Local
LGBT contingent marches in D.C. King Day parade
Stein Club president issues King Day message
Representatives of local LGBT advocacy organizations, including students with two Gay-Straight Alliance groups from area high schools, marched together on Monday morning in city’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Parade.
With city residents watching from the sidewalks, the LGBT contingent joined other parade goers in walking about two miles along Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., which passes through neighborhoods in Southeast and Southwest Washington.
“It was the first Martin Luther King Day parade we’ve had in eight years,” said gay activist Nick McCoy, who helped organize the LGBT contingent on behalf of the D.C. LGBT Community Center.
“We were well received. We chanted and cheered all the way up MLK Boulevard to make sure we had a good LGBT presence,” McCoy said.
Among the LGBT groups participating in the parade were the LGBT Community Center; the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group; the D.C. Coalition of Black Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Men and Women; and Gay-Straight Alliance groups from D.C.’s School Without Walls and Arlington, Va.’s Washington-Lee High School.
McCoy, a member of the D.C. Center’s board, and Anna Bavier, a Center volunteer, coordinated the LGBT participation in the parade with the parade’s organizing committee, which was headed by Denise Rolark Barnes, editor and publisher of the Washington Informer newspaper.
Last month, Barnes said she was in full support of a call by gay activist and Ward 8 community leader Phil Pannell for LGBT organizations to participate in the parade. Pannell also served on the organizing committee.
“I think it was really good for the LGBT community to come out here to be seen in support of Dr. King’s message and also to let everybody see we’re here, we’re present and really just part of the overall community,” said Stein Club President Lateefah Williams.
Last year Williams, an attorney, became the first black lesbian to be elected president of the Stein Club, which was founded more than 30 years ago.
“Dr. King’s message for justice and equality still rings true today,” Williams said in a statement released by the Stein Club.
“While the District’s LGBT community has won many key struggles, including marriage equality, it is important to remember that there are still segments of our community who are struggling,” she said. “Too many youth in our city are still being put out of their homes for coming out as gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender. Too many transgender people in our city are being targeted by violence.”
Williams added, “Dr. King said, ‘An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.’ As we honor Dr. King today, it is important to remember that we must continue to fight so that the entire community can live safe, happy, healthy lives. We must ensure that all of humanity is treated with respect and has the necessary resources to thrive as human beings.”
Among the public officials participating in the parade were D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D); D.C. Police Chief Kathy Lanier; D.C. Council Chair Kwame Brown (D-At-Large); and D.C. Council member Marion Barry (D-Ward 8), in whose ward the parade took place.
A gay man was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Saamel and Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate Sanchez-McCray, 42, was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray shot to death inside a home in Petersburg.
Sanchez-McCray’s brother, Jamal Mitchell Diamond, in a public statement the Washington Blade received from Equality Virginia and GLAAD, said Sanchez-McCray was not transgender as initial reports indicated.
“Our family has always embraced the fullness of who he was. He used the names Saamel, Shyyell, and Mable interchangeably, and we honor all of them. There is no division within our family regarding how he is being represented — only a shared commitment to preserving his truth with love and respect,” said Diamond.
“He was also deeply committed to community work through Nationz Foundation, where he worked and completed multiple state-certified programs to support marginalized communities,” added Diamond. “That work meant a great deal to him.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
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Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
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