Maryland
Montgomery County’s first LGBTQ community center opens in Bethesda
‘These are our values’
Montgomery County’s first LGBTQ center opened on Saturday.
Makeda Richardson, chair of the board of directors of MoCo Pride Center, Inc., was joined by MoCo Pride Center, Inc. CEO Phillip Alexander Downie in welcoming members of the community to the brick-and-mortar LGBTQ resource center in downtown Bethesda.
“Today, Aug. 30, we are making history together,” said Richardson. “With this event and ribbon cutting, we officially open the doors to the Montgomery County Pride Family Resource Center — the first LGBTQIA+ resource center in our county’s history.”
The Montgomery County Pride Family Resource Center, also known as the MoCo Pride Center, is located on the second floor of the Bethesda-Chevy Chase Regional Services Center (4805 Edgemoor Lane) and is now open seven days a week.
The LGBTQ community center is funded through donations, grants and community support in partnership with the local government of Montgomery County.
“This center is the result of years of organizing, coalition-building, and community advocacy,” Downie explained to the Washington Blade. “It is proudly operated by MoCo Pride Center, Inc., but it could not exist without the broader Montgomery County Pride Family.”
The Montgomery County Pride Family includes the Coalition for Inclusive Schools and Communities, Drag Story Hour DMV, Live In Your Truth, Maryland Trans Unity, MoCo Pride Prom, Poolesville Pride, and Trans Maryland.
“We are beginning with a strong foundation of peer-led support groups, including youth groups, trans and gender-expansive groups, and intergenerational spaces,” Downie told the Blade. “We will also provide linkage-to-care services — like HIV/STI testing, health navigation, and affirming referrals — alongside cultural and educational programs, identity-affirming workshops, and monthly queer market pop-ups.”
A poster for upcoming events this week at the center includes listings for several support group meetings, sunset yoga, drag story hour, and a board game night.
The Pride Center’s programming includes free STI/HIV screenings, a lending library, crisis management, housing placement and drop in hours.
“This is what the Pride Center represents: a future centered on community and care,” said Downie to the gathered crowd at the opening of the center. “This Pride center is a working, living home for our community. It is a place where anyone can walk in seven days a week and know they will be met with dignity, respect, and care.”
“Here, people will find affirming support groups, a library of LGBTQ+ books and history, a safe drop-in space and connections to vital services,” Downie continued. “It is a hub for connection and care, from youth gatherings to trans and gender community meetings, to family outreach, community education, and cultural celebrations that uplift our history and our joy. And it is a place to come as you are: whether to gather in joy to seek resources, or to simply be in community.”
Speakers at the opening event included several government officials as well as members of the Montgomery Pride Family umbrella organization of local LGBTQ groups.
Montgomery County Executive Marc Elrich, said, “I want to reaffirm that we’re going to have unwavering support for LGBTQ+ rights. Montgomery County has made it clear that everyone deserves to be safe. And, I want to contrast this with the national climate. At a time when LGBTQ+ rights are under attack, whether it is bans on gender-affirming care or rollbacks in mental health resources, we’re choosing another path.”
“From enacting the Bill of Rights, to raising the Pride flag each June, we’re not just making statements: we’re making change,” Elrich continued.
The Montgomery County Council unanimously passed the “LGBTQ Bill of Rights” in 2020, expanding the anti-discrimination codes of the county to include gender expression and HIV status. The LGBTQ Bill of Rights explicitly bans LGBTQ discrimination in healthcare facilities, nursing homes and personal care facilities, according to a statement from the Council.
“Growing up trans and queer in Montgomery County in the ’80s and ’90s was not easy,” said Trans Maryland Executive Director Lee Blinder. “There was no representation of my identity and my world as a child. And that made for a challenging experience. Like so many other folks have mentioned today, having a center like this would have profoundly impacted my ability to understand myself, to connect with community, and to really have the kind of support that we all truly deserve to have.”
Other speakers at the ribbon-cutting ceremony included Montgomery County Council President Kate Stewart; Montgomery County Council Vice President Will Jawando; Montgomery County LGBTQ+ Community Liaison Amena Johnson; Montgomery County Council members Andrew Friedson and Evan Glass; Maryland state Del. Teresa Woorman; and Josie Caballero.
“And so just over Western Avenue, right down the road, we know there’s a lot of hate and there’s a lot of division — but not here in Montgomery County,” said Glass. “We are going to continue wrapping our arms around everybody, regardless of race, religion, gender identity, who we love. These are our values.”
Maryland
Expanded PrEP access among FreeState Justice’s 2026 legislative priorities
Maryland General Assembly opened on Jan. 14
FreeState Justice this week spoke with the Washington Blade about their priorities during this year’s legislative session in Annapolis that began on Jan. 14.
Ronnie L. Taylor, the group’s community director, on Wednesday said the organization continues to fight against discrimination against people with HIV/AIDS. FreeState Justice is specifically championing a bill in the General Assembly that would expand access to PrEP in Maryland.
Taylor said FreeState Justice is working with state Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Arundel and Howard Counties) on a bill that would expand the “scope of practice for pharmacists in Maryland to distribute PrEP.” The measure does not have a title or a number, but FreeState Justice expects it will have both in the coming weeks.
FreeState Justice has long been involved in the fight to end the criminalization of HIV in the state.
Governor Wes Moore last year signed House Bill 39, which decriminalized HIV in Maryland.
The bill — the Carlton R. Smith Jr. HIV Modernization Act — is named after Carlton Smith, a long-time LGBTQ activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in 2024. FreeState Justice said Marylanders prosecuted under Maryland Health-General Code § 18-601.1 have already seen their convictions expunged.
Taylor said FreeState Justice will continue to “oppose anti anti-LGBTQ legislation” in the General Assembly. Their website later this week will publish a bill tracker.
The General Assembly’s legislative session is expected to end on April 13.
Maryland
Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated
Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs
By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.
The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.
By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Steny Hoyer, the longest-serving House Democrat, to retire from Congress
Md. congressman served for years in party leadership
By ASSOCIATED PRESS and LISA MASCARO | Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the longest-serving Democrat in Congress and once a rival to become House speaker, will announce Thursday he is set to retire at the end of his term.
Hoyer, who served for years in party leadership and helped steer Democrats through some of their most significant legislative victories, is set to deliver a House floor speech about his decision, according to a person familiar with the situation and granted anonymity to discuss it.
“Tune in,” Hoyer said on social media. He confirmed his retirement plans in an interview with the Washington Post.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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