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4 marriage ballot fights and 4 big wins

Advocates confident of sweep in Md., Maine, Minn., Wash. battles

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Question 6, Maryland, gay marriage, anti-gay, same sex marriage, gay news, Washington Blade
Question 6, Maryland, gay marriage, same sex marriage, marriage equality, gay news, Washington Blade

Question 6 supporters and opponents placed signs outside a polling place at Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore on Nov. 6. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Advocacy groups across the country on Tuesday celebrated the passage of two state same-sex marriage referenda and the defeat of a proposed constitutional amendment that would have banned nuptials for gays and lesbians in another.

Maryland voters supported Question 6 by a 52-48 percent margin, while Maineā€™s Question 1 that will allow gays and lesbians to legally marry in the state passed with 52 percent of the vote. Washington’s Referendum 74 that would uphold the state’s same-sex marriage law remains ahead by a 52-48 percent margin with what Washington United for Marriage estimates as 60 percent of the ballots counted as of deadline.

Minnesotans narrowly defeated a proposed state constitutional amendment that would have defined marriage as between a man and a woman by a 51-48 percent margin.

ā€œYears from now weā€™ll remember this Election Day as the most important and the most historic in the history of the LGBT movement,ā€ said Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, in a video message. He noted HRC contributed $20 million over the last two years to the four statewide same-sex marriage campaigns. ā€œWeā€™ve won a landslide victory at the ballot box. Weā€™ve secured the first ever electoral victory for marriage equality in Maine, Maryland and Minnesota. And weā€™re optimistic about the results still to come in Washington state.ā€

Freedom to Marry gave $4.6 million to the four statewide same-sex marriage campaigns. It helped raise another $2.4 million to support public education campaigns in Maine, Maryland, Minnesota and Washington.

Evan Wolfson, president of Freedom to Marry, categorized the election results to the Washington Blade as ā€œirrefutable momentum in favor of the freedom to marryā€ that will give ā€œenormous confidenceā€ to lawmakers and others to support nuptials for gays and lesbians. Casey Pick of Log Cabin Republicans further described the election results as a “turning point.”

“It is something the nation will take notice of,” she told the Blade from Maine where she had been working with Mainers United for Marriage in support of Question 1 for the last two weeks. “Never again will opponents of marriage equality be able to say that every time the people vote on the issue they favor marriage as one man and one woman because thatā€™s no longer true.”

LGBT advocates in other states where voters did not consider same-sex marriage ballot measures also noted the historic results.

ā€œFor all of the families in Maine and Maryland, where voters upheld the rights of same-sex couples to wed, MassEquality is pleased that they will soon experience what we have celebrated for eight years now in Massachusetts: families that are stronger and communities that are healthier because LGBTQ individuals and their families are treated with dignity and fairness,ā€ said Kara Suffredini, executive director of MassEquality, in a statement. She noted nearly 20,000 gay and lesbian couples have married in Massachusetts since the commonwealthā€™s same-sex marriage law took effect in May 2004. ā€œOur rights should never be determined by a majority vote. But the wins in Maine and Maryland, as well as the defeat of a proposed anti-marriage Constitutional amendment in Minnesota, are definitive proof that there is a growing majority in America that supports our rights, and that equality wins, including at the ballot box.ā€

Equality Illinois CEO Bernard Cherkasov also noted the historic election results after Maineā€™s Question 1 passed.

ā€œThe ballot box victory is the latest evidence that the tide has turned and that momentum is on the side of full LGBT equality,ā€ he said. ā€œWe now have a president who ran on support for marriage equality, a Democratic Party that included a marriage plank in the party platform, seven states, including Maine, and also the District of Columbia where same-sex couples can marry.ā€

Minneapolis resident Kirsten Olson and her partner of 18 years, Karen Hogan, a librarian at Quatrefoil Library in nearby St. Paul, waited for the Amendment 1 results at home. She awoke both Hogan and their 11-year-old daughter around 1:45 a.m. when she finally heard the proposal had failed.

“Public radio went to the victory speech that I didnā€™t think I would hear uttered,” said Olson as she became emotional. “It was just completely surreal and then on Minnesota Public Radio they were also talking about how the Minnesota House and the Minnesota Senate have both gone Democratic and that our governor, Mark Dayton, had on his agenda to legalize same-sex marriage. So in the span of 12 hours we went from the very real possibility of a constitutional amendment to a very real possibility of legalization.ā€

An ABC News/Washington Post poll conducted after President Obama endorsed marriage rights for same-sex couples in May found 53 percent of Americans supported nuptials for gays and lesbians, compared to only 36 percent in 2006. Even among social conservatives, the issue seems to have less resonance.

Only 19 percent of those who took part in a straw poll at the annual Conservative Political Action Committee conference in D.C. in February cited the promotion of ā€œtraditional valuesā€ as the most important issue going into the election. Only one percent who took part in the 2011 CPAC straw poll said stopping same-sex marriage was their top priority.

ā€œObviously we are very disappointed in losing four tough election battles by narrow margins,ā€ said National Organization for Marriage President Brian Brown in a statement.

NOM contributed more than $5.5 million to oppose same-sex marriage referenda in Maine, Maryland and Washington and support Minnesotaā€™s proposed constitutional amendment to ban nuptials for gays and lesbians. Brown conceded supporters and opponents of these respective ballot measures outspent those who opposed marriage rights for same-sex couples by at least a four-to-one margin.

He also downplayed the idea the election results are what he described as a ā€œchanging point in how Americans view gay marriage.ā€

ā€œThough we are disappointed over these losses, we remain faithful to our mission and committed to the cause of preserving marriage as God designed it,ā€ said Brown. ā€œMarriage is a true and just cause, and we will never abandon the field of battle just because we experienced a setback. There is much work to do, and we begin that process now.ā€

Wolfson dismissed the remarks.

ā€œItā€™s been clear for some time that they lost the argument,ā€ he told the Blade. ā€œAll they have is scare tactics, diversions and some raw power in being able to throw money and mobilize some people ā€” a dwindling number. Theyā€™re going to keep at it. Thatā€™s where their livelihood is. They know theyā€™re losing. They know theyā€™re on the wrong side of history. The opposition will continue, but we are winning.ā€

Pick said she feels the election results send a message to GOP lawmakers who continue to oppose marriage rights for same-sex couples.

“Log Cabin Republicans have been saying for a long time that the tide is turning on this issue,” she said. “For our party it is incumbent upon us to recognize that inclusion is the way of the future. And to be victorious and to win future elections with voters who are taking their place as the majority of the populace today, marriage equality has to be a part of that formula.”

Back in Maryland, there was a palpable sense among those awaiting the Question 6 results at a Baltimore concert hall the Free State was about to make history as the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot.

Lesbian state Del. Heather Mizeur told the Blade before Marylanders for Marriage Equality announced the referendum had passed she feels Obamaā€™s support of same-sex marriage had a tremendous impact in Maryland.

ā€œWhile we already felt very confident where we were headed in this campaign, he stood up and did something no president has ever done for our community and help make it okay for all of our allies to be comfortable with being public about what their position was about equality,ā€ she said. ā€œWe started to see the numbers very strongly in our direction after he came out in favor of it. And thatā€™s why weā€™re hoping for a double win tonight and celebrating our marriage equality and also sending this courageous president back for another four year term.ā€

Olson said most of her friends, family and neighbors understand Minnesota voters made history by striking down the proposed amendment.

“People totally understand that, totally feel that,” she said. “There are obviously 49 percent of the population ā€” or 48 percent I guess is what it finally came out to be who think otherwise, but they’re not 50 percent plus one.

Shaun Knittel, executive director of the pro-Referendum 74 group Social Outreach Seattle, told the Blade he feels this sense of history prompted a lot of young first-time voters to go to the polls and support the law.

ā€œNov. 6, 2012, is going to be a historic day for the gay community, the LGBTQ community because this is the time we stopped the bigots,ā€ he said. ā€œItā€™s the first time it has happened in this way and it was such a big statement. It wasnā€™t just one state or one group that just seemingly got lucky. It was four states involved in this.ā€

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District of Columbia

Booz Allen withdraws as WorldPride corporate sponsor

Company updated programs to comply with Trump executive orders

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(Screenshot courtesy of WorldPride's website)

The U.S. technology company Booz Allen Hamilton has confirmed it has withdrawn as a corporate sponsor for the international LGBTQ WorldPride events scheduled to take place in D.C. from May 17-June 8, according to a report by the Washington Business Journal.

In an exclusive story published Feb.10, the business publication reports that Booz Allen Hamilton disclosed in a statement that its decision to withdraw as a WorldPride sponsor was based on its need to comply with ā€œrecently issued presidential executive orders.ā€

Although the statement did not say so directly, it is referring to executive orders issued since Jan. 20 by President Donald Trump that, among other things, ban government agencies and companies doing business with the government through contracts from promoting or carrying out diversity, equity, and inclusion or ā€œDEIā€ programs.

On its website, Booz Allen Hamilton describes itself as an ā€œadvanced technology company delivering outcomes with speed for Americaā€™s most critical defense, civil, and national securities priorities.ā€ Among the government agencies it does business with, the website statement says, are the U.S. Air Force, U.S. Army, U.S. Marine Corps, U.S. Navy, and the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

ā€œWe take this responsibility to our nation seriously,ā€ Washington Business Journal quoted the Booz Allen Hamilton statement regarding WorldPride as saying. ā€œIt demands from us commitment to their best principle to flawless execution and to full compliance with all laws and regulations, including executive orders,ā€ Washington Business Journal quotes the statement as saying.

The Washington Business Journal article includes a photo of more than a dozen of Booz Allen Hamilton employees marching in D.C.ā€™s Capital Pride parade in 2017.

The company did not immediately respond to a request from Washington Blade seeking comment on its WorldPride decision.

Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most D.C. LGBTQ Pride events and is the lead organizer of WorldPride 2025, in response to a request by the Blade released a statement responding to Booz Allen Hamiltonā€™s sponsorship withdrawal.

ā€œBooz Allen Hamilton is the only organization that has withdrawn its committed financial support for WorldPride,ā€ the statement says. ā€œCPA is proud of its many longstanding legacy sponsors, many of whom have already reaffirmed their commitments to participate in WorldPride this summer,ā€ the statement continues.

ā€œJust like many American companies and LGBTQ+ organizations, we are navigating current challenges and many unknowns,ā€ the statement says. ā€œWe are confident, however, that we will have the support necessary to have a successful and safe WorldPride that meets this moment,ā€ it says.

ā€œThat support includes families, organizations, and businesses from across our community and corporations that truly celebrate diversity and value equity and inclusion for all,ā€ the statement concludes.

The Capital Pride Alliance website last year listed Booz Allen Hamilton as a corporate sponsor for the 2024 Capital Pride events in the category of a ā€œTrue Colorsā€ sponsor, which it said represented a donation of $75,000. But the Capital Pride Alliance statement to the Blade this week says, ā€œWe are not going to share theyā€™re previously planned commitment for 2025.ā€

The statement adds, ā€œMany in our community are extremely vulnerable right now, and standing up for them, standing with them, standing with us, in this movement is what we all need.ā€

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District of Columbia

Trump executive order prompts local hospitals to stop gender-affirming care for youth

Activists marched outside Children’s National on Feb. 2

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A protester stands outside Children's National Hospital in Northwest D.C. on Feb. 2, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

Hospitals in the D.C. area are putting a prompt stop to aiding transgender youth and their families continue their transition after President Donald Trump signed an executive order that bans all gender-affirming care nationwide for minors under 19.

On Jan. 28, days after Trump took office, signed the executive order, ā€œProtecting Children from Chemical and Surgical Mutilation,ā€ which immediately halted the prescription and medical treatment of gender-affirming care for all minors under the age of 19 across the country. The order use of ā€œchemical and surgical mutilationā€ is in reference to the various kinds of gender-affirming care that youth may receive when in the care of a medical practice.

“Today, medical professionals are maiming and sterilizing a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a childā€™s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.ā€ says the executive order. ā€œThis dangerous trend will be a stain on our nationā€™s history, and it must end.ā€

The executive order laid out various guidelines for medical practices to follow that must be implemented within the coming months. These include ā€œending reliance on junk science,ā€ in referring to following the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s guidelines for youth, and “defunding chemical and surgical mutilation,” which seeks to ban hospitals and medical schools to use federal funding for gender-affirming care.

Hospitals, medical schools, and clinics across the country have begun to abide by the executive order and drop trans and gender diverse youth as they dismantled programs that provided care of any kind that treated a childā€™s gender dysphoria. Childrenā€™s National Hospital in Northwest Washington is one of those institutions.

ā€œChildrenā€™s National is committed to providing compassionate and comprehensive care in accordance with the law,” said Children’s National in a Jan. 30 press release. “As a result, we are currently pausing all puberty blockers and hormone therapy prescriptions for transgender youth patients, per the guidelines in the executive order issued by the White House this week. Childrenā€™s National already does not perform gender affirming surgery for minors.”

“We recognize the impact this change will have, and our commitment to creating a better future for children and families remains at the forefront of our mission,” it added. “We will do everything we can to ensure the same uninterrupted access to mental health counseling, social support, and holistic and respectful care for every patient at Children’s National. We are working directly with patients and providers to ensure every patient has access to the information and support services they need, and we appreciate their continued trust and understanding as we work through these changes.ā€

The hospital did not provide the Washington Blade with additional comment.

Activists in response to the decision organized a march that took place outside Children’s Hospital. on Feb. 2. D.C. Safe Haven, a group founded to ā€œprovide TLGBQ people in the DMV area with opportunities to transform their lives,ā€ helped organize the march.

Similar protests have taken place across the country.

The Gender Liberation Movement organized the “Rise Up for Trans Youth” march in New York’s Union Square on Saturday. The group was one of the organizers of a march that took place in front of the U.S. Supreme Court on Dec. 4 when the justices heard oral arguments in the U.S. v. Skrmetti case, which challenges a Tennessee law that bans gender-affirming care for minors under 18.

ā€œVCU Health and Childrenā€™s Hospital of Richmond at VCU have suspended gender-affirming medications and gender-affirming surgical procedures for patients under 19-years-old in response to an executive order issued by the White House on Jan. 28, 2025, and related state guidance received by VCU on Jan. 30, 2025,” the hospital said in a statement. “Our doors remain open to all patients and their families for screening, counseling, mental health care, and all other health care needs.ā€

Equality Virginia, a queer advocacy group that works across the state, in a statement to the Blade criticized the executive order and response to it.

ā€œExecutive orders are not legislation, they are not law, and they do not supersede state laws,” said Narissa Rahaman, the group’s executive director. “The General Assembly has taken up bills on both transgender athletes and gender-affirming care, and in both cases, the general assembly has declined to pursue bans on either. State law is clear; what is unclear is why the Youngkin administration is spending its final year cozying up to the Trump administration and repeatedly singling out transgender Virginians for discrimination.ā€

ā€œTo the transgender and nonbinary athletes and youth seeking healthcare in Virginia who are feeling scared: Equality Virginia will not stop fighting for you, no matter who occupies the Governorā€™s Mansion or the White House,” added Rahaman.

Petitions are urging D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb, Health and Human Services, and Children’s National to use D.C.’s human rights law to challenge the executive orders. Lambda Legal, along with the American Civil Liberties Union and the law firms Jenner & Block and Hogan Lovells have filed lawsuits against Trump’s mandate on behalf of families of trans youth.

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Comings & Goings

Ryan Levi to lead D.C. chapter of NLGJA

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Ryan Levi

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].Ā 

Congratulations to Ryan Levi on assuming the presidency of the D.C. chapter of the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association (DCNLGJA). 

“I’m incredibly excited to take on this new leadership role with an organization full of incredible journalists,ā€ Levi said. ā€œIn these uncertain and challenging times for many in our queer and trans community, I hope NLGJA can continue to be a space for queer and trans D.C. journalists to connect with their peers, find support, grow in their careers, and build community.”

Leviā€™s background includes being a reporter and producer with Tradeoffs Washington, D.C., where he reported and produced podcast episodes for the national nonprofit health policy news organization. Topics included ransomware attacks on hospitals, bias and AI in health care, and bringing Medicaid to incarcerated people. He was the lead reporter on The Fifth Branch, a special three-part series on mental health crisis response. His reporting was featured on NPR, PBS NewsHour, The Marshall Project, and Slate. He was a producer for KQED News, San Francisco, where he reported and produced sound-rich feature stories, developed, and executed engagement strategy, provided editorial feedback, and mixed pieces for the weekly Bay Curious podcast. Before that he was a producer and reporter at KBIA News in Columbia, Missouri. 

Levi earned his bachelorā€™s degree in journalism from the University of Missouri, and a bachelorā€™s degree in Spanish, College of Arts and Science. He has won numerous honors and recognition for his work, including: Region 2 Edward R. Murrow Best News Series award for Three Refugees, Three Journeys to California; and second place 2017 Hearst Journalism Awards Radio Competition (reporter).

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