Local
Spencer Perry continues moms’ tradition of activism
Son of Prop 8 plaintiffs reflects on marriage fight, stays involved at GWU
Spencer Perry is a student at George Washington University and the son of Prop 8’s plaintiffs. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Spencer Perry takes after his parents.
The 19-year-old son of the lesbian plaintiff couple in the case against California’s Proposition 8 is straight, but as a freshman at George Washington University, he’s taken leadership roles in the school’s gay-straight alliance and LGBT graduate program.
In an interview with the Washington Blade at GWU’s Duques Hall, Spencer says he would pursue LGBT activism even if his parents — Kris Perry and Sandy Stier — weren’t plaintiffs in the case that restored marriage equality to California, because of his experience in youth government programs during his adolescence.
“Sometimes I got the opportunity to travel across the country and meet others with different views on LGBT rights,” Perry says. “More often than not, I found myself even just in conversations casually, advocating for my parents and advocating for the family that we have and families just like theirs. I really felt proud of myself doing that. It was a good feeling and I wanted to keep pursuing it.”
After growing up in Berkeley, Calif., which he calls a “bubble” in terms of support for LGBT people, Spencer enrolled at GWU, where he double majors in political science and economics. Shortly after enrolling, he was elected freshman representative for Allied in Pride and was appointed as a board member of GWU’s LGBT Health Graduate Certificate Program.
He moved to D.C., where he lives on campus at Thurston Hall, at the same time his parents relocated to the area after Kris Perry accepted a job as executive director of the First Five Years Fund, a non-profit that seeks early childhood education for disadvantaged children.
Spencer says his focus at Allied in Pride is getting the culture at GWU “to be more embracing of LGBT individuals” on campus.
The next big task? Preparing for the second annual amateur drag show set for Feb. 13 called “Allied in Greek” — a collaboration between the Allied in Pride and Greek life in which members of GWU’s fraternities and sororities dress up in drag. The goal for the event, which will take place at 7 p.m. at Lisner Auditorium, is to show support for fellow LGBT students and benefit The Trevor Project, which seeks to help LGBT youth considering suicide.
Nick Gumas, who’s gay and president of Allied in Pride, praised Perry.
“Spencer has been an important part of Allied in Pride since he joined at the start of last semester,” Gumas says. “He always brings his creativity and positive energy to all of our meetings and events. It has been an absolute pleasure getting to know Spencer and I know he is going to continue to do great things in the future.”
Spencer knows firsthand the feeling of having the rights of his family taken from him. On Election Day in 2008 — the same day that President Obama was elected to office — voters in California approved Prop 8, rescinding the marriage rights that gay couples already enjoyed in the state.
“Anyone will tell you who lived in California and is part of the LGBT community, that was a very embarrassing moment because No. 1, we elected a phenomenal president, the first black president, which was a terrific feeling to be part of that, but at the same time, Proposition 8 was passed, too,” he says.
The day the California Supreme Court upheld Prop 8, Kris Perry and Stier — along with Los Angeles couple Paul Katami and Jeffrey Zarrillo — filed a lawsuit in federal court seeking to overturn Prop 8. They were represented by the legal dream team of Ted Olson and David Boies, who were hired by the then newly formed American Foundation for Equal Rights.
The lawsuit wasn’t filed before Kris Perry, his birth mother, and Stier, who became his stepmother after a previous relationship Kris Perry had with another woman, asked their four children, including Spencer and his twin brother Elliott, whether it was OK.
“I remember one day after school right before dinner around that time, Kris and Sandy sat us down,” Spencer says. “They said, ‘Listen, we’ve been approached by this group called AFER and they’re interested in pursuing a lawsuit to overturn Proposition 8 as unconstitutional. We’re very interested, but we want to make a collective decision as a family. So they asked us if Elliott and I would be OK with that.”
It didn’t take much to convince Spencer to be willing to come on board.
“Elliott and I jumped at the opportunity,” he says.
At first, Spencer says his parents “did their darndest to keep us kind of protected” from the public interest surrounding the case. But as the case proceeded through the district court, to the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals and to the Supreme Court, and Spencer grew older and more interested in public affairs, he was able to speak out and talked to media outlets.
“I really did enjoy it,” Spencer says. “Not to be someone who’s devoted to attention, but it really was a good feeling to voice my opinion and to make sure people understand there are kids who have gay parents all across America.”
In addition to speaking at various news conferences, Spencer gave interviews to the San Francisco Chronicle, People magazine, the Los Angeles Times and New York Times, among others
One of the views against same-sex marriage that Spencer had to address — and one that he was living proof to counter — was the often-used argument that children of same-sex parents don’t fare as well as those raised by their opposite-sex biological parents.
“I’ve heard the argument a million and one times, but if anything, my gut reaction is that it’s kind of hurtful to hear that because my parents love each other, I’m worse off for it,” Spencer says. “I can’t tell you how loving and proud, and just absolutely supportive, my parents are of me. And how much better I am for them being my parents.”
After years of litigation, the case ended up before the U.S. Supreme Court, where justices ruled 5-4 that proponents of Prop 8 had no standing to defend the lawsuit, leaving in place a U.S. District Court decision from Judge Vaughn Walker that overturned the amendment on the grounds that it violated the equal protection rights of gay couples in the state.
But before that momentous decision, the justices scheduled oral arguments on March 26 to hear both sides in the case. Although Spencer wasn’t initially expecting to attend that day, an AFER board member was kind enough to give seats to allow him and Elliott to attend.
Spencer found himself sweating and uncomfortable as he observed Olson, anti-gay attorney Charles Cooper and Solicitor General Donald Verrilli makes their arguments before the justices, but for reasons other than the historic nature of the occasion.
“I caught food poisoning the night before,” Spencer says. “I never had food poisoning before, so I didn’t know what was happening, but I was just clenching the arms in my chair and sweating a little bit. I thought it was just nerves or something.”
Still, Spencer says he was inspired by what he saw, especially the comments from U.S. Associate Justice Anthony Kennedy.
“It was absolutely fantastic, especially listening to Justice Kennedy, it really touched my heart when he spoke about the kids who were involved in these cases, the children who belong to these families and feel disenfranchised by their government,” Spencer says.
Decision day came on June 28. This time Spencer wasn’t in D.C. — even though his parents were there to celebrate along with Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin on the steps of the Supreme Court — and instead was in North Carolina with other students involved in the debate team.
“The entire period when I was doing that, I was checking my phone, checking my Twitter, Instagram, everything I could get my hands on, every media outlet if it was going to happen,” Spencer says.
Despite the ups and downs as the case went through the courts, Spencer says the experience as a whole was positive and brought him closer to his family.
“Looking back on it, I feel immensely proud of my moms,” Spencer says. “I never felt closer to them than when I saw Kris and Sandy testifying in front of a federal judge. Even now, I still feel proud to know that they changed the lives of so many people for the better.”
Peter Rosenstein, a gay Democratic activist and friend of Spencer’s, calls him “a great kid” and says the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree in terms of the pursuit of activism shared by his parents.
“I enjoyed his response when I was first introduced to him and asked if he was gay or straight,” Rosenstein says. “He said, ‘straight, my mom’s didn’t rub off on me’ to which I responded my parents didn’t rub off on me either. I think his being at GW will be great for the school and great for all the kids that meet him.”
What should the national LGBT movement focus on next? Spencer says it should be winning state battles on marriage equality throughout the country, so when the issue returns to the Supreme Court, justices will make a favorable ruling for gay couples throughout the country.
“There’s going to be political ideology in any ruling, and there’s going to be influence in public opinion, but I think the way that public opinion has absolutely shifted in the past four years in support of marriage equality and LGBT rights, it really does speak to the fact that there’s an opportunity for a national precedent on marriage equality in the Supreme Court,” Spencer says.
Virginia
LGBTQ groups to join Spanberger inaugural parade
Virginia Pride among more than 25 orgs to march in Jan.17 event
Virginia Gov.-Elect Abigail Spanberger’s inaugural committee announced on Jan. 2 that at least two LGBTQ organizations will be among more than 25 state-based organizations, including marching bands, that will participate in her inaugural parade on Jan. 17.
A statement released by the inaugural committee says the parade will take place immediately after Spanberger is sworn in as Virginia’s 75th governor and delivers her inaugural address in Richmond.
The statement lists the LGBTQ groups Equality Virginia and Diversity Richmond as two groups participating in the parade, although the two groups merged in 2021, with Virginia Pride becoming a project of Diversity Richmond. Among other things, Virginia Pride organizes Richmond’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
“A display of the impressive talent and beauty of every corner of Virginia, our inaugural parade will be a celebration of all that makes our Commonwealth strong,” Spanberger said in the Jan. 2 statement. “I’m excited for attendees in the stands on Capitol Square and families watching together at home to see this incredible showing of Virginia pride,” she said.
James Millner, who serves as executive director of Virginia Pride, told the Washington Blade about 75 people are expected to join the Virginia Pride-Diversity Richmond contingent in the parade. He said among them will be members of other Virginia LGBTQ organizations.
“We’re going to invite our staff, our board, our volunteers, and our community partners to join us,” Millner said.
“We are thrilled and honored to have been invited to participate in Abigail Spanberger’s inauguration festivities,” he added. “I think this represents a marked change from the previous administration and demonstrates what she campaigned on – which is she sees the diversity of the Commonwealth as a strength that needs to be celebrated,” he said. “And we are very happy that she has invited us to represent the diversity of the commonwealth.”
Millner appeared to reflect on the sentiment of the large majority of Virginia’s LGBTQ community in its support for Democrat Spanberger over Republican Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears in the November 2025 Virginia election and the end of incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s term in office on Jan. 17.
“After what we’ve been through with the Younkin administration, especially in its treatment of LGBTQ folks, especially transgender and nonconforming folks, I think we are all breathing easy and excited about what opportunities will exist in working with Abigail Spanberger,” he told the Blade.
District of Columbia
Two pioneering gay journalists to speak at Thursday event
Blade’s Chibbaro, Falls Church News-Press’s Benton talk long careers
Two local gay journalists will speak on a panel this week about their long, pioneering careers.
A celebration of the Falls Church News-Press’s Nicholas Benton and the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America, will be held this Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Women’s National Democratic Club of Washington. D.C., 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., at 6 p.m., according to a statement from organizers.
The program will explore their journeys, the evolution of LGBTQ journalism, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Benton and Chibbaro will also examine the various factors causing many news outlets to cease print publication and their energetic efforts to continue publishing their work both in print and online.
EVENT DETAILS:
- Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom.
- 6 p.m. complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing.
- Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax.
Benton’s latest book, “Please Don’t Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays,” will be available for purchase at the event.
Benton is a longtime local journalist and LGBTQ rights activist whose work has had a lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. Author of the first-ever editorial in the pioneering Gay Sunshine newspaper in 1970, he is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the Falls Church News-Press, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 and is the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia.
Chibbaro is the senior news reporter for the Washington Blade and a pioneering journalist in LGBTQ news coverage. He has reported on the LGBTQ rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the Blade in 1984.
The year 2025 brought unprecedented challenges to D.C. as President Trump initiated a takeover of local police operations and implemented ICE raids in the city. Below are our picks for the top 10 LGBTQ news stories of the year.
10. Man gets 15 years for drug sale that led to deaths of two gay men
A D.C. man was sentenced by a federal judge on June 26, 2025, to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty three months earlier to conspiracy related charges that he distributed large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine in the D.C. area, including the sale of fentanyl that resulted in the December 2023 deaths of two D.C. gay men.
A statement released by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. said Jevaughn Mark, 33, was charged, among other things, with selling fentanyl rather than the requested ketamine, known as “Special K,” to one of the two gay victims who shared the drug with his gay friend. Police identified the men as Brandon Roman, 38, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Robbie Barletta, 28, a home renovation business owner and historic preservationist.
An official with the D.C.-based group HIPS, which provides services to drug users, called the deaths of the two men a poisoning rather than an overdose because they unknowingly consumed the highly toxic fentanyl rather than the ketamine they thought they had.
9. Drag queens, protesters denounce Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover
D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot was among other drag queens and about 100 supporters who marched in February from Washington Circle to the Kennedy Center to protest President Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center “takeover” by his appointment of Trump supporters to the performing arts facility’s board of directors.
Hoot and three other local drag performers followed up with their own Kennedy Center protest in June by attending the Kennedy Center’s opening night performance of “Les Misérables” while Trump himself was in attendance. Among the concerns raised by the protesters was the Kennedy Center’s decision in February to cancel a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington scheduled for May to celebrate the upcoming WorldPride 2025 DC events. A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the performance was canceled because of “financial” and “scheduling” factors and not by the Trump initiated management changes.
8. D.C. LGBTQ Center celebrates opening of new, larger offices
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center officially opened its new expanded offices on April 26 at 1828 Wiltberger St., N.W., located one block from the Shaw Metro station.
Spanning 6,671 square feet of intentionally designed space, Center Director Kimberley Bush said the new space would offer a wide range of resources for LGBTQ individuals in need – including mental health services, job readiness programs, cultural events and community support groups, all under one roof.
7. Deaths of five key local LGBTQ advocates in 2025
The LGBTQ community took note of the passing of at least five highly regarded local LGBTQ advocates in 2025. Among them were Jeri Hughes, 73, a longtime local transgender rights activist; Dale Sanders, 75, a highly acclaimed D.C. attorney for more than 40 years who played a leading role in providing legal services to people with HIV/AIDS; Patrick Shaw, 60, a highly regarded D.C. public schools teacher; Thomas Mangrum, 61, an acclaimed advocate for people with disabilities and LGBTQ rights activist involved in the city’s Capital Pride events; and Loraine Hutchins, a nationally known and acclaimed advocate for bisexual and LGBTQ rights, and co-author and editor of a groundbreaking book on bisexuality.
6. Pro-LGBTQ Spanberger elected Va. governor
Former congresswoman and longtime LGBTQ rights supporter Abigail Spanberger (D) won her race for governor of Virginia on Nov. 6, defeating the state’s Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, who expressed strong opposition to LGBTQ equality. Spanberger, who will succeed incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin in January, becomes Virginia’s first female governor.
Meanwhile, John Reid, a gay conservative radio talk show host in Richmond for many years, lost his race as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia, falling short of becoming the state’s first openly gay person to win a statewide office. Reid lost to Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, a member of the Virginia State Senate, who became the first Muslim woman to win election to a statewide office in any state.
5. Trans erasure hits D.C.
The National Park Service, which owns and maintains Dupont Circle as a federal park, in February removed all references to transgender people from its website devoted to Dupont Circle history. In a development believed to be linked to one of President Trump’s early executive orders banning federal support for trans related issues, the Park Service removed all mention of trans people from its website but left on the site multiple references to the “GLB community.”
In yet another act of what LGBTQ activists are calling “trans erasure,” D.C.’s Children’s National Hospital in July announced it would discontinue beginning Aug. 30 gender transition medical care it has provided for juvenile patients for at least the past 20 years. In a statement posted on its website, the highly acclaimed pediatric hospital said the change was made “in light of escalating legal and regulatory risks to Children’s National.” Most observers interpreted that to mean the risk of federal funding cuts linked to the Trump administration’s animus toward trans supportive programs or policies.
4. D.C. Mayor Bowser announces she will not run for re-election
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a longtime vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community, announced on Nov. 25 that she will not run for a fourth term. Since first taking office as mayor in January 2015, Bowser has been an outspoken supporter on a wide range of LGBTQ-related issues, including marriage equality and services for LGBTQ youth and seniors.
LGBTQ activists have pointed out that Bowser’s record of support on LGBTQ issues dates back to her tenure as the Ward 4 D.C. Council member from 2007 through January 2015, when she took office as mayor. They also credit her with expanding and significantly increasing funding for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and appointing the largest number of openly LGBTQ officials to D.C. government jobs than any prior D.C. mayor.
“It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor,” Bowser said in a statement.
3. D.C. LGBTQ bars ‘hanging in there’ amid tough economy
The owners of several of D.C.’s at least 25 LGBTQ bars told the Blade in November they had been negatively impacted by a series of developments and issues impacting most other D.C. bars, restaurants, and nightlife venues. Among the lead issues impacting them, they said, were the deployment by President Trump of National Guard troops on city streets, the nearly two-month-long federal government shutdown that ended in late November, and skyrocketing prices of food and other supplies brought about by the Trump administration’s tariff program.
Other factors cited were a decline in tourist visits to D.C. due to alienation from the Trump administration and a large increase in the number of LGBTQ bars in recent years that some observers said has resulted in fewer people going to each of the LGBTQ bars, the latest one, Rush at 14th and U Street, N.W., having opened in December.
2. At least 1.2 million turn out for WorldPride D.C.
At least 1.2 million people turned out from throughout the U.S. and internationally for WorldPride D.C. 2025, which took place from mid-May through June. It included hundreds of events held across the city. Among them were an international human rights conference, a March on Washington for LGBTQ Equality, sporting events with LGBTQ athletes, concerts by LGBTQ choral groups and nationally acclaimed pop musicians.
The events culminated with a six-hour-long WorldPride Parade on June 7 that drew hundreds of thousands of participants and bystanders and included a 1,000-foot long rainbow flag that led the parade. The WorldPride street festival and concert took place that same day and the following day, on June 8, along Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. that included hundreds of booths.
The 1.2 million attendance and the a $310 million economic impact it had on the city were significantly less that what had been initially predicted by city officials, who, along with LGBTQ activists, said the lower attendance and economic impact was due in part to the anti-LGBTQ policies and alienation of many potential foreign visitors by the Trump administration.
1. Trump takes control of D.C. police, deploys National Guard
LGBTQ rights advocates joined community leaders across the city in condemning President Donald Trump’s decision in August to take control of the D.C Metropolitan Police Department and deploy 800 National Guard troops to address what he called a crime wave caused by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth.”
A coalition of local LGBTQ advocacy organizations joined other community leaders, including gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), in calling Trump’s action a “power grab” aimed at eliminating D.C.’s locally elected government that would adversely impact people of color, the LGBTQ and immigrant communities.
In a development that captured national attention, a gay man was arrested on Aug. 10 on a misdemeanor assault charge for tossing a hero sandwich into the chest of a uniformed U.S. Customs and Border Control agent on a street near several gay bars in what he called an act of protest and defiance of the Trump deployment of federal troops and agents in D.C. In what some observers called a gesture of support for gay sandwich thrower Sean Charles Dunn, a federal court jury handed down a verdict of not guilty for the assault charge.
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Two pioneering gay journalists to speak at Thursday event
