Category Archives: Edith Windsor

Spacing out the fun

Baltimore Pride, gay pride, gay news, Washington Blade

Last year’s Baltimore Pride. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Capital Pride is far from the only gay Pride event in the Mid-Atlantic with fabulous festivities and must-see entertainment. Those celebrating the LGBT community can extend the fun by taking road-trips to festivals in Baltimore, New York, Frederick, Md., and Annapolis, Md.

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The Baltimore Pride Celebration has been Maryland’s largest LGBT visibility event since 1975. Baltimore’s Pride Parade and Block Party are on June 15 from 3:30-9 p.m. in the heart of the city’s historic gay neighborhood, Mount Vernon. The Pride Festival on the following Sunday is held in lakeside Druid Hill Park from noon-5 p.m.

Baltimore Pride attracts roughly 30,000 people annually from all over the Mid-Atlantic. This year, there will likely be an even higher turnout with “WeDo Baltimore,” a mass LGBT marriage ceremony during the festival on Sunday. Carrie Heirs, the event organizer, describes “WeDo” as symbolic of a turning point for Maryland.

“We’re doing the first ever LGBT mass wedding in Maryland. We just won the referendum, so it’s the first time we’ve been able to legally marry during Pride,” Heirs says. “I think it symbolizes what we as a community have always known. We’ve known this in our hearts always: love is love.”

Heirs says it’s time for Maryland to celebrate after years of hard work, but that does not mean the national struggle for LGBT equality is over.

“We are the first state below the Mason-Dixon line for this to happen. It wasn’t just a one-time shot. We’ve always been given the opportunity to celebrate our own uniqueness during Pride, but why not take this chance to say what this actually means,” Heirs says. “I think that we’re celebrating because it’s Pride month, but it should not just be in our state. It should be in all 50 states. It should be the law, the norm.”

In addition to “WeDo Baltimore,” this year’s Baltimore Pride is also introducing “Summer Reign,” a dance party for ladies 25 and over, at Paparazzi Nightclub (407 East Saratoga St., Baltimore) from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. on June 15. Early bird tickets are $10 and tickets the day of are $20. For details and to purchase tickets, visit sumreign.eventbrite.com.

The headlining performer at the Saturday Block Party will be Ultra Naté, a Baltimore native who has proven her talent in a wide span of genres, including R&B, hip-hop, soul, house, rock and electro-pop. J Pope and Funk Friday, a female soul band, headline the Sunday Pride Festival. Septimius the Great, who cites Madonna and Lady Gaga as musical influences, will also be performing at the festival, as well as the Baltimore-based reggae group Unity.

Other Baltimore Pride events include Twilight on the Terrace, a cocktail party benefiting Baltimore Pride on June 14 at Gertrude’s Restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art (10 Art Museum Dr. Baltimore) from 7-11 p.m., and the High Heel Race at 3 p.m. on June 15 (corner of Charles and Read Streets in Baltimore). For more details on Baltimore Pride, visit baltimorepride.org.

New York City Pride, of course, is a hugely popular weeklong celebration of LGBT visibility just a bus or train ride away. The NYC Pride Rally kicks off the week’s festivities on June 28 from 7-10 p.m. at Hudson River Park’s Pier 26 in TriBeCa. The Rally features motivating speakers and popular performers who have yet to be announced.

The NYC Pride March has been an annual civil rights demonstration free and open to the public since 1970. The march starts on June 30 at 11 a.m. at 36 St. and 5 Ave.  This year’s grand marshals are Edith Windsor, Harry Belafonte and Earl Fowlkes. Following the march is PrideFest, a massive LGBT public street fair with vendors and entertainers on Hudson St. between Abdingdon Sq. and West 14 St. PrideFest is from 11 a.m. -6 p.m.

NYC Pride has many other events during the week, finishing with the glamorous Dance on the Pier party on June 30 from 3-10 p.m. on Pier 26 in Hudson River Park. Tickets are $75 and $125 for VIP passes, and all proceeds go to NYC Pride Week events and community organizations. For more details on NYC Pride, visit nycpride.org.

Frederick Pride 2013 is Frederick, Md.’s second Pride festival after a successful turnout at last year’s event. The gathering takes place in Utica Park (10-200 B Old Frederick, Rd., Frederick, MD) at noon on June 29. Tons of fun outdoor activities will be featured, including Capture the Flag, Football, Dodgeball and a pie-eating contest. For more information, visit the “Frederick Pride 2013” event on Facebook.

For late summer gay Pride, the Chesapeake Pride Festival will be held Aug. 3 from noon-6 p.m. at Mayo Beach Park (4150 Honeysuckle Dr., Edgewater, MD) in the Annapolis area. The afternoon will include a drag performance by Stormy Vain, as well as food, music and other activities. On June 22, guests can board the Richard Lee wooden tour boat for the Chesapeake Pride River Cruise from 6-8 p.m. to benefit Chesapeake Pride. Tickets are $40 and the boat will depart from the Discovery Village Marina (4800 Atwell Rd., Shady Side, MD). For more details and to purchase tickets, visit chesapeakepridefestival.org.

Other nearby pride events include OBX Pridefest in Outer Banks, N.C., the weekend of Sept. 13, Philly Pride this weekend and Pittsburgh Pride next weekend. Roanoke Pride is in September.

Windsor to Supreme Court: Strike down DOMA

Edith Windsor, gay news, Washington Blade

Attorneys for Edith Windsor filed their against DOMA before the Supreme Court on Tuesday (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Attorneys for New York lesbian widow Edith Windsor are arguing that the Supreme Court should strike down the Defense of Marriage Act on the basis that it violates her right to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution.

In a 63-page brief filed on Tuesday, Windsor’s lawyers make their case against DOMA — saying it furthers no federal interest in procreation or dual sovereignty with the states — and argue the law should be subjected to heightened scrutiny, or a greater assumption it’s unconstitutional.

“DOMA’s discriminatory treatment of married gay couples violates Ms. Windsor’s right to the equal protections of the laws as guaranteed by the Fifth Amendment,” the brief states.

Signers of the brief include private attorney Robbie Kaplan and attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, who filed the lawsuit on behalf on Windsor.

The case pending before the Supreme Court is known as Windsor v. United States and challenges Section 3 of DOMA, which prohibits federal recognition of same-sex marriage. Windsor is suing the U.S. government because in 2009 under the law she had to pay $363,000 in estate taxes upon the death of her spouse, Thea Spyer. Married straight couples are exempt from the estate tax under current law.

A substantial portion of the brief is devoted to countering the arguments of the House Republican-led Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group, which filed a brief in favor of DOMA in late January. Under the direction of House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio), BLAG has taken up defense of DOMA following the Obama administration’s announcement in February 2011 that it would no longer defend the law.

Windsor’s attorneys, for example, say BLAG’s argument that DOMA serves a federal interest by preserving marriage as one man, one woman to encourage responsible procreation “speaks volumes” about the lack of validity of the law.

“This one difference cannot explain the federal government’s decision to impose a sweeping disability on married gay couples that excludes them from countless federal programs and protections, and that only harms their children,” the brief states. “Because this distinction is based on the one feature that distinguishes married gay couples from married straight couples, what BLAG is really arguing is that it is acceptable to discriminate against married gay couples simply because they are gay.”

The brief from Windsor’s attorneys comes on the heels of a similar brief filed against DOMA before the Supreme Court by the Justice Department, which has assisted in litigation against the law. Both briefs argue that the court should apply heightened scrutiny to its review of DOMA.

Windsor’s attorneys makes the argument that DOMA should be subjected to heightened scrutiny because, like other suspect classes, gay people have suffered a long history of discrimination, sexual orientation is a central part of a person’s identity, and gay people lack power in the political process.

The brief also states that gay people should be considered a suspect class because sexual orientation has no bearing on their ability to contribute to society.

“Despite pervasive discrimination, lesbians and gay men have served with great distinction in virtually every facet of American society, as artists, athletes, academics, soldiers, scientists, lawyers, judges, psychologists like Dr. Spyer, and computer programmers like Ms. Windsor,” the brief states.

The U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals applied heightened scrutiny to DOMA in its ruling against the law. It remains to be seen whether the Supreme Court will do the same, but if it did, that could have widespread implications on laws affecting gay people.

However, there’s a key difference between the arguments in the briefs with regard to how DOMA hold against an application of a lower standard of rational basis review. Windsor’s attorneys say the court should strike down DOMA even it applied this lower standard and didn’t apply heightened scrutiny. The Justice Department does not challenge the law on the basis of rational basis review, but admits DOMA would fail under a more searching form of that review.

The next step in the case is for other interested parties to file their friend-of-the-court briefs on behalf of Windsor. Those briefs are due Friday.

The House Republican-led Bipartisan Legal Advisory Group has 30 days to respond to the brief filed by Windsor’s attorneys. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for March 27 and justices are expected to render a decision before their term ends in June.

Windsor: Oral arguments ‘went beautifully’

Edith Windsor, Edie Windsor, gay news, marriage equality, same sex marriage, gay marriage, Washington Blade

Edith Windsor on the steps of the Supreme Court (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The New York widow who challenged the Defense of Marriage Act said after she left the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday she feels the oral arguments in her case went “really well.”

“I think it went great,” Edith Windsor told reporters during a news conference after she and her attorneys left the court. “I think it went beautifully. I thought the justices were gentle… they were direct. They asked all the right questions. I didn’t feel any hostility or any sense of inferiority.”

Windsor, who married her partner of more than 40 years, Thea Spyer, in Canada in 2007, paid $363,000 in estate taxes after her 2009 death.

“In the midst of my grief I realized that the federal government was treating us as strangers,” Windsor said. “I paid a humongous estate tax. And it means selling a lot of stuff to do it, and it wasn’t easy.”

She also noted during the news conference that she did not wear a wedding ring when she and Spyer became engaged because she had not come out of the closet.

“I am today an out lesbian who just sued the United States of America, which is kind of overwhelming for me,” Windsor said.

She added she remains optimistic the justices will rule in her favor.

“I think it’s going to be good,” Windsor said.

Same-sex marriage supporters again gather outside Supreme Court

gay marriage, same sex marriage, marriage equality, gay news, Washington Blade

(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Several hundred same-sex marriage supporters once again gathered outside the U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday as the justices heard oral arguments in a case that challenges the constitutionality of the Defense of Marriage Act.

National Black Justice Coalition CEO Sharon Lettman-Hicks, Tyler Deaton of Young Conservatives for the Freedom to Marry, Alliance for Justice President Nan Aron and Earl Fowlkes of the Center for Black Equality are among those who spoke at a rally near the steps of the Supreme Court. Members of the Westboro Baptist Church gathered along First Street, N.E., but the vast majority of those who gathered outside the court backed nuptials for gays and lesbians.

“I think it’s important for all of us, regardless of whether we’re LGBTQ, to be here in support of change and [in] support of getting DOMA overturned and expanding federal benefits to all legally married couples,” D.C. resident June Crenshaw told the Washington Blade.

Yonkers, N.Y., City Councilmember Michael Sabatino and his husband Robert Voorheis visited Edith Windsor, the New York City widow who challenged DOMA after she paid $363,000 in estate taxes following her partner’s 2009 death, on Tuesday night. Sabatino told the Blade while he and Voorheis stood outside the Supreme Court with a sign that included a picture of them on their wedding day in Canada that she seemed “pretty relaxed” and “looked very well.”

“It was just great to spend a little quiet time with her before her big day today,” Voorheis said. “I am so excited about being here. It is a culmination of years of work to get to this point and I’m really optimistic. I’m really excited and I’m very proud of Edie.”

Brian Cain of Raleigh, N.C., held a poster with a picture of his husband Juan Grajales, whom he married last September in Mexico City, while standing near the court’s steps.

DOMA prevents gays and lesbians from sponsoring their foreign-born partners for immigration purposes, but Cain told the Blade he is hopeful the justices will overturn the statute that then-President Clinton signed into law in 1996.

“[Juan is] very proud that I’m here,” Cain said. “He is hopeful because this is all we have.”

Several thousand same-sex marriage supporters and opponents descended upon the court on Tuesday as the justices heard oral arguments in the case that challenges the constitutionality of California’s voter-approved Proposition 8 that banned nuptials for gays and lesbians in the Golden State in 2008.

California Attorney General Kamala Harris told the Blade after yesterday’s oral arguments that she feels the justices will uphold two lower court rulings that found Prop 8 unconstitutional.

Crenshaw, who was outside the court on Tuesday with other same-sex marriage supporters, was less optimistic about the case’s outcome.

“There’s all kinds of possibilities,” she said. “I’m very hopeful that the Supreme Court will decide on the right side of the law and support equality.”

Shauna Vert of Ottawa said nuptials for gays and lesbians has “always been a no-brainer” to her. Canada is among the countries in which same-sex couples can legally marry, but she told the Blade she feels opponents of the issue have a right to their opinion.

“I’m glad they’re using their freedom of speech,” Vert said. “We’re going to win anyway, so it doesn’t really matter.”

Year in review: DOMA, Prop 8 challenges advance in the courts

Supreme Court, gay marriage, same sex marriage, marriage equality, Proposition 8, Defense of Marriage Act,

The Supreme Court (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Supreme Court set the stage this year for what might be the demise of California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act when it agreed to take up litigation challenging the anti-gay measures.

On Dec. 7, justices agreed to take up Hollingsworth v. Perry, the lawsuit seeking to overturn Prop 8, and Windsor v. United States, a lawsuit filed by 83-year-old New York lesbian Edith Windsor seeking to overturn DOMA.

Ted Olson, one of the co-counsels representing plaintiffs, expressed optimism following the announcement that justices would rule against the California’s constitutional ban on same-sex marriage, which was approved by voters in 2008.

“We have an exhaustive record on which to build this case, and it will be an education for the American people,” Olson said. “We are very confident the outcome of this case will be to support the rights of our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters.”

The case comes to the Supreme Court after the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in February ruled against Prop 8. Had the Supreme Court declined to accept the case, the ruling would have stood and marriage equality would have been restored to California.

The DOMA case comes to the Supreme Court after numerous lower courts determined the anti-gay law was unconstitutional. The U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals became the first appellate court ever to strike down the law and was followed by the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals. This year alone, four federal district courts also ruled against DOMA.