Local
Virginia marriage lawsuit about ‘equal protection’
Two lesbian couples file suit against commonwealth’s gay ban
The two lesbian couples challenging Virginiaās same-sex marriage ban maintain their lawsuit is simply a matter of protecting their families.
āWhat Iām doing this for is to protect my wife and our daughter,ā Christy Berghoff of Winchester, who married her partner of more than nine years, Victoria Kidd, told the Washington Blade. The couple also has a 9-month-old daughter.
Berghoff, an Air Force veteran who works at the U.S. Department of Justice spoke to the Blade a day after the American Civil Liberties Union and Lambda Legal filed a lawsuit on behalf of her and her spouse and Staunton residents Joanne Harris and Jessica Duff in U.S. District Court for the Western Division of Virginia in Harrisonburg on Aug. 1.
Berghoff said she and Kidd paid a lawyer hundreds of dollars to make her spouse their daughterās co-custodian so she could make some legal decisions for her in Virginia. The couple in 2007 was also unable to secure a spousal loan to refinance their home through a Veteransā Administration program.
āI have always been a strong advocate for our family and for the idea of equal protection of our family,ā Kidd told the Blade while she was at home with her daughter. āWe are your everyday family, in every sense of the word.ā
Harris and Duff, who have been together for more than nine years and are raising a 4-year-old son, tried to apply for a marriage license in Staunton Circuit Court on July 29.
Like Kidd, Duff told the Blade that she and Harris have āalways been advocates for our family.ā
āWe know that sharing our story is important to help change hearts and minds,ā Duff said. āWhen we had the opportunity to participate, we wanted to do our part to bring the freedom to marry in Virginia.ā
The ACLU and Lambda Legal filed the lawsuit against the commonwealthās same-sex marriage ban that voters approved in 2006 slightly more than a month after the U.S. Supreme Court found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and struck down Californiaās Proposition 8.
Tony London and Timothy Bostic of Norfolk, who have been together 25 years, last month filed a separate federal lawsuit against Virginiaās gay nuptials ban after they unsuccessfully tried to apply for a marriage license.
Neither they, nor their lawyer, Bob Ruloff, returned the Bladeās requests for comment.
Neighboring Maryland is among the 13 states and D.C. in which same-sex couples can marry.
The federal government also recognizes the marriages of gays and lesbians who legally tie the knot, although their ability to receive Social Security and other federal benefits depends upon whether the state in which they live will recognize their unions.
āI still have a lot of questions about the protections that Iām not afforded,ā Berghoff told the Blade. āIām here at work in D.C. and Iām married and I go home Iām a single parent.ā
LGBT rights advocates across Virginia applauded the lawsuit.
āIt seems contrary to the rights and liberties guaranteed to us by our Constitution, that a trip across the Potomac River, an arbitrary geographical line would somehow grant or deny any citizen equal treatment under the law,ā said James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia.
State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) said he knows of ātoo many couplesā that have moved out of the commonwealth because of āa lack of protections now offered to our neighbors in the District of Columbia and Maryland.ā
āVirginia is at a competitive and economic disadvantage,ā Ebbin said. āAfter all, forward thinking companies of all sizes locate where their diverse workforces will enjoy a high quality of life.ā
Tucker Martin, a spokesperson for Gov. Bob McDonnell, who is named as a defendant in the lawsuit, defended Virginiaās same-sex marriage ban.
āThe voters of Virginia passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 defining marriage in the commonwealth as being only a union of one man and one woman,ā Martin said in a statement to the Blade. āIt is the law in this state based on the popular will of the voters as expressed at the ballot box.ā
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelliās office declined to comment on the lawsuit, although spokesperson Brian Gottstein referred to a statement he released after the Supreme Court issued its DOMA and Prop 8 rulings.
āVirginia has followed the traditional definition of marriage as being between one man and one woman for more than 400 years,ā Cuccinelli said in a June 26 statement on the justicesā rulings. āVirginians voted overwhelmingly to add this traditional definition to their constitution.ā
Cuccinelli, who will face off against former Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe in Virginiaās gubernatorial election in November, highlighted his opposition to same-sex marriage last month during a debate at the Homestead in Hot Springs. GOP lieutenant gubernatorial candidate E.W. Jackson and Mark Obenshein, who is running to succeed Cuccinelli as attorney general, also oppose nuptials for gays and lesbians.
McAuliffe in February publicly backed same-sex marriage. State Sens. Ralph Northam (D-Norfolk) and Mark Herring (D-Loudoun,) who are running for lieutenant governor and attorney general respectively, also support the issue.
Harris told the Blade she feels there has āalways been support for gay couplesā in Virginia.
A Quinnipiac University poll released on July 18 noted 50 percent of Virginians support same-sex marriage. A survey that Public Policy Polling unveiled a week before found 55 percent of commonwealth residents back nuptials for gays and lesbians.
āHistory has shown that we evolve and opinions evolve,ā Harris said. āVirginians are smart and they are fair-minded people.ā
Kidd agreed.
āA lot has changed in Virginia since that amendment went to the ballot box [in 2006,]ā she said.
District of Columbia
New D.C. LGBTQ+ bar Crush set to open April 19
An āall-inclusive entertainment haven,ā with dance floor, roof deck
D.C.ās newest LGBTQ+ bar called Crush is scheduled to open for business at 4 p.m. on Friday, April 19, in a spacious, two-story building with a dance floor and roof deck at 2007 14th St., N.W. in one of the cityās bustling nightlife areas.
A statement released by co-owners Stephen Rutgers and Mark Rutstein earlier this year says the new bar will provide an atmosphere that blends ānostalgia with contemporary nightlifeā in a building that was home to a popular music store and radio supply shop.
Rutgers said the opening comes one day after Crush received final approval of its liquor license that was transferred from the Owl Room, a bar that operated in the same building before closing Dec. 31 of last year. The official opening also comes three days after Crush hosted a pre-opening reception for family, friends, and community members on Tuesday, April 16.
Among those attending, Rutgers said, were officials with several prominent local LGBTQ organizations, including officials with the DC Center for the LGBTQ Community, which is located across the street from Crush in the cityās Reeves Center municipal building. Also attending were Japer Bowles, director of the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, and Salah Czapary, director of the Mayorās Office of Nightlife and Culture.
Rutgers said Crush plans to hold a grand opening event in a few weeks after he, Rutstein and the barās employees become settled into their newly opened operations.
āStep into a venue where inclusivity isnāt just a promise but a vibrant reality,ā a statement posted on the Crush website says. āImagine an all-inclusive entertainment haven where diversity isnāt just celebrated, itās embraced as the very heartbeat of our venue,ā the statement says. āWelcome to a place where love knows no bounds, and the only color or preference that matters is the vibrant tapestry of humanity itself. Welcome to Crush.ā
The website says Crush will be open Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 4 p.m. to 12 a.m., Thursdays from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m., Fridays from 4 p.m. to 3 a.m., Saturdays from 2 p.m. to 3 a.m., and Sundays from 2 p.m. to 12 a.m. It will be closed on Mondays.
Crush is located less than two blocks from the U Street Metro station.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House draws interest of tourists
LGBTQ activists carry signs from historic 1965 protest
About 30 LGBTQ activists formed a circular picket line in front of the White House Wednesday afternoon, April 17, carrying signs calling for an end to discrimination against āhomosexualsā in a reenactment of the first gay rights protest at the White House that took place 59 years earlier on April 17, 1965.
Crowds of tourists looked on with interest as the activists walked back and forth in silence in front of the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue. Like the 1965 event, several of the men were dressed in suits and ties and the women in dresses in keeping with a 1960s era dress code policy for protests of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the cityās first gay rights group that organized the 1965 event.
Wednesdayās reenactment was organized by D.C.ās Rainbow History Project, which made it clear that the event was not intended as a protest against President Joe Biden and his administration, which the group praised as a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights.
āI think this was an amazing event,ā said Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Project official who led efforts to put on the event. āWe had twice as many that we had hoped for that came today,ā he said.
“It was so great to see a reenactment and so great to see how far we’ve come,” Slatt said. “And also, the acknowledgement of what else we still need to do.”
Slatt said participants in the event who were not carrying picket signs handed out literature explaining the purpose of the event.
A flier handed out by participants noted that among the demands of the protesters at the 1965 event were to end the ban on homosexuals from working in the federal government, an end to the ban on gays serving in the military, an end to the denial of security clearances for gays, and an end of the government’s refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.
āThe other thing that I think is really, really moving is some of the gay staff inside the White House found out this was happening and came out to greet us,ā Slatt said. He noted that this highlighted how much has changed since 1965, when then President Lyndon Johnsonās White House refused to respond to a letter sent to Johnson from the Mattachine Society explaining its grievances.
āSo now to have gay people in the White House coming out to give us their respects and to say hello was especially meaningful to us,ā Slatt said. āThat was not expected today.ā
Among those walking the picket line was longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler said he proudly carried a newly printed version of the sign at Wednesdayās reenactment event that he carried during the 1965 protest. It stated, āFifteen Million Homosexuals Protest Federal Treatment.ā
Also participating in the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās Office of LGBTQ Affairs. Bowles presented Slatt with a proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 17, 2024, Mattachine Society Day in Washington, D.C.
āWhereas, on April 17, 1965, the Mattachine Society of Washington courageously held the nationās inaugural picket for gay rights, a seminal moment in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQIA+ equality in the United States, marking the genesis of public demonstrations advocating for those rights and paving the way for Pride Marches and Pride celebrations worldwide,ā the proclamation states.
About 30 minutes after the reenactment event began, uniformed Secret Service agents informed Slatt that due to a security issue the picketers would have to move off the sidewalk in front of the White House and resume the picketing across the street on the sidewalk in front of Lafayette Park. When asked by the Washington Blade what the security issue was about, one of the Secret Service officers said he did not have any further details other than that his superiors informed him that the White House sidewalk would have to be temporarily cleared of all people.
Participants in the event quickly resumed their picket line on the sidewalk in front of Lafayette Park for another 30 minutes or so in keeping with the 1965 picketing event, which lasted for one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., according to Rainbow History Projectās research into the 1965 event.
Although the LGBTQ picketers continued their procession in silence, a separate protest in Lafayette Park a short distance from the LGBTQ picketers included speakers shouting through amplified speakers. The protest was against the government of Saudi Arabia and organized by a Muslim group called Al Baqee Organization.
A statement released by the Rainbow History Project says the reenactment event, among other things, was a tribute to D.C.-area lesbian rights advocate Lilli Vincenz, who participated in the 1965 White House picketing, and D.C. gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who founded the Mattachine Society of Washington in the early 1960s and was the lead organizer of the 1965 White House protest. Kameny died in 2011 and Vincenz died in 2023.
The picket signs carried by participants in the reenactment event, which were reproduced from the 1965 event, had these messages:
ā¢ āDISCRIMINATION Against Homosexuals is as immoral as Discrimination Against Negroes and Jews;ā
ā¢ āGovernment Should Combat Prejudice NOT PROMOTE ITā
ā¢ āWhite House Refuses Replies to Our Letters, AFRAID OF US?
ā¢ āHOMOSEXUALS Died for their Country, Tooā
ā¢ āFirst Class Citizenship for HOMOSEXUALSā
ā¢Ā āSexual Preference is Irrelevant to Employmentā
ā¢Ā āFifteen Million U.S. Homosexuals Protest Federal Treatmentā
District of Columbia
Organizers announce details for D.C. Black Pride 2024
Most events to take place Memorial Day weekend at Westin Downtown
The Center for Black Equity, the organizer of D.C. Black Pride, the nationās first and one of the largest annual African-American LGBTQ Pride celebrations, announced this yearās event will take place Memorial Day Weekend from May 24-27.
The announcement, released April 16, says that most 2024 D.C. Black Pride events will take place at the Westin Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel at 999 9th St, N.W.
āWith the theme Black Pride Forever, the event promises a weekend filled with vibrant celebrations, empowering workshops, and a deep exploration of Black LGBTQIA+ history and culture,ā the announcement says.
It says events will include as in past years a āRainbow Rowā vendor expo at the hotel featuring āorganizations and vendors created for and by the LGBTQIA+ communityā offering products and services āthat celebrate Black excellence.ā
According to the announcement, other events include a Health and Wellness Festival that will offer workshops, demonstrations, and activities focused on āholistic well-being;ā a Mary Bowman Poetry Slam āshowcasing the power and beauty of spoken word by Black LGBTQIA+ artists;ā the Black Pride Through the Decades Party, that will celebrate the ārich history of the Black LGBTQIA+ movement;ā and an Empowerment Through Knowledge series of workshops that ādelve into various topics relevant to the Black LGBTQIA+ community.ā
Also, as in past years, this yearās D.C. Black Pride will feature its āOpening Night Extravaganzaā reception and party that will include entertainment and live performances.
The announcement notes that D.C.ās annual Black Pride celebration, started in 1991 as a one-day outdoor event at Howard Universityās Banneker Field, has inspired annual Black LGBTQ Pride events across the United States and in Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, Africa, and the Caribbean. More than 300,000 people attend Black LGBTQ Pride events each year worldwide, the announcement says.
Full details, including the official schedule of events, can be accessed at dcblackpride.org.
-
Africa4 days ago
Congolese lawmaker introduces anti-homosexuality bill
-
District of Columbia17 hours ago
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House draws interest of tourists
-
World4 days ago
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
-
Arizona22 hours ago
Ariz. governor vetoes anti-transgender, Ten Commandments bill