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22 LGBT Advances That (Probably) Will Disappear Under A President Romney

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Under a President Mitt Romney, there are at least 22 advances in LGBT civil rights delivered by President Barack Obama that most likely will disappear. While Nancy Pelosi and, to a far lesser extent, Harry Reid, have worked to support civil rights and protections for the gay community, Barack Obama has — sometimes with great fanfare, oftentimes in the shadows — delivered important advances.

Back in 2010, at Change.org, I wrote a somewhat controversial (at the time) article, “Obama’s Gay Rights Come With An Expiration Date,” which stated:

President Obama should know better than to incrementalize gay rights, and tie them to his presidency. And yet, that’s exactly what he’s doing.

…

President Obama has slowly and quietly doled out rights to the LGBTQ community. These are rights we should have by the very nature of our existence, rights that every other American has upon birth, but the president has doled them out cautiously, meekly, without pomp or circumstance, and, worse, he has tied them to his presidency.

This tactic is problematic for two reasons.

First, by expanding our civil rights by issuing executive orders and memoranda, President Obama’s gay civil rights come with an expiration date. Yes, that’s right. The rights he has decreed, without working through Congress, are tied to his presidency. Any of his successors can, simply with the stroke of a pen, wipe out all our hard-earned rights, just because he or she wants to. Do you honestly think the next Republican president won’t do that?

Today, the Washington Blade’s Chris Johnson posts a long list of 21 LGBT advances a President Romney could — with the stroke of a pen or incrementally — make disappear into a more progressive history.

Asking, “Would President Romney undo pro-LGBT advances?,” Johnson notes:

Many of the pro-LGBT advances that have happened under the Obama administration occurred through changes made by the executive branch rather than through legislation. Changes that were made without the consent of Congress could be reversed under an administration that wanted to cozy up to the religious right.

The Washington Blade has identified five regulatory changes and 16 sub-regulatory changes enacted by the Obama administration that could be reversed if Romney were elected to the White House. These changes include giving greater recognition to same-sex couples, protecting federal LGBT workers against discrimination and ensuring the federal government recognizes the correct gender of transgender people.

The one Johnson doesn’t include in his list of “five regulatory changes and 16 sub-regulatory changes” is the most-obvious: Obama’s support of same-sex marriage equality.

Here’s the list from the Blade:

Regulations

The Administrative Procedures Act provides safeguards against politically motivated policy switches. Thus repealing the policies below would involve a multi-year process.

  • The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted a regulation ending the ban on HIV-positive visitors and immigrants.
  • President Obama issued Presidential Memorandum in April 2010 directing HHS to issue regulations requiring all hospitals receiving Medicaid and Medicare to prohibit discrimination in visitation against LGBT people. HHS issued a final regulation that went into effect in early 2011.
  • HUD issued final regulations in January 2012 prohibiting discrimination in federal public housing programs and federally insured mortgage loans.  HUD also requires its grantees to comply with LGBT-inclusive state and local housing discrimination protections.
  • The Office of Personnel Management published final regulations in the Federal Register expanding the eligibility for long-term care coverage to same-sex partners and sick leave to care for a same-sex partner.
  •  The federal Prison Rape Elimination Commission proposed national standards to reduce sexual abuse in correctional facilities, including standards regarding LGBT and intersex inmates. They were later instituted as a rule finalized by the Justice Department last month.

Sub-Regulatory Guidance/Policy Announcements

These are policy advances instituted by — and subject to the will of — the administration.

  • The Department of Health and Human Services revised its funding guidance around abstinence-only-until-marriage sex education programs, requiring that recipient programs are inclusive of and non-stigmatizing toward LGBT youth.
  • HHS, in partnership with the Department of Education and Department of Justice, launched stopbullyingnow.com.
  • The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency recently released new 2011 Performance Based National Detention Standards.  These new standards provide guidance that aims to improve treatment of LGBT and HIV-positive people in detention facilities.
  • In summer 2011, ICE published a memo and clarifying guidance providing that an individual’s family relationships, including a same-sex relationship, would be considered as a factor in labeling certain deportations as low-priority deportations.
  • The U.S. Customs and Border Patrol announced a proposed regulatory change expanding the meaning of “members of a family residing in one household” for the purposes of the customs declaration form, which must be completed prior to re-entry to the United States.
  • The DOJ issued an opinion clarifying that the criminal provisions of the Violence Against Women Act related to stalking and abuse apply equally to same-sex partners.
  • The State Department revised the standards for changing a gender marker on a passport, making the process less burdensome for transgender people.
  • In September 2011, the Social Security Administration confirmed that it ended the practice of allowing gender to be matched in its Social Security Number Verification System (SSNVS). This resulted in the immediate cessation of SSA sending notifications that alert employers when the gender marker on an employee’s W-2 does not match Social Security records.
  • The State Department extended numerous benefits to the partners of Foreign Service officers, including diplomatic passports and access to emergency evacuation.
  • The State Department reversed a Bush administration policy that refused to use a same-sex marriage license as evidence of a name change for passports.
  • The Department of Education issued guidance clarifying when student bullying may violate federal law, distributed a memo outlining key components of strong state anti-bullying laws and policies and made clear to public schools that gay-straight alliances have a right to form and meet.
  • The Department of Education published guidance and, in coordination with the Department of Justice, has pursued Title IX complaints filed by LGBT students experiencing harassment based on sex or sex stereotyping.
  • OPM added gender identity to the equal employment opportunity policy governing all federal jobs.
  • The Department of Labor issued guidance clarifying that an employee can take time off under the Family and Medical Leave Act to care for a same-sex partner’s child.
  • The IRS clarified that domestic partners (and their children) can be designated beneficiaries for VEBA funding/payment purposes.
  • The Census Bureau overturned the Bush administration’s interpretation of the Defense of Marriage Act and agreed to release data on married same-sex couples along with other demographic information from the 2010 Census.

SOURCE: HRC

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‘Whatever Will Trump Do?’: Epstein Files Release One Step Closer

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November 10, 2025

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The long-awaited release of the Epstein files appears to be one step closer, after Speaker of the House Mike Johnson announced on Monday that Adelita Grijalva, the Representative-elect from Arizona, will be sworn into office before the upcoming vote on legislation to reopen the government.

Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman was first to report Johnson’s announcement, and suggested that the House could reconvene on Wednesday.

Grijalva’s swearing in is expected to secure the 218th signature on a discharge petition to release the long-awaited files. Johnson has been accused of keeping the House in recess and not swearing her in to delay the release of the files.

Grijalva was elected nearly seven weeks ago. Last week on Tuesday, observing the six-week mark, she accused Speaker Johnson of “obstruction.”

The Chair of the House Congressional Hispanic Caucus, in a letter to Speaker Johnson wrote, “delaying her seating denies nearly one million Arizonans in AZ-07 meaningful representation, constituent services, and a voice in the House. This denial of representation is an abuse of procedural power, and it comes at a time when the government shutdown is amplifying pressures on families and communities.”

House Oversight Committee Democrats responded to the news that Johnson said he will swear her in, writing, “Speaker Johnson could’ve done this WEEKS ago. The White House coverup is clear. It’s time to release the files and expose whatever the Donald Trump and Pam Bondi don’t want to come out.”

“Whatever will Trump do?” asked MSNBC legal analyst Joyce Vance, a former U.S. Attorney. “Ending the shutdown means bringing back the House for a vote on the Epstein files.”

Stephen Richer, a senior fellow at the Harvard Kennedy School, noted: “This will be longest period of time in US History between the special election and the swearing-in of the new representative.”

CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Evan Gold remarked, “Left with no choice, the Constitution will finally be served.”

 

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‘Go Hide Underground’: Left Furious as Dem-Voting Senator Says Shutdown ‘Didn’t Work’

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November 10, 2025

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U.S. Senator Angus King of Maine, an independent who votes with Democrats, was one of eight senators who crossed the aisle late Sunday night to vote to advance legislation to reopen the federal government, with no guarantees Obamacare subsidy funding would be restored.

There is a brewing “widespread backlash” against those on the left who voted to end the shutdown, just days after massive Democratic Election Day wins many believe sent a strong message to Republicans and President Trump.

Now, some of the eight, including Senator King, have opted to head to Fox News to defend their votes.

King said the goals of the shutdown were “standing up to Donald Trump” and “some resolution on the ACA premium tax credit issue.”

READ MORE: ‘The Whole Thing Is Imploding’: Chaos and Rebellion at America’s Top Right-Wing Think Tank

“The problem was the shutdown wasn’t accomplishing either goals, and there was practically, well, it was zero likelihood that it was going to,” King told Fox News on Monday.

“In terms of standing up to Donald Trump, the shutdown actually gave him more power,” he said.

Media Matters’ Matthew Gertz remarked, “Bold choice going with a strategy of ‘we are losers.'”

“The people who cut this ‘deal’ should really just go hide underground for a week because their messaging is so awful that it is only making things worse for them,” The Bulwark’s Tim Miller wrote. “You won! Say you won! Or shut up.”

READ MORE: ‘Impossible to Lose’: Trump Pitches Strategy to Cement One-Party Rule

Journalist and author Diana B. Henriques commented, “This is tone-deaf, defeatist, and nonsensical given the top-to-bottom Dem victory on Tuesday.”

The Bulwark’s Joe Perticone added, “Usually when you cave, you’re supposed to go on TV and spin it as actually a win/compromise. You’re not supposed to go on and say ‘I caved.'”

The Nation’s Jeet Heer observed, “i don’t know how you can have a democracy without an opposition party.”

READ MORE: Trump Admin Starts Setting Stage for Recession — and Shifting the Blame

 

 

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‘The Whole Thing Is Imploding’: Chaos and Rebellion at America’s Top Right-Wing Think Tank

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November 9, 2025

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Founded in 1973, the Heritage Foundation has become what its president, Kevin Roberts, now hails as the “intellectual backbone” of the conservative movement. It crafted the policy blueprint that powered President Ronald Reagan’s right-wing revolution — and today, under Roberts’s leadership, it’s once again shaping the machinery of power. Through its highly controversial Project 2025 — a plan widely credited to Roberts as its chief architect — Heritage laid out a road map for President Donald Trump’s second-term agenda. But Roberts’s recent missteps have rattled the institution, raising strong questions about his leadership — and the future direction of the conservative movement itself.

Roberts gained widespread attention in July 2024 when he issued a warning to Democrats: “we are in the process of the second American Revolution, which will remain bloodless if the left allows it to be.”

At the time, Biden campaign spokesperson James Singer said, “they are threatening violence.”

As did others.

“Kevin Roberts is threatening violence to anyone not following his dear leader,” former Republican and former U.S. Congressman Denver Riggleman wrote. “Every network should cover this.”

Roberts’s remarks had come just after the U.S. Supreme Court recognized a new constitutional principle of “presidential immunity” for official acts — a decision critics say President Donald Trump has wielded to expand his power.

Late last month, Roberts came under tremendous criticism after throwing his support behind former Fox News host Tucker Carlson, who had a two-hour interview with far-right extremist leader Nick Fuentes, whom many see as promoting Christian nationalism, white supremacy, racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and Islamophobia.

“There has been speculation that @Heritage is distancing itself from @TuckerCarlson over the past 24 hours,” Roberts wrote on October 30 when posting the video that sparked this current firestorm. “I want to put that to rest right now.”

The editors of the right-wing National Review in a scathing editorial explained the issue: “Tucker Carlson, knee-deep already, has taken another step into the muck with a friendly interview with Nick Fuentes.”

HERITAGE “WILL ALWAYS DEFEND OUR FRIENDS … THAT INCLUDES TUCKER CARLSON”

Roberts had wasted no time in coming to Carlson’s defense.

“The Heritage Foundation didn’t become the intellectual backbone of the conservative movement by canceling our own people or policing the consciences of Christians. And we won’t start doing that now,” he said in his video supporting Carlson.

Roberts insisted that Heritage “will always defend our friends against the slander of bad actors who serve someone else’s agenda. That includes Tucker Carlson, who remains, and as I have said before, always will be a close friend of the Heritage Foundation.”

Criticism of Roberts was immediate.

Journalist Yashar Ali called it a “watershed moment.”

“In his statement,” Ali wrote, “Kevin condemns what he calls a ‘venomous coalition’ that is ‘sowing division’ by attacking Tucker. That ‘venomous coalition,’ includes MAGA Republicans as well as Jewish conservative commentators, activists, and donors.”

“Kevin also frames Nick Fuentes’s rhetoric as worthy of debate, rather than something to be condemned outright. A shift like this would’ve been unthinkable for Heritage just three years ago.”

Condemnations came, and continue to do so — from both outside and inside Heritage.

CNN’s Andrew Kaczynski on Thursday reported on what one senior staffer called the “absolute s–” swirling inside Heritage.

“The staff that we talked to told us the Heritage Foundation is in open revolt over the president’s defense of Carlson,” Kaczynski explained.

That senior staffer also told CNN that Roberts had “lost control over the organization.”

Kaczynski noted that they also “said there’s an open rebellion, and this really all came to a head [Wednesday], where they had this all hands meeting … this was kind of going around social media, where Roberts publicly apologized, according to her recording we obtained, Roberts told employees, ‘I made a mistake. I let you down. I let this institution down. I’m sorry.'”

“But,” Kaczynski added, Roberts “also made clear he has no plans to resign.”

On Friday, Reason senior editor Stephanie Slade wrote that at a Thursday night event, “I was asked if the crisis at Heritage Foundation seemed to be blowing over. This morning I received a message from someone inside the building about Kevin Roberts: ‘He needs to be made to resign by the [Heritage] Foundation Board of Trustees.'”

“In speaking to current and former Heritage staffers over the last week,” Slade continued, “the emotion I’ve most commonly encountered is disgust and the words I’ve most commonly heard are ‘Kevin Roberts has to go.'”

By Wednesday, as Ali noted, Roberts had “made his fourth public statement on the Tucker Carlson/Nick Fuentes situation … over the course of six days.” After the initial video that ignited the firestorm, Roberts made three other attempts to “clean up” his remarks.

According to The Wall Street Journal’s Elliot Kaufman, Heritage senior fellow Amy Swearer, in remarks before Heritage staff, told Roberts, “over the last week, you have shown a stunning lack of both courage and judgment.”

She called Roberts’ initial defense of Carlson “at best … equal parts incoherent, unhelpful and naive.”

“At worst, it was more akin to a master class in cowardice that ran cover for the most unhinged dregs of the far right.”

“LOST MILLIONS OF DOLLARS IN DONATIONS”

Heritage also appears to be losing important donors.

“One major donor, whose organization contributes more than a half million dollars annually to Heritage Foundation, told us that they had totally lost faith in Roberts,” Kaczynski reported.

“They said, ‘I see how things play out, but if Kevin remains as president, we will not be giving to Heritage.'”

“Likewise, the Zionist Organization of America, that’s actually the oldest pro-Israel group in the United States, announced that it has withdrawn from Heritage’s initiative on antisemitism, unless Roberts publicly apologized, and retract his praise for Carlson.”

Newsmax reported that “Zionist Organization of America President Morton Klein told Newsmax Friday that Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts should resign immediately.”

“My organization has many of the same donors as Heritage,” Klein also said. “They’ve told me that they’re stopping all funding for Heritage until they get rid of Kevin Roberts, so yes, they have lost millions of dollars in donations since this controversy arose.”

Klein also “pointed to longtime Heritage fellow Stephen Moore’s recent departure.”

“He doesn’t want to be involved with Heritage, which is now tainted as an antisemitic, bigoted organization,” Klein told Newsmax. “It’s harmed everything else they do.”

Mark Goldfeder, CEO of the National Jewish Advocacy Center, told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that “Any tent that is big enough for them …is too big for me,” referring to Fuentes and his allies.

The Journal reported that “Goldfeder resigned from Heritage’s National Task Force to Combat Antisemitism in the aftermath of Roberts’s video.”

“CIVIL WAR AT THE HERITAGE FOUNDATION”

Other critics outside Heritage have also been observing Roberts’ crumbling support, and what it means for the future of the organization, its president, and the conservative movement.

“The civil war at the Heritage Foundation is far more consequential than most people realize,” noted Mike Madrid, the prominent Latino Republican political consultant. “The divide seems irreconcilable and it could splinter the American right irreversibly.”

Conservative New York Times opinion columnist David French wrote on Sunday, “I don’t know if Roberts will survive at Heritage.”

“I do know that Carlson and Fuentes and their constellation of friends and allies are far too popular to cancel or even to contain,” he noted, and observed: “The fight for the future of the Republican Party is underway.”

And pointing to a Washington Post article on the crisis at Heritage, Madrid declared: “The whole thing is imploding.”

 

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