On Tuesday (11 December), he signed the PEPFAR Extension Act of 2018. This program provides billions in funding and research for HIV prevention and treatment.
Created in 2003, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief is the largest global health program targeted at one specific disease. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama previously renewed it in 2008 and 2013, respectively.
This new bill extends the program and its funding until 2023.
Trump’s previous budget proposal for 2019 suggested cutting hundreds of millions from PEPFAR. According to reports, these cuts could have led to 300,000 AIDS-related deaths and 1.75 million new infections each year.
As a program, PEPFAR is the United States federal government’s answer to the global HIV/AIDS epidemic. President Bush and the Global AIDS Act of 2003 first established it.
According to their website, PEPFAR currently provides antiretroviral treatment for 14.6 million people.
Since its creation, it has received rare bipartisan support.
‘This is one of those rare examples in Washington. There’s been an incredible history of bipartisanship around PEPFAR that stands outside the rancor we hear about,’ Jennifer Kates, vice president and director for global health and HIV Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation, told Vox.
It also works.
A 2009 study showed a significant reduction in the HIV death rate of African countries receiving PEPFAR support. The rate dropped by 10.5%.
Trump’s action signing this bill into laws comes of the heels of threats to slashing otherHIV funding. These other research programs, however, are completely separate from PEPFAR.
They are much smaller in scale, with most of them taking place at university labs. The threats to their funding come from pro-life advocates and lobbyists angry about the labs using fetal tissue in their research.
A committee in the United States House of Representatives has delayed a hearing on the national minimum wage after discovering anti-gay and sexist remarks a witness wrote 16 years ago.
Joseph Sabia, San Diego State University economist, was supposed to testify today for the House Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
When they unearthed comments from 2002 on his blog, No Shades of Gray, however, they decided to postpone.
Several posts with these comments are archived online.
In in August 2002 post, he compared taxing the fast food industry for its bad health outcomes to taxing homosexual activity.
‘When two random men get together and choose to have sex, there is not an insignificant risk of infection and death,’ he wrote. ‘In gay sex, we have an activity that is clearly leading to disastrous health consequences. What rational person would engage in this sort of activity?’
Sabia’s post about taxing homosexuality | Photo: No Shades of Gray/Web Archive
In another post, Sabia said universities with women’s studies departments encourage young women to be ‘whores’.
He also wrote: ‘Feminist thought has taught young women that equality is achieved by acting like promiscuous sluts.’
Sabia addressed these writings in an emailed statement to Politico.
‘I regret the hurtful and disrespectful language I used as a satirical college opinion writer,’ he said.
He added, however, that now as an ‘out gay man… accusations of homophobia stemming from college nonsense I wrote nearly 20 years ago are hurtful to my family today’.
At San Diego State, Sabia is director of the Center for Health Economics and Policy Studies. His research focuses on ‘the economics of risky health behaviors, minimum wage policy, labor market discrimination against sexual minorities’, which he also mentioned in his statement.
‘My academic research has studied a variety of subjects, including discrimination against the LGBTQ community. My peer-reviewed scholarship on this topic brings me great pride.’
Deciding to postpone
According to Kelley McNabb, communications director for the committee’s majority, the decision to postpone stemmed from members being ‘uncomfortable moving forward’.
Democrats, though, are angry Republicans postponed the hearing entirely.
‘My Republican colleagues on the committee should have issued a strong rebuke disavowing this witness and let the hearing go on,’ said Rep. Mark Takano (D-CA).
‘It is unfortunate that this hearing will not be happening because of my Republican colleagues’ oversight of the repulsive views of one of their witnesses.’
The hearing was meant to discuss raising the hourly minimum wage to $15, something long advocated by Democrats.
San Diego State also released a statement in response:
‘The language and sentiments expressed in these posts are counter to the values of any institution which supports the principles of diversity and inclusion.
‘SDSU unequivocally rejects any sentiment which seeks to undermine or devalue the dignity of any person based on their gender, orientation, ability, or any other difference among people which has been an excuse for misunderstanding, dissension or hatred.’
152 elected officials in the US have signed an open letter urging the incoming Congress to prioritize a series of LGBTI rights initiatives.
The list of priorities include protections of trans constituents, amending the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sex, sexual orientation, and gender identity, focussing on HIV/AIDS treatments, and supporting asylum claims from LGBTI people who face persecution in their home nations.
The letter lists its signatories as including ‘Members of Congress, Governors, State Legislators, Mayors, City Councilmembers and School Board Members’.
The officials wrote the letter last week at a conference which was hosted by the Victory Institute, an organization which focusses on the training and support of LGBTI candidates.
The letter will be sent to the 116th Congress at a later date, The Hill reports.
In a statement, president and CEO of the Victory Institute, Annise Parker, said that the letter was a further indication of greater LGBTI representation and influence on US politics.
‘LGBTQ political power is growing thanks to the rainbow wave of LGBTQ people who won elected office in November — and this letter is the first sign of us wielding that new power,’ said Parker, who is also the mayor of Houston.
‘The current U.S. Congress failed to advance equality policies and legislation that most Americans support: non-discrimination protections, addressing the HIV/AIDS crisis, protecting trans people from abusive policies, and being a moral voice on the global stage.
‘The next Congress can remedy these wrongs and LGBTQ elected officials are determined to add their voice and energize their constituents around these important measures,’ she added.
Of the 432 openly LGBTI candidates to run, 240 (or 56.5%) won their elections.
This included Kyrsten Sinema, who will be the first openly bisexual senator in US history. Sinema was also the first Democrat to be elected to the Senate by voters Arizona since 1988.
A Kansas lawmaker has defected from the Republican party to the Democrats over the GOP’s anti-trans efforts.
Senator Barbara Bollier, who represents Mission Hills in Kansas City, also stated Trump as a major factor in her decision to defect.
Talking about her defection, the lawmaker told the Shawnee Mission Post: ‘Morally, the party is not going where my compass resides.
‘I’m looking forward to being in a party that represents the ideals that I do, including Medicaid expansion and funding our K-12 schools.’
However, her decision came after the state party adopted a heavily-criticized resolution in February 2018 that would attempt to eliminate trans identities. It read: ‘We believe God created two genders, male and female.”
Bollier said this motivated her decision: ‘That was my final, last straw. I support the people of Kansas. I do not condemn whoever they are.’
The defection still keeps the Republicans in control of the state government. There are now 10 Democrat seats to 40 GOP. The state senate is the upper house in the USA’s individual states’ legislature.
Bollier has been at odds with Republican leadership for awhile now. In the 2018 Midterms, she backed Democrat Laura Kelly for Governor of Kansas. Kelly won the election, including a majority in the district Bollier represents.
That same district also overwhelming voted for Sharice Davids, who is a lesbian woman and native American, for Congress in the midterms.
Retired gay firefighter Scott Phillips-Gartner is suing the city of Norfolk, claiming he was forced out of his job because of his sexual orientation.
Phillips-Gartner alleges he faced discrimination after Battalion Chief Roger Burris found out he was married to a man, according to court documents quoted in the local news outlet Virginian-Pilot.
The 55-year-old man first started working for the city of Norfolk in 1991 as a 911 operator.
He then joined the firefighters the following year and eventually became an assistant fire marshal in 2013.
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Throughout his time in the firefighters, he was also a member of the bomb squad.
He noticed a change in the way he was treated at work after he married his longtime boyfriend in 2014.
According to the lawsuit, Burris began vilifying Phillips-Gartner for his sexuality throughout the following year, once asking him “Where is Mrs. Gartner?”
The gay firefighter reported his superior’s behaviour to Fire Chief Jeffrey F. Wise but, the lawsuit claims, he too began belittling Phillips-Gartner in front of the team.
According to the court documents, Phillips-Gartner then reported the harassment to the then-city auditor John Sanderlin, but still no action was taken.
“This disrupted his whole life.”
— Barry Montgomery
The situation took a turn for the worse in 2017, when Wise stripped Phillips-Gartner of his law enforcement powers.
The reason given at the time was that Phillips-Gartner had “illegally obtained” a service dog.
Wise told Phillips-Gartner in November 2017 he wanted to fire him and the gay firefighter eventually put in for retirement in December that year, albeit reluctantly.
“This disrupted his whole life,” his attorney Barry Montgomery told the Virginian-Pilot.
The city authorities would not comment on personal cases.
Gay firefighter in California said harassment left him feeling suicidal
Phillips-Gartner’s lawsuit is the latest claim of discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation facing fire departments in the US this year.
A Cal Fire firefighter monitors a burning home as the Camp Fire moves through the area on November 9, 2018 in Magalia, California. (Justin Sullivan/Getty)
In March, 38-year-old gay firefighter Capt. Dru Snider sued the Cal Fire department, alleging that the harassment and discrimination he experienced at the Owen Valleys camp was so severe he felt suicidal.
Snider first filed a discrimination complaint in December 2015 but the department did not open an investigation into the behaviour of Owen Valley Division Chief John Paul Melendrez until the following year, when other firefighters complained about the chief’s behaviour creating “an unprofessional work environment.”
“When I complained (about) how I was treated in the workplace, I was shunned.”
The Cal Fire investigation into Melendrez’s behaviour concluded he was an “unprofessional” leader, but he was not removed from his role, The Sacramento Bee reported in 2017.
Jen Deerinwater: a bisexual, two-spirit, and disabled Citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma
24 November 2018 16:17 GMT
Content Note: This article contains graphic descriptions of sexual assault and domestic violence
Jen Deerinwater is a bisexual, two-spirit, and disabled Citizen of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Recently, they took to Twitter to share their #MeToo story. For Deerinwater, bringing awareness to the treatment of indigenous women and girls is a necessary goal in the #MeToo era.
‘For me, it’s all about sharing our stories and realities,’ says Deerinwater. ‘We can’t change the system if our existence isn’t even acknowledged.’
On 16 November, Deerinwater bravely shared their most recent #MeToo story on Twitter.
Deerinwater’s story
‘I’m a survivor of sexual assault, domestic violence, harassment, and stalking. This was all before I was raped in February too,’ Deerinwater tells GSN.
‘I’ve been raped so many times in my life that I can’t put a number on it anymore. The fact that this violence is so insidious yet the system and society at-large has done so little to stop it and bring justice for survivors is why I’m speaking out.’
‘I had attempted to file police reports and get stay away orders in the past, but had police refuse to take the report. This time around was different, but no less awful,’ they explain.
‘I’m anti-law enforcement and am a prison abolitionist, but in an imperfect world of rape culture I wasn’t left with many choices. I was basically held hostage in my home and raped and physically assaulted for 7 hours. I was screaming for quite a while and none of the neighbors came to help. He wouldn’t leave my home and the violence was becoming worse.’
‘I finally cracked and called the cops despite knowing that having them present could result in my arrest, as so often happens to survivors, or I could even murdered by them.’
Soon, Deerinwater learned of their rapist’s criminal past — most of which is related to violence against women. They decided to press charges.
‘All he saw was a disabled, queer, Native that couldn’t and wouldn’t fight back. He was dead wrong,’ Deerinwater says.
Pressing charges
‘The system is so ableist, racist, misogynistic, and so forth that I have to deal with the trauma from it. I don’t think people realize how belittling and degrading it is to go through a rape exam, talk to cops and prosecutors, and take the stand in a trial. They don’t realize that the system repeatedly protects abusers.’
‘He wasn’t even charged with rape or unlawful entry in my case,’ Deerinwater states. ‘He was charged and convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence, simple assault.’
Deerwater explained how the rapist’s defense team painted them as ‘feeble minded’ and ‘confused’ due to their disability, even forcing them to disclose which medications they’re on.
‘He threw my sexual history at me trying to paint me as someone who got what they deserved,’ Deerinwater recalls.
Despite there being rape shield laws on the books which protect survivors from having their sexual history used against them, they didn’t seem to apply to Deerinwater.
‘I couldn’t talk to anyone about what was going in the case either for fear it’d jeopardize the case. I had to walk through the world not only carrying what he did to me, but also the trauma of the system. This was its own horror and abuse.’
Not even three months after assaulting Deerinwater, the same man was arrested on similar charges.
‘I wouldn’t have known exactly what happened if it didn’t come out in the sentencing,’ they say. ‘He stuffed a sock in the woman’s mouth because she was screaming and yet the charges were dropped. The system is responsible not only for my rape, but that of every other person he’s hurt.’
Feeling alone
For Deerinwater, the fallout was so much more than just with the legal system.
‘I’ve also lost friends and community members over this,’ they say. ‘Some people have said that I’m a cop caller and can’t be trusted. It’s been really painful and infuriating to hear those that should value my life instead claim that my life has no value. In an imperfect world, what exactly are survivors supposed to do? What exactly should we do with men like him? I don’t believe in the criminal justice system, but he has no right to walk through this world repeatedly hurting people.’
‘I decided to speak publicly because people need to understand just how many times someone like me is victimized in our lifetimes and that the system doesn’t give a damn. The system is actually set up to allow people like me to be brutalized and I’m fed up. My life has value and I’ll be damned if I stay silent.’
The LGBTI community & Native Americans
When it comes to the LGBTI community at large, Deerinwater hopes they can be more respectful of the plight of Indigenous people.
‘The community needs to recognize and honor that they’re on Indigenous land. If it weren’t for Native genocide there wouldn’t be Pride parades and gay bars. Non-Native queer folks also need to take action and stand in solidarity with queer Indigenous people. This means owning their place of privilege and/or complicity in our harm and putting their bodies on the line for us.’
Supporting Native people
Deerinwater urges American citizens to consider the complexities Native people face when participating in social justice activism.
‘Calling a congressperson or signing a petition is never going to get me and mine free,’ they state.
‘My communities, especially Natives, are all facing significantly higher rates of poverty and violence than others. Many of our advocacy organizations are severely underfunded so money is always a need. There also needs to be recognition and acknowledgement by those with privilege in terms of how they’re harming my people. Those people also need to stop centering themselves and put their bodies on the line in our fights.’
Some practical advice Deerinwater offers for those looking to be better allies to Natives include dropping the bank Wells Fargo as a corporate sponsor for events. Wells Fargo funds detrimental oil pipelines, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), which harm Native lands. Additionally, banks like Wells Fargo are making profit on migrant detention centers in the south.
Anything else?
Earlier this month, Sharice Davids became the first openly LGBTI Native American person in congress. Throughout her career, Davids has worked with many Native tribes.
About 41 years ago, first openly gay elected official Harvey Milk made history after winning a seat on the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, and 40 years ago Nov 27 – he was murdered.
“It’s not my victory, it’s yours and yours and yours,” Milk said after winning. “If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We’ve given them hope.”
Milk and the mayor of San Francisco at the time were gunned down at San Francisco City Hall the following year on November 27 by fellow board supervisor Dan White. Nearly half a century later, Milk is an LGBTQ idol, with a butterfly effect legacy, rippling into the current politics of today.
During his short time in office, he helped pass the country’s first gay rights ordinance, sparking the beginning of the Gay Rights Movement on the west coast. He also lead the front against Proposition 6 – a bill that would ban gay and lesbian identifying individuals from teaching in public schools. Milk is also greatly attributed to widespread representation of LGBTQ members in politics. The Rainbow Wave of this year’s midterms exemplifies this. The most recent elections not only say a record breaking number of queer people running for office, but won those positions as well. Voter turn out in the LGBTQ community was at a record high as well.
Not only did Milk lead the ay for LGBTQ representation in politics, but he was a dynamic politician with a multi-issue platform. Milk represented the underdog; those displaced by gentrification, racial and economic minorities, the hippies. His killer, White, represented the traditional working class Catholic families that felt threatened by the fringe groups gaining political traction.
“Dan White ran talking to people in his district about how he would work to rid San Francisco of social deviants,” Historian and author of “Harvey Milk: His Lives and Death” Lillian Faderman said, as reported by NBC News.
Milk expected such punitive reactions after his push for equal rights, though. After his death 40 years ago, a tape recording of Milk was released. He had created it before his death, with the instructions that it “be played only in the event of my death by assassination.”
“I fully realize that a person who stands for what I stand for, an activist, gay activist, becomes a target or the potential target for somebody who is insecure, terrified, afraid, or very disturbed themselves,” Milk said on his final tape. “Knowing that I could be assassinated at any moment or any time, I feel it’s important that some people know my thoughts.
“I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let that world know,” Milk said. “That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody would imagine. I urge them to do that, urge them to come out. Only that way will we start to achieve our rights.
“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door in the country,” Milk said on the tape recording.
Milk felt that the act of coming out – of telling one’s own truth – was so powerful because it eliminated fear.
“Harvey understood that the single most important political act anyone could take was simply to come out — to reveal their true nature to their friends, families and coworkers,” Milk’s former intern Cleve Jones said. “Harvey understood that that was important, because he understood that hatred of us was grounded in fear, and that that fear would evaporate once people could understand that in fact they had gay people in their families and in their congregations and in their neighborhoods.”
A donation is made as a Salvation Army bell ringer works outside a store (Tim Boyle/Getty)
The Salvation Army has warned members not to discuss their opposition to LGBT rights in public.
The religious charity, which has been dogged for years about its discriminatory approach to LGBT+ people, put out a warning to members in the US ahead of the Christmas season.
The guidelines, published by Fox News pundit Todd Starnes, warn Salvation Army volunteers to stay away from discussing “hot topic issues like LGBTQ Marriage” after an “increased number of complaints regarding comments made on social media by Salvation Army officers and staff.”
The group warned that officers and staff “must not take part in organised action in support of causes or movements,” describing controversy as a “threat to our reputation, our fundraising efforts, and ultimately our ability to serve people in need.”
The Salvation Army has a history of LGBT DISCRIMINATION
The evangelical-dominated organisation, which pulls in most of its funding across the Christmas season, has a record of LGBT discrimination that has previously led to calls for shoppers to boycott it.
In February 2018, the Salvation Army in Australia called for a broad ‘freedom to discriminate’ law.
In a submission to an Australia government inquiry, the Salvation Army advocated for legal exemptions from anti-discrimination laws for people and businesses who “hold, express or act on [beliefs about]… marriage, sexuality, gender and family.”
A donation is made into a Salvation Army red kettle (Joe Raedle/Getty)
The New York City Commission on Human Rights launched action against the Salvation Army in 2017, due to alleged discriminatory policies at four substance abuse centres in the city.
The commission found that one of the centres completely refused to accept transgender patients, with other centres insisting that transgender people would be housed according to their gender assigned at birth, rather than their actual gender identity.
The charity confirmed the guidelines are genuine.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the Salvation Army said: “The Salvation Army is highly visible during the Christmas season – a blessing that allows us to spread the gospel and support those in need.
“The heightened prominence also means that any, and all, Army representatives could be subject to controversies which might distract from our purpose: to serve in His name, without discrimination.
“The guidelines are a reminder to personnel that we must stay focused on our mission during this politically-charged time. As stewards of donors’ dollars, and soldiers of service, we must use every opportunity possible, including social media, to share the love of Christ.”
An investigation by the Des Moines Register has revealed that pressure from the Trump Administration forced 4-H groups to drop guidance welcoming LGBTI youth.
4-H are a global network of agricultural youth organizations with over 6million members. The 4-H names derives from the group’s original motto: ‘head, heart, hands, and health.’
In the US, the organization’s administered by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA). As such, the government has power over how it is run.
In March, 4-H introduced new guidance to ensure LGBTI members felt welcomed and supported. This included recognizing gender identity and allowing trans kids to use their preferred bathrooms.
Committed to not singling out LGBTI youth
The new guidance stated: ‘4-H shall not segregate or otherwise distinguish individuals on the basis of their sex, gender identity, gender expression, or sexual orientation, in any 4-H activities or the application of any 4-H rule.’
It also said, ‘If 4-H provides sex-segregated activities and facilities, transgender and intersex individuals shall be allowed to participate in such activities and access such facilities consistent with their gender identity.’
The guidance goes on to note that some people might object to these provisions. However, ‘As is consistently recognized in civil rights cases, the desire to accommodate others’ discomfort cannot justify a practice that singles out and disadvantages a particular class of individuals.’
Conservative and evangelical backlash
In March, several US states posted about the guidance.
However, local religious groups and conservatives criticized the new guidelines.
Shortly afterwards, in April, a National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) communications manager sent emails to at least two states — Iowa and New York — urging the 4-H organizations there to remove the LGBT guidance from their websites, reports the Register. The brief email did not offer explanation as to why it wanted the guidance removed.
Some states went along with the request. However, in Iowa, John-Paul Chaisson-Cardenas, a 4-H Youth Development Program leader, resisted.
He says he was to receive death threats for his support of the guidance. Right-wing websites such as WorldNetDaily extensively covered criticism of the new guidance and Chaisson-Cardenas’s defence of it.
Iowa State University Extension, which oversees the local 4-H group, later ousted Chaisson-Cardenas. Its Vice President says Chaisson-Cardenas issued the document as ‘policy’ and not as ‘draft guidance.’
Chaisson-Cardenas received particular criticism for his defence of the guidance, and several conservative 4-H donators threatened to discontinue their funding of the Iowa group.
Although offered the opportunity to resign at a disciplinary hearing in May, he refused to do so. His employment was terminated in August.
4-H instructed to remove guidance and amend it
In respect to 4-H removing the pro-LGBTI guidance, the Des Moines Registers quotes Sonny Ramaswamy, NIFA’s former director. He says he was asked to a meeting with Heidi Green, former chief-of-staff to USDA Secretary Sonny Perdue. Green asked him to remove the document.
He says he found the request ‘odd’, but compiled as the document went out without first crossing his desk – in accordance with standard NIFA procedure. It was later replaced with new guidance which removed the references to trans kids using sex-segregated facilities.
After Ramaswamy’s meeting with Green, NIFA’s web communications manager, Dianne Bell, sent the email to 4-H in Iowa and New York. She requested the removal of the guidance from their respective websites.
NIFA and officials at the US Department of Agriculture declined to answer questions fr0m the Des Moines Register.
Ramaswamy now says he regrets not taking more of a stand when asked to remove the 4-H guidance by Green.
‘I wish I had stood up and said, “Take a hike. We will not take it down”,’ he told the Register. ‘”So sue me; so fire me” — I should’ve stood up.’
‘Unconscionable’
News of the Trump administration’s role in the removal of the new guidance has prompted uproar from LGBTI advocates.
‘For over a century, the national 4-H youth program has taught tens of millions of children the importance of character and community,’ said JoDee Winterhof, HRC Senior Vice President for Policy and Political Affairs.
‘This latest action by the Trump-Pence Administration is an unnecessary and cruel attack on LGBTQ youth that seeks to destroy community rather than create it.
‘It is unconscionable that the anti-LGBTQ discrimination under this president has now inexplicably expanded into the Department of Agriculture. We are determined to get answers on how this came about and demand that Congress protect LGBTQ youth from this callous attack.’
LGBT Issues are emerging as a key issue in the speaker’s race between House Minority Leader Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio). (Washington Blade photo of Pelosi by Michael Key; photo of Fudge by Tim Evanson via Wikimedia Commons)
LGBT issues are emerging as a key factor in the challenge to House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi’s bid for House Speaker, becoming a major source of distinction between the California Democrat and her prime competitor, Rep. Marcia Fudge (D-Ohio).
After having once wielded the gavel under the administrations of George W. Bush and Barack Obama and helping to usher into law the Affordable Care Act, the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal, Pelosi’s claim to the gavel in the 116th Congress is in question — and her competition may not be as supportive of LGBT rights.
Fudge — who has yet to declare her candidacy for speaker — has a consistent voting record in favor of LGBT rights, but has declined to support the Equality Act, a comprehensive LGBT rights bill that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity.
A former chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, Fudge has cited concerns about opening up the historic law to amendments on the House floor — a notion civil rights groups articulated when the bill was first introduced out of fear legislative activity would water down the entire statute.
“What I opposed was including the Equality Act in the current Civil Rights Act,” Fudge said last week in a statement. “The Civil Rights Act is over 50 years old and isn’t even adequate to protect the people currently in it. I want us to do a new and modern civil rights bill that protects the LGBTQ community and updates protections for this era. I do not believe it is appropriate to open and relitigate the current Civil Rights Act.”
Along with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), who has a reputation for being an anti-LGBT Democrat, Fudge in the last Congress was one of two Democrats who wouldn’t co-sponsor the Equality Act.
Fudge’s office didn’t respond to multiple requests from the Washington Blade to comment on whether she as speaker would allow the Equality Act to come up for a vote on the House floor even if she personally doesn’t support the measure.
Meanwhile, Pelosi championed the Equality Act since it was introduced. Prior to Democratic wins on Election Day, Pelosi signaled advancing the Equality Act would be a personal goal and the legislation would be assigned a low bill number in the next Congress signifying its importance.
“It isn’t in our ‘For The People’ agenda because it doesn’t get that specific, but there’s one more because it’s personal for me that I really want to do, and it’s called the Equality Act,” Pelosi said last month. “The Equality Act expands ending discrimination against LGBTQ people and women and adding that to the Civil Rights Act.”
Hilary Rosen, a lesbian D.C.-based Democratic activist, supports Pelosi in her bid to become speaker and drew a distinction between her and Fudge on LGBT issues.
“We don’t have a better champion than Nancy Pelosi,” Rosen said. “Rep. Fudge hasn’t even co-sponsored the bill. Her Democratic colleagues might be surprised to know that and it would concern me about electing her leader.”
Pelosi faces the challenges in her bid to become speaker despite the millions she raised for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and massive wins for House Democrats on Election Day that exceeded expectations for the “blue” wave. (In contrast, Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), whose caucus lost in the mid-term election, faces no similar challenge.)
On Monday, a group of 16 House Democrats (who, with two exceptions, were men) went public with a letter asserting they’re committed to voting against Pelosi. Other Democrats who won on Election Day, including Rep. Conor Lamb (D-Pa.) have made campaign promises about voting against her, but aren’t signatories to the letter.
To keep that in perspective, Pelosi can only afford to lose 15 within her Democratic majority and still have the 218 votes necessary for her to become speaker. Keep in mind House Democrats can’t replace Pelosi with nothing and it is far from certain Fudge would be able to obtain the 218 votes to win election.
Despite the challenges she faces, Pelosi has repeatedly expressed confidence she’ll have the votes to become speaker in the 116th Congress.
“I intend to win the speakership with Democratic votes, if that was your question,” Pelosi said. “I have overwhelming support in my caucus to be speaker of the House, and certainly we have many, many people in our caucus who could serve in this capacity. I happen to think that, at this point, I’m the best person for that.”
The moment of truth will come soon. The party nominating vote within the Democratic caucus will take place on Nov. 28 and the floor vote within the entire House will take place Jan. 3.
Faced with prospects of investigations under the new House Democratic majority, President Trump has offered to help on Twitter and said he “can get Nancy Pelosi as many votes as she wants in order for her to be speaker of the House.” If Republicans during the vote for speaker on Jan. 3 vote “present,” that would lower the threshold needed for her to win election.
But asked if she’d accept Republican support to win the gavel, Pelosi replied, “Oh, please, no, never, never, never.”
Drawing on her major achievements for the LGBT community in her role as Speaker of the House during part of the Bush and Obama administrations, a group of 102 LGBT leaders have signed a statement “enthusiastically endorsing” Pelosi as speaker.
Cited in the statement are the landmark laws in favor of LGBT rights Pelosi ushered through Congress as speaker, such as the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal. For the time when Democrats were in the minority, the statement enumerates Pelosi’s call for support for marriage equality in the 2016 Democratic Party platform and support for Rep. Ted Lieu’s (D-Calif.) proposal to ban widely discredited conversion therapy.
Lane Hudson, a gay D.C.-based Democratic activist, signed the statement and said Pelosi has “been our most vocal and reliable ally from her first days in Congress to now.”
“That’s why so many LGBT folks are fighting very hard to ensure she wins election as speaker,” Pelosi said. “So far, potential contenders are more conservative than she is and far less reliable on our issues. Only Pelosi has signaled that the Equality Act will be introduced very early and voted on, which will be historic.”
What are LGBT groups doing to help Pelosi? Human Rights President Chad Griffin has publicly declared his support for Pelosi as speaker and staffers for the nation’s largest LGBT group — Sarah McBride, David Stacy and JoDee Winterhof — have along with him signed the LGBT letter in support of her becoming speaker, but the organization didn’t respond to multiple requests from the Blade to comment on whether it’s lobbying the Democratic caucus on Pelosi’s behalf.
Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesperson, said he doesn’t having anything to say in response to a Blade inquiry on whether HRC or any other LGBT groups are lobbying members in the speaker’s race for Pelosi or anyone else.
For her part, Pelosi is making efforts to renew her connections with the LGBT community. On Friday during the annual dinner in D.C. for the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, Pelosi made a surprise appearance and celebrated the election of LGBT candidates to the U.S. House.
“We are proud that so many new LGBTQ members…represent every corner of our country,” Pelosi said. “LGBTQ members look like America: They’re mothers, business owners, people of color and members of the native nations.”
Jonathan Lovitz, senior vice president of the National LGBT Chamber of Commerce, also signed the statement and said Pelosi “absolutely deserves” to become the next speaker to continue advancing LGBT rights.
“A Democratic majority can resist the ongoing attempts to harm the LGBT community by passing the Equality Act, promoting LGBT-inclusive economic opportunities, and ensuring we are never erased,” Lovitz said. “Now is not the time for an untested Speaker. We need someone like Pelosi who affirms that protecting the livelihood of LGBT Americans is not some bargaining chip to pass legislation, but a nonnegotiable mandate that affirms who we are as an inclusive nation.”
The Blade is unaware of any prominent members of the LGBT community who are calling for new leadership in the Democratic caucus or who would back Fudge in a challenge to Pelosi.
