Connect with us

Local

Judge rejects request for stay on D.C. marriage law

Published

on

A D.C. Superior Court judge Friday denied a Maryland minister’s request for a temporary injunction to prevent the city’s same-sex marriage law from taking effect March 3.

Following a hearing, Judge Brian Holeman issued a preliminary ruling from the bench saying he did not have authority to block a law approved by the city government and cleared by Congress through the normal congressional review process.

Holeman also said he didn’t believe a lawsuit filed by Bishop Harry Jackson seeking to force the city to hold a voter referendum to overturn the marriage law was likely to succeed on the merits. Holeman noted that a key requirement for a court injunction is that the people seeking it can demonstrate a likelihood of winning an underlying case.

“Everyone knows the chances of their winning on the merits are very slim,” said gay rights attorney Mark Levine, who attended the court hearing.

Jackson filed the lawsuit earlier this year after the city’s election board rejected his proposed referendum on grounds that it would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.

In Friday’s hearing, Holeman told attorneys for Jackson and for the city, who argued against the injunction, that he would issue a final, written decision on the injunction request Monday.

“I understood this to mean that his written opinion would be the same as his ruling today — to deny the injunction,” Levine said.

He said Jackson’s lawyers indicated they would quickly take their request for an injunction to the D.C. Court of Appeals, possibly as soon as Friday afternoon or Monday. He noted that most court observers believe the appeals court will uphold Holeman’s ruling against an injunction to block the marriage law.

Holeman denied yet another request by Austin Nimocks, one of Jackson’s attorneys, asking him to rule Friday on both the injunction request and on the merits of the case. Instead, Holeman scheduled a separate hearing on the merits of Jackson’s case seeking a voter referendum for Friday, Feb. 27.

“It’s a hearing I think is very likely to be cancelled,” said Levine.

He was referring to the rapidly approaching deadline that Jackson and his supporters face to pull together the numerous requirements of a voter referendum, including petition signatures from voters across the city.

Under the city’s election law, these requirements must be met between the time the D.C. government passes a law that opponents seek to kill through a referendum and the time Congress completes its 30 legislative day review of such a law. Congress is expected to complete its review on the same-sex marriage measure March 3.

Legal observers have said Jackson has a better — although unlikely — chance of killing the marriage law through a separate process he began earlier this year for a voter initiative. Unlike a referendum, the city’s election law gives up to six months for completing the necessary petition and administrative requirements of placing an initiative on the ballot. However, there is no time limit for Jackson to continue his court appeal seeking to overturn the city and the lower court rulings disqualifying the marriage initiative on grounds that it violates the city’s human rights law.

Similar to their decision on Jackson’s referendum proposal, the D.C. Board of Elections & Ethics and a Superior Court judge have ruled that an initiative seeking to ban same-sex marriage cannot be held because it would violate the city’s Human Rights Act.

Jackson has appealed the board and a Superior Court judge’s rulings disqualifying his initiative proposal to the D.C. Court of Appeals. That court is expected to issue a ruling on the case later this year — after the same-sex marriage law has gone into effect and after gay and lesbian couples beginning marrying.

Nimocks and other attorneys working on Jackson case could not immediately be reached.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Photos

PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards

Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

Published

on

Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington as well as local drag artists joined hosts Mike Millan and Felicia Curry with other performers for a WorldPride dance number at the Helen Hayes Awards on Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.

A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.

The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Continue Reading

District of Columbia

Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals

Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

Published

on

Deacon Maccubbin attends the 2024 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.

The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.

Laverne Cox (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.

Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.

Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”

“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”

“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.

The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.

Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride

Schuyler Bailar gives keynote address

Published

on

D.C. Trans Pride 2025 was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on May 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Continue Reading

Popular