Far-right Polish politician Dawid Szóstak has announced that he will leave his anti-LGBTQ+ Confederation political party after revealing his relationship with intersex model Michalina Manios, who was a finalist on the 2011 season of Poland’s Next Top Model.
During her appearance on the show, Manios explained that she was assigned a male identity at birth and was raised in that gender identity until she was 18 years old, something she said felt like being imprisoned. At that point, she then legally changed her gender to female.
“Functionally, I developed as a woman, but unfortunately, I was assigned a male identity, not any other,” Manios said, according to Euro News. “My body and mind developed toward femininity, but my genitals didn’t. I was ashamed to go to physical education classes because I was embarrassed.”
Intersex individuals have innate variations in physical traits that differ from typical expectations for male or female bodies, including variations in reproductive organs, hormones, or chromosome patterns. An estimated 1.7% of infants are born intersex — roughly the same number of people born with red hair.
In announcing their relationship, Szóstak said that he and Manios met online. “I liked the photos Michalina posted,” he said. “They radiated a lot of energy and femininity.” He also said they bonded over their shared Catholic faith and respect for traditions.
“Everything happened quite naturally. We became a couple,” he explained. “We have respect and understanding for each other.”
Szóstak remained in his political party during the start of their relationship. In 2019, Confederation party leader Sławomir Mentzen said, “We stand against Jews, homosexuals… taxes, and also the European Union!”
Szóstak mentioned his leaving of the party in a recent interview, saying of him and his partner, “We want to focus on what’s important,” meaning their relationship and well-being over political battles, Edge Media Network reported. He deleted his social media account after publicly discussing his relationship with Manios.
“Visibility is crucial,” said a spokesperson from Poland’s leading LGBTQ+ advocacy organization, the Campaign Against Homophobia, regarding the couple’s relationship. “When public figures share their truths, it chips away at stigma and ignorance.”
At the start of 2020, Poland’s anti-LGBTQ+ Law and Justice Party (PiS) began declaring regions across the country as “LGBT-free zones” in an attempt to remove LGBTQ+ “propaganda” from the public as a form of “Western decadence” that “threaten[s] our identity, threaten[s] our nation, threaten[s] the Polish state.” Both the U.S. and the European Union condemned the zones as violations of human rights.
By early 2020, roughly one-third of the country had established “LGBT-free zones.” However, the PiS party suffered defeat in the 2023 national elections. Then, in 2025, the party’s last of the state-sanctioned anti-LGBTQ+ zones was finally eliminated.
A journalist who was put on the late right-wing influencer Charlie Kirk’s “hit list” has spoken out on the abuse she received from his supporters.
US-based speaker, commentator, and college professor, Stacey Patton, posted a statement to Facebook, days after the 31-year-old right-wing pundit was shot dead in Utah, highlighting the “venom” she faced from his supporters in 2024.
The Turning Point USA co-founder, known for his extreme anti-LGBTQ+ views, was fatally shot in the neck during a crowded open-air debate on gun violence at Utah Valley University on Wednesday (10 September). A manhunt for the killer, whose identity is unknown, is ongoing.
Just seconds prior to the shooting, Kirk was asked about the epidemic of mass shootings in the US after he and many right-wing figureheads claimed “too many” mass shooters were trans. Of the 3,708 mass shooting incidents in the US since 2015, only an estimated 16 of the incidents were committed by trans people.
In her statement following his death, Patton claimed that Kirk, whom she called a “hateful racist,” was responsible for weeks of abuse and death threats she received in 2024 after he placed her on Turning Points’ so-called “Professor Watchlist.”
The website, created in 2016, lists academic staff, journalists, and activists which the right-wing organisation claimed “discriminate against conservative students” and promote “anti-American values” by advancing what it calls “leftist propaganda.“
Patton says she was placed on the list in 2024 after writing a column, which she said “inflamed the MAGA faithful,” adding: “Once my name went up, the harassment machine roared to life.
“For weeks, my inbox and voicemail were deluged,” Patton continued. “Mostly white men spat venom through the phone: ‘B***h,’ ‘c**t,’ ‘n****r.’ They threatened all manner of violence.
“They overwhelmed the university’s PR lines and the [university] president’s office with calls demanding that I be fired. The flood was so relentless that the head of campus security reached out to offer me an escort, because they feared one of these keyboard soldiers might step out of his basement and come do me harm.”
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Professors faced threats of physical and sexual violence over Charlie Kirk’s ‘hit list’
Patton is far from the only professor to share similar stories after they were added to the watchlist. One professor told campus free speech rights group FIRE in 2023 that they were subjected to threats of physical and sexual violence after being added to the list.
One message, they said, featured a picture of their house and driveway, while another told them to “watch your step.”
“Kirk’s watchlist has terrorised legions of professors across this country,” Patton continued. “Women, Black faculty, queer scholars, basically anyone who challenged white supremacy, gun culture, or Christian nationalism, suddenly found themselves targets of coordinated abuse.
“That is the culture of violence Charlie Kirk built. He normalised violence. He curated it, monetised it, and sicced it on anyone who dared to puncture his movement’s lies.”
The journalist deplored depictions of Kirk as nothing more than a “civil debator,” saying that the “truth” was that “Kirk and his foot soldiers spent years terrorising educators, trying to silence us with harassment and fear.”
“Kirk spent years demonising LGBTQ+ people, mocking gun survivors, spewing racism about Black folks, and pushing policies that literally shorten lives,” she said. “It is so revolting to watch a bipartisan wave of grief sweep over this hateful racist as if he was a neutral community servant.”
Burkina Faso’s Transitional Legislative Assembly passed a law on September 1, 2025, that makes consensual same-sex relations a criminal offense, a major setback for the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people. Under this new law, people found guilty of homosexuality could face two to five years in prison, as well as fines. The law violates LGBT people’s rights to non-discrimination and privacy.
The law is being enacted amid shrinking civic and political space and a major crackdown by the military junta on the political opposition, media, and peaceful dissent.
Until now, Burkina Faso has never had a law criminalizing consensual same-sex relations. Unlike many other African countries, it did not inherit a colonial penal code that outlawed so-called sodomy.
Passed as part of the broader Persons and Family Code, the criminalization provision was adopted unanimously by the assembly’s 71 members. It also would provide prison sentences and fines for “behavior likely to promote homosexual practices and similar practices.”
Burkina Faso’s justice and human rights minister, Edasso Rodrigue Bayala, said the new legislation responded “to the deep aspirations of our society” and showed “respect for cultural values.”
Recent judgments in other African countries like Botswana, Mauritius, and Namibia have confirmed that laws that criminalize same-sex conduct violate the privacy and non-discrimination rights of LGBT people.
Beyond violating basic rights, such laws foster violence and abuses against LGBT people. In 2014, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights strongly urged African Union member states to “end all acts of violence and abuse” targeted against persons due to their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Burkina Faso’s junta president, Ibrahim Traoré, should not sign the Persons and Family Code into law. Instead, he should refer it back to the assembly for revision. The revised code needs to respect the rights of non-discrimination and privacy of everyone in Burkina Faso regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
A lawsuit has been filed by three California students over the inclusion of a transgender teammate on their high school track and volleyball teams.
Filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California on Tuesday (9 September), the lawsuit has been brought by Madison McPherson, a former student at Jurupa Valley High School who now plays volleyball at the collegiate level. She used to compete one the track, field, volleyball, and soccer teams.
The other defendants listed in the filing are referred to by their initials “A.M” and “H. H,” though CNN confirmed they were Alyssa McPherson, the younger sister of Madison, and Hadeel Hazameh. Both of their mothers, Maribel Munoz and Hanan Hazameh, are also named in the lawsuit. Like Madison, Alyssa and Hadeel are both multi-sport athletes.
The lawsuit has been brought against the California Department of Education, the Jurupa Unified School District, and the California Interscholastic Federation. The plaintiffs are claiming to have suffered violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act 1972, the free speech and free exercise clauses of the First Amendment, and the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.
While the trans student in question has not been named, they are referred to throughout the lawsuit as “A. H.” suggesting the student is none other than A.B. Hernandez, who studies at Jurupa Valley High School.
Hernandez has faced the scrutiny of Donald Trump and conservatives over her participation on the girls volleyball team claiming she has an unfair advantage. The US President has even threatened to hold back “large-scale” funding for Californian schools if the state refused to comply with his executive order to prevent trans women taking part in female sports.
“Defendants have knowingly permitted a male student to compete on the JVHS varsity girls’ track and field and volleyball teams, access female locker rooms and bathrooms, and engage in harassing conduct toward female athletes,” Tuesday’s filing reads.
“As a result of Defendants’ actions, Plaintiffs have suffered sex discrimination, including sexual harassment, unsafe and unfair athletic environments, viewpoint discrimination, and infringements on their religious liberty and safety. These actions have deprived them of equal opportunities and their civil rights guaranteed by Title IX, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and the First Amendment,” it continues.
Trans teen athlete AB Hernandez. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
The plaintiffs claim that when they approached their coach to say that they were uncomfortable sharing a locker room with Hernandez they were kicked out of group chats.
One plaintiff was allegedly told, “If you want to be a captain and a member of our team, then be one.” They also argue they have been “bullied” into censoring their differing opinions on Hernandez’s inclusion.
The lawsuit alleges that Hernandez’s inclusion on the volleyball team led other school teams to forfeit matches “further depriving Plaintiffs of fair athletic opportunities.” It also says the plaintiffs abstained from events due to their own objections. They also had lower rankings in various events due to “biological advantages” the lawsuit claims.
People hold Save Girls Sports signs in protest of transgender athlete AB Hernandez. (Getty)
It also raises objections to the inclusion of a trans athlete on the team due to the McPherson’s Catholic faith, as well as the Hazameh’s Muslim faith. The document also alleges that Hernandez engaged in “unwelcome and offensive contact” by slapping female players’ buttocks during games.
The plaintiffs have also expressed discomfort sharing a locker room with Hernandez arguing that using the nurse’s office “deprived them of the comradely, instruction, and discussion” of the locker room. The plaintiffs allege that school staff ignored or dismissed any of their concerns.
As far as relief, the lawsuit states the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified monetary damages and preventing the Jurupa Unified School District from “allowing any male student to participate or compete in any female sports.” They have also demanded a jury trial on the matter.
A.B. Hernandez. (Getty)
As reported by CNN, the defendants have declined to comment. Julianne Fleischer, an attorney for the plaintiffs has said, “California continues to ignore the rights and protections federal law affords female athletes, sidelining them in the name of ‘inclusion’. But the rights of female athletes are not second-class. This is not about politics—it is about protecting fairness, safety, opportunity, and the hard-won rights of young women in sports.”
AB Hernandez’s mother, Nereyda, sent a statement reminding people “there is a real child at the center of this issue.” She added, “Regardless of personal opinions, no child should be subjected to public scrutiny, targeted, or used as a political symbol.”
AB Hernandez recently spoke out against the vitriol aimed at them. “I’m just a normal kid,” she said. She then said, “People just see one thing and they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s what you are’. They don’t take the time to get to know me. So, it’s just a little frustrating.”
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy group, is demanding that The Wall Street Journal retract its reporting incorrectly linking the shooter in conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s assassination with the transgender community.
Kirk, the 31-year-old co-founder of Turning Point USA, was fatally shot Wednesday afternoon while speaking at a Utah college. In the clamor of information related to Kirk’s killing, The Wall Street Journal, citing “an early bulletin circulated widely among law enforcement officials,” reported Thursday that investigators had discovered ammunition with expressions of “transgender and anti-fascist ideology” inside the rifle believed to have been used in Kirk’s killing.
The New York Times reported later Thursday that the document had not been verified by analysts with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, did not match other summaries of the evidence and “might turn out to have been misread or misinterpreted.”
The story from The Wall Street Journal was later updated to reflect caution from some Justice Department officials about the veracity of the internal bulletin. On Friday, a lengthy editor’s note was appended to the outlet’s original report, after Utah Gov. Spencer Cox (R), during a news conference, “gave no indication that the ammunition included any transgender references.”
Cox on Friday said law enforcement had taken Tyler Robinson, 22, into custodyin connection with Kirk’s assassination following a multiday search. Engravings on both spent and unused bullet casings found at the scene read “Hey fascist!” and “Catch!” Cox said. Another read, “If you read this, you are gay, lmao.”
On Friday, the Human Rights Campaign said The Wall Street Journal’s reporting erroneously tying Kirk’s murder to the transgender community was “reckless and irresponsible” and led to a “wave of threats against the trans community from right-wing influencers.”
“News outlets like @wsj.com have a critical responsibility to report the truth,” the organization wrote in a post Friday afternoon on Bluesky. “Promoting false information that ties our LGBTQ+ community to the Utah shooting is reckless, irresponsible, and puts trans people especially in danger. Anyone with a platform must do better. Lives are on the line.”
“@wsj.com needs to hear from ALL of us,” HRC added in a second post, which includes a link to an open letter. “Take action now to demand a retraction and apology for its dangerous and misleading coverage.”
The letter, to be delivered to a Wall Street Journal inbox for general feedback, says rage “is what makes this country a tinder box,” echoing recent pleas from Cox and others to turn away from political violence.
“The rush to lob hot takes and publish click bait is not how we are going to get out of this deeply divided, dangerous era,” the open letter reads. “News outlets like the Wall Street Journal must do better.”
A spokesperson for The Wall Street Journal did not immediately return a request for comment.
The outlet’s reporting and the fallout come as the Justice Department reportedly considers banning transgender people from owning firearms in response to last month’s mass shooting at Annunciation Catholic Church in Minneapolis. The proposal, which the Justice Department has not publicly released or confirmed, has been condemned by Second Amendment rights groups, including the National Rifle Association.
President Trump, in an interview late last month with the Daily Caller, a conservative news outlet, said most mass shooters are not transgender.
In the north-east of Ukraine, a mere 18 miles from the Russian border, sits the city of Kharkiv, home to Kharkiv Pride.
Since Vladimir Putin’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the country’s second-largest city has faced relentless strikes by Russian forces with more than 8,000 of its buildings – including schools and homes – destroyed, thousands of people killed and injured whilst countless more have fled westward to Kyiv or abroad for safety.
But despite the on-going war, the destruction, the uncertainty, Pride persists.
Pride continues in Kharkiv, despite the war (Christina Pashkina)
When the conflict began, Kharkiv was quickly identified as one of Russia’s main targets given its proximity to the border, history and infrastructure.
A traditionally Russian-speaking city, Kharkiv was a major centre during the Russian Empire and once served as the capital of Soviet Ukraine between 1919 and 1934.
The city and the wider region of Kharkiv Oblast, which has become increasingly known for its agricultural production and also holds Ukraine’s largest natural gas reserves, unsurprisingly contribute significantly to Ukraine’s economy.
Capturing the Kharkiv – home to 1.4 million before the start of conflict – would be both a strategic and symbolic victory for Putin.
When Russian forces crossed the border in February they captured several towns and villages across Kharkiv Oblast as they made their way towards Kharkiv – but were unable to take the city.
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In those early days of the war, Kharkiv became a powerful symbol of Ukrainian resistance and was one of several cities declared as a Hero City of Ukraine by president Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Despite Kharkiv remaining firmly in Ukrainian control the city has been continuously bombarded with shelling, with residents attempting to live their day-to-day lives amongst air sirens, blackouts and ruins.
For LGBTQ+ people living in Kharkiv, there is a further dimension to the fear residents feel at the prospect of the city falling to Putin: Russia’s deeply queerphobic national policies.
Volunteers at KharkivPride are supporting both the LGBTQ+ community and the war effort (Christina Pashkina)
“It is my biggest fear,” Anna Sharyhina, the co-organiser of KharkivPride and president of the Sphere Women`s Association, told PinkNews when asked about a list Russia allegedly has of LGBTQ+ activists, “because I know that it means sexual violence. It means physical violence. They just beat people for hours.
“We have, for instance, a colleague from the LGBT+ Military who was in captivity for 20 months. I have no idea what I should do in that case, it makes me so scared. I feel frozen when I think about that.”
In 2023, Russia’s Supreme Court said that the “international public LGBT movement” – which is not a specific organisation but rather a descriptor for LGBTQ+ activism in general – had been using “signs and manifestations” of an “extremist nature” which included what it describes as “incitement of social and religious discord”.
In 2022, after Russia invaded, KharkivPride held a MetroPride on the city’s subway (Christina Pashkina)
Sharyhina admitted she tries not to think about the threats she and others face from Russia, instead focusing her work for her community – LGBTQ+ and Ukrainian alike.
“We continue our fight and I continue that fight, even if I burn out,” she said, adding that it is not just that she does not want to be in the closet, she “can’t, anymore”.
“The only way I have is to fight. I am really tired but Ukraine, it is my home, and I really need our country to [be its own], not Russian because we are not Russian.”
“Our partners advised us to go from Kharkiv to other cities,” she said, “but we stay here and we continue our work.”
“It was important to continue our fight”
When the war came, KharkivPride, which began in 2019, was unable to go ahead with its usual activities.
Months after the invasion though, the Pride organisation instead held a MetroPride where LGBTQ+ people powerfully and resiliently marched through the city’s subway – protected from both the Russian airstrikes and the far-right groups who would normally seek to violently counter-protest.
That Pride, amidst the harrowing, early days of the conflict, was about still being in the public eye, with Sharyhina explaining “it was really important to continue our fight, continue to be visible in that situation”.
She told PinkNews initially the LGBTQ+ community chose to keep silent about its fight for equal rights when the invasion happened and focused instead on securing Ukrainian independence. But, after they were accused by certain quarters of not fighting for Ukraine, Sharyhina concluded LGBTQ+ people“can’t be silent again”.
This year’s KharkivPride celebrations are taking place between 30 August and 6 September, under the slogan: “Together for equality and victory”.
AutoPride will see a fleet of rainbow coloured cars travel through the city (Christina Pashkina)
On 30 and 31 August the group hosted a PrideFest, followed by a commemoration of fallen LGBTQ+ military personnel on 5 September and will conclude with an AutoPride on 6 September – which will see a convoy of cars decked out in rainbows travel through the city.
More than half a decade on from the first KharkivPride, when the group “collected people from zero” because the queer community was not publicly active, organisers continue to mobilise the community.
“Our community centre is a safe space for LGBT people. When people come to the community centre they feel freedom and like they can be themselves and proud of it. They don’t feel scared about coming out.
“When you have a place and know people like you – homosexual, queer or trans people – you can feel yourself,” Sharyhina said, adding LGBTQ+ residents feel “inspired” by that space.
“After that, they come to Pride because they are ready to say something about their rights.”
As LGBTQ-inclusive books are being pulled from classrooms and libraries at an alarming rate, GLAAD is taking direct action by mailing hundreds of copies of a beloved (and banned) LGBTQ title straight to every member of Congress and the Supreme Court.
The campaign is built around Uncle Bobby’s Wedding, a joyful children’s book co-published by GLAAD and Little Bee Books. The title was recently cited in a devastating U.S. Supreme Court ruling that opens the door to even more extreme book bans, despite its completely harmless content. The story follows Chloe, a young girl who learns that when her favorite uncle marries his boyfriend, she isn’t losing him—she’s gaining another loving family member. Somehow, even a message this heartwarming is under attack. And so, GLAAD is making sure all the legislators behind these harmful decisions can review the material themselves.
The removal of Uncle Bobby’s Wedding is just the beginning of a very real and very dangerous culture of censorship, where misinformation and discrimination runs rampant. Meanwhile, real American issues – access to healthcare, gun violence, and economic security – are ignored. In Escambia County, Florida, school board members ignored their own policies that safeguarded LGBTQ books—and even fired the superintendent who stood up for students’ right to read. And in Georgia, a beloved librarian was fired for including a children’s book about a transgender boy in a display created by young readers.
These are not isolated cases. Across the country, extremist groups are targeting queer stories and any book that affirms the existence of LGBTQ people, as well as stories featuring other marginalized communities, or championing Black and brown voices. It isn’t just about books. It’s about silencing voices, erasing identities, and controlling what kids are allowed to know about themselves and each other.
Through this campaign, GLAAD is reminding everyone—especially LGBTQ youth—that they deserve to see themselves in the books they read. Click HERE to join hundreds of others standing in support of queer youth and against censorship before it’s too late.
The US government has been ordered to restore dozens of webpages on gender identity and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) as part of a court settlement.
District Court judge Lauren King ordered the Trump administration’s Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to restore hundreds of webpages removed from government sites under orders from president Donald Trump.
Nine medical organisations and public health nonprofits sued the US government after Trump issued an executive order in January directing the health department to remove pages containing vital information and data on gender identity, HIV prevention, and health advice for marginalised groups.
Affected websites included the National Institute of Health’s HIV risk reduction tool, an FAQ page on Mpox treatment and hundreds of sites on health issues affecting the LGBTQ+ community.
As part of an agreed settlement finalised on Tuesday (2 September), the government must restore the data and cease the deletion of further resources.
The Washington State Medical Association (WSMA), Washington state’s largest medical association and lead plaintiff in the case, said it was “thrilled” at the settlement result.
It is expected to restore webpages on pregnancy risk, opioid-use disorder, HIV data, and much more.
Dr John Bramhall, WSMA president, said following the judgement that he was “extremely proud” of the healthcare community for “pushing back on this egregious example of government overreach.”
“This was not a partisan issue,” he continued. “Open data benefits everyone, and ensuring its availability should be a bipartisan priority.”
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Co-plaintiffs include Washington State Nurses Association, the Washington Chapter of the American Academy of Paediatrics, AcademyHealth, the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care, Fast-Track Cities Institute, International Association of Providers of AIDS Care, National LGBT Cancer Network, and Vermont Medical Society.
Vital health and DEI webpages vanished ‘in the blink of an eye’
The organisation, which represents more than 13,000 physicians, emphasised the importance of readily available health data and information for the general public on all topics.
Condemning the sudden removal of “trusted health information,” Dr Bramhall said many resources which physicians rely on to monitor a patient’s health “vanished in [the] blink of an eye.”
“Not only was our ability to provide care to our patients compromised, but our trust in our federal health institutions has also been badly shaken,” he continued. “The WSMA engaged in this legal effort to resist interference into the physician-patient relationship and to show patients and communities that, regardless of the whims of governments or politics, physicians are committed to providing accurate, evidence-based care.”
A spokesperson for HHS said to Fox News Digital it remains “committed to its mission of removing radical gender and DEI ideology from federal programs, subject to applicable law, to ensure taxpayer dollars deliver meaningful results for the American people.”
The settlement comes as health secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr was grilled in a Senate hearing over his vaccine policies and notorious views on public health.
The 71-year-old, who is infamous for his conspiratorial scepticism on vaccines, was accused of a “reckless disregard for science” during the Thursday (4 September) hearing after firing the Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) head over his vaccine policies.
Democratic senator Ron Wyden, who sat on the committee, accused Kennedy of trying to “[take] vaccines away from Americans,” adding: “I hope at the very least, Robert Kennedy has the decency to tell the truth this morning.”
Justifying the CDC firings, Kennedy said they were “absolutely necessary,” called the US the “sickest country in the world,” and claimed “that’s why we need to fire people at the CDC.”
Barrett calls the right to marry “fundamental” in her new book, Listening to the Law: Reflections on the Court and Constitution, which comes out Tuesday. However, she has previously said the matter should be up to each state. And in her confirmation hearings in 2020, she was cagey about whether she would vote to overturn Roe v. Wade,which guaranteed the right to abortion nationwide, butin 2022 she voted to overturn it.
Meanwhile, panelists at the National Conservatism Conference, held this week in Washington, D.C., discussed the possible reversal of Obergefell v. Hodges, the 2015 Supreme Court ruling that established marriage equality in every state.
In her book, Barrett writes, “The court has held that the rights to marry, engage in sexual intimacy, use birth control, and raise children are fundamental, but the rights to do business, commit suicide, and obtain abortion are not.”
Barrett recently told Norah O’Donnell of CBS News that she hopes to help readers “understand the law.” It’s not just an opinion poll,” she said.
“You know, what the court is trying to do is see what the American people have decided. And sometimes the American people have expressed themselves in the Constitution itself, which is our fundamental law. Sometimes in statutes,” she said. “But the court should not be imposing its own values on the American people. That’s for the democratic process.”
Former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton recently said she expects the Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, to overturn Obergefell.“It took 50 years to overturn Roe v. Wade,” she told Jessica Tarlov of The Five in a podcast interview. “The Supreme Court will hear a case about gay marriage. My prediction is they will do to gay marriage what they did to abortion. They will send it back to the states.”
Last month, Kim Davis, the former clerk of Rowan County, Kentucky, asked the Supreme Court to hear her case challenging Obergefell.Davis, a conservative Christian, quit issuing marriage licenses altogether after the ruling so she wouldn’t have to issue them to same-sex couples. The high court justices haven’t said if they’ll take the case.
Some political observers disagree with Clinton, saying the Supreme Court likely doesn’t want to revisit marriage equality, even though two ultraconservative members — Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito — have said they’d like to overturn it.
“As to whether other justices share her apparent view, I would further guess that at least Justice Thomas would not agree with her,” Rossi added. “In the end, my prediction is that a majority of the court will stand firm and preserve the right to same-sex marriage.”
O’Donnell’s interview on with Barrett will air on CBS Sunday Morning at 9 a.m. Sunday and at 11 a.m. on CBS News 24/7.
If the court did overturn Obergefell, there would be some protection from the Respect for Marriage Act, signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. It requires federal recognition of same-sex and interracial marriages, and requires states to recognize those performed in other states. However, no state would have to offer equal marriage rights.
In addition to Davis, there are other right-wing forces who would like to see the ruling reversed. At the National Conservatism Conference’s “Overturn Obergefell” panel Thursday, participants portrayed marriage equality as the source of many societal ills, including harm to children — something debunked by many studies.
“The last 10 years have made one thing unmistakably clear: We can either recognize gay marriage, or we can recognize a child’s right to the mother and father. We can’t do both,” anti-LGBTQ+ activist Katy Faust said at the event, according to The Washington Times.“If we are to retake legal marriage, we highlight the real victims, the children starved of maternal or paternal love, acquired by predators, mass produced, trafficked across borders, struggling with identity confusion, subjected to risky households.”
“If an adult can assemble sperm, egg, and womb — and ‘intend’ to parent the child —they get the baby,” she said. “Biologically related or not. Pedophile or not. Retiree or not. Foreign national or not. Intent-based parentage is child trafficking disguised as constitutional rights. Gay marriage did that.”
“The moment the state has the power to assign parenthood to strangers, it can unassign it from you,” she added. “Your legal relationship to the children you’ve begotten is weaker than it was a decade ago. Make no mistake. Gay marriage did that.”
Jeff Shafer, director of the Hale Institute, a conservative think tank, said that “Obergefell requires the gender neutralization of indelibly sexed legal standards. The whole point of Obergefell’s audacity was to knock over a cultural pillar that defines and orients a whole legal framework.”
Orthodox Rabbi Ilan Feldman put in, “Marriage is not for us to redefine. It’s God’s plan for the world,” ignoring that the U.S. is not a theocracy and that different faiths have different ideas about marriage.
Another on the panel was longtime anti-LGBTQ+ activist John Eastman, a close ally of Donald Trump. He was forced to resign as a law professor at Chapman University because of his role in the rally that preceded the January 6, 2021, U.S. Capitol insurrection, and he has been disbarred. But he’s still out there trying to end marriage equality.
He said he’s encouraged by the fact that after Davis filed her request with the Supreme Court, the court asked for a response from the gay couple who sued her over her denial of their marriage license. She wants to avoid paying damages to them as well as having the court overturn Obergefell.
The request for a response indicates the high court is interested in the case, he said at the conference, according to The Washington Times, although he thinks the court may limit itself to religious freedom concerns. “We should be very clear in the Kim Davis case, this wasn’t about the couple being able to get a marriage certificate under the auspices of Obergefell — they got one,” he added. “It was getting it from her despite her religious objection. It was an Orwellian bend-the-knee move.”
The battle over LGBTQ inclusion in Florida has expanded outside of the state’s classrooms to its crosswalks.
Last month, the Florida Department of Transportation began removing rainbow crosswalks, Black history road murals and other street art after it updated its guidelines earlier this year to prohibit “non-uniform traffic control devices, such as pavement markings on state and local roads.”
A rainbow crosswalk created in Orlando as part of a memorial for the 49 people fatally shot at the Pulse LGBTQ nightclub in 2016 was among the first that the Transportation Department painted over last month.
The next day, protesters gathered at the crosswalk to “re-paint” it with multicolored sidewalk chalk, and they continued to turn up to re-chalk the crosswalk after rain washed it away almost every day. Transportation officials repainted the crosswalk again last week, and Orlando police are now patrolling it 24/7.
Last weekend, four people were arrestedfor defacing a traffic device with chalk, though none have faced formal charges yet, so it’s unclear what kind of penalties they could face, according to Blake Simons, an Orlando-based lawyer who is representing them. A judge released all of them on their own recognizance, he said.
But the battle has spread beyond Orlando. City officials in Key West and Miami Beach planned to meet Wednesday to discuss resolutions regarding their cities’ rainbow crosswalks, which the state has ordered them to cover by this week. In St. Petersburg, transportation officials painted over a “Black History Matters” street mural that covered a stretch of road in front of the Woodson African American Museum of Florida. Two pastors were arrested Friday night for trying to stop officials from painting over the mural.
On Monday, St. Petersburg residents gathered at the city’s one remaining rainbow street mural. Tamara Leigh, 40, the founder of local group Tampa Bay Black Lesbians, said that about 100 people gathered at the event to create art and write messages of hope and love with chalk donated from across the country. She said that what struck her the most after the Black history mural was removed was how gray the street suddenly was.
“This is what happens when you remove diversity,” she said. “This is what happens when you don’t encourage inclusion. This is what happens when you shut people out. What’s left over is gray, and that was incredibly impactful for me. It’s just a visual representation of the things that are happening in this state, in this country.”
New state and federal guidance on ‘political messages’
Florida’s Transportation Department has said it is “ensuring roadways are not utilized for social, political, or ideological interests” and that the state is prepared to withhold funds from local governments that don’t comply with the directive to cover rainbow crosswalks and street murals.
Many cities were given deadlines in early September, though some, including Delray Beach, were extended after the city requested a hearing with the Transportation Department. Delray Beach officials have until Friday to submit supporting documents contesting the removal of a rainbow street mural, according to WPTV, an NBC affiliate based in West Palm Beach.
Tire marks across a newly unveiled Pride flag intersection in Delray Beach, Fla.WPTV
The guidance applies to a variety of street art, including a “Back the Blue” mural on the street outside the Tampa Police Department’s headquarters and a crosswalk in front of the Daytona International Speedway that looks like a checkered raceway finish line, The Associated Press reported.
“Roads are for safety, not political messages or artwork,” Duffy said in a statement at the time.
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis has maintained a similar refrain.
“You don’t have a First Amendment right to commandeer someone else’s property,” DeSantis said Tuesday, when asked about protesters who were arrested in Orlando for chalking the rainbow crosswalk in front of Pulse. “You do not have a right to take somebody else’s property for your messaging purposes.”
‘Refuse to be erased’
Some Floridians who disagree with the Transportation Department’s new policy say its reasoning isn’t supported by data. For example, an April 2022 studycommissioned by Bloomberg Philanthropies using historical crash analysis found that roadways with asphalt art projects saw a 50% decrease in the rate of crashes involving pedestrians or other vulnerable road users, a 37% decrease in the rate of crashes leading to injuries and a 17% decrease in the total crash rate. The study also found a 25% decrease in pedestrian crossings involving a conflict with drivers, a 27% increase in frequency of drivers immediately yielding to pedestrians and a 38% decrease in pedestrians crossing against the walk signal.
An investigation by WPTV found that there have been only two crashes at the intersection where Delray Beach’s Pride mural is located since the crosswalk was painted four years ago. In contrast, there were 15 incidents at the same location in the four years beforehand.
Orlando police outside the Pulse interim memorial in Orlando on Aug. 24.Phelan M. Ebenhack / AP
Brandon Wolf, a survivor of the Pulse nightclub shooting and the national press secretary for the Human Rights Campaign, the country’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, said Wednesday that the state has repeatedly changed its justification for removing the street art. He pointed to data showing that vibrant crosswalks improve pedestrian safety. He also noted that in 2023 DeSantis named a road in Florida after conservative talk show host Rush Limbaugh.
“It doesn’t work to say you’re erasing political statements from the pavement, and so now you’ve gone to, ‘Well, we just want every crosswalk to be standard,’” Wolf said. “The incoherence of their own strategy tells you that they’re not sure why they’re doing this, except to visibly demonstrate that they have control and power. That is what this is about. It is about a physical demonstration of force, of power over people — a reminder that they are the people in control, and at any given moment, they can decide to erase something.”
Blake Simons, the attorney representing the four people who were arrested at the Pulse crosswalk over the weekend for using chalk on it, said that he is personally not upset about the Transportation Department’s policy. Rather, he said protesters have a right to exercise their free speech.
“As long as people are not actually damaging things, we still have the right to exercise our free speech, even through conductive actions, as long as we’re not defacing property,” Simons said, adding, “This argument that this chalk is defacing it is just ludicrous.”
Wolf said DeSantis and the Trump administration have “desecrated” the Pulse nightclub memorial, where the state approved the rainbow crosswalk in 2017. When he’s there, he said, he feels closest to his friends Juan Guerrero and Drew Leinonen, who were killed in the shooting.
He added that the protests are “a testament to the power of the people to refuse to be erased.”
“If DeSantis and Trump thought that they could silence or erase a community with one crosswalk or with one bucket of paint, they were sorely mistaken,” Wolf said.
