Local
Equality Maryland names interim leader
Lynne Bowman not pursuing permanent role
Equality Maryland, in a statement released to the Blade, announced this week that Lynne Bowman would become the group’s new interim executive director effective May 2.
Bowman has served as director of programs and services for the Equality Federation, a national association of state LGBT groups. She is also a founder of Equality Ohio and most recently served as campaign manager for Ohio Lt. Gov. Lee Fisher’s U.S. Senate bid.
“During Lynne’s time with the Equality Federation and as executive director of Equality Ohio, Lynne consistently demonstrated strong, visionary leadership,” said Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Equality Federation in a statement.
Equality Maryland said it would now begin the search for a permanent executive director.
Bowman told the Blade that she is not in the running for the permanent director’s position. She said her appointment lasts until the end of August but can be extended if a new permanent director isn’t in place at that time.
“I will be assisting the board in conducting the search,” she said. “That’s something I’ve done a number of times in my background. So rather than focusing on trying to secure a job for myself, I’ll be focusing on stabilizing the organization and moving the agenda forward.”
She acknowledges that she has never worked with the Maryland Legislature before. But Bowman said she believes her background in working with legislators in other states and her experience in managing non-profit organizations will enable her to keep Equality Maryland on track in pushing its legislative goals in the eight months before the Maryland Legislature convenes its 2012 session in January.
“I think that every legislature or assembly is similar in that fact that they are different,” she said. “And it takes figuring out the personalities and some of the targets and the issues, which could be done, I would say, fairly easily by partnering with the people who are already there.”
Bowman added, “So I’m not going to come in and assume that I know anything or anyone without working with the folks who have been doing the work in the General Assembly. And it’s going to be very important for me to create those partnerships, get to know those personalities so that we can move the strategies forward and make sure that we’re ready.”
She plans to take steps to arrange meetings with members of the State Senate and House of Delegates – including the contingent of eight openly gay or lesbian legislators — as soon as she arrives for work next week, she said.
Bowman said she has considerable experience in fundraising and is looking forward to strengthening Equality Maryland’s donor base. But she said she hadn’t had a chance to examine the group’s finances in detail and could not determine, at least until she arrives on the job on Monday, whether it would be prudent to hire a new development director immediately or to do so at a later date.
“If I would say anything else at this point it would be that a strong state-based organization is critical to passing state based legislation” like the marriage equality and gender identity non-discrimination bills that came up but failed this year, she said.
“And regardless of the bumps and bruises that may have happened in the last couple of months, getting behind Equality Maryland and the coalition of groups – local, state and national organizations that are trying to pass legislation – is going to be critical if folks want to see things move forward,” she said.
“Equality Maryland is thrilled to have a nationally known and respected leader at the helm of the organization,” the group said in a joint statement to the Blade from Chuck Butler, board chair of Equality Maryland, and Patrick Wojahn, chair of the Equality Maryland Foundation.
The announcement follows the departure of former executive director Morgan Meneses-Sheets after a tumultuous tenure in which the Maryland Legislature failed to pass marriage equality and transgender non-discrimination measures. The board said her departure was a mutual decision, but Meneses-Sheets said last week that the decision was not hers.
Virginia
Va. LG opposed marriage equality affirmation bill in handwritten note
Winsome Earle-Sears constitutionally required to sign HB 174 as Senate president
Virginia Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears last year in a handwritten note indicated her opposition to marriage rights for same-sex couples when she signed a bill that affirmed marriage equality in the state.
Brandon Jarvis of Virginia Scope on May 1 published Earle-Sears’s note on House Bill 174, which state Del. Rozia Henson, a Prince William County Democrat who is gay, introduced.
The Virginia Senate passed HB 174 by a 22-17 vote margin, and the state constitution required Earle-Sears to sign it as the chamber’s president. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed the measure into law after it received bipartisan support.
“As the lieutenant governor, I recognize and respect my constitutional obligation to adhere to procedures set out in the constitution of Virginia,” wrote Earle-Sears in her note. “However, I remain morally opposed to the content of HB 174 as passed by the General Assembly.”
Earle-Sears, a former U.S. Marine who served in the Virginia House of Delegates from 2002-2004, in 2021 became the first woman elected Virginia’s lieutenant governor. Activists have criticized her for her opposition to LGBTQ rights in Virginia.
She sparked controversy last year when she misgendered state Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is transgender, on the Senate floor. Earle-Sears has also spoken at the Conservative Political Action Conference.
Earle-Sears is running to succeed Youngkin as governor once his term ends in January 2026. She will likely face former U.S. Rep. Abigail Spanberger, a Democrat who previously represented Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
John Reid, a conservative talk show host who is openly gay, last month secured the Republican nomination to succeed Earle-Sears as lieutenant governor. Youngkin has called for Reid to end his campaign amid reports that he posted “pornographic content” on social media.
Reid has strongly denied the reports.
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
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