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The Gay Agenda: What’s Next After Marriage Equality?

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Now that the LGBT community has equal marriage rights, what’s next?

On June 26, the United States Supreme Court ruled that same-sex couples are now legally able to marry in all 50 states. With that ruling, people in the LGBT community gained hundreds of rights previously only afforded to heterosexual couples, but despite so many rights gained with one ruling, equality is still elusive. Where should the community focus their efforts next? We offer a few ideas below.

Employment – Believe it or not, it is still legal to fire someone for being lesbian, gay, or bisexual in over half the country. There are 29 states that don’t have employment protection laws based on sexual orientation, and it’s legal to fire someone based on gender identity in 30 states. According to the Human Rights Campaign, LGBT people still face serious discrimination in employment, including being fired, being denied a promotion and experiencing harassment on the job.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) would provide basic protections against workplace discrimination; however, in 2014, after the Hobby Lobby ruling, major LGBT rights organizations withdrew their support of ENDA as it stood due to vague religious exemptions. The fear was that the exemptions could make things worse for the LGBT community. ENDA now remains in limbo with no clear path forward. It’s time to pass an inclusive ENDA without giving people the right to discriminate while hiding behind religious exemptions. All people should have the right to work regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity.

Blood Ban – Even though all donated blood is fully tested, any man who has had sex with another man since 1977 is banned for life from giving blood. All blood is vigorously tested, and the American Red Cross, the American Association of Blood Banks, and America’s Blood Centers have publicly spoken out against the gay blood ban. Earlier this year, the FDA announced they would be removing the lifetime ban, and would be replacing it with one that would ban any male from donating blood if they had had sex with another man within the past year. David Stacy, HRC Government Affairs Director, says the policy, “prevents men from donating life-saving blood based solely on their sexual orientation rather than actual risk to the blood supply. It simply cannot be justified in light of current scientific research and updated blood screening technology.” According to the Huffington Post, the new recommendations are still open to public comment, and the FDA will issue final rules soon. To learn more about how you can do more to end the gay blood ban, visit www.gayblooddrive.com.

Conversion Therapy – There are still places that try to change people’s sexual orientation and gender identity by using inhumane techniques such as electroshock therapy, induced nausea, paralysis while showing the patient homoerotic images, and much more. A documentary titled “Kidnapped for Christ“ exposes some of the harsh treatments undergone through conversion therapy. In May of this year, Oregon became the third state to ban conversion therapy, also known as reparative therapy, to minors. California, New Jersey, and Washington, D.C. also have bans. Organizations such as the American Psychiatric Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics have all come out against conversion therapy. In response to a petition that gathered more than 120,000 signatures, the White House made a public statement in support of banning all conversion practices directed towards minors. 

“The overwhelming scientific evidence demonstrates that conversion therapy, especially when it is practiced on young people, is neither medically nor ethically appropriate and can cause substantial harm,” the statement said. “As part of our dedication to protecting America’s youth, this Administration supports efforts to ban the use of conversion therapy for minors.”

Banning conversion therapy to minors is a great start, but it’s not enough. Last May, Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.) introduced federal legislation that would ban the widely discredited practice of conversion therapy throughout the country, and would classify the practice as fraud under the Federal Trade Commission Act. We need to make it a priority to pass this legislation in order to protect the mental health of our community and save lives. 

Transgender Individuals Serving in the Military – Even though the ban on gays, lesbians, and bisexuals in the military was struck down, people in the transgender community are still prohibited from serving. According to the HRC, there are approximately 15,500 actively serving transgender members of the U.S. military, and unlike “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” the ban on transgender military service is regulatory and only requires action by the Department of Defense to update. At least 18 countries, including Australia, Canada, and Israel allow, military service by transgender personnel. 

Anti bullying – Bullying is a major issue for LGBT youth. GLSEN reported the following statistics in their 2013 National School Climate Survey by GLSEN:

  • 74.1% of LGBT students were verbally harassed in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 55.2% because of their gender expression.
  • 36.2% were physically harassed in the past year because of their sexual orientation and 22.7% because of their gender expression.
  • 71.4% of LGBT students heard “gay” used in a negative way (e.g., “that’s so gay”) frequently or often at school, and 90.8% reported that they felt distressed because of this language.
  • 64.5% heard other homophobic remarks (e.g., “dyke” or “faggot”) frequently or often.
  • 55.5% of LGBT students felt unsafe at school because of their sexual orientation, and 37.8% because of their gender expression.
  • 30.3% of LGBT students missed at least one entire day of school in the past month because they felt unsafe or uncomfortable, and over a tenth (10.6%) missed four or more days in the past month.

We need better protections for LGBT youth in schools, similar to what New York did with the Dignity for All Students Act. 

LGBT Youth Homelessness – Each year, between 500,000 and 1.6 million youth in the US are homeless or runaways and LGBT youth make up 20-40% of those numbers. This is a huge percentage! Unfortunately, some people are even turned away from shelters because of their sexual orientation or gender identity. There are things we can do, though. Check out the Forty to None Project for more information. 

There are, of course, many other concerns that need to be addressed as well, but these are a few key ones. Which ones do you think we should focus on? Is there an issue we missed that you think deserves more attention and focus? Let us know in the comments section below. 

 

Image by JoshuaMHoover via Flickr and a CC license

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HUMILIATING

Trump DOJ Nominee Surprised By Questions About Tweets Insulting Judiciary Committee Members

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June 24, 2026

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Konstantinos Ligris, a DOJ nominee floated by President Donald Trump, seemed surprised when he was asked about tweets insulting two sitting senators serving on the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Trump sent Ligris’s nomination to the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on Wednesday. If confirmed, Ligris would become an assistant attorney general for the Office of Justice Programs. The OJP is an agency under the Department of Justice best known for controlling criminal justice grants.

In Wednesday’s hearing, in clips surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar, committee ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) grilled the DOJ nominee about tweets he had written insulting a number of politicians, including Gov. Tim Walz (D-MN), Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME), as well as police officers as a whole.

READ MORE: ‘Coverup’: Kristol Says a Senate Vote on Blanche Should Be a Vote on Epstein

“I can’t imagine how you can defend some of the things that you’ve been posting for years, some of the things that you’ve written,” Durbin said. “There’s this awful tweet that you put in the record, a matter of public record, now. In light of what you’re seeking here… in 2024, Ligris referred to police officers as ‘dumb as dirt,’ close quote, when writing quote ‘breach of peace, typical cop dumb as dirt.’  And now you’re seeking a position to work with police departments all over the United States, and to give to these officers who risk their lives for you and me, officers which you’ve referred to as dumb as dirt. You’re going to be allocating federal funds. How could you do that?”

Ligris hedged and replied that he wasn’t familiar with the context and purged his tweets every 90 days “for cybersecurity,” but Durbin wasn’t having it. Durbin demanded he address the “dumb as dirt” comment. Ligris again said he didn’t know the context, but said that as “most of my family serves in law enforcement,” he did not think that “law enforcement is dumb as dirt.”

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) continued this line of questioning, focusing on tweets Ligris made insulting two members of the Judiciary Committee.

“You have tweets that call Donald Trump and Kamala Harris ‘two clowns,’ you have tweets that call Senator Murkowski ‘almost as dumb as Kamala,’ you have tweets that call Senator Collins a ‘fraud.’ You have tweets that call Senator [Alex] Padilla, who sits on this committee, a ‘thug.’ You have tweets that call Senator [Adam] Schiff a ‘fraud.’ He also sits on this committee. And you undertook no preparation to face questions about that as you come before the Senate Judiciary Committee,” Sen. Whitehouse asked.

The DOJ nominee said he hadn’t prepared to answer those questions, and confirmed he did not inform the DOJ about his tweet history. He added that the DOJ “never raised” any questions about the tweets with him. Sheldon then asked if Ligris could be relied on to approve grants filed from the state of California, which Padilla and Schiff represent.

“Having called Senator Padilla a thug at least five times, and Senator Schiff a fraud, what reasonably could they expect about you giving California programs a fair hearing if you’re put in charge of OJP?” Whitehouse asked.

“Every state and every jurisdiction would expect that they would go through the process of applying for grants with the Office of Justice Programs, and reviewed through the process… of applying for grants with the Office of Justice Programs, and those and those grant applications would would be administered and reviewed through the process of the of the department,” Ligris replied.

“Yeah, that’s what they would expect. And then there’d be a guy at the head of the program who thinks that the senators involved are a thug and a fraud. How do you convince us that you’re not going to let that personal bias against these two individuals affect your judgment?” Whitehouse fired back.

“Because I believe that the Office of Justice Programs has a mission to support the entire country, every state and every city, and protect our communities, irrespective of the elected leadership that exists there today or tomorrow,” he said.

“So, ‘just trust me,’ I guess, is what you’re saying,” Whitehouse said.

Ligris’ background is as a real estate attorney, but he went into the technology sector. He is currently a managing director at security consulting firm RoyStark as well as a director at CATIC Financial and CATIC Holdings, a title insurer, according to Criminal Justice Journalists Crime and Justice News Digest. He also founded the digital real estate platform Stavvy Inc., and the legal firm Ligris, which focuses on real estate.

Image via Shutterstock

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IT'S NOT A GAME

Trump Holds Housing Bill Hostage, Mike Johnson Says He’ll Sign It Anyway

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June 24, 2026

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President Donald Trump suddenly announced he was holding hostage a housing bill that passed with overwhelming bipartisan support until the SAVE America Act is passed. But Speaker of the House Mike Johnson said Trump will sign it anyway.

Trump was set to sign the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” which passed the Senate Monday 85-5 and the House Tuesday 393-13, on Wednesday afternoon. But those plans were thrown into chaos when he posted to Truth Social that he was cancelling the signing.

“Today’s Housing News Conference and Signing is hereby cancelled until such time as we pass the desperately needed SAVE AMERICA ACT, which I consider to be a National Emergency. Thank you for your attention to this matter!” Trump wrote. Shortly before on Wednesday morning, he had called for the end to the filibuster in order to pass the act.

READ MORE: ‘A Joke’: Trump’s Possible National Housing Emergency Sparks Fierce Backlash

The SAVE America Act—or Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act—would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and show photo ID when voting in federal elections. Trump claims the bill is necessary to prevent widespread election fraud, despite there being no evidence of voter fraud on a large scale. Though passed in the House, with Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-TX), joining Republicans, the bill has languished in the Senate. Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) said he will not bring the bill to a vote, because he knows it will not pass.

Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Johnson dismissed Trump’s bluster, and said that he would “understand it’s a good product” when he goes through the housing bill, and will ultimately sign it.

“When interest rates are high and costs are high, it makes the barrier to entry so high that young families can’t get into houses anymore. That’s not a Republican or Democrat problem, it’s an American problem, so, Americans are fixing it. And so, we’re going to reduce regulation so builders can build. We’re going to limit institutional investing in the housing market. We’re going to bring the American dream back within the grasp of hardworking American families,” Johnson said in a clip surfaced by journalist Aaron Rupar. “The president, when we go through the details of the bill, he’s going to understand that it’s a good product and certainly something that fulfills his promises to bring down the cost,”

The 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act aims to increase the housing supply and drive down home prices. One of the main ways it does so is to limit institutional investors from purchasing homes, according to CBS News. It will also help local governments convert empty buildings zoned for commercial use into housing, and removes some regulations in building new houses.

Image via Reuters

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Trump Calls to End Filibuster to Pass ‘Everything Republicans Have Ever Dreamed Of’

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3 hours ago

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June 24, 2026

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President Donald Trump called for the end of the filibuster so the GOP can pass “everything” it “ever dreamed of.”

In a Wednesday morning post to his social media platform Truth Social, Trump stumped for the SAVE America Act over a housing bill drafted by Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Tim Scott (R-SC). That bill, the “21st Century ROAD to Housing Act,” passed the Senate Monday in a vote of 85-5 and heads to the House, where it is expected to pass.

READ MORE: Internet Rises Up to Slam Mitch McConnell for Claiming Filibuster ‘Has No Racial History at All’

“The Elizabeth ‘Pocahontas’ Warren centric housing bill, which is of minor importance compared to lower interest rates, and even FISA, pales in comparison to passing THE SAVE AMERICA ACT. That is what Americans, both Dumocrats, Republicans, and everyone else, care about. Get the bad Republicans to approve it or, better yet, Terminate the Filibuster and approve it, AND EVERYTHING ELSE REPUBLICANS HAVE EVER DREAMED OF. The Dumocrats will do it in hour one, 100%. Republicans will feel very stupid if they don’t do it first. I’ll be watching with tears in my eyes!!!” Trump wrote.

The SAVE America Act—or Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act—would require Americans to provide proof of citizenship when registering to vote and show photo ID when voting in federal elections. Trump claims the bill is necessary to prevent widespread election fraud, despite there being no evidence of voter fraud on a large scale. Though passed in the House, with Henry Cuellar (D-TX), joining Republicans, the bill has languished in the Senate.

The Republicans have a Senate majority, with 53 versus 45 Democrats (and two independent senators who caucus with the Dems), but the bill is unlikely to pass. An earlier attempt to pass it as an amendment to the DHS appropriations bill failed with four Republicans (Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, Susan Collins of Maine and Thom Tillis of North Carolina) voting against it.

While if a vote were held, it is likely based on previous attempts that a simple majority could be reached, the bill would be filibustered. A filibuster is a way to require a bill be passed with a supermajority—60 votes, a threshold the SAVE America Act probably can’t reach. Even if all Republicans voted for it, which is itself unlikely, it would require seven Democrats to cross the aisle to vote for it.

Though Trump has repeatedly called to end the filibuster, Democrats have as well. In 2022, many donors pulled their funding from conservative-leaning Democratic Senators Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ). At the time, Democrats called for the end of the filibuster to pass federal abortion rights after the fall of Roe v. Wade, but their attempts were stymied by Manchin and Sinema.

Image via Reuters

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