Local
Del. lawmakers prep civil unions bill
REHOBOTH BEACH, Del. — More than 150 people gathered in this beach town on a windy Saturday to hear about the effort to introduce a civil unions bill in the Delaware Legislature.
Equality Delaware, chaired by Wilmington attorney Lisa Goodman, is behind the effort and has already drafted the bill and found sponsors to introduce it. Steve Elkins, executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, the area’s LGBT community center, welcomed attendees and then turned the meeting over to Equality Delaware.
Goodman, along with others from Equality Delaware, answered questions and listened to comments from those in attendance. It was announced that the sponsors of the bill will be state Rep. Melanie George (D-Bear) and state Sen. David Sokola (D-Newark).
Lawmakers plan to introduce the measure next month. It is anticipated that if the bill passes that civil unions in Delaware would be available only to gay and lesbian couples. Full marriage rights would remain limited to opposite-sex couples.
Rep. Pete Schwartzkopf, the House Majority Leader, whose district includes Rehoboth Beach, attended the meeting. Schwartzkopf is a longtime supporter of the LGBT community and has played a key role in moving LGBT legislation in the past. He said he believes that this legislation can pass the Senate and that if it does it will sail through the House. He urged the audience to contact their lawmakers and to get their friends and allies to do so as well.
The bill will address the Delaware Defense of Marriage Act law and, in essence, repeal the current criminal penalties under Delaware law that prohibit Delawareans from marrying a same-sex spouse in another jurisdiction and would recognize such marriages as civil unions in Delaware. Current law in Delaware provides for a $100 fine and up to 30 days imprisonment for holding oneself out as a married same-sex couple.
Rehoboth Beach is in Sussex County — the only county that voted for Christine O’Donnell for Senate in the last election. It was reported at the meeting that O’Donnell has come out in support of civil unions, but that could not be immediately confirmed.
In response to a question, organizers said Equality Delaware made the decision to move forward with civil unions rather than marriage equality at this time because they strongly believe that the bill can pass the legislature.
Under the bill, couples in a civil union would be accorded all the rights of marriage in Delaware unless prohibited by federal law. Civil unions would be performed and resolved in the same manner as marriages. Religious institutions and members of the clergy would not be required to perform civil unions. However, Clerks of the Peace (state officials who perform civil marriage ceremonies) would be required to perform civil union ceremonies if asked. Organizers estimated that about 700 couples in Delaware would quickly take advantage of a civil union option if passed.
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Not all trans people are the same
Calendar: August 21-27
