Local
Md. House committee votes to advance marriage bill
Full House vote final step; governor has pledged support
In a dramatic turn of events, the chair of a committee in the Maryland House of Delegates cast the deciding committee vote on Friday for a same-sex marriage bill, keeping the bill alive and allowing it to go the floor of the House for a final vote next week.
Del. Joseph Vallario (D-Prince George’s County), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, indicated earlier that he would likely not vote for the bill. But he cast a “yes” vote on Friday when it became known that another committee member and co-sponsor of the bill, whose support faltered earlier in the week, would vote against it.
The committee voted 12 to 10 to approve the bill and send it to the floor of the House of Delegates.
The vote to approve the bill came after the committee defeated several proposed amendments introduced by opponents aimed at weakening or gutting the bill, including a proposal for civil unions.
“Securing a favorable committee vote was an enormous obstacle – one that we were able to overcome together as thousands of marriage supporters called, emailed, and met with their delegates,” said Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of the statewide LGBT group Equality Maryland.
“But I’m hearing from our elected officials that out-of-state opposition is flooding their offices with slanderous lies about gay and lesbian couples and their families like never before,” Meneses-Sheets said.
She called on LGBT Marylanders and their friends and supporters to redouble their efforts to contact their delegates to ask for their support in the final vote expected next week on the floor of the full House of Delegates.
Vallario’s vote in favor of the Civil Marriage Protection Act in committee on Friday became the deciding vote allowing the measure to pass after Del. Tiffany Alston (D-Prince George’s County), a co-sponsor of the bill, voted against it.
Alston was one of three Democratic co-sponsors of the bill whose support wavered earlier this week.
Alston and Del. Jill Carter (D-Baltimore City) forced Vallario to cancel a scheduled vote on the bill on Tuesday when they failed to show up for the voting session. Both said their initial intent was to pressure the committee and Democratic leaders in the House of Delegates to devote more attention to other bills they believe were equally as important as same-sex marriage.
Following meetings and phone calls with colleagues and constituents, the two agreed to show up for a committee voting session on Friday. Carter said she expected to vote for the bill. Alston, however, told the Baltimore Sun she was praying over how to vote, saying her religious beliefs made her uncomfortable despite her decision earlier in the year to become a co-sponsor of the bill.
Meanwhile, Del. Sam Arora (D-Montgomery County), another co-sponsor of the bill who pledged support for same-sex marriage in his election campaign last fall, stunned LGBT activists earlier in the week when he said he, too, was having strong reservations over the bill based on personal religious beliefs.
Political observers say support for same-sex marriage is strong in his solidly Democratic and liberal-leaning district in Montgomery County.
Arora released a statement Friday morning, shortly before the committee session, saying he had decided to vote for the bill in committee and on the House floor, with the expectation that voters would ultimately decide the issue in an expected referendum next year.
“I have heard from constituents, friends, and advocates from across the spectrum of views and have thought about the issue of same-sex marriage extensively,” he said in his statement.
“While I personally believe that Maryland should extend civil rights to same-sex couples through civil unions, I have come to the conclusion that this issue has such impact on the people of Maryland that they should have a direct say.”
Carter voted for the bill in committee. She has not said how she will vote when the measure reaches the full House next week.
Sources familiar with the committee said one of the proposed amendments called for dropping the same-sex marriage language and converting the legislation into a civil unions bill.
The marriage bill won approval last week in the Maryland Senate.
Supporters were cautiously optimistic that the razor-thin majority of delegates in the House of Delegates who committed to back the bill just a few weeks ago would hold firm and not buckle under a furious campaign to kill the bill by a coalition of conservative religious groups, including the Catholic Archdiocese of Maryland.
Arora’s initial statements that he might not vote for the bill drew a firestorm of protest from LGBT activists and others in Montgomery County, who noted that his pledge of support for the marriage bill played a role in their decision to support him and contribute money to his campaign for his House seat in last November’s election.
“We applaud the Maryland House of Delegates Judiciary Committee for ending attempts to hold our families hostage to political maneuvering,” said Joe Solmonese, president of the Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT advocacy group that’s lobbying for the Maryland marriage bill.
“Maryland is at the forefront in the fight for equality and will go down on the right side of history,” he said. “We ask the full House to swiftly move forward to bring full equality to Maryland families.”
Marc Solomon, national campaign director for the LGBT advocacy group Freedom to Marry, also praised the action of the committee but cautioned supporters to continue to push hard with lawmakers in the days before the final vote.
The National Organization for Marriage, which is leading efforts to defeat the bill, has said it would take immediate steps to place the same-sex marriage law before the voters in a referendum if it passes in the legislature and Gov. Martin O’Malley signs it, as he has said he would.
If opponents succeed in obtaining the required number of petition signatures, such a referendum would appear on the ballot in November 2012 in the midst of the U.S. presidential election campaign.
Rehoboth Beach
Auction of Rehoboth’s Blue Moon canceled
Details on sale of iconic bar, restaurant not disclosed
The Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, Del., has been an iconic presence in the local LGBTQ community for four decades but its status remains murky after a sheriff’s auction of the property was abruptly called off on Tuesday.
The property was listed for sale in December. At that time, owner Tim Ragan told the Blade that he is committed to preserving its legacy as a gay-friendly space.
“We had no idea the interest this would create,” Ragan said in December. “I guess I was a little naive about that.”
Ragan explained that he and longtime partner Randy Haney were separating the real estate from the business. The two buildings associated with the sale were listed by Carrie Lingo at 35 Baltimore Ave., and include an apartment, the front restaurant (6,600 square feet with three floors and a basement), and a secondary building (roughly 1,800 square feet on two floors). They were listed for $4.5 million.
The bar and restaurant business is being sold separately; the price was not publicly disclosed.
But then, earlier this year, the Blue Moon real estate listing turned up on the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office auction site. The auction was slated for Tuesday, April 21 but hours before the sale, the listing changed to “active under contract” indicating that a buyer has been found but the sale is not yet final. As of Wednesday morning, the listing has been removed from the sheriff’s auction site.
Ragan didn’t respond to Blade inquiries about the auction. Back in December, he told the Blade, “It’s time to look for the next people who can continue the history of the Moon and cultivate the next chapter,” noting that he turns 70 this year. “We’re not panicked; we separated the building from the business. Some buyers can’t afford both.”
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, nor was the sale price.
Delaware
Delaware school district remains supportive after Trump attacks on trans students
Cape Henlopen has gender identity nondiscrimination policy
The Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, one of five school districts in several states where the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month rescinded agreements protecting the rights of transgender students, says it will continue to provide a “safe and supportive learning environment” for all students.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Cape Henlopen district sent the Washington Blade a short statement on its response to the federal Education Department’s action under orders from the Trump administration that ended what were called school district “resolution agreements” put in place under the administration of President Joe Biden.
Among other things, the federally initiated agreements required schools to train faculty on responding to a student’s preferred name and pronouns and to implement policies that allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
“The Cape Henlopen School District has received correspondence from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights regarding the resolution agreement entered in March 2024,” the Cape Henlopen School District’s statement says. “As always, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment where all students can succeed,” it says.
“We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure our practices and programs support the well-being, growth, and achievement of every student in our District,” the statement concludes.
Although it did not respond specifically to the Trump-initiated action ending federal protections for trans students, a statement on the Cape Henlopen School District’s website says the district has a policy of non-discrimination based on a wide range of categories, including race, religion, creed, gender, and “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The Trump administration’s latest action does not take away nondiscrimination policies put in place by school districts on their own.
The Cape Henlopen district is in Sussex County, a short distance from Rehoboth Beach, a Delaware resort town with many LGBTQ residents and summer visitors.
The other school districts for which the U.S. education department ended the trans nondiscrimination agreements include the Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, Sacramento City Unified School District in California, Fife School District in Washington State, and La Mesa Spring Valley School District also in California.
Kimberly Richey, the Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, said in a statement that the decision to terminate the school agreements highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent trans students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams and accessing shared locker rooms.
“Today, the Trump administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” she said in her statement.
Shiwali Patel, an official with the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement that the action removing protections for trans students would negatively impact all students.
“There is absolutely no basis for what the Department of Education is doing, and it is unimaginably cruel,” she said. “Parents, teachers, and students need the Department to focus on addressing real harms on campuses instead of rolling back policies that keep all students safe.”
Virginia
Va. voters approve HRC-backed redistricting plan
10 of state’s 11 congressional districts now favor Democrats
Virginia voters on Tuesday narrowly approved a congressional redistricting plan ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.
The referendum passed by a 51-48 vote margin.
Virginia’s last Census happened in 2020. The next time maps would have been redrawn was intended for 2030, but the referendum results allow for redistricting to happen this year, while allowing the standard district procedures to resume after the 2030 Census.
Many congressional maps have been redrawn since the Trump-Vance administration took office, adding seats for both Republicans and Democrats. Ten of 11 of Virginia’s congressional districts will now favor Democrats.
The Human Rights Campaign PAC supported the referendum.
“Virginians made their voices heard today, rebuking Republicans’ attempts to stack the deck in their favor in the 2026 midterm elections and beyond,” said Human Rights Campaign PAC President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “This year, we’re going to take Congress back from the fringe extremists who have bent the knee to President Trump’s historically unpopular agenda at every turn.”
“Virginians just put anti-equality, anti-democracy, and anti-freedom lawmakers on notice — together, we are fighting for a future where every single American’s vote matters and where every elected official must earn their constituents’ trust,” she added.
Auction of Rehoboth’s Blue Moon canceled
Delaware school district remains supportive after Trump attacks on trans students
Va. voters approve HRC-backed redistricting plan
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