No, Virginia, There Is No Nondiscrimination Policy

News Analysis: Virginia Gov. McDonnell's executive directive on employment discrimination is about appearances, not policy

Published on March 11, 2010, 8:34am

Over the past month, three differing documents produced by two statewide elected officials in Virginia have led to a whole lot of confusion about where the Commonwealth stands on protection of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender people from discrimination. First, Republican Governor Bob McDonnell issued an executive order relating to ''Equal Opportunity.'' The Feb. 5 order noted that ''[t]his order is in furtherance of the stated policy enacted by the General Assembly, and specifically prohibits discrimination on the basis of ...[more]

Festival's Future

Amid harsh economic realities and an evolving community, One In Ten calls for town-hall meeting to chart gay film fest's fate

Published on March 11, 2010, 2:25am

As piles of snow melt away, preparing the stage for cherry blossoms, change is in the District's air. But it's not all Mother Nature's doing. One In Ten, the LGBT cultural organization responsible for the annual Reel Affirmations film festival, marking its 20th year in 2010, is readying for its own big changes. What those changes will be, however, remains to be seen. ''A lot of festivals across the country have been closing their doors, and we don't want to ...[more]

Time for Tributes

Nominations now open for Capital Pride Heroes and Metro Weekly's Next Generation Awards

Published on March 11, 2010, 2:24am

In a city as dynamic as Washington, and with a vibrant LGBT community to match, there's no doubt that there are an endless number of local leaders worth heralding for their contributions. In an effort to identify a few more of these folks, Metro Weekly's Next Generation Awards and Capital Pride's Heroes awards are now accepting nominations. The Next Generation Awards, marking their second year, celebrate local ''activists, leaders and artists'' younger than 30, while Capital Pride's Heroes are defined ...[more]

Husbands and Wives

Group same-sex wedding ceremony in D.C. may be one for the Guinness record book

Published on March 11, 2010, 2:23am

For some, the notion of a mass wedding might conjure discomforting images right out the Rev. Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church. But that's not the case for dozens of local gay and lesbian couples who have registered to exchange vows at an upcoming mass wedding in the District on March 20. GLBT Wedding Services by Event Emissary is offering Saturday's daylong affair under the title ''Our Time Has Come,'' to be held inside the Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium downtown. The ...[more]

D.C.'s Failing Grade

Local LGBT students not included in national CDC survey of risk behaviors; District did not achieve adequate response rate for surveys

Published on March 10, 2010, 10:08am

It happens every two years. High school and middle school students take part in the national Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS), which asks them questions about depression, school safety, sexual behavior and drug use. But local LGBT activists are expressing serious concerns after learning that data from the latest D.C. survey, collected by the city's Office of the State Superintendent of Education (OSSE), will not be included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) next report as it ...[more]

D.C. Marriage: A Political Achievement

As the first couples to enjoy legal marriage in the nation's capital celebrate their unions, some see a blueprint in the District's success

Published on March 9, 2010, 8:20pm

The Campaign for All D.C. Families hosted three of the first legally recognized same-sex marriages in the District on Tuesday, March 9, but the reason for the success of the marriage equality effort here was present in the faces of the attendees – and on the tongues of the many politicians and political strategists at the event. Michael Crawford, the newly hired director of new media at the New-York-based Freedom to Marry and the head of D.C. for Marriage during ...[more]

''My Rock, My Life, My Love''

Marriage equality arrives with a string of same-sex weddings, the first to be performed in and legally recognized by D.C.

Published on March 9, 2010, 5:06pm

Virginia Moves Against Gay Employees of Universities

Letter from Republican Attorney General Cuccinelli tells state university system to end non-discrimination policies for LGBT people UPDATED

Published on March 5, 2010, 5:04pm

ENDA May Still Be on Track

Rep. Frank says LGBT employment discrimination legislation will get a vote in the House this month

Published on March 5, 2010, 11:03am

All About the Timeline

Lieberman's DADT repeal bill introduced in Senate with no Republican sponsors, military brass continue push to keep repeal timeline in control of the Pentagon

Published on March 5, 2010, 11:02am

A Scent of Scandal

Freshman Democratic Rep. Eric Massa announces retirement for health reasons amid reports of sexual harassment, ''allegations of misconduct''

Published on March 4, 2010, 3:31am

Rep. Eric J.J. Massa (D-N.Y.) told reporters this afternoon that health problems – and not reports of sexual harassment allegations – were keeping him from a second term in Congress. Massa appears to face significant questions in coming days, however, as Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) released a statement Wednesday night saying that his staff had received ''allegations of misconduct'' that have since been relayed to the bipartisan House Ethics Committee. Massa spoke to reporters this afternoon without taking questions ...[more]

Denny's Bad Data

Local lesbian activist's call for change to discriminatory Wi-Fi restrictions prompts change in policy by Denny's restaurant chain

Published on March 4, 2010, 3:28am

Local lesbian activist's call for change to discriminatory Wi-Fi restrictions prompts change in policy by Denny's restaurant chain by Yusef Najafi Khadijah Tribble often escapes her daily routine by working at the Denny's near her Benning Road office. Khadija Tribble(Photo by Todd Franson)    ''There are times that I need to get out of my office to be able to think,'' says Tribble, executive director for Pediatric AIDS/HIV Care. Lately, Tribble has been thinking about marriage as she's developing a ...[more]

Political Proof

It may seem counterintuitive, but we need Virginia's Republican governor and attorney general to pursue their far-right, anti-gay platform

Published on March 11, 2010, 2:27am

Just to be clear about this before I start: I was appalled that Bob McDonnell could be elected governor of Virginia and absolutely horrified the Ken Cuccinelli was elected attorney general. In fact, I can't even remember who else ran for attorney general -- all I know is that I voted for the candidate who was not Ken Cuccinelli. As a current Northern Virginia resident who also happened to attend college in the state lo these many years ago, I'm ...[more]

Transformational Tie

Marriage may not change our relationship, but it changes our relationship to our community

Published on March 11, 2010, 2:26am

It's funny, and often fascinating, how so much can change in such a short time -- and yet change so little. When our family arrived back home on Tuesday evening, we were the same family we were when we left home that afternoon. Yet, as a family we experienced an important change when my husband and I -- after being married in all but the legal sense for 10 years -- were legally married to each other Tuesday afternoon. The ...[more]

How We Won

Bringing marriage equality to Washington has been years in the making

Published on March 4, 2010, 3:12am

March 3 marked the start of same-sex couples being able to apply for marriage licenses in District of Columbia Superior Court. The seeds of this victory trace back to 1975, when Cade Ware, Frank Kameny and Craig Howell of the Gay Activists Alliance (as it was then called) gave the first testimony before the D.C. Council in favor of same-sex marriage. In 1978 -- responding to Anita Bryant's successful anti-gay campaign in Dade County, Fla., the previous year -- Jim ...[more]

Celebrating Victory

Marriage Equality in D.C. should be met with great joy, even as we work to protect it from opponents of equality

Published on March 3, 2010, 10:37am

It's in my nature to urge caution when it comes to celebrating our political successes. Long experience has taught us that defeat is sometimes snatched from the jaws of victory. It's often better, I think, to take a more measured approach that moderates joy to protect against the possibility of later disappointment. Not this time. This time, I'm as joyous as the gay and lesbian couples who, as I write this, are lined up outside a courthouse on a cold ...[more]

Conservatively Speaking

Even with GOProud's CPAC success, gay conservatives have a long way to go

Published on February 25, 2010, 6:39pm

I believe it's important to acknowledge when we're wrong about our assumptions or expectations, so I should point out that when GOProud initially announced its plans to sponsor this year's Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) — a confab generally recognized as being a forum for some of the more extreme elements of the right-wing, a place where Ann Coulter could say ''faggot'' from the stage to applause — I had my doubts about the wisdom of the effort. But the ...[more]