Justice Dept. Bars LGBT Publication Reporter From DOJ Group’s Pride Event Honoring Gavin Grimm

Spokesperson Falsely Claims These Events Are ‘Traditionally’ Closed to the Press

The Dept. of Justice barred a longtime journalist for the Washington Blade from covering an annual pride celebration hosted by DOJ Pride, an employee group, honoring Gavin Grimm Wednesday. Grimm is a transgender activist whose case against his high school school district reached but was rejected by the Supreme Court. Chief Political and White House reporter Chris Johnson, whose daily beat frequently includes asking LGBT-related questions during what used to be daily White House press briefings, reports not only was he barred, he was “ejected” from the event.

“Similar celebrations under the Obama administration were open to the media,” Johnson reports.

An Obama-era U.S. Attorney confirmed these events had been open to the press previously:

“Dozens of employees — among them LGBT attorneys within the Justice Department and federal law enforcement officials — attended the event, which was titled ‘Solidarity through Pride’ and held in the Great Hall of the Justice Department building,” Johnson reports.

He also noted the Trump administration’s action, which appears to be unprecedented, on Twitter.

In response, Buzzfeed Legal Editor Chris Geidner said that a Justice Dept. spokesperson tells him that unless the Attorney General of Deputy Attorney General are present, the events are closed to the press.

But that is false, as HuffPost senior reporter Ryan J. Reilly noted, pointing to two events in the same space that were not attended by the Attorney General or Deputy Attorney General yet were open to the press:

Last week Buzzfeed’s Geidner reported “DOJ Pride — the department’s group for LGBT employees and their allies — plans to present Gavin Grimm with its Gerald B. Roemer Community Service Award” at what was today’s event. 

It’s unclear if the DOJ wanted to keep block that from the public, but Grimm indeed was present.

“DOJ Pride, an organization of LGBT Justice Department employees, recognized Gavin Grimm’s ‘outstanding contributions to the LGBT community’ during a ceremony in the building’s Great Hall, where department attorneys and employees lined up to hug him and offer congratulations and thanks,” the AP just reported, noting “reporters were forced to leave” the event.

“Given that today’s administration is largely hostile to LGBT people and especially dangerous to LGBT youth, the gravity of receiving an award from DOJ itself, specifically the pride alliance within it, is not lost on me at all,” Grimm told The Associated Press after the ceremony, which reporters were forced to leave. “It’s beautifully symbolic of the fact that there are still people working for equality in every corner of the world, and they will continue to do so no matter what happens.”

“There are good people in the DOJ, they’ve always been here, and always will be here, no matter what kind of administration comes above them,” Grimm said.

The AP notes that Attorney General Jeff Sessions “was absent from Wednesday’s event.”

“Activists have long viewed Sessions as someone who has not been supportive of advances in LGBT rights.”

Kristen Clark, the President & Executive Director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law posted this photo to Twitter:

It remains unclear why the press was removed from the event, but the Trump administration has made clear its opposition to LGBT civil rights in general. Also, the administration, including the President, this week have displayed a heightened desire to attack the media as “fake news.” President Trump several days this week did just that. Deputy Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders made national headlines Tuesday after a local reporter chastised her for being inflammatory, while reminding her her job is to answer the questions reporters ask. 

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