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Whitman-Walker faces trans bias allegation & more
Whitman-Walker faces trans bias allegation
The D.C. Office of Human Rights has found probable cause that the Whitman-Walker Clinic engaged in employment discrimination based on gender identity when it chose not to hire transgender activist Earlene Budd for a job she sought in 2008.
Gustavo Velasquez, OHR’s director, confirmed May 28 that his office had made the probable cause finding. He said the finding is a preliminary action equivalent to a formal charge and is not a final determination that the Clinic engaged in discrimination.
He said Whitman-Walker has appealed the probable cause finding. Under procedures for processing discrimination complaints, the OHR must rule on the appeal.
If the office upholds its finding, the case goes to a mandatory conciliation process, where Clinic officials and Budd negotiate a possible settlement, Velasquez said. If a settlement cannot be reached, the case goes to the independent D.C. Commission on Human Rights, which makes a final decision on whether the Clinic violated the city’s Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation, gender identity and other categories.
Budd declined to comment, saying she was advised by her attorney not to discuss the case.
Chip Lewis, a Whitman-Walker spokesperson, said the Clinic “remains committed to being the highest quality, affirming, and culturally competent health center for the metro D.C. LGBT community.”
“This principle extends to our employee recruitment and retention practices,” he said. “We look forward to favorably resolving this matter with the OHR.”
Velasquez said his office could not provide further details about Budd’s discrimination complaint against the Clinic, saying case files are not released unless or until they reach the commission for adjudication.
He noted that OHR, which investigates discrimination allegations, finds probable cause in just 5 percent of the complaints it receives from District residents.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Judge deals blow to defense in Wone trial
D.C. Superior Court Judge Lynn Leibovitz is allowing prosecutors to submit for her review in the Robert Wone conspiracy trial all videotaped statements the defendants made to police.
The ruling, which was seen by observers as a strong blow to the defense, came during the third week of a trial in which gay defendants Joseph Price, Victor Zaborsky and Dylan Ward are charged with obstruction of justice, conspiracy to obstruct justice and evidence tampering in connection with Wone’s murder.
Wone, who was friends with the defendants, was found stabbed to death in 2006 in the guest bedroom of their house. His wife, Katherine Wone, testified that Wone had worked late and decided against driving to the couple’s home in Oakton, Va.
The defense attorneys argued that allowing the admission of the taped police interrogation of the three men on the night of the murder would be highly prejudicial to their case. They cited rules of evidence in trials preventing testimony by one defendant detrimental to another during a joint trial.
Lead prosecutor Glenn Kirschner argued that Leibovitz was highly qualified to distinguish between statements by the defendants that should or should not be admissible. He noted that at the request of the defendants, Leibovitz, rather than a jury, would render a verdict in the case and she would not be susceptible to prejudice.
The taped interrogations are considered important evidence for the government. Prosecutors said the men’s statements can be used in conjunction with physical evidence found at the crime scene to show their alleged propensity to conceal the truth about the Robert Wone murder. No one has been charged with the killing.
The trial is expected to continue for at least another two weeks.
LOU CHIBBARO JR.
Virginia
McPike wins special election for Va. House of Delegates
Gay Alexandria City Council member becomes 8th LGBTQ member of legislature
Gay Alexandria City Council member Kirk McPike emerged as the decisive winner in a Feb. 10 special election for a seat in the Virginia House of Delegates representing Alexandria.
McPike, a Democrat, received 81.5 percent of the vote in his race against Republican Mason Butler, according to the local publication ALX Now.
He first won election to the Alexandria Council in 2021. He will be filling the House of Delegates seat being vacated by Del. Elizabeth Bennett-Parker (D-Alexandria), who won in another Feb. 10 special election for the Virginia State Senate seat being vacated by gay Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria).
Ebbin is resigning from his Senate this week to take a position with Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger’s administration.
Upon taking his 5th District seat in the House of Delegate, McPike will become the eighth out LGBTQ member of the Virginia General Assembly. Among those he will be joining is Sen. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who became the Virginia Legislature’s first transgender member when she won election to the House of Delegates in 2017 before being elected to the Senate in 2023.
“I look forward to continuing to work to address our housing crisis, the challenge of climate change, and the damaging impacts of the Trump administration on the immigrant families, LGBTQ+ Virginians, and federal employees who call Alexandria home,” McPike said in a statement after winning the Democratic nomination for the seat in a special primary held on Jan. 20.
McPike, a longtime LGBTQ rights advocate, has served for the past 13 years as chief of staff for gay U.S. Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and has remained in that position during his tenure on the Alexandria Council. He said he will resign from that position before taking office in the House of Delegates.
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.
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