Local

Activists hail Gray’s stunning win over Fenty

But mayor carries precincts with high concentrations of LGBT voters

Published

14 years ago

September 15, 2010

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Mayoral candidate, Vince Gray (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The large contingent of LGBT activists that backed City Council Chair Vincent Gray’s candidacy for mayor called his victory in Tuesday’s Democratic primary a highly positive development and predicted Gray would emerge as one the city’s most gay-supportive mayors.

But early election returns showed that Mayor Adrian Fenty won in most of the voter precincts with a high concentration of LGBT residents.

Final-but-unofficial returns released early today by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics showed Gray defeating Fenty by a margin of 54 to 45 percent.

Lesser known Democratic mayoral candidate Leo Alexander, who made his support for a ballot measure to overturn the city’s same-sex marriage law an important part of his campaign, received less than 1 percent of the vote. Democratic mayoral contenders Sulaimon Brown and Ernest Johnson, who received a 0 rating from the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance on LGBT issues, also received less than 1 percent of the vote.

Jeffrey Richardson, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group that endorsed Gray, said many activists favored Gray because he demonstrated a stronger commitment to work with and listen to the problems and concerns of the LGBT community.

“What I believe happened is Vince Gray resonated with and connected with the idea that we not only need a mayor who is going to bring us results but who has a heart for the community and has shown that heart and is willing to be connected to the community and to hear from the citizenry,” Richardson said.

Both Gray and Fenty have strong records of support on LGBT issues. Gray voted for and Fenty signed the city’s historic same-sex marriage law.

Gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein was among a number of LGBT advocates who backed Fenty in his landslide victory in the 2006 election and switched their allegiance to Gray this year.

Rosenstein said he believes the gay vote split between Fenty and Gray, with a “large majority” of black gays joining the black community as a whole in voting for Gray. Stein Club Vice President Tim Mahoney is among a number of activists who believe most gay voters based their decision on who to back in the mayor’s race on non-LGBT issues.

In other city races, gay former parks and recreation director Clark Ray was trounced in his uphill challenge to LGBT supportive at-large Council member Phil Mendelson. Mendelson won his bid for the Democratic nomination with 63 percent of the vote, with D.C. shadow senator Michael D. Brown coming in second, with 27 percent and Ray finishing third with just under 9 percent of the vote.

The Stein Club endorsed Mendelson over Ray, calling Mendelson a “champion” on LGBT issues and noting that he led the City Council’s effort to pass the same-sex marriage law in his role as chair of the committee with jurisdiction over the measure.

Election returns also show that Mendelson, who won in all eight wards, beat Ray and Brown with overwhelming margins in the gay identified precincts, including those in Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, Adams Morgan, Capitol Hill, the Southwest Waterfront, and Anacostia.

Gay City Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) won his primary race with 57 percent of the vote. Democratic challengers Jeff Smith and Bryan Weaver each received 21 percent of the vote, according to the latest Board of Elections returns.

LGBT-supportive Council member Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) won the Democratic nomination to replace Gray as City Council chair with 55 percent of the vote. Challenger Vincent Orange, a former Ward 5 Council member who opposed same-sex marriage four years ago before coming out in support of the marriage equality bill this year, received 39 percent of the vote.

Many of the city’s LGBT leaders were especially pleased with Ward 5 Council member Harry Thomas Jr.’s primary victory Tuesday. Same-sex marriage opponents, including the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, targeted Thomas for defeat in his conservative ward. Many political observers said Thomas’s decision to vote for the same-sex marriage law put his re-election bid in jeopardy due to strong opposition to the law among many of his constituents.

Thomas won the primary with 62 percent of the vote. His lead opponent, Delano Hunter, who spoke out against the marriage equality law and backed a voter initiative to overturn it, received 19 percent of the vote.

The LGBT-supportive group People for the American Way, which keeps track of anti-LGBT groups, pointed to city election finance records showing that the group spent well over $100,000 to support Hunter in Ward 5 and general efforts to oppose Council candidate supportive of same-sex marriage.

“They spent a lot of money and completely failed,” said gay activist Bob Summersgill. “I think NOM has completely misunderstood the attitudes and feelings of the voters in D.C. This is not a place where people are anxious to take away others’ rights.”

LGBT supportive Council members Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) and Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) easily won re-nomination for their respective seats. Cheh ran unopposed and Wells captured 75 percent of the vote against challenger Kelvin Robinson, who said he would have voted against the same-sex marriage law “as written.” He said he now supports the measure as the “law of the land.”

D.C. congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) also won by a lopsided margin. Norton is considered one of the most LGBT-supportive members of Congress.

The only Stein Club-endorsed candidate who lost in Tuesday’s primary was Nate Bennett-Fleming, a 26-year-old law school student and Ward 8 community activist who challenged incumbent D.C. shadow representative Mike Panetta. Bennett-Fleming campaigned aggressively for LGBT support, expressing strong support on virtually all LGBT related issues.

Panetta, who also supports LGBT equality, including same-sex marriage, won the race by a margin of 57 to 41 percent.

In the primary for the city’s tiny Statehood-Green Party, gay minister Darryl Moch lost his bid for the nomination for the at-large Council seat currently held by Mendelson. Statehood-Green Party activist David Schwartzman, a strong supporter of LGBT rights, beat Moch by a margin of 63 percent to 27 percent.

Two gay Republican Party candidates won nomination to City Council seats in unopposed races. Marc Morgan will challenge Graham for the Ward 1 Council seat in the November general election. Gay GOP candidate Tim Day will challenge Thomas for the Ward 5 Council seat in November.

Richardson and other LGBT activists who supported Gray said that similar to their straight counterparts, they believe Fenty — while supportive on LGBT issues — appeared to ignore the concerns they expressed over a number a newly developing issues, including the growing number of anti-LGBT hate crimes.

The local group Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence joined other groups, including the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance and the D.C. Trans Coalition, in criticizing Fenty for refusing to meet with them or attend LGBT events to discuss pressing issues.

Transgender activists also expressed concern that Fenty was not taking their issues seriously, especially when the mayor’s office startled LGBT activists by proposing to exclude transgender inmates in the city’s correctional system from the D.C. Human Rights Act. Corrections department officials said the exclusion was needed for security reasons and was related to whether trans inmates should be allowed to dress in accordance with their biological gender or the gender to which they were transitioning.

The mayor’s office dropped that proposal following a groundswell of opposition.

Sources familiar with the demographics of the so-called “gay” precincts said they have large numbers of non-gay residents and it is impossible to determine what portion of the gay vote went to Fenty or Gray. The gay-identified precincts are also located in the predominately white sections of the city in Wards 1, 2 and 6, which Fenty won.

Nearly all LGBT activists familiar with voter demographics agreed that black LGBT residents, who are dispersed throughout the city and not concentrated in individual precincts, voted overwhelmingly for Gray.

“Anecdotally, I can’t name five black gays who voted for Fenty,” said gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell, who is active in the city’s predominantly black Ward 8.

Pannell said that the gay vote — like the citywide vote as a whole — appears to have divided along racial lines, with most white voters going for Fenty and most blacks voting for Gray.

“I definitely think Vince Gray is going to bring us all together,” Pannell said. “But it’s still sad to see we are racially divided at the ballot box.”

A number of political observers have said Clark Ray’s loss to Mendelson in Tuesday primary may not be the end of his quest to be the Council’s third out gay member. With Kwame Brown winning the Democratic nomination for the Council chairman’s seat, Brown’s at-large seat is expected to become vacant in January if he wins in the November general election, as expected.

The Board of Elections is expected to call a special election to fill the vacant seat early next year, and Ray has said he would consider running for the vacant seat if he lost to Mendelson. A number of LGBT activists who backed Mendelson have said they would look favorably toward a Ray candidacy for the vacant seat.

Maryland

Trone, Alsobrooks battle it out in Md.

Winner of May 14 Democratic primary will face Hogan in November

Published

2 days ago

May 9, 2024

Michael K. Lavers

From left, Prince George's County Executive Angela Alsobrooks and U.S. Rep. David Trone (D-Md.) are running for U.S. Senate in the Maryland Democratic Party primary. (Photos courtesy of the campaigns)

The two Democrats who are running to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) told the Washington Blade they would champion LGBTQ rights in the U.S. Senate.

Congressman David Trone is a member of the LGBTQ+ Equality Caucus and co-sponsored the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights law.

Trone voted in favor of the Respect for Marriage Act and co-sponsored a U.S. House of Representatives resolution in support of transgender rights. Trone helped secure $530,000 in grants from the Department of Homeland Security to develop violence prevention programs for LGBTQ youth in Montgomery County. He has also participated in Pride marches and other LGBTQ-specific events in his district that stretches from northern Montgomery County to Garrett County in western Maryland.

Trone during a telephone interview with the Blade on May 1 noted Republicans voted for the Respect for Marriage Act, which codified marriage equality in federal law.

“It’s about having to be able to personally connect with folks on the other side of the aisle,” said Trone.

“What I found successful to me is building a personal relationship and telling stories about my life,” he added.

Trone during the interview disclosed his niece is trans, and attended Furman University in South Carolina. He said he donated $10 million to the school that he attended as an undergrad to “build out their mental health capacity, which I felt was a way that she could have the best mental health care possible when she worked her way through (her) transition.”

Trone said his company, Total Wine & More, began to offer benefits to employees’ same-sex partners nearly 30 years ago. He told the Blade he implemented the policy after a female employee said her partner was unable to get health insurance.

“I didn’t really think much about it, because I didn’t realize that her partner was another woman,” recalled Trone. “She explained to me that she was another woman and couldn’t get married, and I said, well, we’ll figure that out, so I went down to human resources and found that you can change your policy.”

Maryland voters in 2012 approved the state’s same-sex marriage law.

Prince George’s County Executive Angela Alsobrooks was the county’s state’s attorney when voters upheld the marriage equality law.

She supported the law and attended a pro-Question 6 fundraiser at state Del. Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery County)’s home ahead of the referendum. The Montgomery County Democrat’s now wife worked with Alsobrooks when she was state’s attorney, and she toasted them at their 2013 wedding.

Alsobrooks during an April 29 interview at the Blade’s office noted Prince George’s County offers PrEP to LGBTQ people and other communities “that need the opportunity to protect themselves.”

She, like Trone, supports the Equality Act, noting it “does provide the opportunity to not experience discrimination in a number of forums.” Alsobrooks also discussed the need to “protect the courts.”

“The one thing that former President Trump did was to stack the courts with judges who make decisions that have taken away the rights of many people, including the LGBTQ community,” she told the Blade.

Alsobrooks also said she would like to be on the Senate Judiciary Committee to “make sure that we are not appointing these conservative, activist judges who want to make decisions and choices that do not belong to them … and are determined, I think, to remove freedom from so many.”

Prince George’s County Councilwoman Krystal Oriadha, a bisexual woman who supports Trone, last June criticized the decision not to hold a ceremony for the raising of the Pride flag over the county administrative building in Upper Marlboro.

Pastor John K. Jenkins, Sr., of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, the Upper Marlboro church that Alsobrooks attends, in 2012 urged his congregants to vote against Maryland’s marriage equality law. Shirley Caesar, a well-known gospel singer, during a 2017 appearance at the church defended Kim Burrell, another gospel singer who referred to the “perverted homosexual lifestyle” in an online sermon that has been removed from YouTube and social media.

Alsobrooks’s campaign in an earlier statement to the Blade said she “does not agree with those sentiments.”

Primary winner to likely face Hogan

Early voting in Maryland began on May 2.

Campaign finance reports indicate Trone has loaned his campaign more than $54 million. Alsobrooks has raised more than $7 million.

A poll that Goucher College conducted with the Baltimore Banner between March 19-24 found 42 percent of likely Democratic voters will vote for Trone, compared to 33 percent who said they will cast their ballot for Alsobrooks. Nearly a quarter of poll respondents said they were undecided.

An Emerson College Polling/The Hill/DC News Now poll released on Thursday notes Alsobrooks is now ahead of Trone by a 42-41 percent margin with a 2.9 percent margin of error. The poll was conducted between Monday and Wednesday.

The winner of the May 14 primary will most likely face off against Republican former Gov. Larry Hogan, who entered the race in February.

Alsobrooks would become the first Black woman to represent Maryland in the U.S. Senate if she were to win in November. She told the Blade that Maryland “is going to be one of the states” that will determine whether Democrats will retain control of the chamber.

“That issue of choice was also squarely featured because of his (Hogan’s) well-known position as a person who is not pro-choice,” she said, referring to abortion that has emerged as a top campaign issue after the U.S. Supreme Court in 2022 struck down Roe v. Wade. “It really energized a lot of people who are now really leaning in and are committed to making sure that we keep Maryland blue, and by extension that we elect people who will protect a woman’s right to choose, protect reproductive freedom.”

Trone told the Blade that he is the candidate who can defeat Hogan in November.

“I have a track record of progress and passing bills in the House for three sessions,” said Trone. “I’ll be able to beat Larry Hogan.”

Candidates attacked over insensitive comments, campaign spending

Trone and Alsobrooks in recent weeks have intensified their attacks against each other.

Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin and other elected officials who have endorsed Alsobrooks over the past weekend publicly criticized Trone after he told NBC Washington last week that people who have backed her are “low level.”

Trone in March apologized after he used a racial slur during a House Budget Committee hearing.

Alsobrooks’s campaign did not publicly respond to the comment. Alsobrooks herself pointed out to the Blade that Trone during a debate said he gave money to U.S. Reps. Lucy McBath (D-Ga.) and Lauren Underwood (D-Ill.), describing them as “great diversity candidates.” (Trone later said he meant to say “diverse candidates.”)

“We are not diversity candidates,” said Alsobrooks. “These are qualified congresswomen.”

Alsobrooks also noted Trone has given money to anti-LGBTQ Republicans.

Campaign finance records indicate Trone and/or his wife have previously supported anti-LGBTQ Republicans. These include a $38,000 donation to Texas Gov. Greg Abbott’s election campaign in 2014, two $4,000 contributions to former North Carolina Gov. Pat McCrory in 2008 and 2012 and $2,500 to U.S. Sen. Tom Tillis (R-N.C.).

Total Wine & More between 2007-2022 contributed $272,971 to Republican officials, candidates and state parties. Trone in 2015 stepped down as the company’s CEO.

Trone in response to Alsobrooks’s criticism noted his company has more than 1,000 employees in Texas. Trone also defended his company and the way that he has “always put my people first.”

“If you put your people first, you’re going to take care of your people with full time wages, wages with benefits, insurance, health care, all those things,” he said. “Republicans attack us in all these states, then they have the audacity to ask for money in those states, and that’s where the company is put between a rock and a hard place.”

“That’s why we want to get this money out of politics,” added Trone. “Get these people out (of) there asking for money.”

Trone said he has given more than $20 million to Democrats.

“The fact that the company works to protect the jobs of people in Tennessee, and in South Carolina, (works) on issues that are not related to abortion, issues that are not at all related to LGBTQ+ issues that are related to the business; I keep them open,” he told the Blade. “They’d like to conflate the world to their advantage.”

Trone noted he was not “born rich” and attended public school, while Alsobrooks “went to private school.” Trone also described Alsobrooks to the Blade as a “career politician.”

Governor Wes Moore; Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller; U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen; former U.S. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Reps. John Sarbanes, Glenn Ivey, Steny Hoyer, Kweisi Mfume and Jamie Raskin; state Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City); former state Del. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City); Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott; and Howard County Registrar of Wills Byron Macfarlane are among the elected officials who have endorsed Alsobrooks.

“She was for marriage equality before it was cool to be for marriage equality,” Kaiser told the Blade late last year.

Attorney General Anthony Brown, Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Aisha Braveboy and gay state Dels. Ashanti Martinez (D-Montgomery County) and Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) are among those who have endorsed Trone.

“Congressman David Trone has been an unwavering supporter of LGBTQ+ rights since his first year in office,” Fair told the Blade on Tuesday in a statement. “He has been a vocal and visible leader, showing up in queer spaces and being an active listener and facilitator.”

Gay state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County), who is running for Trone’s seat in Congress, has also endorsed him.

District of Columbia

Billy Porter, Keke Palmer, Ava Max to perform at Capital Pride

Concert to be held at annual festival on June 9

Published

3 days ago

May 7, 2024

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Billy Porter (Photo courtesy of Republic Records)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced this week the lineup of performers for the Sunday, June 9, Capital Pride Concert to be held during the Capital Pride Festival on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. near the U.S. Capitol.

Among the performers will be nationally acclaimed singers and recording artists Billy Porter and Keke Palmer, who will also serve as grand marshals for the Capital Pride Parade set to take place one day earlier on Saturday, June 8.

The Capital Price announcement says the other lead performers will be Ava Max, Sapphira Cristal, and the pop female trio Exposé.

“The beloved pop icons will captivate audiences with upbeat performances coupled with their fierce advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, echoing the vibrant spirit of this year’s theme, ‘Totally Radical,’” according to a statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.

“With Billy Porter and Keke Palmer leading the parade as Grand Marshals, we’re not only honoring their incredible contributions to the LGBTQ+ community but also amplifying their voices as fierce advocates for equality and acceptance,” Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos said in the statement.

“The concert and festival serve as a platform to showcase the diverse array of LGBTQ+ talent, from the chart-topping hits of Ava Max to the iconic sounds of Exposé and the electrifying performances of Sapphira Cristal,” Bos said in the statement. “Capital Pride 2024 promises to be a celebration like no other.”

The concert will take place from 12-10 p.m. on the main stage and other stages across the four-block long festival site on Pennsylvania Avenue.

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier and fireworks show returning June 8

The annual Pride on the Pier Fireworks Show presented by the Leonard-Litz Foundation will take place on Saturday, June 8 at 9 p.m.

Published

3 days ago

May 7, 2024

Staff reports

Pride on the Pier (Photo Courtesy The Wharf)

The Washington Blade, in partnership with LURe DC and The Wharf, is excited to announce the 5th annual Pride on the Pier and fireworks show during D.C. Pride weekend on Saturday, June 8, 2024, from 2-10 p.m.

The event will include the annual Pride on the Pier Fireworks Show presented by the Leonard-Litz Foundation at 9 p.m.

Pride on the Pier (Photo Courtesy The Wharf)

Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Southwest waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older. Local DJ’s Heat, Eletrox and Honey will perform throughout the event.

3 p.m. – Capital Pride Parade on the Big Screen

3:30 p.m. – Drag Show hosted by Cake Pop!

9 p.m. – Fireworks Show Presented by Leonard-Litz Foundation

Pride on the Pier (Photo Courtesy of The Wharf)

The event is free and open to the public. The Dockmasters Building will be home to a VIP experience. To learn more and to purchase tickets go to www.prideonthepier.com/vip. VIP tickets are limited.