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Adjusting to freshman life on the Hill

Gay Rep. Cicilline on being in the minority, the prospects for a pro-LGBT omnibus bill — and D.C.’s social scene

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U.S. Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) (Blade photos by Michael Key)

As Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) and his fellow House Democrats are discovering, being in the minority is rough.

The freshman lawmaker — and fourth sitting openly gay member of Congress — offers help to the best of his abilities to a group of disability advocates from his district, but knows his influence is limited with U.S. House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) running the chamber and pledging to slash billions from government programs.

The Blade spent a day shadowing Cicilline last week. Six weeks into his first term as a member of Congress, he meets with about a dozen constituents working on disability issues in his office at the Cannon Office Building.

The meeting is one of four today for the Providence, R.I., mayor-turned-member of Congress, which is a typical load for Cicilline. Among his planned meetings is a talk with gay Rhode Island State House Speaker Gordon Fox, a leader in the fight to legalize same-sex marriage in the Ocean State.

But for this meeting, Cicilline listens intently as the advocates voice their concerns and hand him data sheets on problems facing the disabled and potential cuts to government programs.

Donna Martin, executive director of Rhode Island’s Community Provider Network, asks the lawmaker to push for continued funding for Medicaid programs through appropriations to the Department of Health & Human Services.

“The FMAP, the federal Medicaid match, the increased FMAP percentage is due to expire at the end of June,” she says. “That is going to have a tremendous impact on Rhode Island, specifically on our services. We are asking for consideration that those funds be extended until [health care reform] can be implemented — a provision in [health care reform] that expands the Medicaid safety net, if you will, which is active in 2014.”

Martin acknowledges that the Republican-controlled House doesn’t have “a whole lot of appetite” for talking about the extension of Medicaid funds, but emphasizes the importance of the program.

“It is a piece that has managed to keep many of these organizations afloat,” she says.

The disruptive noise of a loud conversation is heard from an adjoining room. Ever the attentive host, Cicilline rises from his seat to shut the door to his office.

Meanwhile, Jack Padien, CEO of Arc of Blackstone Valley, discusses the need for continued funds for the Department of Housing & Urban Development and Section 811 programs, which provide housing for low-income people with disabilities.

“The concern is, and I’m sure the concern with you and everyone else on the Democratic side, is that the Republicans have just put in a $63 billion cut — proposed cut — and that takes out a lot of things,” he says. “It would be devastating to take out $250 million out of a $300 million budget for low-income housing.”

Clad in a pinstripe suit, French cuffs and Italian loafers, Cicilline articulates his response in his distinctively raspy voice, starting with a comparison of President Obama’s fiscal year 2012 budget request to what the Republicans are proposing.

“If you look at the president’s budget — I mean, there are many things in that budget that I don’t agree with,” he says. “There’s some cuts in programs that I know are good programs, but the distance between the president’s budget and what the Republicans are proposing are just night and day.”

Cicilline cites figures that the Republican proposal would cost 80,000 jobs and, by comparison, says the president’s budget would be effective in reducing the deficit and spending while providing funds for infrastructure and education.

“It’s what families would use by tightening the belt by taking out the things that aren’t working and you don’t need, but also continue to invest in things that your family needs for its future security,” Cicilline says.

The freshman pledges to work hard to pass the president’s agenda in the House, but says he suspects Democrats won’t be able to accomplish that while being in the minority.

“It’s going to depend a lot on the role the Senate plays and how we stop some of this because I think the House Republicans are going to pass something, which, I think, everybody in this room would find really unacceptable,” he says.

As a final request, Cicilline asks for specific examples of how cuts proposed by Republicans would cost jobs or harm programs that rely on federal programs.

“We talk about it in public hearings — $2 billion we cut here or $5 billion here,” Cicilline says. “That much money? It should get cut. And I think to the extent that you can provide me, ‘Look if this program is cut in half, 25 less people will be enrolled in this service and we’ll have to close that,’ that would be very useful both in terms of making the case to other colleagues and also just describing to people back home what the consequences of the Republican budget would mean.”

The meeting concludes with a group photo of Cicilline and the Rhode Island constituents who sat in on the meeting. Staffer Brad Greenburg is poised to take the photo, although Cicilline has to remind him to remove the cap from the lens before hitting the flash button.

The theme of Republicans working to slash funds from programs while Democrats urge for continued appropriations is a common one lately.

On Tuesday, as the House debates a resolution to continue funds for the remainder of the fiscal year, Cicilline takes to the floor to denounce cuts Republicans are proposing.

“The Republicans are moving forward with a dangerous spending bill, one that continues to give rewards to the rich and literally guts the initiatives most meaningful to middle class families,” Cicilline says. “Simply put, the Republicans’ spending bill is irresponsible and tone deaf to the needs of a healing nation.”

Cicilline says the Republican spending proposal would cut Pell Grants by $800 per student and kick more than 200,000 children out of Head Start. Additionally, he says the measure would undermine domestic security by eliminating 1,330 police officers and 2,400 firefighters throughout the country.

“The work of reducing our deficit and controlling spending will be hard, to be sure,” Cicilline says. “The fact of the matter is that we have to cut spending. But we have to do it responsibly. We cannot cut what makes us competitive and what helps us to innovate, to succeed in the global economy, and ultimately to create jobs.”

But in the end, the Republicans have their way on the continuing resolution. On Saturday, the House passes a measure with $61 billion in cuts from last year’s spending levels by a vote of 235-189.

The legislation now heads to the Democratic-controlled Senate, and a failure of both chambers to reach an agreement by March 4 could result in the shutdown of the U.S. government.

Following the vote, Boehner commends the House for passing the continuing resolution with reduced spending, noting, “the House works best when it is allowed to work its will.”

“This week, for the first time in many years, the People’s House was allowed to work its will — and the result was one of the largest spending cuts in American history,” Boehner says in a statement. “We will not stop here in our efforts to cut spending, not when we’re broke and Washington’s spending binge is making it harder to create jobs.”

Learning the ropes

After his constituents leave his office, Cicilline removes his jacket and retires behind his desk as he prepares for his interview with this reporter.

Papers and folders are neatly piled in different stacks. Also on his desk is a copy of “The American Way to Change” by Shirley Sagawa and “George Washington’s Sacred Fire,” a biography on the first president by Peter Lilback.

Adorning his wall is a large green abstract painting by Tom Sgorous, a Rhode Island artist. On a nearby table, a glass bowl is displayed with the inscription, “Italio-American Club Man of the Year 2003 — Mayor David Cicilline.”

During his six weeks in office, Cicilline has been busy hiring staff and setting up offices both in D.C. and in Rhode Island’s 1st congressional district. He’s also been serving on the policy steering committee to set the House Democratic agenda for the 112th Congress.

“I’ve been really learning how Congress operates and how I can have the greatest impact as a new member and as a freshman in the minority,” Cicilline says.

He made the trip from Rhode Island to D.C. solo. Asked whether he has a partner, he says he’s single.

“You’re asking me that right after Valentine’s Day?” he jokes. “How cruel!”

Still, Cicilline says he’s already visited at least one local gay bar since arriving in the District, although he can’t immediately recall the name of the establishment he visited last week.

When asked if it could have been Cobalt, Nellie’s or JR.’s, he quickly interrupts.     “JR.’s,” Cicilline exclaims as he snaps his fingers. “It was just like a bar, bar. I met a friend from Rhode Island for a drink who works here in Washington.”

But focusing on the business before him on Capitol Hill, Cicilline says his top legislative priority is passage of what he calls the “Made in America” block grant.

As he envisions it, the legislation would encourage companies to keep manufacturing jobs in the United States by providing $2 billion in funds to retrofit factories, retrain workers and buy new equipment.

“I think one of the things that we have to do to really rebuild the economy in this country is start making things again and selling them in the global market,” he says.

Cicilline says he’s already spoken with House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) about the “Made in America” block grant, which he says she supports.

Figuring out how to advance LGBT issues is also on the agenda. Upon his swearing in, Cicilline became a co-chair of the LGBT Equality Caucus and is learning from more senior openly gay members of Congress — Reps. Barney Frank (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) and Jared Polis (D-Colo.) — about where to focus their attention.

Cicilline emphasizes that he’s new to Congress and learning about the legislative priorities for the LGBT community, but knows that with Boehner as presiding officer of the House, moving forward will be challenging to say the least.

“But this is the year when it’s going to be very, very difficult — maybe impossible — to make progress on most of our issues,” he says. “We’re going to be very defensive mostly. Protecting the progress we’ve made and try to prevent the clock from turning back with Republican leadership in the House.”

Cicilline says he isn’t sure what kind of anti-gay measures, if any, the Republicans might pass out of the House, but expresses confidence that the Democratic-controlled Senate would block any such initiatives from reaching Obama’s desk.

One item that has Cicilline’s interest is comprehensive legislation that would roll all pro-LGBT initiatives — such as the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, the Uniting American Families Act and repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act — into one piece of legislation.

“One of the things I’d like to explore is this idea of developing an omnibus bill that contains many of the specific pieces of legislation that have been on our agenda for a number of years and put them together in a comprehensive equality measure for the LGBT community,” Cicilline says. “I’d like to obviously talk to my colleagues about that as a strategy versus individual bills.”

But what to do about ENDA, one of the LGBT community’s top outstanding legislative priorities? What’s the best way to draw attention to the issue of job discrimination in the interim as Republican control of the House makes passage of the legislation unlikely for at least two years?

Cicilline notes as a legislator in the Rhode Island State House, he worked to help pass legislation that would bar discrimination in the state against LGBT people in situations of housing, credit, public accommodations and employment.

The Rhode Island lawmaker says the best way to draw attention to the lack of employment protections for LGBT people is to showcase people who’ve been wronged under current law.

“I think people are really fair-minded,” he says. “Most people if you sat them down and said, ‘Someone who’s working everyday and goes to work and is doing their job, their employer can say, ‘You want what? I’m firing you because you’re gay.”‘ Most people would say, “That’s wrong!” They would be surprised even to learn you can do that.”

Tongues are also wagging about another LGBT march on Washington in 2012 as a means to draw attention to LGBT issues and energize the Democratic base in the upcoming election. Still, Cicilline says he thinks resources could be better spent on constituents encouraging their members of Congress to support pro-LGBT initiatives.

“I guess you could get lots of people to march on Washington,” he says. “I just assume they were door-knocking for progressive candidates that support marriage equality, but if they’re willing to do both, I think it’s fine.”

Cicilline has landed choice committee assignments, including seats on the Small Business and Foreign Affairs committees. The lawmaker says he hopes his position on the panel overseeing international affairs will give more visibility to “the hideous treatment of LGBT members all over the world.”

For example, Cicilline says he hopes he can build awareness about the plight of LGBT people in Uganda, where activist David Kato was murdered in January and a bill that would institute the death penalty is pending before parliament.

“I think we need to be sure that we have hearings on the issue,” Cicilline says. “I’ll be raising awareness and using my role on the foreign affairs committee to work to develop a strong U.S. policy against that.”

Earlier in the week, Cicilline met with Frank Mugisha, an LGBT Ugandan activist and executive director of Sexual Minorities Uganda.

Another LGBT agenda item that’s important to Cicilline: the advancement of same-sex marriage. Rhode Island is among a few states seeing progress this year on relationship recognition for same-sex couples.

Cicilline says he’s “very much” glued to the legislative effort to pass marriage legislation in Rhode Island and believes “the prospects are very good this year” for enactment of such a measure.

“I think there is strong support from the House leadership and from the members,” he says. “The challenge is to make sure that it comes out of the House strongly because I think the fight is in the Senate.”

Cicilline adds that Gov. Lincoln Chafee’s (I) support for the marriage bill “is a big changer” from when former Republican Gov. Donald Carcieri, who opposes marriage rights for gay couples, was running the state.

But what about Obama’s position on same-sex marriage? The president has said his position could evolve on the issue and that he’s wrestling with the idea of same-sex marriage, but he hasn’t yet endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“I think the president is being very honest about his thinking that — and I take him at his word — that his position is evolving,” Cicilline says. “I think marriage equality is the right answer because it shows that every single American has access to this important institution.”

Cicilline dismisses the notion that Obama’s lack of support for same-sex marriage has a significant impact on legislative efforts to enact marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples in Rhode Island.

“I think legislators in Rhode Island will make up their minds on the issue of marriage equality based on their own view on it and by listening to constituents on it,” he says. “I’m not sure that the president’s position will have a direct impact on that.”

He adds that he doesn’t have any way of knowing whether Obama will come to support same-sex marriage, but has high hopes the president will come around.

“Everything that I know about him leads me to believe that he will look very strongly at equality and justice and ending discrimination of any kind,” Cicilline says. “So, I would hope that the conclusion of his thinking will also get him to where he supports marriage equality.”

With his Blade interview complete, Cicilline moves on to the rest of the day’s meetings. However, his schedule isn’t limited to private meetings with constituents.

Busy day on the Hill

Cicilline is scheduled to hear testimony in the afternoon as part of the House Small Business Committee. The title of the hearing is “Putting Americans Back to Work: The State of the Small Business Economy.”

The Republicans who control the committee — and the GOP-chosen witnesses — use the hearing to denounce the Obama administration’s policies.

House Small Business Committee Chair Sam Graves (R-Mo.) plays up the trials that small businesses face in the United States even in times when the economy is prosperous.

“Even though there has been recent signs that our economy is starting to improve, our recovery from this recession remains sporadic at best,” Graves says. “As we’ve said many time before, small businesses need certainty for plan for not only the next day but also the next month and the next year.”

Graves also takes a dig at the health care reform law passed by the 111th Congress. Repealing or defunding the initiative has been a priority of Republican leadership in the current Congress.

“After the new health care law passed last year, I heard from countless small businesses in my district and right here in this committee room that not only will this new law fail to provide health care benefits to employees, but the costs will put them out of business,” Graves said.

The Republican-appointed witnesses offer testimony bemoaning practices the Obama administration has put in place.

Representing the U.S. Chamber of Commerce — known for its hostility to the president — is Bill Feinberg, president of Allied Kitchen and Bath, Inc., in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., who blasts the health care reform law.

“I know that in 2014 the new employer mandate starts — the mandate says an employer with 50 or more employees must offer government-approved health insurance or pay steep fines,” he says. “Wouldn’t incentives, rather than penalties, have been a better way to send the message that government and businesses can work together?”

Dixie Kolditz, owner of Open-Box Creations in Cathlament, Wash., says regulations that the Obama administration has put in place are stifling her import business.

“We have had to be creative and make our money stretch more than it used to,” she says. “This becomes harder when there are expected and unexpected regulations and hidden government taxes and fees.”

Cicilline arrives at the committee hearing after the witnesses have given their opening statements. Taking his seat on the dais — far to the end in accordance with his freshman status — the lawmaker dons a pair of spectacles and presumably reads the written testimony submitted by witnesses.

When Graves gives Ciclline the green light to begin his questioning, he starts by expressing his interest in growing small businesses in the United States.

“I think we’re all very interested in what we need to do to make small business grow and to create more jobs,” Cicilline says. “So, I’m interested in specifics — because I understand the feeling that you may have of small business being overregulated and overburdened, but to be helpful in terms of coming to address that, I need to understand what the specifics are.”

Beginning his questioning with Feinberg, Cicilline notes the small business owner already provides health care benefits to employees, even though he is not required to do so.

“I presume you do that because you decided it’s valuable to have employees who are healthy and well and can be productive,” Cicilline says.

“My employees are my partners,” Feinberg says. “That’s what grows my business.”

Cicilline presses Feinberg on whether the entrepreneur thinks “it’s a good idea” to have a system in place that provides affordable health care to small businesses.

“I can’t say whether or not,” Feinberg says. “As a business owner, I look at what’s going to grow my business. Knowing that I have to provide insurance — that limits me. That does not give me the flexibility as a business owner that I think is required to grow my business.”

Following up, Cicilline asks whether he’s aware that he’s entitled to a tax credit in exchange for providing health insurance to at least 50 employees. Feinberg says he’s aware of the law.

“The reason I ask that is that I think it’s important that we also at the [Small Business Administration] or relevant federal agencies should share that information with small businesses,” Cicilline says. “The tax cut is designed to help small business and make providing health care affordable, so I think that’s an important responsibility.”

On his way out of the hearings, Cicilline tells the Blade he realizes the committee lineup was orchestrated to favor Republican policy.

“The witnesses are clearly invited by the majority party, so I think they have a very clear view on what they think about some of those issues that was reflected in the witnesses,” Cicilline says.

Cicilline heads back to his office, but not before a constituent approaches and asks for a picture with him. This reporter complies with a request to take a photo of the two, then watches as the Rhode Island lawmaker heads back to the Cannon House Office Building to continue his work.

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Federal Government

Mass HHS layoffs include HIV/AIDS prevention, policy teams

Democratic states sue over cuts

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HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Tuesday began a series of mass layoffs targeting staff, departments, and whole agencies within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services under Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who reportedly plans to cut a total of 10,000 jobs.

On the chopping block, according to reports this week, is the Office of Infectious Disease and HIV/AIDS Policy. A fact sheet explaining on the restructuring says “a new Administration for a Healthy America (AHA) will consolidate the OASH, HRSA, SAMHSA, ATSDR, and NIOSH, so as to more efficiently coordinate chronic care and disease prevention programs and harmonize health resources to low-income Americans.”

The document indicates that “Divisions of AHA include Primary Care, Maternal and Child Health, Mental Health, Environmental Health, HIV/AIDS, and Workforce, with support of the U.S. Surgeon General and Policy team.”

“Today, the Trump administration eliminated the staff of several CDC HIV prevention offices, including entire offices conducting public health communication campaigns, modeling and behavioral surveillance, capacity building, and non-lab research,” said a press release Tuesday by the HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute.

The organization also noted the “reassignments” of Jonathan Mermin, director of the National Center for HIV, Viral Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention, and Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. Both were moved to the Indian Health Service.

“In a matter of just a couple days, we are losing our nation’s ability to prevent HIV,” said HIV + Hepatitis Policy Institute Executive Director Carl Schmid. “The expertise of the staff, along with their decades of leadership, has now been destroyed and cannot be replaced. We will feel the impacts of these decisions for years to come and it will certainly, sadly, translate into an increase in new HIV infections and higher medical costs.”

The group added, “We are still learning the full extent of the staff cuts and do not know how the administration’s announced reorganization of HHS will impact all HIV treatment, prevention, and research programs, including President Trump’s Ending the HIV Epidemic initiative,” but “At the moment, it seems that we are in the middle of a hurricane and just waiting for the next shoe to drop.”

A group of 500 HIV advocates announced a rally planned for Wednesday morning at 8 a.m., at the U.S. Capitol lawn across from the Cannon House Office Building, which aims to urge Congress to help stop the cuts at HHS.

“Over 500 advocates will rally on Capitol Hill and meet with members of Congress and Hill staff to advocate for maintaining a strong HIV response and detail the potential impact of cuts to and reorganization of HIV prevention and treatment programs,” the groups wrote.

The press release continued, “HHS has stated that it is seeking to cut 10,000 employees, among them 2,400 CDC employees, many doing critical HIV work. It also seeks to merge HIV treatment programming into a new agency raising concerns about maintaining resources for and achieving the outstanding outcomes of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Program.”

On Tuesday a group of Democratic governors and attorneys general from 23 states and D.C. filed a lawsuit against HHS and Kennedy seeking a temporary restraining order and injunctive relief to halt the funding cuts.

U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention withdrew approximately $11.4 billion in funding for state and community health departments during the COVID-19 pandemic response, along with $1 billion to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.

“Slashing this funding now will reverse our progress on the opioid crisis, throw our mental health systems into chaos, and leave hospitals struggling to care for patients,” New York Attorney General Letitia James said.  

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State Department

Former US envoy for global LGBTQ, intersex rights slams Trump

Former President Joe Biden appointed Jessica Stern in 2021

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Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad, center, speaks outside the U.N. Security Council on March 20, 2023 (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Jessica Stern, the former special U.S. envoy for the promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights, says the work that she and her colleagues did under the Biden-Harris administration is “being systematically dismantled.”

“As the person who was responsible for leading U.S. foreign policy on LGBTQI+ issues, it’s been very difficult for the past two months to see that work being systematically dismantled,” she told the Washington Blade on March 19 during a telephone interview.

Stern was the executive director of Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex advocacy group, when then-President Joe Biden appointed her in June 2021.

The promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights was a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s overall foreign policy. These efforts specifically included the decriminalization of consensual same-sex sexual relations and marriage equality efforts in countries where activists said they were possible through the legislative or judicial processes.

The Trump-Vance administration’s decision to freeze most U.S. foreign aid spending for at least 90 days has had a devastating impact on the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement. President Donald Trump’s executive order that bans the State Department from issuing passports with “X” gender markers has prompted Germany and several other European countries to issue travel advisories for transgender and nonbinary people who are planning to visit the U.S.

Stern said the Trump-Vance administration “has studied the anti-LGBTQI strategies of other countries and basically imported the worst ideas from around the world: The most violent, the most dehumanizing, the most targeting strategies.” Stern added these policies have emboldened Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Russian President Vladimir Putin, Argentine President Javier Milei and other anti-LGBTQ heads of state.

“It’s one thing when a small country that has limited global reach implements anti-LGBTQI laws and policies. It’s another thing when one of the world’s superpowers does so,” Stern told the Blade. “There’s no question that the U.S.’s regression on LGBTQI rights is actually going to accelerate backlash against LGBTQI people around the world.”

“We provide political legitimacy to those ideas, but also we’re forging new alliances and coalitions, and we’re pushing these ideas on other countries,” she added. “So, it’s not a passive action. The U.S. government currently is actively funding and disseminating anti-LGBTQI hatred around the world.”

Former State Department colleagues ‘afraid every day’

The Trump-Vance administration in a Feb. 3 statement that defended its efforts to dismantle the U.S. Agency for International Development noted examples of the organization’s “waste and abuse” included $2 million for “sex changes and ‘LGBT activism'” in Guatemala and $1.5 million to “advance diversity, equity and inclusion in Serbia’s workplaces and business communities.” Secretary of State Marco Rubio last month said 83 percent of USAID contracts have been cancelled, and the remaining will “now be administered more effectively under the State Department.”

Rubio after the Trump-Vance administration froze nearly all U.S. foreign aid spending issued a waiver that allowed the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief and other “life-saving humanitarian assistance” programs to continue to operate.

The Blade has previously reported PEPFAR-funded programs in Kenya, South Africa, and elsewhere have suspended services and even shut down because of a lack of U.S. funding. UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima on March 24 said 6.3 million more people around the world will die of AIDS-related complications over the next four years if the U.S. does not fully restore its foreign assistance.

Stern said her former State Department colleagues are “afraid every day.”

“They never know, ‘Am I going to be fired today?’ “Am I going to be put on administrative leave?’,” she said. “I cannot even imagine what it’s like to go to work every day.”

Stern told the Blade her former colleagues tell her that “there’s not a lot of foreign policy work happening because there’s so much disruption being caused by DOGE (the Department of Government Efficiency).”

“Entire departments have been decimated,” she said, noting one of them has lost 60 people. “It’s almost inconceivable to figure out how to restructure your work when your resources have been decimated.”

Jessica Stern speaks at an LGBTQ+ Victory Institute co-organized conference in Mexico City on July 20, 2023. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Stern described herself as “an eternal optimist” when the Blade asked whether she thinks the U.S. can ever stand for LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad.

“You have to believe in human rights,” she said.

Stern said former Secretary of State Antony Blinken as “an ally on LGBTQI issues.” Stern also said many of her now former State Department colleagues thanked her and her team for their work before they left government.

“There’s so much compassion from straight and cisgendered allies, from career officials, people that are not human rights experts or specialists, people that don’t focus on the well-being of LGBTQI people, but people that care very much about the United States standing for its values, the rule of law, equality for all, and this notion that it is in our national interest to ensure that there is safety, prosperity, and well-being for people around the world,” she said.

“The situation we find ourselves in will not last forever,” added Stern. “What we have to do is figure out how to hold the line right now, and how to organize for the future.”

She stressed ways to “hold the line” include litigation, protests, letters-to-the-editor, demanding accountability from lawmakers.

“There’s so much to do,” said Stern.

Then-Secretary of State Antony Blinken speaks at a World AIDS Day event hosted by the Business Council for International Understanding on Dec. 2, 2022. (Screen capture via U.S. Department of State YouTube)

Stern is currently teaching at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs, and is writing about her experience as the “first-ever human rights expert to be the special U.S. envoy for LGBTQI rights.” Stern also told the Blade that she is working to launch a new organization.

“I love being an activist again,” she said. “If there was ever a time when activists are needed, it’s now.”

“I am really proud to have rejoined the resistance,” added Stern.

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National

Destination Tomorrow works to empower LGBTQ community

Sean Coleman is Black transgender man who founded group in 2009

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Destination Tomorrow CEO Sean Ebony Coleman (Photo courtesy of Hannah Weill)

Sean Ebony Coleman became the first transgender African American to own and operate an LGBTQ center with the founding of Destination Tomorrow in 2009. Subsequent centers opened up in Atlanta in 2022 and D.C. in 2024. 

Destination Tomorrow was founded on the idea that “it is more helpful to empower our most vulnerable TLGBQ+ community members in a way that takes them off the path of needing emergency care.”

“Our organization emphasizes economic, social, and mental empowerment through a variety of holistic educational, financial, support-based, housing, and health programs,” Destination Tomorrow said on the organization’s website.

With Transgender Day of Visibility today and WorldPride coming to D.C. this June, the Washington Blade spoke with Coleman to get some further insight into how Destination Tomorrow and other organizations are responding to the pressure the Trump-Vance administration is putting on the LGBTQ community.

BLADE: What was the overall reaction to the Trump administration and the heavy anti-LGBTQ rhetoric being pushed by the administration from Destination Tomorrow?

COLEMAN: I think the first thing was disbelief, right? You know he’s not well versed, but the embellishments about the community, particularly the trans community, were so outlandish that they became dangerous. So I think the first thing was, people actually believe this, and we have a message in problem because we’re not responding. We really missed an opportunity to message that differently. Like some of them it was so easy for us to respond and say, “We’re talking about the entire sports world when it comes to college and high school” and those kinds of things, right? We are definitely focusing on the wrong one percent.

I knew it was like collectively as a trans man, just personally, I was like “okay, so how do you show up now?” You’re in a position that folks expect you to at the very least have something positive to say next steps, this is what we’re gonna do, marching all this, whatever. I’m sitting with it like, no, I’m a little nervous. In the moment, most of the danger and most of the rhetoric is happening towards trans and gender nonconforming people and unfortunately, Black and brown and trans and gender nonconforming folks feel it worse when things like this happen.

BLADE: With a lot of organizations getting threats, losing funding, and everybody just being scared, has Destination Tomorrow specifically received any higher amounts of traffic to your locations, either here or other states?

COLEMAN: All three locations have seen an uptick. Funny thing a lot of them are coming in because they just want community. and we do that intake assessment. Then we say “while we have you here, we could do all of these other things.” But it’s really about them coming for community. If you know anything about us, we’re well versed in the house and ballroom community. So we put on balls. We’re planning one now. 

And the young people, particularly young trans people, are also coming in for the ball, but they also want to know. Mr. Coleman, what can we do now? What is it? They want a call to action, want to be motivated and I think we have to figure out again this one message of where we’re going to go. Whether it is New York, Atlanta, and D.C., Destination Tomorrow is then going through all of the other trans into the nonconforming organizations. Speaking in one voice and figuring out what movement building looks like for us in this moment and we think that young people should drive it.

Particularly in New York and D.C. will receive some additional resources because we want to be able to address those folks that are going to come in. We want to make sure (to have enough) staff, (increase) our hours. We increase our security and our security presence because that was something that we were concerned about, even if it’s just an in person meeting that we’ve been doing for the last five years, because how do we keep those meetings and that meeting space and our identity safe?

BLADE: Do you feel like given the recent federal government layoffs and this whole Trump takeover of Washington, like, do you think D.C. is prepared or safe enough to start implementing those things that you want to try and get done?

COLEMAN: Yes. I think once we’ve taken a moment to step back and assess the situation, we will be able to come out stronger with the initiative that is going to be most important and most impactful for our community, but I think it is going to take some collaborative effort. I don’t think one agency is gonna be able to do it. I think this is a time for collaboration and allies. um, and not in that order. Right? But D.C. is definitely a safe place for LGBT community members worldwide.

It’s gonna be an amazing time. We’re gonna get an opportunity to show how resilient our community is, how much love we still receive. If you look at some things on social media, it’ll seem like everyone’s demonizing the trans and general nonconforming community and that’s not necessarily the case, right? 
I think we get sucked into this vacuum with social media and I think once you log off and you actually go outside, you recognize exactly how much support you have from your community. And I think that ties back into our messages. We’re not going to stand around sad and defeated. We’re going to show up, have a good time with WorldPride.

I also see it as an excellent opportunity to strategically put some plans in place. While we have you here, and we’re celebrating, we’re partying, but here is what our next steps will be. We have at least two or three next steps that collectively, you can go back down and all of us a picture goes saying two or three things. Say the same things, stay on message and I think World Pride will be an excellent opportunity to do so.

Along with the comments on TDOV and WorldPride, Coleman also spoke about the current state of LGBTQ politics.

“What’s so unfortunate for me is that we lean into our allies, right? Now is the time for our allies to take a look around the room and say “Oh wait. This person is missing [in the conversation], we should not be speaking on behalf of Black and brown people,” he told the Blade. “I specifically say Black and brown trans people. [Allies] shouldn’t be speaking on behalf of them because I know a few that can actually come here and speak on their own behalf and unfortunately it doesn’t happen. I think it’s because it’s tied into the losing funding across the board. So those LGB organizations are gonna feel that loss. And at some point they may feel like they have to step in and fill a void that they don’t necessarily have to because we’re here.”

Specifically in New York, Coleman has been looking toward the local government to help Destination Tomorrow and other organizations stay protected and operational during times like these. 

“Trans, gender nonconforming and LGB issues go across different issues. Whether we’re talking about housing, criminal justice reform, or reproductive rights. We should be included in those discussions, and we should be included in those funding opportunities,” said Coleman. “And I think this gives us an opportunity to show that Destination Tomorrow has a program called Pride at Work. to the workforce development program, where we’re pitching it in D.C. and we’re actually in our third year of doing it in New York City. That’s an example of how workforce development should be for all of us, right?”

“So a lot of the work we’ve done in the last couple of months is really meeting with all our elected officials and saying, ‘This is the message that we’d like you to push. This is what we want to say, this is how we feel. Because you are not saying it, it feels like you left us behind. This is where you are missing the mark and it is up to you to fix it,’” he added.

A discussion for New York mayoral candidates took place later that evening. One of the things that Coleman wanted to heavily iterate to the candidates was that “at the end of the day, we’re paying attention now. We may not have been as politically engaged as we should have been, but we are now.”

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