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Polyak discusses marriage referendum, future activism

Former Equality Maryland board chair spoke to the Blade less than a month after she stepped down

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Lisa Polyak, gay news, Washington Blade
Lisa Polyak, gay news, Washington Blade

Polyak was lead plaintiff in the Maryland marriage equality lawsuit (Deane and Polyak v. Conaway). (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The former chair of Equality Marylandā€™s Board of Directors stressed on Monday she remains optimistic that voters will uphold the stateā€™s same-sex marriage law in November.

ā€œThe polling trend is definitely way more positive than it has been in the last couple of years, but we continue to see evidence of people feeling strongly in another way,ā€ said Lisa Polyak, referring to the controversy over Chick-fil-A President Dan Cathyā€™s comments against marriage rights for gays and lesbians. She also described Josh Levin of Marylanders for Marriage Equality as a ā€œvery effective campaign managerā€ who has begun to receive the resources she said he needs to defend the same-sex marriage law at the ballot. Polyak added she feels that both President Obamaā€™s support of nuptials for gays and lesbians and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peopleā€™s resolution in support of the issue provided the campaign with additional momentum.

ā€œIf we win in November, it will be in large measure because of those two events,ā€ she said. ā€œThe campaign, rightly, is coming in under that and doing their job efficiently and well.ā€

Polyak and her partner of more than 30 years, Gita Deane, have remained two of the most prominent figures in the fight for nuptials for gays and lesbians in Maryland since they became the lead plaintiffs in the same-sex marriage lawsuit that Equality Maryland and the American Civil Liberties Union filed in 2004. The Maryland Court of Appeals in 2007 ultimately upheld the constitutionality of the stateā€™s ban on nuptials for gays and lesbians, but Polyak stressed to the Blade that she and Deane simply wanted to protect their children.

ā€œThe reason we got involved in the first place was because weā€™ve had all of these sorts of unexpected experiences trying to take care of our kids,ā€ she said, pointing to obtaining health care and passports for the coupleā€™s two daughters and entering the country with them were among the difficulties they faced. ā€œStarry eyed, we thought well weā€™ll get involved with the marriage litigation because you know if we were married we wouldnā€™t have these problems, although of course we had no idea what was ahead.ā€

Polyak said that the children of she and her wife Deane, Maya, who is 16, and Devi, who is 13, ā€œwere fairly renascentā€ about their decision to challenge Marylandā€™s same-sex marriage ban.

ā€œFor the older one, we told her that we were going to be in the litigation and we told her why in terms that we thought were appropriate for her… [what] it boiled down to is that we wanted to be married and that we couldnā€™t be married right now because of the way that the law was and just that she was shocked. And she told us so,ā€ she recalled. ā€œShe goes; what do you mean youā€™re not married? I thought you were my parents and why arenā€™t you married? So it began sort of not just being the public face, but also like having this conversation in an ongoing way with our kids every year of their growth about what they could understand.ā€

Court of Appeals decision was ā€œawful”

ā€œUltimately, for me especially it was important for them to see that even when things donā€™t go the way you want the first time, you donā€™t give up,” said Polyak as she stressed the need for her and Deane to “hold ourselves together for our girls so that they didn’t think bad things were going to happen to them or to our family.”

More than four years after Marylandā€™s highest court ruled against them in Deane and Polyak v. Conway, state lawmakers approved a same-sex marriage bill. Governor Martin Oā€™Malley signed it into law in March. ā€œOf course happiness,ā€ said Polyak when asked about her reaction. ā€œMore than that just relief at not having to visit it again next year, hopefully, with the referendum not withstanding because I think everybody who has worked on this, truthfully, is exhausted.ā€

The looming likelihood of a referendum on the same-sex marriage law once the governor signed it factored heavily into their decision to marry in D.C. last year. Attorney General Douglas Gansler said in Feb. 2010 that the state could recognize same-sex marriages that were legally performed in other jurisdictions. Oā€™Malley subsequently ordered state agencies to recognize such unions.

ā€œMy partner Gita felt very strongly about us getting older, about our kids getting older and you know what would happen if we couldā€™ve got married and we didnā€™t get married, what might that bring if something happened to one of us, and that has to do with our family situation basically,ā€ said Polyak. ā€œAgain, looking again through the eyes of our girls, they knew that marriage was available in D.C. and of course Gita and I wanted to be married. For them it didnā€™t make sense about why werenā€™t we getting married, so we were very aware of our personal needs and then also the fact that we didnā€™t want people in Maryland to think that we were giving up. We werenā€™t telegraphing of course any kind of negativity about the ongoing legislation. We literally went down to D.C. on the down low and we got married with a very small group of people ā€” like eight people who were close to us.ā€

Polyak spoke to the Blade less than a month after she stepped down.

She was appointed acting chair of Equality Marylandā€™s Board of Directors in June 2011 after attorney Chuck Butler resigned in the wake of former executive director Morgan Meneses-Sheetsā€™ April 2011 departure from the organization. The board voted to appoint Polyak chair during Equality Marylandā€™s annual meeting in January.

ā€œI donā€™t know about lessons learned, but I know for Patrick Wojahn, who was the other board chair, and myself, both he and I were plaintiffs in the marriage litigation, and then just through serendipity found ourselves as the board chairs of the respective boards at the time when Equality Maryland went through all those difficulties,ā€ she said. ā€œI think somehow for both of us we werenā€™t going to let it to fall apart. What Equality Maryland aspires to, which is the legal and the policy health of LGBT citizens I think is something both Patrick and I feel strongly in. And without really having a road map about how we were going to sort of keep things from falling completely apart, we just decided that we werenā€™t going to let it happen and we had three of the residual board members who worked with us all last summer. In retrospect I canā€™t believe that we did it, but i think itā€™s just like anything ā€” if you really believe in something, you find a way.ā€

In spite of her departure from Equality Maryland, Polyak said she plans to continue to advocate on behalf of LGBT families and children. She remains the online moderator of Families with Pride, a group for LGBT parents in Baltimore. And it plans to hold a reunion in the coming weeks.

ā€œBoth my girls are getting ready to think about college. And so thatā€™s always time consuming and lots of planning and I want to share in that time with them,ā€ said Polyak. ā€œI have to say both for Gita and for myself, our focus has always been about what is the lack of law, what the lack of protections do to children and so Iā€™m fairly certain that ending Equality Maryland wonā€™t be the end of my sort of advocacy for equality for our community.ā€

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Maryland

Maryland’s Joe Vogel would make history if elected to Congress

27-year-old gay lawmaker running for David Trone seat

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Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) (Photo courtesy of Joe Vogel)

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Monday said it is time for a new generation of leaders in Congress.

The Montgomery County Democrat last May declared his candidacy for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District after Congressman David Trone announced his run for retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)’s seat. Vogel, 27, would be the first Latino, the first gay man and the first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,” Vogel told the Washington Blade during an interview at the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.

Protecting democracy among priorities

Vogel was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Rockville with his family when he was three years old.

He volunteered for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Vogel, who is Jewish, in 2014 worked for Maryland state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County)’s campaign.

He was part of Hillary Clinton’s National Advance Team during her 2016 presidential campaign, and worked on former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2017 gubernatorial bid. Vogel later joined the March for Our Lives movement for gun control that began after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018.

Vogel in 2020 worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)’s presidential campaign. The Montgomery County Democrat in 2022 became the first Gen Zer to win a seat in the Maryland General Assembly. 

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that he has introduced 18 bills in this year’s legislative session. 

One of them, a bill that would prohibit the state from giving foster children in their custody trash bags for them to transport their belongings, passed unanimously in the House on March 14. Other measures that Vogel has sponsored would, among other things, provide security grants to abortion clinics and increase investments in local newspapers.

“I have a record of being able to deliver results,” he said. “That’s what I’m running on.”

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that his platform includes:

  • ā€¢ Protecting democracy
  • ā€¢ Preventing “attacks on fundamental rights”
  • ā€¢ Fighting climate change
  • ā€¢ Stopping gun violence

Vogel also noted his support for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws.

“At a moment of time when you have attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, against our rights, against our identities, I believe that there’s nothing more powerful than electing Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress,” he said.

Vogel added his election would send “a message to all the young LGBTQ+ people across the state that they belong, and that they have someone in the United States Congress who understands them and is going to fight for them every single day,” added Vogel.

Vogel’s great-grandparents fled Europe ahead of the Holocaust. Uruguay’s military dictatorship was in place from 1973-1985. 

His multiple identities remain a cornerstone of his legislative priorities and of his campaign.

“When we talk about the attacks on LGBTQ+ people, I get that. I feel that,” said Vogel. “I understand that when we talk about the attacks on immigrant communities … not only do I understand that, personally, but I’m around so many immigrants that feel that pain of what we’ve seen over the last many years of the incessant attacks on immigrants and Latino people. When we see the rise in anti-Semitism, I feel that personally.”

HRC, Victory Fund have endorsed Vogel

The Democratic primary will take place on May 14.

April McClain Delaney, a former U.S. Department of Commerce official whose husband is former Congressman John Delaney, and state Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery County) are among Vogel’s primary opponents. Former state Del. Dan Cox, an anti-LGBTQ Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, is also running for Trone’s seat.

Campaign finance reports indicate Vogel raised $379,755.91 between May 4, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. McClain Delaney reported she received $536,557 in campaign contributions from Oct. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023.

The Human Rights Campaign, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality PAC and the Sierra Club are among the organizations that have endorsed Vogel’s campaign. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Frederick County Council President Brad Young are among those who have also backed him. The Maryland State Education Association and the National Education Association this week endorsed Vogel.

Vogel dismissed suggestions that he does not have enough legislative experience to run for Congress and that he is too young.

“When you’re elected to Congress, you’re elected for a two-year term,” he said. “Look at what I’ve been able to accomplish in a two-year term. I’ve proven that I can hit the ground running, get results, deliver results.”

Vogel added the race to succeed Trone in Congress is “me versus the status quo.”

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we actually want things to get better in this country,” said Vogel.

Democratic opponent gave money to Jim DeMint

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan last month announced he is running for U.S. Senate. Prince George’s County Executive Director Angela Alsobrooks is also hoping to succeed Cardin.

Vogel sharply criticized Cox. 

“He is as bigoted as it gets,” Vogel told the Blade. “He is a far-right extremist who bussed people to D.C. on Jan. 6, who is as homophobic as it gets, and who is as transphobic as it gets.”

Vogel said Maryland voters in November “need to reject Dan Cox” and “we have to reject Larry Hogan.” (Vogel has endorsed Trone’s Senate campaign.)

“We have to elect pro-equality members of Congress this November, to finally secure the protections that we need for our community in Congress,” said Vogel.

Vogel also vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure that” former President Donald Trump does not win re-election in November.

“Three generations in my family: My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents experienced the loss of democracy,” Vogel told the Blade. “My great-grandparents escaped fascism. My grandparents and parents lived under a repressive military dictatorship in Uruguay, and I see the concern that my parents feel seeing the rise of Trump.”

“I refuse to be the fourth generation in my family who experienced the loss of democracy,” he added. “This November, the election fundamentally is going to decide the future of our democracy.”

Vogel on Sunday during a forum the Frederick County Democratic Party sponsored criticized McClain Delaney over her 2005 campaign donation to then-U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) after he said gay people should not be teachers.

“I can’t imagine making any sort of political contribution to any anti-LGBTQ+, anti-choice, pro-NRA member of the United States Senate, and let alone the maximum allowed contribution,” said Vogel. “There is a stark contrast there.”

‘My heart breaks for what we saw on’ Oct. 7

Vogel spoke with the Blade less than six months after Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.

“It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said. “What concerns me is that Hamas has made clear that they intend to carry out an attack like that again and again and again and again.”

“My heart breaks for what we saw on that day,” added Vogel.

Vogel is among those who attendedĀ a pro-Israel rallyĀ that took place on the National Mall last November. He has also met with relatives of hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.

“Hearing the stories of parents whose kids are still in Gaza, the pain that I feel is tremendous,” said Vogel. “We have to bring those hostages home.”

Vogel told the Blade that Hamas can no longer control Gaza. He also said peace cannot be achieved with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in office.

“If we want to reach peace, a number of things have to happen: Hamas needs to go. We need a change in leadership in Israel and we need diplomatic negotiations to get a bilateral ceasefire, which is not what I think people are calling for when they call for an immediate ceasefire.”

Vogel last October posted to his X account pictures of anti-Semitic graffiti in his apartment building.

He told the Blade the graffiti was removed, but “it took a very long time.” Vogel has introduced a bill that would require the removal of graffiti in a specific period of time if it violates Maryland’s hate crimes law.

Book bans ‘have absolutely no place’

Vogel during the interview also criticized Moms for Liberty and their efforts to ban books in Maryland. He noted Jaime Brennan, the chair of the group’s Frederick County chapter, is running for the county’s Board of Education.

“Book bans in a free democratic society have absolutely no place,” said Vogel.

The Maryland House on March 15 by a 98-37 vote margin approved the Freedom to Read Act. The measure would create a “state policy that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards,” require “each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program” and ban “a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”

The bill is now before the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.

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District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

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Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.ā€™s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a ā€œdynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system ā€¦ building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walkerā€™s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.ā€

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

ā€œHeather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,ā€ the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. ā€œShe has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,ā€ it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

ā€œIn Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,ā€ the announcement continues. ā€œThe care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,ā€ it says. 

ā€œIā€™m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,ā€ Aaron said in the announcement press release. ā€œI look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,ā€ she said. 

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Maryland

How a culture war canceled a 25-year-old LGBTQ workshop for independent schools

St. Paul’s Schools in Baltimore County ran course

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St. Paulā€™s Schools in Baltimore County on March 22, 2024. (Baltimore Banner photo)

BY LILLIAN REED | Angry emails, phone calls and social media comments were pouring into the Association of Independent Maryland & D.C. Schools in January.

Never before had the associationā€™s popular annual ā€œBelonging in Gender and Sexual Identityā€ workshop for private school educators and students generated such negative attention. That was until this yearā€™s event unexpectedly attracted the gaze of national conservative media outlets and their audiences.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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