Welcoming Remarks

Mitch Wood
GLAA President

GLAA 38th Anniversary Reception
Washington Plaza Hotel
Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Good evening and welcome. I am Mitch Wood, President of GLAA. It’s been another busy year since our last anniversary. GLAA has worked to keep Washington, D.C. among the nation’s top jurisdictions in legal protections for same-sex couples. We assembled allies to defend the domestic partner parentage bill against ill-informed obstruction from the D.C. Office of the Attorney General. After months of collective effort, we were vindicated. The bill passed its first reading unanimously two weeks ago.

We continued to advocate a smart and strategic approach to winning marriage equality. We have kept in touch with a variety of activists, in particular former GLAA President Bob Summersgill and Michael Crawford of DC for Marriage. We applaud Michael’s grassroots organizing efforts. We consulted closely with our friends on the D.C. Council, especially Judiciary Chair Phil Mendelson, who is responsible for most of the advances in protections for our families over the past several years. We won’t forget the moment on April 7 when Phil, during the Council’s discussion of a provision to recognize same-sex marriages from other jurisdictions, announced the Vermont legislature’s successful veto override and enactment of marriage equality which had occurred moments before. And we were moved and gratified when Councilmember Yvette Alexander made DC’s marriage recognition amendment unanimous.

We worked with the DC Trans Coalition and several other groups to defend the D.C. Human Rights Act and protect the rights of transgender detainees in the Department of Corrections. We have had some success there as well, though further vigilance is needed. We called for alternatives to incarceration for transgender and teenage sex workers and faulted failed policies.

We joined the ACLU in opposing police initiatives that falsely pit public safety against civil liberties. On the international front, we compiled HIV/AIDS excerpts from the State Department’s Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2008. And we brought our decades of experience to bear in preparing a comprehensive policy paper, “Agenda: 2008,” and we educated and rated candidates for D.C. Council. We consulted regularly with the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs while maintaining our independent voice. And we enhanced our website to make its wealth of information more easily accessible.

Many of GLAA’s leaders over the years have been federal employees. That makes us especially pleased at the milestone that was reached recently when the openly gay John Berry was confirmed by the U.S. Senate as head of the U.S. Office of Personnel Management. We have come a long way since Frank Kameny was battling the Civil Service Commission four decades ago. Mr. Berry, aware of the history, has invited Frank to his swearing-in ceremony.

We are pleased this evening to honor a variety of individuals and groups for their service to the GLBT community, including several of our coalition partners. But first let me turn the floor over to members of the D.C. Council for a ceremonial resolution.