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Tim Walz celebrates Shepard family in HRC National Dinner speech

Minn. governor detailed his and running mate’s pro-LGBTQ records

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Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks at the 2024 Human Rights Campaign National Dinner at the Walter E. Washington Convention Center on Sept. 7, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

In a speech Saturday night at the Human Rights Campaign National Dinner, Minnesota governor and 2024 Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz discussed how he came to know the Shepard family when working in Congress to pass the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act.

“When the final vote was coming up in the House, it was going to be close,” he said. “I walked through the House floor, through the tunnels, from the Longworth House Office Building over to the Capitol, and I made that walk with Matthew’s mom, Judy Shepard, and the sheriff who found Matthew’s body tied to that fence post in Wyoming, and I remember walking with a mother who lost her son and hearing the sheriff tell me the only place he wasn’t bloody was where the tears ran down Matthew’s eyes.”

“I watched a mother and the unbelievable pain that I couldn’t even fathom, to lose a child this way, walk with her head held high to make sure that none of the rest of us ever have to get a call from someone,” Walz said.

The governor invited the crowd to applaud for Judy and Dennis Shepard, who were in attendance, adding that the room was full of “heroes” like them who had, in ways both big and small, endeavored “to make people’s lives a little bit easier.”

Walz began his speech by highlighting the many ways in which Vice President Kamala Harris has fought “every single day on the side of the American people,” relentlessly working to expand rights and protections for the LGBTQ community throughout her career and promising to build on this legacy if she is elected president in November.

“As the DA of San Francisco, Vice President Harris took one of the toughest stances in the nation against hate crimes,” he said. “She led the fight against the hateful gay and transgender panic defense.”

Walz continued, “she went on to become the attorney general of the largest state in the country, and the moment it arrived, to defend marriage equality. And she threw her whole self into that fight. You know Kamala Harris. She doesn’t just pick these fights when she talks about it, and this is the thing to keep in mind: All she does is win. All she does is win.”

“As a U.S. senator, she fought hard for the Equality Act, introduced a bill to make sure you had access to PrEP, and as vice president, and I say this, it is not a stretch, and the facts are there, this is the most pro LGBTQ+-administration in American history,” the governor said.

“She helped President Biden pass the landmark Respect for Marriage Act requiring every state and territory to fully honor same sex and interracial marriage,” Walz said. “She helped stop the ignorant and Byzantine practice of banning gay and bisexual men from donating blood.”

Harris has worked to improve mental healthcare for LGBTQ youth, he added, and “she made human rights for LGBTQ+ individuals around the world a top priority in this nation’s foreign policy” while working with the president on “historic executive orders protecting folks from discrimination.”

Walz then turned to his own record, beginning with his career as a schoolteacher and football coach before his election to Congress. He said, “some of my students, and this is in the late 90s, we’re concerned about an uptick in bullying amongst the gay lesbian community in our school.”

When one of those students, who was in the audience Saturday, had asked him to serve as faculty advisor for the gay straight alliance club, Walz recalled, “I said ‘absolutely.’ I understood what it meant to be that older, strange, white guy” standing up for the school’s LGBTQ students in such a public manner.

In 2006, when running for Congress as a Democrat in a deep-red district, “I was in a state that advanced same sex marriage for a decade,” Walz said. “But I knew I was right, and I ran on a platform that supported equality.”

The notion that he won despite taking pro-LGBTQ and pro-choice positions is misleading, the governor said — he won because of those reasons.

Walz then detailed how he fought for the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” as the top Democrat on the Veterans Affairs Committee, operating under the maxim that “you don’t get elected to office to bank political capital so you can get elected again” but rather “you get elected office to burn political capital to improve [people’s] lives.”

As governor, he said, the “first thing we did is we banned conversion therapy,” and throughout his first and second terms in office, “we protected the transgender community.”

“We banned banning books,” he said, pushing back against efforts to target and remove content with LGBTQ characters and themes, a preoccupation of Republicans including the 2024 GOP presidential and vice presidential nominees Donald Trump and U.S. Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio).

“This is what these folks are focusing on, spending all their time, like reading about two male penguins who love each other is somehow going to turn your children gay,” Walz said, setting up a contrast between the Democratic and Republican tickets.

The other side believes “the government should be free to invade every corner of our lives, our bedrooms, our kids’ schools, even our doctor’s office,” Walz said, and they have laid out a “playbook” to make that happen with Project 2025, the Heritage Foundation’s governing blueprint for a second Trump administration.

“This Project 2025 that’s out there to restrict freedoms, demonize this community, bully vulnerable children, the message is simple from all of us, and here in about 59 days, you’re going to get a chance to send that message: leave our kids the hell alone.”

Walz then pivoted to Trump’s ban on transgender military service members. “We’ve had thousands of brave transgender troops, decorated warriors, who served this country. When Donald Trump was commander-in-chief, he belittled them and he banned them from service. Thankfully, President Biden and vice president Harris rescinded that stupid, bigoted policy.”

He added, “If you want to serve this nation, you should be allowed to, and what we should do is respect that service. They should not get incoming fire from their commander-in-chief, attacking their basic dignity, humanity, and patriotism. And I will say this, I didn’t serve for 24 years in this to have those guys diminish another troop’s service.”

“We’re not going back to the discrimination,” Walz said. “We’re not going to force our children into situations where they become suicidal. We’re not going to continue to demonize people because of who they are, and we’re not going to continue to allow people in this country to go hungry or to be shot dead because we don’t make decisions that can improve that.”

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Congress

Senate parliamentarian orders removal of gender-affirming care ban from GOP reconciliation bill

GOP Senate Leader John Thune (S.D.) hoped to pass the bill by end-of-week

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Restrictions on the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care will be stripped from the Republican-led Senate reconciliation bill, following a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian on Tuesday that struck down a number of health related provisions.

The legislation banned coverage for transgender medical care through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, language that was also included in the House version of the bill passed on May 22 with a vote of 215-214.

The parliamentarian’s decision also rejected Republican proposals for a Medicaid provider tax framework, which allows states to charge health care providers and use the funds to support their programs, along with broader cuts to Medicaid.

Amid calls to override Tuesday’s ruling from Republicans like U.S. Rep. Greg Steube (Fla.), GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune (S.D.) told reporters “That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done.”

He also acknowledged that the timing and schedule might have to be adjusted. Senate Republicans had hoped to pass the reconciliation bill by the end of this week, though this was not a legal or procedural deadline.

Dubbed the “one big, beautiful bill” by President Donald Trump, the legislation would extend tax breaks from 2017 that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations. To cover the cost, which is estimated to exceed $4 trillion over 10 years, the bill would make drastic cuts to social welfare programs, particularly Medicaid.

Democrats are not in a position to negotiate across the aisle with Republicans holding majorities in both chambers of Congress, but for months they have been calling attention to the effort by their GOP colleagues to strip Americans of their health insurance to pay for the tax breaks.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that 10.9 million people would lose their coverage, either through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act marketplaces. Some Republicans like U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (Mo.) are pushing back against the deep cuts to Medicaid, arguing they would be devastating for many of their constituents and also to hospitals, nursing homes, and community health care providers in rural areas.

In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade on Tuesday, U.S. Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin (Ill.) said, “Anti-trans extremists are attempting to use the full power of the government to hurt kids, and recent Supreme Court decisions in Skrmetti and Medina are enabling their quest.”

While today’s ruling by the Senate parliamentarian is a temporary win, I will keep pushing back on these shameful attempts to harm trans kids and their families for trying to live authentically,” said the senator, who also serves as ranking member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee.

U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.), who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus, also shared a statement with the Washington Blade addressing the parliamentarian’s ruling:

“This ruling by the Senate Parliamentarian is a win for the transgender people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP to access the healthcare they need to live fuller, happier, and healthier lives—but the fight is not over yet,” the congressman said.

 “Republican Senators must abide by her ruling and remove the ban from the final version of Trump’s Big Ugly Bill,” he said. “Yet, even with this provision removed, this bill is terrible for the American people, including trans Americans. Every Equality Caucus member voted against it in the House and we’re ready to do so again if the Senate sends it back to the House.”

The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release with a statement from the organization’s vice president for government affairs, David Stacy:

“The fact remains that this bill belongs in the trash. It continues to include devastating cuts to health care programs — including Medicaid — that would disproportionately harm the LGBTQ+ community, all so the already rich can receive huge tax cuts,” Stacy said.

“While it comes as a relief that the Senate parliamentarian concluded that one provision in the nightmarish reconciliation bill that would have denied essential, best practice health care to transgender adults does not belong, we aren’t done fighting,” he said. “With attacks on our community coming from many directions, including the Supreme Court, we will work to defeat this bill with everything we’ve got.”


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Congress

Murkowski, Shaheen reintroduce Global Respect Act

Bill would sanction foreign nationals who commit anti-LGBTQ human rights abuses

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Then-U.S. Ambassador to Hungary David Pressman marches in the 2024 Budapest Pride parade that took place against the backdrop of the Hungarian government's continued anti-LGBTQ crackdown. The Global Respect Act would sanction foreign nationals who carry out human rights abuses against LGBTQ and intersex people. (Photo courtesy of Pressman's X account)

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) on Wednesday once again introduced a bill that would sanction foreign nationals who carry out human rights abuses against LGBTQ and intersex people.

The two senators have previously introduced the Global Respect Act. Co-sponsors include U.S. Sens. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.), Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Cory Booker (D-N.J.), Peter Welch (D-Vt.), Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii), Edward Markey (D-Mass.), Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.)

“Around the world, individuals who are part of the LGBTQ+ community are in danger for simply existing,” said Murkowski in a press release. “Hate and violence cannot and should not be tolerated. I’m hopeful that this legislation will establish actionable consequences for these inexcusable human rights violations, and create a safer world for all people — regardless of who they are or who they love.” 

Shaheen in the press release notes “the risk of personal harm for LGBTQI individuals for publicly identifying who they are or expressing who they love has tragically increased in recent years.”

“Human rights, as defined by the Universal Declaration of Human rights, recognizes that global freedom, justice, and peace depend on ‘the inherent dignity’ and ‘the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family,” said the New Hampshire Democrat. “LBGTQI human rights are universal human rights. We must ensure that we hold all violators of those rights accountable.” 

The promotion of LGBTQ and intersex rights abroad was a cornerstone of the Biden-Harris administration’s foreign policy.

The current White House has suspended most foreign aid. The elimination of these funds has left the global LGBTQ and intersex rights movement reeling.

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Congress

Garcia elected top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee

Gay Calif. lawmaker vows to hold Trump-Vance administration accountable

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U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

U.S. Rep. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.) on Tuesday was elected top Democrat on the House Oversight Committee in a vote that signaled the conference’s overwhelming support for a newer voice on Capitol Hill who will play a key role taking on President Donald Trump.

With a margin of 150-63, the 47-year-old openly gay congressman defeated U.S. Rep. Stephen Lynch (D-Mass.), alongside U.S. Reps. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) and Kweisi Mfume (D-Md.) who exited the race after the House Democratic Steering and Policy Committee backed Garcia.

Serving only since 2023, the congressman has had a remarkably quick ascent leading up to his election this week as ranking member of one of the most powerful House committees, awarded a leadership position serving under House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) and selected as a co-chair of former Vice President Kamala Harris’s 2024 presidential campaign.

Democratic members began jockeying for the top seat on the oversight committee this spring after the late-U.S. Rep. Gerry Connolly of Virginia stepped away amid news that his esophageal cancer had returned. He died in May.

Connolly last year fended off a challenge from one of the most well known House Democrats, U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (N.Y.), though with a narrower margin that signaled intra-party tensions over whether leadership roles should still be awarded based on seniority.

Garcia positioned himself as a bridge between the two camps — a consensus candidate with executive managerial experience as the former mayor of Long Beach, Calif. At the same time, particularly since the start of Trump’s second term, the congressman has emerged as one of the most outspoken critics of the new Republican regime.

In a statement on X Tuesday, Garcia thanked his colleagues and promised to “hold Donald Trump and his administration accountable.”

If Democrats win control of the House next year, the oversight committee will be able to exercise powers that are now available only to Republicans under the chair, U.S. Rep. James Comer (R-Ky.), which include the authority to investigate virtually any matter across the federal government, to issue subpoenas, and to compel testimony.

In the meantime, Garcia on Monday promised that Democrats on the committee would “vigorously fight” Republican Speaker Mike Johnson’s (La.) plans “to dismantle the Government Accountability Office.”

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