Local
Md. Senate passes marriage bill
House of Delegates plans hearing Friday; their vote key to measure’s progress
In what activists are calling a historic development, the Maryland Senate Thursday evening voted 25-21 to pass the Civil Marriage Protection Act, a bill that would allow same-sex couples in the state to wed.
The bill now goes to the House of Delegates, where most political observers say it will pass within the next two weeks. Gov. Martin O’Malley has said he will sign the bill if it gets to him.
The vote to give final approval of the bill came shortly after the Senate voted 30-17 to limit debate to 30 additional minutes each for supporters and opponents.
In a development that surprised some observers, senators didn’t use all of that time, prompting Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller (D-Calvert and Prince George’s Counties) to order a roll call vote on the bill.
The vote was identical to a preliminary vote on the bill held the previous day in terms of those voting for and against it except that one senator who voted no in the preliminary vote — Joanne Benson (D-Prince George’s County) — was absent for the final vote.
“I’ve never been prouder to be a Maryland State senator than I am tonight,” said Sen. Jamie Raskin (D-Montgomery County), a sponsor of the bill and the designated floor leader for the bill’s backers.
“I just want to say that for me, the issue is summarized by this thought: It is a fundamental wrong to deny our citizens a fundamental right,” he said.
Raskin and Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Cecil and Harford Counties), the Senate’s minority leader, each praised their fellow senators on both sides of the issue for keeping the debate civil and dignified.
But Jacobs, who acknowledged she expects the House of Delegates to follow suit and pass the bill shortly, told her colleague in a floor speech that the issue won’t end with the legislature’s approval of the measure the governor’s signature.
Pointing to one of her colleagues who raised the issue of a voter referendum in Maryland on same-sex marriage, Jacobs said, “Well, when we knew we did not have the votes, that’s what we started investing our time in.”
“We’ve met with people all around the country who have run successful referendums on this issue,” she said. “And I just guarantee the people in the State of Maryland who feel very strongly about this issue that you will see it again and you will see it at the ballot box.”
Discussion of the bill in the House of Delegates is set to begin Friday with a hearing of the House Judiciary Committee that lawmakers say is likely to be far more rancorous than the relatively gentile debate tonight and Wednesday in the Senate.
Earlier in the day on Thursday, State Sen. Richard Madaleno (D-Montgomery County), who is gay, urged his colleagues to afford him and his partner, along with thousands of same-sex couples in the state, the right to marry during the second day of debate on a same-sex marriage bill.
Madaleno was one of about a dozen senators who spoke today for or against the measure. Observers expect it will win approval by the full legislature this spring.
Madaleno noted that the bill “reiterates that no religious denomination will ever be required to recognize or perform or bless or celebrate any marriage that is against its belief.”
At the same time the measure would provide “full equality under the law for thousands of same-gender couples in our state, couples like Mark and myself” through civil marriage, he said.
“Many of you know Mark … my partner. But even using that term partner sounds a little odd,” he said, noting that the two had a church wedding ten years ago with friends and family members attending.
“He in my heart is my spouse, even though the laws in the State of Maryland do not say he is,” Madaleno said during a Senate floor speech.
“But to the law, he remains a legal stranger to me. He is my partner. I wouldn’t ask any of you to call your spouse your partner because that makes it sound as if he’s your business associate, that your spouse is your business associate and not the person you choose to spend your life with.”
Opponents of the bill, including Sen. Brian Simonaire (R-Anne Arundel County), argued that the bill would “redefine” marriage and damage it as an institution that serves as the foundation of all societies.
“Unintended consequences — that is the subplot of today’s vote,” Simonaire said. “Yes, this bill affects homosexual individuals wanting to marry. But as we’ve seen in other states, it also affects young, impressionable students in our school system who are taught the homosexual world view.”
“It may also affect teachers and public employees who lose their jobs due to their religious beliefs if they are unwilling to teach the promotion of same-sex marriage,” he said.
Backers of the bill, including Raskin, the floor leader on behalf of the measure, disputed that assertion, saying the state education authority and local boards of education throughout the state decide the content of school curricula, with input from local communities.
Sen. Allan Kittleman (R-Howard County), the only Republican supporting the bill in the Senate, said he struggled over the issue of same-sex marriage but came to realized that it is a matter of civil rights and equal justice for all Maryland residents.
“It is the right thing to do,” he said. “The time has come. Today is that time.”
The Senate voted on Wednesday 25-22 to give preliminary approval of the bill by passing a committee report recommending that the bill be enacted into law. Most observers of the legislature saw that vote as confirmation that senators would approve the bill in a final vote on Thursday or possibly early Friday.
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate next week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
Local
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
Rayceen Pendarvis to moderate Dupont Underground panel on Sunday
LGBTQ groups in D.C. and elsewhere plan to use Black History Month as an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate Black lives and experiences.
Team Rayceen Productions has no specific events planned, but co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis will attend many functions around D.C. this month.
Pendarvis, a longtime voice in the LGBTQ community in D.C. moderated a panel at Dupont Underground on Feb. 8. The event, “Every (Body) Wants to Be a Showgirl,” will feature art from Black burlesque artists from around the country. Pendarvis on Feb. 23 will attend the showing of multimedia play at the Lincoln Theatre that commemorates the life of James Baldwin.
Equality Virginia plans to prioritize Black voices through a weekly online series, and community-based story telling. The online digital series will center Black LGBTQ voices, specifically trailblazers and activists, and contemporary Black queer and transgender people.
Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director, stressed the importance of the Black queer community to the overall Pride movement, and said “Equality Virginia is proud to center those voices in our work this month and beyond.”
The Capital Pride Alliance, which hosts Pride events in D.C., has an alliance with the Center for Black Equity, which brings Black Pride to D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. The National LGBTQ Task Force has no specific Black History Month events planned, but plans to participate in online collaborations.
Cathy Renna, the Task Force’s director of communications, told the Washington Blade the organization remains committed to uplifting Black voices. “Our priority is keeping this at the forefront everyday,” she said.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is also hosting a series of Black History Month events.
The D.C. Public Library earlier this year launched “Freedom and Resistance,” an exhibition that celebrates Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. It will remain on display until the middle of March at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St., N.W.
District of Columbia
U.S. Attorney’s Office drops hate crime charge in anti-gay assault
Case remains under investigation and ‘further charges’ could come
D.C. police announced on Feb. 9 that they had arrested two days earlier on Feb. 7 a Germantown, Md., man on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation after the man allegedly assaulted a gay man at 14th and Q Streets, N.W., while using “homophobic slurs.”
But D.C. Superior Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., which prosecutes D.C. violent crime cases, charged the arrested man only with simple assault without a hate crime designation.
In response to a request by the Washington Blade for the reason why the hate crime designation was dropped, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office provided this response: “We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them.”
In a statement announcing the arrest in this case, D.C. police stated, “On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and continued walking,” the statement says.
“The suspect assaulted the victim and used homophobic slurs,” the police statement continues. “The suspect was apprehended by responding officers.”
It adds that 26-year-old Dean Edmundson of Germantown, Md. “was arrested and charged with Simple Assault (Hate/Bias).” The statement also adds, “A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”
Under D.C.’s Bias Related Crime Act of 1989, penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice against individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and homelessness can be enhanced by a court upon conviction by one and a half times greater than the penalty of the underlying crime.
Prosecutors in the past both in D.C. and other states have said they sometimes decide not to include a hate crime designation in assault cases if they don’t think the evidence is sufficient to obtain a conviction by a jury. In some instances, prosecutors have said they were concerned that a skeptical jury might decide to find a defendant not guilty of the underlying assault charge if they did not believe a motive of hate was involved.
A more detailed arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police in Superior Court appears to support the charge of a hate crime designation.
“The victim stated that they refused to High-Five Defendant Edmondson, which, upon that happening, Defendant Edmondson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim, “bald, ugly, and gay,” the arrest affidavit states.
“The victim stated that upon being called that, Defendant Edmundson pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push,” the affidavit continues. “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay,” it says.
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