Connect with us

Local

Former RNC chair to co-host Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser

Governor Martin O’Malley scheduled to attend Sept. 13 event in New York City

Published

on

Ken Mehlman (screen capture from CSREurope via You Tube)

Former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman is among those who will co-host a New York City fundraiser next month for the group defending Maryland’s same-sex marriage law.

Governor Martin O’Malley is scheduled to speak at the Marylanders for Marriage Equality event that will take place at the James Hotel in lower Manhattan on Sept. 13. Gay director John Waters; who is from Baltimore; is on the host committee alongside Mehlman, actor Josh Charles, supermodel Hilary Rhoda and other native Marylanders. Comedian Sandra Bernhard, actresses Julianne Moore and Sarah Jessica Parker, hip hop mogul Russell Simmons, Bravo’s Andy Cohen and former New York Rangers forward Sean Avery are among the other co-hosts.

Tickets range from $250 – $25,000.

“We’re excited to be putting together this event, and thankful that so many have volunteered to serve as hosts,” Josh Levin, campaign director for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, told the Blade. “Voters in Maryland know that this vote will be about treating everyone fairly and equally under the law, and just like the hundreds of volunteers who joined us to knock on doors this weekend, these supporters will help us get the word out.”

Avery, who appeared in a campaign last year that featured prominent New Yorkers who supported same-sex marriage, stressed that he feels he and others who back the issue are “fighting the same fight.” Gays and lesbians began to legally marry in the Empire State in July 2011 after Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed New York’s same-sex marriage bill into law.

“We started in New York and a lot of us live here who are involved in this, but it’s really a nationwide issue and a bigger global issue,” Avery told the Blade.

Mehlman was not immediately available for comment because he is out of the country. Brian Ellner, who directed the Human Rights Campaign’s efforts in support of New York’s same-sex marriage bill, told the Blade that he feels those behind the Sept. 13 fundraiser are deeply committed to defending Maryland and Washington’s same-sex marriage laws in November. He further stressed they remain steadfast supporters of efforts to allow gays and lesbians to legally marry in Maine and continue to fight against a proposed constitutional amendment that would define marriage in Minnesota as between a man and a woman.

“New Yorkers stepped up big to support equality here last year and we are also getting behind these four November referenda,” said Ellner. “Now is the time to start winning these ballot questions. I know we will.”

The New York City fundraiser is slated to take place five weeks after HRC pledged $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality as part of an additional $1 million to support same-sex marriage efforts in Maryland, Washington, Minnesota and Maine. This donation comes on top of the $728,000 in cash and in-kind contributions that HRC given to Marylanders for Marriage Equality and $853,000 it contributed to the legislative campaign to secure passage of the state’s same-sex marriage law earlier this year.

Freedom to Marry announced earlier this month that its contributions to statewide ballot measures in Maine, Minnesota and Washington have topped $3 million. The organization hopes to raise an additional $10 million for these campaigns

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, stressed to the Blade that his group has provided a “huge amount of messaging, research and experience and council” to Marylanders for Marriage Equality. He noted that the organization has not only urged its supporters to donate to the campaign, but invited Marylanders for Marriage Equality take part in what he described as “regular calls” between the four campaign managers to “coordinate and share best practices, brainstorm and problem solve.”

“Freedom to Marry is providing assistance to the campaign in Maryland in a number of ways and is looking constantly for ways we can be helpful,” he said. “At the same time we have also taken the lead as the primary out of state funder and supporter in three of the four ballot measures and look to other organizations — most notably HRC — to take a similar role and lead in Maryland, even as we continue to look for ways for advancing the cause across the board.”

Marylanders for Marriage Equality has yet to publicly disclose the amount of money it has raised, but it netted $250,000 at a Chevy Chase fundraiser last month. Levin has repeatedly stressed he remains confident it can successfully defend the state’s same-sex marriage law with between $5 and $7 million.

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Maryland

Silver Spring holds annual Pride In The Plaza

‘Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience’

Published

on

A scene from Pride in the Plaza in Silver Spring, Md. on Sunday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Silver Spring’s annual Pride in the Plaza event took place on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ community and emphasize inclusion and resilience.

“Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience, love,” Robyn Woods, program and outreach director for Live In Your Truth, which organized the event, said. “I mean, just being surrounded by the community and so many great entrepreneurs, business owners, and just being a part of this whole rainbow coalition that we call the LGBTQIA to be about.”

With the event being her first time organizing for Live In Your Truth, Woods said she felt emotional to see the support and love at the event.

“Some people (are) bringing out their children, their babies, their grandparents,” Woods said. “It’s a lot more allies here than anything else. That type of support to me means so much more than just support from my community; just outside support, inside support, so much support around it, so much love. Everyone’s smiling outside, helping each other.” 

Attendees of the event were able to head over to the Family Fun Zone, an air-conditioned Pride Cool Down Lounge, or watch live drag performances in the main stage area. 

Along with entertainment and a shaved-ice stand, rows of information tables stood along the plaza, including FreeState Justice, the Washington Spirit, Trans Maryland, Moco Pride Center, and the Heartwood Program, an organization that offers support, therapy, education, and resources to the LGBTQ community. 

“I want people to know about our services, and I love what we have to offer,” Jessica Simon, psychotherapist for Heartwood Program’s Gender Wellness Clinic, said. “I (also) want to be part of a celebration with the community, and so it feels good to be here with other people who have something they want to give to the community.”

She added that within today’s political climate, to which she called an “antidote to shame,” it’s important to be celebrating Pride. 

“There’s a lot of demonization of LGBTQI people,” Siena Iacuvazzi, facilitator for Maryland Trans Unity, said. “(Pride) is part of the healing process.” 

Iacuvazzi said she was taught to be ashamed of who she was growing up, but being a part of a community helped her flourish in the future. 

“I was taught how to hate myself. I was taught that I was an abomination to God,” she said. “But being a community is like understanding that there are people who have experienced the same thing, and they’re flourishing. They’re flourishing because they’re willing to stand up for themselves as human beings and discover themselves and understand what’s true for themselves.”

She added that Pride allows for a mutual understanding to take place. 

“It’s more of a sense of belonging … and just taking that home and understanding you’re not alone,” Iacuvazzi said. “We’re each taking our own journey — we’re not putting that on each other. It’s just walking away with a sense of belonging and humanity.”

Similar to Iacuvazzi, Woods said she hopes attendees’ biggest takeaways would be family, fun, resilience, and pride. 

“Being proud of yourself, being happy for who you are, and representation and how much it matters,” she continued. “And I think all these young people that are walking around here get to see versions of themselves, but older. They get to see so many different lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual people that are successful, that are showing love, that care, and it’s not how we’re portrayed in the media. It’s lovely to see it out here. (It’s) like we’re one big old, happy family.”

Continue Reading

Virginia

Spanberger touts equality, reproductive rights in Arlington

Democratic Va. gubernatorial nominee made campaign stop at Freddie’s Beach Bar

Published

on

Abigail Spanberger speaks at Freddie's Beach Bar in Arlington, Va., on June 27, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

With the general election heating up and LGBTQ rights under increasing threat nationwide, Virginia gubernatorial candidate Abigail Spanberger brought her “Span Virginia Bus Tour” to Arlington’s Freddie’s Beach Bar for a campaign stop filled with cheers, policy pledges, and community spirit.

Spanberger, who served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2019 through early 2025 for Virginia’s 7th Congressional District, also served as a federal law enforcement officer specializing in narcotics and money laundering cases, and as a CIA case officer working on counterterrorism and nuclear counterproliferation.

Spanberger is running against Republican nominee Winsome Earle-Sears, the current lieutenant governor of Virginia, who said she was “morally opposed” to a bill protecting marriage equality in the commonwealth.

She was joined by other Democratic candidates and supporters: lieutenant gubernatorial candidate Ghazala Hashmi, attorney general candidate Jay Jones, Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), and Congressman Don Beyer.

From left: Freddie Lutz, Abigail Spanberger, Ghazala Hashmi, and Jay Jones at Freddie’s Beach Bar on June 27, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

Freddie’s was packed wall-to-wall with supporters, many of whom wore “Spanberger for Virginia” shirts in the progressive Pride flag colors. In her speech, she made it clear that LGBTQ Virginians’ rights are on the ballot this year.

“I’m so excited to be here, and I am so grateful to the entire staff of Freddy’s for letting us overtake this incredible venue that is not just an awesome place to come together in community, but is a symbol to so many people of joy, of happiness, of community and of celebrating our friends and our neighbors,” Spanberger told the packed restaurant. “It is exciting to be here, and particularly during this Pride month, and particularly as we reflect on the 10-year anniversary of Obergefell and the reality that we still have so much work to do.”

“The reality is there are so many people who still would be inclined to take us backwards,” she said. “In this moment when we see attacks on people’s rights, on people’s humanity, on Virginia, on our economy, on research, on public education, on food security, on health care, on Virginians, on their jobs, on public service and on people — it can get heavy.”

“What it does for me is it makes me want to double down, because once upon a time, when I was talking to my mother about some horror show or sequence of activities coming out of a particular administration, she did not really have the patience to listen to me and said ‘Abigail, let your rage fuel you’ — and the conversation was over. And so I reflect on that, because, in fact, every day there is so much fuel to be had in this world and in this moment.”

One of the points Spanberger continued to emphasize was the importance of steadfast state government officials following the election of President Donald Trump, which has led to rollbacks of LGBTQ and bodily autonomy rights as a result of the conservative-majority U.S. Supreme Court.

“What the past few years have shown us is that a Supreme Court decision, no matter how many years we have celebrated its existence, does not protect us in the long term. And so as governor, I will work to make sure that every protection we can put in place for the dignity, the value, and the equal rights of all Virginians is a priority.”

During her speech, Spanberger highlighted several of the key values driving her campaign — protecting reproductive freedom and human rights, lowering healthcare costs, safeguarding Virginia’s environment, and ensuring that public education is affordable, accessible, and rooted in truth, not politics.

Spanberger went as far as to say that she wants to amend the state’s constitution to remove Section 15-A. “The reality is that in Virginia, we still have a ban in our state constitution on marriage equality. It is of the utmost urgency that we move forward with our constitutional amendment.”

“We will work to ensure that that terrible constitutional amendment, that was put in years ago, is taken out and updated and ensuring that Virginia is reflective in our most essential documents of who we are as a commonwealth, which is an accepting place that celebrates the vibrancy of every single person and recognizes that all Virginians have a place, both in that constitution and in law,” she added.

Following the event, two supporters spoke to the Washington Blade about why they had come out to support Spanberger.

“I came out because I needed to show support for this ticket, because it has been a particularly rough week, but a long few years for our rights in this country, in this state, with this governor, and it’s — we need to flip it around, because queer people need protection,” said Samantha Perez, who lives in Ballston. “Trans people need protection. Trans kids need protection. And it’s not gonna happen with who’s in Richmond right now, and we just need to get it turned around.”

Samantha Perez and Annie Styles (Washington Blade photo by Joe Reberkenny)

“The whole neighborhood’s here. All our friends are here,” said Annie Styles of Pentagon City. “It means the world to me to take care of each other. That’s what a good community does. That’s not what we’ve had with the Republicans here or across the nation for a really long time. It’s time to show that care. It’s time to make sure that good people are in a position to do good things.”

Continue Reading

District of Columbia

Activists protest outside Hungarian Embassy in DC

Budapest Pride scheduled to take place Saturday, despite ban

Published

on

Activists on the eve of Budapest Pride protest outside the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on June 27, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

More than two dozen activists gathered in front of the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on Friday to protest the country’s ban on Budapest Pride and other LGBTQ-specific events.

Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien read a letter that Dávid Vig, executive director of Amnesty International Hungary, wrote.

“For 30 years Budapest Pride has been a celebration of hope, courage, and love,” said Vig in the letter that O’Brien read. “Each march through the streets of Budapest has been a powerful testament to the resilience of those who dare to demand equality, but a new law threatens to erase Pride and silence everyone who demands equal rights for LGBTI people.”

“The Hungarian government’s relentless campaign against LGBTI rights represents a worrying trend that can spread normalizing division and hatred,” added Vig. “Thank you for standing with us when we refuse to be intimidated.”

Council for Global Equality Chair Mark Bromley and two of his colleagues — Stephen Leonelli and Keifer Buckingham — also spoke. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Chloe Schwenke, a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Planned Parenthood staffers are among those who attended the protest.

(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)

Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs in April amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.

Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on Saturday, despite the ban. Hundreds of European lawmakers are expected to participate.

“Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love,” said David Pressman, the gay former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, on Friday on social media.

Continue Reading

Popular