Local
Council gives final approval to marriage bill
Same-sex marriage supporters rallied on Monday night in advance of the Council’s historic vote. (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)
In an action hailed as historic and groundbreaking, the D.C. City Council voted 11-2 this week to give final approval of a bill allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the nation’s capital.
Tuesday’s vote triggered a burst of applause from dozens of LGBT activists and same-sex couples who packed the Council chambers to watch the debate and final roll-call vote on the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009.
“Today is the final step in a long march toward equality in the District of Columbia,” said Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who chairs the committee that shepherded the bill through the Council.
Alisha Mills, president of the local same-sex marriage advocacy group Campaign for All Families, called the Council’s action “a historic day for the District of Columbia” and its lesbian and gay couples.
“Equality for all D.C. residents has prevailed,” she said. “The Council’s decision today embodies the true essence of leadership. Thanks to their bold work, all D.C. families will have the same protections, opportunities and obligations under the law.”
The bill next goes to Mayor Adrian Fenty, a long-time same-sex marriage supporter who has pledged to sign it. It then goes to Capitol Hill, where it must undergo a required 30 legislative day review by Congress.
Both Democratic and Republican leaders in the House and Senate agree that an attempt by same-sex marriage opponents to overturn the legislation through a disapproval resolution is not expected to succeed in the Democratic controlled Congress. Most Capitol Hill observers expect the legislation to clear the congressional review and become law sometime in March.
But political observers in the District and on Capitol Hill say opponents would have a better shot at killing the bill next year by seeking to attach a repeal amendment to an appropriations bill, possibly the D.C. appropriations bill, which Congress must approve each year.
The city’s same-sex marriage law also is being targeted by a bill introduced earlier this year that would ban same-same marriage in the city. The bill, known as the D.C. Defense of Marriage Act, currently has 61 co-sponsors in the House. It has yet to be introduced in the Senate. Most Capitol Hill observers say it has little or no chance of passing any time soon under a Democratic controlled Congress.
But Brian Brown, executive director of the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, issued a statement after the Council vote vowing that gay marriage opponents will “win” in their efforts to overturn the law.
“The media would have you believe this fight is over,” Brown said in the statement. “Nothing could be further from the truth.”
Among other things, Brown predicted gay marriage opponents would prevail in a pending court case to force the District to hold a voter referendum calling for banning same-sex marriage in the city, a referendum that he said voters would pass.
If the city’s same-sex marriage bill clears its congressional review and withstands efforts to challenge it through a referendum, D.C. would join Massachusetts, Connecticut, Iowa, Vermont and New Hampshire as a U.S. jurisdiction that allows same-sex marriages to be performed within its borders.
Gay Council members David Catania (I-At Large), author of the D.C. same-sex marriage bill, and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) noted that the Council’s action culminated 40 years of advocacy work in the city by LGBT activists and their straight allies.
“It’s very easy for someone like me to be overcome by the emotion of this action,” said Graham, who was involved in gay activism as head of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Clinic before winning election to the Council.
Graham called passage of the same-sex marriage bill “the final prize” in the quest for full LGBT equality in the city, although he added that efforts to push for non-discrimination policies would continue.
Gay activist Bob Summersgill, who has coordinated efforts to expand the city’s domestic partnership law and to push for same-sex marriage, said he was hopeful that gay-supportive congressional allies, including Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.), would beat back attempts to overturn the law through the appropriations process.
“This was the next big step that we had,” Summersgill said of the Council’s approval of the same-sex marriage bill.
“But now we’re done with the easy part of getting marriage in D.C.,” he said. “We’ve had the ability to get this through the Council for about a decade. The real challenge now is for the Congress not to act, not to hurt us in the 30 days, when no one thinks they will, and the appropriations time, where we’re less sure.”
Same-sex marriage opponents are currently waging a court fight to challenge a decision by the city’s Board of Elections & Ethics against allowing a voter referendum or initiative on the marriage bill. The board ruled that the city’s election law doesn’t allow voter initiatives or referenda if the outcome of such a ballot measure would result in discrimination barred by the city’s Human Rights Act.
The board ruled twice that a ballot measure on the marriage bill would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act’s ban on sexual orientation discrimination. Same-sex marriage opponents have challenged that ruling in D.C. Superior Court and have vowed to take their legal action to the U.S. Supreme Court if they lose in the lower courts.
Meanwhile, Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and a leader in the fight to oppose same-sex marriage in the District, told the D.C. Agenda that he and his supporters would file papers next week for yet another referendum to overturn the marriage bill approved Tuesday.
As such, the D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics would once again be asked to rule on whether such a referendum is allowed. Most legal observers believe the board will turn down Jackson’s application for a referendum, just as it has for Jackson’s two similar requests earlier this year.
The first attempt at a referendum was aimed at a bill the Council approved in May that allows the city to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states and countries. That measure became law in July after it cleared its congressional review.
The recognition measure allows same-sex couples in D.C. to travel to other states to marry and to return to the District with full marriage rights under D.C. law. Activists viewed the recognition law as a trial run for the full same-sex marriage bill approved Tuesday, which allows same-sex couples to marry in the city.
But same-sex couples that marry in D.C., just like their counterparts in other states that have legalized same-sex marriage, cannot obtain any of the more than 1,000 federal rights and benefits associated with marriage, such as Social Security survivor benefits. The 1996 Defense of Marriage Act, known as DOMA, bans same-sex couples from receiving federal marital benefits and rights.
Gay advocacy groups are urging Congress to repeal DOMA. Democratic lawmakers supportive of LGBT rights have said, however, that they don’t have the votes to pass a DOMA repeal measure in the immediate future.
Council member and former mayor Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) and Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) were the only members of the 13-member Council to vote against the same-sex marriage bill Tuesday.
Both said they support LGBT rights in all other areas but could not back same-sex marriage based on their religious beliefs and strong opposition to the legislation from their constituents.
During the Council debate, Catania called on the LGBT community not to judge Barry and Alexander solely on the gay marriage vote, saying both have strong pro-LGBT records on all other issues.
“They are not the typical individuals that you would find casting votes against the GLBT community,” Catania said.
“That doesn’t mean I’m not disappointed [in their vote],” he said. “But I don’t want their entire service within the GLBT community to be judged by this one vote. I don’t think that’s fair. They are my friends, and they’re decent. This is simply a difference of opinion.”
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
District of Columbia
LGBTQ leaders celebrate Frank Kameny’s 100th birthday at Supreme Court
Advocates march, deliver speeches to remember activist’s many contributions
More than 100 people joined the leaders of a dozen prominent national LGBTQ rights organizations on May 21 to celebrate the 100th birthday of iconic D.C. gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny on the steps of the U.S. Supreme Court building in the nation’s capital.
Kameny, who passed away on Oct. 11, 2011, on National Coming Out Day, has been hailed as one of the founding leaders of the modern LGBTQ rights movement.
Among other things, he became the first openly gay man to file an appeal about gay rights to the U.S. Supreme Court, which was among the reasons organizers of his birthday celebration chose to hold it at the Supreme Court.
“Today is the 100th birthday of Frank Kameny, the founder of the LGBTQ civil rights movement,” said Malcolm Lazin, who served as national chair of the committee that organized the Kameny 100th birthday event. Frank is one of the nation’s most consequential civil rights leaders,” Lazin told the gathering in opening remarks.
“We are in front of the Supreme Court because Frank believed in the Constitution’s promise of equality for all Americans,” he said. “He based his liberation strategy against systemic homophobia on that promise.”
Participants in the event, many of whom were young LGBTQ activists from New York City, carried 100 candles to commemorate Kameny’s birthday.
They were joined by the national LGBTQ organization leaders who formed a ceremonial picket line carrying replicas of the “homosexual rights” signs used in the 1965 historic first gay protest outside the White House organized by Kameny and his supporters from the Mattachine Society of Washington, a gay rights group that Kameny helped to form.
Among speakers at the event was Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the same-sex marriage lawsuit that resulted in the 2015 U.S. Supreme Court decision legalizing same-sex marriage nationwide. Obergefell noted that the Kameny birthday celebration marks the 10th anniversary of the high court’s marriage decision and recalls for him Kameny’s role as a strong supporter of legalizing same-sex marriage.
Obergefell and U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), the Senate’s first openly lesbian member, served as national honorary co-chairs of the Kameny 100th birthday celebration.
Ross Murray, a vice president of GLAAD, told how Kameny used an effective strategy to fight homophobia both for the public and to many in the LGBTQ community who experienced internalized homophobia due to societal pressure.
“So, using the model of ‘Black is Beautiful,’ Frank turned perceptions upside down when he coined ‘Gay is Good,’” Murray said. “And he carried that on a picket sign in 1970 at the first New York Pride Parade.”
Washington Blade editor Kevin Naff told the gathering that the early 1960s era newsletter of the Mattachine Society of Washington, that Kameny helped to start, evolved into the early version of the Washington Blade in 1969.
“Frank recognized the importance of community building and engagement by having a reliable community news source,” Naff said. “We are honored to join in the 100th birthday tribute to one of our founders, Frank Kameny.”
Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said the mayor’s office is proud that the city hosted Kameny’s 100th birthday celebration. Bowles announced that Bowser issued an official mayoral proclamation declaring May 21, 2025, Frank Kameny Centennial Day.
In her proclamation Bowser recites many of Kameny’s accomplishments in advancing LGBTQ rights in D.C. and across the nation and concludes by stating she commends “this observance to all Washingtonians with a reminder to always remember, as Frank Kameny often said, ‘Gay is Good.’”
Others who spoke included Keith Joseph of the LGBTQ group Equality Forum, Ben Garcia of the American LGBTQ+ Museum, Saul Levin of the American Psychiatric Association, Kevin Jennings of LGBTQ attorneys’ group Lambda Legal, Elliot Imse of the LGBTQ Victory Institute, Jay Brown of the Human Rights Campaign, Philadelphia City Council member Rue Landau, D.C. Capital Pride Alliance and WorldPride organizer June Crenshaw, Anya Marino of Advocates for Transgender Rights, Sultan Shakir of PFLAG, and Aaron Tax of SAGE.
U.S. Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.), who is gay, was scheduled to speak at the event but had to cancel due to a House committee vote scheduled around the same time, Lazin told the Blade. Rep. Mark Takano, who’s gay, spoke at a lunch after the event to the LGBTQ leaders and praised Kameny’s many contributions to the LGBTQ movement.
District of Columbia
Blade’s Lou Chibbaro subject of new film premiering May 29
‘Lou’s Legacy’ looks back at 50-year career
Longtime Washington Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. is the subject of a new documentary film premiering on May 29 in D.C.
The world premiere of the film by Emmy-nominated director Patrick Sammon will take place at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library auditorium in D.C. on May 29 at 6:30 p.m.
“Lou’s Legacy: A Reporter’s Life at the Washington Blade”(29 minutes) tells the story of D.C.’s tumultuous and inspiring LGBTQ history through the lens of veteran reporter Lou Chibbaro’s reporting during nearly five decades at the Blade. The film features renowned D.C. drag performer Donnell Robinson who has been entertaining Washington’s LGBTQ community since 1975 as “Ella Fitzgerald.” Chibbaro and Robinson reflect on their careers and discuss the rising backlash against the LGBTQ community, including laws targeting drag performers.
As a reporter, Chibbaro made a point of focusing on the people and issues that were regularly ignored or distorted by mainstream outlets: the HIV/AIDS epidemic, hate crimes, and the fight for LGBTQ civil rights.
“Lou and Donnell are cornerstones of D.C.’s LGBTQ community,” said Sammon, the film’s director and producer. “I have great respect for both of them and hope this film celebrates in some small way their contribution to our city. It’s especially appropriate to premiere this documentary during WorldPride as people from all over the world gather in D.C. to celebrate our community and find inspiration to continue fighting for LGBTQ equality.”
Sammon and his production team were given unprecedented access to more than 300 archival boxes of meticulously kept reporter’s files, documents, and audio tapes that Chibbaro saved and donated to George Washington University’s Gelman Special Collections Library. In addition, the Washington Blade granted Sammon access to its photo archive of compelling and emotional images, most of which have not been seen for decades.
Charles Francis, president of Mattachine Society said, “The Mattachine Society is so proud to have played a role in making this film happen, especially in this time of total erasure and efforts across the country to rewrite our history. With our work and support, Lou was able to preserve, donate, and help curate his thousands of pages of papers at George Washington University. That history cannot be erased. This film tells the story.”
Pate Felts, co-founder of the Mattachine Society, said, ”Lou’s archive, including more than 300 cartons of reporter’s files, holds thousands of stories of the men and women who suffered and fought for LGBTQ dignity and equality, at great professional and personal cost. Patrick’s film focuses on some of the most powerful ones to help educate all of us, especially younger generations, about the dues paid, the courage displayed and the hope that we all carry forward today.”
A panel discussion will follow the premiere screening of “Lou’s Legacy.” Aside from Chibbaro, Robinson, and Sammon, the conversation will feature Bladepublisher and co-owner Lynne Brown. D.C. journalist Rebekah Robinson will moderate the conversation.
“Lou’s Legacy: A Reporter’s Life at the Washington Blade” will broadcast in late June on MPT and WETA, the region’s leading PBS stations. The WETA broadcasts are set for Saturday, June 21 at 8 p.m. and Monday, June 23 at 9:30 p.m. The film will also stream on PBS.org starting June 21.
“Lou has had a front-row seat to 50 years of historic events; from covering the trial of Matthew Shepard’s murderers to observing the inauguration of President Obama from the Capitol Steps, Lou has seen it all,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff who has worked with Chibbaro for more than 20 years. “The film captures Lou’s dedication and tenacity and reminds us how far we’ve come as a community.”
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