Local

GLAA celebrates 44th anniversary

Mayor proclaims April 23 ‘GLAA Day’

Published

11 years ago

April 29, 2015

Mayor Bowser declared April 23 as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance Day in D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, City Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), and Council member Elissa Silverman (I-At-Large) were among the city officials who turned out on April 23 for the Gay and Lesbian Activist Alliance’s 44th Anniversary celebration and awards ceremony.

GLAA, a non-partisan political group founded in 1971, is the oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization in the United States.

Sheila Alexander-Reid and Terrance Laney, the director and deputy director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who also attended the event, presented GLAA with an official proclamation from Mayor Muriel Bowser declaring April 23 as the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance Day in the District of Columbia.

Mendelson, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, presented a similar resolution on behalf of the City Council.

GLAA President Richard Rosendall and current and former GLAA officers presented the group’s 2015 Distinguished Service Awards to longtime City Council staffer Anne Phelps; black history specialist and HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment advocate Chuck Hicks; and transgender advocate and Democratic Party activist Alexandra Beninda.

GLAA members have credited Phelps with playing an important behind-the-scenes role in helping to shepherd through the City Council at least six LGBT-related bills while serving on the staff of former Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6). She currently serves on the staff of Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who succeeded Wells.

Hicks has been credited with playing an important role in helping to organize D.C. events surrounding the opening ceremonies of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial and the 50th Anniversary celebration of the 1963 March on Washington.

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Virginia

VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade

Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday

Published

8 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

16 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.