Local
McBride confident in Delaware state Senate race
COVID forces changes to campaign
Since announcing her candidacy for state senator in Delaware’s First District, located in Wilmington, Sarah McBride has broken fundraising records and earned endorsements from local officials, including current First District Sen. Harris McDowell, and national figures, such as Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren.
All was going smoothly until the COVID-19 pandemic changed the ability of political candidates to reach voters face-to-face, forcing McBride’s campaign to adjust to the new reality.
“These are certainly unprecedented times for so many of us in so many ways and for those of us who are candidates for office it requires getting creative about how we are connecting with voters,” explains McBride. “Particularly here in Delaware door knocking has been at the center of our campaigns and it was at the center of my campaign prior to the stay-at-home order. While we are no longer able to connect with voters face-to-face at the doors, we know that it is just as important to continue to reach out to people. More than anything else to check in with how they’re doing, express our well wishes, and share information or resources that people don’t know are necessarily available.”
Looking ahead to the rest of the campaign McBride is “eager to be able to interact with voters and [her] future constituents,” but says that “public health has to come first.” She supports HB175, which would create universal vote-by-mail in Delaware.
McBride also sees this pandemic as highlighting the importance of issues she emphasizes in her campaign, including access to healthcare and paid family leave. Even before the pandemic, McBride saw the Delaware economy as being at an “inflection point.”
Now she says that “the economic ramifications of this pandemic — the businesses that are suffering, the workers who lost their jobs — reinforces that we have our work cut out for us to attract new jobs, particularly green jobs, to Delaware so that we can repair our economy and reimagine our economy to better work for everyone.”
While McBride focuses her campaign on local issues, her candidacy also has a historic component: if elected, she would be the first openly transgender state senator in the country.
Mara Kiesling, executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund, believes that focusing on policy questions allows McBride to shine as someone who is “smart, progressive, has a great heart, and understands that public service isn’t about her.”
“The people of Wilmington haven’t been sitting around for 10 years saying, ‘gee whiz, I wish we had a transgender senator,’” said Kiesling. “They are worried about healthcare, roads, and the economy. Sarah is worried about those things too and has a vision and has the skills.”
McBride sees herself not as a “transgender candidate,” but as a “candidate who happens to be transgender.”
“I’m not running to be a transgender state senator, I’m certainly not running away from my identity either. I’m proud of who I am and it’s something many people in Delaware and elsewhere know about me,” said McBride. “I also want people to understand that I’m running to work on all of the issues that matter to the First Senate District and my background and experience go beyond my identity.
In an interview with the Delaware News Journal, former Democrat and executive secretary of the Wilmington Housing Authority Board of Commissioners Steve Washington, who decided to run for the First State Senate District as a Republican because he felt he was “being taken as a joke” by Democrats indicated that he may seek to make “family values” — a term with homophobic and transphobic connotations — an issue in the campaign.
“I get a very good response about family, about values,” said Washington. “The structure of the family has been broken down, and we need to fix it.”
But many LGBTQ political leaders doubt the effectiveness of using a candidate’s gender identity or sexual orientation against them.
“You have to stay on your message of what you are doing for the community,” said Sean Meloy, political director of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, where McBride once worked as an intern. “We have advanced to a point where that disrespect usually will not play well.”
“Just like the people of Wilmington aren’t sitting around saying ‘I wish I had a trans Senator,’ they also aren’t saying ‘I hope I don’t have a trans senator,’” said Kiesling. “If someone wants to run on Sarah being trans, they are not running on health care, the economy, and roads.”
Before the November election, McBride will face Joseph McCole in the September primary. McCole received less than 30 percent of the vote in the 2016 Democratic primary against McDowell and has no active campaign.
Although McBride is taking nothing for granted in her reliably Democratic district, she feels good about her chances in the election.
“From the start of this campaign we have run with the knowledge that we can have both a primary and a general. We’re ready for whatever comes our way,” says McBride. “I’m confident that voters are responding positively to our message. I’m confident that we’ll win in September and win in November.”
Delaware
New LGBTQ visitor center slated for Wilmington, Del.
The Collective to feature gift shop, queer museum, more
During Pride month this year, the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective (DSGC) announced plans for “The Collective,” the first LGBTQ+ visitor center in Wilmington in nearly 40 years.
“We’ve been talking about the concept of a brick-and-mortar space for a long time,” said Noah Duckett, co-founder of the DSGC.
A licensed clinical social worker, Duckett co-founded DSGC with his mother, Julissa Corianno, in 2018. Established under Sussex Pride, the DSGC serves as a hub for leaders and organizations working directly with LGBTQ+ communities throughout Delaware.
“Our vision for The Collective is a place where our community can come to learn, create, work, and be inspired,” said Corianno.
The Collective will feature a visitor center and gift shop highlighting LGBTQ-owned businesses in Delaware.
“I think that this is something that’s going to benefit our community so much,” said Duckett.
Some of the LGBTQ-owned businesses that DSGC has already partnered with include Stressed Induced Art Attack, Moonbeam Art Collaborative, Voce Coffee, Groovy Gemini Co., Scout Cafe, Macaron Social, and Huxley and Hiro.
“Specifically in Wilmington, we haven’t had an LGBTQ-dedicated space in almost 40 years,” said Duckett.
The last LGBTQ community center in Wilmington was The Griffin Community Center, which was open for only a few years in the 1990s.
“The Griffin was a community space in the ’90s, founded by our friends James and Evo, who are so incredible and have been so supportive throughout this process,” said Duckett.
Duckett said the DSGC hopes to carry on The Griffin’s legacy.
“I think now more than ever, there’s more and more spaces closing their doors. More and more spaces are losing funding, seeing reduced funding and reduced access, especially LGBTQ+ organizations and communities,” said Duckett.
The Collective will also feature Delaware’s first LGBTQ history museum, curated by queer historian Carolanne Deal.
“We don’t have any permanent displays in the state about Delaware’s queer history, and we want people to be able to access that history any day of the year, not just during Pride month,” said Deal.
With a master’s degree in art history for museum professionals, Deal has more than seven years of experience in curatorial work and hands-on collections care.
“It’s mainly going to be a graphic display with photographs, articles, and accessible text that draws people in and creates a story for the community,” said Deal.
Although the museum will not initially have an object collection, Deal said she hopes to add physical archival pieces in the future.
“Delaware has been at the forefront of a lot of queer civil rights, and it’ll be really amazing to have that enshrined in a permanent display that’s not only up for Pride month,” said Deal.
Duckett said DSGC is currently raising funds with the goal of breaking ground this summer and opening by the end of the year.
“We would love to have rent paid for, like, multiple years up front,” said Duckett.
Duckett told the Blade that fundraising efforts have reached just under $29,000 and that the organization is awaiting several major donations from community partner organizations.
However, he said DSGC continues to be denied many grants tied to federal or state funding because of restrictions on those funds being used for LGBTQ-serving organizations.
“Private and corporate donations are absolutely vital,” said Duckett.
Anyone interested in supporting the construction of The Collective can donate online or contact [email protected] for more information.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s Mary’s House For Older Adults names new executive director
Charlene Leach to succeed Imani Woody as leader of LGBTQ-supportive seniors home
The board of directors of Mary’s House for Older Adults, the D.C.-based home dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors, has announced it has named longtime nonprofit organization leader A. Charlene Leach as its new executive director.
Leach, who is now serving in the executive director’s position, is succeeding Dr. Imani Woody, the Mary’s House founding president and CEO, who announced her retirement from her official leadership role at Mary’s House on July 7.
Woody, who holds a PhD in Human Services, is credited with playing the lead role over many years in arranging both city and private funding needed to construct and operate the Mary’s House three-story building located at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E., in the city’s Fort DuPont neighborhood.
“With over three decades of nonprofit experience and 15 years serving as an executive director, Charlene brings a wealth of knowledge in organizational leadership, program development, and community engagement,” the Mary’s House board says in a statement.
“Her proven track record of building impactful programs and leading mission-driven organizations makes her uniquely suited to guide Mary’s House into its next phase of growth,” the statement continues. “Charlene is deeply aligned with the mission of Mary’s House and is committed to advancing its work to provide safe, inclusive housing and supportive services for LGBTQ+ older adults,” it says. “Under her leadership, the organization will continue to expand its impact while remaining grounded in the values that define our community.”
Leach’s LinkedIn page shows she has most recently served since 2022 as executive director of the African American AIDS Task Force in Minneapolis. Prior to that, it shows she served as executive director of the Fredericksburg Area Health and Support Services organization in Fredericksburg, Va., and before that as director of development for the D.C.-Baltimore area Women’s Collective.
Her LinkedIn page says she has been involved with Mary’s House as a volunteer and grant writer since 2016.
The newly built and enlarged Mary’s House, which opened in March 2025, with a grand opening ceremony held in May 2025 attended by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, includes 15 single-occupancy residential apartments and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
An earlier statement released by the Mary’s House board announcing Woody’s retirement said Woody would continue to be involved with the organization as a member of the board. The earlier statement and board’s more recent statement on July 29 announcing Leach’s appointment as executive director did not say whether the board plans to name someone else as president and CEO, the title that Woody held before her retirement. But the latest statement says Leach will be running Mary’s House’s day-to-day operations as Woody did.
Virginia
Doug Ollivant to face Eugene Vindman in Va. 7th Congressional District
Republican defeated challengers in Tuesday’s primary
Republican Doug Ollivant will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Ollivant defeated his Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Vindman ran unopposed.
Vindman in 2024 ran to succeed then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives after she ran for governor. Spanberger succeeded Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday easily won his primary. All other Democratic incumbent members of Congress from Northern Virginia also won their respective primaries.
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