Once hostile church in Virginia to honor gay Episcopal bishop – Washington Blade

Gay Fairfax County School Board member Karl V. Frisch finished second on Oct. 8 in a two-candidate race for the Democratic nomination for a special election to fill a vacant seat in the Virginia House of Delegates that includes parts of Fairfax County.

Frisch lost to public school teacher and community activist Holly Seibold at a Democratic Party caucus held in three locations on Saturday, Oct. 8, by a margin of 1,410 votes for Seibold to Frisch’s 1,143 votes, according to results released by the Fairfax Democratic Party.

Seibold will now run as the Democratic nominee in a Jan. 10 special election to fill the House of Delegates seat in the 35th District. The seat became vacant when Democratic incumbent Mark Keam resigned to take a position in the administration of President Joe Biden. The district includes the towns or cities of Dunn Loring, Oakton, Tysons, and Vienna.

“I’m proud of the campaign we ran and grateful for all who volunteered, endorsed, contributed, and otherwise supported us,” Frisch said in a statement. “Losing is always difficult – especially when so many people invest their time, talent, and hard-earned money to support your cause,” he said.

“That said, losing is a little easier to digest when it’s to someone as capable as Holly Seibold,” said Frisch. “She will be a great delegate. We have three months until the Special Election to fill Mark Keam’s seat, and I will do whatever I can to help her succeed.”

Frisch won election to the Fairfax County School Board in 2019 to represent the county’s Providence District, becoming the first openly LGBTQ person elected to a local office in Fairfax, which is Virginia’s largest county.

During his tenure on the school board Frisch has been an outspoken supporter of the rights of LGBTQ students, including transgender students at a time when Virginia Gov. Glenn Younkin (R) has proposed a controversial public school policy considered by activists to be hostile to trans students.