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Md. lieutenant guv backs marriage bill

Anthony Brown believes bill would survive voter referendum

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In his first public remarks on same-sex marriage, Maryland Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown told the Washington Blade Wednesday that he supports marriage equality for lesbians and gays and favors the approval of a same-sex marriage bill pending in the Maryland Legislature.

LGBT activists believe Brown, a Prince Georgeā€™s County Democrat who is considered a potential candidate for governor in 2014, could play a key role in defending the marriage bill against a voter referendum in 2012 if the legislature passes it this year, as most political observers expect.

ā€œI have always believed that all Marylanders should have an equality of rights and responsibilities and that includes marriage equality,ā€ he said in an exclusive interview.

ā€œSo regardless of gender, we should be able to choose who it is that we are going to marry and hopefully spend the rest of our lives with. And so Iā€™m supportive of that,ā€ he said.

Brown said he has friends and acquaintances who are in same-sex relationships and he has seen first-hand how they are ā€œsuccessfully raising children,ā€ a development that has helped shape his views on the marriage issue.

Brownā€™s expression of support for the marriage bill came on the same day that Republican State Sen. Allan Kittleman announced he was dropping plans to introduce a civil unions bill and would vote instead for the marriage bill.

Some LGBT activists viewed a civil unions bill as a possible competing measure that might have derailed the marriage bill.

The decision by Kittleman, the former Senate minority leader, to abandon plans to introduce a civil unions bill and to back the marriage measure, and Brownā€™s firm statement backing same-sex marriage, are likely to be viewed by LGBT activists as a major boost for the marriage measure.

Up until now, Brown had not taken a public stand on the marriage bill, although his press secretary, Mike Raia, said Brown had informed colleagues and friends of his support for the measure.

ā€œThe lieutenant governorā€™s statement comes as a surprise, but certainly a welcome surprise,ā€ said Lisa Polyak, a board member and spokesperson for Equality Maryland, the statewide LGBT group leading efforts to pass the bill.

ā€œWeā€™re grateful for all elected officials, especially those in leadership roles, who understand that our families seek equal treatment under the law,ā€ she said. ā€œAnd we welcome the lieutenant governorā€™s joining the coalition to achieve civil marriage for same-sex couples.ā€

Gov. Martin Oā€™Malley has said he would sign a same-sex marriage measure approved by the legislature. And most political observers in the state say supporters of the bill have the votes to get it through the legislature.

Before being named by Oā€™Malley as his running mate in the 2006 gubernatorial race, Brown had served two terms in the Maryland House of Delegates from P.G. County. During his second term, Brown was named the House of Delegatesā€™ majority whip, a leadership post that enabled him to build a good working relationship with his fellow lawmakers.

Noting that his job as whip involved ā€œcounting headsā€ to determine the support of various bills, Brown said he believes the marriage measure has solid support in the House of Delegates and appears to enjoy a ā€œslim majorityā€ in the Senate.

Asked what he thinks the chances are for opponents to place the marriage bill before the voters in a referendum, Brown said he believes a referendum on the issue will make it to the ballot, but he thinks voters will uphold the law rather than overturn it.

ā€œItā€™s not a high hurdle in Maryland to get an issue on the ballot,ā€ he said. ā€œSo it would be on the ballot for 2012 during the presidential campaign. Thereā€™s going to be a lot of voter turnout as we typically see in presidential campaigns. No doubt, like other referenda, itā€™s going to be hotly contested and debated.ā€

Brown added, ā€œAs I said today, my position is in support [of the marriage bill]. As we approach 2012 Iā€™ll certainly evaluate what role Iā€™m going to play on that issue.ā€

As a prominent black elected official, LGBT advocates for the marriage bill would likely seek Brownā€™s help in campaigning for the bill in a referendum fight in his home turf of majority blackĀ P.G. County. In California in 2008, exit polls showed that a majority of black voters supported overturning that stateā€™s same-sex marriage law in the bitterly fought ballot measure known as Proposition 8.

ā€œI think Prince Georgeā€™s County, which is predominantly African American, should not be viewed as a monolithic entity or county or community,ā€ Brown said. ā€œI think weā€™re going to get varying degrees of support and varying degrees of opposition. We know from public comments that many of the traditional civil rights organizations have come out in support of it,ā€ he said, referring to the same-sex marriage bill.

ā€œWe also know that a number of members of the clergy from the African-American churches have come out or spoke against it,ā€ he said. ā€œSo thereā€™s not a clear or I should say single voice in Prince Georgeā€™s County on this issue as I suspect is true in most all of the large counties in Maryland.ā€

Brown was asked what he thought of assertions by Bishop Harry Jackson, a Maryland minister who led efforts to oppose D.C.ā€™s same-sex marriage law. Jackson and his supporters, among other things, argued that same-sex unions endanger black families because they undermine traditional marriage.

ā€œWell, my only response, and this is not a response to the impact on black families, white families, or any other families,ā€ he said. ā€œMy response to that is I have had experience through friendships and acquaintances with couples ā€“ same-sex couples ā€“ who are successfully raising children. And thatā€™s in a number or variety of racial or ethnic backgrounds. So I have difficulty understanding that comment.ā€

Brownā€™s official biography on the Maryland State website shows that he has served in the Army since 1984 both on active duty and currently in the reserves. He served a 10-month tour in Iraq as part of a Multi-National Force in 2004 that provided humanitarian assistance to the Iraqi people. In 2007 he was promoted to the rank of colonel and, as an attorney with a degree from Harvard Law School, he currently commands a Pennsylvania-based Army Legal Support unit.

With that as a backdrop, Brown was asked what he thought of the successfulĀ effort to repeal ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tell,ā€ the law that barred gays and lesbians from serving openly in the military.

ā€œWell, first Iā€™ll say I couldnā€™t be more proud of our president for moving forward on the elimination of the ā€œDonā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€ policy and recognizing full membership, if you will, in uniform services of men and women regardless of who they choose to be in a relationship with,ā€ he said. ā€œSo Iā€™m proud of that and I think itā€™s a big step forward for the armed forces and itā€™s a big step forward for our country.ā€

Added Brown, ā€œAnd I will also say that after 26 years of active and reserve duty, Iā€™d be kidding people if I told them that I never encountered a soldier who didnā€™t tell me that they were gay. And yet I have observed these soldiers performing their duty patriotically with the same level of diligence and commitment and that their preference had no relevance to their performance of their military duties.ā€

When asked about a transgender non-discrimination bill that was introduced last week into the House of Delegates with 55 co-sponsors, Brown didn’t disclose whether he has a position on the measure.

“I’m not familiar with that one,” he said. “I know I’ve dealt with some transgender bills when I was on the House Judiciary Committee, but this one in particular I’m not familiar with.”

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District of Columbia

D.C. mayorĀ honors 10th anniversary of Team Rayceen Productions

LGBTQ entertainment, advocacy organization praised for ā€˜vital workā€™

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Rayceen Pendarvis co-founded Team Rayceen Productions. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser today issued an official proclamation declaring Monday, March 18, 2024, as Team Rayceen Day in honor of the local LGBTQ entertainment and advocacy organization Team Rayceen Productions named after its co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis.

ā€œWhereas Rayceen, along with Team Rayceen Productions co-founder, Zar, have spent 10 years advocating for the Black LGBTQI+ community using various forms including in-person events, social media, and YouTube,ā€ the proclamation states.

The proclamation adds that through its YouTube Channel, Team Rayceen Productions created a platform for ā€œBlack LGBTQIA+ individuals to discuss various topics including spotlighting nonprofit organizations and small businesses, voter registration and participation, the state of LGBTQIA+ rights and resources in D.C, gender equality and equity, and the amplification of opportunities to bring the community together.ā€

It also praises Team Rayceen Productions for its partnership with the Mayorā€™s Office of LGBTQ Affairs in helping to produce ā€œexciting events like the District of Pride talent showcase held each June and the iconic 17th Street High Heel Race celebrated in October.ā€

ā€œWhereas I thank Team Rayceen Productions for its vital and necessary work and am #DCProud to wish you all the best as you continue to support Black LGBTQIA+ residents across all 8 Wards,ā€ the proclamation continues.

ā€œNow, therefore, I, the Mayor of Washington, D.C., do hereby proclaim March 18, 2024, as TEAM RAYCEEN DAY in Washington, D.C. and do commit this observance to all Washingtonians,ā€ it concludes.

ā€œWe thank Mayor Bowser for this special proclamation, which highlights where it all began, with the Black LGBTQIA+ community of Washington, D.C,ā€ Team Rayceen Productions says in a statement. ā€œStarting with The Ask Rayceen Show, Reel Affirmation, and events with D.C. Public Library to Art All Night, Silver Pride by Whitman-Walker, and events with the Mayorā€™s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, we are #dcproud of what we have accomplished in the Nationā€™s Capital,ā€ the statement says. 

“For TEAM RAYCEEN DAY, we thank the diverse group of individuals who have made everything we have done possible by volunteering their time and talents over the past decade ā€“ as online co-hosts, event staff, performers, DJs, photographers, and more,ā€ says the statement.

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D.C. jury finds AARP Services illegally fired gay man

Former employee awarded $2.1 million in damages

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Richard A. Deus, Jr.

A D.C. Superior Court jury on March 15 handed down a verdict finding that the D.C.-based AARP Services, Inc., an arm of the AARP that interacts with businesses supportive of the nationā€™s seniors, illegally fired a gay manager because of his sexual orientation.

The juryā€™s verdict, which it said was based on a ā€œpreponderance of evidence,ā€ came six years after Richard A. ā€˜Rickā€™ Deus Jr., who worked for AARP and AARP Services for 11 years, filed a lawsuit against his former employer in May 2018. The lawsuit charges that AARP Services violated the D.C. Human Rights Act by firing him after falsely accusing him of accepting gifts for travel from businesses affiliated with AARP that violated AARP employee ethics policies.

His lawsuit says he was fired in February 2018. At that time, he held the title of director of program management at AARP Services.

The lawsuit says AARP Services cited the alleged travel violations as the reason for its decision to fire him. The lawsuit named AARP Services and its then chief executive officer, Lawrence Flanagan, as the two defendants responsible for Deusā€™s firing.

But the juryā€™s verdict only named AARP Services as being at fault in the firing. It did not find Flanagan at fault and did not hold him responsible for damages, even though Flanagan testified at the trial that he made the final decision to terminate Deus on grounds that Deus violated the travel policy.

The jury also chose not to hold AARP Services responsible for paying punitive damages to Deus, whose lawsuit called for $5 million in compensatory damages and an additional $5 million in punitive damages.

In its verdict, according to online court records, the jury awarded Deus $1,612,916.18 in compensatory damages and $578,351 in damages for emotional distress that AARP Services is required to pay Deus. The court records show the jury awarded Deus another $1,118.89 to be paid by AARP Services for its alleged breach of contract with him in its decision to fire him.

An attorney representing AARP Services immediately following the verdict filed a motion requesting that Superior Court Judge Shana Frost Matini, who presided over the trial, issue a ā€œdirected verdictā€ overturning the juryā€™s verdict. 

Such a motion is often filed by individuals or organizations on the losing side of a lawsuit, but such requests are rarely approved. Matini said she would schedule a hearing to consider the motion in May.

ā€œIā€™m thrilled that the jury found that I was treated differently from my co-workers and discriminatorily fired,ā€ Deus told the Washington Blade after the jury handed down its verdict. ā€œThatā€™s clearly what they found, and they awarded emotional pain and suffering,ā€ he said. ā€œBut overall, Iā€™m elated. Itā€™s been six years of my life that Iā€™ve been fighting and telling people that I was treated differently than anybody else and today I got my vindication.ā€

Laura Segal, AARPā€™s Senior Vice President for External Affairs, told the Blade in a statement, ā€œAARP is pleased with the juryā€™s verdict that Lawrence Flanagan lawfully terminated Richard Deusā€™s employment.ā€ She added, ā€œAARP Services, Inc. (ASI) disagrees with the remainder of the verdict and is exploring all options for further legal review. We remain committed to an inclusive culture and warmth and belonging, where everyone is welcome.ā€

Attorneys representing AARP Services argued at the trial and presented witnesses denying Dues was fired because of his sexual orientation. They asserted that AARP Services had and still has gay and lesbian employees and managers and that the company has a longstanding policy of prohibiting  discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation or marital status.

Deusā€™s lawsuit accused AARP Services of targeting Deus for discrimination based on his marriage to another man as well as for his sexual orientation. The jury did not find that AARP Services engaged in discrimination against Deus based on his marital status.

Flanagan was among the lead defense witnesses who testified at the nine-day-long trial. He testified that he has worked for many years with gay colleagues, has a gay relative who he admires, and would never have allowed his staff to engage in discrimination while he served as AARP Services CEO.

He noted in his testimony that his decision to fire Deus was based, in part, on the recommendation of AARP Servicesā€™ human resources or personnel director, Michael Loizzi, who is an openly gay man. Loizzi, who also testified at the trial, said that as a gay man he would never have called for Deus or anyone else to be fired because of their sexual orientation. He stated in his testimony that he recommended to Flanagan that Deus be fired because Deus violated AARP Services travel policy and lied to his supervisor about the details of the travel to get his supervisorā€™s approval under false pretenses.

Deus, during his own testimony, strongly disputed claims that he obtained permission for his travel by providing false information to his supervisor. His lawsuit states that both his supervisor and AARP Servicesā€™ legal counsel cleared him for the two trips that he has been accused of taking in violation of policy.

His lawsuit identifies heterosexual AARP and AARP Services employees who have taken business trips like the two taken by Deus that allegedly violated travel policy who were not fired or disciplined. A few faced disciplinary actions but were allowed to retain their jobs, the lawsuit says.

ā€œThis case is about the unequal treatment of a gay man when juxtaposed to the treatment of our heterosexual comparators,ā€ Darrell Chambers, Deusā€™s lead attorney, told the Washington Blade after the verdict. ā€œThis is not a case about an organization or a group of people who hate gay people and decided that they were going to fire this man because they hate him,ā€ Chambers said.

ā€œInstead, itā€™s a case where the punishment that they consistently applied to gay employees, re Mr. Deus and Mr. Sanders, was harsher, far harsher than the punishment they applied to heterosexual employees who committed the same or similar acts.ā€

Chambers was referring to former AARP Services employee Jack Sanders, who is gay and who testified on video played at the trial that he was summarily fired on grounds that he allegedly sent pornographic photos or video images to another AARP Services employee, who complained about receiving the pornographic images.

Sanders has said the pornographic images in question were sent to the employee by his ex-boyfriend who wanted to portray Sanders in a negative light. Through telephone and wire transmission records Sanders was able to show that the images in question were sent from a device in Washington, D.C. at a time that Sanders was in Chicago, proving that Sanders could not have been the person who sent the images.

Deusā€™s attorneys brought out at the trial that AARP Services failed to give Sanders a chance to defend himself, prompting him to file his own lawsuit against AARP Services for which a settlement was reached. The terms of the settlement have not been publicly disclosed. But Deusā€™s attorneys cited Sandersā€™s case as yet another example of how AARP Services has treated gay employees differently from heterosexual employees.

AARP Services attorney Alison Davis argued during the trial that discrimination based on Deusā€™s sexual orientation had nothing at all to do with the decision to fire him. Davis told the jury that the two trips that Deus took that led to his firing, one to New York City and the other to New Orleans to attend the Sugar Bowl football game, were financed in part by companies that do business with AARP in violation of AARP and AARP Services policies for travel. Among other things, she said the Sugar Bowl is considered a championship game that has a value higher than smaller gifts that AARP employees are allowed to accept.

Deus testified that his reason for accepting an invitation to the Sugar Bowl game was to spend time with the new account director at the Allstate insurance company, which paid for the Sugar Bowl game ticket. ā€œIn 2019, we were going to be negotiating a new contract with Allstate and we wanted to establish a good relationship with her before the contract negotiations began,ā€ he told the Blade. ā€œThatā€™s how you do business.ā€

Deus said he was referring to Allstateā€™s business relationship with AARP Services, which he said, similar to its interaction with other businesses, helps AARP provide support and services to the nationā€™s senior citizens.

In her cross examination of Deus on the witness stand, Davis also raised AARP Servicesā€™ claim in contesting the lawsuit that the emotional distress and depression that Deus says he suffered because of his firing could have been caused by issues unrelated to the firing. Davis asked Deus if his emotional distress was caused by stress that Deus has said he experienced years earlier when he came out as gay to his parents, who are ordained ministers, and in his interaction with his sister, who had been diagnosed as being bipolar. 

Deus said that while his coming out to his conservative parents nearly 30 years ago and his sisterā€™s mental health issues were a concern years earlier, he and his parents had long since reconciled over his sexual orientation and his sisterā€™s mental health issues played no role whatsoever in the emotional distress he experienced after being fired by AARP Services.

In her cross examination of Deus on the witness stand, Davis also asked him if his decision to be interviewed by the Washington Blade last year for a Blade story about his lawsuit could have contributed to the difficulty, he said he encountered in finding employment after he was fired by AARP Services. Deus, who testified that he was hired by at least one other company that later laid him off, said he did not believe a Blade story about his lawsuit would have an adverse impact on him.  

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Baltimore

Power Plant Live! opens Club 4, its first LGBTQ bar

Ryan Butler, known by his drag persona Brooklyn Heights, helped launch venue

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Ryan Butler, also known as drag performer Brooklyn Heights, stands in the space at Power Plant Live! that will house Club 4. (Photo by Kaitlin Newman for the Baltimore Banner)

BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Ryan Butler wanted a place where all members of the LGBTQ community could enjoy drag, drinks and fellowship in a safe space. He found it by the Inner Harbor.

Butler jumped at the opportunity to help open Club 4, the first LGBTQ-themed bar to occupy the popular Power Plant Live! venue.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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