Maryland
Thousands expected at Pride in the Plaza in Silver Spring
Annual event celebrates love, authenticity, collective liberation
Montgomery County’s annual Pride in the Plaza will take place from 12-8 p.m. on June 29 in Veterans Plaza in downtown Silver Spring. The new theme is “We Will Not Be Silenced. We Will Not Be Erased.”
Live In Your Truth, in partnership with MoCo Pride Center, Inc., Montgomery County Pride Family, and Montgomery County HHS, will organize the event that is expected to draw thousands of attendees and will celebrate love, authenticity, and collective liberation.
“We have two stages, tons of wellness vendors, queer-owned businesses, and enabling partners who are all there, affirming our LGBTQIA+ community members,” Live In Your Truth CEO Phillip Alexander Downie. “And this year it is even larger.”
A multitude of events and activities are set for attendees to participate in, including a drag story hour, face painting, science activities, and community showcases, like The Emmy-nominated “Drag Duels Season 4” finale hosted by Live In Your Truth — a live competition of show-stopping performances, creativity, and queer excellence.
Prominent speakers like Montgomery Council President Kate Stewart, Council Vice President Will Jawando, and Councilmember Evan Glass will also be in attendance at the event.
“Specifically, here in Montgomery County, our elected officials have your back,” Downie said. “The County Council voted unanimously to fund this work two years in a row, and so it’s like our leadership wants you to know that you absolutely belong in these spaces, in our classrooms and in our collective communities and futures.”
There will also be special zones placed throughout the event, like the Family Fun Zone and Pride Cool Down Lounge, where attendees can take a chance to rest with cool air conditioning. There will also be free onsite STI testing, health screenings, and community resource stations.
“If you go through the orgs, you’ll notice that even our sponsors are very mission-oriented, like our main stage sponsor, Gilead, who is always promoting prep and wellness within our LGBTQIA+ communities,” Downie said.
With national federal funding cuts, Downie said these organizations want to show the LGBTQ community that they’re here for them.
“(They’re) trying to prevent disease and outbreak within our communities, and especially focused on saying that Black LGBTQIA+ lives matter, that trans rights are human rights,” Downie said. “And that all of our queer siblings, especially our BIPOC siblings, who are under disproportionate attack right now, especially in trans and gender expansive communities, that they all absolutely matter and that they belong in these spaces and in the fabric of our society.”
Downie said within today’s political climate, it’s “essential” to provide access to resources and community.
“I mean, for some it’s life-saving,” Downie added. “I hope that people feel very seen (and affirmed.) I hope that they walk away knowing that even if there is a national rhetoric that is seeking to silence them, seeking to erase them, seeking to dismantle human rights from our most vulnerable communities, that (they) absolutely belong in our spaces.”
During a tumultuous time with a lot of rhetoric, Downie said it’s important for the LGBTQ community to know people care.
“And I always say this, ‘You have not met all of the people who are going to love you,’ yet you absolutely belong and always love the new truth,” Downie said. “And I really mean that for our community members. There is such a beautiful future ahead for them, where they can find community, love, and support, even amongst all of the crazy chaos that’s taking place. Hopefully, people will find tribes and community members here and just have a fantastic time.”
Maryland
Girlfriends charged with Silver Spring murder to go on trial in 2027
Prosecutors charged both women with killing mother of one of them
Two women identified as a couple who are charged with the May 22, 2026, murder of the mother one of them in her Silver Spring home and who were arrested three weeks later in Ohio are scheduled to go on trial for murder April 19, 2027.
According to online records filed with Montgomery County Circuit Court in Rockville, Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, 29, of Clarksburg, Md., and Samantha Raebel, 36, of Phoenix are being held without bond in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility until the time of their trial.
Statements from Montgomery County police show the two women were arrested June 10 in Genoa, Ohio, after fleeing from the scene of the murder in Silver Spring. Police statements and court records show they were extradited back to Maryland in July, where prosecutors with the Montgomery County State’s Attorney’s Office obtained indictments against them for murder.
Earlier statements from Montgomery County police say their investigation into the murder led to their decision to initially charge the two women with first-degree murder for the death of Hilde Henderson, 67, who was Tjongarero-Henderson’s mother.
“Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Henderson’s daughter, Vanessa Tjongarero-Henderson, and Vanessa’s girlfriend, Raebel, as the suspects,” one of the police statements says. It says police obtained arrest warrants for both women and launched a nationwide search seeking help from the public in in locating them.
One of the police statements says an autopsy determined the cause of Hilde Henderson’s death was blunt-force trauma injuries brought about by a murder. Police and the State’s Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, have yet to disclose whether they have determined a motive for the murder.
Court records show that prior to the start of the April 19, 2027, trial a “motion” hearing was scheduled for Oct. 30, 2026, a pre-trail conference was scheduled for Feb. 12, 2027, and another motion hearing and a status hearing were scheduled for March 12, 2027.
Court records also show that Tjongarero-Henderson is being represented by attorneys with the Montgomery County court system’s public defender service. The records show that Raebel initially had been represented by a public defender service attorney, but updated records show Aug. 14 is listed as the “removal date” for that attorney.
The docket shows that on Aug. 20, two new attorneys with the prominent D.C. law firm of Covington & Burling made their official appearance as her attorneys in the murder case. One of them, Daniel Solomon, told the Washington Blade in response to an inquiry that the defense has no comment at this time on the case.
He confirmed that Covington & Burling is representing Raebel on a no-cost, pro bono bass.
The office of the Montgomery County public defender service didn’t immediately respond to a phone message from the Blade asking for a comment on the Tjongarero-Henderson case.
Congress
Chris Van Hollen says the Democratic Party needs change. Is he the one to lead it?
Senator is backing anti-establishment Democrats across the country
By LEE O. SANDERLIN | The Democratic Party is having something of an identity crisis — losing to President Donald Trump twice in three elections will do that.
Should the party embrace anti-establishment figures who espouse progressive policy ideas like Medicare for all and rhetoric about unrigging the economy for the 1 percent? Or should Democrats try to appeal to moderates who want to return to semi-normalcy in a time of political upheaval?
Although he’s been in Congress since 2002, with key leadership roles throughout his tenure, Maryland Sen. Chris Van Hollen, 67, counts himself firmly in the anti-establishment camp.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Anne Arundel schools updates gender identity regulation following Trump administration threats
District facing federal lawsuit, White House threats over guidelines
By JESSICA CALEFATI | Under pressure from the Trump-Vance administration, Anne Arundel County Public Schools Supt. Mark Bedell announced Wednesday the district had updated a regulation intended to protect transgender students’ right to be called by their chosen name.
The revised language makes clear that district rules on gender identity do not block parents’ rights under the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act as the federal government alleged last month, and that a student’s gender identity will not be treated as confidential medical information.
“No policy, guideline, or practice may limit or otherwise interfere with parental rights under FERPA,” Bedell wrote in a Wednesday letter to the community. “This includes any information maintained in education records that relates to gender identity, transgender status, sexual orientation, preferred name, or preferred pronouns.”
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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