The Human Rights Campaign Foundation on Nov. 18 released its 14^th annual Municipal Equality Index report showing that a record number of 132 cities across the country, including nine in Virginia and seven in Maryland, received the highest score of 100 for their level of support for LGBTQ equality through laws, policies, and services.

Among the D.C.-area cities and municipalities receiving a perfect score of 100 were Alexandria, Arlington County, Fairfax County in Virginia and College Park, Bowie, Gaithersburg and Rockville in Maryland.

The city of Rehoboth Beach is listed as the only city or municipality in Delaware to receive a score of 100. Rehoboth city officials released a statement hailing the high score as a major achievement over the previous year’s score of 61, saying the improvement came through a partnership with the local LGBTQ advocacy and services group CAMP Rehoboth.

The  HRC Foundation, which serves as the educational arm of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, includes the District of Columbia in a separate State Equality Index rating system under the premise that D.C. should be treated as a state and receive full statehood status.

In its 2024 State Equality Index report, D.C. and 21 states, including Maryland, Virginia, and Delaware, were placed in the “highest rated category” called Working Toward Innovative Equality, which does not use a numerical score.

 “The 2025 MEI shows a record breaking 132 cities scoring the highest possible marks on the index, representing a combined population of approximately 49 million people,” the HRC Foundation said in a statement announcing the 2025 report.

“This high-water mark is critical as pressure continues from states that pass laws and policies that seek to shut transgender people – particularly trans youth – out of public life,” the statement continues. It adds that many cities that have put in place trans supportive laws and policies, including health insurance benefits, “are in many cases no longer able to provide that coverage in a meaningful way as a result of discriminatory decisions made by state legislatures.”

The statement goes on to say, “However, more cities than ever are doing what the MEI characterizes as ‘testing the limits of restrictive state laws’ – pushing back against various checks on municipal power or discriminatory state  laws – with nearly 70 cities doing so.” 

The HRC statement notes that this year’s Municipal Equality Index rated a total of 506 cities. It says that number includes the 50 state capitals, the 200 largest cities in the U.S., the five largest cities or municipalities in each state, the cities that are home to the state’s two largest universities, and the 75 cities or municipalities that have high proportions of same-sex couples.

The report shows this year’s index rated 11 cities or municipalities in Virginia with the following rating scores: Alexandria, 100; Arlington County,100; Fairfax County, 100, Richmond, 100; Charlottesville, 100; Chesapeake, 80; Hampton, 100; Newport News, 100; Norfolk, 91, Roanoke, 100, and Virginia Beach, 100.

In Maryland a total of 10 cities were rated: Annapolis, 100; Baltimore, 100; Bowie, 68; College Park, 100; Columbia, 100; Frederick, 100; Gaithersburg, 100; Hagerstown, 75; Rockville, 100 and Towson in Baltimore County, 85.

A total of eight cities were rated in Delaware: Rehoboth Beach, 100; Bethany Beach, 51; Milford, 83; Dover, 69; Wilmington, 76; Newark, 72; Smyrna, 59; and Middletown, 64.

The full 2025 HRC Foundation Equality Index Report can be accessed at hrc.org.

Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates on Monday announced passage of a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman is among their 2026 legislative priorities.

State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) has introduced the resolution in the chamber. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) is the sponsor of an identical proposal in the state Senate.

Both men are gay.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.

A resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment passed in the General Assembly in 2021. The resolution passed again this year.

Two successive legislatures must approve the resolution before it can go to the ballot.

Democrats on Election Day increased their majority in the House of Delegates. Their three statewide candidates — Gov.-elect Abigail Spanberger, Lt. Gov.-elect Ghazala Hashmi, and Attorney General-elect Jay Jones — will take office in January.

“Virginians elected the largest House Democratic Majority in nearly four decades because they trust us to fight for them and deliver real results,” said House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) on Monday in a press release that announced his party’s legislative priorities. “These first bills honor that trust. Our agenda is focused on lowering costs, lifting wages, expanding opportunity, protecting Virginians rights, and ensuring fair representation as Donald Trump pushes Republican legislatures across the country to manipulate congressional maps for partisan gain. House Democrats are ready to meet this moment and deliver the progress Virginians expect.”

The owners of several of D.C.’s at least 24 LGBTQ bars, some of which also operate as restaurants or cafes, say they are being negatively impacted by the same forces impacting most other D.C. bars and restaurants at this time.

Among the lead issues impacting them have been the deployment by President Donald Trump of National Guard troops on city streets, the nearly two-month long federal government shutdown that just ended, and skyrocketing prices for food and other supplies brought about by the Trump administration’s controversial tariff program.

The Trump administration’s decision to lay off thousands of federal workers shortly after Trump took office in January also appears to have resulted in a decline in the number of people going out to restaurants and bars, including  LGBTQ restaurants and bars, according to some of the owners who spoke to the Washington Blade.

Observers of LGBTQ nightlife businesses have pointed out that although nationwide the number of LGBTQ or “gay bars” has declined significantly since 1980,  the number of LGBTQ bars in D.C. has increased from just six in 1980 to at least 24 so far in 2025.

If the popular Annie’s Paramount Steak House near Dupont Circle, Mr. Henry’s restaurant, bar and Jazz music performance site on Capitol Hill, and the Red Bear Brewing Company bar, restaurant and music performance site in Northeast near Capitol Hill – each of which have a mixed but large LGBTQ clientele  — are included in the D.C. gay bar list, the total number climbs to 27. 

As if that were not enough, yet another D.C. gay bar, Rush, was scheduled to open on Nov. 21 at 2001 14^th Street, N.W. at the intersection of 14^th and U streets, near the location of 10 other LGBTQ bars in the U Street nightlife corridor. That will bring the number of LGBTQ-identified bars to 28.

Among the first of the LGBTQ bar owners to publicly disclose the economic hardships impacting their establishment was David Perruzza, who owns the gay bar and café Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own in the city’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.

In an Oct. 10 Facebook post, Perruzza said he was facing “probably the worst economy I have seen in a while and everyone in D.C. is dealing with the Trump drama.”

He added, “I have 47 people I am responsible for, and I don’t know how to survive in this climate. If I have ever sponsored you or your organization, now is the time to show the love. Not only for me but other bars. I went out tonight and it was depressing. If you want queer bars, we all need your help.”

Asked on Nov. 10 how things were going one month after he posted his Facebook message, Perruzza told the Blade business was still bad. 

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” he said. “Again, we’re busy. The bar’s busy, but people aren’t buying drinks.” He added, “No, they’re coming in and drinking water and dancing. They’re not buying drinks.” 

Like most of the city’s bars, including LGBTQ bars, Perruzza said he provides water jugs and plastic cups for patrons to access drinking water by themselves as needed or desired.

Jo McDaniel, co-owner of As You Are, an LGBTQ bar and café in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill at 500 8^th Street, S.E., which has a large lesbian clientele, said she, too, was hit hard by the National Guard deployment. She said National Guard troops carrying guns began walking up and down 8^th Street in front of As You Are around the last week in August and have continued to do so.

“And then from the 7^th [of September] they went from pistols to rifles,” McDaniel said. “Nothing has happened. They’ve just been walking back and forth. But now they have big guns. It’s pretty terrifying.”

She noted that the National Guard presence and the other issues, including the federal shutdown, caused a sharp drop in business that prompted her and her partner to launch a GoFundMe appeal in August, a link to which was still on the As You Are website as of Nov. 16.

“We’re reaching out to you, our community, our allies, and those who believe in safe spaces for marginalized folks to help us get past this challenge so we can all ensure AYA’s survival and continued impact in D.C. and the community at large,” a message on the GoFundMe site says.

Freddie Lutz, owner of Freddie’s Beach Bar, the LGBTQ bar and restaurant in the Crystal City section of Arlington, Va., just outside D.C., said the federal shutdown, rising costs, and even the deployment of National Guard troops in D.C. appears to have had a negative impact on businesses across the river from D.C., including Freddie’s.

“Freddie’s is doing OK but not as good,” he said. “We’re down a little bit. Let’s  put it that way,” he added. “I just feel like with all the chaos going in this administration and everything that’s happening it’s like we just have to hang in there and everything will be alright eventually,” he told the Blade. 

“But business is down a little bit, and we can use the support of the community just like David Perruzza has been saying,” Lutz said. He said the drop in businesses for at least some of the LGBTQ bars may also be caused by the large and growing number of LGBTQ bars in D.C.

“There are a lot of new gay bars, which are also impacting the rest of us,” he said. “I’m all for it. I want to support them. But it is taking away from some of us, I think.”

Mickey Neighbors is the owner of Sinners and Saints, an LGBTQ bar at 2309 18^th Street, N.W. in Adams Morgan located a few doors away from Pitchers and A League of Her Own. He said his business has mostly rebounded from a slowdown caused by the National Guard deployment. 

“At first, everyone was kind of scared,” he said. “But then it kind of blew over and there really aren’t that many other bars where the demographic people that come to mine really go to.” He described Sinners and Saints as catering to a younger “BIPOC” crowd, a term that refers to Black, Indigenous, and People of Color. 

“We had a downturn of business for a few weeks, but everything is back to normal,” he said. 

Stephen Rutgers, co-owner of the LGBTQ bar Crush located at 2007 14^th Street, N.W., a few doors down from where the new bar Rush is about to open, said Crush like most other bars was impacted by the National Guard deployment. 

“Some bars are going to be fine,” he said. “We are trying to do some creative things to keep people coming in. But overall, everyone is seeing cutbacks, and I don’t think anyone is not seeing that,” he said. 

Rutgers said Crush, which in recent weeks has had large crowds on weekends, said he was hopeful that his and other LGBTQ bars would fully rebound when the federal shutdown ends, which occurred the second week in November.

Among other things, Rutgers said a decline in the number of tourists coming to D.C. in  response to the Trump administration’s policies has impacted all bars and restaurants, including LGBTQ bars. He said this, combined with the record number of LGBTQ bars now operating in D.C., is likely to result in fewer patrons going to at least some of them.

One of the D.C. LGBTQ bars that put in place a significant change in the way it operates in response to the developments impacting all bars is Spark Social House, a bar and café  located on 14^th Street, N.W. next door to Crush. In the past week, Spark Social House announced it was ending its status as the city’s only LGBTQ bar that did not serve alcoholic beverages and instead sold a wide range of alcohol-free cocktails.

Owner Nick Tsusaju told the Blade he and his associates made the difficult assessment that under the current economic environment in D.C., which is impacting all bars and restaurants, Spark Social would need to offer both alcohol and non-alcoholic beverages

“You can imagine that if the bars that are selling alcohol are struggling, we are struggling just like other small businesses with the same issues,” he said. “And I think that introducing alcohol is not really an abdication of our values.”

He noted that beginning in December, after Spark Social obtains its liquor license, “we’re introducing a one for one menu where every cocktail comes in two options, booze and boozeless.”   

Ed Bailey, co-owner of the D.C. gay bars Trade and Number Nine located near the intersection of 14^th and P Streets, N.W., told the Blade in September his two establishments were “ramping up for a busy fall after an unusual summer” impacted by the National Guard deployment.

 His predictions of a busy fall appear to have come about at least on weekend nights, including Halloween night, where there were long lines of Trade’s mostly gay male clientele waiting to get into the bar.

Stephen Thompson, a bartender at the Fireplace, a longtime gay bar located at 2161 P Street, N.W., near Dupont Circle, said the National Guard presence and other issues impacting other bars have not negatively impacted the Fireplace. 

“We are doing fine,” he said. “The National Guard has not hurt our business. The soldiers do walk by a few times a week, but we’ve been looking pretty good the last couple of months.”

One of the at least 10 LGBTQ bars in the U Street, N.W., entertainment corridor, Shakers, at 2014 9^th Street, N.W., announced in a statement this week that it will close its doors on Nov. 23. 

“After many, many difficult discussions, we ultimately decided it is time for Shakers to close its doors,” says the statement posted by Shakers owners Justin Parker and Daniel Honeycutt. “While we are in so many ways saddened, we are also looking forward to spending a bit more time with our three-year old son,” the statement says.

It also announces that the nearby gay bar Kiki, located around the corner on U Street, will acquire use of the Shakers building and “keep the space dedicated to our LGBTQ+ community.”

In his own statement on social media, Kiki owner Keaton Fedak said, “To now have two LGBTQ+ bars at 9^th & U under the Kiki umbrella is a true full-circle moment – rooted in friendship, history, and the community that continues to grow here.”

The owners of several other D.C. LGBTQ bars couldn’t immediately be reached for comment or declined to comment for this story.

Edward Grandis, a D.C. attorney who has worked with some of the D.C. LGBTQ bars, said the COVID pandemic, which led to the temporary shutdown of all bars and restaurants, appears to have had a lasting impact on LGBTQ bars long after the pandemic subsided.

Among other things, Grandis said he has observed that happy hour sessions at most bars, including LGBTQ bars, have not returned to the level of patronage seen prior to the COVID pandemic. He notes that happy hour times, usually in late afternoon or early evening during weekdays, where bars offer reduced price drinks and some offer free drinks to attract large numbers of patrons, have not been drawing the crowds they did in past years.  

“The COVID shutdown assisted the online social meeting sites,” Grandis said. “Bars were closed so guys turned to the internet for setting up parties and this has continued even though there are more bars,” he said in referring to the D.C. gay bars. According to Grandis, the gay men in the age range of their 20s and 30s appear to be the largest group that is no longer going to gay bars in large numbers compared to older generations. 

“So, I think the trend started before what the feds are doing,” he said in referring to the National Guard presence and the federal shutdown. “And I think what we are witnessing right now is just sort of like another obstacle that people in the gay and entertainment community need to figure out how to attract the 20-year-olds and young 30s back to the bars.”