Local
Two gay candidates seek office in Delaware
Former judge could be one of few open gays in nation to win statewide office
Mitch Crane would become one of just a few out gays in the nation to win election to a statewide office if he wins in Delaware.
A gay former judge running for the office of Delaware Insurance Commissioner and a gay Realtor running for the State Senate in a district that includes the popular gay resort town of Rehoboth Beach have a good chance of winning their races, according to political observers.
Attorney and longtime consumer advocate Mitch Crane, who served as an elected judge in Pennsylvania from 1981 to 1987 before moving to Delaware 11 years ago, is challenging incumbent Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart in Delaware’s Sept. 11 Democratic primary.
Crane is the former president of the statewide LGBT rights group Stonewall Democrats of Delaware and is a longtime LGBT rights advocate.
If he wins the primary and goes on to beat his Republican challenger in November, Crane would become one of just a few out gays in the nation to win election to a statewide office.
Meanwhile, Rehoboth Beach Realtor and LGBT rights advocate Andy Staton is considered to have a good shot at winning a state Senate seat in the newly created 6th senatorial district that includes Rehoboth Beach and the adjoining coastal cities of Dewey Beach and Lewes and the nearby city of Milton.
So far no candidate has emerged to challenge Staton in the Democratic primary in September. The filing deadline for a primary challenger is July 10. Should he capture the Democratic nomination, as many political observers in Sussex County, Del., expect, he is considered the odds-on favorite to win the general election in November in a district where Democrats far outnumber Republicans.
Crane and Staton have been endorsed by the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a national group that helps raise money for LGBT candidates for public office. The two have also been endorsed by Delaware Stonewall Democrats and other political groups and Democratic leaders in the state.
Although the two candidates have strong records on LGBT issues, both have long been involved in a wide range of other issues that supporters say makes them strong, viable candidates.
Andy Staton, a Rehoboth Realtor, would become the first openly gay member of the Delaware Legislature if he wins his race for Senate.
Staton heads the Staton Group real estate firm that’s affiliated with the Prudential Gallo company in the Rehoboth Beach area. Delaware Gov. Jack Markell (D) appointed Staton to the Delaware Real Estate Commission, where he currently serves as chair. Markel also appointed him to the Delaware Economic Financial Advisory Council, which monitors the state’s revenue and expenditures.
Staton also serves on the board of the Sussex County Family YMCA, the Beebe Hospital Advisory Board and the Camp Rehoboth Leadership Council. Camp Rehoboth is an LGBT community center and non-partisan advocacy group.
“I will focus on job development and health care,” Staton told the Blade. “I will focus on transportation services and I’m focusing on long-term planning for this area to preserve the wonderful community that people have moved into,” he said.
Crane served as regulatory counsel and acting director of consumer services at the Delaware Department of Insurance from March 2007 to January 2011, when he resigned following disagreements over policy issues with Weldin Stewart, who heads the agency.
He had been appointed to the Department of Insurance posts by Matthew Denn, Weldin Stewart’s predecessor as State Insurance Commissioner. Denn left the insurance commissioner’s job in 2009 after being elected lieutenant governor.
“She ran as a consumer advocate, which was good then, and then in a year she turned into an insurance industry advocate,” Crane said. “I told her if things didn’t change I was going to leave, and I eventually left,” he said.
“And then a few months later some people in the party approached me about running. I was at first hesitant but then decided to do it, Crane said.”
Crane’s supporters say his record as a strong advocate for consumers in the field of insurance places him in a strong position in the Sept. 11 Democratic primary, even though a Democratic incumbent ordinarily would be expected to win. Crane and his supporters say Weldin Stewart is viewed by political insiders as a weak candidate.
“It is the job of the insurance commissioner to keep insurance premiums as low as possible by recruiting the best insurance companies to do business in our state,” Crane says in a statement on his campaign website.
“The Insurance Commissioner is the only elected official whose job is to protect the insurance consumer. That job is not currently being performed,” he said. “If elected, I will stand up for the consumer as I have done all my professional life.”
Marla Blunt-Carter, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Insurance, said Weldin Stewart would not comment on “criticisms presented by political challengers” at this time.
“The Delaware Department of Insurance website, delawareinsurance.gov, highlights the accomplishments of the department under her leadership,” Blunt-Carter told the Blade in an email. “It also demonstrates her commitment to Delaware consumers as well as her role of providing excellence in insurance regulation.”
In a statement released last week, the Victory Fund noted that in addition to being elected as a judge, Crane won election in Pennsylvania in the 1980s and 1990s as a city council member in Chester County, which is considered a Philadelphia suburb.
“Mitch has years of experience as an elected official and a judge,” said Victory Fund spokesperson Denis Dison, who noted that Crane served with distinction as an official at the Delaware Department of Insurance. “He is eminently qualified to serve as the state’s Insurance Commissioner, which would make him one of just a few openly LGBT candidates to be elected to a statewide office anywhere in America.”
Dison said Staton’s “long record of public and community service makes him an excellent candidate for the Delaware Senate,” adding, “If he wins, Andy will become the first openly LGBT candidate elected to the Delaware Legislature, and we are proud to support his campaign.”
Speculation has surfaced that a lesbian Democratic activist in Milton, Del., Marie Mayor, plans to run for a seat in the state House of Representatives. Mayor is co-owner of Lavender Fields Forever, a farm and store specializing in lavender-related products. Mayor didn’t immediately return calls seeking comment.
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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