Local
Former GOP activist says ‘Vice’ omits full story of Mary Cheney
Lesbian daughter joined father’s re-election bid in 2003
The recently released movie about the life and political career of former Vice President Dick Cheney called “Vice” has drawn the attention of LGBT activists for portraying Cheney and his wife Lynne as being accepting and supportive of their lesbian daughter, Mary Cheney.
Film critics have also noted that one of the movie’s most dramatic and emotional scenes captures Mary Cheney’s dismay when she learns that her older sister Liz Cheney came out against same-sex marriage shortly after announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate from Wyoming in 2013.
The movie shows Mary Cheney sulking over what she believed was her father and mother’s decision to give Liz Cheney the go-ahead to oppose same-sex marriage to boost her Senate campaign, which Liz later abandoned in 2014.
But Charles Francis, who in 2000 founded the Republican Unity Coalition as a GOP gay-straight alliance to expand the party’s base of support, says “Vice” totally omits the fact that in 2003 Mary Cheney resigned from her position on the group’s board of directors to join her father’s re-election campaign.
Francis notes that her resignation came after President George W. Bush announced his support in 2003 for the Texas sodomy law, which made gay sex illegal a short time before the U.S. Supreme Court overturned the Texas law and all state sodomy laws in its landmark Lawrence v. Texas decision.
The following year Bush came out in support of a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage in every state.
“I would not want to rehash all of this were it not that the film places Mary’s ‘betrayal’ by Liz and her Dad at the center of the emotional conclusion,” Francis said. “Mary Cheney is portrayed, finally, as an innocent victim of political/Republican homophobia when Dick and Lynne Cheney give the OK to Liz Cheney to oppose same-sex marriage in her Senate primary.”
Francis points out that Mary Cheney had left the LGBT Republican cause and the Republican Unity Coalition in 2003, long before the conflict with her sister in 2013.
“She had left the community a long time before that when we needed her most before the all-out push for a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage in 2003-2004,” said Francis.
Mary Cheney resumed support for LGBT issues, including same-sex marriage, after her father left office in 2009. She married her partner since 1992, Heather Poe, in 2012.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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