Local
Gay Democrat announces bid for local party post
Rule change a hurdle for Pannell
Longtime gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell has announced he is a candidate for the position of D.C. Democratic Committeeman, which became open last month when former D.C. Council member Arrington Dixon, who held the position, resigned before the end of his term in 2018.
Pannell currently serves in the position of Alternate Democratic Committeeman. He points out in an open letter to members of the cityās Democratic State Committee, the governing body of the D.C. Democratic Party, that traditionally the Alternate Committeeman and Alternate Committeewoman have been named as the Committeeman or Committeewoman when their predecessor leaves the position before the end of their term.
But this year D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), who serves as chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, moved to change the local partyās rules to end the tradition of the alternate committee person automatically becoming the full committeeman or committeewoman. Under Bondsā proposal, which is expected to be approved by the State Committee next month, the full State Committee will vote to elect a new Committeeman or Committeewoman when an incumbent leaves office before their term expires.
Bonds told the Blade on Tuesday she introduced her proposal because the old system of replacing the committee person with the alternate committee person is in violation of rules set by the Democratic National Committee, on which the committee persons serve. She said her proposal is in no way aimed at preventing Pannell from replacing Dixon as the committee person, noting that she is a longtime supporter of the LGBT community and would welcome the selection of an LGBT person for the post through the new selection process.
But in his open letter to State Committee members, Pannell said the āreal reasonā Bonds was seeking the rules change was āthat some of our members do not want to see me as the national committeeman and some other men want that position.ā
Acknowledging that the rules change will be approved, Pannell said he will run in an election by State Committee members.
It couldnāt immediately be determined who will run against Pannell for the post.
West Virginia
Appeals court strikes down W.Va. transgender athlete ban
Ruling finds law violates studentsā constitutional rights, Title IX
BY LORI KERSEYĀ | The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down West Virginiaās ban on transgender athletes, finding the law violates trans studentsā rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution and Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs.
The case, B.P.J. vs. the West Virginia Board of Education, was filed in May 2021 on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old trans middle school student and track athlete who would be barred from participating if the ban is upheld. Pepper-Jackson is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Lambda Legal.
In April 2021, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed into law a bill prohibiting trans women and girls in the state from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The U.S. Court of Appeals in February 2023 blocked the state from removing Pepper-Jackson from her schoolās track and field team as legal advocates appealed a lower courtās ruling upholding the ban.
In Tuesdayās ruling, Judge Toby Heytens wrote that offering Pepper-Jackson the āchoiceā between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is not a real choice.
āThe defendants cannot expect that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches and even opponents as a boy,ā the judge wrote.
āBy participating on boys teams, B.P.J. would be sharing the field with boys who are larger, stronger, and faster than her because of the elevated levels of circulating testosterone she lacks,ā he wrote. āThe Act thus exposes B.P.J. to the very harms Title IX is meant to prevent by effectively āexclud[ing]ā her from āparticipation inā all non-coed sports entirely.ā
In a statement Tuesday, Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLUās LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the courtās ruling āa tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are.ā
āIt also continues a string of federal courts ruling against bans on the participation of transgender athletes and in favor of their equal participation as the gender they know themselves to be,ā Block wrote. āThis case is fundamentally about the equality of transgender youth in our schools and our communities and weāre thankful the 4th Circuit agreed.ā
āWe hope todayās ruling sends a message of hope to the trans youth of West Virginia,ā Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, said in the statement. āAnd a message of warning to politicians who continue to dehumanize this vulnerable population.ā
West Virginia is one of 21 states that have banned trans student-athletes over the last three years, according to the ACLU.
In a statement Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey vowed to defend the ban and said he is ādeeply disappointedā in the decision.
āThe Save Womenās Sports Act is āconstitutionally permissibleā and the law complies with Title IX,ā Morrisey said. āI will keep fighting to safeguard Title IX. We must keep working to protect womenās sports so that womenās safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field. We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.ā
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Lori Kersey is a reporter with a decade of experience reporting in West Virginia. She covers state government for West Virginia Watch.
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The preceding article was previously published by the West Virginia Watch and is republished with permission.
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West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House set for April 17
Event marks 59th anniversary of historic push for gay rights in nationās capital
D.C.ās Rainbow History Project announced it will hold a reenactment on Wednesday, April 17, of the historic first protest for gay rights in the form of a picket line in front of the White House that took place on that same day in 1965.
In a statement released last week, Rainbow History Project says the reenactment will mark the 59th anniversary of an event that is credited with bringing attention for the first time to the federal governmentās longstanding discrimination against a minority group referred to then as homosexuals or gays and lesbians.
The statement notes that the 1965 event was organized by the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the first politically active LGBT organization in the nationās capital founded by local gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny.
āThe picket took place on the White House sidewalk, Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., on April 17, 1965,ā the statement says. āFor exactly one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., members of the Mattachine Society of Washington walked in a circle, non-stop, in silence, carrying posters of their demands,ā the statement continues.
āThe White House picket is the origin story for public demonstrations for gay rights in the U.S., and the origin story for Pride Marches and the annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations which occur across the globe,ā according to the statement.
It says those picketing in the April 1965 event, which included Kameny and longtime local D.C.-area lesbian activist Lilli Vincenz, both of whom held doctorate degrees, called on the government to adopt the Mattachine Society of Washingtonās four major demands: an end to the exclusion of homosexuals from federal government employment; an end to the ban on gays and lesbians from serving in the U.S. military; an end to the āblanket denialā of security clearances for gay people; and an end to the āgovernment refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.ā
Among those who chose not to respond to the request for a meeting was President Lyndon B. Johnson, who occupied the White House at the time of the 1965 picketing.
Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Projectās director of archiving and one of the lead organizers of the April 17 reenactment event, said the event is aimed, among other things, at drawing attention to how far the LGBTQ community has come since 1965. He said the event is not in any way a protest of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Slatt called staunch supporters of the LGBTQ community.
āWe are just reenacting this historical event and pointing out how far weāve come,ā Slatt told the Washington Blade. āIf you think about what it means in 1965 when these people were protesting and LBJ would not even respond to them. And now, we are at a place where Vice President Harris speaks on a stage at Capital Pride.ā
The Rainbow History Project statement notes that the reenactment event will also be held in honor of Kameny, who died in 2011, and Vincenz, who passed away in 2023, both of whom participated in a similar reenactment event in 2008.
Among those who will be participating in this weekās reenactment on April 17 will be longtime local LGBTQ rights activist Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler will be carrying a replica of his own picket sign he held at the 1965 event, the statement says.
It says Rainbow History Project volunteers will also carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.
Similar to the 1965 event, the reenactment picketing at the White House will begin on April 17 at about 4:15 p.m., according to Slatt of the Rainbow History Project.
District of Columbia
Four LGBTQ candidates running for delegate to Democratic National Convention from D.C.
Thirty-two candidates competing for 13 elected delegate positions in April 20 party caucus
Four LGBTQ Democratic Party activists are running for election as delegates from D.C. to the Democratic National Convention at an April 20 local Democratic Party caucus election in which all D.C. voters who are registered as Democrats will be eligible to vote.
The four LGBTQ candidates are among 32 candidates competing for just 13 elected delegate positions. D.C. will have a total of 51 delegates to the Democratic Convention, but the other 38 include elected officials and party leaders who are considered āautomaticā or appointed delegates. The convention will be held in Chicago Aug. 19-23,
Under the delegate selection process put in place by the D.C. Democratic Party, six of the thirteen elected delegate positions will be elected by voters in a section of the city designated as District 1, which includes Wards 1,2, 6, and 8. The other seven elected delegates will be chosen by voters in District 2, which includes Wards 3, 4, 5, and 7.
The LGBTQ candidates include longtime gay Democratic activists David Meadows of Ward 6 and John Fanning of Ward 2 who are running in District 1. Transgender rights advocate and Democratic Party activist Monika Nemeth of Ward 3 and gay Democratic activist Jimmie Williams of Ward 7 are running in DistrictĀ 2.
All four of the LGBTQ candidates have been active members of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, one of D.C.ās largest LGBTQ political organizations. Nemeth and Meadows are past presidents of the organization. Williams has served as chair of the Ward 7 Democratic Committee and is a current member of the committee. Fanning has served as an elected member of the D.C. Democratic State Committee from Ward 2 and served as a delegate to the 2016 Democratic National Convention.
A total of 12 candidates are running in each of the two districts. Under party rules the highest six vote getters in District 1 and the highest 7 vote getters in District 2 will be declared the winners.
The Saturday, April 20 caucus election for the delegate candidates will take place at the Walter E. Washington D.C. Convention Center. An announcement by party officials says two voting sessions will take place, one from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and the other from 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Aside from the elected delegates, two prominent D.C. LGBTQ Democratic leaders will be appointed as delegates to the 2024 Democratic National Convention in their role as members of the Democratic National Committee from D.C.
They are Claire Lucas, a highly acclaimed Democratic Party and LGBTQ rights advocate and party fundraiser; and Earl Fowlkes, one of the lead organizers of D.C.ās annual Black LGBTQ Pride celebration and former president of Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Lucas and Fowlkes and the four LGBTQ candidates running in the April 20 caucus election are committed to backing President Joe Biden as the Democratic nominee for re-election.
Statements from each of the candidates running for delegate in the April 20 caucus election, including the four LGBTQ candidates, can be accessed here: Candidates for Delegate | DC Democratic Party
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