Local
Top 10 local news stories of 2009
Among last year’s biggest stories locally were tales of great victories and heartbreaking losses.
ten
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets reopens: Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, the popular gay nightclub that offers drag entertainment and nude male dancers, reopened in March in a warehouse building in the city’s Buzzard’s Point section at 1824 Half St., S.W. It became the first of two of the eight LGBT clubs displaced by the Washington Nationals baseball stadium to reopen. The Glorious Health Club, which bills itself as a men’s spa and art gallery, reopened in the summer at 2120 West Virginia Ave., N.E. Gay activists have complained that city zoning laws and restrictions against nude dance entertainment in most parts of the city have made it difficult for the other gay adult-oriented clubs displaced by the stadium to find a new location. Most of the clubs had been located on the unit block of O St., S.E., which operated as an adult gay entertainment enclave for more than 25 years.
nine
Evidence challenged in Robert Wone case: Aug. 2 marked the third anniversary of the murder of prominent Washington attorney Robert Wone, who was stabbed to death in the Dupont Circle home of three gay friends. The friends — attorney Joseph Price, public relations executive Victor Zaborsky and massage therapist Dylan Ward — have been charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and evidence tampering in connection with Wone’s murder. But authorities have yet to charge anyone with the murder itself. The case continued to capture the attention of local gays as prosecutors and defense attorneys sparred over evidence expected to be presented at trial, which is scheduled to begin May 10.
eight
Cleveland beats D.C. in bid to host Gay Games: Leaders of the Gay Games, the world’s largest international LGBT sporting event, voted in September to select Cleveland over D.C. and Boston as the host city for the 2014 Gay Games. The quadrennial event draws 12,000 athletes and about 80,000 spectators for more than a week of Olympic style athletic competition, bringing millions of dollars in revenue to the host city. Stunned officials with Metropolitan Washington Gaymes, Inc. and Team D.C., the two groups that spent nearly six years promoting D.C. as a candidate to host the 2014 games, were present in Cologne, Germany, when the Federation of Gay Games announced its decision. A Gay Games official told the Washington Blade that Cleveland won because Ohio and surrounding states are less advanced in LGBT rights than D.C. and Boston, and holding the Gay Games there would provide a boost to efforts in the region to promote LGBT equality through the universal appeal of sporting events.
seven
LGBT groups lose D.C. Council earmark grants: The City Council in July eliminated $1 million in city grants for four LGBT organizations, forcing the organizations to cut their budgets and, in some cases, lay off staff members. Council Chair Vincent Gray (D-At Large) said the elimination of the grants was part of a decision to end all earmarked, or non-competitive, grants for more than 100 non-profit organizations in the city. The four LGBT groups that lost the grants included the D.C. Center, which was set to receive a $500,000 grant to help it purchase a building; the Center’s Crystal Meth Project, which expected to receive a $150,000 earmarked grant; the Mautner Project for lesbian health, which expected to receive separate grants of $150,000 and $60,000; and Transgender Health Empowerment, which was slated to receive a grant of $150,000.
six
Trans woman’s stabbing death alarms activists: An unidentified man fatally stabbed a transgender woman as she and a friend were walking to a transgender services center near Second and Q streets, N.W., on Aug. 26. D.C. police investigated the murder as a possible hate crime targeting Tyli’a ‘NaNa Boo’ Mack, 21, because she was transgender. The incident prompted transgender activists associated with the D.C. group Transgender Health Empowerment to organize a rally at the site of Mack’s murder to raise the visibility of what they called a growing number of local hate crimes targeting transgender people. Police said the assailant stabbed another transgender woman who was walking with Mack at the time of the incident. The second victim suffered non-life-threatening wounds, police said.
The Lambda Rising bookstore will close this month after a 35-year run. (DC Agenda photo by Aram Vartian)
five
Panic defense duped prosecutors, activists say: Police and prosecutors’ handling of the September 2008 beating death of gay bar patron Tony Randolph Hunter became a rallying cry for LGBT activists in July 2009, when a grand jury lowered charges against an 18-year-old man arrested in the case from manslaughter to misdemeanor assault. Activists accused D.C. police and prosecutors of being unduly influenced by defendant Robert Hannah’s claim that he punched Hunter several times in self-defense after Hunter allegedly grabbed Hannah’s crotch and butt in a sexually suggestive way. Hunter fell onto the street as a result of the assault and sustained a fatal brain injury when his head hit the pavement. The activists called Hannah’s crotch-grabbing claim an attempt to use the so-called “gay panic defense” as an alibi for anti-gay violence. A friend of Hunter’s, who was present during the assault near a Northwest D.C. gay bar, said Hunter never touched Hannah and that the assault was unprovoked. But prosecutors have said the friend gave conflicting accounts of what happened and was an unreliable witness. To the dismay of activists, a D.C. Superior Court grand jury lowered charges against Hannah from a single count of felony manslaughter to a misdemeanor assault, to which he pleaded guilty. A judge sentenced him to the maximum penalty of 180 days in jail, a sentence that some activists called a miscarriage of justice in an incident that led to a gay man’s death.
four
Parson leaves GLLU, police chief faces criticism: Gay D.C. Police Sgt. Brett Parson, who served as commander of the department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, transferred to a new position in October as a supervisory patrol officer in the Sixth Police District. Parson’s departure from the GLLU came at a time when LGBT activists charged that Police Chief Cathy Lanier was dismantling the unit. Lanier said she is enacting a plan to decentralize and expand the GLLU and other special police units by recruiting more officers to become affiliated with the units while continuing to work as regular patrol officers in one of the seven police districts. But LGBT organizations, including Gays & Lesbians Opposing Violence and the D.C. Trans Coalition, have said Lanier effectively dismantled the GLLU before launching her decentralization plan.
three
Local HIV/AIDS cases rise 22 percent: A report released in March by the city’s HIV/AIDS administration showed the number of reported HIV or AIDS cases in the city increased 22 percent between 2006 and 2007. Similar to previous reports on HIV prevalence in the city, the report found that men who have sex with men account for the largest number of people living with the disease: 36.9 percent. People who contracted HIV/AIDS through heterosexual contact comprised 28.1 percent of the living HIV/AIDS cases, the report found. The report found that about 3 percent of the city’s population over age 12 had HIV or AIDS as of Dec. 31, 2007, making the District’s AIDS numbers the highest in the nation based on the number of cases per 100,000 people. HIV/AIDS Administration Director Dr. Shannon Hader said the figures placed the city alongside African countries like Uganda in terms of HIV/AIDS prevalence.
two
Washington Blade, Lambda Rising close: Just weeks after celebrating the paper’s 40th anniversary, the Washington Blade was shuttered by parent company Window Media on Nov. 16 following a Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing. Former Blade employees regrouped and founded the DC Agenda, publishing the first issue four days after the Blade’s closure. A month later, the owners of Lambda Rising bookstore announced in December that the store would close its doors for good in January, ending more than 35 years of service as the city’s preeminent LGBT bookstore. The store’s co-owner and founder, Deacon Maccubbin, 66, said he plans to retire and that he and his domestic partner of 32 years, Jim Bennett, decided they’d rather close the store than sell it to a new owner who might change its focus and mission. Maccubbin said he and Bennett were also closing the Lambda Rising store in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
one
D.C. Council, mayor approve same-sex marriage: D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty on Dec. 18 signed a bill allowing same-sex marriages to be performed in the nation’s capital in an action hailed by activists as an historic milestone in the city’s LGBT rights movement. The bill signing came three days after the City Council voted 11-2 to give its final approval of the legislation, the Religious Freedom & Civil Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009. Most political observers believe the Democratic-controlled Congress will allow the measure to become law following a required congressional review of 30 legislative days, which is expected to be completed in March. Noting that Congress has authority to overturn D.C. laws at any time, not just during the 30 legislative day review, same-sex marriage opponents have vowed to continue urging Congress to kill the law. They also have vowed to continue to seek to overturn the law through a D.C. voter initiative or referendum. The opponents have challenged an election board ruling that an initiative or referendum cannot be held on the marriage bill because it would violate the D.C. Human Rights Act.
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
Virginians for Marriage Equality on Monday launched a campaign in support of repealing Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, former state Del. Mark Sickles, and American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer are among those who spoke at the launch that took place in Richmond. State Del. Kirk McPike (D-Alexandria), who co-chairs the campaign, also participated.
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the commonwealth’s constitution.”
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in February signed a bill that finalized the referendum’s language.
The referendum will take place on Nov. 3.
Rehoboth Beach
CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
Dr. Robin Brennan on joyful approach to leadership role
Dr. Robin Brennan, CAMP Rehoboth’s new executive director, has been getting adjusted to her role and connecting with the Rehoboth community.
In March of this year, Brennan took on the role of executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, an LGBTQ+ community center in Delaware working to Create A More Positive (CAMP) environment, following the retirement of Kim Leisey.
When asked about her first few months with CAMP, Brennan said that she’s “in the listening and learning phase.”
“The first few months have been overwhelmingly beautiful, with such warm wishes from so many really diverse groups,” said Brennan.
“The more time that I’ve been at CAMP, it’s almost like I have more questions and more admiration for the solid foundation that it has,” said Brennan. She explained that she is taking her time to listen and connect with the Rehoboth community during these crucial first months.
She spoke to the stressful nature of this work, saying, “This work takes a lot of resiliency, especially being in a front-facing position as executive director of an organization. There’s so much pressure on this to be successful.”
Brennan is no stranger to high-pressure work environments, having worked in the public health field during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brennan earned a doctorate in public health from Drexel University and has spent nearly two decades working in higher education, which she says greatly influences her approach to her work.
“I am always giving back to and mentoring students, that’s always been a part of who I am,” said Brennan. She said that the adaptability and flexibility she practiced during her time as a professor influences her work, noting, “I think that to be flexible is a key to success.”
Aside from her tenure in academia, Brennan has worked for nonprofits, including with organizations such as Redeemer Health and Nemours Children’s Health.
Leslie Ledogar, president of CAMP’s board of directors, said that Brennan’s joyful approach to this work made her stand out in the search for a new executive director.
“I think that I’ve always naturally been positive and joyful because if I don’t, I will burn out,” said Brennan.
For Brennan, honoring CAMP’s legacy remains a top priority in her role at CAMP. “For me, legacy is so critical, so I want to honor the legacy that this foundation was built on.”
When asked about DEI funding cuts by the Trump administration, Brennan shared how she is navigating an administration that is targeting organizations like CAMP.
“This administration doesn’t open doors for opportunities. As a nimble nonprofit organization, we have always had to be creative,” said Brennan.
She said that she “would never want CAMP Rehoboth to rely on federal dollars, regardless of what type of political administration we’re in. I think relying on any kind of dollars or funding is problematic.”
“We need to stay creative and innovative, not chase money, and also our ears need to be listening to what our community needs,” said Brennan.
As younger members of the LGBTQ+ community grow disheartened by the growing attacks on queer rights, Brennan shared her thought process behind helping younger members of the community.
“I think my number one thing is to listen to them, to ensure that they know their voice is valuable. That’s the most important thing before giving advice is to listen to their concerns, their needs, their fears, their struggles,” said Brennan.
“They may not be your struggles, but ultimately, as a human being, they’re all of our struggles.”
Brennan brought up PRISM, CAMP’s social group for young LGBTQ+ adults to gather in community and experience new activities with likeminded young adults. This group offers a safe space where members can form connections with one another to build a sense of belonging.
Throughout the interview, Brennan reiterated her admiration for CAMP and the community it has brought to Rehoboth for decades.
“There is no place like CAMP Rehoboth, and what it has done for Rehoboth or what it has done for countless individuals who see it as an escape and a place of freedom, visibility, belonging, and hope,” said Brennan.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brennan said that she first visited Rehoboth in 1996 as a young gay person. “I felt at home. I could breathe,” said Brennan. She said that she has been a frequent visitor ever since and bought a house in town three years ago.
Brennan shared how happy she is to have her teenage daughter growing up with Rehoboth in her life. She said that her ideal day in Rehoboth involves going to the beach, trying new food, and enjoying time with her friends and family that live in the area.
As the summer season commences, Brennan shared that there is a plethora of upcoming events for members of the community to attend and enjoy.
Brennan highlighted the CAMP Women’s Golfing League, which is getting started on June 4 with tickets on sale now for CAMP Rehoboth members.
The CAMP Rehoboth Chorus is singing to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. on June 19 with tickets on sale now.
This year also marks the 35th anniversary of CAMP, which will be celebrated with Pride in the Courtyard on June 26.
Brennan was excited to promote CAMP’s new partnership with Beebe Healthcare starting this summer. The partnership is designed to expand access to patient-centered health services in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
“Relying on this partnership will be critical to the success of the health of our community,” said Brennan.
Brennan also talked about SUNFESTIVAL, which will be held during Labor Day weekend and will feature David Archuleta as the headliner.
Lastly, Brennan highlighted CAMP’s annual Block Party, which is held each October. “We shut down several streets, we have 100 vendors, and it’s a beautiful way for the whole community to come together to wrap up the summer,” said Brennan.
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Campaign to support Va. marriage amendment repeal launched
Why Michelle Visage needs you to get ‘PrEP Wise’
White House Correspondents’ Dinner rescheduled after shooting
CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
Nine Russian LGBTQ groups deemed ‘extremist’ banned
‘The Stranger’ queers an existentialist classic
Ghanaian lawmakers approve anti-LGBTQ bill
Time travelers from the AIDS era
