National
Gays just wanted to have fun at HRC ball
LGBT advocates, buoyed by inaugural speech, celebrate 2nd term
Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) speaks at HRC’s inaugural celebration (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The official start of President Obama’s second term was cause for excitement on Monday at the Human Rights Campaign’s “Out for Equality” inaugural ball.
A jubilant crowd of about 1,500 donned tuxedos and designer duds after Obama was sworn into office by Chief Justice of the Supreme Court John Roberts and the inaugural parade. They braved the cold night to gather at D.C.’s Mayflower Hotel, which sported a rainbow flag above its front entrance.
Audra McDonald (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Entertainment included Audra McDonald, a five-time Tony Award winner, and Will Swenson, a Tony nominated actor known for his roles in “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” and “Hair.” Ending the celebration was gay icon Cyndi Lauper, a longtime HRC supporter, who closed the night with a rendition of “Girls Just Want to Have Fun.” Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s “Hardball,” also made an appearance.
A number of high-profile pro-LGBT figures made appearances. At one point the stage featured Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.,) the leader on anti-bullying legislation in the Senate; New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan, whose recent election assured the preservation of marriage equality in her state; and Newark Mayor Cory Booker, a rising Democratic star considering a bid to represent New Jersey in the U.S. Senate.
But the political star who received the most attention during the ball was lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), who called for a toast to Obama in response to LGBT references in his inaugural address after Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin introduced her on stage.
“I was so struck in the passage about going from Seneca Falls to Selma to Stonewall — all of us working so hard to advance true equality, but all woven into the small fabric of our American story,” Baldwin said.
Baldwin declined to take questions from the Washington Blade after her remarks.
As he shook hands with supporters, Booker took a question from the Blade about the prospects of legalizing same-sex marriage in New Jersey. The Democratic legislature last year passed marriage legislation, but Gov. Chris Christie vetoed it.
“It’s still not a matter of not if, but when,” Booker said. “But that doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be pushing and working for it every single day. So, hopefully we can still override the governor’s veto, or frankly, in the next election in November, bring in a governor who shares the values of the majority of the state of New Jersey that will stand up for marriage equality.”
But the buzz during the party was the inaugural speech Obama delivered a few hours earlier in which he twice included the LGBT community by including the 1969 Stonewall riots in his speech.
“Our journey is not complete until our gay brothers and sisters are treated like anyone else under the law – for if we are truly created equal, then surely the love we commit to one another must be equal as well,” he also said.
It was the first time a U.S. president had ever addressed the LGBT community in an inaugural address.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), the newly seated gay U.S. House member, was among those who praised Obama’s speech and said he “became emotional” listening to the president deliver his remarks on LGBT rights.
Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
“I’ve never been more proud of an American president,” Maloney said. “I thought about my kids and I brought my kids who are African American to watch the president because I wanted them to understand that anyone can do anything in this country, but I never imagined that they would also get a lesson on how we’re all equal regardless not just of race, but sexual orientation and to receive that lesson from the president was beautiful and remarkable.”
Gay Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf also had high praise for Obama’s decision to include LGBT references in his inaugural address, calling it “historic.”
“It was surprising, I guess,” Elmendorf said. “We know where he is, but at an inaugural event, nobody has ever said ‘gay’ at an inaugural. Nobody has ever done such a good job of making the case about how the gay rights movement, sort of follows from the women’s rights movement and civil rights movement and put it all together. There were not a lot of dry eyes among the gays watching that speech.”
Corey Johnson, a gay New York City Council candidate, echoed that sentiment.
“I was pleased when Stonewall was put in the same sentence as Seneca Falls and Selma and I thought that could have been enough, but then to go on and explicitly talk about equal rights for LGBT Americans for the first time ever in an inaugural address I thought was unexpected, yet incredibly welcomed, so I was very moved actually,” Johnson said.
Michael K. Lavers contributed to this article.
National
Madonna turns Times Square into massive dance floor
Pop icon celebrates Pride month with surprise performance
Pop icon Madonna celebrated Pride month with a pop-up performance in New York City’s Times Square on Thursday to the delight of 50,000 fans.
She performed for about 15 minutes high above street level, including several songs from her new album “Confessions II” due on July 3, along with a trio of songs from the first “Confessions on a Dance Floor.”
In addition to the brand new “Love Sensation,” she performed “I Feel So Free” and “Bring Your Love,” plus “Hung Up,” “Get Together” and “I Love New York.” She wished the crowd a happy Pride season; the event was shared with audiences through Grindr’s first-ever livestream.
National
Gallup finds LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping
Marriage equality support lowest since 2016
Gallup, one of the leading organizations in public opinion polling, has found that LGBTQ support among Americans is dropping.
The poll, whose data was collected using Gallup’s annual Values and Beliefs survey, was conducted in May and was published on Wednesday. The data was collected through telephone interviews from a sample of more than 1,000 adults living in all 50 states and D.C. using random digit dialing.
It highlights declining attitudes surrounding LGBTQ issues in multiple areas — from support for same-sex marriage to views on gender identity and the morality of one’s sexuality.
One of the most striking findings was that support for marriage equality fell six points from its 2022-2023 high.
The survey also found that 62 percent of Americans view gay and lesbian relations as morally acceptable, the lowest level since 2016 just after same-sex marriage was legalized nationwide by the U.S. Supreme Court.
One newer question on the poll found that the perceived morality of changing one’s gender has dropped eight points since 2021, indicating the American public is less supportive of transgender people.
The data attributes much of the decline to shifting Republican views alongside the party itself. Conservative leaders have pushed back against diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that were intended to foster greater acceptance of LGBTQ people and other historically disadvantaged groups.
President Donald Trump has been a guiding force behind waves of anti-LGBTQ sentiment, particularly when it comes to trans rights. The president has enacted multiple executive orders, including Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” which mandates that gender be defined by one’s sex assigned at birth. He also signed Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which barred qualified trans applicants from joining the military and led to the removal of trans service members already serving in the armed forces.
Additionally, he signed Executive Order 14201, “Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports,” which prohibits trans female athletes from participating on women’s and girls’ sports teams.
In February, Gallup found that an estimated 9 percent of Americans identified as part of the LGBTQ community in some form.
The organization also found that 23 percent of adults under age 30 identify as LGBTQ, compared with 10 percent of those ages 30 to 49 and 3 percent or less among those ages 50 and older.
Congress
Ogles faces bipartisan backlash over anti-gay social media post
Tenn. congressman blamed the comment on staffer
U.S. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), who represents Tennessee’s 5th Congressional District, is facing backlash from LGBTQ advocates and fellow Republicans after a social media post declared that “homosexuality has no place in America.”
“Homosexuality has no place in America. Happy Nuclear Family Month,” the congressman wrote in a post on X that was later deleted.
According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, an estimated 6.3 percent of U.S. adults identify as LGBTQ.
Following widespread criticism, Ogles removed the post and blamed it on a staff member.
“The post was stupid, hurtful and a complete distraction from my America First focus. The employee has been reprimanded,” Ogles said in a statement.
The Washington Blade reached out to Ogles’s office for comment but did not receive a response by press time.
Among those condemning the message was U.S. Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.), who called it “absolutely idiotic” in a social media post.
“Homosexuality exists. In America,” Lawler wrote on X. “In fact, Andy, you have family, friends, neighbors, colleagues, and constituents who are gay and lesbian. It doesn’t make them less than or somehow unworthy of being an American.”
U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) also criticized Ogles’s remarks.
“For all of recorded history, homosexuals have been a part of humanity,” Cruz told TMZ DC. “I think the behavior of consenting adults is their business.”
Chris Sanders, the executive director for the Tennessee Equality Project and Tennessee Equality Project Foundation provided a statement to the Blade about Ogles’s comment.
“The Tennessee Nuclear Family Month resolution has really backfired on conservatives by ensnaring Congressman Ogles in scandal. He used the resolution as a pretext to say that our community doesn’t belong in America, resulting in incredible backlash from across the partisan divide,” Sanders said. “It is a good opportunity for him to pause and reflect on whether it’s time for him to resign. Fighting one’s own constituents is not the purpose of serving in Congress.”
Human Rights Campaign Senior Press Secretary Jarred Keller provided a statement to the Blade regarding Ogles’s comments.
“LGBTQ+ people are woven into the fabric of America, and any politician who questions that is severely out of touch with reality. When so many people are worried about whether they can afford gas to get to work or groceries for their families, the last thing we need is right-wing Republicans targeting marginalized communities with hateful attacks,” Keller said. “Representative Ogles should spend less time attacking LGBTQ+ people and start addressing the issues that actually matter, because last I checked, our community isn’t the reason families are struggling to make ends meet.”
The controversy comes as Tennessee continues to advance legislation affecting LGBTQ residents. The state already has several laws on the books that LGBTQ advocates have criticized, including the Adult Entertainment Act, enacted in 2023, which restricts certain “adult cabaret performances.”
Lawmakers have also introduced additional measures this legislative session, including the “No Pride Flag or Month Act,” which would prohibit state employees, volunteers, and agents from displaying Pride flags or participating in Pride observances while acting in an official capacity.
Another proposal, the “Banning Bostock Act” would seek to limit the application of state anti-discrimination protections based on the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Bostock v. Clayton County. Tennessee lawmakers have also passed other measures restricting LGBTQ rights and access to gender-affirming health care.
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