Local
Md. marriage equality group opposes suspension of Gallaudet administrator
Diversity provost placed on leave for signing anti-gay marriage petition
Angela McCaskill was placed on Administrative leave when it was revealed she’d signed the Maryland marriage petition, after names of the petition signers were obtained and published by the Washington Blade.
The leader of the campaign supporting Maryland’s same-sex marriage law in a Nov. 6 voter referendum is calling on D.C.’s Gallaudet University to reverse a decision to suspend a campus diversity officer for signing a petition calling for overturning the marriage equality law.
Josh Levin, campaign manager for Marylanders for Marriage Equality, released a statement Wednesday evening expressing opposition to Gallaudet’s decision to place Dr. Angela McCaskill, a Maryland resident and the school’s Associate Provost of Diversity and Inclusion, on paid administrative leave.
“We strongly disagree with the decision to put the chief diversity officer on leave and hope she is reinstated immediately,” Levin said in his statement. “Everyone is entitled to free speech and to their own opinion about Question 6, which is about treating everyone fairly and equally under the law.”
Levin’s statement followed by several hours a statement from Derek McCoy, chair of the Maryland Marriage Alliance, one of the leading groups calling on voters to defeat the same-sex marriage law in the referendum.
“I join an ever-growing number of Marylanders in expressing my complete dismay over Gallaudet University’s decision to place Dr. Angela McCaskill on administrative leave for signing the marriage referendum petition,” McCoy said.
The statements by Levin and McCoy marked a rare turn of events that placed the two opposing leaders and their organizations in agreement over McCaskill’s situation.
Gallaudet University is one of the nation’s most prominent colleges for the deaf and hard of hearing.
The news that McCaskill had been placed on paid administrative leave came from a statement issued on Wednesday by Gallaudet President T. Alan Hurwitz.
“It recently came to my attention that Dr. McCaskill has participated in a legislative initiative that some feel is inappropriate for an individual serving as Chief Diversity Officer; however, other individuals feel differently,” Hurwitz said.
“I will use the extended time while she is on administrative leave to determine the appropriate next steps taking into consideration the duties of this position at the university,” he said. “In the meantime an interim chief Diversity Officer will be announced in the near future.”
McCaskill’s decision to sign the referendum petition was first reported by the blog Planet DeafQueer, a news site widely read in the LGBT deaf community throughout the country.
The blog reported that an unidentified Gallaudet faculty member filed a complaint against McCaskill with the university last week after discovering McCaskill had signed the petition that called for a referendum on the same-sex marriage law in Maryland.
Opponents of the marriage law gathered more than 200,000 petition signatures, far more than needed to place the law on the ballot in November after the Maryland General Assembly passed it and Gov. Martin O’Malley signed the marriage equality measure in March.
In July, the Maryland board of elections made available to the public a database of all those who signed the petition. The Washington Blade published the database.
The unidentified faculty member at Gallaudet reportedly accessed the information from the Blade and discovered that Angela Patrice McCaskill of Upper Marlboro in Prince George’s County was among those who signed the petition.
Planet DeafQueer reports that McCaskill’s decision to sign the petition came as a shock to the school’s LGBT students because she was a strong supporter of the school’s Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Ally (LGBTQA) Resource Center, which opened on National Coming Out day on Oct. 11, 2011.
The school’s website says her duties include promoting diversity and inclusiveness in all of the university’s programs and activities for all groups, including LGBT people.
“LGBT students, faculty and staff we spoke to said they felt shock, disappointment, anger and betrayal upon learning of the signed petition,” Planet DeafQueer reported in an Oct. 8 posting. “Some are calling for Dr. McCaskill’s resignation. Others are waiting for an official response from Dr. McCaskill and wondering if it will be possible for her to regain her trust,” the blog reported.
McCaskill could not immediately be reached for comment. Gallaudet’s official spokesperson, Catherine Murphy, didn’t return a call seeking comment as of late Wednesday.
According to Planet DeafQueer, prior to filing the complaint, the faculty member who discovered the signature confronted McCaskill about why she signed the anti-gay petition.
“Dr. McCaskill confirmed that she had in fact signed the petition and explained that she had done so while at church, after her preacher had preached against gay marriage,” Planet DeafQueer reported the faculty member as saying. “As she was leaving, her husband pointed to the petition and she signed it without giving it further thought.”
The blog report added, “Dr. McCaskill is expected to issue an apology.”
A source familiar with Gallaudet University, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Blade Hurwitz’s decision to place McCaskill on administrative leave has aggravated what the source called longstanding racial and gay-straight tensions within the campus community.
“There is a long history of competition between black and white deaf people and gays and straights on this campus,” said the source.
McCaskill became the first deaf African-American female to earn a Ph.D. from Gallaudet, according to her official biography on the university website.
The source noted that LGBT students and faculty members at Gallaudet were genuinely upset that someone they viewed as a supporter and ally would sign an anti-gay petition, especially in her role as head of the school’s diversity and inclusion program.
But others, the source said, view the development as an overly hasty decision by Hurwitz, who is white, to remove one of the university’s few high-level black administrators over her decision to exercise her First Amendment right to sign a petition in her role as a private citizen of Maryland.
The source said members of an anonymous email network of people affiliated with Gallaudet known as the “Gallynet” denounced the decision to place McCaskill on administrative leave.
“Angela is tarred and feathered and lynched without ever having a chance to defend herself. Shame,” one anonymous person said in an email sent through the network. “So now it’s the LGBT community vs. us black deaf. Sigh!”
The source who spoke to the Blade expressed disagreement with this person’s claim that LGBT deaf people and black deaf people at Gallaudet were at odds with each other.
“The deaf gays, both black and white, are often caught in the middle of this,” the source said.
Delaware
Del. governor signs order to protect gender-affirming care
Directive to safeguard personal data of patients, providers
Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer signed an executive order to protect gender-affirming care on June 20 at the CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, followed by the first meeting of the newly formed LGBTQ commission, which will work to protect the rights of LGBTQ Delawareans.
Executive Order 11 makes Delaware a shield state for providers of gender-affirming care. It prohibits state agencies from cooperating with investigations, subpoenas, or legal actions by other states against individuals or providers involved in care that is legal in Delaware.
Gender-affirming care refers to a range of medical, psychological, and social services that are designed to support transgender and nonbinary individuals towards aligning their outward characteristics with their gender identity.
“Across the country, people are being punished for seeking or providing gender-affirming care,” said Meyer in a press release. “In Delaware, we cherish privacy, dignity, and the right to make personal medical decisions. Everyone deserves the freedom to access healthcare rooted in science and compassion.”
CAMP Rehoboth Communications Director Matty Brown said the center was “honored” to be the location for the signing. He said the atmosphere was “emotionally charged” and “joyous” with many “tears of joy.”
“CAMP Rehoboth applauds this executive order,” Brown told the Washington Blade. “This is a clear signal to all Delawareans that all are welcome to thrive here … We know that medical care should be between the provider and the patient, so we are so excited to see Gov. Meyer uphold that.”
State Rep. DeShanna Neal spoke at the event and told a story of her fight with the state to get gender-affirming care for her trans daughter.
“I want to thank Gov. Meyer for his actions today and helping me keep a 20-year promise to my daughter and all the families that this fight has helped,” said Neal.
At least 14 other states and D.C. have passed similar protective laws designed to shield providers and patients from laws in states where gender-affirming care is restricted or criminalized.
“Transgender Delawareans and those traveling here for care can now breathe a little easier,” said Cora Castle, chair of the LGBTQ Commission. “This executive order reflects what science and medical experts have made clear for years: gender-affirming care is lifesaving. It also shows what happens when people with lived experience are trusted to help shape policy — we lead with both empathy and evidence. Delaware is proving what it means to protect all its people.”
District of Columbia
Rainbow History Project WorldPride exhibition hit by vandalism
Organizers scramble to repair damaged exhibits in D.C.’s Freedom Plaza
At least five of the multiple exhibits displayed in D.C.’s Freedom Plaza as part of the local Rainbow History Project’s WorldPride exhibition have been damaged by one or more vandals since the exhibition opened on May 18, according to Vincent Slatt, one of the exhibition’s lead organizers.
The most recent incident took place during the early morning hours of Sunday, June 22, when someone pulled down two of the exhibits displayed on decorated chain link fences, Slatt told the Washington Blade.
The Rainbow History Project exhibition, called “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington,” has been available for public viewing 24 hours each day since it opened in Freedom Plaza, which is located near the White House on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. between 13th and 14th streets.
Slatt says it will remain open until its scheduled closing on July 6, regardless of efforts by vandals to strike at its individual LGBTQ exhibits.
“Covering 1965 to the present, the exhibition explores the history of Pride in D.C. in 10 distinct thematic eras,” a statement released by Rainbow History Project says. “Each of the 10 areas are detailed in thematic cubes rich with history and visuals,” it says.
Slatt said at least two instances of vandalism, including the June 22 incident, occurred between 11 p.m. and 6 a.m. during the time when a security guard working for a security company retained by Rainbow History Project was scheduled to be on duty at the Freedom Plaza site. But Slatt said the guard appears to have left before his shift was supposed to end, leaving the exhibition unsupervised.
“And so sometime during that security guard’s shift last night it happened,” said Slatt, referring to the two exhibits that were pulled down Sunday morning, June 22.
He said a decision was made later that day to fire the security company and retain another company to provide security for the 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. shift. Slatt said volunteers recruited by Rainbow History Project have been acting as “monitors” to secure the site during daytime and the evening up to 11 p.m. He said the group was unable to recruit volunteers to staff the shift from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m.
Rainbow History Project, according to Slatt, received a $1,000 payment invoice from the company that has been providing the metal fencing for the exhibits under a rental agreement after one of the vandals damaged two ten-foot-by-ten-foot fencing strips beyond repair last week.
Slatt said a possible suspect for acts of vandalism appeared in Freedom Plaza the day before the exhibition opened on May 17, as volunteers were setting up the exhibits.
“The first night we were out there we had a homophobe yelling at us when he saw the word gay,” said Slatt, who described the person as a white male with red hair and a red beard appearing in his 30s or 40s in age. “He’s been out here a couple of times preaching the Bible and yelling slurs,” Slatt said.
At least one witness, a homeless man who sometimes sleeps in Freedom Plaza at night, has reported seeing a man fitting that same description vandalizing an exhibit, Slatt told the Blade.
He said Rainbow History Project has reported the vandalism incidents to the U.S. Park Police, which has jurisdiction over Freedom Plaza. A Park Police officer who came to the site on June 22 to prepare a report on the latest incident advised exhibition volunteers to call police immediately if they see the male suspect return to the site.
As if all this were not enough, Slatt said a few of the exhibits that had been damaged by a vandal and were structurally weakened were blown down by high winds during the storm that hit the D.C. area on June 19. He said volunteer workers put everything back together over the next few days only to have the yet unidentified vandal or vandals pull down two other exhibits on June 22.
District of Columbia
Norton reintroduces bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ jurors in D.C. Superior Court
Congresswoman notes Congress controls local court system
D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Friday, June 20, reintroduced her bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ D.C. residents in the process for selecting people to serve as jurors in D.C. Superior Court.
“The bill would clarify that D.C. residents may not be excluded or disqualified from jury service in the local D.C. trial court, the D.C. Superior Court, based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Norton said in a statement.
“Specifically, this bill would clarify that the term ‘sex,’ which is a protected class under the nondiscrimination law that applies to jurors in the D.C. Superior Court includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” Norton said.
She points out in her statement that under the D.C. Home Rule Act approved by Congress that created D.C.’s local government, including an elected mayor and City Council, the federal government retained control over the local court system.
“Therefore, until D.C. is given authority to amend Title 11 of the D.C. Code, which one of my bills would do, an act of Congress is required to clarify that LGBTQ+ jurors in the D.C. Superior Court are protected from discrimination,” according to her statement.
A spokesperson for Norton couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Norton is aware of specific instances where residents were denied jury service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Online records of congressional action on Norton’s juror nondiscrimination bill show she had introduced it in 2019, 2021, and 2023, when it died in committee each year, except for the 117th Congress in 2022, when it was approved by a committee but died in the full House.
“During Pride month we are reminded of the many contributions of the LGBTQ+ community,” Norton said in her June 20 statement. “Nobody, including D.C. jurors, should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and D.C. juries should not be deprived of the service of LGBTQ residents,” she added.
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