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Teen sentenced to 5 years in McDonald’s beating

Trans victim treated for post-traumatic stress disorder

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A 19-year-old woman charged with the April 18 beating of a transgender woman inside a McDonald’s restaurant in a Baltimore suburb was sentenced on Tuesday to five years in prison.

The incident attracted international attention after a McDonald’s employee captured the attack on video and posted it online, where it went viral.

The video shows Teonna Monae Brown and a 14-year-old female, whom authorities have not identified, repeatedly punching and kicking Chrissy Lee Polis, 22, in the head and body while dragging her by her hair across the floor of the restaurant.

Mark Scurti, Polis’s attorney, said Polis planned to attend the sentencing hearing on Tuesday but was unable to do so after experiencing recurring symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder, for which she was diagnosed following the beating.

Scurti said Polis checked herself into a crisis counseling facility last Friday, which has provided assistance to Polis since the incident occurred in April.

“I continue to suffer seizures, bouts of crying, mental anguish and anxiety,” Polis said in a victim impact statement submitted to the judge prior to Tuesday’s sentencing. “I fear being alone. I have flashbacks about the attacks. I have twice now been admitted to a crisis center, and I am having extreme mental difficulty.”

The LGBT communities in Baltimore and D.C., led by transgender advocacy groups, rallied in support of Polis on several occasions, including a protest demonstration outside the McDonald’s where the attack took place.

Baltimore County Circuit Court Judge John Turnbull III sentenced Brown to 10 years in prison for each of two separate charges of first-degree assault and commission of a hate crime. He suspended five years on both counts and allowed Brown to serve the two five-year terms concurrently, which means she is required to serve a maximum of five years. Turnbull also issued a three-year period of probation upon her release from jail.

The sentencing came just over one month after Brown agreed to a government offer to plead guilty to the two charges in exchange for prosecutors limiting their request for jail time to five years.

The 14-year-old female has admitted responsibility to the same charges of first-degree assault and a hate crime, authorities said. She was sentenced earlier this year to a juvenile facility for an undisclosed period of time, prosecutors said.

“We’re very happy with the sentence today,” Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger, the lead prosecutor in the case, told the Blade after Tuesday’s sentencing. “We had an 18-year-old defendant [now 19] with no prior criminal convictions who’s going to jail for five years,” he said. “We think that reflects the severity of the beating and we think it sends a very good signal that you can’t commit these kinds of crimes in Baltimore County.”

Transgender activists said the incident galvanized the LGBT community and many straight supporters into taking action against anti-transgender bias. Members of the Maryland Legislature have pledged to push next year for passage of a transgender non-discrimination bill that died in the legislature earlier this year.

 

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PHOTOS: WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert

Doechii, Khalid among performers

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Doechii performs at the WorldPride Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Baltimore Trans Pride to take place Saturday

Baltimore Safe Haven hosts annual event

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Baltimore Trans Pride in 2022. Baltimore Safe Haven's annual event will take place on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday. 

Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m. 

Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests. 

Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.

“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”

In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.

“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”

Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations. 

“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”

Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure. 

“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said.  “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”

Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.

“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.” 

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PHOTOS: WorldPride Parade

Thousands march for LGBTQ rights

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The 2025 WorldPride Parade (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals. 

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)

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