Local
Tight Senate race for gay Virginia candidate
Del. Ebbin second in fundraising in expensive campaign
Adam Ebbin, who is leaving his spot as the only openly gay state delegate in Virginia, faces two strong opponents in his race for Senate. (Photo courtesy Adam Ebbin)
Virginia’s only openly gay delegate is fighting hard to become Virginia’s first openly gay state senator, in what’s shaping up to be a very expensive primary race among three Northern Virginia politicos in the 30th District.
Del. Adam Ebbin has represented the 49th District in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2004, and has been a progressive voice in state politics during his time in office. He’s looking to turn his eight-year record into a primary win this Aug. 23.
“I’m the only Democratic candidate with the record of standing up to Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and his dangerous plans,” Ebbin said. “He’s advocated discrimination against gays, denied climate change [science], and has other radical ideas. I’ve written legislation to prevent him from continuing his civil actions without approval of the General Assembly or the governor.”
In June, when the Federal Reserve Bank in Richmond flew the rainbow flag for LGBT Pride month, Ebbin went head-to-head in the media with Republican Del. Bob Marshall, who took to the press denouncing the move, and wrote an open letter to the bank’s president calling the move “inappropriate.”
Ebbin was vocal in his response to Marshall, telling the New York Times, that life was improving for LGBT people in Virginia in spite of people like Marshall, who was sponsor of the bill to ban marriage equality in the Commonwealth, and last year made the claim that ending “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” would lead to the spread of “venereal diseases” in the armed forces.
“[Adam Ebbin] persuaded two governors to issue executive orders protecting LGBT Virginians from discrimination in state employment,” a campaign release reads. “He led the effort to expand life insurance benefits to domestic partners.”
Ebbin’s modest campaign headquarters on Powhatan Street in North Old Town Alexandria has drawn, what Ebbin called, a “multitude of volunteers.”
“We have a number of students and a number of interns, a good number of democratic activists, seniors, democratic committee members, and GLBT people,” he said.
Ebbin’s supporters will be gathering on Monday night at Freddy’s Beach Bar in Arlington to raise money, show their support and raise awareness of the campaign to make Ebbin Virginia’s first openly gay state senator. Several sponsorship levels are available through the campaign, and tickets to attend the event are $50 in advance.
Ebbin has also received numerous endorsements recently including from Equality Virginia, Virginia Partisans Gay and Lesbian Democratic Club, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and the Professional Firefighters and Paramedics Associations. The three candidates in the race have raised more than $500,000 in donations collectively, according to Mary Ann Barton, writing for Patch.com.
Ebbin, Libby Garvey and Rob Krupicka are vying for the seat being vacated by 16-year incumbent Patsy Ticer.
“It’s an open seat, because of her retirement,” Ebbin said. “It’s a very Democratic seat, strongly Democratic. The winner of the primary is expected to be the next senator”
Despite the stiff competition, Ebbin believes his organization is strong and will prevail.
“We’re getting a great reaction door-to-door,” Ebbin said. “We’re happy to be receiving more endorsements.”
Ebbin is pulling strong fundraising numbers as well. While Krupicka, an Alexandria City Council member, is in front, having raised more than $201,000, Ebbin’s campaign is close behind with more than $186,000.
The other candidate is Libby Garvey, a member of the Arlington School Board. Although trailing in third place in fundraising, Garvey received an important leg-up in the form of $20,000 in donations from Ticer.
Ebbin said he can be more effective in the Senate than in the lower chamber.
“I think that I can do a great job, and be even more effective,” he explained about making the jump to the Senate. “There’s an opportunity to be in an even smaller body — hopefully in the majority — and I think I’ll get more legislation passed, more done.”
Ebbin’s top legislative priorities in the Senate will make his progressive constituents very happy, saying, “renewable energy, transit, and non-discrimination in state hiring would be among the first.”
For information about the Ebbin for Virginia event at Freddy’s, contact [email protected].
Cameroon
Gay Cameroonian immigrant will be freed from ICE detention — for now
Ludovic Mbock’s homeland criminalizes homosexuality
By ANTONIO PLANAS | An immigration judge on Friday issued a $4,000 bond for a Cameroonian immigrant and regional gaming champion held in federal immigration detention for the past three weeks.
The ruling will allow Ludovic Mbock, of Oxon Hill, to return to Maryland from a Georgia facility this weekend, his family and attorney said.
“Realistically, by tomorrow. Hopefully, by today,” said Mbock’s attorney, Edward Neufville. “We are one step closer to getting Ludovic justice.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Bowser appoints first nonbinary person to Cabinet-level position
Peter Stephan named Office of Disability Rights interim director
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower has named longtime disability rights advocate Peter L. Stephan, who identifies as nonbinary, as interim director of the D.C. Office of Disability Rights.
The local transgender and nonbinary advocacy group Our Trans Capital and the LGBTQ group Capital Stonewall Democrats issued a joint statement calling Stephan’s appointment an historic development as the first-ever appointment of a nonbinary person to a Cabinet-level D.C. government position.
“This milestone appointment recognizes Stephan’s extensive expertise in disability rights advocacy and marks a historic advancement for transgender and nonbinary representation in District government leadership,” the statement says.
The statement notes that Stephan, an attorney, held the position of general counsel at the Office of Disability Rights immediately prior to the mayor’s decision to name him interim director.
The mayor’s office didn’t immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Bowser plans to name Stephan as the permanent director of the Office of Disability Rights. John Fanning, a spokesperson for D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), said the office’s director position requires confirmation by the Council.
Stephan couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
“At a time when trans and nonbinary people ae under attack across the country, D.C. continues to lead by example,” said Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats. “This appointment reflects what we have always believed that our community is always strongest when every voice is represented in government,” he said.
“This is a historic step forward,” said Vida Rengel, founder of Our Trans Capital. “Interim Director Stephan’s career and accomplishments are a shining example of the positive impact that trans and nonbinary public servants can have on our communities,” according to Rangel.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
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