Local
New D.C. Council member backs same-sex marriage
Sekou Biddle wins appointment to at-large seat
Ward 4 school board member Sekou Biddle, who won an interim appointment to the D.C. City Council Thursday night, says he’s a strong supporter of LGBT rights, including same-sex marriage.
Biddle, 39, beat former City Council member Vincent Orange (D-Ward 5) and four other Democratic candidates who competed for the interim appointment before the 80-member D.C. Democratic State Committee, which makes interim Counsel appointments.
“I support same-sex marriage,” Biddle told the Blade after the vote. “I think it’s an indication of the kind of city that we have. It’s what makes us, in my opinion, a top-flight, world-class city that we have that level of respect for human and civil rights.”
Biddle will face off against Orange and other candidates expected to enter the race from all political parties in a special city-wide election scheduled for April 26.
He was expected to take office immediately in his temporary Council appointment for a seat made vacant after Council member Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) won election as City Council Chairman.
Before getting elected to the school board, Biddle began his career as a classroom teacher for eight years. He later served in leadership positions in education advoacy organizations, including his current post as executive director of the group Jumpstart.
Thursday night’s vote by the State Committee came after each of the candidates spoke before the committee and an overflowing crowd that gathered in a meeting room at the Democratic National Committee headquarters on Capitol Hill.
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group, endorsed Biddle in his race for the school board, where he has served since 2007.
Three Stein Club members who also are members of the D.C. Democratic State Committee endorsed and campaigned for Biddle in his quest for the committee’s appointment. The three are Jeffrey Richardson, the Stein Club president; Lateefah Williams, the club’s vice president for legislation and political affairs; and Alexandra Beninda, the club treasurer.
He also received the endorsement of Brown, who beat Orange in the hotly contested race in November for the Council chair race. At least three other Council members – Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5), and Marion Barry (D-Ward 8) also endorsed Biddle.
Mayor Vincent Gray remained neutral in the contest but some of his top political operatives backed Biddle. This prompted many political observers to conclude that the city’s political establishment had shifted its support from Orange – who was considered the frontrunner just two weeks ago – to Biddle.
Orange came out strongly against same-sex marriage during his unsuccessful race for mayor in 2006. When he ran against Brown for the Council chair seat last year he announced he had changed his position to support the city’s same-sex marriage law. But he was less clear about whether he would support or oppose holding a voter initiative seeking to overturn the marriage equality law, which took effect last March.
It took three rounds of voting for Biddle to nail down his victory over Orange Thursday night. With 74 of the 80 State Committee members present to vote, Biddle won on the third round by a vote of 40 to 31. Three ballots cast by committee members were disqualified because they voted for one of the other candidates that were eliminated after the first round of voting.
Only Biddle, Orange and candidate Stanley Mayes, a Ward 1 political activist, received any votes in the six-candidate race.
Many of the observers at the State Committee meeting were looking toward gay Council member David Catania (I-At-Large) as a possible predictor of what might happen in the April special election.
Catania stunned the city’s political establishment in 1997 when, running as a Republican, he defeated Democratic frontrunner Arrington Dixon in a special election to win his at-large Council seat.
Just 7 percent of the city’s registered voters turned out for the special election. But gays and Republican voters turned out in force, giving Catania his margin of victory over Dixon, a former City Council chairman who some observers said was overly complacent in his campaign.
Catania won re-election to a full term the following year and has retained his seat since that time. He withdrew from the Republican Party in 2004 to become an independent after the GOP and President George W. Bush embraced a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage.
Some local political pundits say pro-gay Republican Patrick Mara, who won election in November to the school board from Ward 1, could be the next “Catania” in the April special election. With a low voter turnout and support from Republicans and gays, among other groups, Mara supporters say he has a shot at winning. He has yet to announce whether he plans to run, although insiders believe he will enter the race.
Catania unofficially backed Mara when Mara ran against and defeated former Republican Council member Carol Schwartz two years ago in the Republican primary. Mara lost the general election to Democrat turned independent Michael Brown in the general election. As a friend of Mara’s, some observers are wondering if Catania will throw his support and political organization behind Mara, with the possibility of Mara coming out ahead if Biddle and Orange split the Democratic vote.
Some gays, including David Mariner, executive director of the D.C. LGBT community center, backed Orange in last year’s council chair race, saying Orange has come around to support LGBT issues and was more qualified as an attorney and accountant to address the city’s budget and economic development issues. Mariner said he has yet to decide whom to support in the April special election.
Ben Young, a spokesperson for Catania, said Catania has no comment at the present time on the upcoming Council special election and the potential candidates that might run in the race.
Richardson of the Stein Club said the comparison between Catania and Mara would not likely apply in this year’s special election because Biddle is expected to run a vigorous campaign and line up support from large numbers of gay voters.
Like Biddle, Mara supports same-sex marriage and has expressed strong support for all other LGBT-related issues.
Biddle told the Blade Thursday night that his political ties to the LGBT community are strong.
“In terms of politics and endorsements, I got my start in the LGBT community,” he said. “When I ran in 2007 for the Board of Education, the Stein Club was the first one to endorse me, and that gave my candidacy a lot of momentum and visibility. I’ve built a solid relationship since I’ve been in office and I think a level of trust.”
He said he considers himself a “progressive” on a wide range of city issues and hopes to draw support from all sections of the city.
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
Virginians for Marriage Equality on Monday launched a campaign in support of repealing Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, former state Del. Mark Sickles, and American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer are among those who spoke at the launch that took place in Richmond. State Del. Kirk McPike (D-Alexandria), who co-chairs the campaign, also participated.
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the commonwealth’s constitution.”
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in February signed a bill that finalized the referendum’s language.
The referendum will take place on Nov. 3.
Rehoboth Beach
CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
Dr. Robin Brennan on joyful approach to leadership role
Dr. Robin Brennan, CAMP Rehoboth’s new executive director, has been getting adjusted to her role and connecting with the Rehoboth community.
In March of this year, Brennan took on the role of executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, an LGBTQ+ community center in Delaware working to Create A More Positive (CAMP) environment, following the retirement of Kim Leisey.
When asked about her first few months with CAMP, Brennan said that she’s “in the listening and learning phase.”
“The first few months have been overwhelmingly beautiful, with such warm wishes from so many really diverse groups,” said Brennan.
“The more time that I’ve been at CAMP, it’s almost like I have more questions and more admiration for the solid foundation that it has,” said Brennan. She explained that she is taking her time to listen and connect with the Rehoboth community during these crucial first months.
She spoke to the stressful nature of this work, saying, “This work takes a lot of resiliency, especially being in a front-facing position as executive director of an organization. There’s so much pressure on this to be successful.”
Brennan is no stranger to high-pressure work environments, having worked in the public health field during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brennan earned a doctorate in public health from Drexel University and has spent nearly two decades working in higher education, which she says greatly influences her approach to her work.
“I am always giving back to and mentoring students, that’s always been a part of who I am,” said Brennan. She said that the adaptability and flexibility she practiced during her time as a professor influences her work, noting, “I think that to be flexible is a key to success.”
Aside from her tenure in academia, Brennan has worked for nonprofits, including with organizations such as Redeemer Health and Nemours Children’s Health.
Leslie Ledogar, president of CAMP’s board of directors, said that Brennan’s joyful approach to this work made her stand out in the search for a new executive director.
“I think that I’ve always naturally been positive and joyful because if I don’t, I will burn out,” said Brennan.
For Brennan, honoring CAMP’s legacy remains a top priority in her role at CAMP. “For me, legacy is so critical, so I want to honor the legacy that this foundation was built on.”
When asked about DEI funding cuts by the Trump administration, Brennan shared how she is navigating an administration that is targeting organizations like CAMP.
“This administration doesn’t open doors for opportunities. As a nimble nonprofit organization, we have always had to be creative,” said Brennan.
She said that she “would never want CAMP Rehoboth to rely on federal dollars, regardless of what type of political administration we’re in. I think relying on any kind of dollars or funding is problematic.”
“We need to stay creative and innovative, not chase money, and also our ears need to be listening to what our community needs,” said Brennan.
As younger members of the LGBTQ+ community grow disheartened by the growing attacks on queer rights, Brennan shared her thought process behind helping younger members of the community.
“I think my number one thing is to listen to them, to ensure that they know their voice is valuable. That’s the most important thing before giving advice is to listen to their concerns, their needs, their fears, their struggles,” said Brennan.
“They may not be your struggles, but ultimately, as a human being, they’re all of our struggles.”
Brennan brought up PRISM, CAMP’s social group for young LGBTQ+ adults to gather in community and experience new activities with likeminded young adults. This group offers a safe space where members can form connections with one another to build a sense of belonging.
Throughout the interview, Brennan reiterated her admiration for CAMP and the community it has brought to Rehoboth for decades.
“There is no place like CAMP Rehoboth, and what it has done for Rehoboth or what it has done for countless individuals who see it as an escape and a place of freedom, visibility, belonging, and hope,” said Brennan.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brennan said that she first visited Rehoboth in 1996 as a young gay person. “I felt at home. I could breathe,” said Brennan. She said that she has been a frequent visitor ever since and bought a house in town three years ago.
Brennan shared how happy she is to have her teenage daughter growing up with Rehoboth in her life. She said that her ideal day in Rehoboth involves going to the beach, trying new food, and enjoying time with her friends and family that live in the area.
As the summer season commences, Brennan shared that there is a plethora of upcoming events for members of the community to attend and enjoy.
Brennan highlighted the CAMP Women’s Golfing League, which is getting started on June 4 with tickets on sale now for CAMP Rehoboth members.
The CAMP Rehoboth Chorus is singing to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. on June 19 with tickets on sale now.
This year also marks the 35th anniversary of CAMP, which will be celebrated with Pride in the Courtyard on June 26.
Brennan was excited to promote CAMP’s new partnership with Beebe Healthcare starting this summer. The partnership is designed to expand access to patient-centered health services in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
“Relying on this partnership will be critical to the success of the health of our community,” said Brennan.
Brennan also talked about SUNFESTIVAL, which will be held during Labor Day weekend and will feature David Archuleta as the headliner.
Lastly, Brennan highlighted CAMP’s annual Block Party, which is held each October. “We shut down several streets, we have 100 vendors, and it’s a beautiful way for the whole community to come together to wrap up the summer,” said Brennan.
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CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
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