News
Biden says he gets ‘more credit for marriage equality than I deserve’
Democratic candidate says Equality Act is ‘the first bill I want to sign’
Democratic presidential candidate Joseph Biden told an LGBT audience Saturday night he gets “more credit for marriage equality than I deserve,” according to a campaign pool report.
Biden made the comments after reflecting on his words in favor of same-sex marriage on “Meet the Press” in 2012, which preceded the conclusion of President Obama’s in favor of same-sex marriage and wins for marriage equality at the ballot box that year.
“I get more credit for marriage equality than I deserve,” Biden told the crowd of about 200 people at the fundraiser, which was hosted by gay philanthropist Tim Gill and his spouse Scott Miller.
Reflecting on his position on marriage equality, Biden said, “I didn’t have to evolve very much.” (In 1996, Biden as a U.S. senator from Delaware was one of 85 senators to vote in favor of the anti-gay Defense of Marriage Act, which prohibited federal recognition of same-sex marriage.)
Much of Biden’s speech, according to the pool report, consisted of stories he told in the past about his experience with LGBT people, including the story about his father warning him in high school not to be bigoted against gay people.
“I told the president I wouldn’t get out ahead of him, but if I got asked the question I couldn’t keep quiet,” Biden said. “I wasn’t going to be silent on it.”
In terms of LGBT policy, Biden reiterated his support for the Equality Act, saying he wants the legislation to be the “first bill I want to sign.”
“The first bill I want to sign is the Equality Act because today you can be married in a number of states on Saturday and be fired on Monday when you go into work,” Biden said. “And it’s gotta change. And most people don’t even know that. If we let them know that, we can change the law across the country.”
Other components of Biden’s remarks included condemnation of Trump’s rhetoric, free community college and training programs for displaced workers and Amazon leading to the elimination of retail jobs across the country.
Gill, who supports Biden, emphasized Biden’s record at the fundraiser and said “America needs a president with that experience,” according to the pool report.
“And experience matters,” Gill said. “The ability to craft and pass legislation matters. The ability to rally people to your cause matters.”
The Washington Blade has placed a request in with the Biden campaign seeking comment on the amount raised at the fundraiser and the cost of a ticket.
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
Virginians for Marriage Equality on Monday launched a campaign in support of repealing Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, former state Del. Mark Sickles, and American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer are among those who spoke at the launch that took place in Richmond. State Del. Kirk McPike (D-Alexandria), who co-chairs the campaign, also participated.
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the commonwealth’s constitution.”
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in February signed a bill that finalized the referendum’s language.
The referendum will take place on Nov. 3.
National
White House Correspondents’ Dinner rescheduled after shooting
‘We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word’
The White House Correspondents’ Association announced on Tuesday that it has rescheduled its annual dinner for July 24 after the April event was halted when gunshots rang out at the Washington Hilton.
Cole Allen, 31, is charged with the attempted assassination of President Trump, who was in the ballroom at the time of the incident. One Secret Service officer was wounded in the attack. Officers stopped Allen before he could enter the ballroom where 2,500 journalists and politicos were having dinner and waiting for Trump to speak. It was Trump’s first time attending as president.
“We will not allow an act of violence to have the last word, especially during a year when we are reflecting on the 250th anniversary of America and everything we stand for,” said WHCA President Weijia Jiang in a statement to members.
She did not announce further details, including venue and ticketing.
Washington Blade White House reporter Joe Reberkenny was in the audience when shots were fired and reported live on social media from the scene.
This post will be updated as more details are announced.
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