Local
Va. lawmakers to consider anti-LGBT discrimination bill
SB 701 would bar discrimination against LGBT state employees
Gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin is a Senate Bill 710 co-sponsor (Photo courtesy of Adam Ebbin)
“Senate Bill 701 is about fairness,” state Sen. A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico,) who co-sponsored the measure alongside gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria,) said during a Jan. 17 press conference in Richmond ahead of the scheduled hearing on SB 701 in the Senate Committee on General Laws and Technology. “Virginians are about fairness and there should be no visible discrimination in our state workforce. Virginia is better than what we’ve shown in this regard.”
Ebbin noted former Govs. Mark Warner and Tim Kaine signed executive orders that banned anti-gay discrimination against state employees. Governor Bob McDonnell has not followed suit.
“In Virginia, you can be fired for being lesbian, bisexual, gay or transgender,” Ebbin said. “There’s just nothing to stop it and real people are moving away or deciding not to come here because of our lack of protections for LGBT Virginians. That’s a loss for all of us and it’s a loss that I’ve heard from personally from friends who don’t want to come here or people who have left. It’s a fundamental American value that tax paying individuals who work hard should not be discriminated against in the workplace because of who they are and it makes good business sense as [Equality Virginia Executive Director] James [Parrish] said to have non-discrimination policies.”
The state Senate in 2010 and 2011 passed bills similar to SB 701 twice, but they both stalled in the House of Delegates.
The proposal currently has 45 co-sponsors in both legislative chambers, but Parrish conceded to the Washington Blade during an interview late last year that SB 701’s chances of passing in the Republican-controlled House of Delegates this year are “very slim.”
“It’s time that the state catches up with the business community and 90 percent of Virginians who believe that gays and lesbians have the right to work in the government without discrimination,” Parrish said during the Jan. 17 press conference. “Protecting LGBT employees and especially job security is a timely and important issue for all Virginians. LGBT Virginians aren’t asking for special treatment. We are just asking for the right to work while living an authentic life.”
Susie Corbett of Mothers and Others of Virginia agreed as she referenced her gay son whom she said is currently looking for a job in Richmond.
“In the current economy that could be difficult,” she said. “It scares me to think that the state of Virginia might add homophobia to his hurdles because that is just old fashioned discrimination and it is time for Virginia to join the 21st century.”
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
Dolly Parton dies at 80
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
Not all trans people are the same
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Calendar: August 21-27
