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The rest of the year’s top local stories

Md. marriage fight, trans shootings dominate headlines

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Frank Kameny’s death is our pick for the top local news story of 2011. Here are the rest of the top 10 local news stories of the year.

#2 Md. marriage bill killed, resurrected

Martin O'Malley

Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley announced he would sponsor a 2012 bill to legalize same-sex marriage after the measure died in 2011. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

A bill to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland died in the state legislature in March following a controversial behind-the-scenes decision by supportive lawmakers and leaders of LGBT rights groups to cancel a final vote on the bill on grounds that they lacked enough votes to pass it.

The action to pull the bill took place March 11 when the Maryland House of Delegates approved a motion by voice vote to recommit the bill to committee following an emotional two-and-a-half-hour debate over the measure on the House floor. The withdrawal of the bill came less than a month after the Maryland Senate passed the measure, the Civil Marriage Protection Act, by a vote of 25-21.

A little over a month after the bill’s demise, the board of directors of Equality Maryland, the state LGBT advocacy group that led lobbying efforts for the bill, fired its executive director Morgan Meneses-Sheets. The firing prompted the group’s development director, Matthew Thorn, to resign in protest, worsening the group’s existing financial problems and leading to a major shakeup of the board and staff.

Meanwhile, Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who backed the bill but didn’t aggressively lobby for it, promised later in the year to take a lead role in pushing the measure in the legislature’s 2012 session, which convenes in January. Supporters are hopeful the bill will pass this time around but are uncertain whether it could survive an expected voter referendum.

#3 Rash of anti-trans violence in D.C.

More than a dozen reported violent attacks against transgender women in D.C. in 2011, including two murders, prompted transgender activist Ruby Corado to declare that the transgender community of D.C. was in crisis.

D.C. police, who made arrests in some of the assaults but not for the two murders, said they have no evidence to indicate a single perpetrator is responsible for the attacks.

In August, an unidentified male suspect shot 23-year-old transgender woman Lashai Mclean to death on Dix St., N.E., near the D.C.-Maryland line. Eleven days later a male suspect fired a gun at another transgender woman just a block from where Mclean was killed. The woman was not hit, but police expressed concern that trans women might have been targeted in that area, which is known as a location where transgender prostitutes congregate.

In September, aerospace engineer Gaurav “Gigi” Gopalan, 35, was found dead on a sidewalk in a residential section of the city’s Columbia Heights neighborhood. Most of his friends said he identified as a gay man, but he was dressed in women’s clothes when found unconscious by police, who said the cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head. No suspects have been identified in the case.

The string of attacks and two murders of victims believed to be targeted because of their gender identity prompted at least two protests by trans activists, who called on police to devote more resources to investigate the mostly unsolved cases of anti-trans violence.

#4 Beating of Md. trans woman caught on video

Chrissy Lee Polis

The attack of Chrissy Lee Polis in a Baltimore-area McDonald’s was captured in a video that went viral online. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

The beating of 23-year-old transgender woman Chrissy Lee Polis at a McDonald’s restaurant outside Baltimore in April created a national sensation when a video of the attack went viral over the Internet.

The video, made by a McDonald’s employee, showed two teenage girls punching and kicking Polis as she was sprawled on the floor covering her face and head with her arms. At one point, the video showed one of the female attackers dragging Polis across the floor by her hair.

Polis, who suffered non-life threatening injuries, became a human face for what transgender activists say is the longstanding prejudice, misunderstanding and hate-related violence experienced by the transgender community. Public officials, including Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, promised in the wake of the Polis attack to redouble efforts to pass a transgender non-discrimination bill in the Maryland Legislature in 2012.

The two women who attacked Polis, a 19-year-old and a 14-year-old, pleaded guilty to assault and hate crime charges. The 19-year-old was sentenced to five years in prison. Authorities said the 14-year-old was given an undisclosed sentence in the state’s juvenile justice system.

PHOTO: Adam Ebbin

CAPTION: Notoriously anti-gay Virginia elected its first openly gay state senator, Adam Ebbin, who has served in the House of Delegates since 2004.

#5 Adam Ebbin elected first gay Va. state senator

Gay Democrat Adam Ebbin, who has served in the Virginia House of Delegates since 2004, won election in November to the Virginia Senate, becoming the state’s first openly gay senator.

Ebbin defeated Republican challenger and political newcomer Timothy McGhee by a margin of 64 percent to 35 percent. He ran in a district in Northern Virginia with a solid Democratic majority that includes parts of the City of Alexandria and Arlington and Fairfax Counties.

He emerged as an outspoken advocate for LGBT equality during his tenure as the state’s only out gay member of the House of Delegates. He said one of his top priorities in the Senate will be to push legislation to ban job discrimination against state government employees based on their sexual orientation or gender identity.

“I am honored by the trust the voters have shown in me,” Ebbin said following his election to the Senate. “During the campaign I listened to the voters’ concerns and will work on behalf of the values we all share: improving our public schools, expanding our transit system and cleaning up Virginia’s environment.”

#6 Ganymede, D.C. Cowboys, Apex say goodbye

DC Cowboys

The D.C. Cowboys announced it would disband after 18 years of memorable performances on local, national and even international stages. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Two popular gay arts and entertainment groups announced plans in 2011 to disband and a third venue, the Dupont Circle gay nightclub Apex, closed its doors for good in July.

Ganymede Arts, D.C.’s only gay-specific theater and arts company, announced in April it was closing after a four-year run that included Broadway-style productions of shows such as “Naked Boys Singing” and “Falsettos.”

Members of the company’s board, including director Jeffrey Johnson, cited financial difficulties as the main reason for their decision to close the company.

“Artistically it’s always been very successful,” Johnson said. “But there’s never been anything left over after each production.”

The D.C. Cowboys, a local dance troupe for gay men, also announced its closing, in this case in 2012, after 18 years of performances at clubs, gay rodeos, and the city’s annual LGBT Pride parade and festival.

The group, which some considered a gay Chippendale troupe geared to country-western music, has been praised for the dance talent of its members who sometimes perform bare-chested.

Apex surprised many of its loyal customers when it closed in July without advance notice. Owner Glen Thompson, who also owns the nearby gay bar Omega, sold Apex to Alan Carroll, the owner of the D.C. gay clubs Ziegfelds-Secrets and the lesbian club Phase One. Carroll said he plans to open a new club in the Apex building at 22nd and P St., N.W., that will cater to a mostly lesbian clientele.

#7 New Md. trans group forms after bill dies

Dana Beyer

Transgender advocate Dana Beyer co-founded the group Gender Rights Maryland in 2011. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

A transgender non-discrimination bill died in the Maryland Legislature in April after the State Senate startled supporters by voting 27 to 20 to send the Gender Identity Non-Discrimination Act back to committee.

LGBT advocates lobbying for the bill, including officials with the state LGBT group Equality Maryland, said at least seven Democratic senators who promised to vote for the bill changed their positions and indicated they would vote no if the measure came up for a vote.

The Senate action came one month after the House of Delegates voted 86 to 52 to approve a compromise version of the bill that included protections against discrimination in employment and housing but did not include a prohibition against public accommodations discrimination. Supporters of the bill in the House, including its lead sponsor, said they didn’t have the votes needed to pass the bill if it included a public accommodations provision, which would cover public bathrooms and locker rooms in facilities such as health clubs and gyms.

The bill’s demise prompted transgender activists in the state to launch Gender Rights Maryland, the state’s first statewide transgender advocacy organization. Transgender activist Dana Beyer of Montgomery County, one of the group’s co-founders, said Gender Rights Maryland would coordinate efforts to pass a transgender rights bill in the legislature’s 2012 session.

#8 Delaware approves civil unions

Year In Review: 2011

The Delaware Legislature in April approved a civil unions bill that provides same-sex couples with all of the rights and benefits of marriage under Delaware law.

The measure cleared the Delaware House of Representatives by a vote of 26-15 and cleared the State Senate by a vote of 13-6. Gov. Jack Markell, a Democrat, signed the bill.

Lisa Goodman, president of the board of Equality Delaware, a statewide LGBT group coordinating lobbying efforts for the bill, said the group and other LGBT organizations and advocates determined they didn’t have the political support in the state to pass a same-sex marriage bill.

Goodman, an attorney, said the civil unions law would provide same-sex couples and their families, including children, with crucial legal protections that they would not have without the civil unions measure.

#9 Local groups celebrate milestones

AIDS Walk 25

D.C.’s AIDS Walk, organized by Whitman-Walker Health, turned 25 in 2011. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

The D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, the city’s oldest continuously operating LGBT rights group, celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2011.

And Whitman-Walker Health, the city’s largest private clinic treating people with HIV and AIDS, organized its 25th annual Washington AIDS Walk, the group’s main fundraising event.

Nov. 15 marked the 50th anniversary of the founding by the Mattachine Society of Washington, the city’s first gay rights advocacy organization. That milestone became less of a celebration than had been expected due to the death a few weeks earlier of Frank Kameny, the group’s co-founder and leader.

Mattachine Society of Washington ceased operating as an organization in the early 1970s, when Kameny and other leaders of the group shifted their efforts to the then newly formed Gay Activists Alliance, which later became the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance. But activists familiar with the city’s gay movement history say Mattachine Society of Washington left an important legacy as a groundbreaking gay advocacy group.

#10 Wone case settlement

Kathy Wone

Robert Wone was murdered in 2006. His widow, Kathy Wone, pursued a wrongful death lawsuit against three gay men in connection with the case. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Three gay men named as defendants in a $20 million wrongful death lawsuit over the 2006 murder of attorney Robert Wone inside their Dupont Circle area townhouse agreed in August to an out-of-court settlement in the case with Wone’s widow, who filed the lawsuit.

A statement released Aug. 3 by attorneys representing Kathy Wone said defendants Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky, and Dylan Ward “have agreed to a monetary settlement, including payments to the Robert E. Wone Memorial Trust.”

The statement didn’t disclose the amount of money the defendants agreed to pay Mrs. Wone. It said she would use some of the money to advance the causes her husband believed in, including college scholarships and free legal services to people in need.

The three gay defendants were found not-guilty at a criminal trial in which they were charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and evidence tampering in connection with Wone’s murder. Authorities haven’t charged anyone with the murder. D.C. police and the U.S. Attorney’s office say the case remains open and they continue to seek more evidence to charge someone with Wone’s murder.

Price, Zaborsky, and Ward and their attorneys didn’t respond to requests for comment.

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Virginia

Arlington church seeks to offer LGBTQ-affirming senior housing

Project by Clarendon Presbyterian faces opposition from residents

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Clarendon Presbyterian Church (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

Leaders and members of the Clarendon Presbyterian Church, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on April 13, have said they decided to continue to fulfill their mission of religious faith by using the land on which their church is located in the Clarendon section of Arlington, Va., to develop a new, larger church building to include LGBTQ affordable housing for seniors along with an independently run childcare center that currently operates in the church.

“In line with the church’s deep history of supporting affordable housing, LGBTQ communities, and seniors, in 2021, the church relaunched a visioning process of how we might invest our most valuable physical resources, our church property, for the good of the community,” church leaders said in a Feb. 9, 2024, statement describing the project.

The statement says that in 2022, the congregation voted to partner with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), a real estate development company that specializes in affordable housing projects. Through that partnership, the statement says, the two partners in June of 2023 applied to the Arlington County government for a zoning change that would allow the construction of a building that could accommodate as many as 92 residential apartments for seniors 55 or 62 and older.

Among other things, the project calls for demolishing the current church building and constructing a new, larger building that would include a smaller version of the church space for its religious services as well as space for 40 to 58 children ages two through six at the Clarendon Child Care Center, which has operated at the church for more than 60 years.

Rev. Alice Tewell, the current pastor at Clarendon Presbyterian Church, told the Washington Blade another important factor contributing to the decision to redevelop the church property is the high cost of maintaining a 100-year-old building and its aging infrastructure that was becoming less and less affordable for the church’s budget. And like many churches across the country, the membership of Clarendon Presbyterian Church has declined over the years, making it no longer necessary for a worship service space as large as that in the current church building, Tewell said.

The statement describing the development plan says that without a major redevelopment project, the church could no longer afford to remain in the current building, forcing it to move to another location outside of Clarendon and possibly outside of Arlington. 

According to Rev. Tewell, the redevelopment decision came after several years of internal discussion, meetings with longtime church allies, including members of the LGBTQ community and other community groups.

“And after all these conversations, we came to where we could serve Christ, which is part of our faith, and where we could be good neighbors in Arlington – would be to tear down our entire property and rebuild so it would include senior affordable housing as LGBT welcoming, a new church space, which we also plan to turn into a community space, and the new space for our preschool center,” Tewell told the Blade.

She noted that the church’s location at 1305 N. Jackson St. is walking distance to the Clarendon Metro station and many local amenities such as restaurants and retail stores, making it a convenient location for the senior residents in the redeveloped space. 

She also points out that church members have consulted with the New York-based LGBTQ seniors advocacy organization SAGE, which informed them of the great need for LGBTQ welcoming senior housing, including in Northern Virginia.

But news of the church’s redevelopment project, especially reports that it would include a proposed 92-unit apartment building, prompted many nearby residents to raise strong objections and to call on the Arlington County Board, which must make a final decision on a zoning change, to deny the zoning change request.

Most of the opposition comes from residents of single-family houses, who point out that the church is located in a largely low-density residential neighborhood with just a few nearby low-rise apartment buildings. In August of 2023, a group of nearby residents created an online petition that gathered at that time more than 1,000 signatures calling for the county to turn down the church development project.

“We, the concerned residents of Arlington, Virginia, stand united in opposition to the proposed destruction of the historic, over 100-year-old, Clarendon Presbyterian Church (CPC) and the subsequent construction of a massive 6-story apartment building having 100 units within our cherished residential neighborhood,” the petition states. “We believe that this development project will have serious detrimental effects on our community’s character, quality of life, and historic heritage,” it says.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, or APAH, the development company working in partnership with the church, submitted an official application on June 29, 2023, for a Special General Land Use Plan Study calling for the needed zoning change for the church project with Arlington County Zoning Administrator Arlova Vonhm. APAH officials have said the initial application was the first of a multi-step process seeking final approval of the project.

Garrett Jackson, APAH’s Director of Resource Development and Communications, told the Blade that APAH on behalf of the church asked the Zoning Administrator to put the application on hold while the church and APAH consider revisions for the project.

“We are currently working with our architect, engineer, and construction management team to assess the feasibility of different development options while also considering feedback we have received from the county and the community,” Jackson told the Blade in a March 15 email.

In a phone interview with the Blade on March 21, Jackson and APAH officials Mitchell Crispell and Brian Goggin, said the decision to put the project on hold did not come as a result of an informal message from the Zoning Administrator that the project was about to be turned down. 

“So, we were the ones that put it on hold,” said Crispell, APAH’s Director of Real Estate Development. “It wasn’t the county that said no to us at all. We wanted to kind of pause for a minute and consider our options, the feasibility of different options and the development plans,” he said.

Crispell noted that the decision to put the project on hold came last fall, a few months after the application was submitted in June and after strong opposition to the project surfaced by nearby residents. Crispell, Jackson, and Goggin pointed out, however, that opposition to development projects is a common phenomenon in Arlington and other jurisdictions and that ongoing dialogue between developers and concerned residents often leads to a resolution to the objections.

“We understand the back and forth that it takes to get these projects to fruition,” Jackson said. “So, you’ve got to rest assured that this is very much a part of the very thorough process that both APAH and the county go through regularly to make sure that we’re getting the absolute best product in the actual building that will go up for Clarendon Presbyterian Church and for the future residents,” Jackson points out.

Jackson and his two APAH colleagues said they couldn’t immediately predict when they will resubmit the application for the zoning change. Spokespersons for the Zoning Office, the Arlington County Board, and Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Blade for comment on the church project and the likelihood of the county approving the project.

Among those supporting the church project is James Fisher, a longtime Arlington LGBTQ rights advocate and longtime church member. Fisher and Arlington gay civic activists Jay Fisette, a former elected member of the Arlington Board, and longtime Arlington resident Bob Witeck, who support the project, told the Blade they believe many nearby residents also support the church development project.

Fisette and Witeck said they do not believe anti-LGBTQ bias is a significant factor, if a factor at all, in the opposition to the church project.

“I personally observe this as disquiet about building a larger and taller presence in a space that abuts residential neighbors unsure of the implications or stresses that might come,” Witeck said. “I’m no Pollyanna, but really believe that with time, this change will be smoother than people fear or imagine,” he said.

Fisette said the church project comes a short time after the Arlington County Board adopted an “Expanded Housing Options” policy that allows for larger residential buildings in some areas originally zoned for low-density, single-family homes. This change drew objections among many residents in areas similar to where Clarendon Presbyterian church is located.

“I would say the LGBTQ elements of the proposal are likely more of a plus than a minus,” Fisette told the Blade. “I expect 99 percent of any resistance-anxiety relates to density  and the real-feared impacts of that density,” he said.

Tewell told the Blade the church’s support for the LGBTQ community dates back to the 1980s, when church members voted in support of a then-controversial proposal to allow the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Clinic, which had a Northern Virginia outreach, to use space in the church for a support group for people with HIV/AIDS and for HIV caregivers.

“And that started changing the church to becoming a church that was very welcoming to LGBTQ people,” she said, adding that the church subsequently opened its door for LGBTQ community events, some of which were organized by gay church member James Fisher. Among those using the church now is IMPACTO LGBT, a Spanish-speaking LGBT church that holds its worship services at Clarendon Presbyterian Church.

“This is how we are living out our faith in the world,” Tewell said. “We worked out what does God’s embodied love look like for the world? And how do we embody God’s grace, justice, and love? And we really feel that it is through housing for seniors that is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people,” she added. “And to transform our church space so it’s better equipped to welcome the community.”

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Maryland

Maryland’s Joe Vogel would make history if elected to Congress

27-year-old gay lawmaker running for David Trone seat

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Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) (Photo courtesy of Joe Vogel)

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Monday said it is time for a new generation of leaders in Congress.

The Montgomery County Democrat last May declared his candidacy for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District after Congressman David Trone announced his run for retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)’s seat. Vogel, 27, would be the first Latino, the first gay man and the first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,” Vogel told the Washington Blade during an interview at the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.

Protecting democracy among priorities

Vogel was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Rockville with his family when he was three years old.

He volunteered for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Vogel, who is Jewish, in 2014 worked for Maryland state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County)’s campaign.

He was part of Hillary Clinton’s National Advance Team during her 2016 presidential campaign, and worked on former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2017 gubernatorial bid. Vogel later joined the March for Our Lives movement for gun control that began after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018.

Vogel in 2020 worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)’s presidential campaign. The Montgomery County Democrat in 2022 became the first Gen Zer to win a seat in the Maryland General Assembly. 

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that he has introduced 18 bills in this year’s legislative session. 

One of them, a bill that would prohibit the state from giving foster children in their custody trash bags for them to transport their belongings, passed unanimously in the House on March 14. Other measures that Vogel has sponsored would, among other things, provide security grants to abortion clinics and increase investments in local newspapers.

“I have a record of being able to deliver results,” he said. “That’s what I’m running on.”

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that his platform includes:

  • • Protecting democracy
  • • Preventing “attacks on fundamental rights”
  • • Fighting climate change
  • • Stopping gun violence

Vogel also noted his support for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws.

“At a moment of time when you have attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, against our rights, against our identities, I believe that there’s nothing more powerful than electing Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress,” he said.

Vogel added his election would send “a message to all the young LGBTQ+ people across the state that they belong, and that they have someone in the United States Congress who understands them and is going to fight for them every single day,” added Vogel.

Vogel’s great-grandparents fled Europe ahead of the Holocaust. Uruguay’s military dictatorship was in place from 1973-1985. 

His multiple identities remain a cornerstone of his legislative priorities and of his campaign.

“When we talk about the attacks on LGBTQ+ people, I get that. I feel that,” said Vogel. “I understand that when we talk about the attacks on immigrant communities … not only do I understand that, personally, but I’m around so many immigrants that feel that pain of what we’ve seen over the last many years of the incessant attacks on immigrants and Latino people. When we see the rise in anti-Semitism, I feel that personally.”

HRC, Victory Fund have endorsed Vogel

The Democratic primary will take place on May 14.

April McClain Delaney, a former U.S. Department of Commerce official whose husband is former Congressman John Delaney, and state Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery County) are among Vogel’s primary opponents. Former state Del. Dan Cox, an anti-LGBTQ Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, is also running for Trone’s seat.

Campaign finance reports indicate Vogel raised $379,755.91 between May 4, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. McClain Delaney reported she received $536,557 in campaign contributions from Oct. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023.

The Human Rights Campaign, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality PAC and the Sierra Club are among the organizations that have endorsed Vogel’s campaign. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Frederick County Council President Brad Young are among those who have also backed him. The Maryland State Education Association and the National Education Association this week endorsed Vogel.

Vogel dismissed suggestions that he does not have enough legislative experience to run for Congress and that he is too young.

“When you’re elected to Congress, you’re elected for a two-year term,” he said. “Look at what I’ve been able to accomplish in a two-year term. I’ve proven that I can hit the ground running, get results, deliver results.”

Vogel added the race to succeed Trone in Congress is “me versus the status quo.”

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we actually want things to get better in this country,” said Vogel.

Democratic opponent gave money to Jim DeMint

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan last month announced he is running for U.S. Senate. Prince George’s County Executive Director Angela Alsobrooks is also hoping to succeed Cardin.

Vogel sharply criticized Cox. 

“He is as bigoted as it gets,” Vogel told the Blade. “He is a far-right extremist who bussed people to D.C. on Jan. 6, who is as homophobic as it gets, and who is as transphobic as it gets.”

Vogel said Maryland voters in November “need to reject Dan Cox” and “we have to reject Larry Hogan.” (Vogel has endorsed Trone’s Senate campaign.)

“We have to elect pro-equality members of Congress this November, to finally secure the protections that we need for our community in Congress,” said Vogel.

Vogel also vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure that” former President Donald Trump does not win re-election in November.

“Three generations in my family: My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents experienced the loss of democracy,” Vogel told the Blade. “My great-grandparents escaped fascism. My grandparents and parents lived under a repressive military dictatorship in Uruguay, and I see the concern that my parents feel seeing the rise of Trump.”

“I refuse to be the fourth generation in my family who experienced the loss of democracy,” he added. “This November, the election fundamentally is going to decide the future of our democracy.”

Vogel on Sunday during a forum the Frederick County Democratic Party sponsored criticized McClain Delaney over her 2005 campaign donation to then-U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) after he said gay people should not be teachers.

“I can’t imagine making any sort of political contribution to any anti-LGBTQ+, anti-choice, pro-NRA member of the United States Senate, and let alone the maximum allowed contribution,” said Vogel. “There is a stark contrast there.”

‘My heart breaks for what we saw on’ Oct. 7

Vogel spoke with the Blade less than six months after Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.

“It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said. “What concerns me is that Hamas has made clear that they intend to carry out an attack like that again and again and again and again.”

“My heart breaks for what we saw on that day,” added Vogel.

Vogel is among those who attended a pro-Israel rally that took place on the National Mall last November. He has also met with relatives of hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.

“Hearing the stories of parents whose kids are still in Gaza, the pain that I feel is tremendous,” said Vogel. “We have to bring those hostages home.”

Vogel told the Blade that Hamas can no longer control Gaza. He also said peace cannot be achieved with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in office.

“If we want to reach peace, a number of things have to happen: Hamas needs to go. We need a change in leadership in Israel and we need diplomatic negotiations to get a bilateral ceasefire, which is not what I think people are calling for when they call for an immediate ceasefire.”

Vogel last October posted to his X account pictures of anti-Semitic graffiti in his apartment building.

He told the Blade the graffiti was removed, but “it took a very long time.” Vogel has introduced a bill that would require the removal of graffiti in a specific period of time if it violates Maryland’s hate crimes law.

Book bans ‘have absolutely no place’

Vogel during the interview also criticized Moms for Liberty and their efforts to ban books in Maryland. He noted Jaime Brennan, the chair of the group’s Frederick County chapter, is running for the county’s Board of Education.

“Book bans in a free democratic society have absolutely no place,” said Vogel.

The Maryland House on March 15 by a 98-37 vote margin approved the Freedom to Read Act. The measure would create a “state policy that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards,” require “each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program” and ban “a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”

The bill is now before the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.

Amber Laenen contributed to this story.

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District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

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Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a “dynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system … building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walker’s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.”

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

“Heather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,” the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. “She has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,” it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

“In Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,” the announcement continues. “The care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,” it says. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,” Aaron said in the announcement press release. “I look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,” she said. 

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