Local
McAuliffe, Warner attend Equality Virginia dinner
Nearly 1,000 people attended annual gathering in Richmond
Terry McAuliffe (center) at an Equality Virginia fundraiser in Arlington, Va. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
“It was two months ago that I came out for marriage equality,” he said, referring to the February Google chat during which he publicly announced his position. “I came out early because I thought it was the right thing to do.”
McAuliffe, who is the former chair of the Democratic National Committee, said the first thing he would do as governor is sign an executive order that would ban discrimination “based on any issue.” He also sought to differentiate himself from Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli who last week asked the 4th Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in Richmond to review a three-judge panel’s decision in March that struck down Virginia’s sodomy law.
“I will make sure that every single individual in the commonwealth of Virginia is treated fair and equal,” McAuliffe said.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.,) who publicly backed marriage rights for same-sex couples last month before the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments in cases that challenge the constitutionality of California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act, said he was “proud to lend my voice on that important issue.” He credited his three daughters with helping him come to support nuptials for gays and lesbians.
“Any committed couple ought to have protection under the law,” Warner, who in 2005 became the first Virginia governor to sign an executive order that banned anti-gay discrimination against state employees, said. “No one ought to have their relationship viewed as second class.”
Equality Virginia honored U.S. Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va;) Girl Scouts of the Commonwealth of Virginia Interim CEO Viola Baskerville; LGBT advocates Ted Heck, Guy Kinman and Gregg Smith; publishers of the Our Own newspaper that published in Norfolk from 1976-1998 and University of Virginia psychology professor Charlotte J. Patterson. The group also acknowledged Roanoke auto body shop owner Richard Henegar, Jr., who last summer coordinated efforts to repair Radford University student Jordan Addison’s vandalized car that had “die fag” scratched into the door.
Virginia Congressman Bobby Scott; state Sens. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and A. Donald McEachin (D-Henrico;) state Dels. Jim Scott (D-Merrifield,) Jennifer McClellan (D-Richmond,) David Toscano (D-Charlottesville) and Charniele Herring (D-Alexandria;) attorney general candidates Mark Herring and Justin Fairfax; lieutenant gubernatorial hopeful Aneesh Chopra; Richmond City Councilmembers Cynthia Newbille and Jonathan Baliles and Alexandria City Councilman Paul Smedberg are among the nearly 1,000 people who attended the dinner.
Richmond Circuit Court Judge Tracy Thorne-Begland, who in January became the commonwealth’s first openly gay jurist after the Republican-controlled House of Delegates initially rejected his nomination last May, also attended.
Parrish: We have reason to celebrate
The dinner took place less than two months after a House of Delegates subcommittee tabled a bill that would have banned discrimination against LGBT state employees.
“Sometimes Virginia is not always known for its steps forward,” Warner said. “We’ve seen actions in the General Assembly over the last couple of years that at times have not made Virginia the kind of leading light, but instead the butt of Jon Stewart jokes.”
A Virginia House of Delegates subcommittee in January killed a measure introduced by state Del. Scott Surovell (D-Fairfax) that would have repealed the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment that defined marriage as between a man and a woman in the commonwealth’s constitution.
Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish and others noted throughout the dinner, however, a majority of Americans now support nuptials for gays and lesbians.
“Tonight we have reason to celebrate,” he said. “LGBT Americans are more visible than ever before. Virginia is ripe for change.”
Newark (N.J.) Mayor Cory Booker also referenced his own evolution on same-sex marriage during his keynote address.
“This is the United States of America,” he said. “It’s not United Airlines where some of you can sit in first class and some people are back in coach. You can’t have two types of citizenship in this country.”
District of Columbia
LGBTQ seniors honored at D.C. Silver Pride event
City officials, activists credit them with playing lead role in movement
About 250 people turned out on Friday, June 12, for D.C.’s annual Silver Pride celebration, which honors and recognizes LGBTQ seniors and their role in advancing LGBTQ rights.
The event was held in a large conference hall in the building of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBTQ advocacy organization, which was among the event’s sponsors
According to local event organizer and longtime LGBTQ rights advocate Rayceen Pendarvis, who served as host of the event, the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living and the D.C.-based Seabury Resources for Aging, a nonprofit group that provides services and support for seniors, were the two lead organizers of this year’s Silver Pride.
In addition to presentations by several speakers, a DJ played music for dancing and two popular local drag performers — Shi-Queeta Lee and Capri Bloomingdale — performed at the event drawing loud applause.
Among the speakers were Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; Jody Wright, a member of the board of the Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events; Craig McCullough, board chair of Seabury Resources for Aging; Jermaine Dillon, an official with the D.C. Department of Aging and Community Living; and Bianca Ward, an official with the ViiV Healthcare company, which was one of the sponsors of the event.
“It is a joy to be a senior in this community,” Pendarvis told the crowd in opening remarks at the event. “And every part of every Pride movement is built on the backs and the foundations of the elders,” she said.
“We have to have a day when we’re celebrated and we are honored and we are represented in our fullness,” Pendarvis told the Washington Blade. “Because sometimes unfortunately, various Prides forget about our elders. And we have to let them know that we’re here, we’re queer, and we ain’t going anywhere,” Pendarvis said.
“It is my distinct honor and privilege to be here among the elders,” Wright, the Capital Pride board member, told the gathering. “Because what we do at Capital Pride is because of what you’ve done and you continue to do, because we are standing on the shoulders of giants,” he said, in referring to LGBTQ seniors.
Baltimore
This John Waters interview has been edited for readability — but perhaps not human decency
Pope of Trash dishes on Trump, plane etiquette, last meal, and more
By WESLEY CASE | At 80 years old, John Waters is still the ideal dinner guest — incisively sharp, quick-witted and funny as hell.
The chic Baltimore native proved it again and again in a recent Zoom interview, calling from his summer home in Provincetown, Mass.
The occasion was the Blu-ray releases of two of his movies — the 1977 dark comedy “Desperate Living” and his enduring 1988 musical “Hairspray” — on June 23 by the Criterion Collection, which publishes restorations of films it deems culturally important. The Criterion stamp of approval has become the gold standard among cinephiles.
“It’s like getting an award,” said Waters, who wrote and directed both films.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
D.C. Council approves expanded grant funding for Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs
Measure introduced by Zachary Parker faces second vote
The D.C. Council on June 9 gave its first round of approval to an amendment to the city’s fiscal year 2027 budget that calls for increasing the number and size of funding grants that the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs provides for local organizations providing services for the LGBTQ community.
The amendment, titled the “LGBTQ Community Grant Amendment Act of 2026,” was introduced by D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member.
The amendment calls for the LGBTQ Affairs office to issue a $980,000 grant in fiscal year 2027 to a private, nonprofit organization in partnership with the office “for the purpose of supporting programs that promote the welfare of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning community.”
The organization would also initiate its own fundraising effort to expand the amount of funds beyond the amount the office would provide, enabling it to provide larger grants to a greater number of local LGBTQ organizations.
Among other things, the amendment says the organization chosen for this new role should have a “proven track record of success in grant making and fundraising” and agree to undergo an annual audit and submit quarterly reports to the office on its use of the funds it receives.
Under its rules for approving legislation, the Council must hold the second vote on the budget bill with the Parker amendment before it is sent to Mayor Muriel Bowser for her signature. It must then go to Congress for a congressional review that does not require approval, but could result in a vote to disapprove the measure, an action Congress usually does not take.
In a June 12 statement, the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition called the D.C. Council’s initial approval of the Parker amendment, “a historic measure that establishes the District’s most sustainable model for a vehicle for investing in LGBTQ communities.”
The statement adds, “The legislation arrives at a critical moment, as LGBTQ-serving organizations face unprecedented uncertainty. Growing demand for services is colliding with shrinking resources, federal attacks on LGBTQ programs, and ongoing threats to local funding streams.”
It says the new program that the Parker amendment would create, if it reaches final approval, “creates a durable mechanism to protect and expand investments in the organizations that thousands of District residents rely upon every day.”
A spokesperson for the mayor’s office said he was looking into the mayor’s position on the Parker amendment but didn’t immediately get back with a response.
LGBTQ seniors honored at D.C. Silver Pride event
South Korea marriage equality movement gaining momentum
Niger recriminalizes homosexuality
Gay San Diego mayor elected US Conference of Mayors president
Calif. governor’s race spotlights Becerra’s LGBTQ advocacy
Gay 1920s-era Hollywood star to be honored in Staunton, Va.
Blade reporters reflect on covering Pulse massacre 10 years ago
Vote Kenyan McDuffie for D.C. mayor
Your queer D.C. voting guide
