Local

D.C. launches ‘all gender’ bathroom pilot program

Reeves Building gets private facilities

Published

9 years ago

March 22, 2017

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

all gender restroom, gay news, Washington Blade

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The D.C. government on March 16 opened its first two “all gender” bathrooms in the Reeves Center municipal building as part of a pilot program to assess the usefulness of such bathrooms in city government buildings.

According to Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, her office along with the D.C. Department of General Services, and the D.C. Office of Human Rights plan to arrange for additional all gender bathrooms in other city buildings. The Department of General Services manages and maintains D.C. government buildings.

“This is a step toward making sure that all transgender and gender nonconforming people have access to a restroom of their choice,” Alexander-Reid said.

She said the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, which is located in the Reeves Center at 14th and U Street, N.W., informed her office that some transgender and gender nonconforming people who visit the D.C. Center were uncomfortable using the existing bathrooms at the Reeves Center.

“It is our hope that every D.C. government building with six or more public restrooms will go ahead and designate at least one restroom an all-gender restroom,” said D.C. Center Executive Director David Mariner in a statement on the Center’s website.

The D.C. Center’s first floor suite of offices doesn’t have its own restroom and its employees and visitors must use the public restrooms in the Reeves Center building.

Monica Palacio, director of the Office of Human Rights, has said that under the D.C. Human Rights Act, transgender people are free to use the public restroom of their choice. But Alexander-Reid said many gender nonconforming people still feel uncomfortable using a “men’s” or “women’s” restroom and prefer an all gender facility or a gender neutral, single occupancy restroom.

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Virginia

VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade

Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday

Published

2 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.

View on Threads

*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

10 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

1 day 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.