Local
Exclusive: Md. marriage campaign raises $3.2 million
Marylanders for Marriage Equality will submit financial report to state election officials late on Friday
Marylanders for Marriage Equality campaign director Josh Levin (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The group defending Maryland’s same-sex marriage law will report later on Friday that it has raised $3.2 million.
Marylanders for Marriage Equality’s campaign finance report that it will file with state officials will also note total expenditures of slightly more than $2 million, with roughly $1.2 million cash on-hand. It will indicate just short of $400,000 of in-kind donations from the Human Rights Campaign and other organizations.
The report will also include more than 950 pages of donors and contributions.
“We truly appreciate the generous support of all those who believe in fairness and equality – particularly the thousands of grassroots supporters all over the state,” Josh Levin, campaign manager of Marylanders for Equality, told the Washington Blade.
Marylanders for Marriage Equality has held a number of high-profile fundraisers with Gov. Martin O’Malley, gay former Republican National Committee Chair Ken Mehlman, Ravens linebacker Brendan Ayanbadejo and others over the last several months. Former National Football League Commissioner Paul Tagliabue and his wife Chan announced a $100,000 donation to the campaign during an Oct. 2 fundraiser at gay Democratic lobbyist Steve Elmendorf’s Logan Circle home that O’Malley; D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray; Chip DiPaula, former Maryland Gov. Robert Ehrlich, Jr.,’s chief-of-staff and others attended.
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who attended Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, announced earlier on Friday that he had donated $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality. This donation will be the largest single contribution listed on the campaign’s report.
It will further note $1.6 million in media buys on local television stations through Nov. 6 — the first Marylanders for Marriage Equality ads that feature Rev. Donté Hickman of Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore and Rev. Delman Coates of Mount Ennon Baptist Church in Clinton in Prince George’s County aired on WBAL in Baltimore on Tuesday. The first ad from the Maryland Marriage Alliance, the group opposing Question 6, began running on the same television on Monday — they have also begun to air on News 4 in D.C.
Levin told the Blade in June he was confident that he could run what he described as a “winning campaign” with between $5 and $7 million. O’Malley told LGBT journalists and bloggers on a Sept. 24 teleconference call that the campaign needed to raise another $2 million ahead of the Nov. 6 referendum.
“I would say we are far along to our goal,” he said in response to the Blade’s question about specific fundraising figures during the briefing. “We are beyond the 50-yard line and we continue to move forward, not back.”
O’Malley said during the Oct. 2 fundraiser in D.C. that Marylanders for Marriage Equality needed to raise another $1 million before Election Day.
Marylanders for Marriage Equality will file its campaign finance report on the same day HRC gave the group an additional $150,000 and another $150,000 to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People’s Maryland Marriage PAC. HRC has given Marylanders for Marriage Equality $652,000 from July 11 through Oct. 7.
The report will also show $50,000 in in-kind donations from the ACLU of Maryland.
“We’ve always said this is a $5 million- plus campaign and hope to meet that goal as we enter the final stretch,” said Levin.
The Maryland Marriage Alliance notes in its own campaign finance report that it has raised $838,620.74. The anti-Question 6 group further reported $510,513.63 in expenditures and a cash balance of $328,107.11.
The National Organization for Marriage gave $400,000 to the Maryland Marriage Alliance. The Connecticut-based Knights of Columbus contributed $250,000 to the anti-Question 6 campaign.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert
A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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