Category Archives: Stephanie Rawlings-Blake

Baltimore mayor to marry couples at Pride

Baltimore, Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, gay news, Washington Blade

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake at the Baltimore Pride Parade in 2011. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings Blake will serve as grand marshal of next month’s Pride parade and will officiate at a mass wedding of gay and lesbian couples at the Pride festival the following day, organizers announced this week.

“Mayor Rawlings-Blake’s commitment to the LGBT community has been undoubtedly one of the best records in Maryland and for the City of Baltimore, from her early position in supporting marriage equality in Maryland to her commitment to combating gender identity anti-discrimination and violence in the city,” said Matt Thorn, interim executive director of the Gay & Lesbian Community Center of Baltimore, which organizes Pride.

The mayor, a regular attendee of Baltimore Pride, also officiated the first gay and lesbian weddings in Maryland on Jan. 1, 2013. The Baltimore Pride parade and block party will be held June 15 and the festival and weddings will follow on June 16.

This year, the Pride Committee is also showcasing the work of local activists and advocates. Beginning this year, Baltimore Pride will select two ‘Activists of the Year’ to ride in the Pride Parade. The 2013 Activists of the Year are Shawnna Alexander and Jamal Hailey. Alexander is celebrating 31 years of entertaining. Hailey is an advocate for marginalized groups, especially youth and LGBTQ communities of color.

Ayanbadejo to use Super Bowl to raise gay marriage awareness

Martin O'Malley, Brendon Ayanbadejo, Question 6, Maryland, election 2012, gay marriage, same sex marriage, marriage equality, gay news, Washington Blade

Brendon Ayanbadejo of the Baltimore Ravens with Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley outside Northwood Elementary School in Baltimore on Nov. 6. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

Baltimore Ravens linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo hopes to use the media attention surrounding his team’s appearance in the Super Bowl to further highlight his support of marriage rights for same-sex couples.

New York Times columnist Frank Bruni reported on Jan. 22 that Ayanbadejo sent an e-mail to same-sex marriage advocates Brian Ellner and Michael Skolnik hours after the Ravens clinched the AFC Championship by defeating the New England Patriots. Bruni said the linebacker asked them whether there is “anything I can do for marriage equality or anti-bullying over the next couple of weeks to harness this Super Bowl media?”

Ayanbadejo described his message to Ellner and Skolnik during a follow-up interview with Bruni as his “Jerry Maguire e-mail.” He said his “ultimate goal” after the Super Bowl that will take place in New Orleans on Feb. 5 was to “get our message out there,” including an appearance on comedian Ellen DeGeneres’ talk show.

Ayanbadejo, who has backed marriage rights for same-sex couples for several years, in late 2011 emerged as one of Maryland’s most high-profile supporters of the issue after he appeared in a Marylanders for Marriage Equality web video.

He headlined subsequent fundraisers with Gov. Martin O’Malley and others in support of the campaign that backed the same-sex marriage law the governor signed last March. Ayanbadejo also joined O’Malley, Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake and Maryland Congressman Elijah Cummings at a polling place in Charm City hours before a referendum on the statute passed by a 52-48 percent margin on Election Day.

The linebacker’s advocacy around the issue has also sparked controversy among those who oppose nuptials for gays and lesbians.

State Del. Emmett Burns (D-Baltimore County) told Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti in an Aug. 29 letter after Ayanbadejo donated two Ravens tickets as part of a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser that he “should concentrate on football and steer clear of dividing the fan base.” Chris Kluwe of the Minnesota Vikings subsequently defended Ayanbadejo in a series of profanity-laced tweets that blasted Burns.

“Brendon is permitted to express his viewpoints,” Ravens spokesperson Patrick Gleason told the Washington Blade in response to Ayanbadejo’s latest comments on the issue. “The Ravens have always supported his right to free speech.”

Gleason said Ayanbadejo was unavailable for an interview before the team traveled to New Orleans on Monday.

Ellner declined to provide the Blade a copy of the e-mail he received from the linebacker.

“He understands that as a straight biracial player in the Super Bowl he can have a huge impact on the future of this issue,” Ellner said. “He has courage because this comes from a deeply held sense of basic fairness. He’s part of a new generation of athlete ally. He’s creating a playbook for this.”

Baltimore City Hall among first to host same-sex weddings

Maryland, gay marriage, marriage equality, same-sex marriage, gay news, Washington BladeBaltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, who was a high-profile advocate for same-sex marriage in Maryland especially during the referendum battle, decided to open the doors of City Hall to allow same-sex couples to marry as soon as it was legal.

Beginning at 12:30 a.m. on New Year’s Day, seven couples participated in ceremonies with the first officiated by the mayor herself.

“New Years Day will have a new meaning for the hundreds — if not thousands — of couples who will finally have the right to marry the person they love,” said Rawlings-Blake in a statement prior to the event. “It is a remarkable achievement for Maryland and we are excited to open City Hall to host some of the first wedding ceremonies in our great state. Newly married couples will stand before their friends and family to profess their love and commitment to each other. This is what we worked for and I am looking forward to take part in this historic and jubilant day.”

Jim Scales, a 40-year employee of Baltimore City who has been an office manager serving all mayors since William Donald Schaefer, and his partner Bill Tasker were the first to get married in City Hall at 12:30 a.m. on Jan. 1. The couple, who reside in Essex, have been together 35 years.

“We didn’t want to rush into this,” Scales said.

The idea of opening City Hall originated with attorney Mark Scurti of PK Law. It took several phone calls and networking, but he was ultimately able to pull it off with help from the mayor’s office.

The other six couples who tied the knot at City Hall were Brigitte Ronnett and Lisa Walther, Danielle Williams and Darcea Anthony, Jamie Kraft and Sarah Vickery, Tom Rabe and Robert Coffman, Ryan Wilson and Shehan Welihindha, and William L. Countryman, Jr. and Roy Allen Neal.

Similar ceremonies took place around the state with some occurring one minute after midnight. Unions occurred in Annapolis, Tighlman Island, Howard County, Cumberland and more. Havre de Grace City Councilman Joseph C. Smith married his partner Don Starr at the city’s Concord Point Lighthouse, complete with fireworks.

Md. inn hosts same-sex weddings

gay marriage, marriage equality, same-sex marriage, Maryland, Clayton Zook, Wayne MacKinzie, Tilghman Island, gay news, Washington Blade

Clayton Zook and Wayne MacKenzie (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

TILGHMAN, Md.—A gay-owned Eastern Shore inn on Tuesday hosted more than half a dozen same-sex weddings on the first day gays and lesbians could legally marry in Maryland.

Tracy Staples, owner of the Black Walnut Point Inn on Tilghman Island in Talbot County who married his partner, Bob Zuber, shortly after the law took effect at midnight, officiated the wedding of Baltimore residents Clayton Zook and Wayne MacKenzie shortly after 12:30 p.m. in a gazebo overlooking the Chesapeake Bay.

The couple met more than six years ago while working at a Huntsville, Ala., television station. Zook, 28, joked with reporters after he and MacKenzie, 30, exchanged vows that their decision to get married at the inn was “kind of a last minute decision.”

“We thought it would be great to be a part of the first day that it’s legal in Maryland,” Zook said. “It’s an easy day to remember for an anniversary. As far as all the legal ramifications and everything goes, it’s great for us to say state of Maryland we thank you for giving us these rights for giving us equal rights and we want to show you that we do appreciate that and so getting married on the first day shows the people of Maryland that there are same-sex couples that are interested in matrimony.”

Kevin and Joey Lowery of Glen Burnie also married at the inn—Joey Lowery, who is deaf, spoke his vows to his soon-to-be-spouse after he interpreted them to him.

Michelle Miller and Nora Clouse of Stevensville in Queen Anne’s County have been together for 15 years. The couple had a commitment ceremony 10 years ago, and Miller conceded she thought “that was going to be it.”

“I’m very proud of Maryland, especially since the popular vote and the people had to decide on this issue,” she told the Washington Blade after she and Clouse exchanged vows.

Maryland is among nine states and D.C. that allow same-sex couples to legally marry.

Staples and Zuber are among the more than a dozen gays and lesbians who tied the knot immediately after the Maryland’s same-sex marriage law took effect at midnight—seven couples exchanged vows at Baltimore City Hall earlier today as Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, lesbian state Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City) and Equality Maryland Executive Director Carrie Evans watched.

Ruth Siegel of Silver Spring married her partner of 15 years, Nina Nethery, inside Black Walnut Point Inn just after midnight. The couple, along with Staples and Zuber and Dwayne Beebe and Jonathan Franqui of Pensacola, Fla., who also tied the knot immediately after the same-sex marriage law took effect, shared a champagne toast and a rainbow wedding cake after they exchanged vows.

“I just couldn’t stop crying and everybody else couldn’t stop crying,” Siegel told the Blade after she and her spouse watched Zook and MacKenzie tie the knot. “We had a nice little crowd of people that we didn’t know. And everybody got really close really fast. It was incredible.”

Beebe, who has been in the U.S. Navy for 19 years, proposed to Franqui, 28, in uniform while marching in last July’s annual San Diego Pride parade.

Florida does not recognize same-sex marriages, but Beebe told the Blade during a post-wedding interview at the Tilghman Island Inn that he and Franqui considered exchanging vows while they were taking care of his mother who continues to fight cancer at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in D.C.

“When we decided to make it legal, we were kind of figuring the options of so are we going to go to New York, are we going to go to Iowa or wherever,” Beebe said. “After the election, in Maryland it was going to be legal on [Jan.] 1 so we decided to come here, visit Mom while she’s undergoing treatment for cancer and also get our marriage license and then it sort of just all evolved into let’s do it on New Year’s night.”

Beebe attended the other same-sex weddings that took place later on Tuesday at the Black Walnut Point Inn while wearing his Navy uniform.

“It’s amazing to be able to wear my uniform and be openly gay,” he said. “There’s really not emotions or words to describe to live almost 19 years under ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ and then to be lifted and then to be actually legally married in the state to somebody that you love and you are in love with and that you want to spend the rest of your life with and that you can’t be fired for it, they can’t do anything to you, you’re just living your life the way you’re supposed to. It’s amazing. And to be able to wear my uniform is that much better.”

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Michelle Miller and Nora Clouse (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.)