Photo by Jimbo3DC Supporters of marriage equality packed the gym at Northwest’s Kennedy Recreation Center Monday night for a “Rally for D.C. Marriage Equality.” The mood was celebratory on the eve of the D.C. Council’s final vote on a bill legalizing same-sex marriage in the District, which is expected to pass easily later today. Sponsored by the Human Rights Campaign, the rally brought together residents, council members and groups from the African-American and faith…

As City Desk noted last week, D.C. will recognize same-sex marriages performed in other jurisdictions starting 12:01 a.m. Tuesday, barring any last-ditch appeal today. That’s when the clock runs out on the 30-day congressional review of the marriage recognition bill passed in May by the D.C. Council and signed by Mayor Fenty. The Board of Elections and Ethics recently rejected an attempt led by Maryland Bishop Harry Jackson to put the bill up for…

Photo by gerdaindc D.C. Public Schools will release its summer reading list for students Friday, and some local librarians have alleged that gay titles under early consideration were removed. D.C. Public Library spokesman George Williams said that books with gay themes were included in the initial round of discussions on the reading lists, which are scaled for pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. “They were scrutinized along with many other books on the list,” Williams said….

Groups including Bilerico D.C., The Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and The Log Cabin Republicans of Metro D.C. sponsored a community forum on gay marriage and the faith community Wednesday night at All Souls Church in Adams Morgan. The panel featured Episcopal priest Rev. Monique Ellison, D.C. For Marriage Chair Michael Crawford and ACLU attorney Sharon McGowan. The forum addressed engaging churches that support gay marriage as well as…

Fred Phelps Whackadoo Fred Phelps and members of the Topeka-based Westboro Baptist Church will make stops in Virginia and the District this morning, picketing Fairfax High School, George Mason University and several embassies before reaching the White House around 11:30 a.m. Gay groups, including Boston-based Driving Equality and Equality Campus Style (which organizes activists from local colleges) have organized a counter-rally and online fundraiser to benefit Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV). Phelps and…

Photo by Scubaben Volunteers with D.C. for Marriage met at the D.C. Center late last week to outline early strategies for engaging churches, universities and the black community in conversations about gay marriage in anticipation of a bill expected before the D.C. Council later this year. Chair Michael Crawford said the group will do the kind of grassroots bridge-building that many feel California’s “No on 8” campaign lacked. “We need to start having conversations…

Photo of Pulp by NCinDC Ronald Henderson, owner of 14th Street stationery and gift store Pulp, died Feb. 15 at his home in Provincetown, Mass., of complications related to AIDS and liver cancer. He was 56. Henderson had lived with AIDS for 25 years, and it informed his work as an activist and educator in his native California, as well as in Washington, D.C., where he was involved with the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial…

The black high heel Vanessa Schutz is holding suddenly looks pretty menacing. “Temple! Throat!” she shouts, aiming at the air. “Good! What are some other things we have in the office that you could use if you had to?” instructor Lauren Taylor asks the circle of 11 other women on a recent Monday night in Chinatown. They are starting session three of eight classes on rape-prevention with Defend Yourself, Taylor’s self-defense group. They are full…

The black high heel Vanessa Schutz is holding suddenly looks pretty menacing. “Temple! Throat!” she shouts, aiming at the air. “Good! What are some other things we have in the office that you could use if you had to?” instructor Lauren Taylor asks the circle of 11 other women on a recent Monday night in Chinatown. They are starting session three of eight classes on rape-prevention with Defend Yourself, Taylor’s self-defense group. They are full…

Carl Rizzi is 67 years old, with more gorgeous kids and grandkids than he can count. And he’s got nine more on the way this sunny Sunday afternoon. Unlike most expectant parents, he waits for them in full makeup and a sequined gown at the newly reopened Ziegfeld’s, in the Buzzard Point section of Southwest Washington. As president of the executive board of the Academy of Washington, the oldest drag organization in D.C., Rizzi -…