Local
DNC LGBT Caucus mum on call about marriage equality plank
Anonymous sources tell the Blade caucus is divided over the growing demand


Gay Democrat Earl Fowlkes, the only DNC LGBT Caucus member from D.C., told the Blade on March 3 that he believes it’s premature for the caucus to take an official position on the party platform. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Members of the Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Caucus reportedly were divided in an off-the-record conference call on Feb. 27 over whether to take an official position calling for a marriage equality plank in the Democratic Party platform, according to gay Democratic activist Paul Yandura.
Yandura and two other sources, who spoke on condition that they are not identified, said they have heard conflicting reports on which caucus members support or oppose taking a position on a marriage equality plank at this time.
Gay Democratic activist Rick Stafford of Minnesota, who serves as chair of the LGBT Caucus, said on Monday that all of the caucus’s phone conferences are confidential and he could not comment on specific issues discussed during the call.
“The caucus had a call that was the first of many talking about numerous LGBT issues that might be included in the platform as well as an expression of celebration to the many things the Obama administration and the Democratic Congress have accomplished for the LGBT community,” Stafford told the Blade. “I guess that’s about as far as I want to go at this point.”
On Wednesday, Stafford said by email that he personally supports including a marriage equality plank in the party platform. He said the LGBT Caucus plans to “weigh in” on the issue when the Democratic Party Platform Committee begins deliberations on the platform in the coming months leading up to the Democratic Convention in September.
The reports that the DNC’s LGBT Caucus discussed a marriage equality plank for the party platform surfaced shortly after the national same-sex marriage advocacy group Freedom to Marry launched a campaign calling on the party Platform Committee to adopt such a plank.
Calling its campaign, “Democrats: Say I do,” Freedom to Marry is calling on LGBT activists and their straight supporters to sign an online petition urging that the party platform “affirm the freedom to marry.”
In a survey conducted by the Washington Blade, the offices of 22 Democratic U.S. senators last week confirmed that the senators support including a marriage equality plank in the Democratic platform.
The LGBT blog Think Progress reported last week that at least 13 co-chairs of the Obama re-election campaign have publicly endorsed legalizing same-sex marriage.
A White House spokesperson has said repeatedly in recent months the president continues to ‘evolve’ on the marriage issue. At the time he ran for president in 2008, Obama said he supported civil unions over marriage for same-sex couples.
Gay Democrat Earl Fowlkes, the only DNC LGBT Caucus member from D.C., told the Blade on March 3 that he believes it’s premature for the caucus to take an official position on the party platform.
“Not a single member of the platform committee has even been picked,” Fowlkes said.
Maryland House of Delegates member Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County) is the only DNC LGBT Caucus member from Maryland. Mizeur did not respond to a Blade inquiry seeking her position on whether the caucus should adopt a marriage equality plank. Mizeur was among the lead sponsors and advocates for the same-sex marriage bill that the Maryland General Assembly approved last month.
LGBT Caucus member Randi Weingarten of New York, an out lesbian who serves as president of the American Federation of Teachers, said she favors adding a marriage equality plank to the party platform. Noting that she is a longtime supporter of marriage equality, she said she helped in the effort to lobby the New York Legislature to pass a same-sex marriage bill last year.
Asked to comment on the LGBT Caucus’s reported discussion on a marriage equality plank, Weingarten said, “The DNC call was an off the record call and I have to honor that.”
LGBT Caucus member Andrew Tobias of New York, who serves as the DNC’s national treasurer, told the Blade in an email that he was unable to participate in the caucus’s Feb. 27 conference call.
“But I believe all of us support marriage equality,” he said. “The exact language of the platform remains to be worked out, but I hope and expect it will be language the community will be proud to support.”
Several additional members of the LGBT Caucus contacted by the Blade via email, in addition to Mizeur of Maryland, didn’t respond by press time this week to a request that they disclose their position on including a marriage equality plank in the platform.
“We should ask each member to publicly state whether they are for or against inclusion of marraige equality in the Democratic Party platform since they are ‘representatives’ of the community and we deserve to know,” Yandura said.
In his statement, Stafford said the LGBT Caucus and the party as a whole would be considering inclusion of a wide range of LGBT issues in the platform.
“The American people, including LGBT Americans, have made it clear that there are many important issues facing our nation today,” Stafford said. “All of these issues, including those raised by the ‘I Do’ campaign, deserve to be considered in the party platform – as do other important issues of equality such as inclusive employment non-discrimination and safe schools.”
District of Columbia
Norton reintroduces bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ jurors in D.C. Superior Court
Congresswoman notes Congress controls local court system

D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Friday, June 20, reintroduced her bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ D.C. residents in the process for selecting people to serve as jurors in D.C. Superior Court.
“The bill would clarify that D.C. residents may not be excluded or disqualified from jury service in the local D.C. trial court, the D.C. Superior Court, based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Norton said in a statement.
“Specifically, this bill would clarify that the term ‘sex,’ which is a protected class under the nondiscrimination law that applies to jurors in the D.C. Superior Court includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” Norton said.
She points out in her statement that under the D.C. Home Rule Act approved by Congress that created D.C.’s local government, including an elected mayor and City Council, the federal government retained control over the local court system.
“Therefore, until D.C. is given authority to amend Title 11 of the D.C. Code, which one of my bills would do, an act of Congress is required to clarify that LGBTQ+ jurors in the D.C. Superior Court are protected from discrimination,” according to her statement.
A spokesperson for Norton couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Norton is aware of specific instances where residents were denied jury service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Online records of congressional action on Norton’s juror nondiscrimination bill show she had introduced it in 2019, 2021, and 2023, when it died in committee each year, except for the 117th Congress in 2022, when it was approved by a committee but died in the full House.
“During Pride month we are reminded of the many contributions of the LGBTQ+ community,” Norton said in her June 20 statement. “Nobody, including D.C. jurors, should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and D.C. juries should not be deprived of the service of LGBTQ residents,” she added.

The Washington Blade’s second day of Pride on the Pier at The Wharf DC ended with a fireworks show on Saturday, June 7. The fireworks show was presented by the Leonard-Litz LGBTQ Foundation.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

















State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) will face John Reid in the race to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.
Hashmi won the Democratic primary with 27.49 percent of the vote. She defeated former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, state Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach), Babur Lateef, Victor Salgado and Alexander Bastani.
“Tonight, Virginians made history,” said Hashmi in a statement. “We didn’t just win a primary, we sent a clear message that we won’t be bullied, broken, or dragged backward by the chaos in Washington.”
Reid, a gay conservative talk show host, in April won the Republican nomination to succeed Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The incumbent governor days after Reid secured the nomination called for him to withdraw his candidacy amid reports that a social media account with his username included “pornographic content.” Reid, who would become the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in Virginia if he wins in November, has strongly denied the reports.
Former state Del. Jay Jones defeated Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor in Democratic attorney general primary. Jones will face Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in November.
Youngkin cannot run for a second, consecutive term.
Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger will face off against Earle-Sears in November. The winner will make history as the first woman elected governor in the state’s history.