Local
OUT Law honors Baltimore ‘trailblazers’
Praise for Brian Gaither, Red Emma’s


UB OUT Law COBALT honorees Brian Gaither and Ava Pipitone. (Photo by Kaite N. Vaught)
The University of Baltimore Law School’s LGBT group, OUT Law, presented its annual COBALT awards on April 20 at the University of Baltimore with approximately 40 in attendance. COBALT stands for Celebration of Our Baltimore Area LGBT Trailblazers.
“We honor individuals in the greater Baltimore area for their outstanding contributions to the LGBT community,” Robert Steininger, President of OUT Law, told the Blade. Activist Brian Gaither and Red Emma’s, a bookstore and coffeehouse cooperative in the Station North area of Baltimore, were recognized in this year’s ceremony.
Safe spaces for LGBT individuals was the theme for this year’s awards.
“Brian Gaither is receiving the Mark F. Scurti award for his work as the director of Maryland Pride Foundation of Maryland that has connected LGBT Marylanders to safe and supportive spaces especially those in rural communities,” says Steininger.
“Red Emma’s is being honored for creating a safe space where LGBT Marylanders can have their voices heard through community-run events such as the history of activism in LGBT neighborhoods.”
In 2007, Scurti received a Distinguished Alumni Award for his work for OUT Law. The award has been renamed the “Mark F. Scurti Award for Outstanding Contributions to the LGBT Community.” Scurti, a well-known gay attorney in Baltimore’s LGBT community, is now an associate judge on the District Court for Baltimore City.
“It’s an honor to be recognized for the work of the Pride Foundation of Maryland and to share the 2017 COBALT Award with Red Emma’s,” Gaither told the Blade. “We should all be working to make every last part of the country a safe space for LGBTQ people.” The Pride Foundation of Maryland was founded in 2014.
“The workers of Red Emma’s are honored by the award,” Ava Pipitone, one of the partners in the Red Emma’s worker cooperative, told the Blade. “Our project is the manifestation of the labor and love of the many organizers and creators who continually shape the space. No one person deserves credit. Red Emma’s is the sanctuary we come to today because all workers fight for it to be so. Queer, trans, People of Color, LGB, and Black sanctuaries are an ongoing collective effort.”
District of Columbia
Norton reintroduces bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ jurors in D.C. Superior Court
Congresswoman notes Congress controls local court system

D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Friday, June 20, reintroduced her bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ D.C. residents in the process for selecting people to serve as jurors in D.C. Superior Court.
“The bill would clarify that D.C. residents may not be excluded or disqualified from jury service in the local D.C. trial court, the D.C. Superior Court, based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Norton said in a statement.
“Specifically, this bill would clarify that the term ‘sex,’ which is a protected class under the nondiscrimination law that applies to jurors in the D.C. Superior Court includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” Norton said.
She points out in her statement that under the D.C. Home Rule Act approved by Congress that created D.C.’s local government, including an elected mayor and City Council, the federal government retained control over the local court system.
“Therefore, until D.C. is given authority to amend Title 11 of the D.C. Code, which one of my bills would do, an act of Congress is required to clarify that LGBTQ+ jurors in the D.C. Superior Court are protected from discrimination,” according to her statement.
A spokesperson for Norton couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Norton is aware of specific instances where residents were denied jury service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.
Online records of congressional action on Norton’s juror nondiscrimination bill show she had introduced it in 2019, 2021, and 2023, when it died in committee each year, except for the 117th Congress in 2022, when it was approved by a committee but died in the full House.
“During Pride month we are reminded of the many contributions of the LGBTQ+ community,” Norton said in her June 20 statement. “Nobody, including D.C. jurors, should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and D.C. juries should not be deprived of the service of LGBTQ residents,” she added.

The Washington Blade’s second day of Pride on the Pier at The Wharf DC ended with a fireworks show on Saturday, June 7. The fireworks show was presented by the Leonard-Litz LGBTQ Foundation.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

















State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) will face John Reid in the race to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor.
Hashmi won the Democratic primary with 27.49 percent of the vote. She defeated former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, state Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach), Babur Lateef, Victor Salgado and Alexander Bastani.
“Tonight, Virginians made history,” said Hashmi in a statement. “We didn’t just win a primary, we sent a clear message that we won’t be bullied, broken, or dragged backward by the chaos in Washington.”
Reid, a gay conservative talk show host, in April won the Republican nomination to succeed Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin.
The incumbent governor days after Reid secured the nomination called for him to withdraw his candidacy amid reports that a social media account with his username included “pornographic content.” Reid, who would become the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in Virginia if he wins in November, has strongly denied the reports.
Former state Del. Jay Jones defeated Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor in Democratic attorney general primary. Jones will face Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in November.
Youngkin cannot run for a second, consecutive term.
Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger will face off against Earle-Sears in November. The winner will make history as the first woman elected governor in the state’s history.