Local
Butts out in the cold as Va. gay bar goes smoke free
There was fresh air, fresh faces and perhaps not quite so many raspy-voiced karaoke songs at Freddie’s Beach Bar & Restaurant last week as Virginia went smoke free.
Business hasn’t declined since the Dec. 1 changeover, and some patrons even said they were enticed back or came for the first time as a result of the smoking ban.
“It’s much more pleasant inside,” said Tom, a Crystal City man who declined to give his last name. A smoker, he has a non-smoking partner. The pair shuffled back and forth between the warmer entrance patio and the cold of winter’s first snow outside.
“I support the ban,” he said. “I’ve only lived in Virginia for three years. Before that I lived in New York City. They had the ban. Before that, Boston. They had the ban. It’s an incentive to smoke less.”
D.C. and Maryland banned smoking in bars and restaurants in 2006 and 2008, respectively. Freddie’s was the last remaining gay bar in the metro area to allow smoking.
Not everyone at Freddie’s supports the ban. Ophelia Bottoms, Freddie’s Saturday night DJ and drag host reserved her anger for the Virginian government.
“It was forced on us,” she said. “I think it’s funny that we’re the tobacco state and you can’t smoke inside. I perform in the city and Maryland, this was the only place left to perform where you could still smoke.”
“Now it’s cold outside — really cold. When I’m not in drag it’s fine, but when it’s raining or snowing, it is not the best thing to go outside.”
On the first night of the ban, it rained, Bottoms said, so five people were forced to huddle in the doorway while people were trying to get into the venue.
Vince, a former Freddie’s employee who declined to provide his last name, said he enjoyed being able to smoke while he worked.
“I understand that non-smokers want to go somewhere that is smoke free, but as a smoker, we want somewhere that has a balcony or a patio with a roof,” he said. “I love Freddie’s, but I want to go somewhere that has a smoking area.”
Freddie Lutz, the establishment’s eponymous owner, said he’d have to check with the Health Department on what changes could be made to accommodate the displaced smokers.
“I have a lot of smoking clientele, and I’ve grown very fond of them over the years,” he said. “They’re not bad people, they just smoke. I really appreciate all of them and they’ve been loyal to me, faithful loyal customers.”
Returning that loyalty was “a work in progress” he said, beginning with small changes like moving ashtrays outside.
“There was a lot of that sort of talk [about a smoking deck] and the smokers were trying to think of ways we could get around it, we do the patio or something like that, but we really wanted to try this cold turkey.”
Virginia law would not permit Freddie’s former non-smoking patio to be converted to a smoking area as it is currently fitted, because of the flaps.
“If we do that, the flaps would have to be open. It could get cold. We could have heaters on, too, but that would be pretty costly,” Lutz said. It would also lose functionality as additional seating, he noted, due to the exposure.
Despite the complications, Lutz said he expected to see many new customers as a result of the changeover.
“I had a lot of people come to me and say, ‘We would go to your place or we’d go to your place more often but we just can’t stand the smoke.’ I think we’re going to get a lot of those people coming now, which is a great thing.”
Lutz said the smokers he talked to had accepted the change.
“Anyone would admit that it was an inevitability, it was going to happen. I don’t think we’re going to lose the smokers because where can they go? They can’t go to D.C.; they can’t go to Maryland.
“I’m an ex-smoker myself. I swore to myself I wouldn’t turn into one of those bitchy ex-smokers. I can relate and feel for the smokers and it’s unfortunate that it’s in the dead of winter. I know it’s difficult for them.”
Freddie’s manager Ray Martin confirmed that bar receipts were unchanged this week.
“For every customer that is maybe staying home and smoking now, more customers are coming out,” he said.
“Personally, I’m very pleased. My smoking has been cut down to a third of what it used to be. Every smoker out there really wishes they could quit.”
Customers who can’t stand to abandon either Freddie’s or their cigarettes could find hope in the bar owner’s plans to open another Freddie’s in another city, particularly in Florida.
“I’m down in Fort Lauderdale looking for a bar,” he said. “It is still smoking down here, interestingly enough. Freddie’s has been a smoking bar all this time so it wouldn’t bother me.
“I was actually surprised — pleasantly surprised — that Virginia did this. I thought they’d be the absolute last because they’re such a tobacco state, so now if we could just get them to legalize gay marriage, we’d be set.”
Virginia
Va. activists preparing campaign in support of repealing marriage amendment
Referendum about ‘dignity and equal protection under the law’
Virginia voters in November will vote on whether to repeal their state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed House Bill 612 into law. It facilitates a referendum for voters to approve the repeal of the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment. Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country in 2014, codifying marriage equality in Virginia’s constitution would protect it in the state in case the decision is overturned.
Maryland voters in 2012 approved Question 6, which upheld the state’s marriage equality law, by a 52-48 percent margin. Same-sex marriage became legal in Maryland on Jan. 1, 2013.
LGBTQ advocacy groups and organizations that oppose marriage equality mounted political campaigns ahead of the referendum.
Equality Virginia has been involved in advancing LGBTQ rights in Virginia since 1989.
Equality Virginia is working under its 501c3 designation in conjunction with Equality Virginia Advocates, which operates under a 501c4 designation, to plan campaigns in support of repealing the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
The two main campaigns on which Equality Virginia will be focused are education and voter mobilization. Reed Williams, the group’s director of digital engagement and narrative, spoke with the Washington Blade about Equality Virginia’s plans ahead of the referendum.
Williams said an organization for a “statewide public education campaign” is currently underway. Williams told the Blade its goal will be “to ensure voters understand what this amendment does and why updating Virginia’s constitution matters for families across the commonwealth.”
The organization is also working on a “robust media and voter mobilization campaign to identify and turn out voters” to repeal Marshall-Newman Amendment. Equality Virginia plans to work with the community members to guarantee voters are getting clear and accurate information regarding the meaning of this vote and its effect on the Virginia LGBTQ community.
“We believe Virginia voters are ready to bring our constitution in line with both the law and the values of fairness and freedom that define our commonwealth,” said Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman. “This referendum is about ensuring loving, committed couples and their families are treated with dignity and equal protection under the law.”
The Human Rights Campaign has also worked closely with Equality Virginia.
“It’s time to get rid of outdated, unconstitutional language and ensure that same sex couples are protected in Virginia,” HRC President Kelley Robinson told the Blade in a statement.
District of Columbia
D.C. police arrest man for burglary at gay bar Spark Social House
Suspect ID’d from images captured by Spark Social House security cameras
D.C. police on Feb. 18 arrested a 63-year-old man “of no fixed address” for allegedly stealing cash from the registers at the gay bar Spark Social House after unlawfully entering the bar at 2009 14th St., N.W., around 12:04 a.m. after it had closed for business, according to a police incident report.
“Later that day officers canvassing for the suspect located him nearby,” a separate police statement says. “63-year-old Tony Jones of no fixed address was arrested and charged with Burglary II,” the statement says.
The police incident report states that the bar’s owner, Nick Tsusaki, told police investigators that the bar’s security cameras captured the image of a man who has frequently visited the bar and was believed to be homeless.
“Once inside, the defendant was observed via the establishment’s security cameras opening the cash register, removing U.S. currency, and placing the currency into the left front pocket of his jacket,” the report says.
Tsusaki told the Washington Blade that he and Spark’s employees have allowed Jones to enter the bar many times since it opened last year to use the bathroom in a gesture of compassion knowing he was homeless. Tsusaki said he is not aware of Jones ever having purchased anything during his visits.
According to Tsusaki, Spark closed for business at around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the incident at which time an employee did not properly lock the front entrance door. He said no employees or customers were present when the security cameras show Jones entering Spark through the front door around 12:04 a.m.
Tsusaki said the security camera images show Jones had been inside Spark for about three hours on the night of the burglary and show him taking cash out of two cash registers. He took a total of $300, Tsusaki said.
When Tsusaki and Spark employees arrived at the bar later in the day and discovered the cash was missing from the registers they immediately called police, Tsusaki told the Blade. Knowing that Jones often hung out along the 2000 block of 14th Street where Spark is located, Tsusaki said he went outside to look for him and saw him across the street and pointed Jones out to police, who then placed him under arrest.
A police arrest affidavit filed in court states that at the time they arrested him police found the stolen cash inside the pocket of the jacket Jones was wearing. It says after taking him into police custody officers found a powdered substance in a Ziploc bag also in Jones’s possession that tested positive for cocaine, resulting in him being charged with cocaine possession in addition to the burglary charge.
D.C. Superior Court records show a judge ordered Jones held in preventive detention at a Feb. 19 presentment hearing. The judge then scheduled a preliminary hearing for the case on Feb. 20, the outcome of which couldn’t immediately be obtained.
District of Columbia
Judge rescinds order against activist in Capital Pride lawsuit
Darren Pasha accused of stalking organization staff, board members, volunteers
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Feb.18 agreed to rescind his earlier ruling declaring local gay activist Darren Pasha in default for failing to attend a virtual court hearing regarding an anti-stalking lawsuit brought against him by the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events.
The Capital Pride lawsuit, initially filed on Oct. 27, 2025, accuses Pasha of engaging in a year-long “course of conduct” of “harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior” targeting Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers.
In his own court filings without retaining an attorney, Pasha has strongly denied the stalking related allegations against him, saying “no credible or admissible evidence has been provided” to show he engaged in any wrongdoing.
Judge Robert D. Okum nevertheless on Feb. 6 approved a temporary stay-away order requiring Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride’s staff, volunteers, and board members until the time of a follow-up court hearing scheduled for April 17. He reduced the stay-away distance from 200 yards as requested by Capital Pride.
In his two-page order issued on Feb. 18, Okun stated that Pasha explained that he was involved in a scooter accident in which he was injured and his phone was damaged, preventing him from joining the Feb. 6 court hearing.
“Therefore, the court finds there is a good cause for vacating the default,” Okun states in his order.
At the time he initially approved the default order at the Feb. 6 hearing that Pasha didn’t attend, Okun scheduled an April 17 ex parte proof hearing in which Capital Pride could have requested a ruling in its favor seeking a permanent anti-stalking order against Pasha.
In his Feb. 18 ruling rescinding the default order Okun changed the April 17 ex parte proof hearing to an initial scheduling conference hearing in which a decision on the outcome of the case is not likely to happen.
In addition, he agreed to consider Pasha’s call for a jury trial and gave Capital Pride 14 days to contest that request. The Capital Pride lawsuit initially called for a non-jury trial by judge.
One request by Pasha that Okum denied was a call for him to order Capital Pride to stop its staff or volunteers from posting information about the lawsuit on social media. Pasha has said the D.C.-based online blog called DC Homos, which Pasha claims is operated by someone associated with Capital Pride, has been posting articles portraying him in a negative light and subjecting him to highly negative publicity.
“The defendant has not set forth a sufficient basis for the court to restrict the plaintiff’s social media postings, and the court therefore will deny the defendant’s request in his social media praecipe,” Okun states in his order.
A praecipe is a formal written document requesting action by a court.
Pasha called the order a positive development in his favor. He said he plans to file another motion with more information about what he calls the unfair and defamatory reports about him related to the lawsuit by DC Homos, with a call for the judge to reverse his decision not to order Capital Pride to stop social media postings about the lawsuit.
Pasha points to a video interview on the LGBTQ Team Rayceen broadcast, a link to which he sent to the Washington Blade, in which DC Homos operator Jose Romero acknowledged his association with Capital Pride Alliance.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos didn’t immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking whether Romero was a volunteer or employee with Capital Pride.
Pasha also said he believes the latest order has the effect of rescinding the temporary stay away order against him approved by Okun in his earlier ruling, even though Okun makes no mention of the stay away order in his latest ruling. Capital Pride attorney Nick Harrison told the Blade the stay away order “remains in full force and effect.”
Harrison said Capital Pride has no further comment on the lawsuit.
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