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Local news in brief
Theater outing proves helpful for the Alston House; GLOV elects new leaders
Transgender Health Empowerment's Earline Budd at the Alston House benefit. THE runs the Alston House. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Alston House benefit called a success
A Black History Month outing at D.C.’s Studio Theater and a post-theater reception at the nearby Playbill Café on Feb. 13 served as a “successful” benefit for the Wanda Alston House for LGBT homeless youth, according to Alston House official Brian Watson.
The Alston House, named after the late D.C. lesbian activist and city official Wanda Alston, provides housing and supportive services to homeless LGBT youth, “most of whom have been abandoned or kicked out of their homes because of their identity,” according to an announcement promoting the benefit.
The D.C. non-profit organization Transgender Health Empowerment created the Alston House and operates it through funding provided, in part, by the city and through private contributions.
Among those attending the benefit were D.C. Council member Sekou Biddle (D-At-Large), who is running to retain his seat in an upcoming special election; and three candidates competing against Biddle for the seat — former Ward 5 Council member Vincent Orange and candidates Jacque Patterson and Joshua Lopez.
Jeffrey Richardson, who was named earlier this month by Mayor Vincent Gray as director of the city’s Office of GLBT Affairs, also attended.
Others attending included gay activists Phil Pannell, Rick Rosendall, and Kurt Vorndran, who served as hosts of the event.
GLOV elects new leaders
Members of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), a D.C. group that monitors anti-LGBT hate crimes, elected A.J. Singletary as the group’s chair and Hassan Naveed as vice chair during GLOV’s annual meeting on Feb. 10.
Singletary and Naveed, who ran unopposed and were elected by acclamation, succeed Kelly Pickard and Joe Montoni, who served as the organization’s co-chairs during the past year.
At Singletary’s recommendation and with Naveed in agreement, members voted earlier in the meeting to change the leadership structure from two co-chairs with equal responsibilities to a chair and vice chair system.
Singletary, an Arkansas native, says he’s been a D.C. resident since 2008 and has been active with GLOV for the past three years. Naveed said he moved to D.C. last year from Santa Barbara, Calif., where he worked with an anti-LGBT violence group at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
GLOV is a project of the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, which has offices and meeting space at 1318 U St., N.W. GLOV’s mission, according to a statement on its website, is to work to reduce violence against LGBT people through community outreach, education and monitoring of incidents of anti-LGBT hate crimes. The group also assists victims of anti-LGBT violence and participates in the training of D.C. police officers on LGBT-related issues.
Singletary said his objectives for GLOV in 2011 include expanding its outreach to lesbians and minorities within the LGBT community and continuing to work with the police department, the mayor’s office and the City Council to improve reporting of anti-LGBT violence and developing strategies to reduce hate violence against LGBT people. He said GLOV would continue to participate in police training on anti-LGBT violence.
He also called for GLOV to develop its own report on hate crimes targeting LGBT people in the District. The police department’s annual report on hate crimes has shown that the highest number of such crimes target LGBT people. But activists have long complained that the police report does not reflect the true number of anti-LGBT hate crimes, which they believe is far higher than the officially reported figure.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
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