Maryland
Gay candidate wins election as mayor of Forest Heights, Md.
Troy Barrington Lilly to be sworn in on June 21
Troy Barrington Lilly, a gay member of the Council of the Town of Forest Heights, Md., who became acting mayor on May 1 after the previous mayor resigned, won a special election on June 20 as the town’s mayor.
Sherletta Hawkins, the Forest Heights Town Clerk, told the Washington Blade there were a total of 147 votes cast in the special election. She said Lilly received 138 votes and the only other candidate, Remia Hamilton, received nine votes.
Forest Heights is located in Prince George’s County along the Potomac River next to the National Harbor, with part of the town bordering Southeast D.C.
Lilly had been serving as a Ward 1 Council member since October 2021 and was named by fellow Council members as president of the Council earlier this year. Under town election rules, Lilly, in his role as Council president, became acting mayor on May 1 when the town’s previous mayor, Calvin Washington, resigned, according to Hawkins.
Lilly was scheduled to be sworn in as mayor at a Town Hall ceremony at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, June 21.
His LinkedIn page says Lilly has worked as a professional photographer for the past 13 years. A write-up on his background on the Forest Heights website says in recent years he has served as a U.S. Department of Defense contractor doing photography work “covering engagements between senior U.S. military officials and foreign dignitaries.”
Lilly’s LinkedIn page says he currently works as a software engineering associate for a consulting firm that does contract work with federal government agencies.
At the time he announced his candidacy in the special election for mayor, Lilly released a statement expressing his ideas and plans if elected mayor.
“For the past two years, I’ve crafted legislation and built relationships for residents as a Councilmember and Council president,” he said. He added that if elected mayor he would pursue a five-point plan that includes upgrading infrastructure, digital transformation, youth and community engagement, beautification, economic development, and planning for the future.
Lilly joins the ranks of at least four other openly gay or lesbian mayors in Maryland towns. They include Jeffrey Slavin of Somerset, located just outside D.C.; Stacy Link of Sykesville; Mona Becker of Westminster; and Nathan Brown of Brunswick.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Thursday signed a bill that seeks to combat efforts to ban books from state libraries.
House Bill 785, also known as the Freedom to Read Act, would establish a state policy “that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards; requiring each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program; prohibiting a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring, or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”
Moore on Thursday also signed House Bill 1386, which GLSEN notes will “develop guidelines for an anti-bias training program for school employees.”
Maryland
Health care for Marylanders with HIV is facing huge cuts this summer
Providers poised to lose three-quarters of funding
BY MEREDITH COHN | By the end of June, health care providers in Maryland will lose nearly three-quarters of the funding they use to find and treat thousands of people with HIV.
Advocates and providers say they had been warned there would be less money by the Maryland Department of Health, but were stunned at the size of the drop — from about $17.9 million this fiscal year to $5.3 million the next. The deep cuts are less than three months away.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
GAITHERSBURG, Md. — Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Friday held a “Big Gay Canvass Kickoff” event at his congressional campaign’s headquarters.
LGBTQ+ Victory Fund Vice President of Outreach and Engagement Marty Rouse and John Klenert, a member of the DC Vote and Victory Fund Campaign board of directors, are among those who participated alongside members of Equality PAC. Vogel spoke before Rouse, Klenert and others canvassed for votes in the area.
“Joe brings a fresh new perspective to politics,” said Gabri Kurtzer-Ellenbogen, deputy field director for Vogel’s campaign.
Vogel, 27, is among the Democrats running for Congressman David Trone’s seat.
Trone last May announced his bid to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.) in the U.S. Senate.
The Democratic primary is on May 14. Vogel would be the first Latino, the first gay man and first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.
“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas, and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,” Vogel told the Washington Blade last month during an interview in D.C.
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