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More than a dozen local LGBT Dems to attend convention

17 delegates from D.C., Maryland and Virginia headed to Charlotte

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13 years ago

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Lateefah Williams, president of the Stein Club, is one of five openly gay and lesbian D.C. Democrats headed to the party’s national convention. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

As Democrats prepare for their party’s upcoming convention in Charlotte, local LGBT delegates stress they look forward to representing the community at the quadrennial gathering.

“I’m excited to be going to the convention and I’m honored to represent D.C. in Charlotte,” said Lateefah Williams, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. She is among the four openly LGBT delegates who will represent the nation’s capital at the Democratic National Convention that will kick-off on Sept. 4. Gay labor activist Gregory Cendana is among them, while Democratic activist David Meadows will serve as an alternate. “My goal is to provide a voice for all D.C. residents, particularly the LGBT community.”

Office of GLBT Affairs director Jeffrey Richardson (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Jeffrey Richardson, director of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs and the former vice chair of the D.C. Democratic Party, has attended two previous conventions as either a delegate or a volunteer. He told the Blade that this year is different in part because the presumptive nominee is the incumbent president.

“We’ll be focused on how we will unite the party, unite the base to ensure that President Obama gets re-elected,” Richardson said.

Earl Fowlkes, CEO of D.C. Black Pride and a member of the Democratic National Committee, will attend his first convention as a delegate. “I’m glad I’m going with all these people from D.C., which is wonderful,” he said. “I’m really very happy because this administration, this president has been so forthright in his skill in really creating a better environment for the LGBT community. He started slow, but he gained momentum and he’s come full circle and he supports the things that we all support that we believe will make us full citizens of the country.”

Members of Maryland’s LGBT delegation echoed Fowlkes.

“President Obama has stood up for us in so many ways in the face of a very strong and virulent opposition,” said state Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City,) who will attend the Democratic National Convention for the first time. “Now it is time that our community and our allies protect him at the ballot box.”

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Salisbury Mayor James Ireton (Photo courtesy of city of Salisbury)

Gay Salisbury Mayor James Ireton is also a first-time delegate.

“I am excited and proud to be representing the First Congressional District and my hometown, Salisbury, Md., at the Democratic National Convention,” he told the Blade. “I am also proud to be a small part of the diversity that is, in my opinion, one of America’s and Maryland’s greatest strengths.”

In addition to Ireton and Washington, state Dels. Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City) and Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery County), Somerset Mayor Jeffrey Slavin, transgender activist Dana Beyer and Mitch Case of Ellicott City are also members of Maryland’s LGBT delegation.

Beyer, a member of the convention’s Credentials Committee who is among the 11 openly trans delegates to this year’s convention, told the Blade she feels it remains important for out LGBT people to attend the convention.

“The more of us that exist out there, the better we can do our jobs and lay the groundwork for the next four years,” she said.

Gay Virginia state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) is among the four openly LGBT members — Peter Owen of the Arlington County Democratic Committee, Joel McDonald of the Virginia Beach Democratic Committee and Edmund Turner of Richmond — of the commonwealth’s convention delegation. He echoed others who pointed out what they maintain is Obama’s pro-LGBT record as president.

“There is no question that the president is 100 percent,” said Ebbin, who is also a member of the Credentials Committee. “Bill Clinton had said some of the right things and appointed some of the right people, but President Clinton did do some things that were regrettable and not acceptable to the community when he was president. We have nothing to apologize for. We have everything to be proud of and we have a president who not just on LGBT issues, but issues in general we can be proud of.”

National Stonewall Democrats data indicates that at least 470 of the 5,963 delegates slated to attend this year’s convention are openly LGBT — nearly double the 277 delegates who attended the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. They will also vote on a proposed platform that includes a same-sex marriage plank.

“This historic act by our party affirms that Democrats and President Barack Obama intend to continue to play a significant role in advancing civil rights for our LGBT community,” Washington said. “This is in stark contrast to that of the national Republican Party, which is clearly set on articulating a platform that seeks to turn back the clock not only for LGBT people, but for women and working and middle class [people] across the country.”

Williams agreed.

“It sends a message that the Democratic Party is inclusive,” she said. “For equality-minded people it does matter to see the party taking a strong stance in support of valuing all families.”

A Harris Interactive poll that Logo TV commissioned earlier this month found that the economy, unemployment and health care rank among LGBT voters’ top concerns going into the presidential election. Nine percent of respondents listed gay rights as their top priority, while only six percent said marriage rights for same-sex couples is the most important issue.

Only one percent of non-LGBT respondents identified gay rights and nuptials for same-sex couples as their top priorities.

Richardson conceded that he feels conservatives could potentially use marriage as what he described as a wedge issue among people of faith and communities of color in specific geographic areas. He stressed, however, that the economy will remain the dominant issue going into November. “The economy is just such a big issue,” Richardson said. “If I don’t have a job, I’m not all that concerned about who you marry.”

Williams was more optimistic.

“I don’t think it’s going to have an adverse effect because a lot of the people who have been strong supporters of President Obama do not support marriage equality still strongly support his ideas and his agenda on other issues,” she said. “I really don’t see those individuals backing away from him on the basis of one issue.”

In the end, local LGBT delegates remain optimistic that Obama will be re-elected in November.

“I think he’s going to win. I know he’s going to win,” Fowlkes said. “Fundamentally, the president’s a decent man, a good man. And his administration has done a good job at keeping this country from falling apart.”

Ebbin agreed.

“When the American people focus on his accomplishments and his role as president and what would have happened if we hadn’t had him, compared to the alternative, I think that people will support the president,” he said, further noting that Obama continues to poll well in Virginia and other battleground states. “That’s something that we’re really proud of, but it’s something that we can’t take for granted.”

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Virginia

DOJ seeks to join lawsuit against Loudoun County over trans student in locker room

Three male high school students suspended after complaining about classmate

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18 hours ago

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December 12, 2025

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Loudoun County Public Schools building. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Justice Department has asked to join a federal lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools over the way it handled the case of three male high school students who complained about a transgender student in a boys’ locker room.

The Washington Blade earlier this year reported Loudoun County public schools suspended the three boys and launched a Title IX investigation into whether they sexually harassed the student after they said they felt uncomfortable with their classmate in the locker room at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.

The parents of two of the boys filed a lawsuit against Loudoun County public schools in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center and America First Legal, which White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller co-founded, represent them.

The Justice Department in a Dec. 8 press release announced that “it filed legal action against the Loudoun County (Va.) School Board (Loudoun County) for its denial of equal protection based on religion.”

“The suit alleges that Loudoun County applied Policy 8040, which requires students and faculty to accept and promote gender ideology, to two Christian, male students in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” reads the press release.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the press release said “students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.”

“Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality,” said Dhillon.

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in May announced an investigation into the case.

The Virginia Department of Education in 2023 announced the new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students for which Youngkin asked. Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups claim they, among other things, forcibly out trans and nonbinary students.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in February launched an investigation into whether Loudoun County and four other Northern Virginia school districts’ policies in support of trans and nonbinary students violate Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federally funded educational institutions from promoting “gender ideology.”

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District of Columbia

Capital Pride announces change in date for 2026 D.C. Pride parade and festival

Events related to U.S. 250th anniversary and Trump birthday cited as reasons for change

Published

24 hours ago

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December 12, 2025

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A scene from the 2024 Capital Pride Festival. (Washington Blade file photo by Emily Hanna)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, has announced it is changing the dates for the 2026 Capital Pride Parade and Festival from the second weekend in June to the third weekend.  

“For over a decade, Capital Pride has taken place during the second weekend in June, but in 2026, we are shifting our dates in response to the city’s capacity due to major events and preparations for the 250th anniversary of the United States,” according to a Dec. 9 statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.

The statement says the parade will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, with the festival and related concert taking place on June 21.

“This change ensures our community can gather safely and without unnecessary barriers,” the statement says. “By moving the celebration, we are protecting our space and preserving Pride as a powerful act of visibility, solidarity, and resistance,” it says.

Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President, told the Washington Blade the change in dates came after the group conferred with D.C. government officials regarding plans for a number of events in the city on the second weekend in June. Among them, he noted, is a planned White House celebration of President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and other events related to the U.S. 250th anniversary, which are expected to take place from early June through Independence Day on July 4.

The White House has announced plans for a large June 14, 2026 celebration on the White House south lawn of Trump’s 80th birthday that will include a large-scale Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event involving boxing and wrestling competition.  

Bos said the Capital Pride Parade will take place along the same route it has in the past number of years, starting at 14th and T Streets, N.W. and traveling along 14th Street to Pennsylvania Ave., where it will end. He said the festival set for the following day will also take place at its usual location on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., between 2nd Street near the U.S. Capitol, to around 7th Street, N.W.

“Our Pride events thrive because of the passion and support of the community,” Capital Pride Board Chair Anna Jinkerson said in the statement. “In 2026, your involvement is more important than ever,” she said.

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District of Columbia

Three women elected leaders of Capital Pride Alliance board

Restructured body includes chair rather than president as top leader

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4 days ago

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December 9, 2025

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Capital Pride Alliance announced three women will lead its board. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced it has restructured its board of directors and elected for the first time three women to serve as leaders of the board’s Executive Committee.

 “Congratulations to our newly elected Executive Officers, making history as Capital Pride Alliance’s first all-women Board leadership,” the group said in a statement.

 “As we head into 2026 with a bold new leadership structure, we’re proud to welcome Anna Jinkerson as Board Chair, Kim Baker as Board Treasurer, and Taylor Lianne Chandler as Board Secretary,” the statement says.

In a separate statement released on Nov. 20, Capital Pride Alliance says the restructured Board now includes the top leadership posts of Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, replacing the previous structure of President and Vice President as the top board leaders.

It says an additional update to the leadership structure includes a change in title for longtime Capital Pride official Ryan Bos from executive director to chief executive officer and president.

According to the statement, June Crenshaw, who served as acting deputy director during the time the group organized WorldPride 2025 in D.C., will now continue in that role as permanent deputy director.

The statement provides background information on the three newly elected women Board leaders.

 • Anna Jinkerson (chair), who joined the Capital Pride Alliance board in 2022, previously served as the group’s vice president for operations and acting president. “A seasoned non-profit executive, she currently serves as Assistant to the President and CEO and Chief of Staff at Living Cities, a national member collaborative of leading philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to closing income and wealth gaps in the United States and building an economy that works for everyone.”

• Kim Baker (treasurer) is a “biracial Filipino American and queer leader,” a “retired, disabled U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of service and extensive experience in finance, security, and risk management.”  She has served on the Capital Pride Board since 2018, “bringing a proven track record of steady, principled leadership and unwavering dedication to the LGBTQ+ community.” 

• Taylor Lianne Chandler (Secretary) is a former sign language interpreter and crisis management consultant. She “takes office as the first intersex and trans-identifying member of the Executive Committee.” She joined the Capital Pride Board in 2019 and previously served as executive producer from 2016 to 2018.

Bos told the Washington Blade in a Dec. 2  interview that the Capital Pride board currently has 12 members, and is in the process of interviewing additional potential board members. 

“In January we will be announcing in another likely press release the full board,” Bos said. “We are finishing the interview process of new board members this month,” he said. “And they will take office to join the board in January.” 

Bos said the organization’s rules set a cap of 25 total board members, but the board, which elects its members, has not yet decided how many additional members it will select and a full 25-member board is not required.

The Nov. 20 Capital Pride statement says the new board executive members will succeed the organization’s previous leadership team, which included Ashley Smith, who served as president for eight years before he resigned earlier this year; Anthony Musa, who served for seven years as vice president of board engagement; Natalie Thompson, who served eight years on the executive committee; and Vince Micone, who served for eight years as vice president of operations.

“I am grateful for the leadership, dedication, and commitment shown by our former executive officers — Ashley, Natalie, Anthony, and Vince — who have been instrumental in CPA’s growth and the exceptional success of WorldPride 2025,” Bos said in the statement.

“I look forward to collaborating with Anna in her new role, as well as Kim and Taylor in theirs, as we take on the important work ahead, prepare for Capital Pride 2026, and expand our platform and voice through Pride365,” Bos said.

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