Local
Attorney says invalidating Stein Club election would violate bylaws
Dispute over club takeover by influx of new members to be debated at special meeting Wednesday night
Martin Garcia, newly-elected president of the Stein Club. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
An attorney representing Martin Garcia, the president-elect of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, said a proposal by several club members to invalidate Garcia’s election and the election of two other officers aligned with Garcia would “flagrantly” violate the club’s bylaws.
Joseph E. Sandler, former general counsel to the Democratic National Committee, said in a Dec. 17 letter to Stein Club members that a call to overturn the election of Garcia and the two other officers by disqualifying 17 people who voted in the club’s Dec. 3 election would be a “breach of contract.”
He said a legal opinion by Donald Dinan, an attorney for the D.C. Democratic State Committee, whom the Stein Club’s current officers consulted about the election, incorrectly interpreted the bylaws.
Dinan stated in a Dec. 12 memorandum that the votes by 17 people could be invalidated if the addresses they gave were not correct or if it could be shown they did not qualify for the special reduced membership fee of $15 under which they joined the club in the week prior to the election.
Under club rules, eligibility for the special membership is restricted to students, senior citizens, and people with a “limited income.”
Dinan noted that the 17 votes cast by people whose membership is now under question is greater than the two to seven-vote margin in which Garcia and the other two officer candidates won the election. He said that since the vote was conducted by secret ballot, there is no way to determine which candidates received votes by a potentially disqualified member.
Thus Dinan concluded that if the Stein Club membership decides at the special meeting set for Wednesday night to disqualify a number of new members that exceeds the margin of victory for the three officers, the club has the authority to invalidate the election and call a new election.
Sandler, however, argues that the club’s bylaws do not provide any residency requirements for members and do not define “limited income” or whether a “student” should be full-time, part-time, or someone enrolled in a trade school rather than a college.
In addition, Sandler states in his letter, “The Dinan Memorandum… simply does not set forth any remotely reliable facts that would indicate that any of the 17 new members whose votes are being questioned were other than legitimate, dues-paying members of the Stein Club, under the Bylaws and Standing Rules of Procedure, at the time of the election.”
He said the club’s current officers and members should know that the club “is not free to ignore its own bylaws, or to make up new rules not found in the bylaws, to the detriment of certain members, whenever it seems convenient to do so.”
Dinan told the Blade that his memorandum was not a fact finding document and it was up to the club’s officers or members to make any determination on whether the 17 new members should be disqualified based on “irregularities” over their residential address or special membership qualification.
Sandler noted that Dinan cited specific claims of problems associated with the new members’ addresses and special membership status brought to Dinan’s attention by the club’s current officers. None of the issues about membership status raised could be grounds for disqualifying a member under the bylaws.
Sandler suggested in his letter that Garcia and the other two candidates who won election to the club’s vice presidential posts – Angela Peoples and Vincent Villano – would have grounds to take legal action against the club if their elections are overturned.
“[I]t is Mr. Garcia’s position that any decision to invalidate the December 3 election and/or to hold another election would be a flagrant violation by the Stein Club of its own bylaws, a violation that obviously directly injures Mr. Garcia, and that would constitute action ultra vires and in breach of contract,” he says in his letter.
“Ultra vires” is a Latin term used to say a corporation or entity went “beyond the powers” or authority they have to take a certain action, according to BusinessDictinary.com.
Garcia told the Blade on Tuesday that he and the other new officers have no intention of taking legal action against the club.
“That would not be beneficial to anyone involved in the club,” he said. “Our hope is to build unity and move forward with greater participation by folks who haven’t been involved.”
“After reading Mr. Sandler’s memo, I am more convinced that this special meeting is an attempt to push new members out of the election process,” Garcia said in a statement on Tuesday. “The Stein Club founders stood against the disenfranchisement of LGBT people, and I believe that, when presented with all the information, today’s Stein members will stand together at the special meeting and vote to move us forward as a united organization.”
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
Maryland
Md. Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlines 2026 priorities
Expanded PrEP access among objectives
Maryland’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined legislative priorities for the remainder of the General Assembly’s 2026 term during a press conference on March 5.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Fredrick County) led the press conference. State Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and other caucus members also spoke.
Caucus members are sponsoring 12 bills and supporting four others.
Martinez is sponsoring House Bill 1114, which would expand PrEP access in Maryland.
“PrEP is 99 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission,” he explained, noting PrEP’s cost often turns away potential users.
The bill aims to extend insurance coverage and expand pharmacists’ ability to prescribe PrEP along with other HIV treatments and testing. Martinez is working with state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and FreeState Justice on the bill.
The House Health Committee had a hearing last week that included HB1114.
“Ending the HIV epidemic is about expanding access and providing these life-saving tools to all persons in Maryland,” Martinez said.
Several other pieces of legislation were highlighted during the press conferences. They included measures focused on youth and education, birth certificate markers, so-called conversion therapy, and hormone medications.
State Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) is cosponsoring Senate Bill 950, which would update and strengthen conversion therapy laws. State Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County) has introduced an identical bill that would extend the statute of limitations on individuals who facilitate conversion therapy.
Kagan explained the bill would allow conversion therapy victims to come to terms with their experience undergoing the widely discredited practice that “creates shame and it silences survivors.”
When questioned, Fair explained the press conference happened late into the legislative session because “we [the caucus] are constantly having to respond in real time to what’s happening in Washington” while drafting and considering pieces of legislation.
The Frederick County Democrat described this session’s bills as the “most ambitious list of priorities to date.” Fair also described the caucus’s goals.
“It’s decency, it’s dignity, and its humanity,” he said.
District of Columbia
Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79
Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’
John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.
Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.
“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.
“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”
The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”
It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17th Street, N.W. called Peppers.
According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.
The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.
“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.
“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.
The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.
“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”
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