Local
Virginia same-sex marriage ruling appealed
Federal judge on Feb. 13 struck down gay nuptials ban
Same-sex marriage supporters attended a candlelight vigil outside the federal courthouse in Norfolk, Va., on Feb. 3. (Photo courtesy of Casey Hartman)
Norfolk Circuit Court Clerk George Schaefer appealed U.S. District Judge Arenda L. Wright Allen Feb. 13 ruling to the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond. Prince William County Circuit Court Clerk Michèle McQuigg has also appealed the decision.
The state on Monday filed filed its own notice of appeal that Attorney General Mark Herring hopes will expedite the case.
“Throughout this process I have maintained that the law requires equal treatment for same-sex couples,” said Herring in a statement. “Although the court agreed with the commonwealth’s position that the state’s ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional, I have filed a notice of appeal to ensure that higher courts can swiftly rule on the critical issues in this case, consistent with my commitment to the rule of law.”
Tim Bostic and Tony London of Norfolk and Carol Schall and Mary Townley of Chesterfield last year filed a lawsuit against Virginia’s same-sex marriage amendment that voters in 2006 approved by a 57-43 percent margin.
From left: Josh Duggar, Victoria Cobb of the Family Foundation of Virginia, Allison Howard of Concerned Women for America and EW Jackson take part in an anti-gay marriage rally outside the Norfolk ,Va., federal courthouse on Feb. 4. (Photo courtesy of the Family Foundation of Virginia)
The Republican-controlled Virginia House of Delegates earlier this month overwhelmingly approved a bill that would allow any state lawmaker to defend a law if the governor and attorney general decline to do so. Gov. Terry McAuliffe subsequently denied a request from Marshall and 29 other state lawmakers to appoint a special counsel to defend the marriage amendment.
“The people of Virginia were disenfranchised by this ruling as our voice and our vote that amended our Constitution have been rendered meaningless by a single judge with the assistance of our own attorney general,” said Family Foundation of Virginia President Victoria Cobb after Allen issued her ruling.
Judge Michael F. Urbanski of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Harrisonburg last week held a hearing in class action lawsuit challenging the commonwealth’s gay nuptials ban to determine whether oral arguments are necessary in the case since Herring is no longer defending the marriage amendment. The American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Virginia and Lambda Legal last August filed the lawsuit on behalf of two lesbian couples from the Shenandoah Valley who are seeking marriage rights in the Old Dominion.
Neighboring Maryland is among the 18 states and D.C. that have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples.
Gays and lesbians in West Virginia, Utah, Pennsylvania, Florida, Alabama, Missouri, Louisiana and other states have filed lawsuits seeking marriage rights in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision last June that found a portion of the Defense of Marriage Act unconstitutional.
Nevada Attorney General Catherine Cortez Masto earlier this month announced she will no longer defend her state’s same-sex marriage ban in court.
A federal judge on Feb. 12 ruled Kentucky must recognize gay nuptials legally performed in other jurisdictions. U.S. District Judge Sharon Johnson Coleman on Feb. 21 said same-sex couples in Illinois’ Cook County, where Chicago is located, could immediately begin to tie the knot even though the state’s same-sex marriage law does not take effect until June.
Attorney General Eric Holder on Feb. 10 announced the Justice Department will now recognize same-sex marriages in civil and criminal cases and extend full benefits to gay spouses of public safety personnel. This mandate applies to Virginia and the 31 other states that have yet to allow gays and lesbians to marry.
Same-sex marriage bans in West Virginia, North Carolina and South Carolina could be found unconstitutional if the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds Allen’s ruling. Former U.S. Solicitor General Ted Olson and other lawyers who are representing Bostic and London and Schall and Townley expect the U.S. Supreme Court may ultimately decide the case.
“We want to be married for the happy times, but we need to be married for the sad times,” Schall told the Blade before Allen heard oral arguments in the case. “When one of us is sick or when one of us needs surgery or when health care is an issue, we need to be there for each other. And Virginia should not be in the business of standing in the way of people wanting to care for each other and take responsibility for each other.”
Maryland
Parents sue Anne Arundel schools, allege officials hid child’s gender transition
America First legal Foundation filed lawsuit on July 8
By CODY BOTELER | Two parents, backed by a conservative nonprofit group, are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system’s policies related to transgender children.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, accuses staff at an unidentified county high school of lying to the parents, identified as John Doe and Jane Doe, about their child, identified as Mary Doe.
The Does allege the school “socially transitioned” their child without notice or their consent by using a masculine name and masculine pronouns for Mary Doe.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Campaign launched to elect more LGBTQ candidates to ANC seats
Capital Stonewall Democrats behind Queering ANCs effort
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, announced on July 7 it has launched a campaign to help elect large numbers of LGBTQ candidates to the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
The D.C. local government is believed to be unique among U.S. cities in currently having 46 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions consisting of 345 single-member districts in neighborhoods throughout the city in which unpaid Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are elected for two-year terms.
The commissions are charged with considering a wide range of policies and programs impacting their neighborhoods, including traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and D.C.’s annual budget, according to the ANC website.
Although the ANCs do not have authority to set or reject policies or proposals, such as applications for liquor licenses, city agencies are required to give “great weight” to ANC recommendations, according to the law creating the ANCs.
Kent Boese, a gay former ANC commissioner, currently serves as executive director of the D.C. Office of ANCs.
“We are launching the most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline initiative in the country,” said Stevie McCarty, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, in a July 7 statement that announced the Queering ANCs campaign.
“As an ANC member, I know firsthand how these seats shape our neighborhoods, from housing and public safety to sanitation,” McCarty says in the statement. “I’m proud to lead this effort to ensure more LGBTQ+ Washingtonians see themselves as leaders in their communities,” he said.
The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which was created by LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website that there are currently 38 caucus members consisting of elected LGBTQ ANC commissioners serving in the current 2025-2026 two-year term.
The website shows there are LGBTQ commissioners who are caucus members in each of the city’s eight wards, with six in Ward 1, eight in Ward 2, one in Ward 3, six in Ward 4, five in Ward 5, three in Ward 6, eight in Ward 7, and one in Ward 8.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine how many of them will be running for re-election in D.C.’s general election in November. But McCarty said Capital Stonewall Democrats hopes to recruit many more LGBTQ candidates to run for ANC seats.
The D.C. Board of Elections website shows the deadline for filing 25 required petition signatures to be placed on the ballot is Aug. 5.
A Queering ANCs website launched this week by Capital Stonewall Democrats provides details on how to run for an ANC seat and offers help for those interested in running.
“Think of someone in your building, neighborhood, friend group, community organization, or professional network who cares deeply about D.C. and would make a strong leader,” McCarty says in his statement. “Send them QueeringANCs.org and personally ask them to consider running,” he said.
The website can be accessed at QueeringANCs.org.
Baltimore
Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies
66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday
By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.
“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”
The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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