Local
Local news in brief
GLAA honors local leaders & more
Eleven individuals and one organization were recognized Tuesday at the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance Distinguished Service Awards. The recipients included DC Agenda senior news reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. GLAA described Chibbaro as “the standard-bearer for gay-focused journalism” in D.C. who has spent more than 30 years “chasing down leads to get to the bottom of all manner of stories related to the LGBT community.” Awards also went to Joan Biren, Sean Bugg, Michael Crawford, Rev. Monique Ellison, Brian Flowers, Mark Levine, David Mariner, Nick McCoy, Brian Moore and Sultan Shakir. D.C. Clergy United for Marriage Equality, co-chaired by pastors Dennis Wiley, Christine Wiley and Rob Hardies, also won recognition. (DC Agenda photo by Michael Key)
Armed robbers steal cash from Nellie’s bar
A gun wielding male suspect and a man accompanying him forced the owner of Nellie’s Sports Bar at 900 U St., N.W., to turn over several hundred dollars in cash Monday afternoon while the bar was closed to the public, according to owner Douglas Schantz.
Schantz said the two suspects fled the premises after grabbing a container he was carrying bearing the cash, which was to be used to make change for customers’ purchases of drinks and food and which he believes was under $500. He said the suspects entered the bar between noon and 1 p.m. through an unlocked rear door that construction workers had used to enter the bar earlier in the day to do renovation work.
According to Schantz, the entire incident was captured by the bar’s video surveillance system and D.C. police have a “very good” image of the two suspects. Police planned to release photos made from the video this week. Schantz said he would send copies to the news media, including DC Agenda, for publication, with a request that anyone recognizing the suspects contact police.
The police’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit was assisting in the investigation of the incident. Schantz said all officers responding to the scene were cooperative and helpful, and did a “thorough job” of searching for evidence, including a hat that one of the suspects left behind as he fled the bar.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
GLLU probes domestic violence, carjacking incidents
Officers assigned to the D.C. police Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit provided assistance to regular patrol officers in two separate incidents on April 16 — a reported carjacking at 3rd and K St., N.W., and an alleged domestic violence assault on the 2300 block of 24th St., S.E.
According to GLLU supervisor Sgt. Carlos Mejia, both incidents involve members of the transgender community. He said officers with the Seventh Police District arrested a man identified as the boyfriend of a transgender woman, who reported that the man punched and pushed her.
Mejia said the second incident involves a police investigation into an alleged armed carjacking that took place in the early morning hours of April 16 in a location known as a place where transgender prostitutes congregate.
“The complainant reports that he was approached by four individuals who assaulted him and took his vehicle,” Mejia said in a statement. “GLLU officers and affiliate officers were called to the scene. The suspects are possible members of the transgender community.”
Mejia’s statement, which he sent by e-mail to activists on the GLLU’s e-mail list, did not provide additional details, and he could not immediately be reached for comment.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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