Local
Gay man killed in Anacostia apartment
Police tell neighbors no evidence of forced entry found
A 38-year-old gay man was found stabbed to death in his Anacostia apartment May 27, and D.C. police are seeking help from the LGBT community to help their investigation into the slaying.
Michael McKoy, who was found dead in his third-floor apartment at 1635 V St., S.E., became the fourth gay man to be killed in the D.C. area since December and the third to be murdered in neighborhoods east of the Anacostia River.
Lt. Paul Wingate of the D.C. police’s Homicide Branch said officials have no suspects or motive in the McKoy case. He noted that police are hoping residents from the neighborhood or others who knew McKoy will come forward with information to further the investigation.
Wingate said he could neither confirm nor deny information obtained by the Blade that police told neighbors that no signs of a forced entry into the building or into McKoy’s apartment were found.
Police have said in other cases that a lack of forced entry evidence usually means the victim knew his or her attacker and invited them into their home.
A resident of the building, who spoke to the Blade on condition of anonymity, said police investigators approached all residents seeking information for the case. The resident noted that investigators assured the residents they did not believe the incident was a random killing by someone who broke into the building.
Wingate said investigators have circulated a photo of McKoy to building residents and in the surrounding neighborhood.
In an announcement released May 28, police said they are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or people responsible for McKoy’s murder. Anyone with information is asked to call police at 202-727-9099.
McKoy’s stabbing death follows two other slayings of gay men in Southeast D.C. neighborhoods over the past six months. In December, District resident Anthony Perkins was found shot to death inside his car, which was parked on the 2900 block of Fourth Street, S.E. Antwan Holcomb, 20, a nearby resident, has been charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the killing. A police affidavit says a witness told investigators Holcomb met Perkins through a gay phone chat line and Holcomb pretended he was gay as a means of luring Perkins to a location where Holcomb could rob Perkins.
On Jan. 10, Maryland resident Gordon Rivers, also gay, was found shot to death on the street next to his car along the 2600 block of Naylor Road, S.E. Police have said witnesses told them a suspect shot Rivers in a botched holdup attempt inside Rivers’ car. Anthony Hager, 22, of Temple Hills, Md., and William Wren, 17, of Southeast D.C., have since been charged with first-degree murder in connection with Rivers’ death.
Police said Rivers drove to the area where he was shot after Wren reportedly called Rivers, inviting him to meet with Wren. Police have declined to say how Rivers and Wren first met and whether their meeting was through the Internet or a phone chat line.
Gay D.C. middle school principal Brian Betts, who was found April 15 shot to death in his house in Silver Spring, Md., met through a sexually oriented Internet and phone chat line catering to gay men at least one of three 18-year-old men charged with his murder, according to police sources.
The growing number of cases where gay men appear to have been thusly targeted prompted Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence to issue an alert warning locals of the dangers associated with meeting people through such venues.
Gay activist Phil Pannell said listings by gay men in Southeast D.C. neighborhoods, including Anacostia, have appeared recently on Internet dating sites for gay men.
Wingate said investigators are unsure whether McKoy lived alone or had a roommate. He noted that police received conflicting reports from neighbors, with some believing McKoy lived with another man at various times.
The lieutenant confirmed a report from a neighbor that McKoy’s body was discovered a few days after authorities believe he was stabbed to death. Wingate said relatives found McKoy’s body and contacted police.
Virginia
Arlington LGBTQ bar Freddie’s celebrates 25th anniversary
Owner asks public to support D.C.-area gay bars
An overflowing crowd turned out Sunday night, March 1, for the 25th anniversary celebration of Freddie’s Beach Bar, the LGBTQ bar and restaurant located in the Crystal City section of Arlington, Va.
The celebration began as longtime patrons sitting at tables and at the bar ordered drinks, snacks, and full meals as several of Freddie’s well-known drag queens performed on a decorated stage.
Roland Watkins, an official with Equality NoVa, an LGBTQ advocacy organization based in the Northern Virginia areas of Arlington, Alexandria, and Fairfax County, next told the gathering about the history of Freddie’s Beach Bar and the role he said that owner Freddie Lutz has played in broadening the bar’s role into a community gathering place.
“Twenty-five years ago, opening a gay bar in Arlington was not a given,” Watkins told the crowd from the stage. “It took courage, convincing, and a deep belief that our community belongs openly, visibly, and proudly,” he said. “And that belief came from Freddie.”
Watkins and others familiar with Freddie’s noted that under Lutz’s leadership and support from his staff, Freddie’s provided support and a gathering place for LGBTQ organizations and a place where Virginia elected officials, and candidates running for public office, came to express their support for the LGBTQ community.
“Over the past 25 years, Freddie’s has become more than a bar,” Watkins said. “It has become a community maker.”
Lutz, who spoke next, said he was moved by the outpouring of support from long-time customers. “Thank you all so much for coming tonight and thank you all so much for your support over the past 25 years,” he said. “I can’t tell you how much that means to me and how much it’s kept me going.”
But Lutz then said Freddie’s, like many other D.C. area gay bars, continues to face economic hard times that he said began during the COVID pandemic. He noted that fewer customers are coming to Freddie’s in recent years, with a significant drop in patronage for his once lucrative weekend buffet brunches.
“So, I don’t want to be the daddy downer on my 25-year anniversary,” he said. “But this was actually the worst year we’ve ever had,” he added. “And I guess what I’m asking is please help us out. Not just me, but all the gay bars in the area.” He added, “I’m reaching out and I’m appealing to you not to forget the gay bars.”
Lutz received loud, prolonged applause, with many customers hugging him as he walked off the stage.
In an official statement released at the reveal event Capital Pride Alliance described its just announced 2026 Pride theme of “Exist, Resist, Have the Audacity” as a “bold declaration affirming the presence, resilience, and courage of LGBTQ+ people around the world.”
The statement adds, “Grounded in the undeniable truth that our existence is not up for debate, this year’s theme calls on the community to live loudly and proudly, stand firm against injustice and erasure, and embody the collective strength that has always defined the LGBTQ+ community.”
In a reference to the impact of the hostile political climate, the statement says, “In a time when LGBTQ+ rights and history continue to face challenges, especially in our Nation’s Capital, where policy and public discourse shape the future of our country, together, we must ensure that our voices are visible, heard, and unapologetically centered.”
The statement also quotes Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President Ryan Bos’s message at the Reveal event: “This year’s theme is both a declaration and a demand,” Bos said. “Exist, Resist, Have Audacity! reflects the resilience of our community and our responsibility to protect the progress we’ve made. As we look toward our nation’s 250th anniversary, we affirm that LGBTQ+ people have always been and always will be part of the United States’s history, and we will continue shaping its future with strength and resolve,” he concluded.
District of Columbia
Capital Pride board member resigns, alleges failure to address ‘sexual misconduct’
In startling letter, Taylor Chandler says board’s inaction protected ‘sexual predator’
Taylor Lianne Chandler, a member of the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors since 2019 who most recently served as the board’s secretary, submitted a letter of resignation on Feb. 24 that alleges the board has failed to address instances of “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization.
The Washington Blade received a copy of Chandler’s resignation letter one day after she submitted it from an anonymous source. Chandler, who identifies as transgender and intersex, said in an interview that she did not send the letter to the Blade, but she suspected someone associated with Capital Pride, which organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, “wants it out in the open.”
“It is with a heavy heart, but with absolute clarity, that I submit my resignation from the Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors effective immediately,” Chandler states in her letter. “I have devoted nearly ten years of my life to this organization,” she wrote, pointing to her initial involvement as a volunteer and later as a producer of events as chair of the organization’s Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming, and Intersex Committee.
“Capital Pride once meant something profound to me – a space of safety, visibility, and community for people who have often been denied all three,” her letter continues. “That is no longer the organization I am part of today.”
“I, along with other board members, brought forward credible concerns regarding sexual misconduct – a pattern of behavior spanning years – to the attention of this board,” Chandler states in the letter. “What followed was not accountability. What followed was retaliation. Rather than addressing the substance of what was reported, officers and fellow board members chose to chastise those of us who came forward.”
The letter adds, “This board has made its priorities clear through its actions: protecting a sexual predator matters more than protecting the people who had the courage to come forward. … I have been targeted, bullied, and made to feel like an outsider for doing what any person of integrity would do – telling the truth.”
In response to a request from the Blade for comment, Anna Jinkerson, who serves as chair of the Capital Pride board, sent the Blade a statement praising Taylor Chandler’s efforts as a Capital Pride volunteer and board member but did not specifically address the issue of alleged sexual misconduct.
“We’re also aware that her resignation letter has been shared with the media and has listed concerns,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” she said.
“As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” Jinkerson said in her statement. “We’re doing this because the community’s experience with CPA must always be safe, affirming, empowering, and inclusive,” she added.
In an interview with the Blade, Chandler said she was not the target of the alleged sexual harassment.
She said a Capital Pride investigation identified one individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior over a period of time. But she said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) that applies to all board members and she cannot disclose the name of the person implicated in alleged sexual misconduct or those who came forward to complain about it.
“It was one individual, but there was a pattern and a history,” Chandler said, noting that was the extent of what she can disclose.
“And I’ll say this,” she added. “In my opinion, with gay culture sometimes the touchy feely-ness that goes on seems to be like just part of the culture, not necessarily the same as a sexual assault or whatever. But at the same time, if someone does not want those advances and they’re saying no and trying to push you away and trying to avoid you, then it makes it that way regardless of the culture.”
When asked about when the allegations of sexual harassment first surfaced, Chandler said, “In the past year is when the allegation came forward from one individual. But in the course of this all happening, other individuals came forward and talked about instances – several which showed a pattern.”
Chandler’s resignation comes about five months after Capital Pride Alliance announced in a statement released in October 2025 that its then board president, Ashley Smith, resigned from his position on Oct. 18 after Capital Pride became aware of a “claim” regarding Smith. The statement said the group retained an independent firm to investigate the matter, but it released no further details since that time. Smith has declined to comment on the matter.
When asked by the Blade if the Smith resignation could be linked in some way to allegations of sexual misconduct, Chandler said, “I can’t make a comment one way or the other on that.”
Chandler’s resignation and allegations come after Capital Pride Alliance has been credited with playing the lead role in organizing the World Pride celebration hosted by D.C. in which dozens of LGBTQ-related Pride events were held from May through June of 2025.
The letter of resignation also came just days before Capital Pride Alliance’s annual “Reveal” event scheduled for Feb. 26 at the Hamilton Hotel in which the theme for D.C.’s June 2026 LGBTQ Pride events was to be announced along with other Pride plans.
Arlington LGBTQ bar Freddie’s celebrates 25th anniversary
Love or fear flying you’ll devour ‘Why Fly’
Out actor Kevin Cahoon on starring role in ‘Chez Joey’
PHOTOS: Pride Reveal
Comings & Goings
Criteria for supporting a candidate in D.C.
Moving doc ‘Come See Me’ is more than Oscar worthy
Transmission DC breathes new life into a storied sound space
Capital Stonewall Democrats elect new leaders
