Local
Gay man running for mayor in Rehoboth
Challenger faces uphill fight against 21-year incumbent
A 48-year-old gay man who owns a financial services company is running for mayor in the popular Delaware resort town of Rehoboth Beach on a platform of government reform and improved relations with community-based businesses.
Tom McGlone, who has lived in Rehoboth with his domestic partner for the past five years, is challenging seven-term incumbent Samuel Cooper, who has been mayor since 1990.
Rehoboth has long been a favorite beach destination for gays and lesbians in the mid-Atlantic region, including D.C. and Baltimore. The town has a large number of LGBT residents as well as tourists and owners of vacation homes.
With the election set to take place Aug. 13, some of the town’s gay residents and gay business owners have complained that Cooper and his allies on the seven-member Rehoboth Board of Commissioners, which serves as the town’s legislative body, have unfairly targeted gay-owned businesses for regulatory enforcement action.
Tension over the enforcement action came to a head last September when police arrested the co-owner of the gay restaurant and bar Aqua Grill on a charge that the establishment was operating an outdoor patio later than a mandatory closing time of 11 p.m.
Police later acknowledged that the arrest was a mistake and dropped the charge. At the time of the arrest, the officers didn’t know that Aqua was among several businesses exempt from the patio restriction under rules that allow establishments to keep patios open if they had them before the 11 p.m. closing time was enacted into law.
Other small businesses, including non-gay bars and restaurants, cited the action against Aqua as one example of an out-of-control regulatory crackdown against businesses popular with visitors and residents, both gay and straight.
Cooper disputes those allegations, saying the city has enforced codes equally among all types of businesses. He said the codes are aimed at restricting excessive noise and use of outdoor spaces by bars and restaurants that can disturb nearby residents.
He acknowledged that police and city regulatory officials made a mistake in arresting Aqua co-owner Bill Shields, who was booked and finger printed before being released.
“What I’ve told everybody else is that the way that was handled was not the best – it was wrong, in fact,” Cooper told the Blade. “But the desire to keep Rehoboth from becoming a party town, a bar town is I think valid and is very much on my mind.”
McGlone told the Blade in an interview this week that he doesn’t believe gay businesses, such as bars and restaurants, are being targeted because they are gay owned. Instead, he said both gay and non-gay businesses have faced what he calls a poorly administered effort by the mayor and town officials to enforce regulations.
“The big issue right now is the fact that local government has lost its credibility with a segment of the population,” he said. “And as a result of that, as things are occurring, in many cases things are being misperceived because of this lack of credibility.”
He said strife among the mayor and members of the Board of Commissioners has grown in recent years, indicating to him and others that “new blood” is needed in the mayor’s office.
McGlone pointed to one of his campaign signs that says, “Change the tone, Vote McGlone.”
Cooper, who spoke to the Blade by phone on Tuesday, said his long record of accomplishment in running the city for more than 20 years belies such claims and shows that he has worked hard to retain Rehoboth’s reputation as a highly desirable place to live and visit.
He notes that Rehoboth was recognized recently by the Natural Resources Defense Council, a national environmental group, for having one of the nation’s cleanest beaches. He points to the National Geographic Society listing Rehoboth as having the sixth best boardwalk in the country.
“So that’s really kind of my message – that we seem to have a town that is a very popular place with a lot of people with different backgrounds,” Cooper said. “So I would like to think we’ve done something really good here. And why would you want to change that formula?”
D.C. gay activist Peter Rosenstein, who owns a condominium just outside the Rehoboth city limits, said a coalition of gay and non-gay residents, businesses and homeowners is backing McGlone as a reform candidate who reflects the concerns of many of the town’s newer residents.
Rosenstein said Rehoboth has changed from the “sleepy” beach side town it was 40 years ago to become a diverse destination for vacationers, permanent residents and retirees, most of whom favor a vibrant nightlife and the shops, restaurants and upscale bars that have opened within the past decade.
“These businesses make it possible for the residents to live there with some of the nation’s lowest property tax rates,” he said, adding that he pays more for a rented parking space in the town than most people pay in property taxes for an entire year.
Steve Elkins, president of Camp Rehoboth, an LGBT community group that operates a community center, said he and the group must remain neutral in elections under the group’s tax-exempt status.
However, Elkins said that during the past decade the town government, including the mayor, have been supportive of Camp Rehoboth and its role in fostering understanding and support for the LGBT community.
“We consider everyone running to be our friends,” he said.
Dennis Barbour, one of two openly gay members of the Rehoboth Board of Commissioners, agrees with Elkins that Cooper and the city government have been generally supportive of the LGBT community.
But Barbour startled gay and non-gay residents alike last week when he announced during a commissioners’ meeting that he was withdrawing as a candidate for re-election because of irreconcilable disagreements with Cooper and most of his fellow commissioners. He said much of his disagreement with Cooper and the commission has been over the city’s relations with the business community.
“While I have never turned away from challenges, it is now evident to me that my goals for Rehoboth Beach can no longer be realized with the City Commission as it is now constituted,” he said in an open letter to his constituents. “Those who serve as mayor and as commissioners must embrace greater openness, transparency in decision-making, inclusiveness, candid debate, and visionary thinking,” he said. “In short, from my vantage point as a commissioner for the past six years, it is time for new leadership.”
In addition to the mayor’s race, voters in the town’s Aug. 13 election will vote for candidates running for Barbour’s seat and the seat held by incumbent Lorraine Zellers.
Two other gay candidates are running for the two seats, with one certain to win the one now being vacated by Barbour. The two are Mark Hunker, co-owner of Eden Restaurant located on the same street as Aqua Grill, and Richard Kirchhoff, co-owner of the Canal Side Inn, a bed and breakfast business at the edge of the town on the Rehoboth-Lewes Canal.
When asked whether his status as a gay candidate could hurt him in the election among some voters, McGlone said, “This is not a gay or straight issue. This is about getting a qualified person in office who is going to do his best job for the city and balancing all of this – gay and straight, tourists, residents, businesses – the whole community.”
Cooper said he, too, doesn’t see the election as a contest over gay-related issues.
“Again, my main message is that for 21 years I’ve been doing this job and I think we’ve moved forward in many, many fronts,” he said. “And relations between gays and straights are one of those and I think we’ve come to a very good place.”
When asked about McGlone’s position that city government has lost credibility over the regulatory disputes and other issues, Cooper said, “Mr. McGlone hasn’t served on any board or run for commissioner. He’s kind of like a blank slate to me. I mean would you really want to turn the town over to somebody who you really don’t know when you’ve got somebody who you know and he’s done it pretty well? That’s my message.”
Said McGlone: “It’s not a matter of trying to slag off the mayor as not having done anything — he’s done a pretty good job. He’s just been in office for a long time and he’s a bit stale in his ideas. They aren’t real fresh as a result of just being in office so long,” he said. “So I think there’s an opportunity to bring some fresh ideas and some new blood to a position that’s been held by the same person for 21 years. That’s a long time.”
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Congratulations to Raffi Freedman-Gurspan on being appointed Associate Director, Federal Funding & Infrastructure Office, at the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration & Finance. Freedman-Gurspan will be returning to her hometown of Boston and joining Gov. Maura Healey’s Administration. Freedman-Gurspan served in both the Obama and Biden administrations as well as worked in LGBTQ and redistricting advocacy during her 11 years in D.C.
Freedman-Gurspan was the first openly transgender person on the White House staff when she worked for President Obama. She most recently served at the U.S. Department of Transportation in former Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s office, as Deputy Director of Public Engagement. Previously she worked with the National Redistricting Action Fund/The All On The Line Campaign, as Deputy States Director. She worked for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as Director of External Relations. In the Obama White House, she worked in the Office of Public Engagement, as Senior Associate Director. She was the White House Liaison to the LGBTQ community responsible for management of all public inquiries on matters regarding LGBTQ people, including recommending public responses to senior leadership, assisting in drafting administration talking points, and coordinating stakeholder engagement with the White House offices. She worked with the White House, Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), as Outreach and Recruitment Director.
Prior to that she was on the staff of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House of Representatives Office of State Rep. Carl Sciortino, as legislative director, and worked for the City of Somerville, Health Department, Office of Commissions, Somerville, Mass., as LGBTQ Liaison.
Freedman-Gurspan served on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the Presidentially Appointed Council; and as a member, and Board Member, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Norwegian, concentration in Nordic Studies, from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
District of Columbia
Murdered Israeli embassy officials were supporters of D.C.’s LGBTQ synagogue
Bet Mishpachah calls fatal shooting outside Capital Jewish Museum ‘devastating’
The two Israeli embassy officials who were shot to death outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening, May 21, were strong supporters of Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, according to a statement it released.
“We are especially devastated by the loss of our dear colleague and friend of Bet Mishpachah, Sarah Milgram, and her soon to be fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky,” the LGBTQ synagogue said in a May 22 statement.
“Sarah was the liaison between Bet Mishpachah and the Israeli Embassy, working closely with our staff and clergy,” the statement says. “Her warmth, professionalism, and deep commitment to building bridges within the Jewish community made her not only a trusted partner but a beloved part of our extended congregational family,” according to the statement.
A statement also released on May 22 by the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia says Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder along with other weapons related charges in connection with the shooting deaths of Milgram and Lischinsky.
Officials with the D.C. police and the FBI, which has joined D.C. police in continuing to investigate the case, have said Rodriquez arrived in D.C. from Chicago one day prior to the shooting and appears to have targeted an event taking place at the Capital Jewish Museum for violence at the time it was hosting an event called “Young Diplomats Reception,” in which Israeli Embassy officials were in attendance.
Police and FBI officials have said Rodriguez allegedly shot Milgrim and Lischinsky after they left the Capital Jewish Museum at the conclusion of the event. The museum is located at 575 3rd Street, N.W.
“Surveillance footage reportedly shows Rodriquez walking past the victims before turning and firing multiple rounds,” the U.S. Attorney’s statement says. “After the victims fell, he allegedly continued firing at close range, including as one attempted to crawl away,” it says, adding, “Investigators recovered a 9 mm handgun and 21 spent shell casings at the scene.”
Police have said Rodriguez walked into the Capital Jewish Museum after the shooting and was detained by security guards until D.C. police arrived. Witnesses said he began to shout, “free, free Palestine” before police took him into custody.
“Make no mistake, this attack was targeted, antisemitic violence,” said Steven Jenson, an FBI assistant director working on the investigation. “The FBI will continue to pursue all leads and use all available resources to investigate this heinous murder,” he said in the statement.
The fatal shooting took place five days after the Capital Jewish Museum opened a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on May 16. “This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebrations, activism, and change in the nation’s capital by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum said in a statement announcing the exhibition.
Photos and documents related to Bet Mishpachah make up a prominent part of the exhibition.
During a May 22 press conference organized by the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to provide an update on the investigation into the two murders, Pirro and FBI official Jensen referred to the two murders as a hate crime and terrorist act.
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if investigators were looking into whether the LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum might have played some role in Gonzales’s motive for targeting the museum, Pirro responded to the question.
“So, we are looking into absolutely everything,” she said. “There is so much information we’re looking at. And I must tell you, coming from New York, I’ve never seen the cooperation and coordination that I’m seeing here. It was immediate. It was instant. It was coordinated. And my hat’s off to this area. We’re going to clean it up, thank you,” she said in ending the press conference.
Josh Maxey, Bet Mishpachah’s executive director, said he and Israeli Embassy official Milgram became friends during their two-and-a-half-year interaction working on joint events between the embassy and Bet Mishpachah.
“This became a wonderful two and a half years journey of putting events together, of hosting events together, doing different programs for the community,” Maxey told the Blade. Among the activities the two worked on, he said, was the embassy’s annual LGBTQ Pride event.
Maxie said his own grieving over the death of Milgram and her boyfriend Lischinsky was heightened by the fact that he spoke with her by phone on the day of the shooting shortly before she arrived at the Jewish Museum over plans about this year’s LGBTQ Pride events.
“Sarah really championed us to be included in Israeli events,” Maxey said. “And so, I am just devastated that this true embodiment of an ally was so viciously and violently taken away from us.”
Delaware
Delaware marriage equality bill advances out of committee
Measure will now go before full state Senate
The bill that would amend Delaware’s state constitution to codify same-sex marriage advanced out of the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday and now goes to the Senate chamber for a vote. If passed, the vote would go on to the House.
Three members of the committee voted favorable and one voted on its merits, meaning the member recommends the chamber take action on the legislation but does not take a position on what action should be taken.
Senate Bill 100 was introduced in April by Democratic Sen. Russ Huxtable of the sixth district of Delaware and has 21 co-sponsors. It is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution. The act would “establish the right to marry as a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender.”
Senate Substitute One was adopted in lieu of the original bill on May 16. SB 100 originally focused exclusively on marriage equality relating to gender and the bill was tweaked to include protection for all classes that fall under Delaware’s Equal Rights Amendment, including race, color, national origin, and sex.
The Wednesday committee meeting heard testimony on SS 1 for SB 100 from individuals and organizations, including John Reynolds, Deputy Policy and Advocacy Director of Delaware’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“After hard fought recent victories, the rights of LGBTQ Americans are under attack in many places across our country,” Reynolds said during his testimony. “It is important that Delaware be proactive and serve as a firewall protecting individual civil liberties. SS 1 for SB 100 is an example of this important work cementing the protections for marriage equality in our state constitution.”
According to Sen. Huxtable, the ACLU helped provide feedback on some of the bill’s language. Reynolds said the ACLU thought it was important to testify because this is a moment when so much is changing.
“These attacks are not just on specific communities, they’re on this concept of equality and liberty,” Reynolds told the Washington Blade. “We need to build these firewalls to both prevent harm to folks on the frontline of these attacks but also ensure that we don’t set very problematic and damaging standards that can be used to roll back protections for large [swaths] of our population.”
SS 1 for SB 100 requires a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to pass. If passed, the next General Assembly after the next general election also has to pass it. Delaware is the only state in the country that can amend its state constitution without a vote of the people.
The Respect for Marriage Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. It codifies the right to same-sex and interracial marriage, requiring all states to recognize validly performed marriages from other states, regardless of whether they allow same-sex marriage within their own borders.
In Virginia, a bill codifying marriage equality was signed into law in 2024. California, Colorado and Hawaii have also passed amendments to codify same-sex marriage into their constitutions.
“We at the ACLU of Delaware are very excited that SS 1 for SB 100 passed out of committee yesterday,” Reynolds said. “It represents both Sen. Huxtable and the Delaware Legislature’s clear commitment to proactively protecting people’s rights within the LGBT community and outside to ensure that in this moment of uncertainty, we don’t sit idly by and wait for the worst to happen but take control of the things that we can to build the communities that we want.”
‘Things Like This’ embraces formula and plus-size visibility
Calendar: May 23-29
Comings & Goings
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Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
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