White House Correspondent for the Washington Blade Joe Reberkenny joins The Gaily Show bi-weekly on Wednesdays to share award-winning reporting from the nation’s capitol.
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Primary Elections Send Message to Democratic Establishment
A series of primary election results across multiple states on August 11 revealed the significant shift towards Progressives in Democratic voter sentiment, according to Reberkenny. The latest data suggests voters are increasingly rejecting centrist candidates in favor of those willing to take stronger oppositional stances against the Trump administration.
In Minnesota’s U.S. Senate Democratic primary, Lieutenant Governor Peggy Flanagan defeated out LGBTQ Congresswoman Angie Craig in what Reberkenny described as a decisive margin that surprised many observers given polling data that had suggested a much closer contest.
Flanagan cultivated a “very consistent history of being very pro-LGBTQ in her effort as lieutenant governor,” said Reberkenny. He noted that she was endorsed by the Christopher Street Project and has been constantly named by HRC’s list of champions for LGBTQ rights.
“A lot of the people I talked to say that this [result] really rests on actual policy action that these two candidates have done,” Reberkenny explained. “There were some things that a lot of people were not super pleased about [with Craig], specifically related to some of the issues involving the Laken Riley Act and how she handled some of the immigration detention issues that have arisen not only in [Minnesota], but around the country as Trump has continued to monopolize and use the arm of the law as a personal group to attack those who disagree with him politically.”
Reberkenny noted that voters appear to be sending a clear message: “A lot of people want somebody to be progressive, want people to be actively pushing back against the Trump administration. And the people did not seem to say that Craig was doing that in her current position as a representative for the area.”
This trend extends beyond Minnesota. In Michigan, voters elected Abdul Al-Sayed over the more traditional midline Democrat, further demonstrating voters’ willingness to break ranks within the Democratic structure. Also on Tuesday night, the Progressive candidate in the Wisconsin Governors Democratic Primary lost by less than one-point.
“I would even go so far to say it’s Democrats across the country,” Reberkenny said. “These […] elections are indicating that not only are some of these people that were formerly voting very establishment Democrat, very centrist, very ‘we just got to keep our heads down and push through,’ are not necessarily voting that way and are not using that as a strategy anymore, especially when a lot of the legal strategies that the president and GOP members are using is to burn it down as fast as they can.”
Despite the bitter primary battle in Minnesota, Reberkenny found that both candidates shared common ground on the ultimate goal: “At the end of the day, both of them are totally on board, maybe not exactly happy with who won, but are doing this in the sense that we need to make sure that Trump’s power is in check.”
NBA Players’ WNBA Stunt Draws Criticism from Inside League
In another development affecting LGBTQ inclusion in sports, two former NBA players announced plans to attempt to play in the WNBA, simply saying they identify as transgender.
“Essentially, they’re using what they consider vague language in the gender opportunity elements of the WNBA, [which is] really just to support all women, including trans women, despite […] the fact there are no trans women currently in the WNBA.” Reberkenny reported.
Los Angeles Sparks guard Layshia Clarendon, the WNBA’s first openly transgender and nonbinary player, retired in 2024.
The retired NBA players in question, Enes Canter (a Turkish immigrant) and Royce White (twice failed candidate for the U.S. Senate in Minnesota), ended their professional careers in 2022 and 2018 respectively. According to Reberkenny, “these are two players who are past their prime and who are getting onto Fox News to make egregious political statements that are weaponizing many things, whether it be their race or the LGBTQ community, to still remain relevant.”
“One of them said that they were ‘part-time transgender’,” Reberkenny noted. “I talked to some people in the WNBA about this who explained that they’re not taking them seriously, that this seems like it’s very clearly just for attention as they both are no longer a part of the NBA and are using it to leverage other opportunities that they have.”
The bottom line, according to league sources Reberkenny contacted, is stark: “They’re not trans, they’re not actively trying to fight for trans people. They’re just doing this to remain relevant past their basketball prime.”
However, institutional support for trans inclusion remains strong within the WNBA. Reberkenny highlighted that “the people I spoke to who are part of the more high up [in the] official WNBA, rather than any particular team, they have been very vocal about making sure that this inclusive effort is not thrown out and that it’s not going to be something that is overlooked for whatever reason.”
Prominent figures including Seattle Storm center Stephanie Holston and Minnesota Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve. They have been “super vocal supporters of the trans community, of trans women participating in sports wherever that may be,” Reberkenny said.
Scouting America Litigation Takes Unexpected Turn
A third story with implications for LGBTQ rights involves James Dale, who was famously expelled from the Boy Scouts for being gay — and who is now using the same legal precedent used against him to challenge Pentagon interference with Scouting America’s policies.
“I had the opportunity last week to sit down and talk to James Dale about his history with Scouting America and his ongoing litigation,” said Reberkenny. “For those who don’t know, James Dale was famously expelled from the Boy Scouts for being gay. It made its way all the way up from New Jersey Supreme Court to the Federal Supreme Court where he eventually lost five to four in 2000, which established that the Boy Scouts of America has a First Amendment right to exclude him.”
According to Reberkenny, “[Scouting America] has been doing a lot of pro-inclusive efforts. They’ve started allowing female scouts to participate. They’ve done more outreach to Black and brown scouts and scouting groups.”
Because of this Dale is now “using the same legal principle that got him expelled to prevent the Pentagon from pushing their anti-woke, anti-LGBTQ, specifically anti-trans policies that they’re attempting to push on Scouting America.”
In his interview with Reberkenny, Dale credited Scouting America for having changed their policies.
“They got rid of the anti-gay, anti-LGBTQ issues within their structure,” said Reberkenny.
However, Pentagon leadership under Secretary Pete Hegseth has reportedly taken notice. “[Hegseth] is not happy about this and is trying to use his leverage as head of the Department of Defense to change the policies going on,” explained Reberkenny.
The constitutional question centers on “job owning” — “considered unconstitutional when a government organization is attempting to change policy in a private space, essentially, through unofficial leverage really,” Reberkenny said.
Neither the Pentagon nor Scouting America would comment to the Washington Blade on the litigation. “The Pentagon responded immediately [after] I sent them a bunch of questions. [They replied] ‘We don’t comment on litigation and we won’t until after […] not that I was anticipating Hegseth to sit down and call me about this, but the fact that the Scouting America didn’t reach out either, I though was a little interesting.”
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