Local
Local news in brief
Celebrations mark Kameny’s 85th birthday & more
Frank Kameny (Photo by Joe Tresh)
Celebrations mark Kameny’s 85th birthday
At least two events were set to take place this week to celebrate the 85th birthday of D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny, who is credited with founding the LGBT rights movement locally and playing a key role in starting the modern gay rights movement nationwide.
The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, which Kameny helped found in 1976, is hosting a reception in Kameny’s honor Friday, May 21, at the LGBT Community Center at 1810 14th St., N.W., from 6:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. The event was to include a special presentation on Kameny’s role in the D.C. LGBT community by fellow activist Paul Kunzler, another Stein Club founder.
A group of Kameny friends and fellow activists were scheduled to hold a separate event honoring his life’s work on behalf of gay rights on Thursday night at the Artist Inn Bed & Breakfast at 1824 R St., N.W., near Dupont Circle. The event, which was sponsored by Helping Our Brothers & Sisters, asked for donations from attendees to go toward a special Kameny fund that will “help support Frank Kameny in his later years of life,” according to an announcement of the event.
David Bradberry, a local activist and friend of Kameny, said local artist Don Patron, who was helping to organize the event, has made about a dozen oil paintings of Kameny. Bradberry said some were made from photos of Kameny taken in years past, including during his service in the U.S. Army during World War II. The paintings were to be sold in a silent auction at the event to help raise money for the Kameny fund.
“Kameny is the father of the modern gay movement, and his achievements are legend,” says the announcement.
“He was one of the leaders of the first gay rights demonstrations at the White House, State Department and Philadelphia’s Independence Hall — four years before Stonewall,” it says. “He founded or co-founded the D.C. chapters of the Mattachine Society and Gay Activists Alliance and the National Gay & Lesbian Task Force.”
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Marriage applications skyrocket in D.C.
The number of applications for a marriage license in the District of Columbia has continued to rise dramatically since licenses became available to same-sex couples in March.
According to Leah Gurowitz, a spokesperson for the D.C. Superior Court’s Marriage Bureau, as of May 18, the bureau received 2,213 marriage license applications since March 3, the day same-sex couples became eligible to apply for a marriage license.
Gurowitz said the Marriage Bureau doesn’t compile figures showing how many of the applications are from same-sex couples. But she said the 2,213 figure, which covers only a two-and-a-half-month period, can be compared to the 3,096 marriage license applications received by the bureau for the entire year in 2009.
“We can’t say that they are all same-sex couples,” said Aisha Mills, president of the Campaign for All D.C. Families, which successfully lobbied the City Council to pass the Religious Freedom and Marriage Equality Amendment Act of 2009. “But we can say that certainly this is the largest influx of applications they’ve had.”
Mills noted that she and her partner, who applied for a marriage license on March 3, encountered delays in scheduling a civil marriage ceremony at the courthouse.
“We were told the court had a backlog lasting through early June,” she said. “So for the first time ever, the court opened on a Saturday to perform ceremonies,” she said. “It was just one Saturday in late April, but it was the only time they have ever done that before to try to catch up.”
Gurowitz has said the backlog came about after far more same-sex couples applied for civil ceremonies at the courthouse than had been expected. She said steps have been taken to accommodate everyone that applies or a courthouse ceremony.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Capital Pride director to step down
The executive director of Capital Pride is planning to step down from her role following this year’s celebration.
Dyana Mason will leave Capital Pride Alliance at the end of July, when her contract expires, to pursue an advanced degree at the University of Southern California. Capital Pride Alliance announced Mason’s plans Friday.
Mason, who’s originally from California, is planning to pursue a doctorate in policy management.
Michael Lutz, president of the Capital Pride board of directors, said that while Mason “will be missed greatly, we also support and applaud her aspirations, and wish her the very best.”
“We were very fortunate to have Dyana with us as Capital Pride transitioned to its own self-perpetuating entity,” he said. “Her role as a servant-leader helped us to reach many of our growth goals earlier than expected.”
Capital Pride Alliance will post a formal job announcement to its web site, capitalpride.org, May 22. A selection process will take place over the summer, and Capital Pride Alliance aims to announce Mason’s successor this fall.
JOSHUA LYNSEN
Equality Virginia’s CEO resigns
The chief executive officer of Equality Virginia has resigned his position, according to a statement issued by the organization.
Jon Blair submitted his resignation April 30. Blair joined Equality Virginia in January 2009, notably taking the helm of an LGBT organization despite being straight.
Mark Board, chair of Equality Virginia’s board, said in the statement that Blair’s resignation was “unsolicited, unexpected and without notice.”
David Lampo, vice president of Virginia Log Cabin and a former Equality Virginia board member, said his understanding was Blair left Equality Virginia to take a job as campaign manager for Democratic Alaskan gubernatorial candidate Ethan Berkowitz.
According to the statement, Jean Segner, another Equality Virginia board member, will take up the role as interim CEO immediately and will serve without compensation.
Board said Equality Virginia is “fortunate to have board members ready to step up” to continue the work of the organization.
“The continuity of leadership offered by Jean Segner and our current staff ensures that [Equality Virginia] will continue to move forward effectively changing laws and changing lives,” Board said.
Claire Guthrie Gastanaga, Equality Virginia’s legislative strategist and general counsel, told the Blade the organization will be looking for a new CEO this summer after the membership of the board transition July 1.
“I suspect that the search process and all of that won’t … start until later this summer,” she said.
Lampo said those involved with the organization were “surprised and shocked” by Blair’s resignation.
“I think he did a reasonably good job given the constraints that a lot of organizations like that were under during the recession, with the substantially decreased funding, and decreased interest on the part of the GLBT community,” Lampo said.
Still, Lampo said Blair held a “political and partisan background” that affected his leadership at Equality Virginia.
“I think he always had trouble adjusting to the non-partisan atmosphere of an organization like Equality Virginia and the fact that he wasn’t down in the partisan trenches during election time,” Lampo said.
CHRIS JOHNSON
D.C. man guilty in anti-gay hate crime
A D.C. Superior Court jury last week rendered a guilty verdict for a bias-related assault and robbery against one of two men charged with attacking two teenagers in Southeast Washington in November.
The jury found Michael Cowan, 23, guilty of one count of assault with a dangerous weapon, and one count of assault with significant injury, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s office. Both charges were considered bias-related.
The statement says witnesses observed Cowan calling one of the two victims, a 17-year-old male, a “faggot” during the attack. The second victim was a 19-year-old male, according to the statement.
The jury found a second defendant, Vernon Long, 25, guilty of robbery and assault-related offenses, but acquitted him of the government’s allegation that the two charges were bias-related.
The statement says the incident began the day before Thanksgiving as the two victims were leaving a convenience store along the 2400 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, S.E. It says the two defendants attacked the victims from behind and demanded they turn over their jackets.
“While the second victim was huddled in the fetal position on the ground, Cowan and Long, along with accomplices, repeatedly punched and kicked the second victim in the face and body,” says the statement. “As the attack continued, Cowan (and possibly others n the group) repeatedly called the second victim a ‘faggot.’”
Both defendants face a possible sentence of more than 10 years in prison, and Cowan faces greater jail time under an enhanced sentencing provision in the city’s hate crimes law.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
District of Columbia
New queer bar Rush beset by troubles; liquor license suspended
Staff claim they haven’t been paid, turn to GoFundMe as holidays approach
The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board on Dec. 17 issued an order suspending the liquor license for the recently opened LGBTQ bar and nightclub Rush on grounds that it failed to pay a required annual licensing fee.
Rush held its grand opening on Dec. 5 on the second and third floors of a building at 2001 14 Street, N.W., with its entrance around the corner on U Street next to the existing LGBTQ dance club Bunker.
It describes itself on its website as offering “art-pop aesthetics, high-energy nights” in a space that “celebrates queer culture without holding back.” It includes a large dance floor and a lounge area with sofas and chairs.
Jackson Mosley, Rush’s principal owner, did not immediately respond to a phone message from the Washington Blade seeking his comment on the license suspension.
The ABC Board’s order states, “The basis for this Order is that a review of the Board’s official records by the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA) has determined that the Respondent’s renewal payment check was returned unpaid and alternative payment was not submitted.”
The three-page order adds, “Notwithstanding ABCA’s efforts to notify the Respondent of the renewal payment check return, the Respondent failed to pay the license fee for the period of 2025 to 2026 for its Retailer’s Class CT license. Therefore, the Respondent’s license has been SUSPENDED until the Respondent pays the license fees and the $50.00 per day fine imposed by the Board for late payment.”
ABCA spokesperson Mary McNamara told the Blade that the check from Rush that was returned without payment was for $12,687, which she said was based on Rush’s decision to pay the license fee for four years. She said that for Rush to get its liquor license reinstated it must now pay $3,819 for a one-year license fee plus a $100 bounced check fee, a $750 late fee, and $230 transfer fee, at a total of $4,919 due.
Under D.C. law, bars, restaurants and other businesses that normally serve alcoholic beverages can remain open without a city liquor license as long as they do not sell or serve alcohol.
But D.C. drag performer John Marsh, who performs under the name Cake Pop and who is among the Rush employees, said Rush did not open on Wednesday, Dec. 17, the day the liquor board order was issued. He said that when it first opened, Rush limited its operating days from Wednesday through Sunday and was not open Mondays and Tuesdays.
Marsh also said none of the Rush employees received what was to be their first monthly salary payment on Dec. 15. He said approximately 20 employees set up a GoFundMe fundraising site to raise money to help sustain them during the holiday period after assuming they will not be paid.
He said he doubted that any of the employees would return to work in the unlikely case that Mosley would attempt to reopen Rush without serving liquor or if he were to pay the licensing fee to allow him to resume serving alcohol without having received their salary payment.
As if all that were not enough, Mosley would be facing yet another less serious problem related to the Rush policy of not accepting cash payments from customers and only accepting credit card payments. A D.C. law that went into effect Jan. 1, 2025, prohibits retail businesses such as restaurants and bars from not accepting cash payments.
A spokesperson for the D.C. Department of Licensing and Consumer Protection, which is in charge of enforcing that law, couldn’t immediately be reached to determine what the penalty is for a violation of the law requiring that type of business to accept cash payments.
The employee GoFundMe site, which includes messages from several of the employees, can be accessed here.
District of Columbia
Brian Footer suspends campaign for Ward 1 D.C. Council seat
Race’s third LGBTQ candidate cites family reasons for ‘stepping back’
Gay Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Brian Footer, who was one of three out LGBTQ candidates running for the open Ward 1 D.C. Council seat in the city’s June 16, 2026, Democratic primary, announced on Dec. 17 he has decided to “suspend” his campaign to focus on his family.
“After deep reflection and honest conversations with my family, I have decided to suspend my campaign for the D.C. Council,” he said in a statement. “This moment in my life requires me to be present with the people I love most and honor the responsibilities I carry both at home and in the community,” he states. “This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
Footer, a longtime Ward 1 community activist and LGBTQ rights advocate, announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat in July, one month before bisexual Ward 1 community activist Aparna Raj announced her candidacy for the Council seat on Aug. 12.
Gay Ward 1 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Miguel Trindade Deramo announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat on Nov. 18, becoming the third out LGBTQ candidate in what appeared to be an unprecedented development for a race for a single D.C. Council seat.
At least three other candidates who are not LGBTQ are running for the Ward 1 Council seat. They include Ward 1 ANC member Rashida Brown, longtime Ward 1 community activist Terry Lynch, and Jackie Reyes-Yanes, the former director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs.
In his statement announcing the suspension of his candidacy, Footer said he would continue to be involved in community affairs and advocate for the issues he discussed during his campaign.
“I want to be clear: I am stepping back from the race, not the work,” he says in his statement. “Public service has always been my calling. I will continue advocating for affordability, for safer streets, for stability for small businesses, and for a government that responds to people with urgency and respect,” he wrote. “And I will continue showing up as a partner in the work of building a stronger Ward 1.”
Footer concluded by thanking and praising his campaign supporters and calling his campaign suspension a “transition,” suggesting he is not likely to resume his candidacy.
His campaign press spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Footer might later resume his campaign or if his latest action was in effect an end to his candidacy.
“To everyone who knocked on doors, hosted conversations, donated, shared encouragement, and believed in this campaign, thank you,” he says in his statement. “I am deeply grateful for every person who helped this campaign take root,” he added. “This isn’t an ending, it’s a transition. And I’m excited for the work ahead, both in Ward 1 and at home with my family.”
Longtime gay D.C. Democratic Party activist Peter Rosenstein said in a statement to the Blade, “I respect Brian Footer’s decision to end his campaign for Council. It is not easy to run a campaign in D.C. and there are many others running in Ward 1.” He added, “While not living in Ward 1, I thank Brian for all he has done and clearly will continue to do for the people in the ward.”
Local
LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly congregations to hold holiday services
Bet Mishpachah’s Hanukkah service to take place on Friday
LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly congregations in D.C. will hold services and other events throughout the holiday season.
Bet Mishpachah on Friday will hold its Sparks in the Dark Happy Hour at Spark Social on 14th Street from 5:30-7:30 p.m. It’s Chanuka Shabbat Service will begin at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m.
Hanukkah began on Sunday and will end on Dec. 22.
Two gunmen on Sunday killed 15 people and injured more than two dozen others when they opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Jake Singer-Beilin, Bet Mishpachah’s chief rabbi, in a Facebook post mourned the victims.
“We grieve for the victims and send heartfelt prayers of healing for those who were wounded,” he wrote.
“This Chanuka, our lights will shine brightly in the darkness, but our hearts will be heavy with mourning for those who were murdered on Bondi Beach while observing what should have been a joyous day,” added Singer-Beilin. “We will still celebrate our Festival of Lights and we will commit ourselves to illuminating and repairing our broken world. Let us channel the bravery of the Maccabees who found hope where there seemed to be none, and who fought to create a better future. We must do the same.”
LGBTQ Catholic group to hold annual Christmas Day Mass
Dignity Washington’s Christmas Day Mass will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Dec. 25 from 6-7 p.m. Parishioners can attend in person or watch it online via Facebook.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington D.C.’s Christmas Eve service will take place at the church (474 Ridge St., N.W., on Dec. 24 at 6 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1517 18th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist from 5-6 p.m. A Christmas Eve dinner will take place in the Parish Hall from 6-8:30 p.m. The church’s Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist will occur on Dec. 25 from 10-11 a.m.
Washington National Cathedral throughout the holiday season has a number of services and events scheduled. These include the virtual Gospel Christmas Service on Dec. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m., the Family Christmas Service on Dec. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon, the Christmas Eve Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 24 from 10-11:45 p.m., and the Christmas Day Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 25 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Family Service on Dec. 24 at 4:30 p.m. Its Carols and Candlelight Service will take place at 8 p.m.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum to celebrate Kwanzaa
The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place S.E.) in Anacostia will mark the first day of Kwanzaa on Dec. 26 with storytelling and drumming with Mama Ayo and Baba Ras D from noon to 2 p.m. The museum will hold a series of other events through the 6-day celebration of African American culture that ends on Jan. 1.
The Creative Suitland Arts Center (4719 Silver Hill Road) in Suitland, Md., on Friday will hold their Almost Kwanzaa: A Creative Kind of Holiday event from 6-8:30 p.m.
Empty seats, canceled shows plague Kennedy Center ahead of Trump renaming
New queer bar Rush beset by troubles; liquor license suspended
Malaysian police raids spark renewed concern among LGBTQ activists
HHS to restrict gender-affirming care for minors
Candidates should pledge to nominate LGBTQ judge to Supreme Court
LGBTQ Democrats say they’re ready to fight to win in 2026
Brian Footer suspends campaign for Ward 1 D.C. Council seat
Far-right José Antonio Kast elected Chile’s next president
In real estate, trust the process
