Local
Judge rejects Graham request for order against ethics ruling
D.C. Council scheduled to vote Monday on reprimand proposal

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday denied a request by gay D.C. Council member Jim Graham for a temporary restraining order to force the cityβs ethics board to withdraw an opinion claiming that Graham violated the cityβs code of conduct over a contracting matter in 2008.
Graham and his attorneys wanted the negative opinion by the D.C. Board of Ethics and Government Accountability withdrawn to lessen its impact on a special session of the City Council scheduled for Monday, when a proposal to reprimand Graham will be debated and voted on.
In addition to filing a motion seeking the restraining order, Grahamβs attorney on Thursday filed a lawsuit on Grahamβs behalf challenging the ethics boardβs legal authority to issue its opinion that Graham violated the city code of conduct. Lawsuits usually take months or years to wend their way through the judicial system.
βOn todayβs court action, my lawyer said it best,β Graham said in a comment on Twitter. βWe will pursue the lawsuit on the ethics boardβs action. The injunction had a very high bar.β
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) on Thursday introduced a resolution calling for the Council to reprimand Graham, citing the opinion of the ethics board and a separate opinion by the Metro transit agency board finding that Graham breached ethics rules over the contract matter.
Both opinions claim Graham acted improperly by allegedly seeking to pressure a businessman into withdrawing a bid for a Metro land development contract in exchange for Grahamβs support for the businessman receiving a D.C. lottery contract. Graham has denied he interfered with the contract approval process.
Grahamβs lawsuit argues that the ethics board violated the law that created it and violated Grahamβs constitutional right of due process by issuing its opinion against Graham without giving him an opportunity to βview the evidence against him, confront it, present contrary evidence and argument, and propose findings of fact after a full adversary hearing.β
The lawsuit adds, βMr. Graham has suffered severe reputational harm as a result, including impending irreparable harm to his fifteen-year career as a sitting member of the D.C. Council.β
Maryland
AIDS Action Baltimore to honor John Waters at 35th anniversary commemoration
Honorees to include John Waters and Pat Moran

AIDS Action Baltimore will mark 35 years of service next month by paying tribute to six people who have helped keep it in operation, including filmmaker John Waters and his friend and movie industry colleague Pat Moran.
AIDS Action Baltimoreβs 35th Anniversary Commemoration, planned for Sept.18, is a cocktail reception and brunch thatβs also a fundraiser for the non-profit organization, which was started in 1987 to fight HIV/AIDS and provide a safety net for people living with HIV/AIDS and experiencing a financial emergency.
βJohn has supported us from the beginning,β said Lynda Dee, co-founder and executive director of the organization. βAll of his movie premieres benefitted AIDS Action Baltimore. Without his help, we wouldnβt be here today.β
Waters has directed 16 movies and written 10 books, and he was named in June to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Based in Baltimore, he has two museum exhibits coming up, βComing Attractions: The John Waters Collection,β an exhibit of art from his personal collection that heβs donating to the Baltimore Museum of Art, at the museum from Nov. 20, 2022, to April 16, 2023, and βPope of Trash,β a career retrospective at the Academy Museum of Motion Pictures in Los Angeles next summer.
Moran is a three-time Emmy Award-winning casting director who has worked closely with Waters and others on films and television shows made in Baltimore. She is one of three co-founders of AIDS Action Baltimore, along with Dee and Garey Lambert, who passed away in 1987.
Waters said heβs pleased to support AIDS Action Baltimore.
βIβm really happy to be involved,β he said. βPat was one of the first people that started it. Iβve been a supporter always just because I believe Iβm lucky I didnβt die of it.Β Plain and simple. I give money as a superstition that I wonβt ever get it. And Lynda Dee is a tireless AIDS warrior. The gay community owes her great, great credit … Itβs an organization in Baltimore that has kept many, many people alive … Iβm just honored to help them in any way I can.β
Other honorees include:
Richard Chaisson, professor of medicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and principal investigator of the Hopkins Center for AIDS Research;
Carla Alexander, assistant professor of medicine at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, a fellow of the American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Care, and an internationally recognized expert for those living with HIV disease;
Debbie Rock, a disco singer-turned-HIV activist who is the founding CEO of LIGHT Health and Wellness, a non-profit that provides a range of services for children, families and individuals in Baltimore affected by poverty, addiction, mental illness, HIV/AIDS and other chronic illnesses, including day care and respite care for children with HIV/AIDS; and
Carlton Smith, a community health worker with the state of Maryland, founder of the Center for Black Equity, and chair of the Ryan White Planning Council, which provides medical care and support services for people with HIV in Baltimore.Β
Since 1987, AIDS Action Baltimore has helped more than 8,750 people, distributing $3.145 million in assistance for items such as rent and utilities. It also has a number of programs to fight HIV, from town hall meetings to testing assistance to prevention campaigns, including outreach efforts to at-risk populations.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 31,676 people aged 13 and older were living in Maryland with diagnosed HIV at the end of 2020, and an estimated 3,559 people in Maryland were living with undiagnosed HIV at the end of 2019.
Dee wrote in June that the COVID-19 pandemic has made it more difficult for AIDS Action Baltimore to provide the services it does.
βCOVID-19 is eating a large percentage of U. S. Health and Human Services funding,β she wrote she in an open letter to friends of the organization. βWe are in danger of losing all our hard-won treatment and prevention gains. Because of COVID-19, it is much harder to obtain the money we need to fight HIV.β
Thatβs why AIDS Action Baltimore holds events such as the one next month, she added: βWe are still doing our best to help ourselves.β
AIDS Action Baltimoreβs 35thΒ Anniversary Commemoration will be held at the Belvedere (1 E. Chase St.) in Baltimore, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Sept. 18. Tickets cost $175 per person or $1,750 for a table of 10. Theyβre available atΒ aidsactionbaltimore.orgΒ or by calling 410-437-AIDS.Β
Virginia
Va. students warn against ‘don’t say gay’ policies
New law requires parental notification of ‘sexually explicit content’ in classroom

More than 600 students from across Virginia signed a letter from the Pride Liberation Project that calls for the Virginia Department of Education to clarify that teaching students about LGBTQ people and events is not “sexually explicit.”
Senate Bill 656, which Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed earlier this year, requires parents be notified when instructional materials contain βsexually explicit contentβ β without any input from students.
Current Virginia law defines βsexual conductβ as βmasturbation, homosexuality, sexual intercourse, or physical contact in an act of apparent sexual stimulation or gratification.β
Because SB 656 does not itself specify what constitutes βsexually explicit content,β LGBTQ students and activists are concerned that the bill will rest on Virginiaβs pre-existing definition of sexual conduct.
In theirΒ full letter, signees argued that βIn effect, SB 656 can potentially be interpreted to define all references to people in same-sex relationships as inherently sexual.β
βConsequently, all references to LGBTQIA+ people in K-12 schools, including Supreme Court cases, historical events impacting LGBTQIA+ people, and discussions about queer authors, may be deemed as sexually explicit content under SB 656, effectively erasing LGBTQIA+ representation in our school curriculum,β reads the Pride Liberation Project’s press release.
Representation has been shown to positively increase academic performance, and LGBTQ youth already face exacerbated risks of suicide and mental health crisis. In Virginia specifically, the vast majority of LGBTQ students reported hearing anti-LGBTQ remarks at school, and 26 percent of LGBTQ students reported being βdisciplined for public displays of affection (PDA) that did not result in similar action for non-LGBTQ students.β
βMost of my LGBTQIA+ friends are already struggling with their mental health,” said one Loudoun County student in the Pride Liberation Project press release. “Iβm scared about the message these guidelines could send and losing the already limited affirming representation in my class.β
Another student from Richmond said that they βdidnβt want to see their friends who are from homes that arenβt accepting not see themselves reflected at school.β

SMYAL on Thursday announced Erin Whelan will become the organization’s new executive director on Sept. 1.
SMYALβs mission is to support and empower LGBTQ youth ages 6-24.
A press release that announces Whelan’s appointment notes the organization over the last five years has grown “exponentially.” Its services include affirming programs, housing support, leadership training and mental health services, designed to help LGBTQ youth develop advocacy skills and an educated, welcoming community.Β Β Β
Whelan most recently served as the director of housing and homeless services at LifeWorks, an Austin, Texas,-based nonprofit that provides youth with housing and services. She has worked in nonprofit management for almost 20 years, and SMYALβs press release highlighted her commitment to antiracism, equity and the LGBTQ community.
βErin Whelan is a compassionate and strong leader who I am confident is the right person to lead SMYAL,β board chair Rob Cogorno said. βI could not be more proud of the tremendous growth in services for our LGBTQ youth and of the SMYAL staffβs hard work that made that growth possible. Erinβs extensive experience in service to youth in need and her passion for that work will help guide SMYAL in continuing its excellent work in this challenging time for LGBTQ youth in our region and across the country.”
Whelan in the press release shared her enthusiasm for stepping into leadership with this driving purpose.
βI am beyond excited and honored to join SMYAL as the new executive director. My work has been committed to understanding and seeing the world through the lens of the most marginalized youth and young adults and being a fierce advocate for LGBTQ youth,β Whelan said. βI believe all LGBTQ youth deserve an opportunity to build a life they love and a chance to feel celebrated and affirmed for exactly who they are and strive to be. From the moment I stepped into the SMYAL community, it felt like exactly where I wanted to be. SMYAL creates a community for queer and trans youth where they can feel radically accepted and safe to step into their true selves.β
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