Local
Maryland high school distributes ‘ex-gay’ flier
Montgomery County parent objects after son brings home anti-gay literature
Flier On Gay Choice Stirs Controversy: MyFoxDC.com
Students at a Montgomery County high school have received materials from an “ex-gay” organization that promotes the widely discredited theory that sexual orientation is changeable, according to a local D.C. Fox television affiliate.
Fox 5 TV reported students at Einstein High School in Rockville, Md., received the materials along with their report cards during homeroom last week.
The flier publicizes the work of the “ex-gay” organization, known as PFOX (Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays), which claims it “promotes diversity for the ex-gay community.” According to their mission statement, the organization asserts “ex-gays demonstrate that those with unwanted same-sex attraction can seek help and information,” in order to “transition out of a homosexual identity.”
According to district policy, any organization that can prove that it is a non-profit “community entity” can send materials home with students quarterly when report cards are distributed.
According to Fox 5, licensed clinical social worker and Einstein High School parent Karen Yount-Merrell complained to the Montgomery County school district administration after she found the flier among others when her son brought home his quarterly report card.
“I don’t like it,” Yount-Merrell told Fox 5. “Everything in this flier make it sound like the goal is to be [an] EX-gay, [or an EX]-lesbian. It is not embracing of a different orientation. It reiterates a societal view that there’s something ‘wrong’ with you, if you’re not in the norm. If you aren’t heterosexual. And teenagers have a hard enough time dealing with who they are and feeling good about themselves.”
After Yount-Merrell’s complaint, Montgomery County public schools issued a response saying, “the board of education policy allows materials and announcements from non-profit community organizations to be distributed at four designated times during the school year.”
PFOX’s principles are enumerated at a third-party website called Positive Alternatives To Homosexuality, or PATH, which PFOX’s website links to prominently. On the site, PATH declares it has worked with thousands of “ex-gays” who are now living as heterosexuals, concluding, “[w]hatever their individual circumstances and life goals, they have found from personal experience that there are, indeed, positive alternatives that are right for them rather than living a homosexual life.”
Wayne Besen, founding executive director of “ex-gay” watchdog group Truth Wins Out, said he’s appalled that a school district would allow the PFOX materials to be distributed.
“I follow a lot of these groups, and PFOX is by far the most extreme of all of them,” Besen told the Blade. “They’re pretending that they’re experts when they’re just extremists.”
He continued, “I think it’s always dangerous when you have a group with no credentials to do so handing out junk science to young people telling them there is something wrong with them. I think they’re begging for a lawsuit by even allowing this organization near them.”
Besen says PFOX was established by a collective of anti-gay groups as a foil to the pro-gay PFLAG, but that the group is inappropriate for the school setting.
“The school district is grossly irresponsible, derelict in its duty to protect students from harm by allowing this organization to distribute these materials,” Besen told the Blade. “It’s dangerous, reckless and unprofessional and a threat to the students they’re supposed to be protecting. These are the people they’re going to allow talk to kids?”
PFOX, however, was on the defensive after the controversy erupted, telling Fox 5 that the flier calls for “tolerance.”
“If people were to actually read the content of the flier that we’re distributing, they will see there is nothing in here that is insulting or even critical of homosexuals,” PFOX board member Peter Sprigg told Fox 5. “All it is telling kids [is] that you don’t have to be gay if you don’t want to be.”
Besen says the group may be attempting to sound reasonable, but in his opinion, PFOX is anything but.
“They were started with an $80,000 grant by the Family Research Council as a front group in 1998 …as part of that million dollar ‘Truth and Love’ campaign by 15 anti-gay organizations,” Besen said. “[Their mission is] to try to bully schools into accepting ex-gay literature or even so called ex-gay speakers. They want to portray ex-gays as an official minority that are being persecuted by activists.”
Besen said the school district need look no further than one of PFOX’s preferred speakers, Richard Cohen, who runs the International Healing Foundation, and promotes ‘touch therapy’ and therapy that includes beating a pillow with a tennis racket, according to Wayne Besen.
Richard Cohen showcasing some of his techniques on CNN
“What does the school district say about a group whose guru and current main speaker was kicked out of the American Counselors Association, for malpractice — he was expelled for life,” Besen said. “I can’t imagine any school district official could see a video of Richard Cohen for three seconds and would still distribute that flier. Unfathomable. I challenge any of them to take a look at him and tell me that children are safe in his clutches.”
According to Right Wing Watch, PFOX “tells gay youth to “transition out of a homosexual identity” even though the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the National Association of Social Workers and the American Psychiatric Association all deny the effectiveness, safety and ethics of reparative therapy.”
The full flier by the organization has been obtained by Fox 5 and can be found below:
Parents And Friends Of Ex-Gays Flyer to Einstein High School Students
Delaware
New LGBTQ visitor center slated for Wilmington, Del.
The Collective to feature gift shop, queer museum, more
During Pride month this year, the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective (DSGC) announced plans for “The Collective,” the first LGBTQ+ visitor center in Wilmington in nearly 40 years.
“We’ve been talking about the concept of a brick-and-mortar space for a long time,” said Noah Duckett, co-founder of the DSGC.
A licensed clinical social worker, Duckett co-founded DSGC with his mother, Julissa Corianno, in 2018. Established under Sussex Pride, the DSGC serves as a hub for leaders and organizations working directly with LGBTQ+ communities throughout Delaware.
“Our vision for The Collective is a place where our community can come to learn, create, work, and be inspired,” said Corianno.
The Collective will feature a visitor center and gift shop highlighting LGBTQ-owned businesses in Delaware.
“I think that this is something that’s going to benefit our community so much,” said Duckett.
Some of the LGBTQ-owned businesses that DSGC has already partnered with include Stressed Induced Art Attack, Moonbeam Art Collaborative, Voce Coffee, Groovy Gemini Co., Scout Cafe, Macaron Social, and Huxley and Hiro.
“Specifically in Wilmington, we haven’t had an LGBTQ-dedicated space in almost 40 years,” said Duckett.
The last LGBTQ community center in Wilmington was The Griffin Community Center, which was open for only a few years in the 1990s.
“The Griffin was a community space in the ’90s, founded by our friends James and Evo, who are so incredible and have been so supportive throughout this process,” said Duckett.
Duckett said the DSGC hopes to carry on The Griffin’s legacy.
“I think now more than ever, there’s more and more spaces closing their doors. More and more spaces are losing funding, seeing reduced funding and reduced access, especially LGBTQ+ organizations and communities,” said Duckett.
The Collective will also feature Delaware’s first LGBTQ history museum, curated by queer historian Carolanne Deal.
“We don’t have any permanent displays in the state about Delaware’s queer history, and we want people to be able to access that history any day of the year, not just during Pride month,” said Deal.
With a master’s degree in art history for museum professionals, Deal has more than seven years of experience in curatorial work and hands-on collections care.
“It’s mainly going to be a graphic display with photographs, articles, and accessible text that draws people in and creates a story for the community,” said Deal.
Although the museum will not initially have an object collection, Deal said she hopes to add physical archival pieces in the future.
“Delaware has been at the forefront of a lot of queer civil rights, and it’ll be really amazing to have that enshrined in a permanent display that’s not only up for Pride month,” said Deal.
Duckett said DSGC is currently raising funds with the goal of breaking ground this summer and opening by the end of the year.
“We would love to have rent paid for, like, multiple years up front,” said Duckett.
Duckett told the Blade that fundraising efforts have reached just under $29,000 and that the organization is awaiting several major donations from community partner organizations.
However, he said DSGC continues to be denied many grants tied to federal or state funding because of restrictions on those funds being used for LGBTQ-serving organizations.
“Private and corporate donations are absolutely vital,” said Duckett.
Anyone interested in supporting the construction of The Collective can donate online or contact [email protected] for more information.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s Mary’s House For Older Adults names new executive director
Charlene Leach to succeed Imani Woody as leader of LGBTQ-supportive seniors home
The board of directors of Mary’s House for Older Adults, the D.C.-based home dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors, has announced it has named longtime nonprofit organization leader A. Charlene Leach as its new executive director.
Leach, who is now serving in the executive director’s position, is succeeding Dr. Imani Woody, the Mary’s House founding president and CEO, who announced her retirement from her official leadership role at Mary’s House on July 7.
Woody, who holds a PhD in Human Services, is credited with playing the lead role over many years in arranging both city and private funding needed to construct and operate the Mary’s House three-story building located at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E., in the city’s Fort DuPont neighborhood.
“With over three decades of nonprofit experience and 15 years serving as an executive director, Charlene brings a wealth of knowledge in organizational leadership, program development, and community engagement,” the Mary’s House board says in a statement.
“Her proven track record of building impactful programs and leading mission-driven organizations makes her uniquely suited to guide Mary’s House into its next phase of growth,” the statement continues. “Charlene is deeply aligned with the mission of Mary’s House and is committed to advancing its work to provide safe, inclusive housing and supportive services for LGBTQ+ older adults,” it says. “Under her leadership, the organization will continue to expand its impact while remaining grounded in the values that define our community.”
Leach’s LinkedIn page shows she has most recently served since 2022 as executive director of the African American AIDS Task Force in Minneapolis. Prior to that, it shows she served as executive director of the Fredericksburg Area Health and Support Services organization in Fredericksburg, Va., and before that as director of development for the D.C.-Baltimore area Women’s Collective.
Her LinkedIn page says she has been involved with Mary’s House as a volunteer and grant writer since 2016.
The newly built and enlarged Mary’s House, which opened in March 2025, with a grand opening ceremony held in May 2025 attended by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, includes 15 single-occupancy residential apartments and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
An earlier statement released by the Mary’s House board announcing Woody’s retirement said Woody would continue to be involved with the organization as a member of the board. The earlier statement and board’s more recent statement on July 29 announcing Leach’s appointment as executive director did not say whether the board plans to name someone else as president and CEO, the title that Woody held before her retirement. But the latest statement says Leach will be running Mary’s House’s day-to-day operations as Woody did.
Virginia
Doug Ollivant to face Eugene Vindman in Va. 7th Congressional District
Republican defeated challengers in Tuesday’s primary
Republican Doug Ollivant will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Ollivant defeated his Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Vindman ran unopposed.
Vindman in 2024 ran to succeed then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives after she ran for governor. Spanberger succeeded Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday easily won his primary. All other Democratic incumbent members of Congress from Northern Virginia also won their respective primaries.
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