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Equality Maryland sets post-marriage agenda

Transgender rights bill, HIV/AIDS, immigration among issues on which organization hopes to work

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Gay News, Washington Blade, Maryland, Virginia, Delaware
Gay News, Washington Blade, Carrie Evans, Gay Maryland

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.

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World Pride 2025

Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride

Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert

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Pabllo Vittar (Screen capture via Pabllo Vittar/YouTube)

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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District of Columbia

$3.7 billion RFK stadium proposal draws support from Team DC

Washington Commanders ‘proud’ to champion LGBTQ community

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The long-suffering RFK Stadium will be razed to make way for a new domed facility that could one day host the Super Bowl. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Miguel Ayala, president of the D.C. LGBTQ sports organization Team D.C., has expressed support for the $3.7 billion deal reached between Mayor Muriel Bowser and the Washington Commanders football team to bring the team back to D.C. in a redeveloped site on the grounds of the city’s long shuttered RFK stadium.

With the deal calling for the city to provide $1 billion in taxpayer funds for infrastructure related costs for the massive redevelopment project — and with the Commanders to provide the remaining $2.7 billion — as of this week the deal did not have majority support on the D.C. Council, which must vote to approve it.

Ayala’s support for the project on behalf of Team D.C. raises the question of whether members of the city’s influential LGBTQ community might play some role in urging the D.C. Council to approve the project.

The proposal comes at a time when the Washington Commanders team includes a message of support for the LGBTQ community on its website. The message follows its hosting last October of its 4th annual LGBTQ Pride Night Out at the Commanders game against the Cleveland Browns.

“The Washington Commanders are proud to champion the LGBTQ+ community and its allies,” the team states on its website. “Through the unifying power of sports, we aim to create a culture where all feel welcome and celebrated.”

In a statement released to the Washington Blade, Ayala points out that the Commanders are among every D.C.-based professional sports team that hosts a Pride Night Out event, which Team DC helps to organize.

“Each year, our events have grown stronger, with vibrant tailgates, on-field celebrations, and powerful moments that shine a spotlight on our community,” Ayala said. “We can’t wait to kick off our first Night Out at the Commanders Stadium in 2030.”

He was referring to plans by the Commanders organization and the D.C. mayor’s office to have the stadium deal approved by the D.C. Council in July, with construction of the new stadium to begin then, and with a planned completion in time for the 2030 professional football season.

Ayala also points out that the RFK stadium grounds currently serve as home to LGBTQ-related sports activity, including the D.C. Gay Flag Football League and the D.C. Front Runners group. He added that the RFK grounds will serve as the playing fields for this year’s WorldPride Capital Cup sports competition, where LGBTQ rugby and soccer teams from around the world will compete.

“This new stadium will be more than just a field – it will be a powerful new addition to the vibrant, diverse, and proud communities we champion every day,” he said in his statement.

At an April 28 news conference, Bowser, Washington Commanders owner Josh Harris and other city officials provided details of the stadium project, noting that it includes a massive development of the new stadium and the surrounding 180 acres of land.

In addition to the 65,000-seat domed stadium, officials said the project would include 5,000 to 6,000 residential housing units, with 30 percent designated as “affordable” for low- and moderate-income residents. They said the project would also include parks and recreation areas, hotels, restaurants, retail, and neighborhood amenities.

“As we focus on the growth of our economy, we’re not only bringing our team home, but we’re also bringing new jobs and new revenue to our city and to Ward 7,” Bowser said in a statement

Opponents of the project, including D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), have said they don’t believe the city should use its own funds for a stadium and the related development. 

So far, just four Council members have expressed support for the project. Mendelson and two other Council members have expressed opposition, and the remaining five have not yet said whether they would vote for or against it. The project needs seven of the current 12-member Council for it to be approved.

Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member, who initially had not taken a position on the proposal, this week said he was looking at the project more favorably, according to news media reports. 

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District of Columbia

Welcome home: DC LGBTQ Center opens its doors to healing and hope

The 6,671 square foot DC LGBTQ Center will offer a wide range of resources for LGBTQ individuals in need – including mental health services, job readiness programs, cultural events, and community support groups, all under one roof.

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The D.C. Center (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

On a sunny spring day in Washington’s Shaw neighborhood, the once empty Holzbeierlein Bakery warehouse now showcases energy, pride, and the sounds of chosen family coming closer together. After years in a less-than-perfect space on 14th Street, the DC LGBTQ community finally has a new home at the DC LGBTQ Center—and Executive Director Kimberley Bush says it’s more than a building. It’s a promise.

That promise, Bush explained to the Washington Blade on April 26—the day of the new LGBTQ Center’s opening—may change depending on who is being uplifted by the DC Center, but at its core remains the same goal: a thriving LGBTQ community in the nation’s capital. The commitment to the DC LGBTQ community is able to grow more connected and stronger, she explained, as more resources, space, and funding become available for the DC Center.

“This is a glorious home,” Bush said, beaming as groups of community members walked in under the giant inflatable rainbow at the Center’s doors. “It’s our new home. Today was a whole day of welcome home. This space has been an amazing endeavor for a long time, one that we’ve always known we’ve needed. This is space that we need for our LGBT siblings in need—and it’s amazing when your intentions match your efforts.”

The DC Center has long worked to “educate, empower, uplift, celebrate, elevate, and connect” the LGBTQ community from its former location at the Reeves Center. But now, in its new space at 1828 Wiltberger St., N.W., these efforts are more visible, accessible, and impactful than ever before.

“This space is a model that is new, that we are creating,” Bush said as groups of DC Center supporters chatted with Etta James’s “At Last” filling the hallways. “There is, I believe, no other LGBTQ+ community center in the country that not only has its own life and supportive services in its building, but is also co-housed with other organizations. A lot of community centers try and do it all, but that’s not what we wanted. We wanted to be able to bring everybody together under one roof, to be able to have that whole life supportive services center like one-stop shopping. We didn’t want to take over anything anyone else did. We don’t want to take away the dollars those organizations have to do what they do for the community. We want us all to be together. So that’s what we are. We’ve been able to now expand into almost 7,000 square feet of space.”

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The new DC Center features a variety of functional spaces designed to meet the diverse needs of the LGBTQ community. It includes office space for up to nine additional partner organizations, creating a hub for collaboration and support. Local and integral LGBTQ organizations like SMYAL, Team DC, and HIPS are some of the groups taking advantage of the space.

“People can be spread out,” Bush said about the opportunity for these LGBTQ-specific organizations to have a dedicated office in the Center. “We are on a grander scale, so we have a grander number of individuals that we can positively and effectively take care of. We [as members of the DC LGBTQ Center] can’t provide everything someone needs, but we can be an outpost for other organizations. Because we’ve expanded, we are able to expand the love, kindness, and support we can give our siblings.”

Additional support, Bush explained, is made possible by the intentional design of the new DC Center. Specialized rooms meet critical needs—from an HIV and STI testing room to therapy spaces and a boutique offering professional attire for job interviews. While the DC Center may not provide every service directly, it offers a shared space where partner organizations can step in and support the community—all under one roof.

“Often people are not able to go here, here, and here, to get what those gaps in life are creating,” she said. “To bridge them in one space just gives that person the opportunity to have less on their heart and their mind in regards to what they need to take care of themselves.”

In addition to being able to provide a space for instrumental elements of protecting the safety and well-being of the DC LGBTQ community, the Center also has a food pantry, a boutique with a clothing closet, an ADA-accessible shower, a mailroom to assist those without a permanent address, and a spacious kitchen.

This, she explained, is why this space is so monumental to providing the DC LGBTQ community the resources they need in a succinct and approachable way.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“By bridging those gaps and having as much as we can here means you’re in one space to get your needs met,” she added. “From sexual health needs, in terms of testing, counseling, and what have you, to mental and behavioral health needs. You can get food, you can get clothing, you can shower. You can store some of your things here. That is such an ease off of your mind to where now you can breathe.”

After stepping into the Center’s director role in 2022, Bush said that she often sees her “siblings” within the community make a better life for themselves starting by walking through the front doors. Sometimes the following steps take more time and resources than for others, but regardless of what it takes, Bush emphasized the goal is to alleviate some stress and make tomorrow an approachable reality.

“I have the amazing opportunity to interact with our community members, our siblings, on a regular basis,” she said. “Often I see them when they first walk in our door. Sometimes they walk in unhappy, sometimes devastated, or they walk in not in a good space. When they come in and invite us in to hear their stories, when they want to share what’s going on with them so we can learn how to best care, love, and support them, it’s incredible. We make a POA, a plan of action, outlining how to take care of them and what that’s going to take.”

Walking through the Center, it is hard to not notice the smiles coming from everyone’s faces—from volunteers, board members, community members, and those seeking assistance. The DC Center, with its rainbow murals and shining floors, has become a beacon of hope for many LGBTQ Washingtonian residents in need. For some, Bush explained, that can be as simple as having a space for solace in a city that seems to have no shortage of stressors.

“The space is made for anyone who’s in need, and even if you’re not,” she said. “This is a place for you to come and be peaceful. A place for you to come and have a cup of tea, not to pay a thing, or have to talk to anybody. You can just sit here and have a cup of tea.”

The more she spoke about the space, it became clear that providing a space for LGBTQ people to be is just as important as providing spaces for the services to take place. The DC LGBTQ Center invites people to not only find what they need to make themselves better in a literal sense but also allows them to simply exist. It is rare for a city to provide this kind of refuge from the constant motion that life demands. And that can be life-changing, she says.

“I will say, ‘How are you today? How are you feeling today?’ ‘How are you’ and ‘how are you feeling’ are two different things, but I do want to know how you’re feeling. If you don’t answer me, that’s good. You know? That’s perfect,” Bush said. “This space is built for everyone, especially for trans and non-binary folk, and for our brown and Black folk. It’s a space for those who just need a space to be.”

In a world that often erases or overlooks LGBTQ people, especially trans, non-binary, Black, and brown community members, the simple act of being seen and cared for can be revolutionary. The DC Center aims to be a place for LGBTQ people to be themselves—not to force them to prove anything or lead them to speak, but to truly be themselves. That quiet affirmation of ‘allowing to be’ can plant the seed to a better, more authentic life.

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

“One thing that I love to hear, and it makes me feel so good, because they say it in a way that’s just like you and I would say it, or anyone would say it, but sometimes they may not have thought they would say it. They would say, ‘See you tomorrow. See you later.’ This is a person who may not have had tomorrow in their mind. Where you and I say that all the time, but for a lot of our people, our siblings, who come to us, that may not be a thing for them. But when they come in our doors, receive the care and the love and the support and kindness, but then they walk out and they say, ‘See you tomorrow,’ and we do see them tomorrow! I can tell you that this response not only drives me to do this work, because this is good work and I’m very fortunate and privileged to be here, but it’s hearing that out of someone’s mouth. That’s it. That’s all I need.”

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