Local
Olson, Boies join Virginia marriage lawsuit
Lawyers argued against Proposition 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court
Ted Olson and David Boies (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The American Federation of Equal Rights on Sunday announced the lawyers who argued against California’s Proposition 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court will join a federal lawsuit that seeks to overturns Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban.
The Washington Post first reported attorneys representing Timothy Bostic and Tony London of Norfolk and Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Richmond asked Ted Olson and David Boies to join the case. The plaintiffs joined one of their lawyers, Tom Shuttleworth, AFER Executive Director Adam Umhoefer and Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin at a press conference that took place at the National Press Club in downtown D.C. on Monday
“I’m a Virginian,” Olson said, referring to the fact that Thomas Jefferson and many of the country’s other founding fathers are from the commonwealth. “Of all places in the United States, Virginia should recognize the rights of equality. Men and women in that state have the same basic fundamental underlying freedoms that everyone in America has.”
“This case is about liberty,” Boies added. “It’s about the pursuit of happiness. It’s about the inalienable right of every individual to marry the person who they love.”
Carol Schall (left) with Mary Townley and their daughter Emily. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Bostic and London, who have been together for 24 years, in July filed a federal lawsuit that challenges Virginia’s gay nuptials ban after the Norfolk Circuit Court denied them a marriage license. Towning and Schall, who have been together for 30 years and married in California in 2008, joined the Norfolk couple’s case earlier this month when their lawyers filed an amended lawsuit.
“We aren’t asking for special privileges or treatment,” Towning said at the National Press Club press conference as she stood alongside Schall and their 15-year-old daughter Emily. “We just want to be the same as everyone else to be married.”
Bostic told reporters his family’s Virginia roots date back to before the Declaration of Independence.
“I also stand before you as an individual who has and continues to be discriminated against by my home state because of who I am and who I love,” he said.
Neighboring Maryland is among the 13 states and D.C. in which same-sex couples can legally marry.
Virginia voters in 2006 approved a state constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, but Olson and Boies’ decision to join this case comes as the issue of nuptials for gays and lesbians continues to gain traction across the country after the U.S. Supreme Court in June struck down Prop 8 and a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act.
The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia last month filed a class action federal lawsuit against Virginia’s gay nuptials ban on behalf of two lesbian couples from Richmond and Staunton who had been denied marriage licenses. The ACLU in July formally challenged Pennsylvania’s statutory gay marriage ban on behalf of 10 same-sex couples and a lesbian widow.
New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Friday said he’d appeal a judge’s ruling that said the state must allow gays and lesbians to marry. An Illinois judge on the same day said two lawsuits that challenge the state’s same-sex marriage ban can proceed.
Gay couples in New Mexico and Ohio have also filed lawsuits seeking marriage rights.
Lambda Legal, the ACLU and the ACLU of Virginia on Monday filed a motion with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg that seeks an expedited judgment in their case that challenges the commonwealth’s same-sex marriage ban.
“Virginians denied the freedom to marry have no meaningful legislative path to gain the same protections for their families as other loving committed couples,” ACLU of Virginia Executive Director Claire Guthrie Gastañaga said. “That’s why we’ve had to ask the federal court to overturn Virginia’s sweeping bans on recognizing same-sex relationships. We shouldn’t have to go to federal court to get Virginia to do what’s right.”
Gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) is among those who applauded Olson and Boies’ decision to join the case.
“It is not a question of whether marriage equality will come to Virginia; it is a question of when,” he said in a statement in which he also praised Lambda Legal, the ACLU and the ACLU of Virginia for challenging the commonwealth’s same-sex marriage ban. “This is the time for Virginia to wake up from history–as Jefferson said, ‘laws and institutions must go hand in hand with the progress of the human mind.'”
“This team brings years of experience advocating for the rights of gay and lesbian couples and will only help to ensure that all Virginians will soon be able to enjoy the freedom to marry,” James Parrish, executive director of Equality Virginia, added. “As we continue our work to change hearts and minds throughout the state, we will closely monitor both this lawsuit and the one filed by the ACLU and Lambda Legal.”
Tucker Martin, a spokesperson for Gov. Bob McDonnell, defended the gay nuptials prohibition.
“The voters of Virginia passed a constitutional amendment in 2006 defining marriage in the commonwealth as being only a union of one man and one woman,” Martin said. “It is the law in this state based on the popular will of the voters as expressed at the ballot box.”
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli did not immediately return the Washington Blade’s request for comment. He did reaffirm his opposition to marriage rights for gays and lesbians as he squared off against former Democratic National Committee Chair Terry McAuliffe during the latest gubernatorial debate that took place in McLean on September 25.
“I understand and respect the fact that this is a sensitive issue to a lot of Virginians,” Cuccinelli said. “But I’m one of those who do believe that the institution of marriage should remain between one man and one woman.”
Both Olson and Umhoefer noted during the AFER press conference that the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967 struck down the commonwealth’s interracial marriage ban in its landmark Loving v. Virginia decision.
“We’re hoping that the case in Virginia is the beginning of the end,” Boies said, referring to the movement for marriage rights for same-sex couples after the U.S. Supreme Court found Prop 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional. “The citizens of Virginia, no less than the citizens of California are entitle to marry the person they love.”
Boies told the Blade he and Olson decided to join the case Bostic and London and Schall and Townley filed because it was the first one in the commonwealth to “establish marriage equality.” Greg Nevins of Lambda Legal said after the AFER press conference that Boies and Olson’s involvement in legal efforts to extend marriage rights to gays and lesbians in Virginia “can only be a good thing.”
“We’re happy to collaborate and work with anyone who shares this goal,” Nevins said.
Boies also told the Blade he would like to see President Obama intervene in the Virginia marriage case of which he and Olson are now a part as the Justice Department did in the Prop 8 lawsuit.
District of Columbia
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Drag performer Tara Hoot serves as MC, Gay Men’s Chorus of DC performs, attendees shout for Trump to keep ‘hands off’ Kennedy Center
More than 2,000 supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts turned out on Sept. 18, for a rally in support of the performing arts center and a vocal protest against President Donald Trump’s threats to permanently close the center and possibly demolish it.
The event was organized by a group called Hands Off the Arts, which initially called for participants to form a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center’s main building following a rally on the plaza in front of the building.
However, due to a decision by the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to close the center earlier in the week and install fencing around part of the building, participants could only form the chain around part of the building, according to organizers.
Drag performer Tara Hoot, who co-organized the event and served as master of ceremonies for the rally preceding the “human chain,” said the large turnout could have fully surrounded the building at least twice had the fencing not prevented a full encirclement.
Among the musicians and singing groups that performed at the rally was the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which, like other rally performers, had performed at the Kennedy Center in past years. They drew loud applause after singing one of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical show Ragtime, which includes the lyrics, “Will justice be demanded by 10 million men? Make them hear you. When they hear you, I’ll be near you again.”
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Prior to their performance, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s artistic director, Thea Kano, spoke at the rally, reminding participants that shortly after the Trump takeover of the center last year, Kennedy Center officials cancelled a concert the chorus was scheduled to perform there for World Pride 2025.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict, but chorus members and LGBTQ activists believe it resulted from policies put in place by Trump and his leadership team at the Kennedy Center following Trump’s statements that he would end controversial “woke” performances that he claimed the majority of Americans disapprove of.
“Now this building sits empty in silence,” Kano told the crowd at the rally. “Let us raise our voices together and bring back the Kennedy Center as it was intended, a place where American culture could be celebrated and elevated, embracing the vibrancy with the spectrum of identify without censure and without politics,” she said.
Among the others who spoke at the rally were U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large).
Most speakers, along with LGBTQ participants in the hands-around-the-building event expressed strong opposition to Trump’s demand that the Kennedy Center name be changed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At Trump’s request, his appointed board initially made that name change and placed Trump’s name on the front wall of the building along with the Kennedy name. But following legal action taken by opponents who pointed out that Congress must approve such a name change, a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building. Trump has said he will take steps to reverse that order and has said he will stop plans to renovate the Kennedy Center building and possibly demolish it if his name is not restored in the Kennedy’s Center’s official name.
Throughout the Sept. 18 rally, LGBTQ participants repeatedly responded to the Trump threats by shouting, “Hands Off!”
Chris Raleigh, one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts and a lead organizer of the Sept. 18 event at the Kennedy Center who spoke at the event told the Washington Blade that more similar events are being planned and he welcomes the support the event has received from the LGBTQ community.
“The LGBTQ community was here first, and we’re following them,” he said. “They’ve been the spearhead; they’ve been the vanguard. And I’m so thankful for heroes like Tara Hoot,” he said, adding, “It’s because they know what it means and how this is a safe place – the theater – for many LGBTQ people.”
The DMV’s own furry group was on full display on the Metro on Sept. 12.
Shutterpaws is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Maryland.
The furry group has been doing the FurRide event since 2024 and has blown up in popularity for furries around DMV. They showcased themselves on the Silver and Blue Lines near the Smithsonian on Sept. 12.
“A lot of careful planning goes into running these events, with the goal being a seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone who attends,” says Zayre, a Shutterpaws staff member. “There’s a lot that you learn just by trial and error, and as Shutterpaws hosts more and more events, our team of event organizers continues to learn and refine our approach to keep things running smoothly and finding new ways to engage with our community.”
With a larger growth of participation in the community comes many challenges with the group, especially when it comes to the Metro rides and organizing.
“The biggest challenge that we face as organizers is keeping things fresh and finding new and engaging venues to host events,” says Zayre. “Recently we saw a lot of success hosting a meet at On Target Battlezone, an indoor NERF gun battle arena where our crew was welcome to show up and play both with and without a fur suit.”
Nevertheless, Shutterpaws receive overwhelming support from the community and partners.
“Across the DMV there are so many amazing places to host a Shutterpaws event so we can pursue our mission of helping connect fur suiters and photographers, and we’re blown away with the amount of support we’ve received from our community partners,” says Zayre.
Shutterpaws plans to do more events for anyone in the DMV who is interested.
Their next event in collaboration with DC Fur Meet will take place at Pitchers (2317 18th St., N.W.) on Saturday. Visit Shutterpaws’ website for more information.
Delaware
Republican challenger misgenders McBride during forum, forced to leave
Jewish Federation of Delaware hosted event on Thursday
Republican “Dr. Joe” Arminio, the Republican nominee for the First State’s at-large U.S. House of Representatives seat, attempted to misgender the the country’s first and only transgender member of Congress while at a forum on Thursday.
This story was first broken by WDEL out of Wilmington, Del.
Arminio used the terms “his” and later “gentleman” when referring to U.S. Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) during his time on the mic before he was asked to leave the forum, hosted by the Jewish Federation of Delaware at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville on Thursday night.
At that point, the crowd of about 100 people largely started booing Arminio, who then finished, “I would like to show respect to the speaker, that would be nice.”
The first time Republican US House candidate “Dr. Joe” Arminio referred to Rep. Sarah McBride (D) as a man during Thursday’s debate at the Siegel Jewish Community Center in Talleyville. He was warned for his comment. #netde https://t.co/j4EaMOL84W
— Sean Greene (@SeanGreeneWDEL) September 18, 2026
Moderator Ken Grant waited until Arminio was finished, then said, “this is your final warning, if you fail to show respect to anyone else on this stage, you’ll be asked to leave.”
During the answer to his next question at the forum, Arminio responded to what he called an “error.”
“I committed an error before, and I do acknowledge it,” Arminio said. “It’s not the first error I’ve made in this campaign, or at any point in my future life.”
Despite the apology and acknowledgement that he had committed what was, at the very least, a social taboo, he did it again 12 minutes later.
While talking about rising healthcare costs being a “catastrophe,” Arminio pointed to U.S. Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) and McBride.
“The reason it is is because gentlemen like the two up here with me in the Democratic Party, and the Republican Party … ” Arminio said.
Despite his direct attacks on McBride’s gender identity, she responded to the situation with grace, attempting to intervene to allow Arminio to still have a chance to speak despite not heeding the moderator’s warnings.
“I don’t want this gentleman to not have the ability … ,” McBride began.
However, Republican Senate candidate Michael Katz interrupted her shortly before Arminio was removed from the forum, which was meant to inform the Delaware electorate on the candidates’ issues.
Katz had his opening statement next and directly condemned Arminio’s comments.
“I would like to apologize to everybody here and everybody else on this stage. As a physician, I believe in our common humanity and respect for each other. I feel that pain over those comments, and my apologies.”
Following the forum, Katz called for Arminio to exit the race via social media.
“Those who seek to represent Delaware must demonstrate integrity, judgment, decency, and respect — even toward people with whom they profoundly disagree,” Katz’s post read on Facebook. “For these reasons, I am calling on Joseph Arminio to withdraw his candidacy for the United States House of Representatives.”
This is not the first time McBride has been the victim of misgendering.
In 2025, House Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Rep. Keith Self (R-Texas) introduced the sole representative from Delaware as “Mr. McBride” during a meeting.
This is also not the first time McBride has faced vitriol from the other side of the aisle — both in terms of personal and legislative attacks on her trans identity.
In 2025, the House voted to ban trans girls and women from playing school sports with other girls, while U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) pushed for legislation barring trans women from using women’s bathrooms.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) instituted a similar rule barring McBride — and all other trans women — from women’s restrooms on Capitol Hill.
McBride has also been a vocal opponent of Executive Order 14168, “Defending Women from Gender Ideology Extremism and Restoring Biological Truth to the Federal Government,” signed by President Donald Trump on his first day in office. The directive prohibits the federal government from recognizing the gender identity of trans people.
She has criticized Executive Order 14183, “Prioritizing Military Excellence and Readiness,” which would ban trans service members from serving in the Armed Forces. The directive is still being challenged in the courts to determine its constitutional legitimacy, but it has been allowed to remain in effect as the judicial system considers its legality.
The Washington Blade sat down with McBride in May to reflect on a tense year for LGBTQ politics, where she, in typical McBride fashion, answered questions about the hate she has received.
“Our politics are too often defined by hate,” McBride told the Blade. “I’m glad Delaware and Delawareans are showing that a different kind of politics is possible.”
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