Local
Equality Maryland sets post-marriage agenda
Transgender rights bill, HIV/AIDS, immigration among issues on which organization hopes to work
Equality Maryland executive director Carrie Evans (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Equality Maryland executive director Carrie Evans decided to stand along the side of the stage at the Baltimore Soundstage shortly after midnight on Nov. 7 as Gov. Martin O’Malley, gay state Sen. Rich Madaleno (D-Montgomery County) and others officially proclaimed the referendum on Maryland’s same-sex marriage law had passed. She said in a post-Election Day interview in D.C. it was the “best vantage point to look out at everyone” who had played a role in the long fight to secure marriage rights for same-sex couples in the state.
“I was crying like a baby,” Evans told the Washington Blade. “You’d see every person out there whose been a part of this in some way, shape or form. Everybody out there was crying and hugging and kissing. We will never experience this moment again, ever. And I just wanted to absorb it all.”
Election Day capped off a long and often tumultuous effort for Maryland’s same-sex marriage advocates that began in 1997 when three lawmakers introduced the first bill that would have allowed nuptials for gays and lesbians.
Equality Maryland and the American Civil Liberties Union in 2004 filed a lawsuit on behalf of Lisa Polyak and Gita Deane and eight other same-sex couples and a gay widow who sought the right to marry in the state. Baltimore Circuit Court Judge M. Brooke Murdock in 2006 found Maryland’s same-sex marriage ban unconstitutional. The Maryland Court of Appeals a year later upheld the prohibition on nuptials for gays and lesbians.
State lawmakers in 2011 narrowly defeated a same-sex marriage bill, but legislators approved it in February. O’Malley signed the law on March 1.
Evans said Equality Maryland, the Human Rights Campaign, the ACLU and other organizations that had fought for the same-sex marriage bill knew opponents would almost certainly collect enough signatures to force a referendum on the issue. The coalition that eventually became known as Marylanders for Marriage Equality formed before the legislative session ended in April.
“We’ve won in the Baltimore trial court, got excited but we knew we had to go to Court of Appeals, lost there,” Evans said. “[We] went to the legislature, couldn’t even really celebrate after that because you knew it was going to referendum. We had our little woohoo, but knowing this is going to referendum and being able to finally say ‘This is it, we’re done.’”
Evans, who took the helm of Equality Maryland last December, said her organization contributed more than $200,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality. The campaign ultimately raised nearly $6 million, but she said Equality Maryland’s contribution is remarkable considering her organization nearly closed its doors in the summer of 2011 in the wake of former executive director Morgan Meneses-Sheets’ termination.
“I’m so proud because 12 months ago Equality Maryland was pretty much broke and struggling,” said Evans. “Not only have we come out of that and had a good 2012 budget for the organization, we raised over $200,000 for the campaign, which is amazing.”
Mass., Iowa groups re-evaluate missions after marriage victories
Advocacy groups in other states have had to re-evaluate their agenda once same-sex couples won the right to marry.
Love Makes a Family of Connecticut, which spearheaded the passage of the state’s same-sex marriage law, disbanded in 2009 after then-Gov. Jodi Rell signed the measure. It took effect in Oct. 2010.
MassEquality also re-evaluated its mission after lawmakers in 2007 rejected a proposed referendum on amending the state constitution to ban nuptials for gays and lesbians. Massachusetts’ same-sex marriage law took effect in 2004.
“There were town halls that were done all over the state to ask people should MassEquality continue to exist, should we change the resources and the political power and the reputation, the expertise we had developed and leverage it to a multi-issue agenda that would basically lift up the other existing LGBT groups throughout the state,” Kara Suffredini, the group’s executive director, told the Blade. “The conclusion was yes: We have all the resources, we have all this political power. Yes, let’s use it to leverage other groups. And that’s what we’ve done since.”
Since the same-sex marriage debate ended in Massachusetts, MassEquality has worked with the Massachusetts Transgender Political Coalition to advocate on behalf of a trans rights bill Gov. Deval Patrick signed into law last November. The group has also worked with the LGBT Aging Project to address health disparities among LGBT elders and the Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Youth (BAGLY) to address homelessness among LGBT youth and bullying.
MassEquality has a seat on a commission state lawmakers created earlier this year to study the issue of homelessness among young people.
“Obviously marriage equality is an issue that garners a lot of attention and resources,” said Suffredini. “Once it’s done, there is plenty else to do and it was not difficult for us to figure out what else there was to do.”
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in the Hawkeye State since the Iowa Supreme Court in 2009 unanimously struck down the ban on nuptials for gays and lesbians. Voters in 2010 removed three of the justices who backed the ruling from the bench. Opponents failed to unseat a fourth on Nov. 6.
“Just because you have marriage, it doesn’t mean you stop being vigilant,” Donna Red Wing, executive director of One Iowa, told the Blade. “Here in Iowa if we don’t maintain a Democratic Senate majority at this time, we might see marriage on the ballot. And so we need to really make sure that we not only continue to hold back the forces working against us, but that we do the work that needs to be done across the state and that’s putting a face and a voice to what it means to be gay and lesbian or bi or trans in Iowa.”
One Iowa continues to fight to secure parental rights for same-sex couples — she noted the state’s Department of Public Health refused to allow a married lesbian who had a child with her wife to be recognized on their birth certificate. Red Wing pointed to another case in which officials “crudely whited-out” a lesbian mother’s name on her stillborn child’s birth certificate because she said the Department of Public Health would not recognize the two women as parents.
The group is also working with HIV/AIDS service providers to decriminalize those living with the virus and to address LGBT-specific health care disparities across Iowa.
“From birth to death we’re looking at the issues that impact Iowans — specifically LGBT Iowans – and how we can really strengthen and deepen what equality means for them,” Red Wing said.
Back in Maryland, Evans said Equality Maryland plans to work to make sure the same-sex marriage law is fully implemented once it takes effect on Jan. 1.
“We have to clean up a few regulations,” she said. “There may even be some litigation for clerks of court who aren’t complying. We still have some counties that aren’t offering spousal benefits to same-sex couples to same-sex spouses despite the Port v. Cowan court case [where the Court of Appeals in May unanimously ruled same-sex couples who legally married in another state can obtain divorces in Maryland] and attorney general.”
Equality Maryland continues to strategize with the Maryland Coalition for Trans Equality on how to advance a bill during the upcoming legislative session that would add gender identity and expression to the state’s anti-discrimination law. The organization also hopes to work with the NAACP and Revs. Delman Coates of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Prince George’s County and Donté Hickman of Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore and other groups to address health disparities and reduce HIV/AIDS rates among disproportionately affected populations in the state.
Evans further stressed she hopes to continue Equality Maryland’s work on immigration-related issues that began in August when it and CASA de Maryland announced a campaign to build additional support for the same-sex marriage and a law that provides in-state tuition to undocumented immigrants — voters on Nov. 6 approved the Maryland Dream Act by a 59-41 percent margin.
Equality Maryland also plans to work with the Maryland State Department of Education to ensure the state’s anti-bullying regulations are properly implemented.
“We’re going to start really focusing on that, making sure the way students are treated in Montgomery County is the way they’re treated in Garrett County and the way they’re treated in Cecil [County],” Evans said.
Virginia
Two gay candidates running in ‘firehouse’ Va. House of Delegates primary in Alexandria
Kirk McPike, Gregory Darrall hope to succeed delegate vying for Ebbin’s seat
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike and gay public school teacher Gregory Darrall, who serves as vice president of the Fairfax County Federation of Teachers, are among four candidates running in a Jan. 20 “firehouse” Democratic primary for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.
With less than a week’s notice, Democratic Party officials in Alexandria called the primary to select a Democratic nominee to run in a Feb. 10 special election to fill the 5th House District seat being vacated by state Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria).
Bennett-Parker won the Democratic nomination for the Virginia Senate seat being vacated by gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), who is resigning from the seat to take a position in the administration of Democratic Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger, who took office on Jan. 17.
Bennett-Parker won the nomination for the state Senate seat in yet another firehouse primary on Jan. 13 in which she defeated three other candidates, including gay former state Del. Mark Levine.
The Jan. 20 primary in which McPike and Darrall are competing will take place from 8:30 a.m. to 7 p.m. in two polling places in Alexandria: the Charles E. Beatley Jr. Central Library at 5005 Duke St. and the Charles Houston Recreation Center at 901 Wythe St.
The other two candidates running are former Alexandria City School Board member Eileen Cassidy Rivera and criminal law defense attorney Chris Leibig.
McPike, who first won election to the Alexandria City Council in 2021, served for 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) prior to winning election to the Alexandria City Council.
“Now, Kirk is ready to bring his experience to Richmond to keep improving the lives of all Virginians as our delegate for House District 5,” his campaign website says. His website writeup says he and his husband, Cantor Jason Kaufman, have lived in Alexandria’s Seminary Hill neighborhood for 15 years.
“As delegate, we can count on Kirk to keep delivering for us — helping Virginia maintain our commitments to our schools, our first responders, and our efforts to address climate change, housing affordability, and infrastructure,” the website statement says.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter and advocate, has been endorsed by Ebbin and U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.). Beyer said in a statement that McPike “has a proven track record of delivering results for Alexandrians.” The LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, which raises money for LGBTQ candidates running for public office, has also endorsed McPike.
Darrall’s campaign website says he is a “proud progressive, lifelong educator, and labor leader running to put people first.” It says he is a political newcomer “with more than 20 years in the classroom” as a teacher who played a key role in the successful unionization of Fairfax Public Schools.
“He is a proud member and staunch supporter of the LGBTQIA+ community,” his website statement says. It says he met his husband Jose while living in Miami and the two operated a small business in South Florida for a decade before moving to Alexandria in 2015. It adds that Darrall is “fluent in Spanish, loves walking Alexandria’s neighborhoods, and is driven by a deep belief in fairness, equality, and strengthening our democracy from the ground up.”
The Alexandria Republican City Committee nominated local business executive Mason Butler as the Republican nominee for the House of Delegates seat in the Feb. 10 special election after he emerged as the only GOP candidate running for the seat, according to the Alexandria Brief publication. He will face the Democratic winner in the Jan. 20 firehouse primary.
The Washington Blade is seeking to determine GOP candidate Butler’s and Democratic candidates Leibig’s and Rivera’s positions on LGBTQ-related issues and will update this story if their positions on those issues can be determined.
Abigail Spanberger was sworn in as the 75th governor of Virginia at a ceremony on the grounds of the Virginia State Capitol on Saturday. Thousands of spectators watched the swearing-in ceremony and parade, despite the rain and temperatures in the low 40s.
Spanberger, a member of the Democratic Party and an LGBTQ ally, became the first woman to be Virginia’s governor.
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Newly-elected Attorney General Jay Jones, Lt. Gov. Ghazala Hashmi, and Spanberger were each administered the oath of office in the public ceremony.
Republican former Gov. Glenn Youngkin left the ceremony shortly after the oath of office was administered to Spanberger and before the inaugural address.
In her speech, the new governor made an appeal to bipartisanship and looking past division in our current moment.
“To my friends in the General Assembly — on both sides of the aisle — I look forward to working with you,” said Spanberger. “I know what it means to represent your constituents, to work hard for your district, and to pursue policies you believe in. We will not agree on everything, but I speak from personal experience when I say that we do not have to see eye-to-eye on every issue in order to stand shoulder-to-shoulder on others.”
Spanberger acknowledged Virginians’ frustrations with federal layoffs and governmental policy.
“I know many of you are worried about the recklessness coming out of Washington. You are worried about policies that are hurting our communities — cutting healthcare access, imperiling rural hospitals, and driving up costs,” said Spanberger. “You are worried about Washington policies that are closing off markets, hurting innovation and private industry, and attacking those who have devoted their lives to public service.”
Spanberger alluded to the Trump administration, though never mentioned President Donald Trump’s name in her remarks.
Spanberger said, “you are worried about an administration that is gilding buildings while schools crumble, breaking the social safety net, and sowing fear across our communities, betraying the values of who we are as Americans, the very values we celebrate here on these steps.”
The new governor then spoke of her priorities in office, pledging to tackle housing affordability by working to “cut red tape” and increase housing supply. Spanberger also spoke of forestalling an impending healthcare crisis by protecting access and cracking down on “middlemen who are driving up drug prices.”
Spanberger spoke of investments in education at every level, standing up for workers (including the large number of federal workers in Virginia), and taking action on gun violence.
Virginia married couple Mary Townley and Carol Schall witnessed the inauguration ceremony from the stands set up on the grounds of the Capitol. Schall and Townley are one of the plaintiff couples in the case that challenged the Virginia constitutional ban on same-sex marriage.
Same-sex marriage became legal in Virginia in 2014.
“We are delighted with the inauguration of Abigail Spanberger as governor of Virginia,” Schall told the Washington Blade. “The celebration of her inauguration was full of the beautiful diversity that is Virginia. The Virginia Pride contingent was included as a part of what makes Virginia a great place to live.”
“Such an honor to attend such a wonderful event in Virginia history,” Townley told the Blade. “The weather before the Inauguration was cold and rainy, but I believe it represented the end of a dreary time and it ushered in the dry and sunny weather by the end of the inaugural parade. Madam Governor brought us to the light!”
The inaugural parade following the governor’s remarks included a contingent from Diversity Richmond and Virginia Pride. Marchers in the LGBTQ contingent carried a giant Progress Pride flag and were met with loud cheers from the gathered spectators.
Spanberger after her inauguration signed 10 executive orders. One of them bans discrimination against state employees based on sexual orientation, gender identity, and other factors.
“By virtue of the authority vested in me as Governor under Article V of the Constitution of
Virginia, I hereby declare that it is the firm and unwavering policy of the Commonwealth of Virginia to ensure equal opportunity in all facets of state government,” reads the executive order. “The foundational tenet of this executive order is premised upon a steadfast commitment to foster a culture of inclusion, diversity, and mutual respect for all Virginians.”
Virginia
VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade
Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday
The inaugural ceremonies for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger were held in Richmond, Va. on Saturday. Among the groups marching in the parade were Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond.
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