Local
Anti-gay group targets Md., D.C.
Annapolis rally decries same-sex marriage
The National Organization for Marriage, the leading group opposing same-sex marriage in the U.S., has set its sights on Maryland and D.C., where it plans to pour in money and resources to overturn D.C.’s same-sex marriage law and prevent Maryland from passing one.
The group was scheduled to hold a rally Wednesday night in Annapolis at the state capital building to demand that lawmakers reject a gay marriage bill that has been introduced in the Maryland Legislature.
NOM has scheduled an Aug. 15 rally in D.C. calling for a ballot measure to overturn the city’s same-sex marriage law, but it has yet to announce the time or location for the event.
The Annapolis and D.C. rallies are part of the group’s “Summer for Marriage Tour 2010,” that includes a series of 20 rallies “encouraging supporters to stand up for marriage,” according to an announcement on the NOM website. Staff and volunteers for the group are traveling by bus to the rallies, which began in Maine on July 14.
“We’re excited to get on the road and meet people face-to-face, sharing with them the importance of marriage and how critical the future of marriage is to our country,” said Brian Brown, NOM’s executive director. “We need Americans to rally behind marriage as the union of one man and one woman and tell the courts and state legislatures that marriage matters.”
Bishop Harry Jackson, the Maryland minister who is leading the fight against D.C.’s same-sex marriage law, was scheduled to join Brown as one of the speakers at the Annapolis rally on Wednesday. Other speakers were to include members of the legislature from Baltimore and Prince George’s County who are expected to lead the fight against a Maryland gay marriage bill.
Morgan Meneses-Sheets, executive director of the statewide LGBT group Equality Maryland, said the group was to hold a series of its own events Wednesday night throughout the state. But she said the group was not planning a counter protest at the state capital in Annapolis.
“We are asking our people not to engage them,” she said of the NOM rally participants. “It’s not in our best interest for us to be there. It’s just a PR event for them.”
Instead, Meneses-Sheets said Equality Maryland had organized teams of volunteers to distribute postcards in Baltimore and several counties throughout the state, including Prince Georges and Montgomery Counties, in support of the state gay marriage bill. Those accepting the postcards were to be asked to mail them to their state representatives in a show of “growing support” for the marriage bill, she said.
Also scheduled for Wednesday night was a “Pride in Faith” meeting in Baltimore, where members of the clergy supportive of same-sex marriage would discuss ways to advance the same-sex marriage bill in the legislature.
The NOM 20-city tour was scheduled to end with the Washington, D.C. rally. Local D.C. groups have yet to announce plans on how they might respond to the D.C. rally.
The D.C. Court of Appeals ruled 5-4 last week against a lawsuit filed by Bishop Jacking seeking to force the city to hold a voter initiative calling for overturning the D.C. Marriage Equality Act, which legalized same-sex marriage in the District.
Virginia
Gay Va. couple hopeful voters will enshrine marriage equality in state constitution
Early voting has already begun in the state
A referendum on whether to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s constitutional amendment is on the ballot this year.
If voters approve Question 2, it will codify the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling in 2015 that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country — gays and lesbians have been able to legally marry in Virginia since Oct. 6, 2014.
Rob Bookbinder and James Fisher are a married couple who live in Arlington.
They have been together for 38 years — Bookbinder and Fisher married in 2014.
“We think this is a critical vote to remove this discriminatory language from the constitution and to ensure that going forward, no matter what happens, the state of Virginia will ensure marriage equality,” Fisher told the Washington Blade. “It is it is really difficult and upsetting to think that our current state constitution would prohibit same-sex marriage, even though the federal government overrides that now. There’s no saying what may happen in the future.”
Bookbinder said it was important for him and Fisher to get married “to gain social equality.”
“I was surprised how good it felt, how important it was to begin to say, ‘my husband rather than my partner,'” Bookbinder said.
Bookbinder then explained why it feels good to be married.
“Is it a legal partner, a business partner, a tennis partner, you know, or a romantic partner? But when you say my husband James, everyone knows exactly what you mean and confers an equal status with everyone else who’s married, and we were both surprised at how good it felt and how equal it felt to suddenly be married and be able to state that you were married and discuss your husband rather than your partner, and I would hate to lose that,” he said.
Bookbinder and Fisher said they are hopeful that voters will approve the amendment, noting Virginia has become more progressive over the years.
“I think people have, with the Supreme Court decision, people have seen that a same-sex marriage is just a marriage,” stated Fisher. “It’s just two people who love each other, and I think more and more people have attended a same-sex marriage, someone in their family or a friend, and the experience of what this is, firsthand experience, is so important in shaping people’s opinions, and I think the period of time that we’ve had since the Obergefell decision has given a lot of voters that experience, which I think is really important and powerful.”
The couple also said the push to enshrine marriage equality in Virginia’s constitution is in response to the Trump-Vance administration.
“And I think due to President Trump doing all the horrible things he’s done to so many groups, including LGBTQ, especially trans people, that Virginians are kind of pushed to be even more progressive to protect those who need protection, which would include the LGBTQ community in terms of marriage equality, so I’m confident it will pass,” said Fisher.
Narissa Rahaman, executive director of Equality Virginia, sent the Blade a statement about early voting on Question 2 that has already begun.
“With early voting now underway, our focus is making sure every Virginian knows Question 2 is on their ballot,” said Rahaman. “The outdated ban on same-sex marriage still in Virginia’s state constitution leaves a gap in protections for the thousands of same-sex couples that call this state home, but after 20 years we have the chance to fix it.”
Log onto www.mobilize.us/vaformarriage to find out more about the campaign in support of Question 2.
By JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Those legendary heavy-handed pours, spirited karaoke and trivia nights, and groan-worthy wall-to-wall patrons on packed nights are back!
Leon’s will live to see another day.
Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, which opened in the 1950s, closed in July following the death of its owner, Ron Singer.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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].
Congratulations to Leigh Miles Jackson, Ph.D., named executive director of The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker, and Angel Earle, Ph.D. named as chief operating officer, Whitman-Walker Health System.
Upon her appointment Dr. Jackson said, “Under my leadership, I would love for The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker to be known as a trusted, forward-looking research organization that shapes policies, strengthens practices and creates measurable change for the community.” Dr. Jackson spent 12 years with the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine, leading national initiatives on minority-serving institutions and economic evidence for investments in children, youth and families. Dr. Jackson holds an extensive educational background, including postdoctoral fellowships in developmental Psychology and Neurogenomics from Vanderbilt University, a Ph.D. in molecular and systems pharmacology from Emory University and a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Wake Forest University.
Upon her appointment Dr. Earle said, “When we talk about parity and inequities and research, it’s never just about the dollars that are out there. It’s about making sure that we’re cultivating a change that embraces equity at the heart of everything that it does. As the COO for Whitman-Walker Health System I will be working closely to support The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker and the Whitman-Walker Foundation to drive advancement in research and support the strategic goals of all of the Whitman-Walker Heath System entities.”
Dr. Earle is a genetic epidemiologist and senior executive. She brings a background from the London School of Economics and the University of South Carolina, with expertise in global health, corporate strategy and socioeconomic policy. She has co-authored peer-reviewed research on cancer genetics, nephrology biomarkers and reproductive genomes.
Dr. Heather Aaron, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health System said, “both leaders bring research-driven expertise and operational strength to the organization as it continues expanding research, health care access, and health outcomes for residents across the Washington, D.C., region, including the LGBTQ+ community, people living with and at risk for HIV, and communities experiencing persistent health disparities.”
The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker is also expanding its research agenda beyond HIV to address the complex health conditions affecting people living with and at risk for HIV, as well as the broader communities The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker serves.
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