LGBT News
LGBT Groups Slam Gov. McDonnell on ''Virginia Adopts''
New campaign for placement of children labeled hypocritical in light of McDonnell signing ''conscience clause'' law
LGBT groups are crying foul after Gov. Bob McDonnell (R) launched a campaign Friday aimed at finding homes for a thousand of the nearly 4,000 children in Virginia's foster care system. The Family Equality Council and Equality Virginia are pointing out that McDonnell has previously restricted adoption and foster-care options by signing into law a so-called ''conscience clause'' bill that allows state-licensed agencies to discriminate against prospective parents on sexual orientation and a variety of other factors. A component of ...[more]
New DC Center Space Is Secure
David Mariner says rumored land swap reported by Business Journal has no bearing on June move
Rumors of a potential land swap that could jeopardize the June relocation of The DC Center, the area's LGBT community center, were floated in an April 30 article in the Washington Business Journal, but the center's executive director, David Mariner, assures that the new space is secure. The Business Journal article included speculation that District government could be considering a land swap in which Akridge, a commercial real-estate company, would turn over its Buzzard Point site in Southwest Washington for ...[more]
Whitman-Walker Honors Advocates
WWH to present three awards for work related to LGBT and HIV/AIDS issues at legal-services fundraiser
Whitman-Walker Health, the nonprofit community health center specializing in HIV/AIDS and LGBT-sensitive health care, will present three awards recognizing advocacy on behalf of the LGBT community at its May 29 ''Going the Extra Mile'' benefit. The fundraising event benefits Whitman-Walker's legal-services program, which provides pro bono legal advice and representation to LGBT people and those with HIV/AIDS. At the benefit, Whitman-Walker will present the Joel A. Toubin Memorial Award, for outstanding advocacy on behalf of people living with HIV/AIDS, to ...[more]
Robbery Victim Reports Anti-Gay Slurs
As status hearing is postponed, no bias enhancements filed against two suspects charged in 14th Street assault
The two men suspected of an April 25 altercation, in which they allegedly beat and robbed a man in the 1300 block of 14th Street NW just before 1 a.m., appeared in D.C. Superior Court today, where they were assigned new lawyers and had their preliminary status hearing postponed by two weeks. Gustavo Velasquez, 24, and Ciriaco Oxlaj, 26, have each been charged with one count of robbery for allegedly assaulting and stealing an iPad from a man standing on ...[more]
Whitman-Walker Expands Meningitis Response
Due to growing demand, health center now offering meningitis vaccinations to non-patients
Whitman-Walker Health, the nonprofit community health center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBT-competent care, announced Tuesday it will be offering meningitis vaccinations to people who are not current patients due to increased demand. Although there have been no reported cases of meningitis in the gay male community in D.C., reports of deaths of gay men in New York and Los Angeles have raised concerns among gay men in Washington. Chip Lewis, a spokesman for Whitman-Walker, says the cost of vaccination ...[more]
Maryland Del. Dwyer Appealing Sentence
Anti-gay lawmaker appealing 30-day jail sentence after pleading guilty to charges related to 2012 boat crash
A lawyer for Maryland Del. Don Dwyer (R-Anne Arundel Co.), one of the General Assembly's most vocal opponents of LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, has filed an appeal of Anne Arundel District Court Judge Robert Wilcox's decision today to sentence Dwyer to 30 days in jail, as reported by WBAL TV, for operating a boat under the influence of alcohol, leading to a powerboat crash on the Magothy River in August in which Dwyer, another adult and four children sustained ...[more]
Mayor Offering Forum for LGBT Youth
Saturday town-hall event will be Gray's first to address LGBT youth specifically
The office of D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D) will be hosting its first LGBT-themed youth town hall tomorrow, at noon at Eastern Market's North Hall, located at 225 7th St. SE. Gray has held other monthly town halls geared at youth, but Saturday's will mark the first time Gray specifically focuses on LGBT-related youth issues, said Sterling Washington, director of the Mayor's Office of GLBT Affairs. According to Washington, Gray typically lets the audience determine the topic of conversation. Some ...[more]
Qween Amor Assaulted
LGBT-rights advocate and street performer with D.C. ties attacked in New York
Street performer, dancer and LGBT-rights advocate Qween Amor, a frequent fixture at Metro stations around the D.C. area, was assaulted and robbed while performing in New York City Tuesday. Amor, whose last prominent performance in the District involved leading a group of pro-marriage-equality demonstrators in dance outside the Supreme Court in March, and who has previously clashed with anti-gay forces such as the Westboro Baptist Church and the Black Israelite movement, has been traveling the country dancing to spread a ...[more]
EV Advocates Entering Election Mode
LGBT group uses threat of Cuccinelli governorship as organizing, fundraising tool ahead of 2013 elections
It's the poll heard round the commonwealth. EV Advocates, a nonprofit affiliate of Equality Virginia that performs voter outreach and education, sent an fundraising email to supporters soliciting donations following the release of a recent Washington Post poll showing Virginia Attorney General and presumptive Republican nominee Ken Cuccinelli leading presumptive Democratic nominee Terry McAuliffe by 5 points. ''When you wake up on November 6, 2013 – will it be a breath of fresh air with an administration that directly reaches ...[more]
Transgender Homicides in Baltimore and Elsewhere Raise Alarm
NBJC, NCAVP and others call on authorities to solve recent killings of trans women in Florida, Maryland and Ohio
The New York-based National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) and the D.C.-based National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) are calling for action after recent killings of young transgender women of color. From Kelly Young's Facebook Both groups – who have partnered along with NCAVP member organizations Buckeye Region Anti-Violence Organization (BRAVO) of Ohio and Florida's SunServe Services, to raise awareness about the crimes, which include the April 3 murder of 29-year-old Kelly Young of Baltimore – released a joint statement May ...[more]
D.C. Leaders Show Support for Jason Collins
Washington Wizards center sees local love after coming out in Sports Illustrated
Jason Collins, a National Basketball Association (NBA) free agent who was traded by the Boston Celtics to the Washington Wizards in February, came out as gay in an interview with Sports Illustrated released today, becoming the first active major-league male athlete to do so, telling the magazine, ''I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay.'' In the Sports Illustrated interview, which will appear in the magazine's May 6 issue, Collins said he started thinking about coming out during ...[more]
Allegations Aimed at Anne Arundel Police Chief
Larry Tolliver accused of using homophobic slurs, retaliation against officers
Anne Arundel County Executive Laura Neuman launched an investigation last week into allegations that the county's top law enforcement officer, Chief Larry Tolliver, used homophobic slurs and retaliated against officers whose testimony led to the criminal conviction of former County Executive John Leopold on charges of misconduct, according to The Baltimore Sun. County Councilman Jamie Benoit first called for the investigation into Tolliver, repeating allegations from officers that Tolliver had moved detectives into less desirable positions and had used homophobic ...[more]
Opinion
How To Be Gay
In which Bret Easton Ellis is totally correct to defend his right to be such a prick
I've been many different gay men over the course of my life. Like most of us, I started off as the closeted gay man who sometimes overcompensated with my behavior so I wouldn't appear feminine. I've also been the newly out gay man who overcompensated in the other direction and spent more than a few months flouncing around campus in misbegotten Chess King outfits. I've been the activist gay man, with the meta twist that I posed as the activist ...[more]
The Search Must Continue
Halted HIV-vaccine trial may be a setback, but it's not a defeat
As HIV-vaccine trial participants, we grow accustomed to the routine blood draws, interacting with study staff and taking our computer-assisted interviews that catalog our risks. And, of course, the risk-reduction counseling to help us reduce our sexual risk-taking behavior. For almost three years this quarterly experience was a part of my life. It was a piece of my routine until I received a phone call that changed it all. It was an unexpected end to something that I thought I'd ...[more]
Creating Space
The Next Generation Awards honor and encourage young LGBT leaders, but we all have a role to play
It was just over five-and-a-half years ago that I first brought the idea of the Next Generation Awards to Metro Weekly. Because I happen to be running a business, I fully admit that there were some business considerations behind the idea. But for me the goal of the Next Generation Awards has always been about something more than a marketing and PR strategy — it's about repaying debts to an LGBT community that has made not just the magazine a ...[more]
A Star Is Born
He may not be the first, but Jason Collins is a pioneer just the same
Jason Collins is not the first active professional athlete to come out. Tennis star Martina Navratilova came out in 1981. Her courageous act, however, was no threat to male heterosexual dominance. Few people even know that baseball player Glenn Burke came out in the late 1970s, because sports writers at the time responded with a wall of silence. Most recently, top WNBA draft pick Brittney Griner came out on April 17. The girls are way ahead of the boys here. ...[more]
Annuals of Spring
Spring is the time to celebrate some significant LGBT anniversaries, both at home and at Metro Weekly
Anyone familiar with my writings round these parts already knows that I am solipsism central, so I'll just jump right to the point and say what a special and important time of year spring is for me. Seriously, most of the good things in my life aside from my winter birth have happened as the tulips bloom and the trees turn green. Naturally, the first up is my sixth anniversary this weekend. We had our ceremony on May 5 because, ...[more]
Today's Most Popular Articles
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- The Search Must Continue (Opinion)
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