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Gansler dodges impeachment attempt & more
Gansler dodges impeachment attempt
Saber-rattling from Maryland Republicans against Attorney General Douglas Gansler’s same-sex marriage ruling, including calls for impeachment and state funding cuts for agencies that recognize out-of-state marriage licenses, have so far amounted to nothing.
Del. Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel) demanded a House floor vote on his resolution to impeach Gansler, but was denied by Speaker Michael Busch, who acted on advice from the parliamentarian that any resolution should be referred to the House Judiciary Committee first.
Only delegates were permitted to speak at a hastily arranged hearing at 3 p.m. March 31, but Dwyer declined to speak to the substance of the impeachment charges, saying to do so would legitimize what he labeled a “kangaroo court.”
Dwyer, a Judiciary Committee member, instead used his allotted time to declare that he would bring charges against Busch.
Gansler did not attend the hearing, but Democratic delegates on the committee defended him and his marriage opinion during their allotted times.
The committee voted 17-5 that there was insufficient evidence to proceed with impeachment. A second vote was held to dismiss the resolution.
Later that day, Equality Maryland operated a phone bank to persuade delegates to oppose Dwyer’s announced state budget amendment to cut funding for recognition of out-of-state same-sex marriage licenses. Ultimately, no such amendment was presented before either legislative chamber.
“We’re pretty confident this is over for now,” said Morgan Meneses-Sheets, Equality Maryland’s executive director.
A committee hearing on House Bill 462, which would add LGBT non-discrimination protections for teachers in public schools, was scheduled for Wednesday, after DC Agenda deadline. To become law, the bill must pass the Senate before April 12.
HARLEY DENNETT
Hearing set for suspect in gay man’s murder
More information surrounding the murder of a gay man inside his car in Southeast D.C. is expected to surface during a court hearing this month for the 20-year-old man arrested in the case.
Police on March 12 charged Antwan Holcomb of D.C. with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the shooting death of Anthony Perkins, 29, on the 2900 block of Fourth Street, S.E.
Police said Perkins was pronounced dead on the scene around 5:15 a.m. Dec. 27 after neighbors reported hearing gunshots. Officers found Perkins unconscious inside his car, which had steam billowing from its engine.
A friend of Perkins said the man might have been the target of a thug who had been “terrorizing” the Congress Heights neighborhood. Rev. Anthony Motley, a D.C. minister running for an at-large seat on the D.C. City Council and a longtime friend of Perkins, said a mutual friend told him that the killing might be linked to a man believed to be responsible for a string of robberies that Perkins learned about.
“It is said that the individual Anthony knew who was robbing people had become paranoid that Anthony would talk [to police],” Motley told DC Agenda in January. “It’s assumed that is why he was shot.”
Police said Holcomb was being held at the D.C. Jail on an unrelated matter when he was charged with Perkins’ murder. Police have not said whether Holcomb is the person Perkins’ friend believes was robbing people in the neighborhood where Perkins was killed.
Holcomb, who is being held without bond, is scheduled to appear in D.C. Superior Court on April 21. Prosecutors could at that time outline the evidence that police obtained linking him to the murder.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Md. group steps up gay marriage support
The Maryland Black Family Alliance is taking a more public profile in the fight for same-sex marriage.
“We wanted to make sure that people know who we are what we stand for,” said Lea Gilmore, one of the group’s founders. “We want it known that there is significant and organized support in Maryland’s black communities for marriage equality and LGBT civil justice.”
Gilmore said to counter the perception that there are no visible straight black allies in the LGBT civil rights movement, MBFA recently conducted a photo shoot outside Brown Memorial Park Avenue Presbyterian Church in Baltimore.
“The images will be included in ads that will appear in our very respected African-American local and regional media,” Gilmore said. “We will do a broader campaign in the near future.”
The ads, funded by the Human Rights Campaign, are intended to illustrate black support for same-sex marriage and LGBT civil rights issues.
“As African Americans, we more than most know the pain that injustice causes,” Gilmore said, “so we hope with these ads to galvanize even more organized support for equality.”
STEVE CHARING/BALTIMORE OUTLoud
Virginia
Gay Va. couple hopeful voters will enshrine marriage equality in state constitution
Early voting has already begun in the state
A referendum on whether to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s constitutional amendment is on the ballot this year.
If voters approve Question 2, it will codify the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling in 2015 that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country — gays and lesbians have been able to legally marry in Virginia since Oct. 6, 2014.
Rob Bookbinder and James Fisher are a married couple who live in Arlington.
They have been together for 38 years — Bookbinder and Fisher married in 2014.
“We think this is a critical vote to remove this discriminatory language from the constitution and to ensure that going forward, no matter what happens, the state of Virginia will ensure marriage equality,” Fisher told the Washington Blade. “It is it is really difficult and upsetting to think that our current state constitution would prohibit same-sex marriage, even though the federal government overrides that now. There’s no saying what may happen in the future.”
Bookbinder said it was important for him and Fisher to get married “to gain social equality.”
“I was surprised how good it felt, how important it was to begin to say, ‘my husband rather than my partner,'” Bookbinder said.
Bookbinder then explained why it feels good to be married.
“Is it a legal partner, a business partner, a tennis partner, you know, or a romantic partner? But when you say my husband James, everyone knows exactly what you mean and confers an equal status with everyone else who’s married, and we were both surprised at how good it felt and how equal it felt to suddenly be married and be able to state that you were married and discuss your husband rather than your partner, and I would hate to lose that,” he said.
Bookbinder and Fisher said they are hopeful that voters will approve the amendment, noting Virginia has become more progressive over the years.
“I think people have, with the Supreme Court decision, people have seen that a same-sex marriage is just a marriage,” stated Fisher. “It’s just two people who love each other, and I think more and more people have attended a same-sex marriage, someone in their family or a friend, and the experience of what this is, firsthand experience, is so important in shaping people’s opinions, and I think the period of time that we’ve had since the Obergefell decision has given a lot of voters that experience, which I think is really important and powerful.”
The couple also said the push to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s constitution is in response to the Trump-Vance administration.
“And I think due to President Trump doing all the horrible things he’s done to so many groups, including LGBTQ, especially trans people, that Virginians are kind of pushed to be even more progressive to protect those who need protection, which would include the LGBTQ community in terms of marriage equality, so I’m confident it will pass,” said Fisher.
Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia, sent the Blade a statement about early voting on Question 2 that has already begun.
“With early voting now underway, our focus is making sure every Virginian knows Question 2 is on their ballot,” said Rahaman. “The outdated ban on same-sex marriage still in Virginia’s state constitution leaves a gap in protections for the thousands of same-sex couples that call this state home, but after 20 years we have the chance to fix it.”
Log onto www.mobilize.us/vaformarriage to find out more about the campaign in support of Question 2.
By JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Those legendary heavy-handed pours, spirited karaoke and trivia nights, and groan-worthy wall-to-wall patrons on packed nights are back!
Leon’s will live to see another day.
Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, which opened in the 1950s, closed in July following the death of its owner, Ron Singer.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Leigh Miles Jackson, Ph.D., named executive director of The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker, and Angel Earle, Ph.D. named as chief operating officer, Whitman-Walker Health System.
Upon her appointment Dr. Jackson said, “Under my leadership, I would love for The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker to be known as a trusted, forward-looking research organization that shapes policies, strengthens practices and creates measurable change for the community.” Dr. Jackson spent 12 years with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, leading national initiatives on minority-serving institutions and economic evidence for investments in children, youth and families. Dr. Jackson holds an extensive educational background, including postdoctoral fellowships in developmental Psychology and Neurogenomics from Vanderbilt University, a Ph.D. in molecular and systems pharmacology from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University.
Upon her appointment Dr. Earle said, “When we talk about parity and inequities and research, it’s never just about the dollars that are out there. It’s about making sure that we’re cultivating a change that embraces equity at the heart of everything that it does. As the COO for Whitman-Walker Health System I will be working closely to support The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker and the Whitman-Walker Foundation to drive advancement in research and support the strategic goals of all of the Whitman-Walker Heath System entities.”
Dr. Earle is a genetic epidemiologist and senior executive. She brings a background from the London School of Economics and the University of South Carolina, with expertise in global health, corporate strategy and socioeconomic policy. She has co-authored peer-reviewed research on cancer genetics, nephrology biomarkers and reproductive genomes.
Dr. Heather Aaron, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health System said, “both leaders bring research-driven expertise and operational strength to the organization as it continues expanding research, health care access, and health outcomes for residents across the Washington, D.C., region, including the LGBTQ+ community, people living with and at risk for HIV, and communities experiencing persistent health disparities.”
The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker is also expanding its research agenda beyond HIV to address the complex health conditions affecting people living with and at risk for HIV, as well as the broader communities The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker serves.
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