Local
Delaware lawmaker to introduce marriage bill
Rep. Smith sponsored state’s civil unions law
State Rep. Melanie George Smith (D-Bear) sponsored Delaware’s civil unions bill in the state House of Representatives. (Photo courtesy of Delaware House Majority Caucus.)
A Delaware lawmaker who sponsored the state’s civil unions bill told the Washington Blade on Wednesday she will introduce a measure that would extend full marriage rights to same-sex couples in the First State.
“It’s going to be my honor and privilege to be able to sponsor the bill in the House of Representatives,” said state Rep. Melanie George Smith (D-Bear).
Smith did not provide a specific timeline as to when she would formally introduce the same-sex marriage bill.
The legislative session ends on June 30, but Attorney General Beau Biden told the Blade on March 16 he is “anxious to make sure that something is put in the General Assembly sooner than later so we don’t run up against the clock.” He is among the 14 state attorneys general who filed an amicus brief with the U.S. Supreme Court that argues both the Defense of Marriage Act and California’s Proposition 8 are unconstitutional.
“We want to make sure that everything is lined up that we’ve got a bill that’s legally and technically perfect that way there can be no question,” Smith said. “It’s such a controversial issue from some people’s perspective that we don’t want folks picking apart the bill on technical matters or anything along those lines.”
“If we’re going to do this we’re going to do it perfectly,” she added. “We’re just working to get it done perfectly. As soon as we’re confident that the bill has no legal or technical flaws and that everything looks good that’s when we’ll be going ahead and introducing it.”
Smith spoke with the Blade less than a week after gay Delaware Republican Party Executive Director John Fluharty publicly spoke in support of marriage rights for same-sex couples during an interview at an Equality Delaware fundraiser in Wilmington.
“We’re all individual people and we as individuals care about equality, we care about fairness and we care about people and their fairness,” she said, adding she feels nuptials for gays and lesbians is a non-partisan issue. “We have a very courageous and strong individual who is willing to say I support fairness; I support equality.”
Smith remains optimistic the same-sex marriage bill will gain Republican support in the state legislature once she introduces it. She said the success of the state’s civil unions law that took effect in 2012 has helped lay the foundation upon which advocates can gain further support for nuptials for gays and lesbians in Delaware.
“You’ve really got a platform in Delaware where folks want to see fairness and they want to see Delawareans who are in love have the same opportunity to receive the same federal benefits as other people do,” she said. “When you talk with folks about that, I think it really helps shape the nature of the debate and people understand what’s going on.”
Smith also applauded Vice President Biden, President Obama and others who have spoken publicly in support of the issue.
“When we have national leaders who are willing to support equality for everybody it kind of sends the message from the top down it’s a value that we in America hold dearly,” she said. “We were founded on a nation of equal rights and that we’ve spent the last couple of hundred years trying to correct injustices where things aren’t equal.”
A Global Strategy Group survey that Equality Delaware commissioned last month found 54 percent of Delaware voters support marriage rights for same-sex couples. Three-quarters of respondents said nuptials for gays and lesbians in the state would not negatively impact their lives.
Smith said she remains optimistic the same-sex marriage bill will pass.
“It is really truly about recognizing the value that we in Delaware place on individual equality and Delawareans should be able to have the same rights as everybody,” she said.
District of Columbia
Kennedy Center renaming triggers backlash
Artists who cancel shows threatened; calls for funding boycott grow
Efforts to rename the Kennedy Center to add President Trump’s name to the D.C. arts institution continue to spark backlash.
A new petition from Qommittee , a national network of drag artists and allies led by survivors of hate crimes, calls on Kennedy Center donors to suspend funding to the center until “artistic independence is restored, and to redirect support to banned or censored artists.”
“While Trump won’t back down, the donors who contribute nearly $100 million annually to the Kennedy Center can afford to take a stand,” the petition reads. “Money talks. When donors fund censorship, they don’t just harm one institution – they tell marginalized communities their stories don’t deserve to be told.”
The petition can be found here.
Meanwhile, a decision by several prominent musicians and jazz performers to cancel their shows at the recently renamed Trump-Kennedy Center in D.C. planned for Christmas Eve and New Year’s Eve has drawn the ire of the Center’s president, Richard Grenell.
Grenell, a gay supporter of President Donald Trump who served as U.S. ambassador to Germany during Trump’s first term as president, was named Kennedy Center president last year by its board of directors that had been appointed by Trump.
Last month the board voted to change the official name of the center from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump And The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center For The Performing Arts. The revised name has been installed on the outside wall of the center’s building but is not official because any name change would require congressional action.
According to a report by the New York Times, Grenell informed jazz musician Chuck Redd, who cancelled a 2025 Christmas Eve concert that he has hosted at the Kennedy Center for nearly 20 years in response to the name change, that Grenell planned to arrange for the center to file a lawsuit against him for the cancellation.
“Your decision to withdraw at the last moment — explicitly in response to the Center’s recent renaming, which honors President Trump’s extraordinary efforts to save this national treasure — is classic intolerance and very costly to a non-profit arts institution,” the Times quoted Grenell as saying in a letter to Redd.
“This is your official notice that we will seek $1 million in damages from you for this political stunt,” the Times quoted Grenell’s letter as saying.
A spokesperson for the Trump-Kennedy Center did not immediately respond to an inquiry from the Washington Blade asking if the center still planned to file that lawsuit and whether it planned to file suits against some of the other musicians who recently cancelled their performances following the name change.
In a follow-up story published on Dec. 29, the New York Times reported that a prominent jazz ensemble and a New York dance company had canceled performances scheduled to take place on New Year’s Eve at the Kennedy Center.
The Times reported the jazz ensemble called The Cookers did not give a reason for the cancellation in a statement it released, but its drummer, Billy Hart, told the Times the center’s name change “evidently” played a role in the decision to cancel the performance.
Grenell released a statement on Dec. 29 calling these and other performers who cancelled their shows “far left political activists” who he said had been booked by the Kennedy Center’s previous leadership.
“Boycotting the arts to show you support the arts is a form of derangement syndrome,” the Times quoted him as saying in his statement.
District of Columbia
New interim D.C. police chief played lead role in security for WorldPride
Capital Pride says Jeffery Carroll had ‘good working relationship’ with organizers
Jeffery Carroll, who was named by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Dec. 17 as the city’s Interim Chief of Police, played a lead role in working with local LGBTQ community leaders in addressing public safety issues related to WorldPride 2025, which took place in D.C. last May and June
“We had a good working relationship with him, and he did his job in relation to how best the events would go around safety and security,” said Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance.
Bos said Carroll has met with Capital Pride officials in past years to address security issues related to the city’s annual Capital Pride parade and festival and has been supportive of those events.
At the time Bowser named him Interim Chief, Carroll had been serving since 2023 as Executive Assistant Chief of Specialized Operations, overseeing the day-to-day operation of four of the department’s bureaus. He first joined the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in 2002 and advanced to multiple leadership positions across various divisions and bureaus, according to a statement released by the mayor’s office.
“I know Chief Carroll is the right person to build on the momentum of the past two years so that we can continue driving down crime across the city,” Bowser said in a statement released on the day she announced his appointment as Interim Chief.
“He has led through some of our city’s most significant public safety challenges of the past decade, he is familiar with D.C. residents and well respected and trusted by members of the Metropolitan Police Department as well as our federal and regional public safety partners,” Bowser said.
“We have the best police department in the nation, and I am confident that Chief Carroll will meet this moment for the department and the city,” Bowser added.
But Bowser has so far declined to say if she plans to nominate Carroll to become the permanent police chief, which requires the approval of the D.C. City Council. Bowser, who announced she is not running for re-election, will remain in office as mayor until January 2027.
Carroll is replacing outgoing Chief Pamela Smith, who announced she was resigning after two years of service as chief to spend more time with her family. She has been credited with overseeing the department at a time when violent crime and homicides declined to an eight-year low.
She has also expressed support for the LGBTQ community and joined LGBTQ officers in marching in the WorldPride parade last year.
But Smith has also come under criticism by members of Congress, who have accused the department of manipulating crime data allegedly showing lower reported crime numbers than actually occurred. The allegations came from the Republican-controlled U.S. House Oversight Committee and the U.S. Justice Department
Bowser has questioned the accuracy of the allegations and said she has asked the city’s Inspector General to look into the allegations.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the D.C. police Office of Public Affairs did not immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade about the status of the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit. Sources familiar with the department have said a decline in the number of officers currently working at the department, said to be at a 50-year low, has resulted in a decline in the number of officers assigned to all of the liaison units, including the LGBT unit.
Among other things, the LGBT Liaison Unit has played a role in helping to investigate hate crimes targeting the LGBTQ community. As of early Wednesday an MPD spokesperson did not respond to a question by the Blade asking how many officers are currently assigned to the LGBT Liaison Unit.
Arts & Entertainment
2026 Most Eligible LGBTQ Singles nominations
We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region.
Are you or a friend looking to find a little love in 2026? We are looking for the most eligible LGBTQ singles in the Washington, D.C. region. Nominate you or your friends until January 23rd using the form below or by clicking HERE.
Our most eligible singles will be announced online in February. View our 2025 singles HERE.
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