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Marathon hearing set for Friday on Md. marriage bill

Two committees will hear at least eight hours of testimony Friday

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Luke Clippinger and Tiffany Alston are on opposite sides of the Md. marriage bill, and will be face to face this Friday. (Washington Blade photo of Clippinger by Michael Key / photo of Alston in public domain)

Officials with two committees of the Maryland House of Delegates planned for at least eight hours of testimony in Annapolis on Friday by witnesses for and against a bill to legalize same-sex marriage.

In a scheduled joint hearing, the House Judiciary Committee and the Health and Government Operations Committee were also to hear testimony on a proposed state constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.

The hearing was to take place 10 days after nearly 100 witnesses testified on the marriage bill before a hearing of the Maryland Senateā€™s Judicial Proceedings Committee. Sources familiar with that committee said it was expected to vote to approve the same-sex marriage bill, known as the Civil Marriage Protection Act, on Thursday, Feb. 9.

ā€œWe think it will come up for a vote on that day, but weā€™re not absolutely certain,ā€ said one knowledgeable source familiar with the committee.

Most political observers believe supporters of the same-sex marriage billĀ have the votes to pass in committee and in the full Senate. They say the vote in the House was expected to be close and its passage there was uncertain. Observers say the proposed constitutional ban on same-sex marriage wouldĀ likelyĀ be killed in committee.

Earlier this week, Rev. Al Sharpton, the nationally known civil rights leader from New York, became the latest public figure to record a video expressing support for same-sex marriage in Maryland.

ā€œAs a Baptist minister, I donā€™t have the right to impose my beliefs on anyone else,ā€ Sharpton said in the video, which can be viewed on YouTube. ā€œSo if committed gay and lesbian couples want to marry, thatā€™s their business. None of us should stand in their way,ā€ he said.

Among the committee members expected to attend and ask questions at the joint House hearing on Friday were gay Dels. Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore) and Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County).

Also expected to participate in the hearing were Judiciary Committee members Sam Arora (D-Montgomery County), Tiffany Alston (D-Prince Georgeā€™s County) and Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City). All three startled LGBT advocates last year when they announced they were changing their position from supporters to opponents of the marriage bill.

Arora, who shares the same legislative district as Cullison, drew expressions of outrage from some LGBT activists when he announced he would vote against the marriage measure on the House floor. The activists noted that he ran for his seat in the 2010 election on a platform in support of the marriage bill and signed on as one of its co-sponsors.

Arora, who has not responded to requests from the Blade for an interview, has said his newfound opposition to the bill is based on his religious beliefs.

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Los Angeles

Los Angeles Blade publisher Troy Masters dies at 63

Longtime advocate for LGBTQ equality, queer journalism

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Los Angeles Blade Publisher Troy Masters (Los Angeles Blade file photo)

Troy Masters, publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, died unexpectedly on Wednesday Dec. 11, according to a family member. He was 63. The cause of death was not immediately released.

Masters is a well-respected and award-winning journalist and publisher with decades of experience, mostly in LGBTQ media. He founded Gay City News in New York City in 2002 and relocated to Los Angeles in 2015. In 2017, he became the founding publisher of the Los Angeles Blade, a sister publication of the Washington Blade, the nationā€™s oldest LGBTQ newspaper.

His family released a statement to the Blade on Thursday. 

ā€œWe are shocked and devastated by the loss of Troy,ā€ the statement says. ā€œHe was a tireless advocate for the LGBTQ community and leaves a tremendous legacy of fighting for social justice and equality. We ask for your prayers and for privacy as we mourn this unthinkable loss. We will announce details of a celebration of life in the near future.ā€

The Blade management team released the following statement on Thursday:

ā€œAll of us at the Los Angeles Blade and Washington Blade are heartbroken by the loss of our colleague. Troy Masters is a pioneer who championed LGBTQ rights as well as best-in-class journalism for our community. We will miss his passion and his tireless dedication to the Los Angeles queer community.

ā€œWe would like to thank the readers, advertisers, and supporters of the Los Angeles Blade, which will continue under the leadership of our local editor Gisselle Palomera, the entire Blade family in D.C. and L.A., and eventually under a new publisher.ā€

Troy Masters was born April 13, 1961 and is survived by his mother Josie Kirkland and his sister Tammy Masters, along with many friends and colleagues across the country. This is a developing story and will be updated as more details emerge.

From left, Washington Blade Editor Kevin Naff, Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Ariadne Getty and Los Angeles Blade Publisher Troy Masters attend the Washington Blade’s 50th anniversary gala in 2019. (Washington Blade file photo by Vanessa Pham)
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District of Columbia

D.C. gay bar Uproar issues GoFundMe appeal

Message says business struggling to pay rent, utilities

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Uproar has launched a GoFundMe appeal to help pay rent and utilities.

The D.C. gay bar Uproar located in the cityā€™s Shaw neighborhood at 639 Florida Ave., N.W., has issued a GoFundMe appeal seeking financial support as it struggles to pay rent and utilities.

The GoFundMe appeal, which was posted by Uproarā€™s owner Tammy Truong, says its goal is to raise $100,000. As of Dec. 10, the posting says $4,995 had been raised.

ā€œFor over nine years Uproar has been an integral part of the D.C. LGBTQIA+ community,ā€ the GoFundMe message says. ā€œIt has been a place of refuge for many people and has been a space where people have been allowed to express themselves freely.ā€

The message adds, ā€œWe have recently faced unexpected challenges and are asking for help from the community that weā€™ve given so much to. We want to be able to continue to pay and support our staff and our community. All donations will be used to pay for these unexpected costs and will be used to improve the space for staff and patrons.ā€

On its website, Uproar provides further details of the unexpected costs it says it is now faced with.

ā€œDue to significant increases in insurance costs for 2025, weā€™ve had to deplete our reserves from our summer sales,ā€ the website message says. ā€œAs a result, we are now struggling to cover rent and utility costs through the winter.ā€

The message adds, ā€œOur top priority is to ensure that our amazing staff, who are the heart and soul of Uproar, are fully supported. We are committed to keeping them fully employed and scheduled during this difficult time so they can continue to provide for themselves and  their families.ā€

Uproar, which caters to a clientele of the cityā€™s leather and bear communities, has faced challenges in the past when the local D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission voted to oppose the routine renewal of its liquor license.

In November 2019, ANC 1B voted unanimously to oppose the license renewal of Uproar and 22 other liquor serving establishments in the U Street-Florida Avenue area on grounds that they have a negative impact on ā€œpeace, order, and quietā€ in the surrounding neighborhoods. The cityā€™s liquor board nevertheless approved the license renewals for Uproar and most of the other establishments.

Local nightlife advocates criticized the ANCā€™s action, saying it was based on an anti-business and anti-nightlife bias that requires bars such as Uproar to expend large sums of money on retaining lawyers to help them overcome the license opposition.

The Uproar GoFundMe page can be accessed here:

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District of Columbia

Mayor, police chief highlight ā€˜significantā€™ drop in D.C. crime

Officials cite arrests in two LGBTQ-related cases

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D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said the improved crime data this year was due to a combined effort in adopting new programs to fight crime. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser joined District Police Chief Pamela Smith and Deputy Mayor for Public Safety and Justice Lindsey Appiah in crediting a series of stepped-up crime fighting and crime reduction programs put in place over the past year with bringing about a 35 percent reduction in violent crime in the city over the past year.

Bowser, Smith, and Appiah highlighted what they called a significant drop in overall crime in the nationā€™s capital at a Dec. 9 news conference held at the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department headquartersā€™ Joint Operations Command Center.

Among other things, the city officials presented slides on a large video screen showing that in addition to the 35 percent drop in overall violent crime during the past year, the number of carjackings dropped by 48 percent, homicides declined by 29 percent, robberies declined by 39 percent, and assaults with a dangerous weapon also dropped by 29 percent.

ā€œI want to start by thanking MPD and I want to thank all of our public safety teams, local and federal, and the agencies that support their work,ā€ Bowser said in noting that the improved crime data this year was due to a combined effort in adopting several new programs to fight crime.

Bowser also thanked D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) who introduced legislation backed by the mayor and approved by the Council in March of this year called the Secure D.C. bill, which includes a wide range of new crime fighting and crime prevention initiatives.

In response to a question from the Washington Blade, Chief Smith said she believes the stepped-up crime fighting efforts played some role in D.C. police making arrests in two recent cases involving D.C. gay men who were victims of a crime of violence.  

In one of the cases, 22-year-old Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, a gay man, was attacked and beaten on Oct. 27 of this year by as many as 15 men and women at the D.C. McDonaldā€™s restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., with some of them shouting anti-gay slurs. D.C. police, who listed the incident as a suspected hate crime, arrested a 16-year-old male in connection with the case on a charge of Assault with Significant Bodily Injury.

The other case involved a robbery and assault that same day of gay DJ and hairstylist Bryan Smith, 41, who died 11 days later on Nov. 7 from head injuries that police have yet to link to the robbery. Police  have since arrested two teenage boys, ages 14 and 16, who have been charged with robbery. 

Smith said the police departmentā€™s Special Liaison Branch, which includes the LGBT Liaison Unit, will continue to investigate hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ community.

ā€œAnd so, I think that what we will do is what we have been doing, which is really making sure that the reports are coming in or the incident reports are coming in and weā€™re ensuring that the Special Liaison Branch is getting out to the communities to ensure that those types of hate crimes are not increasing across our city,ā€ she said.

Smith added, ā€œWe will continue to work with the community, work with our members, our LGBTQ, our other groups and organizations to ensure that we are getting the right information out and making sure that people, when they see something, they say something to share that information with us.ā€

Data posted on the D.C. police website show from Jan. 1-Oct. 31, 2024, a total of 132 hate crimes were reported in the District. Among those, 22 were based on the victimā€™s sexual orientation, and 18 were based on the victimā€™s gender identity or expression.

During that same period, 47 hate crimes based on the victimā€™s ethnicity or national origin were reported, 33 were reported based on the victimā€™s race, and six were based on the victimā€™s religion. 

The data show that for the same period in 2023, 36 sexual orientation related hate crimes were reported, and 13 gender identity or expression cases were reported.

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