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Young Democrats of Md. leader comes out

Tells of journey from closeted backer of Prop 8 to gay advocate in P.G. County

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Joseph Kitchen, gay news, Washington Blade, Young Democrats, Democratic Party, Maryland
Joseph Kitchen, gay news, Washington Blade, Young Democrats, Democratic Party, Maryland

Joseph Kitchen, Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Joseph L. Kitchen Jr., who won election in February as president of the Young Democrats of Maryland, has emerged as an up-and-coming political activist in Prince George’s County, where he lives, and in the state capital in Annapolis.

Kitchen, 26, is an ordained minister in the Southern Baptist Church and an active member of First Baptist Church of Glenarden, Md., one of the largest black churches in the D.C. metropolitan area. He leads a youth worship group at the church.

He works full-time as an assistant principal at a private middle school in D.C.’s Anacostia neighborhood. Although he loves politics and is deeply committed to his Christian faith, he says his main passions are issues related to “education equality, crime and justice and economic justice for people of color.”

Among other involvements, Kitchen serves as assistant treasurer for the NAACP’s Prince George’s County chapter, serves on the Executive Committee of the Maryland Democratic Party, and is a member of the board of First Book D.C., a national group that promotes reading skills for underprivileged children.

During the past month Kitchen says he has been systematically informing his colleagues at the statewide Young Democrats organization and members and leaders of many of the organization’s county chapters that he’s gay.

He says his decision to come out marks the culmination of a path that has taken him from the position of voting for California’s Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in 2008, to an active role last year in campaigning for Maryland’s marriage equality law.

Among other things, Kitchen says he helped direct the Young Democrats’ campaign for the same-sex marriage bill when it came before the Maryland General Assembly and when it came before voters in a referendum campaign last November.

“I believe my faith may have played a role in it,” he says in discussing his vote for Prop 8.

He says he cast that vote by absentee ballot in 2008, two years after he moved to Maryland from his hometown of Fresno, Calif., but retained his California residency and voting privileges.

“And the interesting thing about it is I voted for the proposition knowing who I was,” he told the Blade in an exclusive interview. “But I voted for it. And I think that vote… affirmed to me that I could not live that way anymore.”

Added Kitchen, “I could not be publicly who I was saying I was but knowing my private life. And so when I did that – immediately after I did that – of course my position changed. I started to become more comfortable about who I was.”

He says he also became more comfortable in reconciling his religious beliefs with his sexual orientation.

“I had to believe and come to realize, as a person of faith, that I am made in God’s image and he has made me to be who he wants me to be, that God made me this way because this is who I am and I’m made in his image.”

Kitchen says his decision to come out in the spring of 2013 also was based on practical considerations as well as on inspiration from the openly gay people he worked with on the Maryland marriage campaign and through his activities with the Young Democrats organization.

“I grew up in California in a very religious African-American family,” he says. “I went to college. I went to seminary and became an ordained minister. But I’ve always known that I was gay,” he says.

“I’ve always felt like that was my personal life and I would leave it at that and I would continue to be an African-American young man who is a minister in the Baptist Church — in the Southern Baptist Church.

“But I think what I’ve seen over the last few years — the rise of this movement, which has really been impressive to me. Being in the Democratic Party and meeting so many people — I view them as being very inspirational to me by telling their stories and affirming their truth and being very proud of who they are. That has given me the courage to do this as well.”

Kitchen says that since he and his partner moved into a suburban style, single-family house in Cheverly, the exercise of remaining in the closet would likely become impractical and awkward. He and his partner are seen together as a couple.

“And so the fact that I have those types of things eventually I think people would know,” he says. “And I prefer that people know on my terms as opposed to me responding to it on someone else’s terms.”

Since moving to Cheverly from Fresno, Kitchen has become a mover and shaker in the political establishment of a majority black county whose elected representatives in the Maryland General Assembly are considered important in setting the state’s legislative agenda.

In the relatively short time he’s lived in Prince George’s County, Kitchen says he’s observed what he considers a major change in attitudes in favor of LGBT equality in general and support for same-sex marriage in particular.

He says he watched with interest when the marriage equality bill died in the General Assembly the year before it passed.

“One of the things that made the bill die the first time it was presented in the legislature is our delegates balked at the idea,” he says. “Their people were opposed to it so they became opposed to it.”

Many in Prince George’s County opposed the bill, according to Kitchen, because there was little or no outreach to black churches and black constituencies in the county by the LGBT organizations advocating for the bill.

“And in Prince George’s County we had always been told for so long that we are against gay marriage … And that’s all that people have ever known,” he says.

“I think they learned that lesson the second time around,” he says of marriage equality advocates. “Equality Maryland and Gov. O’Malley and his PAC all learned that and they sent organizers in. They made phone calls. They did door knocking,” according to Kitchen.

“And groups like the Young Democrats of Maryland and Prince George’s County Democrats all got there and they knocked on doors and they went into these communities and they went to the community centers and the churches and they talked to ministers,” he says.

“And I don’t think we can give enough credit to President Barack Obama and what his support immediately gave to lifting that ballot measure,” Kitchen says. “I don’t know if it necessarily changes everybody’s mind. But it gave people the permission they needed to do what I think they always felt was right.”

When asked how he thinks his coming out will impact his relationship with the key people in his political, professional and religious life, Kitchen says nearly everyone so far has been accepting and supportive, although he expects some bumps in the road to come his way.

“My hope is to not have this become my life,” he told the Blade. “My life is about a lot of things. And for 26 years it has not been who I love and who I sleep with that defines my life.

“So I want this to be out there and of course I’m going to have to deal with it for a while,” he says. “But then I want to return to the issues that I’ve made the passion of my life, which are education equality, crime and justice and economic justice for people of color. Those are the issues that are important to me.”

He quickly added that at least one more thing is important to him.

“So I’m still an ordained minister. I don’t plan to give that up. I worked very hard for it. I believe in order to become an ordained minister you have to believe you are called to do such work. And I do believe I was called to do such work.”

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District of Columbia

Three of five LGBTQ candidates win race for DNC delegate from D.C.

32 candidates competed for 13 elected seats in party caucus

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John Fanning finished in first place in the race for DNC delegate. (Photo courtesy of Fanning)

Three out of five known LGBTQ candidates running for election as delegates from D.C. to the Democratic National Convention won their races at an April 20 Democratic Party caucus election held at D.C.’s Walter Washington Convention Center.

Ward 2 gay Democratic activist John Fanning finished in first place with 140 votes and Ward 8 gay Democratic activist David Meadows finished in second place with 127 votes in a race in which six male candidates committed to supporting President Biden were competing for three male seats in a section of the city designated as Congressional District 1, which included registered Democratic voters in Wards 1, 2, 6, and 8.

Ward 7 gay Democratic activist Jimmie Williams won his race, finishing in third place with 200 votes in a race in which eight male candidates committed to President Biden competed for four male seats in the Congressional District 2 section of the city that included Wards 3, 4, 5, and 7.

Gay Democratic activist Felipe Afanador lost his race, finishing in sixth place with 47 votes in the Congressional District 2 election for male candidates backing Biden. It couldn’t immediately be determined which of the four wards in District 2 he is from.

The Washington Blade didn’t learn about Afanador’s status as an LGBTQ candidate until the Capital Stonewall Democrats announced it one day before the April 20 party election in an email statement.

In the Congressional District 2 race among female candidates, in which eight candidates competed for three female seats, transgender rights advocate and Ward 3 Democratic Party activist Monika Nemeth lost her race, finishing in sixth place with 49 votes.

The five LGBTQ candidates were among 32 candidates competing for just 13 elected delegate positions in D.C. D.C. will have a total of 51 delegates to the Democratic Convention, but the other 38 include elected officials and party leaders who are considered “automatic” or appointed delegates. The Democratic Convention will be held in Chicago Aug. 19-23.

Observers familiar with the April 20 party caucus election said Fanning, Meadows, and Williams had participated in local D.C. Democratic Party events and activities for a longer period than Nemeth and Afanador and appear to have been better known among Democratic voters in their respective wards as well as other wards. Those factors contributed to their receiving significantly more votes than most other candidates, observers have said. 

In his candidacy statement posted on the D.C. Democratic Party website, Afanador said he worked on the 2020 Biden presidential election campaign in Pennsylvania. His LinkedIn page says in 2022 he began work in Washington for the Biden administration as an official in the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Nemeth is a past president of D.C.’s Capital Stonewall Democrats, the city’s largest LGBTQ local political group, and has been an active member of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, the local party governing body. She served as a Biden delegate at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

“It is important for our D.C. delegation to have strong LGBTQ representation,” Capital Stonewall Democrats said in its April 19 statement. “There are five LGBQ candidates running to be delegate, and Capital Stonewall Democrats asks that our members support each one,” the statement says.

“Unfortunately, they fell short, but they and all queer Democrats are welcome to attend and participate in convention events and activities sponsored by the national and local party,” Meadows told the Blade in referring to Nemeth and Afanador. “Our shared goal is to unite behind the Biden-Harris ticket to protect our LGBTQ rights from being dismantled by Donald Trump and the GOP,” Meadows said.

“Running for District Delegate is one of the most grassroots efforts,” Fanning told the Blade. “It’s very beneficial to align yourself on a slate with community leaders that have either previously run for District Delegate or have developed a constituency in their community from other civic engagements,” he said, referring to possible reasons for his, Meadows, and Williams’s election victory.

Aside from the D.C. elected LGBTQ delegates, two prominent D.C. LGBTQ Democratic leaders will be appointed as delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention in their role as members of the Democratic National Committee from D.C. They are Claire Lucas, a highly acclaimed Democratic Party and LGBTQ rights advocate and party fundraiser; and Earl Fowlkes, one of the lead organizers of D.C.’s annual Black LGBTQ Pride celebration and former president of the Capital Stonewall Democrats. Both are committed to supporting President Biden as the Democratic nominee for re-election.

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Maryland

Joe Vogel campaign holds ‘Big Gay Canvass Kickoff’

Gay Md. lawmaker running for Congress

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Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) attends the "Big Gay Canvass Kickoff" event at his congressional campaign headquarters in Gaithersburg, Md., on April 19, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Friday held a “Big Gay Canvass Kickoff” event at his congressional campaign’s headquarters.

LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Vice President of Outreach and Engagement Marty Rouse and John Klenert, a member of the DC Vote and Victory Fund Campaign board of directors, are among those who participated alongside members of Equality PAC. Vogel spoke before Rouse, Klenert and others canvassed for votes in the area.

“Joe brings a fresh new perspective to politics,” said Gabri Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, deputy field director for Vogel’s campaign.

Vogel, 27, is among the Democrats running for Congressman David Trone’s seat.

Trone last May announced his bid to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in the U.S. Senate. 

The Democratic primary is on May 14. Vogel would be the first Latino, the first gay man and first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas, and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,” Vogel told the Washington Blade last month during an interview in D.C.

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Maryland

Montgomery County police chief discusses arrest of trans student charged with planned school shooting

County executive tells news conference student’s trans identity is irrelevant to criminal charge

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(Photo by jiawangkun/Bigstock)

Montgomery County, Md., Police Chief Marcus Jones joined other county and law enforcement officials at a news conference on Friday, April 19, to provide details of the police investigation and arrest of an 18-year-old high school student charged two days earlier with threats of mass violence based on information that he allegedly planed a mass shooting at the high school and elementary school he attended in Rockville, Md.

In charging documents and in a press release issued on April 18, Montgomery County Police identified the arrested student as “Andrea Ye, of Rockville, whose preferred name is Alex Ye.”

One of the charging documents states that a friend of Ye, who police say came forward as a witness who played a crucial role in alerting authorities to Ye’s threats of a school shooting, noted that Ye told the witness that Ye identified as the transgender student he wrote about as character in a 129-page manifesto outlining plans for a school shooting. Police have said Ye told them the manifesto was a fictional story he planned to publish.  

At the news conference on Friday, Police Chief Jones and other law enforcement officials, including an FBI official and Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, referred to the student as Alex Ye and Mr. Ye. None of the officials raised the issue of whether Ye identified as a transgender man, seven though one of the police documents identifies Ye as a “biological female.”

County Executive Elrich appeared to express the views of the public officials at the news conference when one of the media reporters, during a question-and-answer period, asked Elrich why he and the others who spoke at the news conferment failed to “admit that this individual was transgender.”

“Because it’s not a lead,” Elrich replied, asking if the press and law enforcement authorities should disclose that someone arrested for murder is “a white Christian male who’s heterosexual.” Elrich stated, “No, you don’t – You never publish somebody’s sexual orientation when we talk about this. Why you are focusing on this being a transgender is beyond me. It’s not a news story. It is not a crime to  be transgender.”

The reporter attempted to respond but was cut off by the press conference moderator, who called on someone else to ask the next question.

In his remarks at the press conference Chief Jones praised the so far unidentified witness who was the first to alert authorities about Ye’s manifesto appearing to make threats of a mass school shooting.

“Now, this is a situation that highlights  the critical importance of vigilance and community involvement in preventing potential tragedies,” Jones said. “I commend the collaborative efforts of the Montgomery County Police Department, the Federal Bureau of Investigation,  the Rockville City Police Department, and the Montgomery County Public Schools, as well as Montgomery County Health and Human Services,” he told the gathering.

“Thanks to their swift action and cooperation a potentially catastrophic event was prevented,” Jones said.

Jones pointed out that during the current school year, police have received reports of 140 threats to the public schools in Montgomery County. He said after a thorough investigation, none of them rose to the level where an arrest was made. Instead, police and school officials took steps to arrange for the student making the threats and their parents to take remedial action, including providing  mental health services.

“But this case is different,” Jones said. “This case is entirely different that takes it to a different level. It was a concerned witness who brought this matter to light by rereporting the suspect’s manifesto to the authorities. This underscores the value of community engagement and the ‘see something say something’ approach,” he said.

Jones mentioned at the press conference that Ye was  being held without bond since the time of his arrest but was scheduled to appear in court for a bond hearing on Friday shortly after the press conference took place to determine whether he should be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held.

In his manifesto obtained by police, Ye writes about committing a school shooting, and strategizes how to carry out the act. Ye also contemplates targeting an elementary school and says that he wants to be famous.

In charging documents reported on by WJLA 7 and WBAL 11, the 129-page document, which Ye has referred to as a book of fiction, included writings that said, in part:

“I want to shoot up a school. I’ve been preparing for months. The gun is an AR-15. This gun is going to change lives tomorrow … As I walk through the hallways, I cherry pick the classrooms that are the easiest targets. I need to figure out how to sneak the gun in. I have contemplated making bombs. The instructions to make them are surprisingly available online. I have also considered shooting up my former elementary school because little kids make easier targets. High school’s the best target; I’m the most familiar with the layout. I pace around my room like an evil mastermind. I’ve put so much effort into this. My ultimate goal would be to set the world record for the most amount of kills in a shooting. If I have time, I’ll try to decapitate my victims with a knife to turn the injuries into deaths.”

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