Local
Marines urged to stop sponsorship of sports group that ‘condones’ anti-gay slurs
Union members, vets seek to deliver petitions to Marine Barracks in D.C.
(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
A contingent of 58 military veterans and union members assembled in front of the U.S. Marine Corps Barracks at 8th and I streets, S.E., in D.C. on Thursday to call on the Marines to stop sponsoring a sports organization said to condone “homophobic slurs.”
The veterans, some of whom are gay, and members of Unite Here, a union that represents 250,000 workers in the hotel, food service, restaurant and other industries, said they object to the Marine Corps sponsorship of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), the nation’s largest promoter of martial arts or “cage” fighting.
“The UFC is an organization that has tolerated people associated with it making jokes about rape, homophobic slurs, and sexually explicit remarks that are demeaning towards women,” the vets and union members said in a statement.
Organizers cited Defense Department figures showing that the Marines have spent more than $2 million purchasing Marine recruitment advertising, including TV ads, linked to UFC fights and events.
The veterans participating in the contingent that approached the Marine Barracks on Thursday attempted to present copies of petitions with about 5,000 signatures calling for ending the Marines’ sponsorship of the UFC to Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Amos, who resides in a house next to the barracks.
Capt. John Norton, public affairs officer at the barracks, told the veterans the barracks could not accept the petitions. Norton told the veterans and others with them to instead deliver the petitions to either Marine Corps headquarters at the Pentagon or at a Marine base in Quantico, Va., which organizes the Marine Corps recruitment program.
Unite Here spokesperson Chris Serres said a veterans committee associated with the union had sent in advance a letter to Amos informing Amos of the union’s objections to the Marine Corps sponsorship of the UFC.
“We believe that, by aligning with the UFC, an organization that has tolerated homophobia, misogyny, and hate speech, the Marine Corps is violating its stated commitment of ‘maintaining dignity and respect for one another,’” the letter says. “Homophobia and hatred, in any form, are not consistent with the values that make the Marines an elite fighting force,” the letter says.
UFC fighters stare one another down. (Photo by Bad Intentionz via Wikimedia)
A spokesperson for the UFC couldn’t immediately be reached.
Advertising Age magazine reported in April that Anheuser-Busch Company, which regularly purchases Budweiser Beer ads from the UFC, complained to UFC officials about remarks made by UFC fighters in recent months that the beer company considered objectionable.
The magazine quoted an Anheuser-Bush statement saying the company “embraces diversity and does not condone insensitive and derogatory comments rooted in ethnicity, race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, etc.”
According to Advertising Age, the UFC responded by sending the magazine a statement saying, “With over 425 athletes on our roster, there have unfortunately been instances where a couple athletes have made insensitive or inappropriate comments. We don’t condone this behavior, and in no way is it reflective of the company or its values.”
Ryan Hand, a Marine veteran and member of Unite Here’s local union branch in Saco, Maine, told the Blade he was skeptical over the UFC’s claim that it doesn’t condone anti-gay or hostile remarks toward women, saying UFC fighters continue to make such remarks.
“As a Marine, I am deeply offended that the Marine Corps would ever associate itself with an organization that tolerates homophobia and hate speech like the UFC,” Hand said in a statement. “As a taxpayer, our money can be better spent elsewhere, particularly as the Defense Department prepares deep cuts to the military.”
“I’m here because I’m a survivor of a sexual assault and I’m a queer woman,” said Chloe Connelly, a Philadelphia resident who traveled to D.C. with Unite Here members to participate in the gathering at the Marine Barracks. “So I find the UFC very, very offensive. They perpetuate homophobia. They perpetuate a rape culture and I don’t think any organizations that my tax dollars pay for should be supporting an organization like the UFC.”
Barracks spokesperson Capt. Norton, when pressed by the veterans at Thursday’s gathering, returned to his office and came back out with a brief written statement, which he gave to the group.
“The issues articulated in the petition regarding inappropriate conduct, alleged or substantiated, by a handful of UFC competitors and leadership are an area of concern that has been addressed with the UFC,” says the statement, which is attributed to the U.S. Marine Corps Recruiting Command.
“We are monitoring the issue and continuously evaluate the effectiveness of our advertising and lead generation partnership,” the statement says. “If corrective action is not implemented, we reserve the option to respond accordingly.”
Ethan Snow, a spokesperson for the group that gathered at the Marine Barracks in D.C. said separate continents of union members and veterans were scheduled to deliver copies of the petitions to U.S. Marine recruiting stations several other cities on Thursday. Among the cities, he said, were Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, Phoenix, and D.C.
He said Unite Here and its veterans contingent also were lobbying for an amendment to the U.S. defense appropriations bill currently pending in Congress that would prohibit the Marines and all other military branches from sponsoring any professional sports event, including major league baseball and football.
A spokesperson for the House Appropriations Committee said the committee accepted the amendment as part of the defense appropriations bill and the measure was expected to reach the House floor next week. However, the House Rules Committee approved a rule allowing any member to introduce an amendment to remove the provision from the bill on the House floor, the spokesperson said.
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, an organization that advocates on behalf of LGBT service members, didn’t immediately respond to a Blade inquiry about whether the group has taken a position on the amendment.
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Congratulations to Raffi Freedman-Gurspan on being appointed Associate Director, Federal Funding & Infrastructure Office, at the Massachusetts Executive Office for Administration & Finance. Freedman-Gurspan will be returning to her hometown of Boston and joining Gov. Maura Healey’s Administration. Freedman-Gurspan served in both the Obama and Biden administrations as well as worked in LGBTQ and redistricting advocacy during her 11 years in D.C.
Freedman-Gurspan was the first openly transgender person on the White House staff when she worked for President Obama. She most recently served at the U.S. Department of Transportation in former Secretary Pete Buttigieg’s office, as Deputy Director of Public Engagement. Previously she worked with the National Redistricting Action Fund/The All On The Line Campaign, as Deputy States Director. She worked for the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) as Director of External Relations. In the Obama White House, she worked in the Office of Public Engagement, as Senior Associate Director. She was the White House Liaison to the LGBTQ community responsible for management of all public inquiries on matters regarding LGBTQ people, including recommending public responses to senior leadership, assisting in drafting administration talking points, and coordinating stakeholder engagement with the White House offices. She worked with the White House, Presidential Personnel Office (PPO), as Outreach and Recruitment Director.
Prior to that she was on the staff of Commonwealth of Massachusetts, House of Representatives Office of State Rep. Carl Sciortino, as legislative director, and worked for the City of Somerville, Health Department, Office of Commissions, Somerville, Mass., as LGBTQ Liaison.
Freedman-Gurspan served on the United States Holocaust Memorial Council, the Presidentially Appointed Council; and as a member, and Board Member, Boston University, College of Arts and Sciences, Women’s, Gender & Sexuality Studies Program.
She earned her bachelor’s degree in Political Science and Norwegian, concentration in Nordic Studies, from St. Olaf College, Northfield, Minn.
District of Columbia
Murdered Israeli embassy officials were supporters of D.C.’s LGBTQ synagogue
Bet Mishpachah calls fatal shooting outside Capital Jewish Museum ‘devastating’
The two Israeli embassy officials who were shot to death outside D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum Wednesday evening, May 21, were strong supporters of Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, according to a statement it released.
“We are especially devastated by the loss of our dear colleague and friend of Bet Mishpachah, Sarah Milgram, and her soon to be fiancé, Yaron Lischinsky,” the LGBTQ synagogue said in a May 22 statement.
“Sarah was the liaison between Bet Mishpachah and the Israeli Embassy, working closely with our staff and clergy,” the statement says. “Her warmth, professionalism, and deep commitment to building bridges within the Jewish community made her not only a trusted partner but a beloved part of our extended congregational family,” according to the statement.
A statement also released on May 22 by the office of the United States Attorney for the District of Columbia says Chicago resident Elias Rodriguez, 30, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder along with other weapons related charges in connection with the shooting deaths of Milgram and Lischinsky.
Officials with the D.C. police and the FBI, which has joined D.C. police in continuing to investigate the case, have said Rodriquez arrived in D.C. from Chicago one day prior to the shooting and appears to have targeted an event taking place at the Capital Jewish Museum for violence at the time it was hosting an event called “Young Diplomats Reception,” in which Israeli Embassy officials were in attendance.
Police and FBI officials have said Rodriguez allegedly shot Milgrim and Lischinsky after they left the Capital Jewish Museum at the conclusion of the event. The museum is located at 575 3rd Street, N.W.
“Surveillance footage reportedly shows Rodriquez walking past the victims before turning and firing multiple rounds,” the U.S. Attorney’s statement says. “After the victims fell, he allegedly continued firing at close range, including as one attempted to crawl away,” it says, adding, “Investigators recovered a 9 mm handgun and 21 spent shell casings at the scene.”
Police have said Rodriguez walked into the Capital Jewish Museum after the shooting and was detained by security guards until D.C. police arrived. Witnesses said he began to shout, “free, free Palestine” before police took him into custody.
“Make no mistake, this attack was targeted, antisemitic violence,” said Steven Jenson, an FBI assistant director working on the investigation. “The FBI will continue to pursue all leads and use all available resources to investigate this heinous murder,” he said in the statement.
The fatal shooting took place five days after the Capital Jewish Museum opened a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on May 16. “This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebrations, activism, and change in the nation’s capital by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum said in a statement announcing the exhibition.
Photos and documents related to Bet Mishpachah make up a prominent part of the exhibition.
During a May 22 press conference organized by the U.S. Attorney for D.C., Jeanine Pirro, to provide an update on the investigation into the two murders, Pirro and FBI official Jensen referred to the two murders as a hate crime and terrorist act.
In response to a question from the Washington Blade asking if investigators were looking into whether the LGBTQ exhibition at the Capital Jewish Museum might have played some role in Gonzales’s motive for targeting the museum, Pirro responded to the question.
“So, we are looking into absolutely everything,” she said. “There is so much information we’re looking at. And I must tell you, coming from New York, I’ve never seen the cooperation and coordination that I’m seeing here. It was immediate. It was instant. It was coordinated. And my hat’s off to this area. We’re going to clean it up, thank you,” she said in ending the press conference.
Josh Maxey, Bet Mishpachah’s executive director, said he and Israeli Embassy official Milgram became friends during their two-and-a-half-year interaction working on joint events between the embassy and Bet Mishpachah.
“This became a wonderful two and a half years journey of putting events together, of hosting events together, doing different programs for the community,” Maxey told the Blade. Among the activities the two worked on, he said, was the embassy’s annual LGBTQ Pride event.
Maxie said his own grieving over the death of Milgram and her boyfriend Lischinsky was heightened by the fact that he spoke with her by phone on the day of the shooting shortly before she arrived at the Jewish Museum over plans about this year’s LGBTQ Pride events.
“Sarah really championed us to be included in Israeli events,” Maxey said. “And so, I am just devastated that this true embodiment of an ally was so viciously and violently taken away from us.”
Delaware
Delaware marriage equality bill advances out of committee
Measure will now go before full state Senate
The bill that would amend Delaware’s state constitution to codify same-sex marriage advanced out of the Senate Executive Committee on Wednesday and now goes to the Senate chamber for a vote. If passed, the vote would go on to the House.
Three members of the committee voted favorable and one voted on its merits, meaning the member recommends the chamber take action on the legislation but does not take a position on what action should be taken.
Senate Bill 100 was introduced in April by Democratic Sen. Russ Huxtable of the sixth district of Delaware and has 21 co-sponsors. It is the first leg of an amendment to the Delaware Constitution. The act would “establish the right to marry as a fundamental right and that Delaware and its political subdivisions shall recognize marriages and issue marriage licenses to couples regardless of gender.”
Senate Substitute One was adopted in lieu of the original bill on May 16. SB 100 originally focused exclusively on marriage equality relating to gender and the bill was tweaked to include protection for all classes that fall under Delaware’s Equal Rights Amendment, including race, color, national origin, and sex.
The Wednesday committee meeting heard testimony on SS 1 for SB 100 from individuals and organizations, including John Reynolds, Deputy Policy and Advocacy Director of Delaware’s chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union.
“After hard fought recent victories, the rights of LGBTQ Americans are under attack in many places across our country,” Reynolds said during his testimony. “It is important that Delaware be proactive and serve as a firewall protecting individual civil liberties. SS 1 for SB 100 is an example of this important work cementing the protections for marriage equality in our state constitution.”
According to Sen. Huxtable, the ACLU helped provide feedback on some of the bill’s language. Reynolds said the ACLU thought it was important to testify because this is a moment when so much is changing.
“These attacks are not just on specific communities, they’re on this concept of equality and liberty,” Reynolds told the Washington Blade. “We need to build these firewalls to both prevent harm to folks on the frontline of these attacks but also ensure that we don’t set very problematic and damaging standards that can be used to roll back protections for large [swaths] of our population.”
SS 1 for SB 100 requires a vote of two-thirds of the members elected to each house of the General Assembly to pass. If passed, the next General Assembly after the next general election also has to pass it. Delaware is the only state in the country that can amend its state constitution without a vote of the people.
The Respect for Marriage Act was passed by the United States Congress in 2022 and signed into law by then-President Joe Biden. It codifies the right to same-sex and interracial marriage, requiring all states to recognize validly performed marriages from other states, regardless of whether they allow same-sex marriage within their own borders.
In Virginia, a bill codifying marriage equality was signed into law in 2024. California, Colorado and Hawaii have also passed amendments to codify same-sex marriage into their constitutions.
“We at the ACLU of Delaware are very excited that SS 1 for SB 100 passed out of committee yesterday,” Reynolds said. “It represents both Sen. Huxtable and the Delaware Legislature’s clear commitment to proactively protecting people’s rights within the LGBT community and outside to ensure that in this moment of uncertainty, we don’t sit idly by and wait for the worst to happen but take control of the things that we can to build the communities that we want.”
‘Things Like This’ embraces formula and plus-size visibility
Calendar: May 23-29
Comings & Goings
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Murdered Israeli embassy officials were supporters of D.C.’s LGBTQ synagogue
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
