Local
An early holiday gift for city’s gay couples
Mayor Adrian Fenty (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)
With about 200 spectators cheering from the pews, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty signed a bill last week to legalize same-sex marriage in Washington during a ceremony at a church that played a leading role in pushing for black civil rights in the 1950s and 1960s.
“To the world, today an era of struggle ends for thousands of residents of Washington, D.C., who have been denied the fundamental right to marry the person of their choosing,” Fenty told the gathering at All Souls Unitarian Church in Northwest D.C.
“I say to all those residents who watch the nation’s capital today that our city is taking a leap forward in ensuring freedom and equality to all residents.”
Fenty signed the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009 four days after the D.C. Council gave its final approval of the measure, 11-2.
The signing also came five months after a separate bill passed by the Council and signed by Fenty, which recognizes same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions, became law after clearing its required congressional review.
The measure that Fenty signed Friday was expected to be sent to Capitol Hill this week, where it, too, must undergo a congressional review of 30 legislative days. Most congressional observers expect the Democratic controlled Congress will allow the bill to become law by taking no legislative action to overturn it.
“The signing of this bill marks a watershed moment for human rights in the District of Columbia,” said Rev. Robert Hardies, pastor of All Souls Unitarian Church and one of the leaders of a coalition of D.C. clergy members who support same-sex marriage equality.
“I and the nearly 200 D.C. clergy who supported this bill look forward to celebrating the marriages of loving lesbian and gay couples in sanctuaries like this one all over our city,” he said.
Among those standing behind Fenty as he signed the bill at a table set up in front of the church alter were D.C. Council Chair Vincent Gray (D-At Large); gay Council member David Catania (I-At Large), author and lead sponsor of the bill; and Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), chair of the committee that shepherded the bill through the Council.
Also standing at the table for the signing were gay Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), in whose ward the church is located; Council members Jack Evans (D-Ward 1); Muriel Bowser (D-Ward 4), and Harry Thomas Jr. (D-Ward 5); and Fenty’s LGBT Affairs Office director, Christopher Dyer.
(DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)
Fenty and Catania, among others participating in the bill signing ceremony, said the decision to hold the event in a church was symbolic of the message they sought to project during the campaign to legalize same-sex marriage in the city: that the legislation would not infringe on the rights of people of faith and would, in fact, give ministers supportive of marriage equality the right to legally perform same-sex marriages.
Most of the opposition to the legislation was led by clergy who oppose same-sex marriage on religious grounds. Bishop Harry Jackson, pastor of Hope Christian Church in Beltsville, Md., and the lead spokesperson for the bill’s opponents, has vowed to continue efforts to urge Congress to overturn the legislation.
Jackson and his supporters also are appealing in D.C. Superior Court a ruling by the city’s election board denying a proposed voter initiative that sought to ban same-sex marriage in the District of Columbia.
Catania told people gathered for the bill’s signing that six generations of his family, including his grandfather, have been Baptist ministers. He noted that leaders of the churches in which his ancestors were a part were outspoken abolitionists in the fight against slavery prior to the Civil War.
“I was raised in a household that loved this country,” he said. “And at times, even in our struggles, we wonder whether our best days are behind us. I have to be completely honest with you. I’ve never been more certain in my life that our best days are before us.”
Catania said the passage and signing of a same-sex marriage bill was the culmination of years of work from committed LGBT activists and their allies, beginning with veteran D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny, who is credited with founding the local LGBT rights movement in the early 1960s.
“I was fortunate enough to simply guide the process and draft [the bill], but it would not have taken place without the extraordinary leadership of Phil Mendelson on the Judiciary Committee and our non-stop support from our [Council] chairman. And enough cannot be said about the rank and file members of this Council, who stood with us.”
Sources familiar with the mayor’s office said Fenty also considered holding the signing ceremony at Covenant Baptist church in
Southeast D.C., which is headed by pro-same-sex marriage pastors Dennis and Christine Wiley. The Wileys, along with Hardies of All Souls, were co-chairs of the coalition of clergy backing same-sex marriage. One source, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Fenty is thought to have chosen All Souls in part because it’s located in the neighborhood where he grew up.
In his remarks, Fenty introduced his parents, who were in the audience, and noted that their status as an interracial couple made them a part of the marriage equality movement.
“My parents know a little something about marriage equality,” he said. “They married almost 40 years ago and in a country at the time where every jurisdiction didn’t agree that an interracial couple should be married. Had they not been able to, I would not be standing here as mayor of the District of Columbia right now.”
Graham, who, along with Catania, has been a longtime LGBT rights advocate, appeared to express the emotion that many LGBT activists and same-sex couples present at the bill signing event shared.
“Thank God for this day,” he said. “Thank God that I was able to live to see this day.”
All Souls Unitarian Church (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)
Graham praised Fenty for standing out as a “certainty” that the bill would be signed whenever the Council felt the time was right to pass it.
He also pointed to the historic support All Souls Unitarian Church provided for the African American civil rights movement in the 1950s, when the church founded one of the city’s first integrated youth clubs. It was at a time when D.C.’s youth recreation facilities were segregated among black and whites.
“We can’t overlook how fitting it is that we are in this church,” he said, “because this church has a great tradition of fighting for civil rights and human rights.”
Fenty, Catania and Graham were beseeched after the ceremony by activists and same-sex couples attending the event who asked them to pose for pictures with them and to sign copies of a mayoral press statement announcing the bill signing.
“It’s an exciting day for many of us,” said gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein, one of the organizers of the same-sex marriage advocacy group Campaign for All D.C. Families. “It’s a day that many of us thought wouldn’t come in our lifetimes. It’s for us and for future generations.”
Michael Crawford, co-chair of D.C. for Marriage, said he doesn’t believe Fenty and the 11 Council members who voted for the bill would face serious opposition in their upcoming elections over this specific issue.
“The folks who are claiming they will enact political retribution against Council members that voted for marriage equality, by and large, don’t live in the District,” he said. “So it’s going to be pretty difficult for them to have an impact on District elections.”
Rev. Abena McCray, pastor of D.C.’s LGBT welcoming Unity Fellowship Church, and Bishop Rainey Cheeks, pastor of the city’s Inner Light Ministries, which also has a largely LGBT congregation, each said the mayor’s signing of the marriage bill would boost the faith and morale of LGBT people of faith.
“I don’t anticipate a backlash,” McCray said, when asked about clergy who have opposed the bill.
“God is in control,” she said. “God spoke today. History was made. And we’re going to move forward in only one thing, and that’s love.”
Cheeks said he expects efforts by people of faith to fight the legislation will be diminished once they understand it.
“When they really understand that this law does not take away anything from anybody, it adds to,” they will be far less likely to try to reverse the law, he said.
“Every church and every denomination already has the right to say no to whomever they want to say no to,” Cheeks said, on the question of performing same-sex marriages. “It simply expands the right for us to be able to do what we need to do.”
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Congratulations to Raffi Freedman-Gurspan on being appointed Associate Director, Federal Funding & Infrastructure Office, at the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration & Finance. Freedman-Gurspan will be returning to her hometown of Boston and joining Gov. Maura Healey’s Administration. Freedman-Gurspan served in both the Obama and Biden administrations as well as worked in LGBTQ and redistricting advocacy during her 11 years in D.C.
Freedman-Gurspan was the first openly transgender person on the White House staff when she worked for President Obama. She most recently served at the U.S. Department of Transportation in former Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s office, as Deputy Director of Public Engagement. Previously she worked with the National Redistricting Action Fund/The All On The Line Campaign, as Deputy States Director. She worked for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as Director of External Relations. In the Obama White House, she worked in the Office of Public Engagement, as Senior Associate Director. She was the White House Liaison to the LGBTQ community responsible for management of all public inquiries on matters regarding LGBTQ people, including recommending public responses to senior leadership, assisting in drafting administration talking points, and coordinating stakeholder engagement with the White House offices. She worked with the White House, Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), as Outreach and Recruitment Director.
Prior to that she was on the staff of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House of Representatives Office of State Rep. Carl Sciortino, as legislative director, and worked for the City of Somerville, Health Department, Office of Commissions, Somerville, Mass., as LGBTQ Liaison.
Freedman-Gurspan served on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the Presidentially Appointed Council; and as a member, and Board Member, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Norwegian, concentration in Nordic Studies, from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
District of Columbia
Murdered Israeli embassy officials were supporters of D.C.’s LGBTQ synagogue
Bet Mishpachah calls fatal shooting outside Capital Jewish Museum ‘devastating’
The two Israeli embassy officials who were shot to death outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening, May 21, were strong supporters of Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, according to a statement it released.
“We are especially devastated by the loss of our dear colleague and friend of Bet Mishpachah, Sarah Milgram, and her soon to be fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky,” the LGBTQ synagogue said in a May 22 statement.
“Sarah was the liaison between Bet Mishpachah and the Israeli Embassy, working closely with our staff and clergy,” the statement says. “Her warmth, professionalism, and deep commitment to building bridges within the Jewish community made her not only a trusted partner but a beloved part of our extended congregational family,” according to the statement.
A statement also released on May 22 by the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia says Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder along with other weapons related charges in connection with the shooting deaths of Milgram and Lischinsky.
Officials with the D.C. police and the FBI, which has joined D.C. police in continuing to investigate the case, have said Rodriquez arrived in D.C. from Chicago one day prior to the shooting and appears to have targeted an event taking place at the Capital Jewish Museum for violence at the time it was hosting an event called “Young Diplomats Reception,” in which Israeli Embassy officials were in attendance.
Police and FBI officials have said Rodriguez allegedly shot Milgrim and Lischinsky after they left the Capital Jewish Museum at the conclusion of the event. The museum is located at 575 3rd Street, N.W.
“Surveillance footage reportedly shows Rodriquez walking past the victims before turning and firing multiple rounds,” the U.S. Attorney’s statement says. “After the victims fell, he allegedly continued firing at close range, including as one attempted to crawl away,” it says, adding, “Investigators recovered a 9 mm handgun and 21 spent shell casings at the scene.”
Police have said Rodriguez walked into the Capital Jewish Museum after the shooting and was detained by security guards until D.C. police arrived. Witnesses said he began to shout, “free, free Palestine” before police took him into custody.
“Make no mistake, this attack was targeted, antisemitic violence,” said Steven Jenson, an FBI assistant director working on the investigation. “The FBI will continue to pursue all leads and use all available resources to investigate this heinous murder,” he said in the statement.
The fatal shooting took place five days after the Capital Jewish Museum opened a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on May 16. “This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebrations, activism, and change in the nation’s capital by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum said in a statement announcing the exhibition.
Photos and documents related to Bet Mishpachah make up a prominent part of the exhibition.
During a May 22 press conference organized by the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to provide an update on the investigation into the two murders, Pirro and FBI official Jensen referred to the two murders as a hate crime and terrorist act.
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if investigators were looking into whether the LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum might have played some role in Gonzales’s motive for targeting the museum, Pirro responded to the question.
“So, we are looking into absolutely everything,” she said. “There is so much information we’re looking at. And I must tell you, coming from New York, I’ve never seen the cooperation and coordination that I’m seeing here. It was immediate. It was instant. It was coordinated. And my hat’s off to this area. We’re going to clean it up, thank you,” she said in ending the press conference.
Josh Maxey, Bet Mishpachah’s executive director, said he and Israeli Embassy official Milgram became friends during their two-and-a-half-year interaction working on joint events between the embassy and Bet Mishpachah.
“This became a wonderful two and a half years journey of putting events together, of hosting events together, doing different programs for the community,” Maxey told the Blade. Among the activities the two worked on, he said, was the embassy’s annual LGBTQ Pride event.
Maxie said his own grieving over the death of Milgram and her boyfriend Lischinsky was heightened by the fact that he spoke with her by phone on the day of the shooting shortly before she arrived at the Jewish Museum over plans about this year’s LGBTQ Pride events.
“Sarah really championed us to be included in Israeli events,” Maxey said. “And so, I am just devastated that this true embodiment of an ally was so viciously and violently taken away from us.”
Delaware
Delaware marriage equality bill advances out of committee
Measure will now go before full state Senate
The bill that would amend Delaware’s state constitution to codify same-sex marriage advanced out of the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday and now goes to the Senate chamber for a vote. If passed, the vote would go on to the House.
Three members of the committee voted favorable and one voted on its merits, meaning the member recommends the chamber take action on the legislation but does not take a position on what action should be taken.
Senate Bill 100 was introduced in April by Democratic Sen. Russ Huxtable of the sixth district of Delaware and has 21 co-sponsors. It is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution. The act would “establish the right to marry as a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender.”
Senate Substitute One was adopted in lieu of the original bill on May 16. SB 100 originally focused exclusively on marriage equality relating to gender and the bill was tweaked to include protection for all classes that fall under Delaware’s Equal Rights Amendment, including race, color, national origin, and sex.
The Wednesday committee meeting heard testimony on SS 1 for SB 100 from individuals and organizations, including John Reynolds, Deputy Policy and Advocacy Director of Delaware’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“After hard fought recent victories, the rights of LGBTQ Americans are under attack in many places across our country,” Reynolds said during his testimony. “It is important that Delaware be proactive and serve as a firewall protecting individual civil liberties. SS 1 for SB 100 is an example of this important work cementing the protections for marriage equality in our state constitution.”
According to Sen. Huxtable, the ACLU helped provide feedback on some of the bill’s language. Reynolds said the ACLU thought it was important to testify because this is a moment when so much is changing.
“These attacks are not just on specific communities, they’re on this concept of equality and liberty,” Reynolds told the Washington Blade. “We need to build these firewalls to both prevent harm to folks on the frontline of these attacks but also ensure that we don’t set very problematic and damaging standards that can be used to roll back protections for large [swaths] of our population.”
SS 1 for SB 100 requires a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to pass. If passed, the next General Assembly after the next general election also has to pass it. Delaware is the only state in the country that can amend its state constitution without a vote of the people.
The Respect for Marriage Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. It codifies the right to same-sex and interracial marriage, requiring all states to recognize validly performed marriages from other states, regardless of whether they allow same-sex marriage within their own borders.
In Virginia, a bill codifying marriage equality was signed into law in 2024. California, Colorado and Hawaii have also passed amendments to codify same-sex marriage into their constitutions.
“We at the ACLU of Delaware are very excited that SS 1 for SB 100 passed out of committee yesterday,” Reynolds said. “It represents both Sen. Huxtable and the Delaware Legislature’s clear commitment to proactively protecting people’s rights within the LGBT community and outside to ensure that in this moment of uncertainty, we don’t sit idly by and wait for the worst to happen but take control of the things that we can to build the communities that we want.”
Calendar: May 23-29
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