News
LGBT activists call for more global funding at Berlin conference
U.S. to host gay donor meeting next year
A USAID-sponsored training in Bogotá, Colombia, in May drew 30 LGBT activists from across the country. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Astraea Foundation Executive Director J. Bob Alotta, Transgender Europe Executive Director Julia Ehrt, ILGA-Europe Executive Director Evelyne Paradise, Axel Hochrein of the Lesbian and Gay Federation in Germany, Gift Trapence of the Centre for the Development of People in Malawi and Simón Cazal of the Paraguayan LGBT advocacy group Somosgay are among those who traveled to the German capital. Patricia Davis of the U.S. State Department, senior USAID advisor Claire Lucas, Katharina Spiess of Germany’s Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, Keyvan Sayar of the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other government officials also took part.
The Berlin conference followed a similar gathering the Swedish International Development Corporation Agency (SIDA) and the Netherlands-based Humanist Institute for Cooperation (Hivos) co-hosted in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2010. U.S. Ambassador to Germany John Emerson announced during the conference that the next meeting of this kind will take place in the U.S. next year.
“USAID along with the State Department is happy to represent the U.S. government and participate in the Dec. 5 and 6 Berlin conference on increasing support and resources for global LGBTI rights and development,” Jay Gilliam of USAID told the Washington Blade.
“The cross-sector dialogue slated to take place among government officials, NGOs, local activists and LGBT organizations has the potential to be catalytic — both in terms of increasing the resources available and in achieving a level of coordination that will accelerate advancement of the human rights of LGBT people everywhere,” added Arcus Foundation Executive Director Kevin Jennings before the conference began.
Helen Kennedy, executive director of Egale Canada, a Canadian LGBT rights group, told the Blade on Friday she feels it was important for her organization “to be present” at the conference “in order to contribute to the conversation of how funding and resources can be increased and broadened.” Staffers from the Canadian Embassy in Berlin attended the gathering, but Kennedy said Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s administration can do more to support the global LGBT rights movement.
“It’s important for a strong message to be delivered to our government that we are sadly missed as a leader in these discussions at the international level,” Kennedy told the Blade.
The Berlin conference began a day after National Security Advisor Susan Rice stressed during a speech she gave at Human Rights First’s annual summit in D.C. that LGBT rights remain an essential part of U.S. foreign policy.
USAID, SIDA, the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice and the Ford Foundation on Sept. 24 hosted a meeting of funders of global LGBT advocacy efforts in New York that coincided with the beginning of the U.N. General Assembly. Secretary of State John Kerry and representatives from 10 countries two days earlier issued a declaration that calls for an end to anti-LGBT violence and discrimination.
USAID earlier this year announced a public-private initiative with SIDA, the Gay and Lesbian Victory Institute and other groups that will contribute $12 million over the next four years to LGBT advocacy groups in Honduras and other developing countries. The LGBT Global Development Partnership’s first two trainings took place in the Colombian cities of Bogotá and Cartagena in May and August respectively.
Uzra Zeya, acting assistant secretary of the State Department’s Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor, told the Blade during a June interview that her agency’s Global Equality Fund since 2011 has spent more than $4 million in 25 countries to directly support LGBT advocates and underrepresented groups.
“Participating in the Berlin conference allows the agency (USAID) to continue discussions with stakeholders like agencies from donor countries and non-governmental organizations in this space on progress made and how to move the advancement of international LGBTI rights forward,” Gilliam said.
Virginia
Gay Va. State Sen. Ebbin resigns for role in Spanberger administration
Veteran lawmaker will step down in February
Alexandria Democrat Adam Ebbin, who has served as an openly gay member of the Virginia Legislature since 2004, announced on Jan. 7 that he is resigning from his seat in the State Senate to take a job in the administration of Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger.
Since 2012, Ebbin has been a member of the Virginia Senate for the 39th District representing parts of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax counties. He served in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria from 2004 to 2012, becoming the state’s first out gay lawmaker.
His announcement says he submitted his resignation from his Senate position effective Feb. 18 to join the Spanberger administration as a senior adviser at the Virginia Cannabis Control Authority.
“I’m grateful to have the benefit of Senator Ebbin’s policy expertise continuing to serve the people of Virginia, and I look forward to working with him to prioritize public safety and public health,” Spanberger said in Ebbin’s announcement statement.
She was referring to the lead role Ebbin has played in the Virginia Legislature’s approval in 2020 of legislation decriminalizing marijuana and the subsequent approval in 2021of a bill legalizing recreational use and possession of marijuana for adults 21 years of age and older. But the Virginia Legislature has yet to pass legislation facilitating the retail sale of marijuana for recreational use and limits sales to purchases at licensed medical marijuana dispensaries.
“I share Governor-elect Spanberger’s goal that adults 21 and over who choose to use cannabis, and those who use it for medical treatment, have access to a well-tested, accurately labeled product, free from contamination,” Ebbin said in his statement. “2026 is the year we will move cannabis sales off the street corner and behind the age-verified counter,” he said.
Maryland
Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat, to retire from Congress
Md. congressman served for years in party leadership
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and LISA MASCARO | Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving Democrat in Congress and once a rival to become House speaker, will announce Thursday he is set to retire at the end of his term.
Hoyer, who served for years in party leadership and helped steer Democrats through some of their most significant legislative victories, is set to deliver a House floor speech about his decision, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
“Tune in,” Hoyer said on social media. He confirmed his retirement plans in an interview with the Washington Post.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Colombia
Colombians protest against Trump after he threatened country’s president
Tens of thousands protested the US president in Bogotá
BOGOTÁ, Colombia — Tens of thousands of people on Wednesday gathered in the Colombian capital to protest against President Donald Trump after he threatened Colombian President Gustavo Petro.
The protesters who gathered in Plaza Bolívar in Bogotá held signs that read, among other things, “Yankees go home” and “Petro is not alone.” Petro is among those who spoke.
The Bogotá protest took place four days after American forces seized now former Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro and his wife, Cilia Flores, at their home in Caracas, the Venezuelan capital, during an overnight operation.
The Venezuelan National Assembly on Sunday swore in Delcy Rodríguez, who was Maduro’s vice president, as the country’s acting president. Maduro and Flores on Monday pleaded not guilty to federal drug charges in New York.
Trump on Sunday suggested the U.S. will target Petro, a former Bogotá mayor and senator who was once a member of the M-19 guerrilla movement that disbanded in the 1990s. Claudia López, a former senator who would become the country’s first female and first lesbian president if she wins Colombia’s presidential election that will take place later this year, is among those who criticized Trump’s comments.
The Bogotá protest is among hundreds against Trump that took place across Colombia on Wednesday.
Petro on Wednesday night said he and Trump spoke on the phone. Trump in a Truth Social post confirmed he and his Colombian counterpart had spoken.
“It was a great honor to speak with the president of Colombia, Gustavo Petro, who called to explain the situation of drugs and other disagreements that we have had,” wrote Trump. “I appreciated his call and tone, and look forward to meeting him in the near future. Arrangements are being made between Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign minister of Colombia. The meeting will take place in the White House in Washington, D.C.”
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