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Pastor: Sandy struck NYC after Bloomberg gave $250,000 to Md. marriage campaign

Minister noted mayor contributed $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality

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Gay News, Washington Blade, Gay Maryland

Pastor Luke Robinson of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Frederick, Md. (Photo from Quinn Chapel AME Church)

FREDERICK, Md.—A local minister on Sunday noted Superstorm Sandy hit New York City after Mayor Michael Bloomberg donated $250,000 to the campaign defending the state’s same-sex marriage law.

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ā€œWhile he was here, he got word that he needed to go back to New York because a storm was going to hit New York and he needed to go back and make preparations,ā€ said Pastor Luke Robinson of Quinn Chapel AME Church in Frederick during an anti-Question 6 rally at Baker Park. Bloomberg appeared at a pro-Question 6 press conference with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake in the Charm City on Oct. 26. ā€œOn Oct. 28, a storm hit New York. And one of the things that we have discussed and learned from New York is that New York is a proud city. They never close.ā€

Robinson said during the event Peter Sprigg of the Family Research Council, state Del. Neil Parrott (R-Washington County) and a few dozen others attended that the Bible ā€œvery clearlyā€ states ā€œbefore a fall pride cometh.ā€ Maryland Marriage Alliance Chair Derek McCoy was also scheduled to speak at the event, but he did not attend.

ā€œSo here was the mayor of New York giving a quarter of a million dollars, coming down to Maryland discussing the matter,ā€ said Robinson. ā€œWhile he’s here somebody whispers in the ear, you better go back home and protect your stock because God is sending judgment. The thing came through the area. You have to understand the season and the time. It’s almost the end of hurricane season, but God sent one of the biggest hurricanes ever.ā€

Bloomberg on Oct. 12 announced he had donated $250,000 to Marylanders for Marriage Equality. The Johns Hopkins University alum has also given $500,000 to same-sex marriage efforts in Maine, Minnesota and Washington.

Robinson acknowledged the storm that killed more than 40 people in the five boroughs and dozens of others in the United States also impacted Maryland.

ā€œThe storm came through here, but for the glory of God the storm didn’t tear us up because we got that hope for us,ā€ he said. ā€œThere are people who are praying for us. There are people who believe in God, we [are] going to turn it around.ā€

Robinson further pointed out God is ā€œholding back until we can have the final verdictā€ on Election Day.

ā€œIn the meantime in New York City and New York State and even in New Jersey and even up in the New England area, what happened?ā€ he asked rhetorically. ā€œGod sent a storm that tore the place up — up in Massachusetts and all up in that lot because they have rejected the truth and the knowledge of God. So with all of… your money you still can’t win if God says he’s on our side and we are on the side that can win. And we must win and we must never — you must go back, you must go back. You must tell your neighbors. You must tell your friends. Brother Peter [Sprigg] has shared with us the consequences of this thing. It will destroy this country as we know it and we’ve got to work.ā€

Neither Robinson, his church, Parrott or the Maryland Marriage Alliance immediately returned the Washington Blade’s requests for comment.

Marylanders for Marriage Equality and an O’Malley spokesperson declined to respond to Robinson’s comments.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

ā€œF—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,ā€ a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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District of Columbia

Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw

School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ā€˜warmth, humor, kindness’

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Patrick Shaw (Photo via GoFundMe)

Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.

Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.

ā€œPatrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,ā€ Martinez said. ā€œHe was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.ā€

In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

ā€œPatrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,ā€ his colleagues said in their posting. ā€œHis daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.ā€

The posted message adds, ā€œPatrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.ā€

The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon. 

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District of Columbia

D.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case

Victim threatened with assault, called ā€˜faggot’ as he left Capitals game

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D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera.

D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera after he allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to assault a man at 6th and H Streets, N.W. on March 20 at about 9:54 p.m.

A police report says the victim told police the incident took place shortly after he exited the nearby Capital One Arena where he had attended a Washington Capitals hockey game.

The police report says the incident began when the victim saw the suspect yell a racist slur at a person behind the victim and started to berate a valet operator.

ā€œSuspect 1 then turned his attention to Victim 1 and called him a ā€˜faggot’ among other homophobic slurs,ā€ the report says. It says the victim then used his phone to record the suspect, prompting the suspect to walk away before returning and ā€œsnatchingā€ the phone from the victim’s hand.

ā€œSuspect 1 walked several feet as Victim 1 followed, requesting his phone back,ā€ the report continues. ā€œSuspect 1 stopped and turned to Victim 1 and while yelling other obscenities exclaimed ā€˜if you keep recording, I’m going to kick your ass.ā€™ā€ The report concludes by saying the victim was able to recover his phone.

It lists the incident as a ā€œThreats To Do Bodily Harmā€ offense that is a suspected hate crime.

ā€œAnyone who can identify this suspect or has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099, or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,ā€ according to a separate police statement released April 23.

The statement says police currently offer an award of up to $1,000 to anyone who can provide information that leads to an arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in D.C.

D.C. police spokesperson Tom Lynch said the case has been under investigation since the incident occurred on March 20. He said the video image of the suspect, most likely obtained from a security camera from a nearby business, was released to the public as soon as it was obtained and processed through the investigation.

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