Local
Advocacy group assails Mont. Co. schools over ‘ex-gay’ flier
But superintendent can’t stop distribution of materials
Truth Wins Out's Wayne Besen. (photo by Michael Murphy)
As the Blade reported earlier this week, alarmed parents contacted the school district to complain about roughly 8,000 fliers distributed to young students claiming sexual orientation is not permanent, and that the organization — Parents & Friends Of Ex-Gays and Gays, or PFOX — can offer services and resources for youths experiencing “unwelcome” same-sex attraction.
“While non-profit literature must not be blocked based on viewpoint, it can and should be prohibited if it contains blatant misinformation that jeopardizes the health and well being of students,” wrote TWO’s executive director Wayne Besen in the letter to Starr. “The PFOX flier easily fits this description and the group has a dubious history that includes bizarre and bigoted practices that have no place in your public school system.”
The letter notes that the president of PFOX is on record using anti-gay hate speech and epithets, such as “faggot” when describing the gay community.
“Let’s not beat around the bush: If an unsavory organization insulted other minorities with despicable epithets and demanded that they be ‘exported’ or jailed – no school in Montgomery County would be distributing their leaflets,” Besen writes in the letter. “The fact that you would allow this politically motivated organization to spread its noxious message about LGBT people shows an unreasonable and unfathomable double standard.”
The district responded to Besen with the following:
Thank you very much for your correspondence regarding the fliers from PFOX. Many other community members and students have also emailed the Board of Education regarding the nature of these fliers.
First, I would like to say that Superintendent Dr. Starr has stated on the record that these fliers are reprehensible. I also empathize with your concerns and am acutely aware of the inappropriate content disguised within these fliers. Neither the Board of Education, MCPS, nor I support or endorse the content contained within these fliers. Unfortunately, there is nothing that we can do to prevent PFOX from distributing these fliers because we are bound by the law.
Current practice regarding the distribution of flyers is a direct result of a 2006 opinion by the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. Below are links to that opinion, as well as an August 2006 memorandum to the Board of Education, both of which put in context the current MCPS Board Policy and MCPS Regulation regarding distribution of flyers.
1. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/boe/meetings/agenda/2006-07/2006-0824/CNA%20Revision%20Board%20Item.pdf
2. http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data2/circs/4th/031534p.pdf
3. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/cna.pdf
4. http://www.montgomeryschoolsmd.org/departments/policy/pdf/cnara.pdfIn most cases, fliers that are distributed in school are for legitimate opportunities offered by non-profit associations. PFOX is able to forward its agenda by distributing these fliers because it apparently meets sufficient criteria to fall under the auspices of this court ruling. Although we cannot stop the distribution of such fliers, we in MCPS are committed to promoting values of diversity and acceptance in our school system by teaching students how to distinguish between legitimate and illegitimate information.
Please rest assured that we in Montgomery County Public Schools are always extremely receptive to the community and towards promoting a culture of the twenty-first century.
Best,
Alan Xie
Student Member of the Board of Education
When reached for comment, a school district spokesperson expressed sympathy for those who were outraged by the flier, but repeated the district claim that the situation was unavoidable under the law.
“4th Circuit Court made it clear that if we’re going to send home any fliers that we have to send home any 501(c)3 non-profit fliers,” said school district spokesperson Dana Tofig, when contacted by the Blade Wednesday. “Dr. Starr finds what PFOX says reprehensible …but the courts made it clear that we’re in a very tight box.”
On Feb. 7, Superintendent Starr held a televised student town hall, where the PFOX fliers came up almost immediately in a twitter question from a student.
“I find the actions of PFOX to be reprehensible and deplorable,” Starr told the gathering of students at Wooten High. “We are bound by law, …Circuit Court in District four, to enable non-profits to distribute fliers…”
Starr said he hopes a solution can be found that allows the school district to avoid this circumstance in the future.
“We can’t really do that much about it, unless we want to cut off all flier distribution — which is an option,” he said. “We’re bound to do it. And this group …has figured out a way to use that law to spread what I find to be a really disgusting message, quite frankly.”
Tofig indicated that the both the school district and Superintendent Starr would like to avoid controversies like this in the future, but that the district has yet to find a way to exclude material presented by organizations like PFOX if they are to include materials presented by the Parent-Teacher Association, which is also a non-profit.
“[Superintendent Starr] is disturbed by this and it’s frustrating for him and for the school system. We are limited in what we can do, but if people have ideas we’re perfectly willing to listen.”
“If people have other ideas, bring them on,” Tofig concluded.
Besen is skeptical that the school district will do much to avoid this situation in the future unless their hand is forced.
“I think that the school district will do nothing unless we do a larger campaign,” Besen told the Blade on Wednesday. “They are receiving horrible legal advice. We are not objecting based on viewpoint, but the specific group of people behind PFOX. They are a clear and present threat to students and the school district is blindly hiding behind legalese to justify it not keeping pupils out of harm’s way.”
Virginia
DOJ seeks to join lawsuit against Loudoun County over trans student in locker room
Three male high school students suspended after complaining about classmate
The Justice Department has asked to join a federal lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools over the way it handled the case of three male high school students who complained about a transgender student in a boys’ locker room.
The Washington Blade earlier this year reported Loudoun County public schools suspended the three boys and launched a Title IX investigation into whether they sexually harassed the student after they said they felt uncomfortable with their classmate in the locker room at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.
The parents of two of the boys filed a lawsuit against Loudoun County public schools in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center and America First Legal, which White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller co-founded, represent them.
The Justice Department in a Dec. 8 press release announced that “it filed legal action against the Loudoun County (Va.) School Board (Loudoun County) for its denial of equal protection based on religion.”
“The suit alleges that Loudoun County applied Policy 8040, which requires students and faculty to accept and promote gender ideology, to two Christian, male students in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” reads the press release.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the press release said “students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.”
“Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality,” said Dhillon.
Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in May announced an investigation into the case.
The Virginia Department of Education in 2023 announced the new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students for which Youngkin asked. Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups claim they, among other things, forcibly out trans and nonbinary students.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in February launched an investigation into whether Loudoun County and four other Northern Virginia school districts’ policies in support of trans and nonbinary students violate Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federally funded educational institutions from promoting “gender ideology.”
District of Columbia
Capital Pride announces change in date for 2026 D.C. Pride parade and festival
Events related to U.S. 250th anniversary and Trump birthday cited as reasons for change
The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, has announced it is changing the dates for the 2026 Capital Pride Parade and Festival from the second weekend in June to the third weekend.
“For over a decade, Capital Pride has taken place during the second weekend in June, but in 2026, we are shifting our dates in response to the city’s capacity due to major events and preparations for the 250th anniversary of the United States,” according to a Dec. 9 statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.
The statement says the parade will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, with the festival and related concert taking place on June 21.
“This change ensures our community can gather safely and without unnecessary barriers,” the statement says. “By moving the celebration, we are protecting our space and preserving Pride as a powerful act of visibility, solidarity, and resistance,” it says.
Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President, told the Washington Blade the change in dates came after the group conferred with D.C. government officials regarding plans for a number of events in the city on the second weekend in June. Among them, he noted, is a planned White House celebration of President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and other events related to the U.S. 250th anniversary, which are expected to take place from early June through Independence Day on July 4.
The White House has announced plans for a large June 14, 2026 celebration on the White House south lawn of Trump’s 80th birthday that will include a large-scale Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event involving boxing and wrestling competition.
Bos said the Capital Pride Parade will take place along the same route it has in the past number of years, starting at 14th and T Streets, N.W. and traveling along 14th Street to Pennsylvania Ave., where it will end. He said the festival set for the following day will also take place at its usual location on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., between 2nd Street near the U.S. Capitol, to around 7th Street, N.W.
“Our Pride events thrive because of the passion and support of the community,” Capital Pride Board Chair Anna Jinkerson said in the statement. “In 2026, your involvement is more important than ever,” she said.
District of Columbia
Three women elected leaders of Capital Pride Alliance board
Restructured body includes chair rather than president as top leader
The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced it has restructured its board of directors and elected for the first time three women to serve as leaders of the board’s Executive Committee.
“Congratulations to our newly elected Executive Officers, making history as Capital Pride Alliance’s first all-women Board leadership,” the group said in a statement.
“As we head into 2026 with a bold new leadership structure, we’re proud to welcome Anna Jinkerson as Board Chair, Kim Baker as Board Treasurer, and Taylor Lianne Chandler as Board Secretary,” the statement says.
In a separate statement released on Nov. 20, Capital Pride Alliance says the restructured Board now includes the top leadership posts of Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, replacing the previous structure of President and Vice President as the top board leaders.
It says an additional update to the leadership structure includes a change in title for longtime Capital Pride official Ryan Bos from executive director to chief executive officer and president.
According to the statement, June Crenshaw, who served as acting deputy director during the time the group organized WorldPride 2025 in D.C., will now continue in that role as permanent deputy director.
The statement provides background information on the three newly elected women Board leaders.
• Anna Jinkerson (chair), who joined the Capital Pride Alliance board in 2022, previously served as the group’s vice president for operations and acting president. “A seasoned non-profit executive, she currently serves as Assistant to the President and CEO and Chief of Staff at Living Cities, a national member collaborative of leading philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to closing income and wealth gaps in the United States and building an economy that works for everyone.”
• Kim Baker (treasurer) is a “biracial Filipino American and queer leader,” a “retired, disabled U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of service and extensive experience in finance, security, and risk management.” She has served on the Capital Pride Board since 2018, “bringing a proven track record of steady, principled leadership and unwavering dedication to the LGBTQ+ community.”
• Taylor Lianne Chandler (Secretary) is a former sign language interpreter and crisis management consultant. She “takes office as the first intersex and trans-identifying member of the Executive Committee.” She joined the Capital Pride Board in 2019 and previously served as executive producer from 2016 to 2018.
Bos told the Washington Blade in a Dec. 2 interview that the Capital Pride board currently has 12 members, and is in the process of interviewing additional potential board members.
“In January we will be announcing in another likely press release the full board,” Bos said. “We are finishing the interview process of new board members this month,” he said. “And they will take office to join the board in January.”
Bos said the organization’s rules set a cap of 25 total board members, but the board, which elects its members, has not yet decided how many additional members it will select and a full 25-member board is not required.
The Nov. 20 Capital Pride statement says the new board executive members will succeed the organization’s previous leadership team, which included Ashley Smith, who served as president for eight years before he resigned earlier this year; Anthony Musa, who served for seven years as vice president of board engagement; Natalie Thompson, who served eight years on the executive committee; and Vince Micone, who served for eight years as vice president of operations.
“I am grateful for the leadership, dedication, and commitment shown by our former executive officers — Ashley, Natalie, Anthony, and Vince — who have been instrumental in CPA’s growth and the exceptional success of WorldPride 2025,” Bos said in the statement.
“I look forward to collaborating with Anna in her new role, as well as Kim and Taylor in theirs, as we take on the important work ahead, prepare for Capital Pride 2026, and expand our platform and voice through Pride365,” Bos said.
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