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LGBT retirement community opens in rural Maryland & more
LGBT retirement community opens in rural Maryland
A businessman from Dallas has opened Maryland’s first LGBT retirement community about 25 miles west of Baltimore.
The Stonewall Retirement Community, a resort-style residence for LGBT seniors anchored by a 12,000-square-foot structure atop a five-acre lot, is located in Howard County’s farming town of Woodbine. The facility can accommodate up to 14 singles or couples.
Scott Streit, Stonewall Retirement Community’s owner, said he’s targeting “the post-Stonewall and pre-‘Will & Grace’” generation with the venture.
The house features an outdoor pool that will be heated for year-round use, an eight-person hot tub, two barbeques, two laundry facilities, three kitchens, and a theater room with more than 500 DVDs. Other amenities include three large decks, wireless Internet and private baths with Jacuzzis.
Residency costs vary, depending on single or double occupancy and the desired setup. Prices start with a 650-square-foot, single-occupancy room with a small kitchen at $2,000 per month. At the top end is Stonewall’s 1,000-square-foot, double-occupancy room with a full kitchen and laundry at $3,750 per month, which includes two meals daily in the dining facility and a shopping service.
A complete cost model breakdown and amenity list is available on Stonewall’s web site, stonewallretirement.com.
Streit said it’s his hope that the shared lifestyle and activities among residents will bring a sense of community. Events keyed to New Year’s Day, Pride celebrations and Halloween, among others, are planned.
STEVE CHARING/BALTIMORE OUTLoud
D.C. man convicted of anti-gay hate crime
A jury has found a D.C. man guilty of bias-related assault and threats against a 67-year-old gay man, who authorities say was the subject of “an almost daily barrage of name-calling and harassment.”
Police said Anthony Wright targeted the elderly man along the 1200 block of Eaton Road, S.E., between June and August. At trial, police testified that Wright committed the assault and made threats to do bodily harm solely because of the victim’s sexual orientation.
Under the city’s hate crimes law, the maximum penalty Wright faces is 1.5 times greater than that of a similar set of offenses not listed as bias-related. According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, this means Wright could receive up to 270 days in jail for each of the two crimes.
A statement from the U.S. Attorney’s office notes that Wright’s name-calling against the victim “went on unabated for more than two years” before his actions turned violent on June 6. The statement says at that point, Wright punched the victim as he was sitting outside his apartment building. After that assault, police arrested Wright. He was released later that day.
“Upon his release, Wright returned back to the apartment building and proclaimed to the people standing outside, including the victim, that ‘they don’t lock you up for hitting faggots,’” says the statement. It says Wright continued his verbal harassment for another two months before threatening to stab him, a development that prompted police to arrest Wright for the second offense of bias-related threats.
Wright was found guilty April 28. D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein was scheduled to sentence Wright on Wednesday, after Blade deadline.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
New bus route ties D.C. to Delaware beaches
The gay men behind the DC2NY bus line will debut a new route over Memorial Day weekend tying D.C. to Delaware’s Rehoboth Beach and Dewey Beach.
Richard Green, DC2NY’s chief executive officer, said the new route will continue weekend trips between Delaware and Washington through Labor Day weekend. Ticket prices are $39 each way or $70 for a round trip. Departure times vary; a schedule will be posted soon at dc2ny.com.
“We’ve determined there’s enough interest that we’re going to do the entire summer season,” he said.
Previously, Rehobus shuttled customers between D.C. and Rehoboth Beach. That service, which began in 2007 and charged riders about $40 each way, ended after the 2008 summer travel season.
Since that venture ended, Green said “enough people have been asking for this service” that DC2NY decided to explore the market.
“Whether we make money or not, we want to do it this year as a service to the community,” he said. “We’re hoping to at least break even, but we’re committed to doing it this year to really give it a chance.”
JOSHUA LYNSEN
Local
Local LGBTQ groups, activists to commemorate Black History Month
Rayceen Pendarvis to moderate Dupont Underground panel on Sunday
LGBTQ groups in D.C. and elsewhere plan to use Black History Month as an opportunity to commemorate and celebrate Black lives and experiences.
Team Rayceen Productions has no specific events planned, but co-founder Rayceen Pendarvis will attend many functions around D.C. this month.
Pendarvis, a longtime voice in the LGBTQ community in D.C. will be moderating a panel at Dupont Underground on Sunday. The event, “Every (Body) Wants to Be a Showgirl,” will feature art from Black burlesque artists from around the country. Pendarvis on Feb. 23 will attend the showing of multimedia play at the Lincoln Theatre that commemorates the life of James Baldwin.
Equality Virginia plans to prioritize Black voices through a weekly online series, and community-based story telling. The online digital series will center Black LGBTQ voices, specifically trailblazers and activists, and contemporary Black queer and transgender people.
Narissa Rahaman, Equality Virginia’s executive director, stressed the importance of the Black queer community to the overall Pride movement, and said “Equality Virginia is proud to center those voices in our work this month and beyond.”
The Capital Pride Alliance, which hosts Pride events in D.C., has an alliance with the Center for Black Equity, which brings Black Pride to D.C. over Memorial Day weekend. The National LGBTQ Task Force has no specific Black History Month events planned, but plans to participate in online collaborations.
Cathy Renna, the Task Force’s director of communications, told the Washington Blade the organization remains committed to uplifting Black voices. “Our priority is keeping this at the forefront everyday,” she said.
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is also hosting a series of Black History Month events.
The D.C. Public Library earlier this year launched “Freedom and Resistance,” an exhibition that celebrates Black History Month and Martin Luther King Jr. It will remain on display until the middle of March at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library at 901 G St., N.W.
District of Columbia
U.S. Attorney’s Office drops hate crime charge in anti-gay assault
Case remains under investigation and ‘further charges’ could come
D.C. police announced on Feb. 9 that they had arrested two days earlier on Feb. 7 a Germantown, Md., man on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation after the man allegedly assaulted a gay man at 14th and Q Streets, N.W., while using “homophobic slurs.”
But D.C. Superior Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C., which prosecutes D.C. violent crime cases, charged the arrested man only with simple assault without a hate crime designation.
In response to a request by the Washington Blade for the reason why the hate crime designation was dropped, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office provided this response: “We continue to investigate this matter and make no mistake: should the evidence call for further charges, we will not hesitate to charge them.”
In a statement announcing the arrest in this case, D.C. police stated, “On Saturday, February 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and continued walking,” the statement says.
“The suspect assaulted the victim and used homophobic slurs,” the police statement continues. “The suspect was apprehended by responding officers.”
It adds that 26-year-old Dean Edmundson of Germantown, Md. “was arrested and charged with Simple Assault (Hate/Bias).” The statement also adds, “A designation as a hate crime by MPD does not mean that prosecutors will prosecute it as a hate crime.”
Under D.C.’s Bias Related Crime Act of 1989, penalties for crimes motivated by prejudice against individuals based on race, religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, and homelessness can be enhanced by a court upon conviction by one and a half times greater than the penalty of the underlying crime.
Prosecutors in the past both in D.C. and other states have said they sometimes decide not to include a hate crime designation in assault cases if they don’t think the evidence is sufficient to obtain a conviction by a jury. In some instances, prosecutors have said they were concerned that a skeptical jury might decide to find a defendant not guilty of the underlying assault charge if they did not believe a motive of hate was involved.
A more detailed arrest affidavit filed by D.C. police in Superior Court appears to support the charge of a hate crime designation.
“The victim stated that they refused to High-Five Defendant Edmondson, which, upon that happening, Defendant Edmondson started walking behind both the victim and witness, calling the victim, “bald, ugly, and gay,” the arrest affidavit states.
“The victim stated that upon being called that, Defendant Edmundson pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push,” the affidavit continues. “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay,” it says.
District of Columbia
Capital Pride wins anti-stalking order against local activist
Darren Pasha claims action is linked to his criticism of Pride organizers
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Feb. 6 partially approved an anti-stalking order against a local LGBTQ activist requested last October by the Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based LGBTQ group that organizes the city’s annual Pride events.
The ruling by Judge Robert D. Okun requires former Capital Pride volunteer Darren Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride’s staff, board members, and volunteers until the time of a follow up court hearing he scheduled for April 17.
In his ruling at the Feb. 6 hearing, which was virtual rather than held in-person at the courthouse, Okun said he had changed the distance that Capital Pride had requested for the stay-away, anti-stalking order from 200 yards to 100 feet. The court records show that the judge also denied a motion filed earlier by Pasha, who did not attend the hearing, to “quash” the Capital Pride civil case against him.
Pasha told the Washington Blade he suffered an injury and damaged his mobile phone by falling off his scooter on the city’s snow-covered streets that prevented him from calling in to join the Feb. 6 court hearing.
In his own court filings without retaining an attorney, Pasha has strongly denied the stalking related allegations against him by Capital Pride, saying “no credible or admissible evidence has been provided” to show he engaged in any wrongdoing.
The Capital Pride complaint initially filed in court on Oct. 27, 2025, includes an 18-page legal brief outlining its allegations against Pasha and an additional 167-page addendum of “supporting exhibits” that includes multiple statements by witnesses whose names are blacked out.
“Over the past year, Defendant Darren Pasha (“DSP”) has engaged in a sustained, and escalating course of conduct directed at CPA, including repeated and unwanted contact, harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior targeting CPA staff, board members, volunteers, and affiliates,” the Capital Pride complaint states.
In his initial 16-page response to the complaint, Pasha says the Capital Pride complaint appears to be a form of retaliation against him for a dispute he has had with the organization and its then president, Ashley Smith, last year.
“It is evident that the document is replete with false, misleading, and unsubstantiated assertions,” he said of the complaint.
Smith, who has since resigned from his role as board president, did not respond to a request by the Blade for comment at the time the Capital Pride court complaint was filed against Pasha.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos and the attorney representing the group in its legal action against Pasha, Nick Harrison, did not immediately respond to a Blade request for comment on the judge’s Feb. 6 ruling.
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