Washington Blade Opinion

One step closer to a destiny fulfilled

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST

One step closer to a destiny fulfilled
Hate crimes bill finally becomes law, clearing way for more progress ahead
By Peter Rosenstein
Friday, November 06, 2009
ON OCT. 28, we witnessed the signing of legislation in which Congress recognized our community.

I was fortunate to be at the White House as President Obama spoke to our community and to Dennis and Judy Shepard immediately after signing the Matthew Shepard and James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act, a part of the Defense spending bill. It was an emotional moment for those of us in the White House and for those across the nation who had spent so many years fighting for this legislation. The president reminded us that Sen. Edward Kennedy introduced this legislation nearly 15 years ago and that Matthew was taken from us 11 years ago. It wasn't just time, it was way past due.
...

Not your father's Washington protest

Fri, 6 Nov 2009 05:00:00 EST

Not your father's Washington protest
Equality March revealed a divide between old tactics and a younger generation's passion
By Rev. Irene Monroe
Friday, November 06, 2009
FOR DECADES, REP. Barney Frank has been the iconic image of gay civil rights advocacy on Capitol Hill.

For many years, he was the lone voice and only openly gay congressman. And as a Massachusetts resident, I was once proud to say, “Barney Frank has got my back.”

But as one of the most vocal critics of the National Equality March that took place in Washington last month, Frank has many LGBT Americans nationwide wondering if he has become a bureaucratic gatekeeper.

And for people under age 40, many are also wondering if Barney Frank is now the iconic image of the generational schism of our new gay rights movement.

Mocking protester ...

A lieutenant governor who will work for Va.

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

A lieutenant governor who will work for Va.
Bill Bolling is an absentee leader. It's time for change in our commonwealth.
By Jody Wagner
Friday, October 30, 2009
FOR THE LAST eight years, I've been proud to work with Mark Warner and Tim Kaine to move Virginia forward. We've balanced budgets during economic downturns, made record investments in education and built and maintained the best business environment in the country. That's why the upcoming election is so critical — Virginians have a very clear choice. We can keep Virginia moving forward by electing someone who has made tough budget decisions and who will work hard every day to bring jobs to the Commonwealth or re-elect my opponent, who has had four years and missed all but four meetings of the boards and commissions he serves on as lieutenant governor.

The next administration ...

POINT: Vote Deeds for Virginia governor

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

POINT: Vote Deeds for Virginia governor
GOP won't support our rights until they start losing elections because of their anti-gay views.
By TOM OSBORNE
Friday, October 30, 2009
NEXT TUESDAY, VIRGINIANS elect a governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and 100 members of the House of Delegates. You might not know it from the lack of excitement, but this is the most important election in a decade in Virginia.

In virtually all these races, picking the best candidate isn't even a close call. Anyone who prioritizes LGBT rights should be voting for Democrat Creigh Deeds for governor, for dozens of reasons. Here are a few of them:

• Deeds' relationship with the LGBT community. Over the past five years we've seen tremendous growth as Deeds has become a friend and ally — from ultimately campaigning against the Marshall-Newman ant ...

COUNTERPOINT: Give the Republican credit in Virginia

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

COUNTERPOINT: Give the Republican credit in Virginia
We are under no illusion that Bob McDonnell is a champion of gay rights, but his recent actions give us optimism that he will be fair.
By
Friday, October 30, 2009
ON NOV. 3, Virginians will choose their next governor. While no LGBT person could reasonably see Bob McDonnell, the Republican candidate for governor, as a pro-LGBT candidate, we believe that it is important for members of the community to understand that this campaign and this candidate are fundamentally different from other Republican campaigns and candidates for governor.

The difference is important for us as members of the LGBT community, and, as Republicans, we hope it signals a real commitment to move the party in the right direction — back toward its historic role as the true guardian of individual liberty.

During this campaign, and particularly dur ...

Chief Lanier's broken promises

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Chief Lanier's broken promises
Can community trust city police department after so many disappointments?
By Peter Rosenstein
Friday, October 23, 2009
RICK ROSENDALL OF GLAA and I recently received an e-mail from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier. It was apparently prompted by several media calls to her office asking for an explanation of what she intends to do with the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit and the other liaison units in the MPD.

Chief Lanier wrote suggesting we should have been aware that for more than a year she has been preparing to roll out expanded Special Liaison Units (SLU) to all divisions within the department, beginning with the Patrol Services Bureau. She goes on to say that, as promised, she is leaving the core SLU Liaison Officers in a centralized location so they can coordinate citywide issues as MPD begins ...

Proud of my work here

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Proud of my work here
Since the 1980s, I've worked to support Blade journalists and give voice to the LGBT community.
By Lynne Brown
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Lynne Brown

FORTY IS THE new 30. Could it be true for the Washington Blade?

This year, our 40th, has been the most challenging in my experience. Although my experience at the Blade has been of substantial duration, I was not there at the beginning.

In 1987, I was hired as a sales rep for the Blade, thus my experience here has been on the business side of the equation. We all know 2009 has presented serious economic challenges for the US economy — and for the global economy. The Blade has not been immune to those pressures. This year has seen closings of some major daily newspapers. The Blade has faced cut backs, too. Challenged by multi-platform de ...

Selling the Blade since 1986

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Selling the Blade since 1986
Times and technology have changed, but the community remains focus of our work.
By Phil Rockstroh
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Phil Rockstroh

I CAME OUT in 1976. In March 1986, my dad helped me move to Alexandria, Va., from Indianapolis. I couldn't tell my parents I was coming east to work at a gay newspaper. I wasn't homophobic. I was afraid they would try to talk me out of the business decision.

I was a successful traveling salesman. For that job, I had traveled through 41 states. I had read most gay publications printed in the country. Most publications were bar rags. The minute I saw the Washington Blade, I knew it was different. The Blade was a newspaper filled with stories about and for a vibrant gay community. There was event and advertising information presented in a way ...

My 18 years as Blade editor

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

My 18 years as Blade editor
From GRID to the Internet, times have changed but the need for news has not.
By Lisa Keen
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Lisa Keen

IF MY NAME seems vaguely familiar, it's because I was editor of the Blade for 18 of its 40 years.

When I took the mantle of the news department, we were pounding out the early stories about the Gay Related Immune Deficiency on electric typewriters in an old firetrap of a building at 930 F Street. Our three-room office was directly above a “new wave” club and, on deadline night, we'd be putting the paper to bed to the hammering beat of some new band while the smoke of the patrons' herbal cigarettes wafted up to torture our sinuses.

I'd mark up the copy with a pen and drop it in the typesetter's in-box. He'd enter it into a room-sized ...

Why I believe in GAYLAW's work at Whitman-Walker

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Why I believe in GAYLAW's work at Whitman-Walker
Meet Janet, a single mother with AIDS, who changed my perspective on financial planning.
By Max Barger
Friday, October 16, 2009
FOR YEARS I have worked with people who are trying to protect their wealth. Most of them have a family business or a vacation home that they want to give to their children or other loved ones — tax free. Many of these people have significant assets and do not want their loved ones paying a death tax on inherited wealth.

While happily moving along in my career and helping those who have much, I received an invitation — actually, it was more of a challenge — to help people on the bottom rung of the tax bracket ladder. An attorney acquaintance of mine encouraged me to use my knowledge and skill not to save tax dollars, but to give peace of mind to peopl ...

Proud to be a part of the Blade

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Proud to be a part of the Blade
Without the 'gay newspaper of record,' we wouldn't have a rough draft of our history.
By Kathi Wolfe
Friday, October 16, 2009
By Kathi Wolfe

IF JOURNALISM IS the rough draft of history, then this month marks the 40th year that this paper has chronicled the history of the LGBT community in Washington, D.C., this country and the world.
In October 1969, a handful of activists in a basement apartment in the home of gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny produced the first edition of a newsletter called the Gay Blade. This one sheet, hand-cranked on a mimeograph machine, would become the Washington Blade.

After the Stonewall riots, the moon walk and Woodstock anniversaries, you might be thinking, 'Why celebrate another anniversary? Aren't we dwelling too much in Nostalgia Land?' But as a queer journa ...

Stein Club, Victory Fund partner for second ANC training

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Stein Club, Victory Fund partner for second ANC training
D.C. needs more openly gay city officials.
By Tim Mahony
Friday, October 09, 2009
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city's largest gay political group, and Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, which provides financial and campaign support for gay candidates on all levels, are teaming up again in hopes of increasing the number of LGBT people among the city's nearly 300 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners (ANC's).

Gay D.C. resident John Klenert, a Victory Fund board member and Stein Club member, conceived of the idea last year and approached the Stein Club about doing one again this year.

“There are almost 300 ANC's, all elected positions throughout all eight wards of our capital city,” Klenert said. “These local LGBT citizens have s ...

Marching alongside the pink elephant

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Marching alongside the pink elephant
Religion-based bigotry causes untold harm to millions, especially youth
By MITCHELL GOLD
Friday, October 09, 2009
AS THOUSANDS CONVERGE on the nation's capital this weekend for the National Equality March, our demand is simple: We want full equality. Now. Although there has been great progress in the last 50 years, the equality movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans has not moved forward as quickly as we should and could have. In the final analysis, it is because we have not effectively addressed the biggest barrier between us and our equality: religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

For years, I was involved with organizations whose goals included achieving equal treatment under the law for all. It seemed obvious to me that the anti-gay messages coming from diverse deno ...

What will you do to advance equality?

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

What will you do to advance equality?
We must organize, educate, mobilize and engage our neighbors across the city
By Nicholas McCoy
Friday, October 09, 2009
WHAT A BLESSING it has been for me to be a resident of Washington, D.C., at this time. I have been blessed to work with a team of energized and concerned residents for the advancement of marriage equality in the nation's capital.

The LGBT community, along with our allies, has achieved a great deal this year with the passage of legislation that recognizes same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions and now with the presentation of the Religious Freedom & Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009. I have witnessed so many people with so much energy work hard for this day. I am hopeful that the kind of energy we are putting into marriage equality will be used to further strengthen ...

Marching alongside the pink elephant

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Marching alongside the pink elephant
Religion-based bigotry causes untold harm to millions, especially youth.
By MITCHELL GOLD
Friday, October 02, 2009
AS THOUSANDS CONVERGE on the nation's capital this weekend for the National Equality March, our demand is simple: We want full equality. Now. Although there has been great progress in the last 50 years, the equality movement for gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender Americans has not moved forward as quickly as we should and could have. In the final analysis, it is because we have not effectively addressed the biggest barrier between us and our equality: religion-based bigotry and prejudice.

For years, I was involved with organizations whose goals included achieving equal treatment under the law for all. It seemed obvious to me that the anti-gay messages coming from diverse deno ...

Equal rights requires Republican allies

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Equal rights requires Republican allies
I need your support to become a pro-gay GOP voice in Va. legislature
By Eric Brescia
Friday, October 02, 2009
FROM THE CIVIL Rights Act of 1964 to putting a man on the moon, the great reforms and achievements in American history were only possible because of unwavering commitment and leadership from members of both political parties. Likewise, full equality for gays and lesbians will remain but a dream without advocates on both sides of the aisle.

Unfortunately, neither party has adequately fought to lift the legal barriers to equal rights for gays in the United States.

Many Democrats deserve to be commended for their efforts to end discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. The party as a whole, however, has the tendency to hit the right notes on the campaign tr ...

Obama administration: nine months and counting

Fri, 2 Oct 2009 05:00:00 EST

Obama administration: nine months and counting
Support the Democrats now, because they might lose the House in 2010
By Peter Rosenstein
Friday, October 02, 2009
IT HAS BEEN a rocky nine months for the Obama administration. After the rousing inaugural celebration and all the high poll numbers and laudatory press, some may have thought that the president walked on water.

Well, the reality is that he doesn't. He is a highly intelligent man with good ideas and a desire to do the right thing. But the fact that he hasn't turned out to be the messiah for the LGBT community shouldn't stop us from giving him the support he will need to get his agenda through Congress. And our equal rights are an integral part of that agenda.

The president started on a high note with the passage of his stimulus package and then signed the children's hea ...

Health care reform must include us, too

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EST

Health care reform must include us, too
Our community cannot be left behind as this massive domestic priority advances
By Heather R. Mizeur
Friday, September 25, 2009
FOR MORE THAN 10 years, Republican congressional leadership buried our community's priorities under a stack of hostile legislation and constitutional amendments. Ten months into the Obama era, we are ready and eager for progress — on ENDA, hate crimes protections, a repeal of “Don't Ask, Don't Tell,” and a counterattack on the inaptly named Defense of Marriage Act.

But with Congress busy taking advantage of a unique opportunity for systemic health care reform, our anticipation — and weariness — continues to grow. Have we been sidelined yet again? Where we once faced down a Republican Party intent on making us second-class citizens, must we now be cont ...

A convocation and a call to action

Fri, 25 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EST

A convocation and a call to action
Our time is now and by speaking out we will win marriage equality in D.C.
By Peter Rosenstein
Friday, September 25, 2009
MEMBERS OF THE D.C. Coalition and other groups have called on the community to join them at a convocation to inform people about how we can join together to advance marriage equality in the District of Columbia. It is an urgent call to action.

All the LGBT groups in the District will have a role in the process, but the biggest role will be for individuals who must now speak up and speak out. Marriage is a personal commitment and it will be important for each member of the LGBT community to share with their neighbors and friends, politicians and church leaders, why they should have the right to marry.

One thing we can be sure of is that those who would deny us thi ...

What happened to equal protection?

Fri, 18 Sep 2009 05:00:00 EST

What happened to equal protection?
Our relationships deserve the same recognition that straight couples receive
By Isaiah J. Poole
Friday, September 18, 2009
I'M BETTING THAT Rev. Harry Jackson, who is leading the attack against marriage equality in the District, has never seen a wedding stripped down to its bare essence. He should have been at my sister-in-law's wedding.

Jackson would hardly have given her marriage ceremony much thought. It was, after all, the kind of marriage that the reverend says is the only right marriage to have — one woman marrying one man.

If he took a good look at the smiling couple, he might have noted that the woman and man were of different races — one black, one white. He might have reflected for a moment that in an America where such a union was not that long ago considered a ...