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Advocacy groups urge White House to do more to secure Brittney Griner’s release

HRC, GLAAD among letter signatories

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A participant in the Capital Pride Parade in D.C. on June 11, 2022, marches with a "Free Brittney Griner" sign. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Dozens of advocacy groups on Wednesday in a letter they sent to President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urged them to do more to secure the release of WNBA star Brittney Griner.

The Human Rights Campaign, the Council for Global Equality, Athlete Ally, GLAAD, GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders, Lambda Legal, the National Black Justice Coalition, the National LGBTQ Task Force, Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights, the Billie Jean King Leadership Initiative and All Out Action Fund are among the groups that signed the letter.

Griner’s agent, Lindsay Colas, coordinated the letter and worked with Democratic strategist Karen Finney, among others.

“We, the undersigned civil and human rights organizations, write to express our deep concern for Brittney Griner. We stand together in support of Brittney, now wrongfully detained in Russia for over 124 days,” reads the letter. “An American hero, wife, daughter, sister, friend, teammate, anti-bullying advocate, Olympian, and WNBA superstar, Brittney continues to endure inhumane treatment, deprived of contact with her family.” 

“We join Brittneyā€™s family, friends, colleagues and loved ones in deep appreciation of your Administrationā€™s ongoing efforts to secure her freedom,” it adds. “The U.S. government has acknowledged that Brittney is essentially a political pawn in classifying her as wrongfully detained. While these have been critically important measures, we now urge you to make a deal to get Brittney back home to America immediately and safely.”

Officials at Moscowā€™s Sheremetyevo Airport in February detained Brittney Griner ā€” a center for the Phoenix Mercury and two-time Olympic gold medalist who is a lesbian and married to Cherelle Griner ā€” after customs inspectors allegedly found hashish oil in her luggage. The State Department has determined that Russia ā€œwrongfully detainedā€ her.

Secretary of State Antony Blinken on May 14 spoke with Cherelle Griner. 

Officials with the State Departmentā€™s Office of the Special Presidential Envoy for Hostage Affairs and Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs on June 13 met with Brittney Grinerā€™s teammates to discuss her detention and efforts to secure her release. A Russian court the following day extended Brittney Grinerā€™s detention through at least July 2.

ā€œWe are determined to bring her home along with Paul (Whelan, an American citizen who is serving a 16-year prison sentence in Russia after a court convicted him of spying) and for that matter, any and every American who is being unjustly detained anywhere in the world,ā€ said Blinken on June 15 during a roundtable with this reporter and five other LGBTQ and intersex journalists. ā€ ā€œItā€™s something that I am personally focused on, and I want to leave it at that because it is obviously an ongoing issue. But just know that this is a matter of intense focus for us.ā€

Brittney Griner on June 18 was unable to speak with her wife on their fourth anniversary because the phone at the U.S. Embassy in Moscow that she called went unanswered. A State Department spokesperson later admitted a “logistical error” prevented Brittney Griner from speaking with Cherelle Griner.

“This month our nation honors Americaā€™s diverse journey towards freedom, equality and justice for all with the observation of the Juneteenth federal holiday, the 50th anniversary of landmark Title IX legislation, and LGBTQ+ Pride. Brittneyā€™s intersectional identity embodies this celebration of Americaā€™s strength and diversity,” reads the letter. “As a celebrated world-class athlete, she also demonstrates the uniquely unifying power of sports. Brittneyā€™s ongoing detention threatens the sanctity of sport and the safety of all athletes traveling to compete internationally.” 

“President Biden and Vice President Harris, we urge you to make a deal to bring our teammate, wife, sister, hero, and friend Brittney Griner home swiftly and safely,” it concludes.

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The White House

Trump threatens Maine’s Democratic governor over trans athlete ban

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President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Donald Trump threatened to withhold federal funding from Maine after the state’s Democratic Gov. Janet Mills refused to say that she would enforce his administration’s ban on transgender women and girls competing in sports.

Their brief but heated exchange during a meeting of the National Governors Association at the White House on Friday kicked off when Mills agreed only to abide by “state and federal law” and Trump told her, ā€œWe are the federal law. You better do it because youā€™re not going to get any federal funding if you don’t.”

“See you in court,” Mills responded.

ā€œGood,” Trump agreed, “I’ll see you in court. I look forward to that. That should be a real easy one. And enjoy your life after governor, because I don’t think you’ll be in elected politics.”

Two days after Trump’s issuance of the executive order”Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports” on Feb. 5, the governing body responsible for overseeing high school sports in Maine said trans athletes would still be allowed to compete because the ban was in conflict with provisions of the Maine state Human Rights Act.

The president previewed his proposal to condition federal funding on states’ compliance with the policy during a meeting on Thursday of the Republican Governors Association.

Earlier on Friday, Mills vowed in a statement that ā€œIf the President attempts to unilaterally deprive Maine school children from the benefit of Federal funding, my Administration and the Attorney General will take appropriate and necessary legal action to restore that funding and the academic opportunity it provides.”

Echoing her comments, the state’s Democratic Attorney General Aaron Frey said in a statement Friday morning that “Any attempt by the President to cut federal funding in Maine unless transgender athletes are restricted from playing sports would be illegal and in direct violation of court orders.”

ā€œFortunately, though, the rule of law still applies in this country, and I will do everything in my power to defend Maineā€™s laws and block efforts by the President to bully and threaten us,” he said.

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The White House

Trump bars trans women and girls from sports

The administration reversed course on the Biden-Harris policy on Title IX

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President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday issued another executive order taking aim at the transgender community, this time focusing on eligibility for sports participation.

In a signing ceremony for ā€œKeeping Men Out of Womenā€™s Sports” in the East Room of the White House, the president proclaimed “With this executive order, the war on womenā€™s sports is over.”

Despite the insistence by Trump and Republicans that trans women and girls have a biological advantage in sports over cisgender women and girls, the research has been inconclusive, at best.

A study in the peer reviewed Sports Medicine journal found ā€œno direct or consistent researchā€ pointing to this conclusion. A different review in 2023 found that post-pubertal differences are ā€œreduced, if not erased, over time by gender affirming hormone therapy.ā€

Other critics of efforts to exclude trans student athletes have pointed to the small number of people who are impacted. Charlie Baker, president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, testified last year that fewer than 10 of the NCAA’s 522,000+ student athletes identify as trans.

The Trump-Vance administration has reversed course from the Biden-Harris administration’s policy on Title IX rules barring sex-based discrimination.

ā€œIf youā€™re going to have womenā€™s sports, if youā€™re going to provide opportunities for women, then they have to be equally safe, equally fair, and equally private opportunities, and so that means that youā€™re going to preserve womenā€™s sports for women,” a White House official said prior to the issuance of the order.

Former President Joe Biden’s Title IX rules, which went into effect last year, clarified that pursuant to the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Bostock v. Clayton County (2020), sex-based discrimination includes that which is based on the victim’s sexual orientation or gender identity.

The White House official indicated that the administration will consider additional guidance, regulations, and interpretations of Title IX, as well as exploring options to handle noncompliance by threatening federal funding for schools and education programs.

White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump ā€œdoes expect the Olympic Committee and the NCAA to no longer allow men to compete in womenā€™s sports.ā€

One of the first legislative moves by the new Congress last month was House Republicans’ passage of the “Protection of Women and Girls in Sports Act,” which would ban trans women and girls from participating in competitive athletics.

The bill is now before the U.S. Senate, where Republicans have a three-seat majority but would need 60 votes to overcome the filibuster.

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The White House

Trump signs order to restrict gender-affirming health care for minors

HRC and Congressional Equality Caucus denounced the move

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President Donald Trump (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

President Donald Trump on Tuesday signed an executive order barring gender-affirming health care for minors, the latest action by the newly seated administration that takes aim at the rights and protections of transgender Americans.

The executive order, which prohibits the federal government from engaging in activities to “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” trans medicine for patients younger than 19, is based on arguments that these treatments lead to financial hardship and regret later in life.

In reality, scientific and medical organizations publish and maintain clinical practice guidelines on gender-affirming care that are based on hundreds of peer reviewed studies assessing the relative risks and benefits associated with each intervention.

ā€œEveryone deserves the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions for themselves and their families ā€” no matter your income, zip code, or health coverage,ā€ said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. ā€œThis executive order is a brazen attempt to put politicians in between people and their doctors, preventing them from accessing evidence-based health care supported by every major medical association in the country.”

Robinson added, “It is deeply unfair to play politics with peopleā€™s lives and strip transgender young people, their families, and their providers of the freedom to make necessary health care decisions. Questions about this care should be answered by doctors ā€” not politicians ā€” and decisions must rest with families, doctors, and the patient.ā€

HRC noted that in practical terms, the federal government will effectuate this policy by taking such actions as “removing coverage for gender-affirming care from federal health insurance policies, modifying requirements under the Affordable Care Act, and preventing hospitals or other medical providers who accept Medicare or Medicaid, or who receive federal funding for research or education, from providing gender-affirming care of any kind to people under the age of 19.”

ā€œThis executive order to deny young transgender people access to the evidence-based, medically-necessary and often lifesaving care they need is an attempt by Donald Trump to insert himself into doctorsā€™ offices across the country and override their medical judgment,ā€Ā said U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), chair of the Congressional Equality Caucus.

ā€œDecisions about a young personā€™s healthcare belong with the patient, their families, and their doctors,” he added. “Politicians should not be overriding the private medical decisions of any person, period.ā€

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