As we prepare for the Supreme Court marriage equality decision, there will be a celebration of the road we've traveled which is leading to love and justice for all. Please be with us on Tuesday, June 30 at 7:00 p.m. in the National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave NW).
The Gay Men's Chorus will lead us as we celebrate the rich diversity of the LGBT community and our progress in this human rights struggle. For more information, see
this site. All are welcome!
DC Public Libraries cordially invites you to come hear Jonathan Rauch, Senior Fellow in Governance, Brookings Institution, and author of Gay Marriage discuss recent developments in the struggle for equality.
When: Thursday, July 10, 2014, 7:00 PM
Where: Southwest Library, 900 Wesley Place, SW (Metro: Waterfront/Green Line), Large Meeting Room (lower level)
Questions? Call us at (202) 724-4752 or visit us online
A pop-up wedding event called Blissful Grandeur will give 10 lucky couples the chance to achieve the wedding of their dreams at a fraction of the price. Couture event designer Raquel K. Williams compares Blissful Grandeur to the Grammy group wedding ceremony. Blissful Grandeur is a mass matrimony for couples looking to exchange vows in a creative way. The next event is in Washington, DC on February 14, Valentine's Day.
Particularly interested will be couples who have considered elopement or a courthouse union because of the cost of a wedding. This is the whole wedding package, amazing ambiance, gourmet cuisine, luxurious gifts, and photo opportunities -- even celebrity entertainment (Y'Anna, winner of BET's Sunday Best competition will perform at the DC celebration), with costs shared so that the event can be as spectacular as a dream. Couples just need to bring the wedding clothes and the future spouse.
"Blissful Grandeur -- A Popup Wedding Celebration is currently accepting joint registration for this event and as it is an equal opportunity affair, we are welcoming all who wish to celebrate their unique and inspiring love story," says R.Kristi CEO, Raquel Williams. In the spirit of giving back, Kristi has committed to contributing a generous donation to a worthy cause in the metro area, in the name of the lucky couples.
You can learn more about this event at Blissful Creations and on Facebook.
For more information about participation, registration and wedding packages contact
BG@byrkristi.com
The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance celebrates the passage of two of our legislative priorities at today's D.C. Council legislative meeting:
Bill 20-142, the JaParker Deoni Jones Birth Certificate Equality Amendment Act of 2013 (which allows people who undergo treatment related to gender transition to obtain original birth certificates that match their gender identity).
Bill 20-118, the Marriage Officiant Amendment Act of 2013 (which expands the list of those who can serve as officiants at couples' wedding ceremonies).
Both bills now head to Mayor Vincent Gray for his signature, and then to Capitol Hill for the congressional review period of 30 legislative-calendar days. Due to the number of upcoming congressional recesses, the bills are likely to become law in November.
GLAA thanks the members of the Council for passing both bills.
Drive For Marriage is looking for volunteers willing to travel to Silver Spring on weekends between now and Election Day to volunteer and/or canvass for Maryland's Yes on 6 campaign. Drive for Marriage is a coordinated national project of the Human Rights Campaign, Freedom To Marry and the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force. If you are interested in volunteering or for more information, please visit the Drive For Marriage website for more details and to sign up.
We encourage those in the DC area to take Metro to the Drive for Marriage Silver Spring location. For those that are driving from other locations, we encourage you to recruit family and friends and offer rides to those in your area that would like to participate!
]]>
(Washington, DC) - Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company, with license from the American Foundation for Equal Rights (AFER) and Broadway Impact, is proud to announce a one-night-only reading of 8, a play chronicling the historic trial in the federal constitutional challenge to California's Proposition 8, written by Academy Award-winning screenwriter and AFER Founding Board Member Dustin Lance Black. Coinciding with Capital Pride 2012, the reading will take place on Monday, June 4th at 7pm, with all tickets $5. Tickets may be purchased online atwww.woollymammoth.net, over the phone at 202-393-3939, or in person at the Box Office located at 641 D Street, NW.
The reading of 8 at Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company will be directed by Alan Paul, Associate Director of Shakespeare Theatre Company and will feature Woolly Company Members Jessica Frances Dukes, Rick Foucheux, Jennifer Mendenhall, Eric Sutton, and Emily Townley with other prominent actors from the DC theatre community.
Following the reading, Woolly will host a town-hall style discussion with the Executive Director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force Rea Carey, Maryland State Senator Richard S. Madaleno Jr., Human Rights Campaign's Legal Director Brian Moulton, and Matt Nosanchuk from the US Department of Justice Civil Rights Division. The discussion will be livestreamed on #NewPlay TV (www.livestream.com/newplay).
In addition, Woolly and local organizations will collaborate to host T8KE ACTION--an LGBTQ Activism Fair. The fair will be held in Woolly's lower lobby beginning at 6pm on June 4th, and will be free and open to the public until 10pm. Visitors can learn about ways to get involved with important issues affecting the LGBTQ community here in DC. Participating organizations include theACLU, the Community Education Group, Human Rights Campaign, Metro Teen AIDS, National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, SMYAL, PFLAG DC and the DC Center for the LGBT Community.
Michael Crawford is New Media Director for Freedom to Marry, the campaign to win marriage nationwide. He has a wide range of experience in political advocacy, new media, and grassroots organizing. He was co-founder and co-chair of D.C. for Marriage, a grassroots group that helped to successfully pass the D.C. marriage bill. Michael is also a former board member of the DC Center.
Vote for Michael Crawford: Most Valuable Organizer
Michael Crawford has been nominated as the NOI Rootscamp's Most Valuable Organizer for 2010.
Show your support by visiting Michael Crawford's Page and voting for Michael Crawford as Rootcamp's Most Valuable Organizer.
]]>
Celebrity photographer Adam Bouska will bring the national NOH8 campaign to Cobalt Nightclub, Washington, D.C on September 20, 2010. Hundreds of residents from the Washington Metro area will have the opportunity to pose for their iconic photo, demonstrating support for marriage equality.
Mark Rutstein, General Manager of the gay nightclub said, "The Cobalt family is honored that the NOH8 campaign will be holding an open photo shoot at the club. Equality supporters from across the mid-Atlantic have been waiting for the opportunity to participate in this important campaign. The fight against Proposition 8 affects the whole
GLBT Community."
Who: NOH8 Campaign and Cobalt Nightclub
What: Open Photo shoot
When: September 20, 2010 - 4:00-7:00 pm
Where: 1639 R St NW
The NOH8 Campaign is a photographic silent protest created by celebrity photographer
Adam Bouska (http://www.bouska.net) and partner Jeff Parshley in direct response to the
passage of Proposition 8. Photos feature subjects with duct tape over their mouths,
symbolizing their voices being silenced by Prop 8 and similar legislation around the
world, with "NOH8" painted on one cheek in protest. For more information regarding the
NOH8 Campaign and Cobalt, visit www.noh8campaign.com and www.cobaltdc.com.
Join forces with Equality Across America, Full Equality Now! DC, and Washington, DC Metropolitan Area Activists and Allies in a collaborative effort to send a message of inclusion, tolerance, and community support.
As you may know, the National Organization for Marriage {NOM} is headed our way with their "One Woman, One Man" Summer for Marriage Tour. NOM has been everywhere from Centreville, Virginia to Columbus, Ohio. Luckily, lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, and intersex (LGBTQI) organizations and organizers have been there as well, demonstrating to NOM, and the world, our commitment to the fight for marriage equality.
So what about DC?
A coalition of LGBTQI organizations, activists and allies, in solidarity with our open and affirming faith communities, are organizing a rally, The Big Commit, an action that aims to "strengthen our commitment" to working towards full federal equality, including the repeal of DOMA - as NOM is our witness!
Our goal is: To build momentum within our movement via our community-strengthening action. This will be accomplished through alliance-building organizing and through the participation of our diverse intersecting communities. Ultimately, those participating in the Big Commit will appeal to the hearts and minds of our prospective allies nationwide, "cordially inviting" them to "respect our rights as we respect their right to their beliefs"- literally. We envision doing so as one united community joined together as we exchange vows with equality, therefore symbolizing our commitment to marriage equality and wedding ourselves to the cause!
Join the Fight!
Organizing has already begun for The Big Commit! Please join our efforts so we may present a united front against our shared opponents. The Big Commit is looking for organization endorsements, media sponsors, faith-based communities, LGBTQI supporters and allies, speakers, and general assistance in making this an uplifting and powerful action.
August 15th. 2:00 PM to 4:00 PM. Location to be announced.
Click the link below to RSVP on Facebook and find out more:
http://bit.ly/cpIbgH
Do you have questions about creating legal protections for you and your family of choice? Do you want to learn more about recent changes to the law and how relationships are recognized in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia?
Join us on May 4th at 7:00 PM for a legal update from Michele Zavos from the Zavos Law Group.
Michele has almost 30 years of experience as an attorney in the Washington metropolitan area. She works primarily in the area of adoptions, estate planning, family mediation and probate. Her practice is particularly focused on developing legal protections for families, including families headed by same-sex couples.
The long-awaited day is finally upon us - Washington D.C's marriage equality law has taken effect and the courthouse doors are open for same-sex couples to apply for marriage licenses!
The city's GLBT Affairs office has posted some really helpful information about the process here: lgbt.dc.gov
In a beautifully understated move revealing the simple equality now recognized for all couples and families in the District of Columbia, the D.C. Superior Court Marriage Bureau directs same-sex couples to the same info page for all couples wishing to wed: http://www.dccourts.gov
If you are going to be among the happy couples on Wednesday claiming this right, I encourage you to take photos and send them to info@dcformarriage.org to share your experience with others! And for all the marriages about to take place in the wake of this historic law taking effect, we wish you the purest matrimonial bliss and peace with your loved ones.
Lambda DanceSPORT DC, an affiliate organization of Washington DC's LGBT sports connection, Team DC (http://www.teamdc.org) along with International DanceSPORT & Entertainment will provide FREE workshops through March and April to the first round of DC wedding couples as a celebration and tribute to the recently passed Marriage Equality bill by the DC City Council and Mayor Fenty.
You can find dates and locations here, on the Washington DC LGBT Ballroom, Latin, Swing & C/W Dance Meetup page of the Lambda DanceSPORT DC Calendar.
Prepare for your 'First Dance' at your wedding and once again, as a celebration and tribute to the new Marriage Equality law in DC, as donated venue space becomes available through the first round of weddings in the spring...it's FREE!
For more details as they become available, please contact: info@LambdaDanceSportDC.org, TerryChasteen@InternationalDanceSPORT.com or TerryChasteen@PleaseDanceWithMe.com.
]]>
Members of the multiracial, multifaith DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality are celebrating with same-sex couples who will soon be permitted to marry legally in the nation's capital. Marriage license applications will be available to same-sex couples on Wednesday morning.
"Love has won out over fear," said Rev. Dennis Wiley, co-pastor at Covenant Baptist Church and a co-chair of DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality. "Equality has won out over prejudice. Faith has won out over despair."
"We rejoice with the loving couples who have worked so hard and waited so long for this opportunity to seal their commitment," said Rev. Christine Wiley, co-pastor at Covenant Baptist Church and also a co-chair of DC Clergy United. "It's a great day for Washington."
DC Clergy United co-chair Rev. Robert Hardies, senior pastor at All Souls Church, Unitarian, celebrated the historic role that clergy leaders have played in the effort to bring legal marriage equality to the District of Columbia.
"In Washington, D.C., nearly 200 clergy chose to stand on the side of love," Hardies said. "We represent many faiths and many communities, but we share a vision for our city. And today we share the joyful news that many loving couples in our congregations will soon be getting married."
Members of DC Clergy United for Marriage played a visible role in the marriage equality debate, holding press conferences, testifying at D.C. Council hearings on marriage equality legislation, and challenging anti-equality leaders who claimed to represent people of faith in the District of Columbia.
In December, Mayor Adrian Fenty signed marriage equality legislation that was passed overwhelmingly by the Council of the District of Columbia. With the expiration of the congressional review period to which all D.C. Council legislation is subject, same-sex couples will be permitted to apply for marriage licenses beginning Wednesday morning, March 3; the first date for weddings will be March 9.
DC Clergy United for Marriage Equality released the following statement:
God is love and love is for everyone. In this spirit we have raised our voices in the struggle for the right and freedom to marry. In this spirit we now rejoice with all the couples in our communities and congregations who will soon be able to be married.
We represent many faiths, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations. We represent religious institutions in every ward in the District. We have worked together over many years for peace and justice. We are grateful to have played our part in bringing greater justice to the people of D.C. and the loving same-sex couples in our congregations.
We congratulate the activists who have worked diligently for many years to bring marriage equality to D.C. We thank the councilmembers and mayor who supported equality and who stood firm against threats and misinformation.
We encourage those who expressed heartfelt disagreement on this issue to respect the decisions of our elected officials and courts. We firmly support the unquestioned right of every religious leader and congregation to decide whether or not to bless same-sex marriages. And we ask that they respect the rights of those clergy and congregations who will soon joyfully extend the blessing of marriage to loving same-sex couples.
Show your support for the DC Center by purchasing these beautiful Valentines Day cards, designed by Keshini Ladduwahetty exclusively for the DC Center.
These cards can be purchased at the DC Center during our normal operating hours for $3.00 each. Or if you prefer, follow the links below to purchase online for $3.00 plus $1.00 shipping and handling.
CLICK HERE TO PURCHASE YOUR CARD NOW
The DC Center is a place where concerned community members can come together and improve the lives of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender residents of the District. DC for Marriage, GLOV, the HIV Working Group, and the DC Crystal Meth Working Group are all examples of exactly that.
Your support of the DC Center makes this work possible. Continue that support by ordering these cards online today, or becoming a monthly supporter of the DC Center.
]]>