News
Marco Rubio: Same-sex marriage bill ‘a stupid waste of time’
Schumer signals plan to bring measure to Senate floor
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-Fla.) left no question Wednesday about where he stands on legislation to codify same-sex marriage, telling reporters the measure is a “stupid waste of time.”
“That bill’s not important. It’s a waste of our time on a non issue,” Rubio said, according to Business Insider’s Bryan Metzger. “But I know plenty of gay people in Florida that are pissed off about gas prices.”
Rubio’s remarks are consistent with his comment in previous years in opposition to same-sex marriage. As a presidential candidate in 2015, Rubio said the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2015 ruling in Obergefell v. Hodges is “not settled law” and compared the decision to Roe v. Wade, which justices recently overturned in the Dobbs decision.
The Florida Republican was asked his views on the Respect for Marriage Act, which the House approved Tuesday on a bipartisan basis in an effort to protect same-sex marriage after the ruling in the Dobbs case, as reporters on Capitol Hill sought to determine whether sufficient GOP support exists in the Senate to end a filibuster.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) said on the Senate floor Wednesday he was counting votes and plans to bring the measure to a floor vote.
Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), now a critic of former President Trump but formerly a champion of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage nationwide, said the House bill was “unnecessary,” according to Politico’s Burgess Everett.
“I haven’t given consideration to that legislation, in part because the law isn’t changing and there’s no indication that it will,” Romney was quoted as saying.
“I was really impressed by how much bipartisan support it got in the House,” Schumer said, according to the Washington Post. “I want to bring this bill to the floor, and we’re working to get the necessary Senate Republican support to ensure it would pass.”
Republicans who signaled support for the legislation include Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), who said he’d seek to co-sponsor the Senate version of the bill, and Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), who told reporters he “probably will” vote for it.
One Democratic holdout may be Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), who once had the distinction of being the only member of the Senate Democratic caucus not to have come out in favor of same-sex marriage.
Manchin, however, signaled general support for the Respect for Marriage Act when asked Wednesday about the legislation, according to CNN’s Manu Raju.
“I haven’t seen the final print but I don’t have a problem,” Manchin was quoted as saying.
Politics
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’
Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.
“Mr. Santos, words have consequences,” said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. “You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.”
The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.
His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.
Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.
The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw
School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ‘warmth, humor, kindness’
Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.
Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.
“Patrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,” Martinez said. “He was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.”
In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.
“Patrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,” his colleagues said in their posting. “His daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.”
The posted message adds, “Patrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.”
The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon.
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
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Taste of Point returns May 7
Calendar: April 25-May 1
HHS to retire 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth
David Hogg’s arrogant, self-indulgent stunt
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Gay talk show host wins GOP nom for Va. lieutenant guv
On Pope Francis, Opus Dei and ongoing religious intolerance
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