Local
Delaware same-sex marriage law takes effect
Sen. Karen Peterson, Vikki Bandy converted civil union into marriage; couples apply for marriage licences
Vikki Bandy and state Sen. Karen Peterson sign their marriage certificates in Wilmington, Del., on July 1. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
WILMINGTON, Del. — A Delaware lawmaker who came out during a debate over her state’s same-sex marriage bill earlier this year and her partner on Monday became the first couple to take advantage of the gay nuptials law.
State Sen. Karen Peterson (D-Stanton) and her partner, Vikki Bandy, converted their civil union into a marriage at the New Castle County Clerk of the Peace’s office in Wilmington.
“It’s exciting, both historically and personally,” Peterson told reporters after she and Bandy exchanged vows in a private ceremony. “I never thought in our lifetimes we would be getting married.”
Daniel Cole and Joseph Daigle, II, of Wilmington, Del., on Monday became the first same-sex couple without a civil union to legally marry in the state. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Rehoboth Beach residents Chris Beagle and Eric Engelhart later on Monday became the first gay couple in Sussex County to convert their civil union into a marriage. Joseph Daigle, II, and Daniel Cole of Wilmington are the first same-sex couple who had not previously entered into a civil union to tie the knot in Delaware.
Attorney General Beau Biden and New Castle County Executive Tom Gordon are among those who spoke at Daigle and Cole’s wedding that took place inside the Marian Cruger Coffin Gardens at the Gibraltar Mansion in Wilmington on Monday evening.
“Today we are witnesses to a historic event for Delaware and for our community and quite frankly our future,” Biden said.
Daigle and Cole spoke with reporters after they exchanged vows.
“This was one of the most exciting moments of my life,” Daigle said. “I am so happy to be married to Dan.”
New Castle County Clerk of the Peace Ken Boulden, who officiated both Peterson and Bandy and Daigle and Cole’s weddings, said 108 same-sex couples in Delaware received marriage licenses on Monday. The state did not waive the 24-hour waiting period for any other gay or lesbian couples on the first day they could legally tie the knot.
Alexander Perez and Brad Poulter of Wilmington, who have been together for eight years, received their marriage license at the New Castle County Clerk of the Peace’s office shortly after Peterson and Bandy exchanged their marriage vows.
The men plan to tie the knot in Wilmington on July 13.
“It’s great to be living in a state that recognizes equality, realizes everyone is equal,” Poulter said.
11 states and D.C. now allow same-sex marriage.
Gays and lesbians in Minnesota and Rhode Island will begin to legally tie the knot on August 1.
The U.S. Supreme Court on June 26 found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional and struck down California’s Proposition 8 that had banned same-sex marriage. Gays and lesbians in the Golden State began to once again exchange vows on June 28 after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals listed its stay on gay nuptials in response to the justices’ Prop 8 ruling.
“You realize the benefits that you don’t have by not having marriage, or in our case civil unions,” Peterson said, noting Bandy was diagnosed with stage three ovarian cancer three years ago.
Bandy is now in remission, but Peterson had to pay extra taxes because her now spouse was on her health insurance policy.
“With DOMA gone that will not happen,” Peterson said.
A handful of Westboro Baptist Church members protested outside the New Castle County offices in which the Clerk of the Peace is located before Peterson and Bandy exchanged vows. The more than 100 same-sex marriage supporters who gathered across the street vastly outnumbered them.
“If you don’t want a gay marriage, don’t get one,” Alison Sprong of New Jersey told the Washington Blade as she stood among other same-sex marriage supporters outside the county offices in downtown Wilmington. “Don’t infringe on other peoples’ rights to do so.”
Wilmington resident Alex Koriakin, who plans to marry his partner next year, agreed as he applauded the state for allowing gays and lesbians to tie the knot.
“It’s time,” he said. “It’s great that Delaware can be one of the first states to take advantage of that.”
Equality Delaware President Lisa Goodman, who also applied for a marriage license with her spouse, Drew Fennell, on Monday, agreed.
“So many people have worked for so many years to get us to this day,” Goodman told the Blade before she entered the county’s offices to attend Peterson and Bandy’s ceremony. “To actually be standing here about to go in and have the first licenses issued is just an amazing feeling.”
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate this week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
Local
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
Rayceen Pendarvis to moderate Dupont Underground panel on Sunday
LGBTQ groups in D.C. and elsewhere plan to use Black History Month as an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate Black lives and experiences.
Team Rayceen Productions has no specific events planned, but co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis will attend many functions around D.C. this month.
Pendarvis, a longtime voice in the LGBTQ community in D.C. moderated a panel at Dupont Underground on Feb. 8. The event, “Every (Body) Wants to Be a Showgirl,” will feature art from Black burlesque artists from around the country. Pendarvis on Feb. 23 will attend the showing of multimedia play at the Lincoln Theatre that commemorates the life of James Baldwin.
Equality Virginia plans to prioritize Black voices through a weekly online series, and community-based story telling. The online digital series will center Black LGBTQ voices, specifically trailblazers and activists, and contemporary Black queer and transgender people.
Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director, stressed the importance of the Black queer community to the overall Pride movement, and said “Equality Virginia is proud to center those voices in our work this month and beyond.”
The Capital Pride Alliance, which hosts Pride events in D.C., has an alliance with the Center for Black Equity, which brings Black Pride to D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. The National LGBTQ Task Force has no specific Black History Month events planned, but plans to participate in online collaborations.
Cathy Renna, the Task Force’s director of communications, told the Washington Blade the organization remains committed to uplifting Black voices. “Our priority is keeping this at the forefront everyday,” she said.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is also hosting a series of Black History Month events.
The D.C. Public Library earlier this year launched “Freedom and Resistance,” an exhibition that celebrates Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. It will remain on display until the middle of March at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St., N.W.
District of Columbia
U.S. Attorney’s Office drops hate crime charge in anti-gay assault
Case remains under investigation and ‘further charges’ could come
D.C. police announced on Feb. 9 that they had arrested two days earlier on Feb. 7 a Germantown, Md., man on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation after the man allegedly assaulted a gay man at 14th and Q Streets, N.W., while using “homophobic slurs.”
But D.C. Superior Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., which prosecutes D.C. violent crime cases, charged the arrested man only with simple assault without a hate crime designation.
In response to a request by the Washington Blade for the reason why the hate crime designation was dropped, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office provided this response: “We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them.”
In a statement announcing the arrest in this case, D.C. police stated, “On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and continued walking,” the statement says.
“The suspect assaulted the victim and used homophobic slurs,” the police statement continues. “The suspect was apprehended by responding officers.”
It adds that 26-year-old Dean Edmundson of Germantown, Md. “was arrested and charged with Simple Assault (Hate/Bias).” The statement also adds, “A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”
Under D.C.’s Bias Related Crime Act of 1989, penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice against individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and homelessness can be enhanced by a court upon conviction by one and a half times greater than the penalty of the underlying crime.
Prosecutors in the past both in D.C. and other states have said they sometimes decide not to include a hate crime designation in assault cases if they don’t think the evidence is sufficient to obtain a conviction by a jury. In some instances, prosecutors have said they were concerned that a skeptical jury might decide to find a defendant not guilty of the underlying assault charge if they did not believe a motive of hate was involved.
A more detailed arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police in Superior Court appears to support the charge of a hate crime designation.
“The victim stated that they refused to High-Five Defendant Edmondson, which, upon that happening, Defendant Edmondson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim, “bald, ugly, and gay,” the arrest affidavit states.
“The victim stated that upon being called that, Defendant Edmundson pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push,” the affidavit continues. “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay,” it says.
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