Local
Equality Maryland rejects $500,000 donation
Board says conditions unacceptable
Equality Marylandās board of directors turned down an offer by an anonymous donor to give the financially struggling group $500,000 in exchange for the board giving up its voting privilege and becoming an advisory body, with a new board to be selected by the donor.
Darrell Carrington, an Equality Maryland board member who knows the identity of the donor and acted as the donorās representative, said he resigned from the board on Monday following the boardās decision to turn down the offer.
He said he recused himself from voting on the offer, among other things, because the donor wanted him to be part of a new board selected by the donor to help save the organization, which faces the prospect of having to lay off all of but one of its employees by July 1.
āItās a gay man out of Montgomery County. I canāt identity him any more than that,ā said Carrington, when asked to reveal something about the mystery donor.
āThe reason why he made the offer is because heās been following Equality Maryland for years,ā Carrington said. āAnd of course he wants to see the organization survive.ā
Added Carrington, āIn any corporate type of structure, or even a non-profit, if someoneās coming in with money to lift the organization they need to be able to call the shots. And that was something that was not going to work for them,ā he said of the board.
Patrick Wojahn, one ofĀ five remaining Equality Maryland board members, said Carrington also withheld the donorās identity from the board. According to Wojahn, Carrington disclosed the name of another individual working with the donor who was to join the donor and Carrington to become a new three-member board that would take control of the group under the terms of the offer.
āThere were a number of strings tied to the deal, which basically made us uncomfortable with it,ā Wojahn said. āAnd we decided that if we are going to turn over the organization to some people who really didnāt have any ties to the LGBT community that we needed to have more of a conversation with the community first.ā
Carrington, who is straight, works as a political consultant and lobbyistĀ before the Maryland Legislature on issues other than LGBT rights. However, activists familiar with Equality Maryland say he worked hard for a same-sex marriage bill that died in the legislature earlier this year.
Since meeting with LGBT activists and Equality Maryland members over the past few weeks, the board has been told repeatedly that āpeople want more accountability and more transparencyā from the group, Wojahn said.
āTo basically turn over the organization to these folks who really didnāt have any ties to the community without further dialogue within the community about what that would mean, we thought that would not be fair to the membership of the organization,ā he said.
Carrington said he and others who have worked with the organization doubt it will be able to survive much longer. āItās essentially out of money,ā he said.
āWe donāt believe the organization is going to fold,ā said Wojahn. āWeāre looking forward. Weāve already been doing fundraising. Weāre working on a plan to expand the board, to rebuild the organization, and we feel that we can work with the community to rebuild.ā
Yet he said that unless contributions begin to flow to a substantial degree, the board will be forced to follow through with its earlier stated plan to lay off all but one employee by the end of this month due to an inability to meet the payroll.
Asked if the board would reconsider the offer by the anonymous donor after discussing the proposal with the groupās membership, Wojahn said, āI donāt know. They wanted an answer fairly quickly about whether or not we would take their offer. So I donāt know if it would still be available.ā
Carrington told the Blade on Tuesday that the donor would consider making the offer available if the board should change its mind, but he said the terms would remain the same.
āThe offer is weāll put the money up but the current board has to be ex-officio,ā he said. āThey cannot have any voting rights or responsibilities.ā
Added Carrington, āIām a little disappointed, with the amount of work I have done over the years for marriage equality, for them not to understand that I would not put together a team that would try to destroy what weāve built. I think the financial commitment should speak volumes to the level of commitment that everyone has to saving Equality Maryland,ā he said.
āI have to question them when they say they are the custodians of the organization for the state of Maryland,ā added Carrington. āMy question is who are you the custodians of if you have to close your doors by the end of July? I just donāt know if theyāre seeing the big picture here.ā
In addition to Wojahn, the other board members remaining with Equality Maryland include Lisa Polyak, Rosemary Nicolosi, David Lublin and Mark Yost.
The group’s board chair, Charles Butler, resigned after stating in a Blade interview that the former executive director, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, was responsible for much of the group’s financial problems. Meneses-Sheets disputed his allegation, saying Butler and the board were responsible for the money problems. Butler said this week that he resigned from the board for personal reasons unrelated to the organization.
He said he and his husband were beginning the process of adopting a child and because of that, along with the demands of his job, he no longer had the time to devote to serving on the board.
Virginia
Norfolk transgender resource center vandalized
Anti-trans graffiti spraypainted onto Southeastern Transgender Resource Center’s windows
The Norfolk Police Department is investigating the vandalism of a transgender resource center’s building.
Tarena Williams, founder of the Southeastern Transgender Resource Center, told WAVY that someone spraypainted anti-trans graffiti on the windows of her organization’s offices on Sunday or Monday morning. Williams told the Hampton Roads television station that seeing the messages was like “walking into hell.”
āI opened up STRC, even the Lamina House,ā she told WAVY. āI opened up that to get away from those types of words. This is a place you can come to get away from that, but to see that sprayed over the window. Itās kind of like you are walking into hell. ā¦ To be honest, I was like in shock.ā
Authorities are investigating the vandalism.
West Virginia
Appeals court strikes down W.Va. transgender athlete ban
Ruling finds law violates studentsā constitutional rights, Title IX
BY LORI KERSEYĀ | The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down West Virginiaās ban on transgender athletes, finding the law violates trans studentsā rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution and Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs.
The case, B.P.J. vs. the West Virginia Board of Education, was filed in May 2021 on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old trans middle school student and track athlete who would be barred from participating if the ban is upheld. Pepper-Jackson is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Lambda Legal.
In April 2021, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed into law a bill prohibiting trans women and girls in the state from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The U.S. Court of Appeals in February 2023 blocked the state from removing Pepper-Jackson from her schoolās track and field team as legal advocates appealed a lower courtās ruling upholding the ban.
In Tuesdayās ruling, Judge Toby Heytens wrote that offering Pepper-Jackson the āchoiceā between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is not a real choice.
āThe defendants cannot expect that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches and even opponents as a boy,ā the judge wrote.
āBy participating on boys teams, B.P.J. would be sharing the field with boys who are larger, stronger, and faster than her because of the elevated levels of circulating testosterone she lacks,ā he wrote. āThe Act thus exposes B.P.J. to the very harms Title IX is meant to prevent by effectively āexclud[ing]ā her from āparticipation inā all non-coed sports entirely.ā
In a statement Tuesday, Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLUās LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the courtās ruling āa tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are.ā
āIt also continues a string of federal courts ruling against bans on the participation of transgender athletes and in favor of their equal participation as the gender they know themselves to be,ā Block wrote. āThis case is fundamentally about the equality of transgender youth in our schools and our communities and weāre thankful the 4th Circuit agreed.ā
āWe hope todayās ruling sends a message of hope to the trans youth of West Virginia,ā Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, said in the statement. āAnd a message of warning to politicians who continue to dehumanize this vulnerable population.ā
West Virginia is one of 21 states that have banned trans student-athletes over the last three years, according to the ACLU.
In a statement Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey vowed to defend the ban and said he is ādeeply disappointedā in the decision.
āThe Save Womenās Sports Act is āconstitutionally permissibleā and the law complies with Title IX,ā Morrisey said. āI will keep fighting to safeguard Title IX. We must keep working to protect womenās sports so that womenās safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field. We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.ā
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Lori Kersey is a reporter with a decade of experience reporting in West Virginia. She covers state government for West Virginia Watch.
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The preceding article was previously published by the West Virginia Watch and is republished with permission.
Nonprofit, nonpartisan, independent journalism not hidden behind a paywall. Mountaineers are always free, and so is West Virginia Watch.
West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House set for April 17
Event marks 59th anniversary of historic push for gay rights in nationās capital
D.C.ās Rainbow History Project announced it will hold a reenactment on Wednesday, April 17, of the historic first protest for gay rights in the form of a picket line in front of the White House that took place on that same day in 1965.
In a statement released last week, Rainbow History Project says the reenactment will mark the 59th anniversary of an event that is credited with bringing attention for the first time to the federal governmentās longstanding discrimination against a minority group referred to then as homosexuals or gays and lesbians.
The statement notes that the 1965 event was organized by the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the first politically active LGBT organization in the nationās capital founded by local gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny.
āThe picket took place on the White House sidewalk, Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., on April 17, 1965,ā the statement says. āFor exactly one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., members of the Mattachine Society of Washington walked in a circle, non-stop, in silence, carrying posters of their demands,ā the statement continues.
āThe White House picket is the origin story for public demonstrations for gay rights in the U.S., and the origin story for Pride Marches and the annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations which occur across the globe,ā according to the statement.
It says those picketing in the April 1965 event, which included Kameny and longtime local D.C.-area lesbian activist Lilli Vincenz, both of whom held doctorate degrees, called on the government to adopt the Mattachine Society of Washingtonās four major demands: an end to the exclusion of homosexuals from federal government employment; an end to the ban on gays and lesbians from serving in the U.S. military; an end to the āblanket denialā of security clearances for gay people; and an end to the āgovernment refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.ā
Among those who chose not to respond to the request for a meeting was President Lyndon B. Johnson, who occupied the White House at the time of the 1965 picketing.
Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Projectās director of archiving and one of the lead organizers of the April 17 reenactment event, said the event is aimed, among other things, at drawing attention to how far the LGBTQ community has come since 1965. He said the event is not in any way a protest of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Slatt called staunch supporters of the LGBTQ community.
āWe are just reenacting this historical event and pointing out how far weāve come,ā Slatt told the Washington Blade. āIf you think about what it means in 1965 when these people were protesting and LBJ would not even respond to them. And now, we are at a place where Vice President Harris speaks on a stage at Capital Pride.ā
The Rainbow History Project statement notes that the reenactment event will also be held in honor of Kameny, who died in 2011, and Vincenz, who passed away in 2023, both of whom participated in a similar reenactment event in 2008.
Among those who will be participating in this weekās reenactment on April 17 will be longtime local LGBTQ rights activist Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler will be carrying a replica of his own picket sign he held at the 1965 event, the statement says.
It says Rainbow History Project volunteers will also carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.
Similar to the 1965 event, the reenactment picketing at the White House will begin on April 17 at about 4:15 p.m., according to Slatt of the Rainbow History Project.
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