Local
Local news in brief: May 13
Kameny papers exhibit opens, Pride schedule announced and more
Kameny papers exhibit opens at Library of Congress
The Library of Congress has added two documents “of major historical significance” from the papers of gay rights leader Frank Kameny to a widely viewed public exhibit about the U.S. Constitution and Declaration of Independence.
The library quietly placed the Kameny documents on display at its Thomas Jefferson Building across the street from the U.S. Capitol in late April without publicly announcing the development.
On Monday, organizers of the Kameny Papers Project announced in a press release that the documents were on display as part of the library’s “Creating the United States” exhibit.
The release says inclusion of the Kameny documents represents the first time “the history of gay and lesbian Americans” has been included by the library “in the story of the Constitution and its evolution as a living instrument of freedom.”
In 2006, the Kameny Papers Project donated about 50,000 documents and artifacts to the Library of Congress on Kameny’s behalf that the gay rights pioneer had produced during his more than 50 years of work on behalf of LGBT equality. The documents and artifacts, such as gay rights protest signs from the 1960s, are available to researchers. Kameny, 85, began working on gay rights activities in the late 1950s.
One of the documents now on display at the Library of Congress is Kameny’s 1961 petition to the U.S. Supreme Court contesting a decision in 1957 by the then U.S. Army Map Service to fire him as a civilian astronomer because he was gay. The petition is the first such document ever filed before the Supreme Court pertaining to a civil rights violation based on sexual orientation.
The Supreme Court denied Kameny’s petition, upholding the longstanding policy of the then U.S. Civil Service Commission banning gays and lesbians from working for the federal government. The policy remained in effect until 1975.
The second Kameny document included in the library’s exhibit is the original copy of a 1966 letter from John W. Macy Jr., the then director of the U.S. Civil Service Commission, to the Mattachine Society of Washington, the city’s first gay rights group that Kameny founded in the early 1960s.
In the letter, Macy sought to justify the federal government’s ban on gay employees by citing “the revulsion of other employees by homosexual conduct.”
The two Kameny documents are scheduled to remain on display at the library until October.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Delaware gays celebrate as Markell signs civil unions
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell was scheduled to sign into law a sweeping civil unions bill late Wednesday after Blade deadline.
The signing was scheduled to take place at the World Café Live in Wilmington and a large celebration of local LGBT people was expected to follow.
The new law extends all state rights of marriage to same-sex couples in a civil union. The measure passed the Senate last month by a 25-15 vote.
STAFF REPORTS
D.C. Pride events set to begin this month
Events associated with D.C.’s two main LGBT pride festivals — D.C. Black Pride and Capital Pride — are set to begin this month, and organizers say they are looking forward to a record turnout from local and out-of-town participants.
As it has since its founding, Black Pride is set to take place Memorial Day weekend, with events beginning on Thursday, May 26, and ending Sunday, May 29, with the annual Black Pride Health and Wellness Festival. The festival will take place 1-7 p.m. at D.C.’s Fort Dupont Park located at Minnesota Avenue and F streets, S.E. The location represents a change from last year’s festival, which was held at the D.C. Convention Center.
A series of Black Pride workshops covering a wide variety of topics ranging from domestic violence and heath care to black youth and transgender acceptance in the black community is scheduled to take place 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Friday, May 27, at the Hamilton Crowne Plaza Hotel at 14th and K streets, N.W.
A full list of Black Pride events can be viewed at dcblackpride.org.
The 36 annual Capital Pride celebration is set to take place June 2-12. The Capital Pride Parade will take place Saturday, June 11, and similar to past years, will begin at 23rd and P streets, N.W., travel around Dupont Circle to the 17 Street entertainment strip before ending at 14th Street, N.W., at Thomas Circle.
Also similar to past years, the Capital Pride Festival is set to take place 11 a.m.-6 p.m. on Sunday, June 12 on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., near the U.S. Capitol.
A wide variety of Capital Pride events are scheduled for the week preceding the parade and festival, including a June 1 kick-off party and panel discussion at the National Press Club; a June 5 Pride in the Park event at Six Flags amusement park in Upper Marlboro, Md.; and a June 6 Spirituality in the Gay Community Town Hall meeting at the Hotel Palomar at 2121 P St., N.W.
A weekly “Pride Idol” singing contest, to be held every Wednesday night beginning May 11 at Cobalt bar at 17th and R Sts., N.W., is a new addition to the Capital Pride events. Organizers say a final winner in the ongoing singing contest will be selected June 8. The prize: a three-month lease for a new Saab automobile, which is being donated by Saab as part of the company’s sponsorship of Capital Pride.
A full list of Capital Pride events can be viewed at www.capitalpride.org.
These additional Pride events are set to take place in conjunction with Capital Pride and Black Pride:
• Asian Pacific Islander Pride, May 23, 6-8:30 p.m., Café Asia, 1720 I St., N.W.
• Trans Pride, June 4, 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m., Metropolitan Community Church of D.C., 474 Ridge St., N.W.
• Latino Pride, June 10, 6-9 p.m., Town nightclub, 2009 8th St., N.W.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Director of Baltimore’s LGBT community center resigns
Craig Wiley, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB) has resigned. He held the position for more than seven years and became the longest-tenured executive director in GLCCB history.
Wiley also served on the board of Centerlink: The Community of LGBT Centers. According to his bio on Centerlink, “Since joining the GLCCB he has systematically implemented expense-reduction strategies and indentified new and diverse revenue streams for the organization. Mr. Wiley has also fostered relationships with many organizational and community partners and municipal agencies, including the Baltimore City Health Department, the Baltimore Police Department, the Office of the Mayor, local colleges and universities, businesses, and nonprofits serving diverse constituencies that touch the LGBT community either directly or indirectly.”
“It is with regret that I write you to let you know Craig Wiley has stepped down as Executive Director of the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB),” GLCCB Board President Trevor Ankeny said in a statement. “Craig’s involvement with the GLCCB spanned more than a decade. From volunteering to serving as a board member to assuming the position of executive director, his support for the GLCCB has touched all facets of our work. In his role as executive director for the past seven years, Craig has tirelessly devoted himself to making the GLCCB a stronger institution so that we may better serve the community.”
In other Baltimore news, Trans-United Director Sandy Rawls has been named as Grand Marshall in the upcoming Baltimore Pride Parade, and Del. Mary Washington will be the Honorary Grand Marshall.
BALTIMORE OUTLOUD
Maryland
Anne Arundel schools updates gender identity regulation following Trump administration threats
District facing federal lawsuit, White House threats over guidelines
By JESSICA CALEFATI | Under pressure from the Trump-Vance administration, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Supt. Mark Bedell announced Wednesday the district had updated a regulation intended to protect transgender students’ right to be called by their chosen name.
The revised language makes clear that district rules on gender identity do not block parents’ rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as the federal government alleged last month, and that a student’s gender identity will not be treated as confidential medical information.
“No policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA,” Bedell wrote in a Wednesday letter to the community. “This includes any information maintained in education records that relates to gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns.”
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Man charged with anti-gay assault in D.C. accepts plea offer
Community service offered in exchange for dismissing hate crime charge
A Germantown, Md., man arrested by D.C. police on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation for allegedly assaulting a gay man while using “homophobic slurs” has agreed to an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to simple assault without the hate crime designation and with the promise of having the charge dismissed if he completes, among other requirements, 48 hours of community service work.
Dean Edmundson, 26, standing beside his attorney, officially accepted the offer of a Deferred Sentencing Agreement at an Aug. 18 status hearing in D.C. Superior Court after Senior Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo explained the details of the agreement and confirmed Edmundson’s decision to waive his right to a trial.
Among other things, the judge said the agreement offered by prosecutors with the Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. includes the requirement that he successfully completes 48 hours of community service work, stays away from the victim of the assault, writes a letter of apology to the victim, and does not violate any other laws or get into trouble for the next 12 months.
Puig-Lugo then announced he scheduled a sentencing hearing for Edmundson for Aug. 18, 2027, at which time a determination will made on whether he has fulfilled all the requirements under the agreement and whether the simple assault charge will be dismissed. The judge added that if it is determined that Edmundson did not fulfil the terms of the agreement the charge would remain in place and he could be sentenced to a possible maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Edmundson, who appeared in court wearing a business suit with a dress shirt and tie, was released on his own recognizance following his arrest by D.C. police on Feb. 7, 2026.
Police and court records show he was initially charged by arresting officers with simple assault with a hate crime designation. In a statement announcing the arrest, D.C. police said, “On Saturday, Feb. 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 kept walking,” the statement says.
A follow-up arrest affidavit filed by police states that Edmundson followed the victim and called him “bald, ugly, and gay,” and then “pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push.” The affidavit adds, “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay.”
According to the court records, the Office of the U.S. Attorney filed its official charge of simple assault against Edmunson on Feb. 9 without the hate crime designation. The office has not responded to a request by the Washington Blade for its reason for dropping the hate crime designation. The office has also not immediately responded to a follow-up inquiry from the Blade this week asking if prosecutors consulted the victim to obtain the victim’s thoughts about the plea offer.
The Blade, which has a policy of not disclosing the identify of crime victims in cases like this without their consent, could not immediately obtain contact information to reach the victim for comment.
Court records show that Edmundson rejected an earlier plea agreement offer by prosecutors and he was scheduled for a non-jury trial on Aug. 18. The records show his attorney filed a motion earlier this month asking the judge to convert the trial into status hearing on that same day after his client accepted the Deferred Sentencing Agreement offer by the U.S. Attorney’s office. The judge approved the motion without objection from prosecutors.
Virginia
Winsome Earle-Sears ‘Life and Marriage Tour’ to include Northern Va. stops
Voters to consider marriage equality, reproductive rights referenda in November
Former Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears has announced her campaign against efforts to enshrine marriage equality and reproductive rights in the state constitution will make several stops in Northern Virginia.
Her “Life and Marriage Tour” will include stops in Manassas, Winchester, and Harrisonburg. Earle-Sears said the “Life and Marriage Tour” will also travel to Virginia Beach, Lynchburg, Roanoke, Charlottesville, and other cities across Virginia “throughout September and October.”
The announcement did not include specific dates.
“Virginia, you’ve been asking where the Life and Marriage Tour is headed — here’s a look at our current tour locations,” she said on X on Tuesday. “We’ll be traveling across the commonwealth throughout September and October, and we’re still building the journey.”
Current Gov. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat, last November defeated Earle-Sears, a Republican, in the race to succeed Republican Glenn Youngkin.
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment, which defined marriage in Virginia as between a man and a woman.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Youngkin a decade later signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Spanberger signed bills that finalized the marriage equality and reproductive rights referenda’s language.
The referenda will take place on Nov. 3.
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