Virginia
LGBTQ law student group invites community to ‘Pride On The Plaza’
Event to be held outside George Mason law school in Arlington
The LGBTQ student group called OutLaw at George Mason University’s Antonin Scalia Law School in Arlington, Va., is inviting LGBTQ students at other law schools across the D.C. metropolitan area and the LGBTQ community and its allies to an Oct. 25 event on the school’s campus called Pride on the Plaza.
A statement released by OutLaw says the event will be held from 6-10 p.m. on Mason Square Plaza, which serves as a campus-like plaza in front of the law school building at 3301 Fairfax Dr. in Arlington.
“Coinciding with LGBT Pride Month, Pride on the Plaza is a gathering of the D.C. Metro area’s LGBTQIA+ law student organizations and the community at large,” the statement says. “It’s more than just a party; it’s a chance to stand together, to celebrate who we are, and to show our pride.”
The statement says organizers have invited lawyers and legal professionals as well as undergraduate and graduate students at the university to participate in the event. It says there will be food and beverages and live entertainment, including a “first ever” drag show at the Scalia Law School.
Mackenzie Freilich, the OutLaw president, said the event will also include a raffle for items such as concert tickets and autographed sports memorabilia, a free sexual health screening clinic, and information stations provided by several LGBTQ organizations, including the Human Rights Campaign.
According to the group’s statement, the event will be limited to people 18 years of age and older and there will be an admission fee of $8 to help support the cost of putting on the event and the work of OutLaw. It says tickets can be purchased online in advance of the event or at the event itself
“We are rewriting the narrative from hateful rhetoric to impactful, long-lasting change for good,” Freilich told the Washington Blade. “We must not let hate win, we must rise up and unite the community, not divide.”
Morgan Menzies, another student at the Scalia Law School who is organizing the Pride on the Plaza event, said Freilich was referring to the anti-LGBTQ laws that several states have passed recently or are considering passing.
She said organizers are also concerned about the anti-LGBTQ proposals in a document called Project 2025 that conservative advocates want Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump to put in place if elected president.
Menzies said another concern organizers of the event have is the statement made by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas at the time the high court overturned Roe v. Wade. She noted that Thomas said the court should reconsider its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.
The Scalia Law School is named after another conservative former Supreme Court justice, the late Antonin Scalia, who served on the court from 1986 to the time of his death in 2016.
Menzies said school officials approved the LGBTQ group’s plans to hold the event on the school’s campus plaza and some of the school’s law professors have expressed support for the event.
“We wanted to host this event to create visibility on our campus because we are a minority at our school and also provide a networking opportunity with the other progressive law students in the region so that we can strengthen those bonds,” Menzies told the Blade.
Additional information and ticket availability for Pride on the Plaza can be accessed here.
Virginia
New Virginia license plate celebrates LGBTQ diversity
450 applications needed for it to become official option
Diversity Richmond has designed a license plate that allows Virginia drivers to celebrate and raise the visibility of LGBTQ diversity. The Virginia-based LGBTQ nonprofit needs 450 applications by January for the plate to become an official state option.
The license plate design features a group of hands stacked on top of each other in the far left corner, and the Progress Pride flag runs horizontally across the bottom of the plate. The words “Celebrate Diversity” are prominently displayed over the flag.
Rev. Dr. Lacette Cross, executive director of Diversity Richmond, said the design celebrates the diversity of the LGBTQ community.
“[The design] reflects the diversity of the intersecting identities of our community,” she said.
Applications are available on Diversity Richmond’s website, and the license plate costs $25. Once completed, applicants should email the form to Diversity Richmond, not to the Virginia DMV, as Diversity Richmond will submit both the applications and fees to the DMV on their behalf.
If the organization gathers 450 applications and payments by the start of the 2025 Virginia General Assembly session in January, Del. Betsy B. Carr (D-Richmond) will sponsor the plate through the approval process to make it an official option.
The initiative also serves as a fundraiser for Diversity Richmond, which will receive a portion of the proceeds from the license plate registration fees.
“The ultimate benefit,” Cross said, “is the continual visibility of LGBTQ persons, our allies, and our supporters that are driving around the Commonwealth of Virginia, spreading the message of acceptance and of allyship.”
She described Diversity Richmond as the hub of the LGBTQ community in Greater Richmond, noting the organization’s “really dynamic” work within the community. The nonprofit runs the popular thrift store Diversity Thrift, hosts the annual Virginia Pridefest in September, and exhibits the work of LGBTQ artists in its art gallery.
Diversity Richmond is planning to celebrate its 25th anniversary with a public party at the Virginia Museum of History & Culture on Wednesday, Nov. 13.
Virginia
Alexandria City Council approves ‘LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution’
Measure drafted by advocacy group, introduced by gay Council member
The Alexandria, Va., City Council on Sept. 24 voted unanimously to approve an “LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution” that, among other things, calls on the city attorney and city manager to take administrative or legal action to oppose anti-LGBTQ policies or laws proposed or enacted on the national, state, or local levels.
The resolution was introduced by gay Council member Kirk McPike and drafted by an organization called the Metro D.C. Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Campaign.
“We reaffirm our commitment to equal protection and freedom from discrimination on the basis of sex, including our commitment to ensuring LGBTQ+ individuals are free from discrimination, whether by individuals, businesses, or government actors,” the resolution states.
“We call upon the other elected leaders of Alexandria to use the legislative and administrative authority available to them to take such actions as may be necessary to protect LGBTQ+ individuals from discrimination on the basis of sex due to their sexual orientation or gender identity and to enshrine such protections into law,” the resolution continues.
It concludes by stating, “We ask the City Attorney to actively seek participation, as a plaintiff or amicus curiae, in ongoing or future litigation to protect the rights of LGBTQ individuals.”
In 2020 the Virginia General Assembly passed and then Gov. Ralph Northam (D) signed legislation banning discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity. The city of Alexandria and other Virginia jurisdictions, including Arlington, have passed similar LGBTQ nondiscrimination laws.
Lyra McMillan, a spokesperson for the Metro D.C. DSA Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Campaign, said the LGBTQ+/Trans Sanctuary Resolution is intended to strengthen and protect the state’s and Alexandria’s LGBTQ rights laws by defending them against attempts to overturn or weaken them from ongoing efforts by anti-LGBTQ lawmakers in Congress and other states.
McMillan points to efforts by Virginia’s current governor, Glenn Youngkin (R), to curtail LGBTQ rights, especially trans rights, in the state’s public schools.
“In the face of this sort of backlash, places like Alexandria need to stand up and push back,” McPike told ALX Now, an online Alexandria news publication.
The only visible opposition to the resolution came from the Catholic Diocese of Arlington, which released a statement calling on the community to ask the Council not to pass it.
“This resolution would assert the authority of the City Manager to independently interpret the U.S. Constitution, direct city officials to use public funds to engage in future federal litigation, and encourage transgender surgical interventions, including for minors,” the statement says
McMillan said the resolution had widespread support in the community.
“I’m proud of the work we’ve done together with the City Council to help protect and reassure our LGBTQ+ comrades of their safety, respect, and liberty when living, visiting, and traveling through the city,” she said in a statement.
Virginia
Lawsuit challenges Va. law that bans conversion therapy
Anti-LGBTQ legal group filed suit on behalf of Front Royal counselors
Two Northern Virginia counselors on Thursday filed a lawsuit against a state law that bans so-called conversion therapy.
The Founding Freedoms Law Center, which is the Family Foundation of Virginia’s legal arm, filed the lawsuit on behalf of Dr. John and Janet Raymond in Henrico County Circuit Court.
The law took effect in 2020.
A Family Foundation of Virginia press release notes the Raymonds “own and operate” the Associate Counseling Center in Front Royal, which “offers counseling for marriages, families, men, and women from a Christian worldview.”
“Prior to this law taking effect, the Raymonds regularly counseled minors on a wide variety of issues, but because of the chilling effect of this law, the Raymonds stopped seeing minors as clients almost entirely,” reads the press release. “By this litigation, the Raymonds seek to continue counseling children, including the increasing number of those who are experiencing confusion about their sexual identity in a chaotic culture.”
Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia, in a statement dismissed the lawsuit and criticized the Family Foundation.
“The Family Foundation is a consistently anti-LGBTQ+ group that is constantly seeking new avenues to discriminate against LGBTQ+ people and roll back our hard-won rights, and this lawsuit is nothing more than their latest attempt,” said Rahaman.
“Conversion therapy is harmful, has been thoroughly debunked as effective, has been disavowed by every major medical association in America,” added Rahaman.
The District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and more than two dozen states ban the widely discredited practice.
“Once again, anti-LGBTQ+ forces are just trying to find new ways to advance their failing cause,” said Rahaman. “To the LGBTQ+ youth in Virginia and around the country who have been subjected to this dangerous practice: We will not stop fighting for you. You are worthy of love, support and access to affirming therapy.”
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