Local
New leader in fight to protect Md. marriage law
Levin ‘confident of victory,’ buoyed by recent polls
Josh Levin will lead efforts to defend Maryland’s marriage equality law. (Courtesy photo)
Marylanders for Marriage Equality, the statewide coalition leading efforts to defend the state’s same-sex marriage law against an expected voter referendum, announced on April 11 that it has hired political strategist Josh Levin as the coalition’s new campaign manager.
Levin, 33, a Chicago native who has served as campaign manager for Democratic congressional candidates in Illinois and Ohio, will replace Sultan Shakir, who headed the successful campaign to pass the same-sex marriage measure in the Maryland General Assembly.
A statement released by the coalition says Shakir will become political director in the campaign to defeat a referendum seeking to kill the Civil Marriage Protection Act before it takes effect. Opponents of the law are currently gathering petition signatures needed to place it on the ballot in the November election.
“I’m thrilled to be part of the historic effort to ensure all families and their children have the same legal protections,” Levin said in a statement. “We have a number of advantages this election year, and the momentum is with us,” he said. “We’re confident of victory.”
Levin has served as campaign manager for several U.S. congressional candidates, including Tammy Duckworth in Illinois. He has also served as state director for Americans Against Escalation in Iraq in Illinois, a 2007 effort opposing President George W. Bush’s plans to increase the number of U.S. troops in Iraq.
Levin also served as regional field director for the 2004 presidential campaign of Howard Dean and later that year worked as field director for the get-out-the-vote effort in Wisconsin for Americans Coming Together, an independent “527” committee supporting Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry.
“Josh’s campaign experience will be invaluable,” said Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley in a statement. “I’m confident voters this fall will come down on the side of human dignity.”
Marylanders for Marriage Equality also released on April 11 results of a poll it commissioned from Hart Research polling firm showing that 51 percent of Maryland voters support upholding the same-sex marriage law, with 43 percent saying they oppose it.
The poll also shows that nearly 70 percent of Obama voters and 30 percent of those saying they would vote for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney support marriage equality.
The poll was conducted March 18-23 among 604 Maryland voters. Marylanders for Marriage Equality did not release the poll’s margin of error.
In an interview with the Blade this week, Levin was asked what makes him confident that the Maryland marriage equality law can survive a voter referendum when same-sex marriage laws have gone down to defeat in all other states that have subjected them to a referendum.
“I think it starts and very nearly ends with 52 percent, which is what the polling says is the portion of the electorate in Maryland that supports marriage equality,” he said. “We have a majority now. We need to grow that and we need to defend it,” he said.
“And we need to take advantage of everybody who has said they’re on our side and is going to help us work on this,” said Levin. “And that’s members of our coalition – the group that hired me, that’s the governor and his commitment. And we will continue to work with the fact that public opinion has changed on this issue and changed quickly in the last two years in Maryland.”
When asked about how voters in California overturned that state’s same-sex marriage law in 2008 after early polls showed voters would uphold the law, Levin said, “I think we learn lessons from every campaign. I learn lessons from every campaign I’ve been a part of.”
He added, “In no way are we going to take anything for granted in Maryland. We’re working hard in communities all across the state because we have supporters in communities all over the state.”
Levin said the main theme Marylanders for Marriage Equality will stress in the campaign is the importance of families.
“We’ve got thousands of committed couples across the state in committed, stable, caring homes and we simply want to make sure that they’re recognized,” he said. “This campaign is going to be about those Maryland families, those gay and lesbian families and their kids and making sure that those kids have the same legal protections that the children of straight families have.”
Asked if same-sex families will be visible in the campaign, Levin said, “Oh yeah – the campaign is all about families. This is a campaign about marriage and marriage is about families. So yes, front and center.”
Following are excerpts from the Blade’s interview with Levin this week.
Washington Blade: Could you tell a little about the campaigns you’ve been involved with in the past?
Josh Levin: Yes, sure. I think the biggest and most relevant ones to us today are the ones talked about in the press release. I was working for Tammy Duckworth back home in Illinois in her congressional primary this year and then for Mary Jo Kilroy, who is a member of Congress from Ohio in 2010. So most of my background is in candidate campaigns, especially congressional campaigns. The bottom line is I’m a campaign type person.
Blade: Do you see similar issues that will surface in this campaign, which is not for a candidate but for an issue?
Levin: I think so. Part of the reason I was hired is because we’re turning the page now to the ballot effort. And I think that my experience is running campaigns with budgets and a staff that we’re going to need like this one and getting everything lined up and moving in the right direction, which is the biggest thing we’re going to need going into November.
Blade: In the course of getting ready for this campaign, have you had a chance to look at past same-sex marriage campaigns that went to referendum in some of the other states like California’s Proposition 8 and the campaign in Maine?
Levin: Sure, and we have been looking at it. We’ve been looking at both what is successful for the folks on our side of the issue and where we fall short. We’re looking at what our opponents are likely to do and what we can expect in terms of opposition. But the great thing is sitting here in Maryland we have some momentum and we have good reason to be confident right now based on what we have seen in other places but especially the unique experiences here in Maryland.
Blade: Are you expecting any particular tactics by the opponents once they obtain the signatures needed to place the referendum on the ballot?
Levin: We’re aware of what has been done in other places, and we expect to see some of the same. There were some documents just a couple of weeks ago that lay out some of the potential strategy that our opponents might follow. But as I said, I think we have a base of knowledge that is going to be helpful to us because of that.
Blade: Is there a budget that the campaign has or do you know what the budget will be in order to wage a successful campaign?
Levin: I don’t think I’m ready to put a number on it but it is going to be significant. The folks who raised the legislative campaign were successful in raising money for that. And I think we’re going to need to go both that and beyond to be successful for the fall. We’re going to have to be out there organizing an awful lot of communities. We’re going to have to get our message out to an awful lot of channels. The governor has already clearly made a commitment. He was up in Connecticut a couple of weeks ago raising money for us. And we have great partners at the table who are raising money from their members and other folks across the state.
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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