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Advocacy groups on Tuesday sharply criticized the removal LGBTQ-specific references from the State Department’s 2024 human rights report.

The report, which the State Department released on Tuesday, does not reference Uganda’s Anti-Homosexuality Law and the impact it has had on the country’s LGBTQ community since President Yoweri Museveni signed it in 2023. The report, however, does note Ugandan government officials “reportedly committed acts of sexual violence.”

“NGOs reported police medical staff subjected at least 15 persons to forced anal examinations following their arrests,” it reads. “Opposition protesters stated security forces used or threatened to use forced anal examinations during interrogations.”

Uganda is among the dozens of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain criminalized. Authorities in the African country often use so-called anal tests to determine whether someone has engaged in homosexuality.

The report does not mention that Brazil has the highest number of reported murders of transgender people in the world. It does, however, note the President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva in 2024 “undermined democratic debate by restricting access to online content deemed to ‘undermine democracy,’ disproportionately suppressing the speech of supporters of former President Jair Bolsonaro as well as journalists and elected politicians, often in secret proceedings that lacked due process guarantees.”

The report says there “were no credible reports of significant human rights abuses” in Hungary in 2024, even though Prime Minister Viktor Orbán’s government continued its anti-LGBTQ rights crackdown. The report does note Russian authorities last year “invoked a law prohibiting the distribution of ‘propaganda on nontraditional sexual relations’ to children.”

The State Department’s 2023 human rights report specifically notes a Russian law “prohibited gender transition procedures and gender-affirming care … and authorities used laws prohibiting the promotion of ‘non-traditional sexual relations’ to justify the arbitrary arrest of LGBTQI+ persons.” The 2023 report also cites reports that “state actors committed violence against LGBTQI+ individuals based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, particularly in Chechnya” and “government agents attacked, harassed, and threatened LGBTQI+ activists.”

“There were instances of non-state actor violence targeting LGBTQI+ persons and of police often failing to respond adequately to such incidents,” it adds.

The 2024 report does not mention Thai lawmakers last year approved a bill that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples. Gays and lesbians began to legally marry in the country in January.

Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights under the Biden-Harris administration who co-founded the Alliance for Diplomacy and Justice, during a conference call with reporters on Tuesday said she and her colleagues “expected (the report) to be bad.”

“When we saw what the administration released, the truth is we were shocked and horrified,” said Stern.

Stern added the Trump-Vance administration “has erased or watered-down entire categories of abuse against people of African descent, indigenous people, Roma people, members of other marginalized racial and ethnic communities, workers, women and girls, and LGBTQI+ people.”

“It is deliberate erasure,” said Stern.

Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights, speaks at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference at the National Theater in D.C. on June 4, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

The Council for Global Equality in a statement condemned “the drastic restructuring and glaring omission of violence and abuse targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and intersex (LGBTQI+) persons in the U.S.”

“We denounce the Trump administration’s efforts to politicize the State Department’s annual human rights reports by stripping longstanding references to human rights abuses targeting LGBTQI+ and other marginalized groups,” said Mark Bromley, the group’s co-chair.

Gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, echoed Bromley and Stern.

“Omitting the persecution of LGBTQI+ people from the human rights reports doesn’t erase the abuse, violence, and criminalization our community is facing around the world — it condones it,” said Takano in a statement.

“Erasing our community from these reports makes it that much harder for human rights advocates, the press, and the American people to be aware of the abuses LGBTQI+ people are facing worldwide,” he added.

Congress requires the State Department to release a human rights report each year. Foggy Bottom usually releases it in the spring. 

Politico in March reported the Trump-Vance administration planned to cut “sections about the rights of women, the disabled, the LGBTQ+ community, and more” from the human rights report. State Department spokesperson Tammy Bruce, who President Donald Trump has nominated to become deputy representative at the U.N., on Tuesday during her last press briefing defended the report and the delay in releasing it.

“We weren’t going to release something compiled and written by the previous administration,” said Bruce. “It needed to change based on the point of view and the vision of the Trump administration, and so those changes were made.”

“It certainly promotes, as does our work, a respect for human rights around the globe,” added the former Fox News contributor who has described herself as a “gay woman.”

The Council for Global Equality and Democracy Forward has filed a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit. A press release notes it is “seeking the release of additional information … including any instructions provided by political appointees to strip references to abuses against LGBTQI+ persons from the reports.”

“The reports make LGBTQI+ persons and other minorities invisible and, in so doing, they undermine the human rights landscape that protects all of us,” said Bromley.

“Erasing our community from these reports makes it that much harder for human rights advocates, the press, and the American people to be aware of the abuses LGBTQI+ people are facing worldwide,” added Takano. “Failing to rectify this censorship will have real — and potentially deadly — consequences for LGBTQI+ people, including both for those who travel abroad from the U.S. and for LGBTQI+ people in countries whose leadership no longer need to worry about consequences for their human rights abuses. The State Department must reverse course and restore the LGBTQI+ section to these reports.”

A State Department spokesperson told the Washington Blade the “information included in the 2024 reports has been restructured and streamlined for better utility and accessibility, and to be more responsive to the legislative mandate for the (human rights report.)”

“The result directly addresses the reporting requirements as laid out in statute as well as being more streamlined, objective, universal, and accessible to the American public,” said the spokesperson.

The spokesperson did not comment on the FOIA lawsuit the Council for Global Equality and Democracy Forward has filed.

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White House

New US visa policy targets transgender athletes

‘Men do not belong in women’s sports’

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(Washington Blade photo by Yariel Valdés González)

U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services on Monday announced it will ensure “male aliens seeking immigration benefits aren’t coming to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports.”

The announcement notes USCIS “has clarified eligibility for certain visa categories: O-1A aliens of extraordinary ability, E11 aliens of extraordinary ability, E21 aliens of exceptional ability, and for national interest waivers (NIWs), to guarantee an even playing field for all women’s athletics in the United States.” The new policy comes roughly six months after President Donald Trump issued an executive order that bans transgender women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.

“Men do not belong in women’s sports. USCIS is closing the loophole for foreign male athletes whose only chance at winning elite sports is to change their gender identity and leverage their biological advantages against women,” said USCIS spokesperson Matthew Tragesser. “It’s a matter of safety, fairness, respect, and truth that only female athletes receive a visa to come to the U.S. to participate in women’s sports.”

“The Trump administration is standing up for the silent majority who’ve long been victims of leftist policies that defy common sense,” added Tragesser.

USCIS in April announced it will only recognize “two biological sexes, male and female.” Trump shortly after he took office for a second time on Jan. 20 signed the “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government” executive order.

The 2028 Summer Olympics will take place in Los Angeles.

The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last month banned trans women from competing in women’s sporting events.

The Guardian earlier this year reported the State Department ordered consular officials “to deny visas to transgender athletes attempting to come to the U.S. for sports competitions, and to issue permanent visa bans against those who are deemed to misrepresent their birth sex on visa applications.”

Germany and Denmark are among the countries that have issued travel advisory for trans and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S. The warnings specifically note the Trump-Vance administration has banned the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers.

“This policy update clarifies that USCIS considers the fact that a male athlete has been competing against women as a negative factor in determining whether the alien is among the small percentage at the very top of the field,” reads the USCIS announcement. “USCIS does not consider a male athlete who has gained acclaim in men’s sports and seeks to compete in women’s sports in the United States to be seeking to continue work in his area of extraordinary ability; male athletes seeking to enter the country to compete in women’s sports do not substantially benefit the United States; and it is not in the national interest to the United States to waive the job offer and, thus, the labor certification requirement for male athletes whose proposed endeavor is to compete in women’s sports.”

The new USCIS guidance takes effect immediately.

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California Politics

How Triston Ezidore became the first gay, Black board member in Culver City at 19 years old, making history—twice!

At 19, Ezidore felt like it was his responsibility to track the educational movements in the Culver City Unified a bit more closely

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Triston Ezidore

While most teenagers are busy playing video games, Triston Ezidore was busy making history. 

From high school student to school board member for the Board of Education in Culver City, Ezidore talks with the LA Blade about his unconventional entry into politics with influence from George Floyd’s death and the COVID-19 pandemic, and how he made history twice while he was still a teenager. 

In 2021, most of us were still at home and many people unemployed, out of school, caring for loved ones or just merely surviving the pandemic shutdowns and peak infections caused by COVID-19. During this time, many high school students lost valuable time in the classroom, being cut off from celebrating and socializing with their peers. Young Ezidore, rose above that—and more—achieving new milestones within his family and within the entire board of education in Culver City, bringing representation to queer, trans and communities of color. 

Shortly after graduation, Ezidore headed to Syracuse University and from afar, he continued to tune into the Culver City school board meetings to track the progress he had made during his time as student body president in high school. 

“I was still kind of watching, tuning into everything that was going on in Culver City and we knew that in order to get [the progress] right, we had to have a spotlight over the implementation,” said Ezidore. 

It was during this time, that he noticed that all the progress he tried to implement during his time there, was not being implemented correctly, so he felt like it was his responsibility to track the movements a little more closely. 

This is when he made the decision to return home and enroll at University of Southern California’s Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences—where he simultaneously launched his campaign for a seat on the Culver City Unified School District Board of Education. 

In 2022—just one year after graduating high school—he won one of three open seats, becoming the youngest elected official in Los Angeles County at 19 years old. Then in 2023, he was elected to serve as School Board Vice President—making history as the first Black, gay man in that position as a teenager. 

Though his journey into politics is “unconventional” as he puts it, Ezidore says he was radicalized to go into politics because of George Floyd’s death and the inequities made incredibly obvious by the COVID-19 pandemic. 

Ezidore says that being the child of immigrants also inspired him to ultimately look into politics to gain a better understanding of how his perspective can be helpful towards other people’s experiences and educational goals. 

His mother was born in Vietnam and moved to the United States after the fall of Saigon, which was the end of the Vietnam war that lasted from 1955 to 1975. Ezidore’s father is from Jamaica, so that gives Ezidore a unique perspective into the challenges and unique obstacles that many students face during their K-12 education. 

Ezidore also identifies as gay and has been out since he was 18 years old. 

“I find myself identifying as a gay, Black man, and I know that under this administration specifically, there has been an obsession with LGBTQ people and trans people in education,” said Ezidore. “I think historically our [education] system has not supported Black boys in education as a whole, so I find myself often pulling or tapping into those aspects of my identity.”

As a proud, gay, Black man, he felt that it was necessary to implement actual structures to support the most neglected demographic of the education system. 

“We instituted the Black Student Achievement Plan that called for specific action goals to implement or to increase achievement,” said Ezidore. 

This plan created mentorship and internship opportunities, a Black student council, a Black affinity group graduation and uplifted students in achieving their goals. During that time, former  governor Jerry Brown stated that school districts should implement a Local Control and Accountability Plan (LACP). The plan serves as a tool to improve student outcomes with a roadmap that tracks and sets goals and plan actions, and leverages resources to guide students who were foster youth, low-income and English-learners. 

“I don’t know that [Trump] is going to withhold the funding, but to me, I don’t know if I could sleep at night if I let him dictate these [educational] outcomes for the students in Culver City,” he said. 

The latest update from the Supreme Court is that Trump is allowed to continue dismantling the U.S. Department of Education, worrying scholars throughout the country, with many saying that without an injunction, much of the damage can be irreversible. The Department of Education has already experienced the slashing of over 1,400 jobs and will continue to see more funding cuts due to the Reduction in Force (RIF) plan, implementing Trump’s Executive Order, which he claims will improve education and families by returning education authority to individual states. 

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Congress

White House finds Calif. violated Title IX by allowing trans athletes in school sports

Education Department threatens ‘imminent enforcement action’

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Trump-Vance administration announced on Wednesday that California’s Interscholastic Federation and Department of Education violated federal Title IX rules for allowing transgender girls to compete in school sports.

In a press release, the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights threatened “imminent enforcement action” including “referral to the U.S. Department of Justice” and the withholding of federal education funding for the state if the parties do not “agree to change these unlawful practices within 10 days.”

The agency specified that to come into compliance; California must enforce a ban excluding transgender student athletes and reclaim any titles, records, and awards they had won.

Federal investigations of the California Interscholastic Federation and the state’s Department of Education were begun in February and April, respectively. The Justice Department sued Maine in April for allowing trans athletes to compete and refusing a similar proposal to certify compliance within 10 days.

Broadly, the Trump-Vance administration’s position is that girls who are made to compete against trans opponents or alongside trans teammates are unfairly disadvantaged, robbed of opportunities like athletics scholarships, and faced with increased risk of injury — constituting actionable claims of unlawful sex discrimination under Title IX.

This marks a major departure from how the previous administration enforced the law. For example, the Department of Education issued new Title IX guidelines in April 2024 that instructed schools and educational institutions covered by the statute to not enforce categorical bans against trans athletes, instead allowing for limited restrictions on eligibility if necessary to ensure fairness or safety at the high school or college level.

Sports aside, under former President Joe Biden the department’s Office of Civil Rights sought to protect against anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination in education, bringing investigations and enforcement actions in cases where school officials might, for example, require trans students to use restrooms and facilities consistent with their birth sex or fail to respond to peer harassment over their gender identity.

Much of the legal reasoning behind the Biden-Harris administration’s positions extended from the 2020 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County, which found that sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on sexual orientation or gender identity under Title VII rules covering employment practices.

A number of high profile Democrats, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom, have recently questioned or challenged the party’s position on transgender athletes, as noted in a statement by Education Secretary Linda McMahon included in Wednesday’s announcement.

“Although Gov. Gavin Newsom admitted months ago it was ‘deeply unfair’ to allow men to compete in women’s sports, both the California Department of Education and the California Interscholastic Federation continued as recently as a few weeks ago to allow men to steal female athletes’ well-deserved accolades and to subject them to the indignity of unfair and unsafe competitions.”

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Congress

Garcia elected top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee

Gay Calif. lawmaker vows to hold Trump-Vance administration accountable

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U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Tuesday was elected top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee in a vote that signaled the conference’s overwhelming support for a newer voice on Capitol Hill who will play a key role taking on President Donald Trump.

With a margin of 150-63, the 47-year-old openly gay congressman defeated U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), alongside U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) who exited the race after the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee backed Garcia.

Serving only since 2023, the congressman has had a remarkably quick ascent leading up to his election this week as ranking member of one of the most powerful House committees, awarded a leadership position serving under House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) and selected as a co-chair of former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Democratic members began jockeying for the top seat on the oversight committee this spring after the late-U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia stepped away amid news that his esophageal cancer had returned. He died in May.

Connolly last year fended off a challenge from one of the most well known House Democrats, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), though with a narrower margin that signaled intra-party tensions over whether leadership roles should still be awarded based on seniority.

Garcia positioned himself as a bridge between the two camps — a consensus candidate with executive managerial experience as the former mayor of Long Beach. At the same time, particularly since the start of Trump’s second term, the congressman has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the new Republican regime.

In a statement on X Tuesday, Garcia thanked his colleagues and promised to “hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable.”

If Democrats win control of the House next year, the oversight committee will be able to exercise powers that are now available only to Republicans under the chair, U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), which include the authority to investigate virtually any matter across the federal government, to issue subpoenas, and to compel testimony.

In the meantime, Garcia on Monday promised that Democrats on the committee would “vigorously fight” Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s (La.) plans “to dismantle the Government Accountability Office.”

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Congress

Padilla forcibly removed from federal building for questioning DHS secretary

Prominent Democrats rushed to defend senator

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U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Democratic U.S. Sen. Alex Padilla of California was forcibly removed from a federal building in Los Angeles after attempting to ask questions of U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem during a press conference on immigration Thursday

The city has been rattled in recent days as protestors objecting to the Trump-Vance administration’s immigration crackdowns clashed with law enforcement and then the president deployed National Guard troops and U.S. Marines, which was seen as a dramatic escalation.

According to a video shared by his office, the senator, who serves as ranking member of the Senate Judiciary Immigration Subcommittee, introduced himself and said, I have questions for the secretary.” After he was pushed out of the room, officers with FBI-identifying vests told Padilla to put his hands behind his back and handcuffed him.

“Senator Padilla is currently in Los Angeles exercising his duty to perform Congressional oversight of the federal government’s operations in Los Angeles and across California,” reads a statement from his office.

“He was in the federal building to receive a briefing with General Guillot and was listening to Secretary Noem’s press conference,” the statement continued. “He tried to ask the secretary a question, and was forcibly removed by federal agents, forced to the ground and handcuffed. He is not currently detained, and we are working to get additional information.”

Democrats were furious, with many releasing strong statements online condemning the actions of law enforcement officers, including California Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass (D), and the state’s other U.S. senator, Adam Schiff (D).

Human Rights Campaign Chief of Staff Jay Brown also issued a statement: “A sitting U.S. senator should be allowed to ask a Cabinet secretary a question at a press conference — in his own state, on an issue affecting his constituents — without being violently thrown to the floor and handcuffed. Everyone who cares about our country must condemn this undemocratic act. Full stop.”



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Congress

51 lawmakers sign letter to Rubio about Andry Hernández Romero

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) spoke about gay Venezuelan asylum seeker

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Andry Hernández Romero (Photo courtesy of the Immigrant Defenders Law Center)

Forty nine members of Congress and two U.S. senators, all Democrats, signed a letter Monday to Secretary of State Marco Rubio demanding information about Andry Hernández Romero, a gay Venezuelan national who was deported to El Salvador and imprisoned in the country’s notorious Terrorism Confinement Center, a maximum-security prison known by the Spanish acronym CECOT

“We are deeply concerned about the health and wellbeing of Mr. Hernández Romero, who left Venezuela after experiencing discriminatory treatment because of his sexual orientation and opposition to Venezuela’s authoritarian government,” the lawmakers wrote. They urged the State Department to facilitate his access to legal counsel and take steps to return him.

After passing a credible fear interview and while awaiting a court hearing in March, agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement reportedly transported Hernández out of the U.S. without due process or providing evidence that he had committed any crime.

In the months since, pressure has been mounting. This past WorldPride weekend in Washington was kicked off with a rally in front of the U.S. Supreme Court and a fundraiser, both supporting Hernández and attended by high profile figures including members of Congress, like U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.)

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) was among the four members who wrote to Rubio about Hernández in April. On Friday, he spoke with the Los Angeles Blade before he and his colleagues, many more of them this time, sent the second letter to Rubio.

“There’s a lot of obviously horrible things that are happening with the asylum process and visas and international students and just the whole of our value system as it relates to immigration,” he said, which “obviously, is under attack.”

“Andry’s case, I think, is very unique and different,” the congressman continued. “There is, right now, public support that is building. I think he has captured people’s attention. And it’s growing — this is a movement that is not slowing down. He’s going to be a focal point for Pride this year. I mean, I think people around the world are interested in the story.”

Garcia said he hopes the momentum will translate to progress on requests for proof of life, adding that he was optimistic after meeting with Hernández’s legal team earlier on Friday.

“I mean, the president, Kristi Noem, Marco Rubio — any of these folks could could ask to see if just he’s alive,” the congressman said, referring to the secretary of Homeland Security, whom he grilled during a hearing last month. ICE is housed under the DHS.

“People need to remember, the most important part of this that people need to remember, this isn’t just an immigration issue,” Garcia noted. “This is a due process issue. This is an asylum case. We gave him this appointment. The United States government told him to come to his appointment, and then we sent him to another country, not his own, and locked him up with no due process. That’s the issue.”

Garcia said that so far neither he nor his colleagues nor Hernández’s legal team were able to get “any answers from the administration, which is why we’re continuing to advocate, which is why we’re continuing to reach out to Secretary Rubio.”

“A lot more Democrats are now engaged on this issue,” he said. U.S. Sens. Adam Schiff and Alex Padilla, both from California, joined Monday’s letter. “The more that we can get folks to understand how critical this is, the better. The momentum matters here. And I think Pride does provide an opportunity to share his story.”

Asked what the next steps might be, Garcia said “we’re letting his legal team really take the lead on strategy,” noting that Hernández’s attorneys have “already engaged with the ACLU” and adding, “It’s very possible that the Supreme Court could take this on.”

In the meantime, the congressman said “part of our job is to make sure that that people don’t forget Andry and that there is awareness about him, and I think there’s a responsibility, particularly during WorldPride, and during Pride, all throughout the month — like, this is a story that people should know. People should know his name and and people should be aware of what’s going on.”

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Breaking News

Controversy brews in the City of Glendale over support of Pride event

Republican Mayor Ara Najarian pushes back on funding family-friendly Pride event

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GlendaleOUT poses for a photo. (Photo courtesy of glendaleOUT)

Over the last three weeks, glendaleOUT — a local LGBTQ group based in Glendale, California and city leadership have been at odds over securing financial support of a family-friendly Pride event set to happen on Saturday, June 7. As of Tuesday, Glendale’s city council voted 3-2 in favor of funding the event, ending a weeks-long argument over securing the funds.

The controversy began when the group highlighted how neighboring cities have visibly demonstrated support for Pride Month celebrations across the county, while the City of Glendale has yet to sponsor events with banners, city logos and financial sponsorship. 

Councilmember Dan Brotman proposed $5,000 in sponsorship funds, noting that the city has funded other cultural events with much larger amounts. 

Local leaders, but specifically Mayor Ara Najarian — who was just re-elected for a fifth term — are pushing back and opposing the proposal for funding. According to sources, Mayor Najarian openly opposed the proposal, stating a distant conflict of interest as the reason for the opposition. 

LGBTQ advocates have been quoted as saying this is a “bad-faith political tactic, not grounded in any real conflict of interest.” 

The next potential vote is expected to happen today at a city council meeting. Organizers say that the Pride event will happen regardless, but that they still hope to shed light on the patterns of sexual orientation-based discrimination in the city council. 

For more information about the free community Pride event, visit glendaleOUT’s website.

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California

LA County officially kicks off Pride Month with blessing from The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence

‘This needs to be done, because once again, our county and our nation houses people who want us gone, who wish us harm’

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The LA County Board of Supervisors and the LA County LGBTQ+ Committee gathered on Tuesday, June 3, to officially kick off Pride Month across the county with a blessing from The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence, who purified the space with their sacred chicken, then led everyone in blessing the Progress Pride flag before raising it at the Kenneth Hall of Administration. 

“By raising this flag, the emblem of our souls and of our souls, of our love, of our survival, and of the gifts we offer to every Angeleno in this county — you all declare and you declare to everyone both here and abroad, that we are your people and you affirm that this is our home too,” said Sister Unity. “This needs to be done, because once again, our county and our nation houses people who want us gone, who wish us harm.” 

LA County Supervisors and other community leaders gathered on Tuesday at the Kenneth Hall of Administration to raise the Progress Pride flag in honor of Pride Month. (Photo credit to Diandra Jay)

Supervisors Janice Hanh, Holly J. Mitchell, Lindsey P. Hovarth and Hilda L. Solis spoke on the importance of representation in the face of discrimination, homophobia and transphobia. 

Supervisor Hahn mentioned in her speech that her father, Kenneth Frederick Hahn designed the LA County flag and it was clear to her that he believed that a flag was more than just a piece of fabric. 

“My dad, the original Supervisor Hanh, designed the LA County flag and he understood that a flag is not just fabric. A flag is a symbol. It’s a visual representation of who we are, what we value and what we stand for.” 

Two years ago, Supervisor Hahn started the tradition to raise the flag alongside the one her father designed and then it was Supervisor Horvath who suggested that the Pride flag be flown on all county facilities across Los Angeles. 

“Now, in every corner of our vast county — from our lifeguard stations on our beaches, to every library, fire station — and may I add: all eight county buildings in the city of Downey. Wherever there is a county facility, the Progress Pride flag will send a clear, powerful message to our LGBTQ residents: ‘your county government unequivocally and unapologetically has your back.’”

The comment about the city of Downey is in regards to a controversial Pride flag ban that was enacted last year. 

Supervisor Hahn then introduced LA County Assessor Jeff Prang, one of the longest-serving, out, elected officials in the state of California. Due to his long history in government and as a member of the LGBTQ community, Assessor Prang helped launch the LA County LGBTQ Elected Officials Association with over 50 active members from all levels of government. 

“We are in a moment of crisis in the nation. Across the country, an extremist movement is working to dismantle LGBTQ rights — from banning books to criminalizing gender-affirming care, to silencing drag performers, to targeting our youth and families with cruelty disguised as policy,” said Assessor Prang. “These are not isolated incidents, this is a campaign of fear and repression.” 

Héctor Trinidad-Plascencia, the Chair of LGBTQ+ Commission, encouraged attendees who are not from the queer and trans communities, to remove the blockages that keep them from being in solidarity with queer and trans people. 

“With your solidarity, we are creating a different world together starting in our county home and for the nation to follow,” they said.

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