BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Bailey Anne’s mom was apprehensive when she told her she was going to compete for the Miss Maryland USA pageant.

Her mom thought her transgender daughter might be harassed and ridiculed, and worried about her safety.

“I told her that the world is changing,” recalled Bailey Anne, who doesn’t use her last name because her identity has unfortunately also come with threats from people who don’t agree with it.

And so she competed this year and became the state’s first trans woman titleholder. She was also Maryland’s first Asian American winner and the oldest contestant to represent the state in the Miss USA pageant.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

A  local auctioneer company has announced a large collection of artwork and other eclectic property from the estate of D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Bernie Delia will be available for purchase in an auction scheduled for Sept. 12 in Chevy Chase, Md.

Delia, who was a founding member of the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, and who served as co-chair of World Pride 2025, which D.C. will be hosting in 2025, died unexpectedly of natural causes on June 21.

Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers says in its announcement that the items to be offered through the auction include “a large and eclectic assortment of fine art and sculpture, silver, English and Continental porcelain and other decorative arts, political memorabilia and entertainment ephemera, and various other antique and vintage items.”

The announcement says the items for sale in the Sept. 12 Estate Catalogue Auction will be on display at the Sloans & Kenyon gallery from Saturday, Sept. 7 through Wednesday, Sept. 11. The gallery where the items will be available for viewing and where the auction will be held on Sept. 12 is located at 5550 Friendship Blvd., Suite T60, in Chevy Chase, Md.

“The September auction includes over 200 lots from Bernie’s vast collection and is the first of several auctions of property from his estate,” the announcement says. “Absentee, telephone and internet bids will be accepted for the September 12 Eastgate Catalogue Auction,” it says.

Dignity Washington, the LGBTQ Catholic organization for which Delia served as president, is holding a memorial service for Delia on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church near Dupont Circle, according to Dignity member David Lamdin.

Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears on Thursday announced she will run to succeed Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.

“I could have never believed growing up that I could be asking Virginians for their faith and confidence in me to serve them as governor of our great commonwealth,” the Republican said in her announcement, according to the Washington Post. “Yes, this is an opportunity to make history, but our campaign is about making life better for every Virginian right here, right now.”

Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Youngkin and Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares also won their respective races that year.

Activists have criticized Earle-Sears for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.

Earle-Sears in 2023 spoke at the Conservative Political Action Conference in National Harbor, Md. She sparked criticism in February when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on the Virginia Senate floor.

Roem in 2018 became the first transgender person seated in a state legislature in the country when she assumed her seat in the House of Delegates. Voters in the 30th Senate District last November elected Roem to the state Senate, thus becoming the first trans person to be seated in the chamber.

The Washington Post reported Miyares is likely to run against Earle-Sears in the Republican primary. The winner would likely face U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger (D-Va.), who is the only Democrat who has thus far declared themselves a gubernatorial candidate.

Earle-Sears would become Virginia’s first female governor if she wins. She would also become the first Black woman elected governor of any state.