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Danica Roem takes office in Va. Senate

2024 legislative session began in Richmond, Annapolis on Wednesday

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Virginia state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) speaks to supporters at the Virginia Portuguese Community Center in Manassas, Va., on Nov. 7, 2023, after she defeated Republican Bill Woolf. (Washington Blade by Michael Key)

State Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) on Wednesday became the first transgender person seated in the Virginia Senate.

The Manassas Democrat last November defeated Republican Bill Woolf to represent the 30th Senate District. Roem in 2018 became the first trans person seated in a state legislature in the country when she assumed her seat in the Virginia House of Delegates.

“The voters have shown they want a leader who will prioritize fixing roads, feeding kids and protecting our land instead of stigmatizing trans kids or taking away your civil rights,” said Roem after she defeated Woolf.

Democrats last November regained control of the House of Delegates. They have a 21-19 majority in the state Senate. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin will remain in office until his term ends in 2025.

State Dels. Rozia Henson (D-Prince William County), Laura Jane Cohen (D-Fairfax County) and Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) took office on Wednesday. They are gay, bisexual and queer respectively. State Del. Joshua Cole (D-Fredericksburg), a bisexual man who was in the House of Delegates from 2020-2022, returned to Richmond on Wednesday. 

House Speaker Don Scott (D-Portsmouth) is the first Black House of Delegates speaker.

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) and state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County), who are both gay, won re-election last November. State Dels. Kelly Convirs-Fowler (D-Virginia Beach) and Marcia “Cia” Price (D-Newport News), who are bisexual and pansexual respectively, returned to the House of Delegates.

Ebbin and Sickles have introduced resolutions in their respective chambers that seek to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Ebbin and Henzon have also sponsored bills that would reaffirm marriage equality in Virginia.

Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.

Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014.

The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.

The state Senate last year approved Ebbin’s resolution that sought to repeal the marriage amendment. Senators in 2023 also passed the gay Alexandria Democrat’s marriage equality affirmation bill.

A House of Delegates subcommittee last year tabled the resolution. State delegates also did not consider the marriage equality affirmation bill before the 2023 legislative session ended.

“Virginians want a chance to remove the noxious marriage language that was added to our constitution in 2006,” said Sickles in a press release. 

The marriage equality resolutions and bills are among Equality Virginia’s 2024 legislative priorities.

Roem on Tuesday noted to the Washington Blade during a telephone interview that Republican lawmakers have once again introduced anti-LGBTQ bills. These include a measure to ban trans athletes from school sports teams that correspond with their gender identity.

“Those bills died last year,” said Roem. “The patrons of those bills lost their election.”

“They learned nothing from the election,” she added.

Md. General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session begins

The Maryland General Assembly’s 2024 legislative session also began on Wednesday.

FreeState Justice in a press release notes the organization this year is “working with our partners in government and advocates across the state to remove statutes that stigmatize and criminalize HIV, to codify protections for gender affirming care and to respond to a recent state Supreme Court decision that weakened our anti-discrimination protections.”

“We will fight against harmful rhetoric and mean-spirited bills targeting LGBTQ+ youth and students,” said FreeState Justice. “We are collaborating with advocates and government officials to secure real oversight and other reforms for our criminal justice system. We’re working to make vital documents more trans-inclusive, advocating for healthcare access and affordability, urging state leaders to push their federal counterparts to publish the Equal Rights Amendment, and seeking necessary updates to pay practices for the benefit of workers.”

State Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) has reintroduced a bill that would create a Commission on History, Culture and Civics in Education. The Montgomery County Democrat on Wednesday told the Blade the commissioners would represent African American, Latino, LGBTQ, Indigenous, Asian American and Pacific Islander communities.

“Their responsibility is to essentially look at our school curriculum, figure out how it can be more inclusive and teaching of the various histories of all these groups,” he said. 

State Del. Ashanti Martínez (D-Prince George’s County) has introduced a bill that would explicitly ban discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity in insurance and credit lending in Maryland.

“We have federal protections that are already in place, but it’s always good to have state level protections, especially with what potentially can happen on the national level with the Trump presidency,” Martínez told the Blade on Wednesday. “We want to make sure that our communities are protected here in Maryland, no matter who’s in the White House.”

This year’s legislative session began weeks after Meghan Lewis, a trans woman, was killed outside her Bel Air home. FreeState Justice in its press release notes it supports “efforts to keep our communities safe by reducing gun violence, stepping up enforcement against hate crimes, and expanding victims’ access to emergency shelter and other resources.”

“The General Assembly has an excellent opportunity to continue its work uplifting Maryland’s LGBTQ+ community during this legislative session,” said Phillip Westry, the group’s executive director.

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PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards

Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

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Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington as well as local drag artists joined hosts Mike Millan and Felicia Curry with other performers for a WorldPride dance number at the Helen Hayes Awards on Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.

A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.

The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals

Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

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Deacon Maccubbin attends the 2024 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.

The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.

Laverne Cox (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.

Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.

Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”

“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”

“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.

The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.

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PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride

Schuyler Bailar gives keynote address

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D.C. Trans Pride 2025 was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on May 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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