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Unfinished business as lawmakers prepare to convene

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In the two and a half months since her appointment, Morgan Meneses-Sheets, the new executive director of Equality Maryland, has been visiting cities and towns across the state and introducing herself to the LGBT community.

Now, as the 2010 Maryland legislative session approaches — with significant unfinished business as it relates to LGBT issues — the DC Agenda, in partnership with Baltimore OUTLoud, sat down with Meneses-Sheets to talk about the political landscape and the strategies her organization intends to employ to advance pro-LGBT legislation.

The 2010 session begins Jan. 13 and runs through April 12. Equality Maryland’s Lobby Day is scheduled for Feb. 8 in Annapolis.

Agenda: Since you were selected for the position of executive director at Equality Maryland, you have been going non-stop on a statewide tour, meeting people and organizations. How has this been valuable to you?

Morgan Meneses-Sheets: I am committed to ensuring that Equality Maryland truly represents the needs and interests of Maryland’s LGBT community. Attending community events and making presentations has enabled me to start to build strong partnerships and have authentic conversations about the future of our organization and the LGBT movement.

The welcome receptions have been my coming out parties to introduce me to the community as the new director. They have offered me an opportunity to emphasize that we have a strong team in place and we are ready to get it done.

Agenda: You were successful in building a nationwide advocacy program from the ground up when you were with the Amputee Coalition of America. How did that experience, plus the experience gained from the other positions you held, prepare you for your role at Equality Maryland?

Meneses-Sheets: From day one with the ACA, I was charged with building a strong, grassroots network that would have the ability to generate enough pressure to impact the policy making process in each of the state legislatures. We were successful in passing over a dozen different bills to enhance access to care. It was all about doing the work to engage and develop our local supporters, identify and cultivate relationships with potential partners and being strategic each step of the way.

In January, we are launching the Equality Maryland Vision Task Force. The task force will be comprised of thought-leaders in various areas including development, communications, organizing and program development. The goal of the Task Force is to work with us to create a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure that we not only have the key votes, but also create true and lasting equality throughout the Free State.

Agenda: We head into 2010 with some restrained hopes based on the experience here in Maryland over the past several years concerning the signature issue of marriage equality. Is there any reason to be more hopeful this time around and if so, why?

Meneses-Sheets: We have built a strong foundation, but there is still work to be done. 2010 is a build year. We have to really invest in building a network of pro-equality activists, public officials and religious leaders through education and outreach efforts. We are working to design an ambitious and sophisticated PAC plan to ensure the election of candidates who believe in fairness and equality.

This year is about building momentum and putting the plans and tactics in place to take us through the elections into a legislative victory. We are also already laying out a wide-ranging strategy to ensure that we have the necessary public support to beat back a referendum aimed at rolling back our gains.

Activists must not only remain hopeful, but also be committed. We need Marylanders and all of our supporters to be in this with us for the long haul.

Agenda: We had a mixed year in 2009 concerning LGBT rights, especially marriage equality. New states legalized it while another, Maine, had it stripped away at the ballot box. And in New York it was defeated in a disheartening vote by the Senate. What lessons, if any, have you drawn from these two significant defeats?

Meneses-Sheets: We have certainly had our share of ups and downs over the past year, but the mere fact that our issues have been front and center in the public arena is a sign of progress. People are talking about LGBT equality. Lawmakers are really digging in on our issues in state legislatures, county councils and Congress.

The loss in Maine was devastating and yet we must remember that we lost by less than 30,000 votes. That is huge! New York was a disappointment and yet the week before the loss in the Senate, New York was also the site of a big step forward in case law. The New York Court of Appeals issued a favorable ruling on marriage recognition for same-sex couples. The Court of Appeals left in place lower courts’ rulings applying New York’s marriage recognition rule to marriages of same-sex couples.

According to a recent poll sponsored by Equality Maryland, for the first time a majority of Marylanders support passage of the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act. We are currently working with a number of funders and partners to launch a wide-scale plan to engage with partners in communities of color and communities of faith, as well as to build on our past successes with the Pride in Faith initiative and our strong partnership with the Maryland Black Family Alliance.

We have had some setbacks this year, but we have also had some huge steps forward. It is going to take time and hard work, but we are confident that equality will win out in the end. We are fighting for civil rights. That has never been easy, but it is certainly worth it.

Agenda: Besides marriage equality and transgender protection, what other legislation are you hoping to pass this year? And would you be willing to accept civil unions at this time?

Meneses-Sheets: Civil unions provide no guarantee that the protections will travel with them to other states. They are second-class protections. Equality under the law for same-sex couples means equal marriage rights. The same social, legal and financial benefits currently afforded to heterosexual couples in Maryland can only be replicated for same-sex couples by granting the same marriage license.

While we are still working with our legislative committee to finalize our agenda for 2010, there are a number of important issues that we would like to support in addition to anti-discrimination protections and marriage equality.

The Maryland Family Medical Leave Act would allow people to utilize leave for their brother, sister, grandparent, grandchild, or domestic partner. Family leave can be used to provide care to family members with serious health conditions or in the case of the birth of a child.

Agenda: You and your wife Rae married in Vermont … with the hope that, until marriage equality is passed here, Maryland will recognize our marriages from other jurisdictions. Now our next-door neighbor, Washington, D.C., is poised to [enact] same-sex marriages. We’ve been waiting a long time for Attorney General Doug Gansler to issue an opinion on whether Maryland can recognize our marriages.
What’s holding the decision up? And what is Equality Maryland doing to put pressure on Gansler?

Meneses-Sheets: Many couples around our great state have made the trip to places like California, Massachusetts, Vermont and Connecticut to get a marriage license. But when they return home, this piece of paper may be suitable for framing, but does not come with any of the 400 or so benefits provided by the state for other married couples.

Equality Maryland has been working in coalition with groups like the ACLU and the National Center for Lesbian Rights to conduct research on past precedent and work with local legal scholars to submit supporting information and analysis to the Attorney General’s office as part of this process. In November, we also solicited stories and pictures from local folks who received licenses in other states to submit as part of the public comment process.

There is legal precedent in the state of Maryland to honor the licenses of couples validly married elsewhere. The Attorney General’s opinion will determine the legal possibility of building on that precedent to honor the licenses from other states or countries. The decision is pending.

Agenda: What are you hearing about the timing of the opinion’s release?

Meneses-Sheets: In a recent interview with WTOP, Mr. Gansler suggested that the opinion would come out either before the session or early in the session. While we are all anxious to hear back, we know first hand from our recent dealings with the AG’s office around the [Maryland Vehicle Administration] issue that they are bombarded with new requests and obligations every week as part of helping to do the business of the state.

The initial analysis by many prominent legal experts suggests that we are in a strong position as a state to provide legal recognition of out-of-state licenses. We are holding out for a positive opinion.

Agenda: What will be the impact of the legalization of same-sex marriage in D.C.?

Meneses-Sheets: This will be just one step in our journey toward full equality. Now that LGBT couples can obtain a marriage license by simply traveling to the District, Maryland must move forward in not only recognizing out-of-state marriages, but we must also pass the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Protection Act.

Agenda: Let’s talk about Lobby Day, which is a significant event in the quest to gain equal rights in Maryland. There are those who have criticized the rally in the past for its declining turnout and logistical snafus, particularly in lighting and sound at the rally. Are there any steps you plan to take to remedy these concerns for the Feb. 8 event?

Meneses-Sheets: We had a record turnout in 2007 as part of the push around the Court opinion. After the very disappointing ruling, some folks were quite disempowered, but in recent months we have really seen an increase in excitement and commitment from our activists. Maryland is on a short list of states that have the potential to enact true marriage equality in the next couple of years. We just received a two-year grant to support enhancing our organizing around equal protections for transgender Marylanders. We are truly on the cusp of making sweeping changes, so we have an obligation to do all we can to not only build support, but also demonstrate the strong support for our legislative priorities.

Lawmakers need to talk with their constituents. They need to hear our stories — otherwise we are letting our opposition tell them who we are.

Agenda: We have a Democratic governor, the leaders of both legislative chambers are Democrats, and the overwhelming majority of the General Assembly are Democrats. We have made some important progress over the past four years or so, yet we cannot seem to wrest the two remaining big bills — marriage equality and transgender protections — from committee. Is there a strategy in place to move the bills so at least there could be an up-or-down vote?

Meneses-Sheets: While we should maintain perspective on the recent setbacks, we also have to realize that each loss gives our opposition another opportunity to claim a victory and gain ground. We are truly making progress, but we have to be smart about each step that we take. We have to lay the groundwork so that we can not only win on our important issues, but also protect and maintain those wins. We are taking the time to really think through every tactic, every target and every step along the way.

We will work to generate pressure at the grassroots level to push for co-sponsors and really ramp up support for our key issues. In many ways, 2010 will be a building year. We have work to do to continue to educate lawmakers, increase our organizing efforts and build the campaign we need to not only win, but also protect our victories.

Agenda: Does Equality Maryland plan any face-to-face meetings with the governor and/or Senate and House leaders on these issues?

Meneses-Sheets: We have been working with the governor’s office around the MVA issue. We have also reached out to a number of leaders in the Assembly and Senate as we work to prepare for the upcoming session. We will continue to leverage every opportunity to sit down with key stakeholders and partners as we work to advance our legislative priorities.

Steve Charing is managing editor of Baltimore OUTLoud and can be reached via baltimoreoutloud.com.

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Virginia

Arlington church seeks to offer LGBTQ-affirming senior housing

Project by Clarendon Presbyterian faces opposition from residents

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Clarendon Presbyterian Church (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

Leaders and members of the Clarendon Presbyterian Church, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on April 13, have said they decided to continue to fulfill their mission of religious faith by using the land on which their church is located in the Clarendon section of Arlington, Va., to develop a new, larger church building to include LGBTQ affordable housing for seniors along with an independently run childcare center that currently operates in the church.

“In line with the church’s deep history of supporting affordable housing, LGBTQ communities, and seniors, in 2021, the church relaunched a visioning process of how we might invest our most valuable physical resources, our church property, for the good of the community,” church leaders said in a Feb. 9, 2024, statement describing the project.

The statement says that in 2022, the congregation voted to partner with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), a real estate development company that specializes in affordable housing projects. Through that partnership, the statement says, the two partners in June of 2023 applied to the Arlington County government for a zoning change that would allow the construction of a building that could accommodate as many as 92 residential apartments for seniors 55 or 62 and older.

Among other things, the project calls for demolishing the current church building and constructing a new, larger building that would include a smaller version of the church space for its religious services as well as space for 40 to 58 children ages two through six at the Clarendon Child Care Center, which has operated at the church for more than 60 years.

Rev. Alice Tewell, the current pastor at Clarendon Presbyterian Church, told the Washington Blade another important factor contributing to the decision to redevelop the church property is the high cost of maintaining a 100-year-old building and its aging infrastructure that was becoming less and less affordable for the church’s budget. And like many churches across the country, the membership of Clarendon Presbyterian Church has declined over the years, making it no longer necessary for a worship service space as large as that in the current church building, Tewell said.

The statement describing the development plan says that without a major redevelopment project, the church could no longer afford to remain in the current building, forcing it to move to another location outside of Clarendon and possibly outside of Arlington. 

According to Rev. Tewell, the redevelopment decision came after several years of internal discussion, meetings with longtime church allies, including members of the LGBTQ community and other community groups.

“And after all these conversations, we came to where we could serve Christ, which is part of our faith, and where we could be good neighbors in Arlington – would be to tear down our entire property and rebuild so it would include senior affordable housing as LGBT welcoming, a new church space, which we also plan to turn into a community space, and the new space for our preschool center,” Tewell told the Blade.

She noted that the church’s location at 1305 N. Jackson St. is walking distance to the Clarendon Metro station and many local amenities such as restaurants and retail stores, making it a convenient location for the senior residents in the redeveloped space. 

She also points out that church members have consulted with the New York-based LGBTQ seniors advocacy organization SAGE, which informed them of the great need for LGBTQ welcoming senior housing, including in Northern Virginia.

But news of the church’s redevelopment project, especially reports that it would include a proposed 92-unit apartment building, prompted many nearby residents to raise strong objections and to call on the Arlington County Board, which must make a final decision on a zoning change, to deny the zoning change request.

Most of the opposition comes from residents of single-family houses, who point out that the church is located in a largely low-density residential neighborhood with just a few nearby low-rise apartment buildings. In August of 2023, a group of nearby residents created an online petition that gathered at that time more than 1,000 signatures calling for the county to turn down the church development project.

“We, the concerned residents of Arlington, Virginia, stand united in opposition to the proposed destruction of the historic, over 100-year-old, Clarendon Presbyterian Church (CPC) and the subsequent construction of a massive 6-story apartment building having 100 units within our cherished residential neighborhood,” the petition states. “We believe that this development project will have serious detrimental effects on our community’s character, quality of life, and historic heritage,” it says.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, or APAH, the development company working in partnership with the church, submitted an official application on June 29, 2023, for a Special General Land Use Plan Study calling for the needed zoning change for the church project with Arlington County Zoning Administrator Arlova Vonhm. APAH officials have said the initial application was the first of a multi-step process seeking final approval of the project.

Garrett Jackson, APAH’s Director of Resource Development and Communications, told the Blade that APAH on behalf of the church asked the Zoning Administrator to put the application on hold while the church and APAH consider revisions for the project.

“We are currently working with our architect, engineer, and construction management team to assess the feasibility of different development options while also considering feedback we have received from the county and the community,” Jackson told the Blade in a March 15 email.

In a phone interview with the Blade on March 21, Jackson and APAH officials Mitchell Crispell and Brian Goggin, said the decision to put the project on hold did not come as a result of an informal message from the Zoning Administrator that the project was about to be turned down. 

“So, we were the ones that put it on hold,” said Crispell, APAH’s Director of Real Estate Development. “It wasn’t the county that said no to us at all. We wanted to kind of pause for a minute and consider our options, the feasibility of different options and the development plans,” he said.

Crispell noted that the decision to put the project on hold came last fall, a few months after the application was submitted in June and after strong opposition to the project surfaced by nearby residents. Crispell, Jackson, and Goggin pointed out, however, that opposition to development projects is a common phenomenon in Arlington and other jurisdictions and that ongoing dialogue between developers and concerned residents often leads to a resolution to the objections.

“We understand the back and forth that it takes to get these projects to fruition,” Jackson said. “So, you’ve got to rest assured that this is very much a part of the very thorough process that both APAH and the county go through regularly to make sure that we’re getting the absolute best product in the actual building that will go up for Clarendon Presbyterian Church and for the future residents,” Jackson points out.

Jackson and his two APAH colleagues said they couldn’t immediately predict when they will resubmit the application for the zoning change. Spokespersons for the Zoning Office, the Arlington County Board, and Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Blade for comment on the church project and the likelihood of the county approving the project.

Among those supporting the church project is James Fisher, a longtime Arlington LGBTQ rights advocate and longtime church member. Fisher and Arlington gay civic activists Jay Fisette, a former elected member of the Arlington Board, and longtime Arlington resident Bob Witeck, who support the project, told the Blade they believe many nearby residents also support the church development project.

Fisette and Witeck said they do not believe anti-LGBTQ bias is a significant factor, if a factor at all, in the opposition to the church project.

“I personally observe this as disquiet about building a larger and taller presence in a space that abuts residential neighbors unsure of the implications or stresses that might come,” Witeck said. “I’m no Pollyanna, but really believe that with time, this change will be smoother than people fear or imagine,” he said.

Fisette said the church project comes a short time after the Arlington County Board adopted an “Expanded Housing Options” policy that allows for larger residential buildings in some areas originally zoned for low-density, single-family homes. This change drew objections among many residents in areas similar to where Clarendon Presbyterian church is located.

“I would say the LGBTQ elements of the proposal are likely more of a plus than a minus,” Fisette told the Blade. “I expect 99 percent of any resistance-anxiety relates to density  and the real-feared impacts of that density,” he said.

Tewell told the Blade the church’s support for the LGBTQ community dates back to the 1980s, when church members voted in support of a then-controversial proposal to allow the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Clinic, which had a Northern Virginia outreach, to use space in the church for a support group for people with HIV/AIDS and for HIV caregivers.

“And that started changing the church to becoming a church that was very welcoming to LGBTQ people,” she said, adding that the church subsequently opened its door for LGBTQ community events, some of which were organized by gay church member James Fisher. Among those using the church now is IMPACTO LGBT, a Spanish-speaking LGBT church that holds its worship services at Clarendon Presbyterian Church.

“This is how we are living out our faith in the world,” Tewell said. “We worked out what does God’s embodied love look like for the world? And how do we embody God’s grace, justice, and love? And we really feel that it is through housing for seniors that is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people,” she added. “And to transform our church space so it’s better equipped to welcome the community.”

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Maryland

Maryland’s Joe Vogel would make history if elected to Congress

27-year-old gay lawmaker running for David Trone seat

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Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) (Photo courtesy of Joe Vogel)

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Monday said it is time for a new generation of leaders in Congress.

The Montgomery County Democrat last May declared his candidacy for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District after Congressman David Trone announced his run for retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)’s seat. Vogel, 27, would be the first Latino, the first gay man and the 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 during an interview at the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.

Protecting democracy among priorities

Vogel was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Rockville with his family when he was three years old.

He volunteered for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Vogel, who is Jewish, in 2014 worked for Maryland state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County)’s campaign.

He was part of Hillary Clinton’s National Advance Team during her 2016 presidential campaign, and worked on former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2017 gubernatorial bid. Vogel later joined the March for Our Lives movement for gun control that began after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018.

Vogel in 2020 worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)’s presidential campaign. The Montgomery County Democrat in 2022 became the first Gen Zer to win a seat in the Maryland General Assembly. 

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that he has introduced 18 bills in this year’s legislative session. 

One of them, a bill that would prohibit the state from giving foster children in their custody trash bags for them to transport their belongings, passed unanimously in the House on March 14. Other measures that Vogel has sponsored would, among other things, provide security grants to abortion clinics and increase investments in local newspapers.

“I have a record of being able to deliver results,” he said. “That’s what I’m running on.”

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that his platform includes:

  • • Protecting democracy
  • • Preventing “attacks on fundamental rights”
  • • Fighting climate change
  • • Stopping gun violence

Vogel also noted his support for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws.

“At a moment of time when you have attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, against our rights, against our identities, I believe that there’s nothing more powerful than electing Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress,” he said.

Vogel added his election would send “a message to all the young LGBTQ+ people across the state that they belong, and that they have someone in the United States Congress who understands them and is going to fight for them every single day,” added Vogel.

Vogel’s great-grandparents fled Europe ahead of the Holocaust. Uruguay’s military dictatorship was in place from 1973-1985. 

His multiple identities remain a cornerstone of his legislative priorities and of his campaign.

“When we talk about the attacks on LGBTQ+ people, I get that. I feel that,” said Vogel. “I understand that when we talk about the attacks on immigrant communities … not only do I understand that, personally, but I’m around so many immigrants that feel that pain of what we’ve seen over the last many years of the incessant attacks on immigrants and Latino people. When we see the rise in anti-Semitism, I feel that personally.”

HRC, Victory Fund have endorsed Vogel

The Democratic primary will take place on May 14.

April McClain Delaney, a former U.S. Department of Commerce official whose husband is former Congressman John Delaney, and state Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery County) are among Vogel’s primary opponents. Former state Del. Dan Cox, an anti-LGBTQ Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, is also running for Trone’s seat.

Campaign finance reports indicate Vogel raised $379,755.91 between May 4, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. McClain Delaney reported she received $536,557 in campaign contributions from Oct. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023.

The Human Rights Campaign, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality PAC and the Sierra Club are among the organizations that have endorsed Vogel’s campaign. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Frederick County Council President Brad Young are among those who have also backed him. The Maryland State Education Association and the National Education Association this week endorsed Vogel.

Vogel dismissed suggestions that he does not have enough legislative experience to run for Congress and that he is too young.

“When you’re elected to Congress, you’re elected for a two-year term,” he said. “Look at what I’ve been able to accomplish in a two-year term. I’ve proven that I can hit the ground running, get results, deliver results.”

Vogel added the race to succeed Trone in Congress is “me versus the status quo.”

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we actually want things to get better in this country,” said Vogel.

Democratic opponent gave money to Jim DeMint

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan last month announced he is running for U.S. Senate. Prince George’s County Executive Director Angela Alsobrooks is also hoping to succeed Cardin.

Vogel sharply criticized Cox. 

“He is as bigoted as it gets,” Vogel told the Blade. “He is a far-right extremist who bussed people to D.C. on Jan. 6, who is as homophobic as it gets, and who is as transphobic as it gets.”

Vogel said Maryland voters in November “need to reject Dan Cox” and “we have to reject Larry Hogan.” (Vogel has endorsed Trone’s Senate campaign.)

“We have to elect pro-equality members of Congress this November, to finally secure the protections that we need for our community in Congress,” said Vogel.

Vogel also vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure that” former President Donald Trump does not win re-election in November.

“Three generations in my family: My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents experienced the loss of democracy,” Vogel told the Blade. “My great-grandparents escaped fascism. My grandparents and parents lived under a repressive military dictatorship in Uruguay, and I see the concern that my parents feel seeing the rise of Trump.”

“I refuse to be the fourth generation in my family who experienced the loss of democracy,” he added. “This November, the election fundamentally is going to decide the future of our democracy.”

Vogel on Sunday during a forum the Frederick County Democratic Party sponsored criticized McClain Delaney over her 2005 campaign donation to then-U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) after he said gay people should not be teachers.

“I can’t imagine making any sort of political contribution to any anti-LGBTQ+, anti-choice, pro-NRA member of the United States Senate, and let alone the maximum allowed contribution,” said Vogel. “There is a stark contrast there.”

‘My heart breaks for what we saw on’ Oct. 7

Vogel spoke with the Blade less than six months after Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.

“It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said. “What concerns me is that Hamas has made clear that they intend to carry out an attack like that again and again and again and again.”

“My heart breaks for what we saw on that day,” added Vogel.

Vogel is among those who attended a pro-Israel rally that took place on the National Mall last November. He has also met with relatives of hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.

“Hearing the stories of parents whose kids are still in Gaza, the pain that I feel is tremendous,” said Vogel. “We have to bring those hostages home.”

Vogel told the Blade that Hamas can no longer control Gaza. He also said peace cannot be achieved with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in office.

“If we want to reach peace, a number of things have to happen: Hamas needs to go. We need a change in leadership in Israel and we need diplomatic negotiations to get a bilateral ceasefire, which is not what I think people are calling for when they call for an immediate ceasefire.”

Vogel last October posted to his X account pictures of anti-Semitic graffiti in his apartment building.

He told the Blade the graffiti was removed, but “it took a very long time.” Vogel has introduced a bill that would require the removal of graffiti in a specific period of time if it violates Maryland’s hate crimes law.

Book bans ‘have absolutely no place’

Vogel during the interview also criticized Moms for Liberty and their efforts to ban books in Maryland. He noted Jaime Brennan, the chair of the group’s Frederick County chapter, is running for the county’s Board of Education.

“Book bans in a free democratic society have absolutely no place,” said Vogel.

The Maryland House on March 15 by a 98-37 vote margin approved the Freedom to Read Act. The measure would create a “state policy that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards,” require “each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program” and ban “a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”

The bill is now before the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.

Amber Laenen contributed to this story.

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District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

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Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a “dynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system … building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walker’s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.”

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

“Heather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,” the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. “She has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,” it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

“In Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,” the announcement continues. “The care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,” it says. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,” Aaron said in the announcement press release. “I look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,” she said. 

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