Local
Terry McAuliffe sworn in as Virginia governor
New Virginia governor pledged to fight anti-LGBT discrimination
Terry McAuliffe was sworn in on Saturday as Virginia’s 72nd governor. (Washington Blade photo by Lee Whitman)
“An open and welcoming state is critical to the 21st century economy, but it’s also imperative for justice and fairness,” said McAuliffe.
The former DNC chair stressed throughout his inaugural address the economy remains among his administration’s top priorities. McAuliffe also said the commonwealth needs to “ensure that someone can’t lose their job simply because they are gay.”
“As the legislature and my administration work to diversity our economy, we need to remember that our sense of urgency is driven by those Virginians who struggle each and every day just to get buy and whose dream is simply to give their children the opportunities that may never have had,” said McAuliffe. “My administration will work tirelessly to ensure opportunities are equal for all Virginia’s children no matter if you are a girl or a boy, no matter what part of the commonwealth you live in, no matter your race or your religion and no matter who you love.”
Lieutenant Gov. Ralph Northam and Attorney General Mark Herring were also sworn in.
Gay state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) told the Washington Blade in November after McAuliffe defeated then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli in the hotly contested gubernatorial race and Northam beat Chesapeake minister E.W. Jackson that the election results were a “clear victory for equality” that brings “the promise of a new day for Virginia.”
McAuliffe, Northam and Herring support marriage rights for same-sex couples. The former Democratic National Committee chair later on Saturday is expected to issue an executive order that would ban discrimination against LGBT state employees.
“We couldn’t be more ecstatic,” Maggie Sacra, chair of the LGBT Democrats of Virginia, told the Washington Blade earlier on Saturday during a brunch her group hosted at a downtown Richmond hotel.
Kathy Green of Henrico County said during the same event she feels former Gov. Bob McDonnell and Cuccinelli’s policies towards women’s reproductive health rights were “frightening.”
“Having Democrats in the statewide offices will really help to advance equal rights for our friends and co-workers and neighbors,” added Green.
Members of Public Advocate, an anti-LGBT group founded by Loudoun County Supervisor Eugene Delguadio, placed posters around the State House against the expected directive. They also handed out stickers that read “preserve traditional marriage” to passersby outside security checkpoints.
Lawmakers are expected to consider a number of LGBT-specific bills during the 2014 legislative session that began on Wednesday. These include measures that would ban anti-LGBT employment discrimination in Virginia, extend second-parent adoption rights to gays and lesbians and prohibit “ex-gay” conversion therapy to minors in the commonwealth.
Eight lawmakers have also introduced proposed resolutions that would seek a repeal of Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban that voters in 2006 approved by a 57-43 percent margin.
A federal judge in Norfolk on Jan. 30 is scheduled to hold the first hearing in a case challenging the commonwealth’s gay marriage ban that Ted Olson and David Boies, who argued against California’s Proposition 8 before the U.S. Supreme Court, joined last September. The American Civil Liberties Union, Lambda Legal and the ACLU of Virginia in August filed a separate class action federal lawsuit against the state’s ban on nuptials for same-sex couples on behalf of two lesbian couples from the Shenandoah Valley who were denied marriage licenses.
It remains unclear whether McAuliffe and Herring will defend Virginia’s same-sex marriage ban.
Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish told the Blade during a Jan. 8 interview the tone from the governor and the attorney general’s offices will be “a 180” compared to former Gov. Bob McDonnell and Cuccinelli. He said the state House of Delegates will remain a barrier to advancing pro-LGBT measures even with McAuliffe, Northam and Herring in office.
“Now that we have a friendly administration in the governor and the attorney general’s office, it will allow us to better make the narrative that the Senate and the governor and the attorney general and the Virginia public are all on the same page,” said Parrish.
Equality Virginia is among the groups that marched in the inaugural parade after McAuliffe, Northam and Herring took office. It is the first time an LGBT organization had been invited to take part in the quadrennial event.
Equality Virginia was among the groups that marched in the Inauguration parade in Richmond, Va., on Saturday. It was the first time an LGBT group took part in the quadrennial event. (Photo courtesy of Kirsten Bokenkamp/Equality Virginia)
District of Columbia
Hands Off the Arts to form ‘human chain’ around Kennedy Center
Drag performer Tara Hoot among event organizers
An organization called Hands Off the Arts has announced it is holding a protest on Friday, Sept. 18, in which between 400 and 800 participants are expected to create a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center to voice their strong objection to President Donald Trump’s call for possibly demolishing the Kennedy Center.
“Hands Off the Arts is organizing a rally Sept. 18 against the president’s defacing of JFK’s memorial, his removal and censorship of art, and the threat to demolish the center if he can’t remake the site in his image,” a statement released by the group says.
The statement says the event will start with a rally at 6:30 p.m. on the Kennedy Center steps and culminate with a “human chain” around the building. “There will be musical performances, testimonials from current and former employees, along with other special guest speakers,” it says
A separate announcement by the group says longtime D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in past years, was among the organizers of the Sept. 18 protest.
The planned protest follows Trump’s decision last year to use his authority to replace the existing members of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors with new members loyal to him. Over the objection of longtime Kennedy Center supporters, the Trump-appointed board changed the name of the center, at Trump’s request, from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
But following the threat of legal action by opponents who pointed out that the name change could not be legally made unless approved by Congress, the name change was cancelled, with Trump saying he would take steps to restore it later.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports in a Sept. 13 news story that because of negative publicity related to Trump’s actions, the Kennedy Center was facing “fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy and could be forced to shut down as early as this week.
According to the Post report, a 57-page document presented to the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees says the center was facing a financial and structural building crisis, with the recent collapse of part of the building’s inside ceiling, indicating the building was unsafe for employees and the public. Among other things, the document says the Kennedy Center may not be able to make payroll or pay for routine maintenance “within a matter of weeks,” the Post reports.
Some LGBTQ advocates were among those who joined others in boycotting the Kennedy Center to express their objections to Trump’s actions, including a statement by Trump that he objected to the Kennedy Center’s practice of hosting drag performances.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has been among the LGBTQ performing arts groups and artists that have performed at the Kennedy Center.
“With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions,” the Hands Off the Arts group says in its announcement of the Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest.
“You have the opportunity to make a difference — show up with Hands Off the Arts and show your power as part of Hands Around the Kennedy Center,” it says.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Baltimore
Transgender woman killed in Barclay community mourned by friends, advocates
Sophie Lee shot to death on Friday morning
By DARREONNA DAVIS | Denise Johnson imagined spending Sunday with her daughter, Sophie Lee, eating crabs at the park. Instead, she stood on a Barclay street corner Sunday evening surrounded by nearly 100 people who came to remember her daughter, a transgender woman who was fatally shot there Friday.
The 27-year-old woman was found in the 2400 block of North Calvert Street around 1:15 a.m. Friday, Baltimore Police said in a news release.
Lindsey Eldridge, a police department spokesperson, said it’s unclear if her identity had anything to do with her death and the investigation is ongoing.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Jaime Christopher Pierce on their appointment to serve as a member of the Virginia Governor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Pierce was sworn in on Sept. 3 by Greg Parks, clerk of the Alexandria Circuit Court.
Pierce currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria City LGBTQIA+ Task Force and as a member of the Alexandria Pride planning committee. They previously served on the board of directors of Equality Virginia.
Upon being sworn in, Pierce said, “Public service has been a central part of my life for more than 30 years, and this appointment gives me an opportunity to serve the Commonwealth in a different and very personal way. My career has allowed me to work with people and communities throughout Virginia, and I hope to bring that experience, along with my own lived experience and my involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, to the work of the Board.” They added, “Having Greg administer the oath makes the occasion even more meaningful because of his own historic role as Virginia’s first openly gay elected circuit court clerk.”
Pierce also serves as Circuit Court Services Manager for the Department of Judicial Services, at the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. They began their career in Virginia’s judiciary in 1994 as a deputy clerk with the Virginia Beach Circuit Court and have since held several professional and leadership positions within the court system. Pierce is a member of the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management. At the national level, Pierce participated in the workgroup that developed the National Association for Court Management’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Guide, a resource designed to help court professionals advance inclusive practices and strengthen access, fairness and belonging within the justice system.
Pierce earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University, and a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Norfolk State University.
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Comings & Goings
