Local
Supporters of Md. marriage law remain hopeful going into Election Day
Question 6 backers concede opposition has ‘been tough’
Silver Spring resident Deb Ferranz calls voters for Question 6 at Marylanders for Marriage Equality’s office in Silver Spring on Saturday (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Supporters of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law said over the weekend they remain optimistic voters on Election Day will support Question 6.
“I want Maryland to make history,” said Silver Spring resident Laurette Cucuzzo as she called voters from Marylanders for Maryland Equality’s office in Silver Spring on Saturday afternoon. “I’m very excited about this. My sister’s gay and I want to support everyone’s right to equality. I think it’s really important.”
Silver Spring resident Deb Ferrenz also spoke to the Washington Blade as she called voters. She has been a Marylanders for Marriage Equality volunteer for several months, but she said the issue is important to her because her lesbian daughter married in Massachusetts.
“We’re saying kind of are you aware that there is getting a change to vote for a law that lets gay and lesbian couples get legally married in our state,” Ferrenz said. “And that we think it’s a matter of fairness and we hope they agree and they are planning to vote for Question 6.”
Maegan Marcano of Northeast Washington traveled to Silver Spring to “support Maryland.” She noted to the Blade as she sat with Cucuzzo and Mai-Kim Norman of D.C. same-sex couples began to legally marry in the nation’s capital in 2010 after D.C. Council passed a bill allowing nuptials for gays and lesbians.
“We were able to do that in the District of Columbia,” said Marcano, noting the passage of the city’s same-sex marriage bill did not happen without debate and even controversy. “It’s a little heart-wrenching that people who are not involved in our lives in the gay and lesbian community have to vote on this issue so that’s why I’m here to really kind of try to get that extra push.”
A Goucher College poll released Oct. 29 found 55 percent of Marylanders support marriage rights for same-sex couples in the state, compared to 39 percent who oppose them. A Washington Post survey published Oct. 18 noted 52 percent of Maryland voters support Question 6, compared to 42 percent who said they oppose it.
A third poll the Baltimore Sun conducted between Oct. 20-23 noted only 46 percent of respondents would vote for the law Gov. Martin O’Malley signed in March.
The governor, National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Chair Emeritus Julian Bond and other Question 6 supporters maintain the same-sex marriage law protects religious freedom in spite of opponents who continue to claim it does not.
“It is not a protection for churches,” said state Del. Kathy Afzali (R-Frederick County) during an anti-Question 6 rally at Baker Park in Frederick on Nov. 4. She cited Vermont innkeepers who claim a lesbian couple from New York sued them after they refused to host their wedding reception. Afzali also highlighted the suburban Boston man who maintains police arrested him in 2005 because he demanded his son’s teachers not expose him to discussions about homosexuality. “I’m not making this up. You can Google the stories. It’s true. So when they tell you that you’re protected, you are not protected.”
A van with anti-gay marriage signs and banners parked near an anti-Question 6 event at a Frederick park on Nov. 4. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
State Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) was among those who also spoke during the Frederick gathering that drew a few dozen people. Pastor Luke Robinson of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Frederick noted Superstorm Sandy struck New York City after Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality.
“We believe marriage is and should remain defined as a union of one man and one woman,” said Peter Sprigg of Family Research Council, during the same event. “The second message is, if I can paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, that government of the people, by the people and for the people shall not parish in the state of Maryland.”
Sprigg noted the Maryland Court of Appeals in 2007 upheld the state’s ban on same-sex marriages based on what the majority concluded was the state’s “legitimate interests in fostering procreation” and “encouraging the traditional family structure in which children are born are reasonably related to defining marriage as the union of one man and one woman.” He also said LGBT advocates failed to spur Annapolis lawmakers to pass a same-sex marriage bill until earlier this year.
“Finally in 2012 they succeeded in pushing through this redefinition of our most fundamental social institution but we the people did not surrender,” Sprigg said. “As you heard we got at least three times the signatures needed to put this issue on the ballot. So the House of Delegates has had their say. The Senate has had their say. The governor has had their say, but on Tuesday we the people have our say.”
He further urged Maryland voters to use what he described as “simple common sense” when they go into the voting booth.
“On this issue I feel like people sometimes ignore the obvious: it takes one man and one woman to make a baby,” Sprigg said. “Marriage exists to encourage the man and woman to raise the child produced by their union. It is no disrespect to your friends or neighbors or relatives who may self-identify as gay or lesbian to say that; any more than it’s disrespectful to hard-working single parents or those living with relatives they’re not permitted to marry or those who choose not to marry at all. But the definition of marriage is not about finding the least common denominator. It’s about upholding the highest ideal. Society needs children. Children do best when they have a mom and a dad.”
Pastor Matt Braddock of Christ Congregational Church in Silver Spring disagreed with those who continue to claim Question 6 does not ensure religious freedom. More than 30 people took part in a 24-hour vigil in support of the same-sex marriage law on Nov. 2-3.
“People in this congregation who’ve been doing door-to-door canvassing I think are getting very positive messages from the households they are visiting, but the opposition has been tough,” Braddock told the Blade inside the sanctuary when asked how he feels going into Election Day. “They’ve been miscommunicating the facts and scaring people intentionally. I’ve been praying for 24 hours that people don’t believe lies and really respond generously.”
Like Braddock, gay state Sen. Rich Madaleno said he remains “guardedly optimistic” about Question 6 ahead of Tuesday.
“I feel really good about our chances,” he told the Blade at Marylanders for Marriage Equality’s Silver Spring office on Saturday afternoon. “I feel like we’ve really done almost everything we can do to put ourselves in the position to win. I’m heartened by the fact that poll after poll continues to show us ahead by substantial leads.”
Gay state Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County) phone banks for Question 6 at Marylanders for Marriage Equality’s Silver Spring office on Saturday (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
District of Columbia
D.C. police arrest man for burglary at gay bar Spark Social House
Suspect ID’d from images captured by Spark Social House security cameras
D.C. police on Feb. 18 arrested a 63-year-old man “of no fixed address” for allegedly stealing cash from the registers at the gay bar Spark Social House after unlawfully entering the bar at 2009 14th St., N.W., around 12:04 a.m. after it had closed for business, according to a police incident report.
“Later that day officers canvassing for the suspect located him nearby,” a separate police statement says. “63-year-old Tony Jones of no fixed address was arrested and charged with Burglary II,” the statement says.
The police incident report states that the bar’s owner, Nick Tsusaki, told police investigators that the bar’s security cameras captured the image of a man who has frequently visited the bar and was believed to be homeless.
“Once inside, the defendant was observed via the establishment’s security cameras opening the cash register, removing U.S. currency, and placing the currency into the left front pocket of his jacket,” the report says.
Tsusaki told the Washington Blade that he and Spark’s employees have allowed Jones to enter the bar many times since it opened last year to use the bathroom in a gesture of compassion knowing he was homeless. Tsusaki said he is not aware of Jones ever having purchased anything during his visits.
According to Tsusaki, Spark closed for business at around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the incident at which time an employee did not properly lock the front entrance door. He said no employees or customers were present when the security cameras show Jones entering Spark through the front door around 12:04 a.m.
Tsusaki said the security camera images show Jones had been inside Spark for about three hours on the night of the burglary and show him taking cash out of two cash registers. He took a total of $300, Tsusaki said.
When Tsusaki and Spark employees arrived at the bar later in the day and discovered the cash was missing from the registers they immediately called police, Tsusaki told the Blade. Knowing that Jones often hung out along the 2000 block of 14th Street where Spark is located, Tsusaki said he went outside to look for him and saw him across the street and pointed Jones out to police, who then placed him under arrest.
A police arrest affidavit filed in court states that at the time they arrested him police found the stolen cash inside the pocket of the jacket Jones was wearing. It says after taking him into police custody officers found a powdered substance in a Ziploc bag also in Jones’s possession that tested positive for cocaine, resulting in him being charged with cocaine possession in addition to the burglary charge.
D.C. Superior Court records show a judge ordered Jones held in preventive detention at a Feb. 19 presentment hearing. The judge then scheduled a preliminary hearing for the case on Feb. 20, the outcome of which couldn’t immediately be obtained.
District of Columbia
Judge rescinds order against activist in Capital Pride lawsuit
Darren Pasha accused of stalking organization staff, board members, volunteers
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Feb.18 agreed to rescind his earlier ruling declaring local gay activist Darren Pasha in default for failing to attend a virtual court hearing regarding an anti-stalking lawsuit brought against him by the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events.
The Capital Pride lawsuit, initially filed on Oct. 27, 2025, accuses Pasha of engaging in a year-long “course of conduct” of “harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior” targeting Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers.
In his own court filings without retaining an attorney, Pasha has strongly denied the stalking related allegations against him, saying “no credible or admissible evidence has been provided” to show he engaged in any wrongdoing.
Judge Robert D. Okum nevertheless on Feb. 6 approved a temporary stay-away order requiring Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride’s staff, volunteers, and board members until the time of a follow-up court hearing scheduled for April 17. He reduced the stay-away distance from 200 yards as requested by Capital Pride.
In his two-page order issued on Feb. 18, Okun stated that Pasha explained that he was involved in a scooter accident in which he was injured and his phone was damaged, preventing him from joining the Feb. 6 court hearing.
“Therefore, the court finds there is a good cause for vacating the default,” Okun states in his order.
At the time he initially approved the default order at the Feb. 6 hearing that Pasha didn’t attend, Okun scheduled an April 17 ex parte proof hearing in which Capital Pride could have requested a ruling in its favor seeking a permanent anti-stalking order against Pasha.
In his Feb. 18 ruling rescinding the default order Okun changed the April 17 ex parte proof hearing to an initial scheduling conference hearing in which a decision on the outcome of the case is not likely to happen.
In addition, he agreed to consider Pasha’s call for a jury trial and gave Capital Pride 14 days to contest that request. The Capital Pride lawsuit initially called for a non-jury trial by judge.
One request by Pasha that Okum denied was a call for him to order Capital Pride to stop its staff or volunteers from posting information about the lawsuit on social media. Pasha has said the D.C.-based online blog called DC Homos, which Pasha claims is operated by someone associated with Capital Pride, has been posting articles portraying him in a negative light and subjecting him to highly negative publicity.
“The defendant has not set forth a sufficient basis for the court to restrict the plaintiff’s social media postings, and the court therefore will deny the defendant’s request in his social media praecipe,” Okun states in his order.
A praecipe is a formal written document requesting action by a court.
Pasha called the order a positive development in his favor. He said he plans to file another motion with more information about what he calls the unfair and defamatory reports about him related to the lawsuit by DC Homos, with a call for the judge to reverse his decision not to order Capital Pride to stop social media postings about the lawsuit.
Pasha points to a video interview on the LGBTQ Team Rayceen broadcast, a link to which he sent to the Washington Blade, in which DC Homos operator Jose Romero acknowledged his association with Capital Pride Alliance.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos didn’t immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking whether Romero was a volunteer or employee with Capital Pride.
Pasha also said he believes the latest order has the effect of rescinding the temporary stay away order against him approved by Okun in his earlier ruling, even though Okun makes no mention of the stay away order in his latest ruling. Capital Pride attorney Nick Harrison told the Blade the stay away order “remains in full force and effect.”
Harrison said Capital Pride has no further comment on the lawsuit.
District of Columbia
Trans activists arrested outside HHS headquarters in D.C.
Protesters demonstrated directive against gender-affirming care
Authorities on Tuesday arrested 24 activists outside the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services headquarters in D.C.
The Gender Liberation Movement, a national organization that uses direct action, media engagement, and policy advocacy to defend bodily autonomy and self-determination, organized the protest in which more than 50 activists participated. Organizers said the action was a response to changes in federal policy mandated by Executive Order 14187, titled “Protecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation.”
The order directs federal agencies and programs to work toward “significantly limiting youth access to gender-affirming care nationwide,” according to KFF, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that provides independent, fact-based information on national health issues. The executive order also includes claims about gender-affirming care and transgender youth that critics have described as misinformation.
Members of ACT UP NY and ACT UP Pittsburgh also participated in the demonstration, which took place on the final day of the public comment period for proposed federal rules that would restrict access to gender-affirming care.
Demonstrators blocked the building’s main entrance, holding a banner reading “HANDS OFF OUR ‘MONES,” while chanting, “HHS—RFK—TRANS YOUTH ARE NO DEBATE” and “NO HATE—NO FEAR—TRANS YOUTH ARE WELCOME HERE.”
“We want trans youth and their loving families to know that we see them, we cherish them, and we won’t let these attacks go on without a fight,” said GLM co-founder Raquel Willis. “We also want all Americans to understand that Trump, RFK, and their HHS won’t stop at trying to block care for trans youth — they’re coming for trans adults, for those who need treatment from insulin to SSRIs, and all those already failed by a broken health insurance system.”
“It is shameful and intentional that this administration is pitting communities against one another by weaponizing Medicaid funding to strip care from trans youth. This has nothing to do with protecting health and everything to do with political distraction,” added GLM co-founder Eliel Cruz. “They are targeting young people to deflect from their failure to deliver for working families across the country. Instead of restricting care, we should be expanding it. Healthcare is a human right, and it must be accessible to every person — without cost or exception.”
Despite HHS’s efforts to restrict gender-affirming care for trans youth, major medical associations — including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Endocrine Society — continue to regard such care as evidence-based treatment. Gender-affirming care can include psychotherapy, social support, and, when clinically appropriate, puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
The protest comes amid broader shifts in access to care nationwide.
NYU Langone Health recently announced it will stop providing transition-related medical care to minors and will no longer accept new patients into its Transgender Youth Health Program following President Donald Trump’s January 2025 executive order targeting trans healthcare.
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