Maryland
Pride flags pulled down, burned in Silver Spring
Montgomery County police seek help from public in identifying suspect
Montgomery County, Md., police announced they are investigating as many as 10 incidents of hate related vandalism of LGBTQ Pride flags as well as Ukrainian flags on residential streets in Silver Spring that occurred over a two-day period this week.
“The preliminary investigation has revealed that during the overnight hours of Tuesday, June 27, 2023, to Wednesday, June 28, 2023, several Pride and Ukrainian flags had been burned in the Mansfield Road, Wayne Place, Ellsworth Place, Greenbrier Drive, Pershing Drive and Deerfield Avenue neighborhoods,” according to a police statement.
“Investigators are asking for victims and/or homeowners with surveillance videos of possible suspects to call the police non-emergency number at 301-279-8000,” the statement says.
D.C.’s NBC 4 News reports that two men it identified as a couple, Mark Heare and Chris Middleton, said their home security video “shows someone covering his face while lighting the couple’s Pride flag on fire before running away laughing.”
NBC 4 News reported that burn marks were visible on the door frame where the couple’s flag was attached.
It also reported that at another home several blocks away one or more vandals attempted to burn a Pride flag on a pole before taking it down and etching the letters “USSR” on the flag.
The Montgomery County Council released a statement on June 28 denouncing the flag vandalism, which said a Black Trans Lives Matter flag was among the flags vandalized in Silver Spring during the past week.
“We are outraged by the numerous incidents of hate and anti-LGBTQ+ vandalism that occurred early this morning,” the statement says. “In Montgomery County, we believe in inclusion, compassion and diversity,” the statement continues.
“We stand together in forcefully denouncing acts of hate and violence in all forms, and we remain committed to protecting our LGBTQ+ neighbors and all those impacted from these awful acts,” the statement says, adding, “We must ensure everyone – including our LGBTQ+ community – is safe, seen and supported everywhere in Montgomery County.
Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed a bill that decriminalizes HIV in the state.
State Dels. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) are among the lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 39 or the Carlton R. Smith Act, which is named after the long-time activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in May 2024.
Smith was a member of the Coalition to Decriminalize HIV in Maryland that advocated for the bill. FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also part of the coalition.
“At FreeState Justice, we are proud to stand with advocates, health experts, and lawmakers who worked diligently to advance this bill. The bipartisan support for the Carlton R. Smith Act is a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership,” said FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry in a statement. “It sends a clear message: Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”
Maryland is the fifth state to decriminalize HIV.
North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, in March signed a bill that decriminalized HIV in his state.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands
Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation
By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.
The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.
Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New York, Colorado, Oregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Gerry Connolly dies at 75 after battle with esophageal cancer
WorldPride begins — let’s hope it ends well
LGBTQ leaders celebrate Frank Kameny’s 100th birthday at Supreme Court
Blade’s Lou Chibbaro subject of new film premiering May 29
