With more than 70 members of Congress in attendance to hear music legend Dionne Warwick, 84, sing her 1985 hit “That’s What Friends Are For,” Wednesday’s Equality PAC National Pride Gala, hosted by drag queen Bianca Del Rio, served as a powerful rebuke to the Trump administration’s ongoing assault on LGBTQ+ rights — especially the reinstated ban on transgender military service.
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Featuring speeches from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, and first-year Delaware U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride — the first out transgender member of Congress — the evening unfolded as a celebration of queer political power and an urgent recommitment to legislative and legal resistance. “Donald Trump and the MAGA radicals have targeted LGBTQ Americans more than just about any other group,” Schumer, who has a lesbian daughter, said. “Banning trans Americans from serving in the military, prohibiting Pride flags in public institutions in red states — and now, some states are even bringing back conversion therapy.”
Chuck Schumer speaks onstage at the Equality PAC Galajon fleming photography for Equality PAC
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Schumer also condemned Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s decision to strip Harvey Milk’s name from a ship during Pride Month, calling it “a shameful, vindictive erasure of leaders who fought to break down barriers for all Americans.” He urged the audience to stay engaged: “We will not let America backslide on our watch. We will pass the Equality Act. We’ll stop LGBTQ Americans [from being discriminated against] and make sure that every American has a seat at the table.”
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The gala took place just weeks after the U.S. Supreme Court lifted a nationwide injunction on the trans military ban, allowing the Trump administration to immediately enforce Executive Order 14183, which bars enlistment and mandates expulsion of transgender service members regardless of performance.
Related: Supreme Court allows Trump administration to enforce transgender military ban
Plaintiffs in the lead case, Shilling v. United States, include Commander Emily Shilling, a decorated Navy pilot and aerospace engineer who became the first out transgender aviator cleared for tactical jet operations. The lawsuit, initially titled Shilling v. Trump, was renamed following the administration’s motion to substitute the United States as the official defendant.
Shilling addressed the renaming in her remarks: “The case was originally Shilling v. Trump, and now it’s Shilling v. United States. I want to make it very clear: I am not against the United States. I serve because I love this country — even when the courts get it wrong.”
U.S. Naval Aviator Commander Emily Schilling speaks onstage at the Equality PAC Gala, Washington, D.C., June 2025Christopher Wiggins for The Advocate
Shilling, who received a rousing standing ovation, delivered a forceful indictment of the policy and its political motivations.
“For the last six years — this is the surprise part — I have served openly as a transgender [person],” she said. “I lead SPARTA, an organization representing over 2,400 transgender service members and veterans. They serve under the sea, in the air, and on the front lines. Some can’t even speak their truth aloud without risking their careers — and still, they show up.”
“When the new ban was announced in January, I took it personally — not because I doubt who I am, but because it cast doubt on every trans soldier, every trans leader who’s just trying to serve with honor,” she continued.
“This ban does not make us stronger. It tells service members that their identity matters more than their performance, their sacrifice, or even their oath.”
Related: Meet the transgender Army lieutenant who is challenging Donald Trump's military ban
Shilling likened the current climate to past moments of targeted persecution: “Whether it’s immigrants, Black Americans, Jews, women, Muslims, gay, lesbians, and now transgender people — each time, we’re framed as a threat to children and to society. Not because it’s true, but because fear is easier than telling the truth.”
From the House side, Jeffries reaffirmed his caucus’s support. “Let me be clear: House Democrats will always stand with the LGBTQ community — including our transgender fellow Americans,” he said. “We all want to move the country forward. But there are extremists who want to turn back the clock and erase our progress, erase our history.”
He called out the Navy’s decision to remove Harvey Milk’s name as emblematic of that erasure. “Keep your hands off the USNS Harvey Milk,” he said. “We will stand up for equality and freedom for the LGBTQ+ community. And when we take back the House, we will pass the Equality Act and make it the law of the land.”
Sarah McBride speaks at Equality PAC gala
jon fleming photography for Equality PAC
For McBride, the night marked a full-circle moment. “Tonight, I am proud to stand before you as an out, proud transgender woman and as a member of the United States House of Representatives,” she said.
Related: This trans Air Force recruit wants to jump out of planes to save others. He's suing Trump to serve
McBride noted that she had attended the gala in years past — first as a candidate, then as the Democratic nominee. Now she returned as a lawmaker.
“Right now, people like me are being used as political pawns by Donald Trump and the MAGA movement,” she said. “Some of my colleagues are trying to use me as a political pawn. But I refuse.” She said that it takes two to tango and that she refuses to give detractors the attention they seek when they attack her publicly.
With characteristic wit, she added, “The good news is, trans people can’t dance — but we can fucking legislate.” The room erupted in laughter and applause.
She closed with an affirmation of trans visibility and competence: “We get shit done. We know how to meet people where they are. We understand the art of change-making. And we belong — we belong in the military, we belong in schools, in C suites, onstage, in state legislatures, and yes, we even belong in the halls of Congress.”
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi speaks onstage at the Equality PAC galajon fleming photography for Equality PAC
Speaker Emerita Nancy Pelosi, presenting the Nancy Pelosi Equality PAC Ally Award to Eugene Levy, also addressed the attacks on LGBTQ+ icons like Milk.
“This shameful, vindictive erasure of someone like Harvey Milk will never erase his achievement,” Pelosi said. “Don’t talk to me about tolerance. That’s a condescending word. In San Francisco, it’s about respect. It’s about love. It’s about pride.”
Related: Transgender Army officer Erica Vandal was born into military service. Now, she's suing Trump to stay in
She praised McBride, saying, “Sarah doesn’t just take their bait — she shows them the way, with dignity and brilliance.”
Gay New York U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres, co-chair of Equality PAC, speaking to The Advocate earlier in the evening, framed the moment as historic and perilous. “We’re holding the Equality PAC Gala in the age of vicious and relentless scapegoating and demagoguery against the LGBTQ community,” he said. “Donald Trump is intent on creating a reign of terror that inhibits LGBTQ people from expressing their true selves. And our message to Donald Trump is: We refuse to be terrorized.”
Drag performers onstage at the Equality PAC galajon fleming photography for Equality PAC
With more than 70 members of Congress in the room, including out Reps. Becca Balint, Emily Randall, Julie Johnson, Mark Takano (who's also a cofounder and cochair of Equality PAC), Chris Pappas, and Angie Craig, the gala was one of the most potent visual affirmations yet of Equality PAC’s growing political clout — and of the Democratic Party’s commitment to defending trans rights in the 2026 midterms and beyond.
“History does not bend on its own,” Shilling reminded the crowd. “It bends when we pull with everything we’ve got — together.”
