Local
‘Worldwide’ LGBT marches fizzle
Only 14 demonstrators turn out in D.C.
Lack of turnout for the local DC component of the 'worldwide' equality march led to the cancelation of the rally's march portion. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Saying they were unwavering in their commitment to LGBT equality, a contingent of 14 LGBT activists and their straight supporters held a rally across the street from the U.S. Capitol early Saturday afternoon as part of a series of Worldwide LGBT Civil Rights marches in the U.S. and abroad.
The event was promoted mostly on Facebook without the involvement of established local and national LGBT organizations. It was the brainchild of Oklahoma City gay activist Joe Knudson, who called for a series of simultaneous LGBT marches and rallies in cities throughout the world on April 21.
With less than 20 participants present at the conclusion of the rally, organizers chose to forego the march.
“These marches are occurring in over thirty cities around the globe,” said Curtis Sledge, a Richmond, Va., gay activist who organized the D.C. event and was among three speakers at the rally held at Upper Senate Park.
“Regardless of the size of the crowd…we’re here to say it’s our time right now,” Sledge said after the rally. “We are seeking equality not just for us but for everyone.”
The organization Let’s Reach One Million People Campaign, through which Knudson and others worked to organize the marches and rallies, listed 18 U.S. cities and 12 cities in countries in Europe, Asia and Africa where marches were scheduled to take place. It could not be determined at press time whether all of them took place, especially those in Africa.
According to reports in the gay and straight media, marches or rallies in most of the U.S. cities where they took place drew fewer than 100 people. The LGBT newspaper George Voice reported about 50 turned out for a rally and march on the state capital in Atlanta.
The Athens, Ga., Banner-Herald reported that about 75 people turned out for a march in that Georgia city, which was covered by the straight press. In Chicago, about 15 people participated in a March and rally and about 30 turned out for the march and rally in Portland, Ore., according to a report by the LGBT blog Bilerico Project.
In a statement released to organizers and supporters of the events, Knudson said between 6,000 and 8,000 people participated in the events in the U.S. and overseas. He said the enthusiasm and impact the events would have in the U.S. and abroad would be far more significant than the number of people attending them.
Jonathan Wolfman (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Jonathan Wolfman, a writer, former teacher and chief editor of an online travel site called CastleGayGuide.com, gave the keynote speech at the D.C. rally. Describing himself as a straight ally to the LGBT movement, Wolfman called LGBT rights “the essential civil rights mandate of our era.”
He noted that in addition to rallies and marches in the U.S., many of the LGBT events were scheduled to take place overseas, including such countries as Uganda, Nigeria, and Pakistan.
“That some are marching today in several of those nations takes guts and a belief in ultimate justice,” he said. “I salute all marchers today but especially those who risk arrest and beatings and worse for their commitment.”
Lamel Clark, 21, a Richmond resident, told the rally the 1960s era black civil rights movement was his inspiration for becoming involved in the LGBT movement as an African American gay man.
“Many years ago a great man stood on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial and spoke of a dream. He dreamed of a day when people could be treated equally and not judged by the color of their skin,” said Clark, speaking on a stage next to a fountain and facing the Capitol Building.
“I’m proud to stand not too far from where he was and know that his dream was a reality,” he said. “But today I stand before you with a dream of my own. I dream of a day when I can have the option to marry whoever I please and not have to worry about their sex but to be able to marry just on the basis of love.”
Lamel Clark (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Clark added, “I stand here because I have found the person who I want to spend the rest of my life with. So many people have told me, oh, it’s o.k. You don’t have to be married to spend the rest of your life with someone. My response is that’s not enough…I want to say loud and proud this is my husband.”
Among those standing nearby listening to Clark and the other two speakers were two U.S. Capitol police officers. The two likely were assigned to patrol a rally and parade that organizers stated in their application for a parade permit was expected to attract between 1,500 and 2,500 people.
Sledge said he was at a loss to say why so few people attended. He said he contacted a number of local organizations as well as several D.C. area universities about the planned march and rally. According Sledge, a Facebook page promoting all of the planned U.S. Worldwide March events had more than 20,000 members.
He said a number of people who told him they planned to attend D.C. rally didn’t show, including D.C. gay activist Brian Watson, who was listed as a scheduled speaker.
Watson did not return calls seeking to confirm whether he agreed to speak at the event.
When asked why he thought most of the established U.S. national and local LGBT organizations chose not to participate in the marches, Knudson said sources familiar with various groups told him the groups don’t like to get involved in events that they don’t control.
“I was point blank told by some that it is not proper for a new and young grassroots organization such as the Let’s Reach 1 Million People Campaign, to initiate such action as we did without first getting the approval of some of the older more established organizations,” Knudson told the Blade.
“[I]n doing so we stepped on a lot of egos and I was told egos of LGBT organizations do not heal very well or very fast,” he said.
Veteran D.C. gay activists Bob Summersgill, former president of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, and Rick Rosendall, the group’s current vice president, disagreed with Knudson’s assessment of the established LGBT groups.
“Speaking for myself and GLAA, if we were so egotistical and controlling as Mr. Knudson says in his laughable generalization, we wouldn’t have the record of accomplishment that we do,” Rosendall said. “LGBT advocates in D.C. have a long history of coalition work, which is not about getting permission but about consultation.”
Summersgill said organizers of the worldwide marches didn’t adequately communicate what they wanted people to do to advance their goals of equality “other than to walk around while members of Congress were out of town.”
In addition to granting permission to hold the rally on U.S. Capitol grounds, the permit called for a march from the Capitol along Constitution Avenue to 15th Street, N.W., where it was to travel north and turn right on Pennsylvania Avenue and head back towards the Capitol. The march was scheduled to end at 3rd Street and Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Wolfman, a Maryland resident, gave a ringing defense of same-sex marriage and needled opponents who say same-sex nuptials are a threat to the institution of marriage.
“This may be the most ludicrous idea going,” he said. “Encouraging marriage simply encourages marriage. It is impossible to see how the gay marriage next door threatens my straight marriage. It is equally impossible to understand how the legalization of gay marriage could possibly convince straight people not to marry or encourage them to split up.”
Sledge said in his speech that the LGBT rights movement has picked up considerable momentum over the past few years. Among the work still to be done in the U.S., he said, was the eradication of bullying and other forms of discrimination against LGBT youth.
“Never for a moment those of you in the gay community – never for a moment look on yourself as being inferior or less than human but stand tall with your heads held high as a person with a heart, with talent and significance in this world,” he said.
“And for all this we should be accepted for being what God created. Equality is our birthright. We are equal.”
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Congratulations to R. Warren Gill III, M.Div., M.A. on being appointed as the development manager at HIPS. Upon his appointment, Gill said, “For as long as I’ve lived in Washington, D.C., I’ve followed and admired the life-saving work HIPS does in our communities. I’m proud to join the staff and help strengthen the financial support that sustains this work.”
Gill will lead fundraising strategy, donor engagement, and institutional partnerships. HIPS promotes the health, rights, and dignity of individuals and communities impacted by sexual exchange and/or drug use due to choice, coercion, or circumstance. HIPS provides compassionate harm reduction services, advocacy, and community engagement that is respectful, non-judgmental, and affirms and honors individual power and agency.
Gill has built a career at the intersection of progressive politics, advocacy, and nonprofit leadership. Previously he served as director of communications at AIDS United, supporting national efforts to end the HIV epidemic. Prior to that he had roles including; being press secretary for Sen. Bernie Sanders during the 2016 presidential primary, and working with the General Board of Church and Society, the United Methodist Church, the denomination’s social justice and advocacy arm.
Gill earned his bachelor’s degree in philosophy and religious studies, Jewish Studies, Stockton University; his master’s degree in political communication from American University, where his graduate research focused on values-based messaging and cognitive linguistics; and his master of Divinity degree from the Pacific School of Religion.
District of Columbia
Judge denies D.C. request to dismiss gay police captain’s anti-bias lawsuit
MPD accused of illegally demoting officer for taking family leave to care for newborn child
A U.S. District Court judge on Jan. 21 denied a request by attorneys representing the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department to dismiss a lawsuit filed by a gay captain accusing police officials of illegally demoting him for taking parental leave to join his husband in caring for their newborn son.
The lawsuit filed by Capt. Paul Hrebenak charges that police officials violated the U.S. Family and Medical Leave Act, a similar D.C. family leave law, and the Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause by refusing to allow him to return to his position as director of the department’s School Safety Division upon his return from parental leave.
It says police officials transferred Hrebenak to another police division against his wishes, which was a far less desirable job and was the equivalent of a demotion, even though it had the same pay grade as his earlier job.
In response to a motion filed by attorneys with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which represents and defends D.C. government agencies against lawsuits, Judge Randolph D. Moss agreed to dismiss seven of the lawsuit’s 14 counts or claims but left in place six counts.
Scott Lempert, the attorney representing Hrebenak, said he and Hrebenak agreed to drop one of the 14 counts prior to the Jan. 21 court hearing.
“He did not dismiss the essential claims in this case,” Lempert told the Washington Blade. “So, we won is the short answer. We defeated the motion to dismiss the case.”
Gabriel Shoglow, a spokesperson for the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, said the office has a policy of not commenting on pending litigation and it would not comment on the judge’s ruling upholding six of the lawsuit’s initial 14 counts.
In issuing his ruling from the bench, Moss gave Lempert the option of filing an amended complaint by March 6 to seek the reinstatement of the counts he dismissed. He gave attorneys for the D.C. attorney general’s office a deadline of March 20 to file a response to an amended complaint.
Lempert told the Blade he and Hrebenak have yet to decide whether to file an amended complaint or whether to ask the judge to move the case ahead to a jury trial, which they initially requested.
In its 26-page motion calling for dismissal of the case, filed on May 30, 2025, D.C. Office of the Attorney General attorneys argue that the police department has legal authority to transfer its officers, including captains, to a different job. It says that Hrebenak’s transfer to a position of watch commander at the department’s First District was fully equivalent in status to his job as director of the School Safety Division.
“The Watch Commander position is not alleged to have changed plaintiff’s rank of captain or his benefits or pay, and thus plaintiff has not plausibly alleged that he was put in a non-equivalent position,” the motion to dismiss states.
“Thus, his reassignment is not a demotion,” it says. “And the fact that his shift changed does not mean that the position is not equivalent to his prior position. The law does not require that every single aspect of the positions be the same.”
Hrebenak’s lawsuit states that “straight” police officers have routinely taken similar family and parental leave to care for a newborn child and have not been transferred to a different job. According to the lawsuit, the School Safety Division assignment allowed him to work a day shift, a needed shift for his recognized disability of Crohn’s Disease, which the lawsuit says is exacerbated by working late hours at night.
The lawsuit points out that Hrebenak disclosed he had Crohn’s Disease at the time he applied for his police job, and it was determined he could carry out his duties as an officer despite this ailment, which was listed as a disability.
Among other things, the lawsuit notes that Hrebenak had a designated reserved parking space for his earlier job and lost the parking space for the job to which he was transferred.
“Plaintiff’s removal as director at MPD’s School Safety Division was a targeted, premeditated punishment for his taking statutorily protected leave as a gay man,” the lawsuit states. “There was no operational need by MPD to remove plaintiff as director of MPD’s School Safety Division, a position in which plaintiff very successfully served for years,” it says.
In another action to strengthen Hrebenak’s opposition to the city’s motion to dismiss the case, Lempert filed with the court on Jan. 15 a “Notice of Supplemental Authority” that included two controversial reports that Lempert said showed that former D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith put in place a policy of involuntary police transfers “to effectively demote and end careers of personnel who had displeased Chief Smith and or others in MPD leadership.”
One of the reports was prepared by the Republican members of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the other was prepared by the office of Jeanine Pirro, the U.S. attorney for D.C. appointed by President Donald Trump.
Both reports allege that Smith, who resigned from her position as chief effective Dec. 31, pressured police officials to change crime reporting data to make it appear that the number of violent crimes was significantly lower than it actually was by threatening to transfer them to undesirable positions in the department. Smith has denied those claims.
“These findings support plaintiff’s arguments that it was the policy or custom of MPD to inflect involuntary transfers on MPD personnel as retaliation for doing or saying something in which leadership disapproved,” Lempert says in his court filing submitting the two reports.
“As shown, many officers suffered under this pervasive custom, including Capt. Hrebenak,” he stated. “Accordingly, by definition, transferred positions were not equivalent to officers’ previous positions,” he added.
Virginia
LGBTQ rights at forefront of 2026 legislative session in Va.
Repeal of state’s marriage amendment a top priority
With 2026 ramping up, LGBTQ rights are at the forefront of Virginia politics.
The repeal of Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman is a top legislative priority for activists and advocacy groups.
The Virginia Senate on Jan. 17 by a 26-13 vote margin approved outgoing state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria)’s resolution that would repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. The Virginia House of Delegates earlier this month passed it.
Two successive legislatures must approve the resolution before it can go to the ballot.
The resolution passed in 2025. Voters are expected to consider repealing the amendment on Nov. 3.
The Virginia General Assembly opened with an introduction of a two-year budget — Virginia’s budget runs biannually.
In 2024 some funding was allocated to LGBTQ causes, and others were passed over. This year’s proposed budget leaves room for funding for a host of LGBTQ opportunities. One specific priority that Equality Virginia is promoting would ensure the state budget expands healthcare for LGBTQ individuals and extending gender affirming care.
Equality Virginia Communications Director Reed Williams told the Washington Blade the organization is also focused on passing three main budget amendments, and ensuring “LGBTQ+ students and their teachers have resources to navigate and address mental health challenges in K-12 schools.”
Along with ensuring school training, the organization wants funding in hopes of “establishing enhanced competency training for Virginia’s 988 Lifeline counselors and support staff to provide affirming care for LGBTQ+ youth.” This comes after the Trump-Vance administration shut down the specific hotline for LGBTQ young people that callers could previously reach if they called 988.
On a federal level, protections and health care access for LGBTQ people has taken a hit, as the Trump-Vance administration has continued to issue executive orders affecting the health care system. LGBTQ people no longer have federal legal health care protections, so local and state politics has become even more important for LGBTQ rights groups.
Equality Virginia has urged its supporters to call their local senators and stress the importance of voting to expand health care protections for LGBTQ people. The organization also plans to hold information sessions and a lobby day on Feb. 2.
Equality Virginia is tracking bills on its website.
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