Local

Gansler taps Ivey as running mate

P.G. County Dem sponsored marriage, transgender rights bills

Published

12 years ago

October 14, 2013

Michael K. Lavers

Del. Jolene Ivey (D-Prince George’s) (Photo public domain)

Maryland Attorney General Doug Gansler on Monday officially announced state Del. Jolene Ivey (D-Prince George’s) as his running mate.

“I am proud to stand here beside Doug Gansler and join the effort to get things done for the people of Maryland,” Ivey said during a press conference at High Point High School in Beltsville.

Ivey, a former journalist who worked at two Baltimore television stations in the 1980s, has represented Cheverly and other portions of Prince George’s County near the D.C. border in the state House of Delegates since 2007. She had previously worked for now U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) as his press secretary.

Ivey, whose husband is former Prince George’s County State’s Attorney Glenn Ivey with whom she has five children, sponsored the same-sex marriage bill that Gov. Martin O’Malley signed into law last year. She also sponsored a transgender rights bill the House of Delegates passed in 2011.

Ivey is also the first African-American woman in Maryland to run for lieutenant governor. She would become the first Democratic African-American woman in the country to serve in that office if voters elect her and Gansler in 2014.

“This lieutenant governor understands in her heart and in her soul what it means to stand for human dignity and fairness,” Gansler said. “She will take on discrimination and bias and hate and sexism and homophobia in all its forms.”

Gansler announced Ivey as his running mate less than a month after he formally declared his candidacy to succeed O’Malley.

Lieutenant Gov. Anthony Brown in June tapped Howard County Executive Ken Ulman, who was then running for governor himself, as his running mate. Republican Harford County Executive David Craig in July announced House Minority Whip Jeannie Haddaway-Riccio (R-Talbot) had joined his ticket.

Lesbian state Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery) told the Washington Blade on Sunday that she plans to announce her running mate later this year.

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Virginia

VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade

Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday

Published

5 hours ago

January 17, 2026

Michael Key

Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond march in the 2026 Inauguration Parade on the grounds of the state capitol in Richmond, Va. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The inaugural ceremonies for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger were held in Richmond, Va. on Saturday. Among the groups marching in the parade were Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond.

View on Threads

*The LGBTQ contingent in the inaugural parade in Richmond, Va. pass by the review stand on Jan. 17, 2026. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)*

Virginia

Va. Senate approves referendum to repeal marriage amendment

Outgoing state Sen. Adam Ebbin introduced SJ3

Published

13 hours ago

January 17, 2026

Staff reports

(Bigstock photo)

The Virginia Senate on Friday by a 26-13 vote margin approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.

Outgoing state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced SJ3. The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee on Wednesday approved it by a 10-4 vote margin.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.

A resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment passed in the General Assembly in 2021. The resolution passed again in 2025.

Two successive legislatures must approve the resolution before it can go to the ballot. Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates have said the resolution’s passage is among their 2026 legislative priorities.

“It’s time for Virginia’s Constitution to reflect the law of the land and the values of today,” said Ebbin after Friday’s vote. “This amendment, if approved by voters, would affirm the dignity of all committed couples and protects marriage equality for future generations.”

Maryland

Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated

Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs

Published

1 day ago

January 16, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Merrick Moses, a violence prevention coordinator, works at the Pride Center of Maryland in Baltimore. (Photo by Ulysses Muñoz for the Baltimore Banner)

By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.

The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.

By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.