Local
Rally pushes D.C. ballot measure on marriage
Counter protesters celebrate local rights for same-sex couples
On the matter of same-sex marriage, Bishop Harry Jackson chanted 'Let the people vote!' (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
About 150 same-sex marriage opponents rallied at the U.S. Capitol on Sunday, calling for the definition of marriage as the exclusive union of one man and one woman.
National Organization for Marriage officials, who organized the event and billed it as the finale to a series of similar rallies held this summer in locations across the country, focused on the group’s efforts to overturn D.C.’s same-sex marriage law through a voter initiative.
“Let the people vote! Let the people vote!” chanted Bishop Harry Jackson, one of the speakers at the rally and the leader of a campaign to oppose D.C.’s same-sex marriage law. The D.C. City Council passed and Mayor Adrian Fenty signed that legislation in December.
The rally at the Capitol took place at the same time that a coalition of LGBT organizations staged an opposing event at Freedom Plaza, which is located about a mile away and next the John A. Wilson D.C. City Hall building, where the City Council passed the same-sex marriage law.
Organizers of the Freedom Plaza rally estimated that between 200 and 250 people attended that event. Among the speakers were D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At Large), author of the same-sex marriage bill, and Council member Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), who headed the committee that guided the measure through the Council.
The groups that helped organize the Freedom Plaza rally included Equality Across America, Full Equality Now! D.C., and Talk About Equality.
“We know what this fight is about,” said Brian Brown, the National Organization for Marriage president, at the Capitol gathering. “It is about a profound love and respect for an institution that the government did not create … that brings together the two great halves of humanity, male and female, so that they can know and be known by — love and be loved by — any children that they may bear.
“And this, my friends, is something worth fighting for.”
Brown denounced U.S. District Court Judge Vaughn Walker in California for overturning Proposition 8, which banned same-sex marriage in the state. Brown said he was nearly certain that a higher court would overturn Walker’s ruling.
But Brown noted, as have other same-sex marriage opponents, that a U.S. constitutional amendment banning same-sex marriage will be pursued if Walker’s decision is allowed to stand.
“If the worst-case situation were to happen, that this decision goes all the way to the Supreme Court and somehow five justices define out of thin air a right to redefine marriage, we still have the power to vote,” he said. “It’s called amending the United States constitution to protect marriage as a union of a man and a woman.”
Brown added that “the consequences are clear and profound when our children are taught in the schools that it’s the same thing for Jimmy to grow up and marry Johnny as it is to marry Mary, and that you, the parents, are bigots for teaching them otherwise.”
Jackson called same-sex marriage advocates “out of control radicals” and compared the tactics that some have used to the tactics of “intimidation” used by white supremacists in the South to oppress blacks during the 1960s civil rights struggle.
“What we’re experiencing is injustice American style,” he said. “A privileged minority with a whole lot of money and a whole lot of sway is basically saying to the rest of you, ‘You sit down. You shut up. Your opinion doesn’t count.’
“They’re willing to threaten us. They’re willing to talk down to us. They’re trying to intimidate us,” he said. “I’m here to tell you: Do not be intimidated. Enough! Enough! Stand up!”
At one point during his remarks, Jackson held up the book “Heather Has Two Mommies” and warned that it would used to teach children about same-sex marriage in the nation’s schools if opponents don’t rise up in opposition.
Other speakers at the Capitol rally included former D.C. congressional Del. Walter Fauntroy and D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Robert King, who joined Jackson in calling on the city government to drop its opposition to a ballot measure that would allow voters to decide whether to keep or overturn same-sex marriage in Washington.
The city’s Board of Elections & Ethics has ruled that a ballot measure seeking to ban same-sex marriage cannot be held because it would violate a law disqualifying ballot measures that would lead to discrimination outlawed by the D.C. Human Rights Act. The Human Rights Act bans discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Two courts have upheld the board’s ruling. Jackson has said his side will appeal the matter to the U.S. Supreme Court.
During the Capitol rally Sunday, about 40 counter protesters, including members of local and out-of-state LGBT groups, stood silently along the perimeter holding signs that called for same-sex marriage. At one point, a separate group of about 30 counter protesters marched briefly along the Capitol plaza near the steps of the U.S. Senate. One of that group’s members used a bull horn to express support for same-sex marriage. The group circled back twice before being escorted off of the Capitol grounds by U.S. Capitol police.
Among the counter protesters holding a silent vigil at the Capitol were Rev. Mel White, founder of the LGBT advocacy group Soulforce, which has dispatched its members throughout the country to hold similar vigils at National Organization for Marriage rallies in other states.
Two of the rally’s scheduled speakers — National Organization for Marriage co-founder and board chair Maggie Gallagher and same-sex marriage opponent Alveda King, niece of Martin Luther King Jr. — did not attend the event.
Members of the LGBT media appeared to outnumber reporters from the mainstream press at the really, with several LGBT bloggers engaging Brown and Fauntroy in interviews that devolved into heated debates.
White said Soulforce, among other things, challenges same-sex marriage opponents like Jackson on religious grounds, arguing that same-sex unions are consistent with Christian beliefs and theology.
“They come in the name of Jesus,” White said. “And I think it would break Jesus’ heart to be here and see them. If Jesus were here, he would be on the side of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people. Jesus was always with the outcasts. Jesus was an outcast himself … and we must show them that, being here, we will no longer take second-class standing in our own country.”
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
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.”
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
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.
District of Columbia
Three women elected leaders of Capital Pride Alliance board
Restructured body includes chair rather than president as top leader
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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