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Gay man recounts ‘vicious’ hate crime

‘I was on the ground bleeding’

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A 29-year-old gay man said he was knocked to the ground and beaten by two male attackers who called him anti-gay names while punching and kicking him as he was walking home this month from a Georgia Avenue bus stop.

Francisco Martin, a makeup artist who describes himself as openly gay, said one of the two attackers struck him in the face and head July 6 with a nine-inch wide sheet of plywood while the other knocked him to the ground and kicked him in the head and body.

D.C. police have listed the incident as a bias-related crime and are seeking the public’s assistance in identifying suspects. The department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit is assisting in the investigation. Police said the attack took place along the 600 block of Emerson St., N.W.

“I just tried to cover my face; I just started yelling, ‘stop, stop,’ and they just wouldn’t stop,” Martin told the Blade in a phone interview. “They just [kept] beating me until they ripped my shirt off. I was on the ground bleeding.”

Martin said he managed to walk about three blocks to his home after the attackers stopped beating him and left the scene.

He said he called 911 and police and paramedics arrived at his home within minutes. According to Martin, he declined an offer by the paramedics to take him to a hospital after the paramedics examined him and determined his injuries were not life threatening.

Martin said the attackers made no attempt to rob him, a development that leads him to believe they singled him out because they believed him to be gay.

“They were saying like ‘faggot’ or all these derogatory things,” said Martin, who is Latino.

Capt. Edward Delgado, commander of the police’s Special Liaison Unit that includes the GLLU, said Latinos have been targeted in a rash of street robberies in recent weeks in Petworth, the neighborhood where Martin was attacked.

Delgado released information about the incident involving Martin in an e-mail to community activists, calling it a “vicious” attack that appears to be the first LGBT-related hate crime in the Petworth area in recent years. He did not disclose Martin’s name.

Martin later contacted the Blade about the attack, saying he wanted to speak out about the “terrible problem of hate crimes” in D.C.

Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence has pointed to statistics showing D.C. having the nation’s highest rate of reported hate crimes against LGBT people in a major metropolitan area.

Martin said he is cooperating with police and is hopeful that the investigation will result in the arrest of the two men who attacked him.

He said the incident began around 8:30 p.m. when he noticed a group of young men staring at him and laughing as he was walking along Emerson Street from the Georgia Avenue bus stop.

He said he began running after he noticed two men were following him. The two chased after him and caught up to him on the 600 block of Emerson Street where they started beating him, he recalled.

Martin described the man who struck him with the plywood board as black with a dark complexion, and appearing in his mid to late 20s, about 5 feet, 7 inches, weighing about 150 pounds, having an athletic build, a light mustache and goatee with short hair, and wearing a yellow Polo shirt and jeans.

Martin said the second attacker was black with a dark complexion and appeared to be in his mid 30s. He described him as being about 5 feet, 11 inches, weighing about 180 pounds, having an athletic build, a short haircut and no facial hair, and wearing a white tank top with large blue shorts.

Anyone with information about the incident should call the Fourth District police detective’s office at 202-715-7506 or the police department’s hotline at 1-800-673-2777.

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Delaware

Historic New Castle to host Pride Market this weekend

Delaware town offers event with more than 55 vendors

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(Washington Blade photo by Ernesto Valle)

The town of New Castle, Del., will host a Pride Market on Sunday, the first day of Pride month. 

The event is hosted by the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective and features more than 55 LGBTQ-aligned businesses and resources, including Planned Parenthood of Delaware, the ACLU of Delaware, Orgullo Delaware, and New Castle Public Library. The event runs from 12-5 p.m. at 3rd Street and Delaware Street on The Green, an open space and market square. 

The inaugural Pride Market in November 2024 was the first market in the town’s history dedicated to the LGBTQ community. The Pride Market is “designed to be an affirming space for LGBTQ businesses and individuals to join together as a community,” according to the Facebook page. 

New Castle was founded in the 1650s by Dutch settlers with weekly markets on The Green beginning in 1655. The area features historically significant buildings like the 1732 Court House, the 1799 New Castle Academy, and an 1809 U.S. arsenal. Delaware Pride is scheduled for June 7 in Dover.

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Maryland

Annapolis Pride postponed due to weather

Parade and festival will not happen as scheduled, other events to take place

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Annapolis Pride postponed. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The annual celebration of the Annapolis LGBTQ community has been put on hold due to forecasted severe weather.

The Annapolis Pride parade and festival, both of which were supposed to take place on May 31, have been postponed until a later date.

Annapolis Pride Board Chair Joe Toolan announced the decision this afternoon, citing information given to the Pride board from emergency management agencies and weather forecasting models.

“The safety of our community comes first,” Toolan said. “Based on guidance from the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the 2025 Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival due to the very real threat of severe thunderstorms, lightning, and flooding.

“We are hoping to reschedule for some time this fall,” he added.

The National Weather Service has issued tornado and flood watches for large portions of the Mid-Atlantic area, more specifically in areas of Virginia, D.C., and Maryland — including Anne Arundel County where Annapolis is located.

The tornado watch only lasts until midnight, but the impacts of heavy downpours in the area can already be seen where the parade and festival were set to take place. The festival grounds at Bates Middle School are already experiencing flooding and over-saturation, and a flood watch remains in effect with more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

“We are all sad and terribly disappointed that we cannot proceed with the parade and festival on Saturday,” Toolan said. “Hundreds of hours have been spent on planning and coordination, and we were expecting tens of thousands of attendees. But at the end of the day, safety concerns outweigh all other concerns.”

Toolan said the Pride board will announce a rescheduled date as soon as it is confirmed.

Even though the Annapolis Pride parade and festival have been postponed, there are a slew of other planned Pride events that will go on as scheduled:

May 30 – Ladies Night – SOLD OUT
6–10 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis

June 1 – Drag Brunch at Leo – SOLD OUT
10 a.m., Leo Annapolis Restaurant, 212 West St.

June 1 – Ecumenical Pride Worship Service
3 p.m., Eastport United Methodist Church, Annapolis

June 3 – Annapolis Pride Beer Launch
4–7 p.m., Forward Brewing, Annapolis

June 5 – Pride on the Pier
6–9 p.m., Bread and Butter Kitchen, Annapolis

June 6 – Big Gay Dance Party
10 p.m.–close, Tsunami Restaurant, 51 West St., Annapolis

June 7 – Pop-Up Market: Benefiting Annapolis Pride
10 a.m.–3 p.m., Annapolis Town Center
Special discounts @Kendra Scott 6/7–6/8

June 14 – Silent Disco
7–11 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis

June 21 – Teen Dance Party
6–9 p.m., Art Farm, Annapolis
For high school freshmen – juniors

*ticketed event

For more information on the postponement of Annapolis Pride, visit https://annapolispride.org/

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District of Columbia

Bowser raises Pride flag over Wilson Building

Council members joined mayor to welcome WorldPride to D.C.

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(Washington Blade photo by Robert Rapanut)

Close to 200 people turned out on Thursday, May 29, to watch D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, joined by members of the D.C. Council and officials with the Capital Pride Alliance, raise a large Pride flag on a tall flagpole in front of the John Wilson D.C. City Hall building.

The mayor, who joined others in speaking from a podium on the front steps of the Wilson Building, called the event the city’s official welcoming ceremony for hosting WordPride 2025 DC in the nation’s capital.

World Pride events, which began May 17, continue through June 8.

“Happy WorldPride in the gayest city in America,” Bowser told the crowd to loud cheers and applause.

(Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

Joining Bowser were five members of the D.C. Council, including gay Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who was among the Council members who also spoke at the event.

Also speaking were Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, the local LGBTQ group serving as lead organizer of WorldPride 2025, and Capital Pride Alliance Deputy Director June Crenshaw.

“This flag tells a story of love without apology,” Crenshaw said in her remarks at the podium. “Our community has never backed down, and we will not at this time of challenge,” she said.

Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the gathering that the city and especially Bowser and all city officials were proud to host WorldPride at the time of the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in D.C.

Among those attending the event and sitting in a front row seat was longtime D.C. gay activist Deacon Maccubbin, who organized the city’s first Gay Pride Day celebration in 1975. He was joined by his husband, Jim Bennett.

During the ceremony Bowser also presented Capital Pride Alliance officials with a mayoral proclamation proclaiming Thursday, May 29, 2025, as “A Day of Remembrance For Bernie Delia in Washington, D.C.”  Delia, a longtime Capital Pride Alliance official and one of the lead organizers of WorldPride 2025, died unexpectedly of natural causes June 21, 2024

The other Council members participating in the event in addition to Parker were Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Matthew Ruman (D-Ward 3), and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) 

The Council members, Capital Pride officials, and LGBTQ community members stood next to Bowser as she raised the large Pride flag on a pole located to the right of the front steps and main entrance of the Wilson Building.

(Washington Blade photo by Robert Rapanut)
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