A representative of Seattle Sperm Bank admitted to selling unused sperm vials to the FBI during an industry conference, purportedly for the agency to research splat patterns, multiple sources told LGBTQ Nation.
The sources say the admission came from the representative – who one source identified as Seattle Sperm Bank General Supervisor Angelo Allard – during an October 2022 meeting at the California Cryobank campus in Los Angeles. Allard did not reply to LGBTQ Nation’s multiple requests for comment, nor did Seattle Sperm Bank CEO Fredrik Andreasson, nor the bank’s communication team.
For decades, commercial sperm banks (on which many LGBTQ+ people rely to build their families) have faced ardent criticism over a host of ethical issues fueled by a lack of industry regulations. Donor-conceived people, recipient parents, and donors themselves have long sounded the alarm on the industry’s shady practices – from failing to enforce reasonable family limits to outright lying about donor medical histories. These activists continue to fight for legislation that would keep the banks in check.
This ongoing tension is why the 2022 meeting occurred in the first place. Sources say sperm banks hosted the gathering as a sort of olive branch to the reform advocates, though some who attended felt the banks were not actually willing to listen. Reportedly in attendance were lawyers, medical experts, activists, and scholars.
Although these activists have long known about the unethical practices of the industry, many were still shocked at what they heard.
Anti-fertility fraud activist Eve Wiley called it a “nails on a chalkboard moment” and said that the admission brought “a collective gasp in the room.” It was “unlike any other procedure any of us had heard,” she said.
She said the comment was skated over pretty quickly and that the man next to the speaker “was kind of like, ‘Dude, stop,’ giving, you know, the death stare essentially.”
A fertility expert who was also present in the room confirmed the story to LGBTQ Nation, saying they are “not sure what precipitated it” but that a “gentleman who was involved at a sperm bank raised his hand and basically said they sent sperm to the FBI at the request of the FBI for training purposes.”
“On one level it makes sense, you know, that you would need sperm to train on or to do some analysis of,” they said, “but I guess none of us had ever considered that law enforcement might reach a sperm bank and do this, certainly without consent from the parties themselves who could be genetically identified and put into a database if this were done.”
They said the representative seemed completely taken aback that anyone found the information troubling.
“They just stated it so matter-of-factly, like, ‘Yeah, this is what we do.’ And it was almost as if they didn’t see any privacy protections that needed to be discussed, any issues with that, any hesitation about turning information over to law enforcement in that manner, even for training purposes.”
Another expert who attended the meeting also heard the admission. They told LGBTQ Nation in an emailed statement that they remembered the representative from Seattle Sperm Bank “telling the group that they… provided the FBI with unused sperm for them to use for ‘practice.”’ The source (the same one who identified the speaker as Allard) said they do not remember the representative saying the sperm was “sold,” though.
A transcript of a Zoom chat obtained by LGBTQ Nation shows those who attended virtually discussing the admission in the chat. Folks called the revelation “shocking” and “incredibly concerning,” with some questioning if the DNA was being added to a criminal database.
LGBTQ Nation reached out to the National FBI office and received the following response from Seattle Field Office public affairs specialist Steven Bernd: “Our policy prohibits us, except in rare circumstances, from disclosing investigative techniques of an FBI investigation. However, I can plainly state that I did not find any information to suggest that the FBI has been purchasing sperm from a sperm bank.”
It’s not clear, however, whether the sperm would have been sold to the local or national office. Additionally, Bernd took less than an hour to reply to our request for a statement, raising the question of how much digging he did before saying he “did not find any information.”
The queer connection
Also reportedly present at the meeting were several LGBTQ+ family-building organizations, though none have corroborated the FBI admission with LGBTQ Nation.
Ron Poole-Dayan, executive director of Men Having Babies, stated over email that he had “no specific recollection” of the admission being made. The representative who attended the meeting from Family Equality no longer works for the organization, and a spokesperson said, “No current staff members have additional information to share.” Representatives from Colage, an organization for the children of LGBTQ+ people, and GLAD, an LGBTQ+ legal advocacy organization, did not respond to a request for comment.
Wiley called it “shocking” and “disheartening” that no LGBTQ+ organizations have come forward.
Laura High, a donor-conceived person and activist who was not present at the meeting, expressed disappointment that these organizations have not taken action.
“Especially right now we need to be able to rely on these organizations to keep the queer community safe,” she told LGBTQ Nation over email. “And the fact that they stayed silent on this incredibly clear violation of rights that clearly puts the queer community in jeopardy, especially under this regime is terrifying.”
High said many people in the activist community have told her they do not want to contribute to this story going public for fear of not being invited to future meetings or losing a seat at the table, and she wonders if perhaps that’s why these organizations also have not spoken up.
“But why on earth would you want to be sitting at that kind of table that clearly has no problem putting the queer community or any marginalized group in utter danger?” she said.
What’s at stake
The prospect of a bank selling sperm to the FBI without informed consent raises a number of ethical concerns, though the legality of it all is murky.
Donor contracts from Seattle Sperm Bank obtained by LGBTQ Nation state, “I understand that once I agree to participate in the donor program and have been accepted into the program, I may not impose restrictions on the manner in which my donor sperm may be used.”
“Technically, people can buy sperm for any purpose… but sperm samples are not intended for that purpose,” explained the fertility expert. “They’re intended for people to buy to family build. That is the assumption.”
“I think there would be a lot of people who would object, for example, if law enforcement just started suddenly going through trash in search of hair or saliva or discarded toothbrushes or fingernail clippings to include people in databases for ‘training purposes.’”
They said the lack of informed consent is one of the biggest issues. “I’ve talked to sperm donors, and they were not informed that this was going on.” LGBTQ Nation independently received direct confirmation from one Seattle donor who said they were never told this was a possibility.
Wiley said she is most concerned with sperm being mishandled or planted as evidence in a crime.
“What if someone steals that sperm and then sells it on the black market, and they plant that?” she said. “And is DNA being extracted and then being used in a database to catch criminals?… It’s hard to say what can happen.”
As someone who has spent her life fighting fertility fraud, Wiley has witnessed firsthand the horrific ways gametes can be mishandled. “It’s unbelievable,” she said, adding that “in the absence of laws and that legal landscape being the wild wild west, it’s really frustrating.”
High said trans people also have specific safety concerns, since they often preserve their sperm or eggs at these banks before starting gender-affirming care.
“We know this administration is targeting the queer community,” High said, “Especially the trans community, who actively uses the fertility industry to store their DNA before they medically transition.”
She said there is also particular concern for people of color. “We are well aware that people of color are actively and heinously targeted by the police force,” she said. “Secretly handing over sperm from Black donors or any donor of color does not just affect that donor, but potentially their entire family. We have a long and terrible history in this country of people of color getting set up for a crime by the police force.”
“This industry who’s already very famous for excluding recipient parents and donors of color is demonstrating that they are also willing to put those donors at risk for severe injustice… Seattle has given the FBI the ability to have a genetic tracker.”
There is also the matter of the DNA of the children conceived from each donor being in the hands of a government agency. One recipient parent, Romy Razuri, who told LGBTQ Nation she became an activist in the space after she had reason to believe Seattle Sperm Bank failed to report critical pieces of her donor’s medical information, called it “creepy.”
“It just doesn’t sound right. I mean, no matter how you look at it and if you try to make sense of it… Whatever the reason is, it’s just not okay.”
Asked if the information made her feel worried about her kids, she replied: “I mean, anything at this point related to donor conception makes me feel scared for my kids.”
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.
June 10, 1917 The Women’s Peace Crusade in Scotland launched a three-week campaign of street meetings and demonstrations in dozens of towns to build support for peace in the midst of what was then called The Great War (now known as World War I). More about the Womens’s Peace Crusade
June 10, 1937 The mayor of Monroe, Michigan, organized a citizens’ posse of some 1400 vigilantes, armed with baseball bats and tear gas, to combat the union organizing drive at local Newton Steel. The mob threw a dozen of the picketers’ cars into the River Raisin. Steelworkers’ cars were rolled into Monroe, Michigan’s River Raisin by strike breakers recruited by the mayor. The 120 striking steelworkers and their supporters were working to form unions in the “Little Steel” companies which, unlike U.S. Steel, continued to resist unionization. Newton had just been purchased by Republic Steel [see Chicago’s Memorial Day Massacre [May 30, 1937]. The whole story (Note from Ali: the link in the newsletter was no longer functional. Doing a search of cars going into the River Raisin is really interesting, even simply in modern times! I had to search the specific date to get this report. Seems like an “active” place, there in Monroe!)
June 10, 1963 The “Equal Pay Act of 1963” was passed and signed into law; it guaranteed women equal pay for equal work. The legislation was a result of the recommendations of President John F. Kennedy’s Commission on the Status of Women. The law itself
June 10, 1980 Nelson Mandela’s first writings, and those of other imprisoned anti-apartheid leaders, were smuggled out and made public while they were imprisoned on South Africa’s Robben Island. “ As I read these fascinating essays, I was struck so forcibly by the importance of memory, of history, for both the individual and the community. . . . I pray that our people and especially our children will, by reading this collection of essays, remember the very high price that has been paid to achieve our freedom.” – Desmond Tutu, from the foreword Nelson Mandela’s cell on Robben Island, where he spent 17 years Review of Reflections in Prison Portions of the book
So many old friends in Wichita deplore the conservatism, and yes, there are more voters voting Republican than Dem (though their Dem party is healthy.) Yet, Wichita loves everyone, and I love that! If you’re lucky the little video player on the page will work, and you can watch the broadcast. https://www.ksn.com/video/ict-big-gay-market-hosts-event-for-3rd-year/9749633
With DEI initiatives firmly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, many large corporations that were once so quick to celebrate June as Pride month have quietly ditched their public support for LGBTQI+ rights even faster.
It used to be common for companies to emblazon their social media accounts with rainbow-themed versions of their logo, but in 2025, the same big businesses that were so vocal about supporting Pride initiatives have fallen silent.
The controversial post that sparked a social media backlash.
That’s certainly true for big international airlines in the United States, which were falling over themselves to show their support for Pride until very recently (critics might argue they were just chasing the so-called ‘Pink Dollar’).
In 2025, the social media accounts of American Airlines, Delta, and United make no mention or reference to Pride, even if these airlines do still support LGBTQ+ initiatives (Alaska and United are still sponsors of San Francisco’s Pride parade even as other big name corporations drop their support).
German flag carrier Lufthansa doesn’t seem too concerned that supporting LGBTQ+ rights is no longer fashionable… at least not in Trump’s America.
On June 2, the airline posted a photo of a pilot waving a Pride rainbow flag out the window of a cockpit, captioned with the words: “Carried with pride, waved with passion. We will always spread the love, across borders, screens, and the skies.”
Lufthansa has been quick to respond to critics.
It seemed like a pretty inoffensive and inspiring message that didn’t directly reference LGBTQ+ rights, but it didn’t take long for Lufthansa’s Facebook page to be deluged with homophobic comments.
But it looks like Lufthansa knew exactly what it was getting itself into, and its social media team quickly fired back at critics with sassy replies that shut down the hateful comments without censoring them or turning off the comment feature altogether.
“Thank you for you for giving me a reason not to be a Lufthansa passenger,” one person wrote underneath the post. Lufthansa clapped back with: “You’re welcome to join us on board whenever rainbows are not scary to you anymore!”
While one person inferred that inclusivity was a safety issue, saying: “That could actually affect the flight of the plane. I’ll take the bus.”
Lufthansa was not having any of it, though, relying: “It is a disappointment that we are losing you as a customer for this reason, but we stand by our values.”
Another referenced DEI, saying: “Never flying on a plane with one of them pilots. You know they are a DEI hire. I’m not testing fate for their delusional world.”
Again, Lufthansa stood firm: “Sorry to see you go but we stand by our values and will continue to implement DEI.”
Many responses to the post have, however, been positive, and some fans have pointed out that the response has proved exactly why, even in 2025, Pride is still needed.
June has traditionally been recognized as Pride Month to mark the Stonewall riots that occurred in late June 1969. Since then, several US presidents have issued proclamations, declaring June as the month of Pride, but White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said earlier this week that President Trump has no plans to issue a similar proclamation this year.
Trump was, however, the first Republican President to acknowledge LGBT Pride Month back in 2019 when he Tweeted a message in support of the commemoration.
A third day of protests against immigration raids was expected to take place in the Los Angeles area on Sunday, hours after President Trump took the extraordinary action of ordering at least 2,000 National Guard members to assist immigration agents clashing with demonstrators.
The announcement by Mr. Trump — who said that any protest or act of violence that impeded officials would be considered a “form of rebellion” — was an escalation that put Los Angeles squarely at the center of tensions over his administration’s immigration crackdown and made rare use of federal powers to bypass the authority of California’s governor, Gavin Newsom.
Mr. Trump issued the order on Saturday as law enforcement officers faced off with hundreds of protesters for a second consecutive day in the Los Angeles area, in some cases using rubber bullets and flash-bang grenades. Mr. Newsom described Mr. Trump’s order as “purposefully inflammatory,” saying that the federal government was mobilizing the National Guard “not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle.”
Confrontations broke out on Saturday near a Home Depot in the heavily Latino city of Paramount, south of Los Angeles, where federal agents were staging at a Department of Homeland Security office nearby.
Agents unleashed tear gas, flash-bang explosives and pepper balls, and protesters hurled rocks and cement at Border Patrol vehicles. Smoke wafted from small piles of burning refuse in the streets.
Tensions were high after a series of sweeps by immigration authorities the previous day, including in LA’s fashion district and at a Home Depot, as the weeklong tally of immigrant arrests in the city climbed past 100. A prominent union leader was arrested while protesting and accused of impeding law enforcement.
The National Guard has not yet been deployed to the sites of any protests in Los Angeles County, according to its sheriff’s department. “We were told that the National Guard had been deployed, however they are not on the scene or the ground yet,” Deputy Sheriff Tracy Koerner said around 1:45 a.m. local time. Earlier Sunday, Mayor Karen Bass said the National Guard had not been deployed in the city limits.
The Los Angeles Police Department said at midnight that it detained “multiple” people who breached an area near the city’s Metropolitan Detention Center where the agency had declared an “unlawful assembly.” “Those detained will be arrested and booked for failing to disperse,” the force said on social media. Earlier, police said a section of Alameda Street was closed to all vehicle and pedestrian traffic.
The cult is celebrating on X, with some calling for the use of “live rounds” on protesters. Trump’s post below came at 2:41am, presumably upon his return from a UFC match where he was seated with Mike Tyson.
Post
See new posts
Conversation
emptywheel (check)
@emptywheel
SEIU CA President David Huerta was assaulted and arrested for peaceful protest. The injuries the assault caused required hospital care.
Quote
JD Vance
@JDVance
·
Replying to @JDVance
For the far left rioters, some helpful advice; peaceful protest is good. Rioting and obstructing justice is not.
Deploying troops to communities already under pressure is not leadership—it’s provocation. The Trump Administration is weaponizing fear to divide and destabilize. We will not be silent. We stand with those targeted and terrorized. We fight for justice. Always.
Quote
Gavin Newsom
@GavinNewsom
·
The federal government is taking over the California National Guard and deploying 2,000 soldiers in Los Angeles — not because there is a shortage of law enforcement, but because they want a spectacle. Don’t give them one.
Brian Allen
@allenanalysis
Subscribe
In case you were wondering what sparked the LA standoff between protesters and federal agents, this is it. Immigrants showed up for routine ICE check-ins and were detained on the spot. Hauled into the basement. Held overnight like fugitives. No warning. No due process. Just snatched. “Land of the free,” right?
Republicans against Trump
@RpsAgainstTrump
Subscribe
During his first term, Trump asked Defense Secretary Mark Esper to shoot protesters. Esper refused. Now he has Pete Hegseth. God help us all
JD Vance now wants to use the chaos ICE is causing in Los Angeles as pretext to pressure politicians to pass the Republican budget bill that will saddle Americans with trillions of dollars of debt, skyrocket the deficit, take away people’s healthcare, and give massive tax breaks to the wealthy.
Jo
@JoJoFromJerz
Subscribe
Weird how he didn’t call up the National Guard on January 6th.
Post
See new posts
Conversation
Crooks and Liars
@crooksandliars
Trump sends in his brown shirts to cause disruption so he can use the insurrection act or whatever fucked rational he comes up with to send in the the National G. Mussolini gives a thumbs up in his grave.
Quote
MeidasTouch
@MeidasTouch
·
Trump lit the match, poured the gasoline, and now wants to use the blaze he is creating as pretext to burn it all down.
A powder keg is about to explode: With masks to hide their identity, this is what a Nazi takeover of the streets of Los Angeles looks like. Trump’s cosplaying ICE Gestapo is carrying out a lawless assault against one of the most diverse cities in America.
I was told ICE was going to arrest gangsters and mobsters. But all I see is fat white guys in cosplay doin jobsite raids, school raids, and arresting mothers with kids who are applying for citizenship.
Ask yourself why ICE is conducting raids in cities like LA and Chicago, where they face strong opposition, while massive agribusinesses in places like Kristi Noem’s South Dakota remain untouched.
Your boss pardoned cop beaters at the January 6th riot
CBP
@CBP
Let this be clear: Anyone who assaults or impedes a federal law enforcement officer or agent in the performance of their duties will be arrested and swiftly prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. Attack a cop, and life long consequences will follow!
This guy is living out his camo fantasy right now like it’s a game. Disgusting.
Acyn
@Acyn
Tom Homan: We are making Los Angeles safer. Mayor Bass should be thanking us. She says they are going to mobilize—guess what? We are already mobilizing. We are going to bring the National Guard in tonight
President Obama deported 3 million people and managed to do so without using stormtroopers and the National Guard. Like everything else, Obama was better at that too.
Trump is sending in highly visible and armored ICE agents to LA and other big cities. He’s deliberately creating conflict so he can federalize the National Guard to go in and start hurting American citizens. That’s the end game.
The person most responsible for the chaos and violence in southern California right now is @StephenM – who screamed at and fired ICE officials for not making 3,000 arrests per day Now he’s put ICE agents, police officers, protesters, immigrants, and innocent bystanders at riskShow more
It’s even worse than just “capturing them at court dates”…they are dropping charges against the people for the sole purpose of arresting and deporting them as they are leaving the courthouse, It’s underhanded bullshit.
TACO will declare a national emergency and then suspend Habeas Corpus and initiate mass arrests. The captured true American Patriots protesting the Dear TACO will be sent to concentration camps. Who will stop him? More court orders.
Legal or not, it’s going to take an escalation by the Mayor or Governor, telling their officers to arrest and detain ICE members for trespassing and kidnapping, to attempt to end this. Governor could just tell the National Guard to disobey. It’s going to take open defiance by those with the power to smack down these fascists who think they have all the power.
Mayor Muriel Bowser addressed the closure for the first time in a public radio appearance Friday afternoon. She called the closing an “unfortunate error” and said she would “continue to try to lean on” the National Park Service “for a different decision.” At the same time she appeared to defend the decision, saying police had “a lot of events to be responsible for” and that “unfortunately, the public safety issue rose to the top over the public celebration.”
A cyclist draped in a rainbow Equality flag chanted “shame” as she rode loops around the park. Passersby, turned away by police from entering the circle, shouted expletives. A man, driving top-down in a convertible through the snarled traffic around Dupont Circle, shouted, sarcastically: “Oh no! I’m a heterosexual man, and I must be protected from Pride!
The park has been a historic gathering place that has hosted celebrations following the first Pride events in the 1970s, AIDS protests in the ’80s and ’90s and vigils after violent attacks on the LGBTQ community, including a vigil for the victims of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting and a Black Trans Lives Matter rally.
Earlier this week, D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto and Zachary Parker announced that the Metropolitan Police Department had withdrawn its request to close the park following backlash from community members. But federal officials proceeded with the shutdown anyway and have not responded to requests for comment.
“I am extremely disappointed and frustrated that Dupont Circle Park will be closed this weekend despite MPD’s commitment to keep folks safe there,” Pinto said in a statement to The Advocate.
“This closure is disheartening to me and so many in our community who wanted to celebrate World Pride at this iconic symbol of our city’s historic LGBTQ+ community. I wish I had better news to share.”
Underscoring their desire to implement the closure, USPP highlighted criminal incidents that were initially pointed out in Smith’s April 22 letter. Those incidents, which took place during the District’s Pride celebration, included damages to the park’s historic fountain in 2023 that amounted to approximately $175,000.
In 2019, panic erupted at the park after loud popping sounds were perceived as gunshots being fired. However, it was later determined no firearm had been discharged. Seven people were transported to the hospital for non-life-threatening injuries prompted by the chaos that had initially broken out.
Police responded to recent incidents of vandalism to Pride decorations in D.C. The suspects tore down rainbow wraps from poles in the area, according to two incident reports from the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD). One incident is listed as a suspected hate crime. The suspects got away in both cases, according to MPD.
Chris De Anda said he wrapped himself around one of the poles to block the suspect from ripping off the rainbow wrap, thinking that would stop him. It didn’t.
“He starts to rip down the flag, rips my arms off trying to get into them to pull down the paper a little bit more, but the entire time I basically hold on to it,” de Anda described, saying the man scratched his arms a bit to get to the flag.
The lawless, corrupt occupation regime in DC is doing this on purpose as a way to inconvenience, snub and insult the lgbt community. Their long term goal is to silence, cancel and eradicate lgbt Americans, so expect increasing instances of these kinds of things, and worse.
So…a bunch of bigots have been vandalizing things in Dupont Circle, so they close it all off so the people who AREN’T the bigoted vandals can’t go there? Kinda sounds like they’re letting the bigots win here…
Childish petty thin skinned MAGA cultists in the White House just can’t let anyone celebrate anything that isn’t specifically a “Christian” event. I wonder what would happen in Thousands just show up to DuPont Circle enmass, what are they going to do, arrest them all???
Molly Sprayregen (She/Her )May 21, 2025, 12:00 pm EDTKyle Neal
“
With DEI initiatives firmly in the crosshairs of the Trump administration, many large corporations that were once so quick to celebrate June as Pride month have quietly ditched their public support for LGBTQI+ rights even faster.
Scottie's Playtime 