Local
Local news in brief: Oct. 29
P Street Beach raided; police seek aid in unsolved murder
Men stopped, detained in P St. Beach raid
About a half dozen D.C. and U.S. Park Police officers swooped into the woods in P Street Beach about 3:20 a.m. on Oct. 10 and stopped but did not arrest several men they observed loitering in the well-known gay male cruising spot, according to a police official and an eyewitness.
The witness, a gay man who spoke on condition that he remain anonymous, said he and between a half dozen to a dozen men were cruising in a wooded area of P Street Beach park along a slope hidden from the street and sidewalk next to tennis courts along 23rd St., N.W., near P Street.
“One or two D.C. police cars came down the gully, blocked off one side and left their spotlight on” pointing into the woods, the witness said. The witness said he saw a Park Police car pull up along the tennis courts, with officers emerging and running down the slope shouting for the men to “stop.”
“I started running and so did the guy I was with,” said the witness. But the witness said more officers arrived from the other side of the park, heading toward where he was running. In what he described as a surreal scene out of a movie, he said he managed to escape after lying motionless behind a log in the underbrush in the park for nearly an hour.
“I lay there with my head down and just waited,” he said. “I assumed most of the other guys got caught, but I don’t know for sure … And they kept coming back,” he said of the police officers. “They were shining their lights and I heard them say, ‘Come out wherever you are.’”
Assistant D.C. Police Chief Diane Groomes said a Park Police contact and the watch commander of the D.C. police department’s Second District told her the officers participating in the police action did not make any arrests. Instead, Grooms said, they “stopped some subjects.” She said she was awaiting further details from both D.C. and Park Police.
Park Police officials have said in the past that they routinely take the names and other information from people they stop in P Street Beach at night, when the park is closed to the public and people entering are considered trespassers. According to Park Police officials, the officers issue warnings to the people they stop in the park at night, telling them they could be subject to arrest for trespassing if they are caught there a second time.
Grooms said D.C. police have recently received several complaints from parents of students attending Frances Junior High School, which is located next to P Street Beach, and from school officials about “illegal activity” in the park. She said the people making the complaints pointed to disposed condoms and trash in the area where people were said to be loitering in and around the park.
P Street Beach is a section of Rock Creek Park near Dupont Circle that runs along the banks of Rock Creek. Like all of Rock Creek Park, it is maintained by the U.S. Park Service and patrolled mostly by U.S. Park Police.
Fla. sheriff seeks help from gays in murder of Va. businessman
Anyone with information concerning the murder of Samuel DelBrocco, is asked to contact BSO Homicide Detectives Tim Duggan or Efrain Torres at 954-765-4321. Or call Crimestoppers at 954-493-8477.
The Broward County, Fla., Sheriff’s Office last week asked a gay newspaper in Fort Lauderdale to publish information about the Sept. 11 murder of an Alexandria business executive, who was found dead in his vacation home in Pompano Beach.
Samuel DelBrocco, 61, chief executive officer of Alexandria-based PCI Communications, a public relations and corporate communications firm, was last seen alive by friends at a Fort Lauderdale restaurant a day or two before police discovered his body in his posh, waterfront home in Pompano Beach, according to the Sheriff’s Office.
Norman Kent, editor and publisher of South Florida Gay News, said sheriff’s officers hand-delivered to his office a flier about DelBrocco’s murder, which includes DelBrocco’s photo, and urged him to publish the information.
Sheriff’s Office Det. Efrain Torres told the Blade that investigators don’t know whether DelBrocco had ties to the gay community.
“We want as much exposure as possible,” he said. “We’re reaching out to all media.”
Anyone with information about the murder should contact the Broward Sheriff’s homicide squad at 954-765-4321 or the Broward Crime stoppers hotline at 954-493-8477.
District of Columbia
Curve magazine honors Washington Blade publisher
Lynne Brown named to 2026 Power List
Washington Blade Publisher Lynne Brown has been named to the 2026 Curve Power List celebrating LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary individuals in North America who are blazing trails in their chosen fields.
“From sports and entertainment icons to corporate leaders and lawmakers, these individuals are breaking barriers, challenging norms, and shaping the future,” Curve Foundation/Curve magazine said in announcing this year’s list, which includes ABC newscaster Robin Roberts, comedian/actress Hannah Einbinder, and singer/actress Renee Rapp, among others.
Brown has worked for the Washington Blade for nearly 40 years. She was named publisher in 2007 before becoming a co-owner in 2010.
“I am honored to be recognized by Curve magazine during Lesbian Visibility Week,” Brown said. “Receiving this Curve honor is twofold. I was an early subscriber to Curve. I enjoy the product and know its history. Its journalism, layout and humorous features have inspired me.
“As an owner/publisher, receiving recognition from a similar source acknowledges my work and efforts, with a sincerity I truly appreciate. Franco Stevens, the publisher of Curve, is a business person of duration, experience, and purpose. The fact that they are in the media business, and honoring me and my publication makes it a tiny bit sweeter.”
Nominations for the Curve Power List come from the community: peers, mentors, fans, and employers.
Curve explained the significance of the list in its announcement: “An annual, publicly nominated list of impactful LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary changemakers is crucial in current times to counter discrimination, legislative rollbacks, hostility, and the invisibility of queer women within mainstream and marginal spaces and endeavors. Such a list also fosters encouragement and solidarity, and elevates voices and achievements—from high-profile roles to under appreciated areas of life.”
Rehoboth Beach
Auction of Rehoboth’s Blue Moon canceled
Details on sale of iconic bar, restaurant not disclosed
The Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, Del., has been an iconic presence in the local LGBTQ community for four decades but its status remains murky after a sheriff’s auction of the property was abruptly called off on Tuesday.
The property was listed for sale in December. At that time, owner Tim Ragan told the Blade that he is committed to preserving its legacy as a gay-friendly space.
“We had no idea the interest this would create,” Ragan said in December. “I guess I was a little naive about that.”
Ragan explained that he and longtime partner Randy Haney were separating the real estate from the business. The two buildings associated with the sale were listed by Carrie Lingo at 35 Baltimore Ave., and include an apartment, the front restaurant (6,600 square feet with three floors and a basement), and a secondary building (roughly 1,800 square feet on two floors). They were listed for $4.5 million.
The bar and restaurant business is being sold separately; the price was not publicly disclosed.
But then, earlier this year, the Blue Moon real estate listing turned up on the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office auction site. The auction was slated for Tuesday, April 21 but hours before the sale, the listing changed to “active under contract” indicating that a buyer has been found but the sale is not yet final. As of Wednesday morning, the listing has been removed from the sheriff’s auction site.
Ragan didn’t respond to Blade inquiries about the auction. Back in December, he told the Blade, “It’s time to look for the next people who can continue the history of the Moon and cultivate the next chapter,” noting that he turns 70 this year. “We’re not panicked; we separated the building from the business. Some buyers can’t afford both.”
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, nor was the sale price.
Delaware
Delaware school district remains supportive after Trump attacks on trans students
Cape Henlopen has gender identity nondiscrimination policy
The Cape Henlopen School District in Delaware, one of five school districts in several states where the U.S. Department of Education earlier this month rescinded agreements protecting the rights of transgender students, says it will continue to provide a “safe and supportive learning environment” for all students.
In response to a request for comment, a spokesperson for the Cape Henlopen district sent the Washington Blade a short statement on its response to the federal Education Department’s action under orders from the Trump administration that ended what were called school district “resolution agreements” put in place under the administration of President Joe Biden.
Among other things, the federally initiated agreements required schools to train faculty on responding to a student’s preferred name and pronouns and to implement policies that allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their gender identity.
“The Cape Henlopen School District has received correspondence from the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights regarding the resolution agreement entered in March 2024,” the Cape Henlopen School District’s statement says. “As always, we are committed to providing a safe and supportive learning environment where all students can succeed,” it says.
“We will continue to work collaboratively to ensure our practices and programs support the well-being, growth, and achievement of every student in our District,” the statement concludes.
Although it did not respond specifically to the Trump-initiated action ending federal protections for trans students, a statement on the Cape Henlopen School District’s website says the district has a policy of non-discrimination based on a wide range of categories, including race, religion, creed, gender, and “sexual orientation or gender identity.”
The Trump administration’s latest action does not take away nondiscrimination policies put in place by school districts on their own.
The Cape Henlopen district is in Sussex County, a short distance from Rehoboth Beach, a Delaware resort town with many LGBTQ residents and summer visitors.
The other school districts for which the U.S. education department ended the trans nondiscrimination agreements include the Delaware Valley School District in Pennsylvania, Sacramento City Unified School District in California, Fife School District in Washington State, and La Mesa Spring Valley School District also in California.
Kimberly Richey, the Department of Education’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, said in a statement that the decision to terminate the school agreements highlighted the Trump administration’s efforts to prevent trans students from participating in girls’ and women’s sports teams and accessing shared locker rooms.
“Today, the Trump administration is removing the unnecessary and unlawful burdens that prior administrations imposed on schools in its relentless pursuit of a radical transgender agenda,” she said in her statement.
Shiwali Patel, an official with the National Women’s Law Center, said in a statement that the action removing protections for trans students would negatively impact all students.
“There is absolutely no basis for what the Department of Education is doing, and it is unimaginably cruel,” she said. “Parents, teachers, and students need the Department to focus on addressing real harms on campuses instead of rolling back policies that keep all students safe.”
Curve magazine honors Washington Blade publisher
Auction of Rehoboth’s Blue Moon canceled
Delaware school district remains supportive after Trump attacks on trans students
Va. voters approve HRC-backed redistricting plan
Australia lifts additional restrictions on LGBTQ blood donors
Calendar: April 17-23
Team DC’s annual gala set for this weekend
The latest Supreme Court case erasing LGBTQ identity
Judge rescinds stay-away order in Capital Pride anti-stalking case
