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District of Columbia

Lesbian activist assaulted with barstool at D.C. lounge

Police say victim’s claim of anti-gay hate crime under investigation

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Ward 8 community leader Aiyi’nah Ford says she was attacked in a local bar. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

D.C. police say they are actively investigating an Aug. 3 incident in which lesbian activist and Ward 8 community leader Aiyi’nah Ford says she was hit three times in the head with the metal legs of a barstool swung by a man yelling anti-gay names at her.

A police report says the incident took place at the Player’s Lounge, a restaurant and bar at 2737 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E., in the city’s Congress Heights neighborhood shortly before and after midnight on Aug. 3 and 4.   

Ford, who witnesses say was covered in blood when she stepped outside the restaurant after other patrons intervened, was taken by ambulance to George Washington University Hospital for treatment of a head and scalp injury that required multiple stitches. 

Ford and an employee at Player’s Lounge said the man who allegedly committed the assault is a regular customer at the restaurant but is known to people only by his nickname of Black. A police spokesperson said that as of Monday no arrest had been made in the case but that it remains under “active investigation” by a detective with the department’s Seventh District in Southeast.

A police report obtained by the Blade lists the incident as an assault with a dangerous weapon, but it does not classify the incident as a hate crime.

“There is no indication at this time that this incident was motivated by hate/bias,” said D.C. police spokesperson Alaina Gertz in response to a question by the Blade about the police report. “Should further interviews with the complainant reveal information that suggests that this should be a hate crime, the report can be amended with the new information,” Gertz said.

“Anyone who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099 or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,” Gertz said in an email message. “The Metropolitan Police Department currently offers a reward of up to $10,000 to anyone who provides information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime committed in the District of Columbia,” she said.

Ford told the Blade she believes she made it clear to the police officers who spoke with her at the scene of the incident that the man who assaulted her called her anti-gay names, including “dyke bitch.” In a video of herself talking about the incident that she posted on Facebook Ford refers to the assault against her as a “gay-bashing.”

The police report says officers arrived on the scene while Ford was being treated by paramedics with the D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department.

“Victim 1 stated that she was talking to a friend of hers at the location when another person who frequents the location interjected himself and began to curse at Victim 1,” the police reports states. “The verbal altercation escalated, and Victim 1 stated Suspect 1 began to assault her with a bar stool,” the police report continues. “Other patrons at the bar broke up the altercation and Suspect 1 fled,” according to the report.

It adds, “Witness 1 corroborated Victim 1’s story and stated that Suspect 1 frequents the area but doesn’t know his name, only his nickname.”

Ford told the Blade the incident began while she and three or four Player’s Lounge customers were engaged in a conversation about local community issues, including the city’s violence interruption program. Ford said that, among other things, she expressed her strongly held opinion that the violence interruption program was not working and was a “joke.”

It was around that time, she said, that the man who assaulted her approached the group and interjected himself into the conversation and indicated that he was interested in possibly becoming one of the violence interrupter program volunteers or participants. Ford said the man, who appeared to be over six feet tall, began referring to women as “bitches” and hurled other curse words.

“So, we’re all going like, what?” Ford said of her and the others’ reaction to the man’s comments. At that point, most of those she was speaking with left the restaurant because it was close to its 11 p.m. closing time.

“And I’m like, who are you talking to?” Ford said she recalls asking the man. According to Ford, he responded by repeatedly reciting the words “dyke bitch” in a hostile way.

“At that point I immediately knew he was talking to me because I’m the only openly lesbian person in that space that frequents there regularly and who was in that room,” Ford told the Blade.

She said she questioned the man’s motives, including whether he could become a violence interrupter, and the two began to argue back and forth until, according to Ford, he walked up to her and stood almost shoulder to shoulder next to her.

“He continues to call me all kinds of homophobic slurs,” Ford said. “He calls me all kinds of bitches and continues to encourage the bar staff to get me to shut up before he shoots me and whatever else he will do to bring my death,” Ford said.

“Before I know it, he has picked up this barstool and hit me in the head,” said Ford. “He takes a second barstool and proceeds to hit me again,” she said, adding that he hit her a third time in the head with one of the barstools, each time with the metal legs of the stool.

Ford said she has learned that the man who assaulted her has told people she spit on him, which he considered to be an assault by her against him. Ford called that allegation a lie, saying she absolutely did not spit on the man.

When the Blade contacted Player’s Lounge for comment, a man who answered the phone arranged for Teresa “Auntie” Smith, one of the longtime employees who was present at the time of the incident, to speak with the Blade. Smith said while she was getting ready to close the restaurant she saw and heard what sounded like a heated argument between Ford and the man known as Black, but she said she was busy doing something in another part of the room and did not see the assault take place.

But she said both Ford and Black, whom she has known for a long time from their role as regular customers, were each saying “very mean things” that she had not heard either of them say before. Among other things, she said she heard Ford say to Black that he engaged in “oral sex with other men.”

When asked about Smith’s claim that she raised the issue of oral sex with Black, Ford said, “Yes, after he called me a dyke bitch I most certainly did.” Ford added, “It sounds like she’s saying that I deserved to be hit with a barstool. Nothing a woman says to a man that is yelling and encroaching on her personal space justifies hitting her in the head three times with a weapon,” Ford said.

“We at Players had a very sad incident on Wednesday night,” the restaurant said in an Aug. 5 post on its Facebook page about the assault case. “We are mostly family here and we look out for each other. We are so sorry for what happened and hope she will be ok,” the message says. “We are still trying to sort out the details of what happened, but we know that no one here would support gay bashing or any type of violence.”

Phil Pannell, a longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights and Ward 8 community activist, said he has organized LGBTQ community events at Player’s Lounge, saying it has the reputation of being an LGBTQ-friendly establishment for many years. He told the Blade that he was surprised upon learning of the assault against Ford because he was unaware of that type of incident ever having occurred at Player’s Lounge.

Ford, among other things, serves as executive director of the Future Foundation, a Ward 8-based community organization that provides services to local teenagers and their families. The organization’s website says one of its programs, called LGBTQ+ You, has provided a “safe space” drop-in facility for LGBTQ youth living in the city’s east of the Anacostia River neighborhoods.

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District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

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Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a “dynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system … building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walker’s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.”

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

“Heather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,” the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. “She has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,” it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

“In Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,” the announcement continues. “The care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,” it says. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,” Aaron said in the announcement press release. “I look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,” she said. 

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District of Columbia

Howard University, Gilead working to encourage HIV prevention

‘A strategic, community-centered approach to address systemic disparities’

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Howard University earlier this month hosted an event to support efforts in the Washington, D.C. area to spread HIV/AIDS awareness.

The event highlighted a collaboration between Howard University and Gilead Sciences’ new Setting the P.A.C.E  (Prevention – Arts and Advocacy – Community – Education)  initiative, which addresses HIV prevention, health equity and anti-stigma efforts for both cisgender and transgender Black women and girls. 

“By taking a strategic, community-centered approach to address systemic disparities and improve overall health outcomes, Gilead continues its commitment to advancing health equity for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls in the U.S. who continue to be disproportionately impacted by the HIV epidemic,” said Deborah H. Telman, executive vice president of Corporate Affairs and General Counsel, Gilead Sciences. 

Gilead’s Setting the P.A.C.E. Initiative is a three-year, $10 million commitment to increase HIV prevention, anti-stigma and health equity efforts for Black cisgender and transgender women and girls in the United States. Howard is one of Setting the P.A.C.E.’s grantees and through the program, it conducts HIV prevention training and informational resources, arts and advocacy, community and nonprofit capacity building, and education.

In 2021, Black women accounted for 53% of new HIV diagnoses among women aged 16 and older in the United States, despite comprising only 14% of the women living in the country, according to the Centers for Diseases Control & Prevention. Additionally, Black transgender women are likelier to be diagnosed with HIV and are likelier, more than their peers, to go undiagnosed and untreated. 

Through Setting the P.A.C.E., high-impact organizations and projects working to improve the HIV landscape receive specialized help that assists them in tackling barriers to equitable HIV health outcomes, and in receiving funding to support a variety of impactful projects to expand programs that provide culturally responsive HIV care training and leverage arts and media to engage local communities and address stigma. 

Because of the urgency of HIV awareness in the Black queer community, more than 75% of the organizations selected for P.A.C.E grants are led by Black women. Funding is directed toward initiatives spearheaded by Black women.

“Gilead’s Setting the P.A.C.E. initiative will help empower organizations to expand custom programs tailored toward fighting stigma and expanding access to HIV care in their communities,” said Telman. 

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District of Columbia

D.C. Council member proposes LGBTQ senior housing in Ward 2

Calls on mayor to include funding for project in FY 2025 budget

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D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) seeks to establish the city’s ‘first affordable housing for LGBTQQIA+ seniors in Ward 2.’

D.C. Council member Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) is calling on Mayor Muriel Bowser to include $22.9 million in the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget to establish what Pinto calls the city’s “first affordable housing for LGBTQQIA+ seniors in Ward 2.”

In a Feb. 27 letter to Bowser proposing specific amounts of city funding on a wide range of issues, including the Council’s recently passed crime bill, Pinto told Bowser the need for affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors is pressing.

“Having faced decades of workplace and healthcare discrimination and been barred for most of their lives from marrying or having children, our LGBTQQIA+ seniors are more likely to face financial and health challenges and need housing and social supports as they age,” Pinto states in her letter.

“As the Council-funded task force meets to identify a site for a Ward 2 Senior Center, we should endeavor to locate a building that serves a dual purpose: a Ward 2 Senior Center as well as LGBTQQIA+ senior housing,” Pinto states. DHCD [D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development] should leverage federal Community Development Block Grants funding to produce at least 80 affordable units for low-and-moderate-income seniors and provide meals and other supportive services,” she wrote.

Pinto was referring to legislation passed by the D.C. Council and signed by the mayor creating a Wards 2 and 3 Senior Wellness Center Feasibility and Planning Task Force, which is assigned to “advise and guide” the mayor, the Council, and other city government agencies in the development of  senior wellness centers in Wards 2 and 3.

The task force, whose members are appointed by the mayor and the Council, has already met twice and has discussed one possible building in the Dupont Circle area that could be considered for a seniors wellness center and residence for seniors, according to John Fanning, a member of the staff of D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large). Bonds serves as chair of the Council’s Committee on Executive Administration and Labor, which oversees city programs pertaining to senior citizens.

Fanning, who is gay and a longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate, and gay D.C. civic activist and former Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Mike Silverstein, are among those who have been appointed to the senior wellness center task force.

Silverstein said LGBTQ community members in the Dupont Circle area are suggesting the task force and the mayor consider arranging for the city to purchase a building owned by Baltimore’s Johns Hopkins University at 1740 Massachusetts Ave., N.W., for the senior facility.

The university used the building for many years for its various educational programs before it moved its programs and offices into a newly renovated building on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., near the U.S. Capitol.

“Since the mayor’s budget hasn’t been released yet, there’s no telling whether there’s dedicated funding included for the purchase of this property,” Fanning told the Washington Blade.

A spokesperson for Johns Hopkins University’s D.C. office couldn’t immediately be reached to determine the price the university is asking for the building, which it announced last year it was planning to sell. The D.C. Office of Tax and Revenue states on its website that the 8-story building has been assessed for 2024 at a value of $35,894,220.

“Council member Pinto’s request to the mayor is a vitally important first step toward establishment of LGBT+ affirmative housing in the historic epicenter of our community,” Silverstein told the Blade. “The need is clear, as so many of our seniors are struggling to age in place with soaring rents and inflation eating away at savings or just dealing with the effects of social isolation that comes with the loss of a partner or close friends,” Silverstein said.

“There’s no question the District’s budget is very tight and this project as envisioned would be a very heavy lift,” Silverstein added. “But just putting this request on the table and perhaps setting up a task force to seek a way forward is a giant step forward,” he said.

Silverstein noted that a city-funded senior housing facility under existing law would have to be open to all city seniors, not just LGBTQ seniors, but he said it would be “LGBT+ affirmative,” making it an important and welcoming place for LGBTQ seniors.

News surfaced this week that Bowser, who had planned to release her budget proposal to the Council this week, needed more time to finalize the budget and it would be released sometime later.

Mayoral spokesperson Daniel Gleick told the Blade last week that ideas like the Pinto LGBTQ-supportive housing proposal would be part of the budget process discussions by the mayor and the Council in the coming weeks. 

Pinto’s proposal for an LGBTQ-supportive senior housing facility in Ward 2 comes six months after Mayor Bowser and other city officials participated in a groundbreaking ceremony launching the construction of Mary’s House for Older Adults, which is expected to be the city’s first home for LGBTQ seniors. The Mary’s House facility, which is located in the city’s Fort Dupont neighborhood in Ward 7, will include 15 single-occupancy residential apartments, compared to the 80 apartments that Pinto’s proposal calls for.

LGBTQ rights advocates nevertheless have called the Mary’s House Project, which is receiving city funds as well as support from private donors, an important project organized and founded by longtime LGBTQ community advocate Imani Woody, who is expected to operate the facility when it opens. 

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