Local
Activists call on Fenty to ‘restore’ police liaison unit
Letter to mayor cites recent anti-LGBT attacks
Several local LGBT organizations have sent Mayor Adrian Fenty an open letter asking him to overrule the city’s police chief, Cathy Lanier, by directing her to upgrade the headquarters staff at the police department’s Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit.
Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence, the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club cited in the Aug. 26 letter a recent surge in anti-LGBT assaults in the city as demonstrating the need for strengthening the GLLU through an expanded staff.
“In light of this continuing history of violence against members of our community, we seek your immediate attention to fully restore the staffing levels of the GLLU to six full-time officers,” the groups said in the letter.
“Further, we ask that the unit be led by a full-time officer devoted to these duties with the authority to report directly to Chief Lanier. It is our hope that a restored GLLU will serve as a more effective liaison between the LGBT community and MPD,” the letter says.
The letter emerged from an Aug. 26 town hall meeting on anti-LGBT violence sponsored by the D.C. Center. Several people attending the meeting expressed support for a suggestion by gay activist Peter Rosenstein that activists stage a sit-in protest in Fenty’s office to dramatize the need for immediate action on his part to strengthen the GLLU.
Rosenstein said this week that he has no immediate plans for a mayoral protest or sit-in but said such an action would be considered sometime later.
GLOV co-chairs Kelly Pickard and Joe Montoni briefed town hall meeting attendees on some of the recent incidents of anti-LGBT violence, including about a half-dozen incidents in the Dupont Circle area near several gay bars. The two said they were especially troubled over the murder last month of gay federal worker Delando King, who was stabbed to death in his apartment near Massachusetts Avenue and 10th Street, N.W.
Police have charged a 24-year-old D.C. man with first-degree murder in connection with the case, and court documents filed by police say King appears to have invited his attacker home after meeting him in a gay bar.
GLOV co-chair Montoni said the group believes King’s murder should be listed as a hate crime, even though police have said the motive appears to have been robbery. GLOV praised police investigators for working with the GLLU to make an arrest in the case within a week of the murder.
The GLLU currently has four full-time officers, an increase from two years ago, when the unit’s staff dropped to just one or two officers due to attrition and a decision by Lanier to restructure and decentralize it.
Lanier has said budget cuts and the need for more officers on street patrol duty forced her to reduce the number of officers at the GLLU’s headquarters office in Dupont Circle from its high point in 2007 of six full-time officers and a full-time sergeant who served as its supervisor. The current GLLU supervisor, Sgt. Carlos Mejia, divides his duties between the GLLU and the department’s Latino Liaison Unit.
With the backing of Fenty, Lanier decentralized the GLLU and three other specialized police units working with the Latino, Asian American, and deaf and hard of hearing communities by establishing affiliate members of the units in each of the department’s seven police districts.
Officials with GLOV and other LGBT activists have expressed general support for the affiliate program, in which officers assigned to regular patrol duties are trained to respond to calls involving LGBT-related crimes. Lanier said there are currently about a dozen GLLU affiliate members in addition to the four full-time members.
But GLOV and other local LGBT groups have expressed concern that the affiliate members don’t have the time or expertise to handle all of the LGBT-related calls for police help, including calls related to hate crimes.
“Having affiliate officers trained to recognize and respond to LGBT crimes in every district is admirable in intent,” the groups said in their letter to Fenty. “In practice, however, not having officers dedicated to the GLLU full-time has led to, in our opinion, diminished effectiveness in recognizing and responding to bias crimes. We ask that you fully restore staffing to the GLLU and grant the officer in charge with direct reporting to Chief Lanier.”
The mayor’s office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
In an interview with the Blade two weeks ago, Fenty said he has full confidence in Lanier’s handling of the GLLU restructuring, saying she has succeeded in reducing overall crime rates in the city during her tenure as chief.
“You want law enforcement putting together strategy for keeping people safe,” Fenty said. “You don’t want civilians and you especially don’t want politicians to be the ones who are developing those strategies. And I think Chief Lanier has done a great job doing that.”
Delaware
New LGBTQ visitor center slated for Wilmington, Del.
The Collective to feature gift shop, queer museum, more
During Pride month this year, the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective (DSGC) announced plans for “The Collective,” the first LGBTQ+ visitor center in Wilmington in nearly 40 years.
“We’ve been talking about the concept of a brick-and-mortar space for a long time,” said Noah Duckett, co-founder of the DSGC.
A licensed clinical social worker, Duckett co-founded DSGC with his mother, Julissa Corianno, in 2018. Established under Sussex Pride, the DSGC serves as a hub for leaders and organizations working directly with LGBTQ+ communities throughout Delaware.
“Our vision for The Collective is a place where our community can come to learn, create, work, and be inspired,” said Corianno.
The Collective will feature a visitor center and gift shop highlighting LGBTQ-owned businesses in Delaware.
“I think that this is something that’s going to benefit our community so much,” said Duckett.
Some of the LGBTQ-owned businesses that DSGC has already partnered with include Stressed Induced Art Attack, Moonbeam Art Collaborative, Voce Coffee, Groovy Gemini Co., Scout Cafe, Macaron Social, and Huxley and Hiro.
“Specifically in Wilmington, we haven’t had an LGBTQ-dedicated space in almost 40 years,” said Duckett.
The last LGBTQ community center in Wilmington was The Griffin Community Center, which was open for only a few years in the 1990s.
“The Griffin was a community space in the ’90s, founded by our friends James and Evo, who are so incredible and have been so supportive throughout this process,” said Duckett.
Duckett said the DSGC hopes to carry on The Griffin’s legacy.
“I think now more than ever, there’s more and more spaces closing their doors. More and more spaces are losing funding, seeing reduced funding and reduced access, especially LGBTQ+ organizations and communities,” said Duckett.
The Collective will also feature Delaware’s first LGBTQ history museum, curated by queer historian Carolanne Deal.
“We don’t have any permanent displays in the state about Delaware’s queer history, and we want people to be able to access that history any day of the year, not just during Pride month,” said Deal.
With a master’s degree in art history for museum professionals, Deal has more than seven years of experience in curatorial work and hands-on collections care.
“It’s mainly going to be a graphic display with photographs, articles, and accessible text that draws people in and creates a story for the community,” said Deal.
Although the museum will not initially have an object collection, Deal said she hopes to add physical archival pieces in the future.
“Delaware has been at the forefront of a lot of queer civil rights, and it’ll be really amazing to have that enshrined in a permanent display that’s not only up for Pride month,” said Deal.
Duckett said DSGC is currently raising funds with the goal of breaking ground this summer and opening by the end of the year.
“We would love to have rent paid for, like, multiple years up front,” said Duckett.
Duckett told the Blade that fundraising efforts have reached just under $29,000 and that the organization is awaiting several major donations from community partner organizations.
However, he said DSGC continues to be denied many grants tied to federal or state funding because of restrictions on those funds being used for LGBTQ-serving organizations.
“Private and corporate donations are absolutely vital,” said Duckett.
Anyone interested in supporting the construction of The Collective can donate online or contact [email protected] for more information.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s Mary’s House For Older Adults names new executive director
Charlene Leach to succeed Imani Woody as leader of LGBTQ-supportive seniors home
The board of directors of Mary’s House for Older Adults, the D.C.-based home dedicated to providing affordable housing for LGBTQ seniors, has announced it has named longtime nonprofit organization leader A. Charlene Leach as its new executive director.
Leach, who is now serving in the executive director’s position, is succeeding Dr. Imani Woody, the Mary’s House founding president and CEO, who announced her retirement from her official leadership role at Mary’s House on July 7.
Woody, who holds a PhD in Human Services, is credited with playing the lead role over many years in arranging both city and private funding needed to construct and operate the Mary’s House three-story building located at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E., in the city’s Fort DuPont neighborhood.
“With over three decades of nonprofit experience and 15 years serving as an executive director, Charlene brings a wealth of knowledge in organizational leadership, program development, and community engagement,” the Mary’s House board says in a statement.
“Her proven track record of building impactful programs and leading mission-driven organizations makes her uniquely suited to guide Mary’s House into its next phase of growth,” the statement continues. “Charlene is deeply aligned with the mission of Mary’s House and is committed to advancing its work to provide safe, inclusive housing and supportive services for LGBTQ+ older adults,” it says. “Under her leadership, the organization will continue to expand its impact while remaining grounded in the values that define our community.”
Leach’s LinkedIn page shows she has most recently served since 2022 as executive director of the African American AIDS Task Force in Minneapolis. Prior to that, it shows she served as executive director of the Fredericksburg Area Health and Support Services organization in Fredericksburg, Va., and before that as director of development for the D.C.-Baltimore area Women’s Collective.
Her LinkedIn page says she has been involved with Mary’s House as a volunteer and grant writer since 2016.
The newly built and enlarged Mary’s House, which opened in March 2025, with a grand opening ceremony held in May 2025 attended by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, includes 15 single-occupancy residential apartments and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
An earlier statement released by the Mary’s House board announcing Woody’s retirement said Woody would continue to be involved with the organization as a member of the board. The earlier statement and board’s more recent statement on July 29 announcing Leach’s appointment as executive director did not say whether the board plans to name someone else as president and CEO, the title that Woody held before her retirement. But the latest statement says Leach will be running Mary’s House’s day-to-day operations as Woody did.
Virginia
Doug Ollivant to face Eugene Vindman in Va. 7th Congressional District
Republican defeated challengers in Tuesday’s primary
Republican Doug Ollivant will face off against incumbent U.S. Rep. Eugene Vindman (D-Va.) in Virginia’s 7th Congressional District.
Ollivant defeated his Republican opponents in Tuesday’s primary. Vindman ran unopposed.
Vindman in 2024 ran to succeed then-Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger in the U.S. House of Representatives after she ran for governor. Spanberger succeeded Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2025.
U.S. Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) on Tuesday easily won his primary. All other Democratic incumbent members of Congress from Northern Virginia also won their respective primaries.
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