Local
Kameny’s ashes remain in storage
Cemetery president proposes end to burial impasse
A headstone and a separate marker inscribed with Frank Kameny’s famous slogan ‘Gay is Good’ have been removed from his gravesite in Congressional Cemetery. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Nearly 10 months after nationally acclaimed gay rights leader Frank Kameny died in his Washington home at the age of 86, an urn bearing his ashes continues to sit on a shelf in a storage vault in the headquarters building of D.C.’s historic Congressional Cemetery.
Cemetery officials said a dispute between Kameny’s estate and the D.C. gay charitable group Helping Our Brothers and Sisters (HOBS) over ownership rights to the plot where Kameny’s ashes were scheduled to be interred on March 2 forced the cancellation of the interment. HOBS purchased the plot earlier this year without consulting the estate, a development that the estate’s attorney says triggered the dispute.
The ashes, along with a headstone provided by the U.S. Veterans Administration recognizing Kameny’s military service during World War II and a separate marker inscribed with Kameny’s famous slogan “Gay is Good” have languished in storage at the cemetery since shortly after the interment was cancelled.
But in a surprise development on Wednesday, Congressional Cemetery’s new president, Paul Williams, disclosed in an email to the estate and HOBS that HOBS never had legal ownership rights to the Kameny plot because it failed to pay the balance on the purchase price.
“Because it had a balance, no deed was issued for the site to HOBS,” Williams said in his email.
“I propose we issue the deed directly to the estate (copy to HOBS) showing proof of ownership,” he wrote. “The estate would also need to sign an authorization of interment, which can be done at the same time. Then, we can replace the two stones in storage that we also have onsite and proceed with a private interment,” Williams wrote.
Glen Ackerman, an attorney representing the estate on behalf of Timothy Clark, whom Kameny named in his will as the main beneficiary of the estate, said the estate has accepted Williams’ proposal.
He said Williams’ disclosure that HOBS never had a deed to the cemetery plot and that the cemetery would issue the deed to the estate effectively ends the dispute by turning over the plot to Clark and the estate.
HOBS President Marvin Carter couldn’t immediately be reached Wednesday afternoon to comment on Williams’ disclosure that the cemetery planned to issue to the Kameny estate the deed to the cemetery plot.
Ackerman has said all along that the dispute centered on the estate’s desire to own the cemetery plot to ensure, among other things, that no one else would be buried or interred in the plot.
Under cemetery rules, two coffins and three urns may be buried or interred in Congressional Cemetery plots.
HOBS, which purchased the cemetery plot earlier this year from money donated by Kameny’s friends and admirers, has said it had no intention of burying others at the site.
Carter has said he and HOBS were always willing to transfer ownership of the plot to the estate. But people familiar with the dispute have said the point of contention was whether the estate should reimburse HOBS for the purchase price of the plot.
Ackerman has said Clark’s position was that donors from the LGBT community put up the money to buy the plot by giving it to HOBS, a non-profit group with tax-exempt status, so the donors could receive a tax deduction on their contribution. HOBS, in turn, made the purchase on behalf of the donors, the estate has maintained.
Meanwhile, the cemetery’s former interim director, Patrick Crowley, said he had the headstone and marker removed from the gravesite earlier this year until the estate and HOBS reached an agreement over final ownership of the plot.
Ackerman has said Clark and the estate became alarmed in February when a small group of Kameny friends announced in a press release that an interment ceremony for Kameny’s ashes would take place at the cemetery on March 3. Ackerman said organizers of the interment never consulted Clark or the estate, even though the estate had legal rights to the ashes.
Organizers of the interment ceremony abruptly cancelled the ceremony and burial the day before it was scheduled to take place on March 3, saying they did so out of “respect” for the Kameny estate. The urn bearing Kameny’s ashes has been in storage in the cemetery’s offices at 1801 E St., S.E. ever since that time.
The burial ceremony organizers, led by gay rights advocates and longtime Kameny friends Charles Francis and Bob Witeck, have said through intermediaries at the time that they invited Clark to participate in the ceremony and attempted to keep him informed of their plans. They said Ackerman refused to allow them to speak directly to Clark.
Gay activist and longtime Kameny friend Rick Rosendall, who was scheduled to speak at the Kameny interment ceremony, said it was his understanding that it was the estate’s “demand that no interment could be held until the deed to the burial plot was turned over to the estate that led to the event’s cancellation.”
Rosendall said he expressed his hope at the time that the dispute could be resolved. “That is still my hope,” he said.
Ackerman said the estate didn’t learn of the burial service until it obtained a copy of the organizers’ Feb. 13 press release announcing the ceremony.
He said the Kameny friends’ decision to organize the burial without initially consulting Clark or the estate created an atmosphere of mistrust between the two parties. Because of that, he said, Clark has insisted that ownership of the cemetery plot be transferred from HOBS to the estate without charge before the estate would consent to allowing the ashes to be buried.
Clark told the Blade in an interview earlier this year that he planned to keep half of the ashes and would donate the remaining half to be interred at Congressional Cemetery.
Francis and Witeck took initial possession of the ashes following Kameny’s death after Kameny’s sister, Edna Kameny, Kameny’s surviving next of kin, signed over power of attorney for Kameny’s remains to Witeck. Edna Kameny, who lives in New York and is in frail health, told the Blade she was pleased to entrust to Witeck and other Kameny friends the task of carrying out her brother’s stated wish to be cremated and to make funeral and memorial arrangements.
Once the details of Kameny’s will became known, including Clark’s role as personal representative or executor of the estate, Ackerman said it became clear that Clark and the estate should take possession of the ashes.
But when Clark sought to obtain possession of the ashes he said Francis told him the ashes had already been buried, a development that contributed to the mistrust between the estate and the Kameny friends organizing the burial.
Ackerman said it wasn’t until the estate saw the Feb. 13 press release announcing the interment ceremony at Congressional Cemetery that he and Clark learned the ashes had not, in fact, been buried.
When contacted on Wednesday, Francis said he had no comment on the matter, saying the dispute over the ashes is between the estate and HOBS and he has nothing to do with it.
Last week, Congressional Cemetery President Williams said he was hopeful that the dispute between the two parties would be resolved soon but said he couldn’t predict when that would happen.
“We have a little movement,” he told the Blade on July 27, saying negotiations were taking place between the estate and HOBS.
“It’s all confidential so far until everything’s signed. But I can tell you that the two parties have come to an agreement, that being the estate and Helping Our Brothers and Sisters.”
Before being removed earlier this year from this gravesite, the head and foot stones for Frank Kameny were located to the left and in front of head stone shown here, which marks the grave of another person. (Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro Jr.)
However, when reached two days later by phone, Carter told the Blade Williams had just informed him he had a proposal to resolve the dispute but that Williams did not provide any details about the proposal. Carter said Williams told him he would take steps to provide those details soon.
“HOBS has always been willing to work things out,” Carter said. “We’re not interested in continuing to own the gravesite.”
Carter told the Blade in a phone interview on July 29 that he had been out of town for the past few weeks and didn’t have a chance to check mail that may have been sent to HOBS.
“But no one from the estate has called me or emailed me about this recently,” he said. “They have my number and email address.”
Ackerman disputes this assertion, saying he and his law firm repeatedly sent written material to Carter by certified mail. He said the mail was returned to the law firm marked “refused” by recipient.
Virginia
Miyares joins efforts to fight Title IX changes
Republican Va. AG part of multi-state effort
BY NATHANIEL CLINE | Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares has joined a multi-state effort to stop new Title IX rules from going into effect.
The list of new rules designed to protect victims of campus sexual assaults and the rights of LGBTQ students has come under attack by Republican attorneys general in several states.
Miyares called the changes a “dangerous overhaul” of Title IX, and said the new rules would negatively impact students, families and schools in the commonwealth. The ruling also comes after Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s administration overhauled the commonwealth’s transgender student policies.
“The Biden administration’s unlawful rule would jeopardize half a century of landmark protections for women, forcing the administration’s social agenda onto the states by holding federal funding hostage,” Miyares said in a statement. “They are avoiding Congress and the constitutional process because they know it will not pass. We cannot roll back Title IX in the name of false equity.”
Attorney generals from Tennessee, Indiana, Kentucky, Ohio, and West Virginia have also signed onto the suit, which was filed in Tennessee. Separate lawsuits have been filed in other states, including Louisiana and Texas.
Title IX, which has undergone several transformations based on the political party in office, was created to address women’s rights and prohibits any federally funded school or education program from discriminating against any student based on sex since it was established in 1972.
The Department of Education said some differences compared to the previous version developed under the Trump administration, include protections against all sex-based harassment and discrimination, prohibits schools from sharing personal information, and supports students and families.
Narissa Rahaman, executive director for Equality Virginia, said in a statement that the rule prevents opponents from weakening “crucial” civil rights protections including for LGBTQ students by ensuring that pregnant and parenting students have a right to equal education opportunities, protecting student survivors and guaranteeing the rights of LGBTQ students to come to school as themselves without fear of harassment or discrimination.
“Students across races, places, and genders prove every day that they can do great things, especially when there are strong Title IX protections in place, which is why the Biden administration’s updates to the Title IX rules are essential to ensure every student can thrive at school,” said Rahaman.
The new rule is slated to take effect on Aug. 1 and will apply to complaints of alleged conduct that occurs on or after that date, according to the Department of Education.
Protections
While the ruling protects students and employees from all sex-based harassment and discrimination, it will also impact LGBTQ students and employees, including providing complete protection from sex-based harassment, and prohibiting schools from sharing personal information.
Schools must act “promptly and effectively” to protect and treat all students and staff who make complaints “equitably.” Schools must also provide support measures to complainants and respondents, and act to end any sex discrimination in their programs and prevent any recurrence.
The rule further clarifies the definition of “sex-based harassment,” which means to treat someone unfairly because of their gender; and the scope of sex discrimination, including schools’ obligations not to discriminate based on sex stereotypes, sex characteristics, pregnancy or related conditions, sexual orientation, and gender identity.
The federal agency said the changes will empower and support students and families by requiring schools to disclose their nondiscrimination policies and procedures to all students, employees, and other participants in their education programs so that students and families understand their rights.
The final rule also protects against retaliation for students, employees, and others who exercise their Title IX rights, and supports the rights of parents and guardians to act on behalf of their elementary school and secondary school children.
The rule also protects student privacy by prohibiting schools from disclosing personally identifiable information with limited exceptions, which is something the Youngkin administration has opposed.
Advocates say one of the rights students should have is the power to decide who finds out about their transgender status, to protect them from being bullied or harassed.
Virginia policies
In 2021, the first model policies for trans students were designed under former Gov. Ralph Northam to provide school officials guidance on the treatment of trans and nonbinary students and to protect the privacy and rights of these students.
However, some schools declined to adopt the model policies, and the state law that led to them lacked enforcement incentives or penalties.
The current policies adopted by the Youngkin administration were revised to require parental approval for any changes to students’ “names, nicknames, and/or pronouns,” direct schools to keep parents “informed about their children’s well-being” and require that student participation in activities and athletics and use of bathrooms be based on sex, “except to the extent that federal law otherwise requires.”
Virginia schools have also not fully adopted the newly revised policies, and state law has not changed since the policies were overhauled in 2023.
The Virginia Department of Education faces two lawsuits over the policies adopted by the Youngkin administration.
“All Virginia students, including our transgender and nonbinary students deserve to feel safe and welcomed at schools,” said Wyatt Rolla, a senior trans rights attorney with the ACLU of Virginia. “Accessing restrooms, locker rooms and other facilities that are necessary when you are at school learning is a key part of our schools being inclusive of those transgender [and] non binary students that are part of our community.”
Athletics not included
The provisions under the new Title IX rule did not mention anything about requiring schools to allow trans students to play on teams that align with their gender identity. Virginia has taken its own shot at banning trans athletes from competing in sports through legislation.
In February, the Youngkin administration attempted to challenge the Virginia High School League’s policy on transgender athletes, the Daily Progress reported.
The proposed policy would have matched with the administration’s current policies that students should be placed on teams based on their biological sex rather than their gender identity.
The Virginia High School League, which oversees interscholastic athletic competition for Virginia’s public high schools, allows for trans athletes to participate on teams that match their gender identity, but under certain conditions.
Simultaneously, lawmakers in the Virginia General Assembly controlled by Democrats killed bills, including Senate Bill 68, during the previous session that would have essentially banned transgender students from competing in sports.
State Sen. Tammy Brankley Mulchi (R-Mecklenburg), who carried Senate Bill 723, said students like her 6-year-old granddaughter should have a choice to play with their own gender during a Feb. 1 Senate Education subcommittee hearing.
Mulchi’s bill would have required schools and colleges to have separate sports for boys and girls based on their biological sex. Any dispute would require a note from a doctor.
“If she [my granddaughter] wants to play an all-girl sport, I want her to play against girls that were born girls and not play against someone that is much stronger than her or can hurt her and take away her chances of a scholarship,” Mulchi said.
However, state Sen. Stella Pekarsky (D-Fairfax) argued during the February hearing that whether students are competing with their respective biological sex or not “children of all ages, sexes have different builds and strengths and no children are alike on the same team.”
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Nathaniel is an award-winning journalist who’s been covering news across the country since 2007, including politics at the Loudoun Times-Mirror and the Northern Neck News in Virginia as well as sports for the Plain Dealer in Cleveland, Ohio. He has also hosted podcasts, worked as a television analyst for Spectrum Sports, and appeared as a panelist for conferences and educational programs. A graduate of Bowie State University, Nathaniel grew up in Hawaii and the United Kingdom as a military brat.
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The preceding article was previously published by the Virginia Mercury and is republished with permission.
Nonprofit. Nonpartisan. No paywalls. Fair and tough reporting on the policy and politics that affect all of us is more important than ever. The Mercury brings you coverage of the commonwealth’s biggest issues from a team of veteran Virginia journalists.
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The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Manny Cosme, owner of CFO Services Group, who was named Small Business Owner of the Year, for Washington, D.C., by the Small Business Administration.
SBA Administrator Isabel Castillas Guzman said, “Our 2024 National Small Business Week award winners exemplify excellence, innovation, and commitment, and the SBA is proud to showcase their incredible achievements and impact on their communities and our economy.” Upon being notified of the award Manny said, “I am incredibly honored and humbled to receive the Small Business Owner of the Year award from the Small Business Administration. This recognition serves as a testament to my team’s hard work, dedication, innovation, and impact in our local community. As a small business owner, I have always strived to embody excellence in my company’s services and commitment to my clients. My team and I are proud to represent the thriving small business communities across the country, and we remain committed to driving innovation, growth, and positive change in our industry.”
Cosme is the founder and current president and CEO of CFO Services Group. The firm is focused on providing bookkeeping, outsourced accounting departments, and fractional CFO advisory services, to growing small businesses and non-profit organizations. The company is headquartered in D.C., with team members and clientele throughout the United States. In addition to working with private business and non-profit clients, CFO Services Group partners with various economic development agencies, such as local governments, chambers of commerce organizations, CDFIs and SBDC centers, to provide free financial literacy and technical assistance to businesses in underserved communities.
Manny has served as the Vice President of Finance & Administration for the United States Hispanic Chamber of Commerce. He recently served as the Finance Chair for the Greater Washington Hispanic Chamber of Commerce, and Vice President of the Equality Chamber of Commerce. He is often sought after in keynote discussions on entrepreneurism and finance for fellow business owners.
Maryland
What Anne Arundel County school board candidates think about book bans
State lawmakers passed Freedom to Read Act in April
BY ROYALE BONDS | Parents’ efforts to restrict content available to students in school libraries has become a contentious issue in Maryland. Conservative parent groups, such as Moms for Liberty, have been working to get books they believe are inappropriate removed from libraries in Carroll and Howard counties, sparking protests, new policies, and even a state law.
The Freedom to Read Act, passed in April, sets standards that books cannot be removed from public and school libraries due to an author’s background. Library staff that uphold the standard are protected under this act. The law, however, does not prohibit removing books deemed “sexually explicit,” the stated reason local Moms for Liberty chapters challenged school library books.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner website.
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Miyares joins efforts to fight Title IX changes
US Census Bureau testing survey on LGBTQ households
What property should I purchase if I’m not sure how long I’ll be in D.C.?
Comings & Goings
Pride season has begun
4th Circuit rules gender identity is a protected characteristic
Judy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
New World Bank US executive director: LGBTQ rights are human rights
MISTR announces it’s now prescribing DoxyPE
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Federal Government4 days ago4th Circuit rules gender identity is a protected characteristic
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The White House1 day agoJudy Shepard to receive Presidential Medal of Freedom
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World4 days agoNew World Bank US executive director: LGBTQ rights are human rights