Local

Defrocked Methodist pastor returns to D.C.

Schaefer refused to stop performing same-sex marriages

Published

12 years ago

January 22, 2014

Frank Schaefer of Lebanon, Pa., appeared at Foundry United Methodist Church in December. (Washington Blade file photo by Damien Salas)

A Methodist minister from Pennsylvania who was defrocked as a clergyman in December for refusing to stop performing same-sex marriages is scheduled to return to D.C.’s Foundry United Methodist Church on Jan. 26.

Ex-pastor Frank Schaefer will deliver guest sermons at a service for “hope and justice” at 9:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. on the 26th, according to a statement released by Foundry. Foundry’s pastor, Rev. Dean Snyder, is a longtime ally of the LGBT community and has performed same-sex marriages.

The statement says two other United Methodist ministers who were defrocked will also participate in the services – Jimmy Creech and Beth Stroud. Church officials revoked Creech’s credentials as a Methodist minister in 1999 after he performed a holy union ceremony for a gay male couple in Chapel Hill, N.C.

Stroud was defrocked in 2001 after coming out as a lesbian while assigned as a minister for a United Methodist Church in Philadelphia.

Schaefer, Creech, Stroud and others will participate in a panel discussion at the church following the 11 a.m. worship service, the Foundry statement says.

“Foundry is on the forefront of full inclusion of the LGBTQ community in the life of the church,” the statement says, adding that Foundry continues to push for the United Methodist Church to end the “discriminatory language” related to LGBT people in its Book of Discipline or church law.

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Virginia

VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade

Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday

Published

7 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.

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*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

15 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

2 days 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.