Local
Chrissy Polis arrested on disorderly conduct charge
Trans woman’s April beating at McDonald’s in Baltimore made national news
A 23-year-old transgender woman who became the subject of international news in April when she was attacked and beaten in a hate crime at a McDonald’s restaurant outside Baltimore was arrested at her nearby apartment on Dec. 3 in an unrelated incident on a charge of disorderly conduct.
According to a report by the Baltimore Sun, police said Chrissy Lee Polis became disorderly and shouted obscenities at a police officer who arrived at her apartment after she called police to report she had been robbed of her cell phone, purse, and $800 in cash by an unidentified male suspect.
“She told police the man hit her in the head with an unknown object and stole her purse,” the Sun reported in a Dec. 7 story. “But the officer taking the report said Polis ‘gave several different variations’” of what happened and “’became very agitated.’”
Mark Scurti, an attorney representing Polis for a possible lawsuit against McDonald’s related to the April beating incident, said he would be meeting with Polis next week and his law firm would likely represent her in the disorderly conduct case, which is scheduled to go to trial in February.
“I’ve reviewed the facts of what happened and the state doesn’t have much of a case,” Scurti said. “But we’re expected to meet with her and at that time we’ll be retained to represent her in the matter…They’re ridiculous charges.”
Scurti declined to provide further details other than to say Polis feels the officer who responded to the scene after she was robbed treated her “very disrespectfully.”
He confirmed an account by the Sun that Polis was released on $7,500 bail but said he didn’t know who posted the $750 bond that secured her release.
The Sun reports that the arresting officer refers to Polis in his police report as “he” and uses Polis’s legal name Christopher Lee Polis.
“The officer wrote in charging documents that Polis screamed profanities and disrupted the neighborhood,” the Sun reported. “The officer said Polis let him into her apartment, which he described as having a mattress but no furniture.”
According to the Sun, the arresting officer said in a police charging document that Polis became highly agitated and “was causing a major disturbance in the neighborhood and would not lower his voice even though I was continually advising him to do so.’”
Polis continued to scream, “’You don’t know who I am. I will have you fired,’” the Sun quoted the officer as saying in his report.
Scurti told the Blade in September that Polis had been hospitalized twice after seeking treatment for post traumatic stress disorder that she suffered as a result of the beating at the McDonald’s.
Two teenage women were charged in the McDonald’s incident. Nineteen-year-old Teonna Brown pled guilty in August to first-degree assault and a hate crime in connection with the case. She was later sentenced to five years in prison. A 14-year old girl, whom authorities haven’t identified, was found “delinquent” in the case and committed to a secure juvenile facility, according to the Baltimore County State’s Attorney’s office.
A video of the beating made by a McDonald’s employee with his cell phone created a national sensation when it went viral on the Internet. It showed the two young women punching and kicking Polis while she lay on the floor screaming for help. One of the girls was shown in the video dragging Polis across the floor by her hair.
Transgender activists in Maryland said the widespread reports of the incident and the graphic showing of the beating in the video led to a greater commitment by members of the Maryland Legislature and Maryland Governor Martin O’Malley to push for passage of a transgender non-discrimination bill in 2012.
Maryland
Parents sue Anne Arundel schools, allege officials hid child’s gender transition
America First legal Foundation filed lawsuit on July 8
By CODY BOTELER | Two parents, backed by a conservative nonprofit group, are suing Anne Arundel County Public Schools over the school system’s policies related to transgender children.
The suit, filed Wednesday in Maryland’s U.S. District Court, accuses staff at an unidentified county high school of lying to the parents, identified as John Doe and Jane Doe, about their child, identified as Mary Doe.
The Does allege the school “socially transitioned” their child without notice or their consent by using a masculine name and masculine pronouns for Mary Doe.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Campaign launched to elect more LGBTQ candidates to ANC seats
Capital Stonewall Democrats behind Queering ANCs effort
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, announced on July 7 it has launched a campaign to help elect large numbers of LGBTQ candidates to the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions.
The D.C. local government is believed to be unique among U.S. cities in currently having 46 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions consisting of 345 single-member districts in neighborhoods throughout the city in which unpaid Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners are elected for two-year terms.
The commissions are charged with considering a wide range of policies and programs impacting their neighborhoods, including traffic, parking, recreation, street improvements, liquor licenses, zoning, economic development, police protection, sanitation and trash collection, and D.C.’s annual budget, according to the ANC website.
Although the ANCs do not have authority to set or reject policies or proposals, such as applications for liquor licenses, city agencies are required to give “great weight” to ANC recommendations, according to the law creating the ANCs.
Kent Boese, a gay former ANC commissioner, currently serves as executive director of the D.C. Office of ANCs.
“We are launching the most ambitious hyperlocal LGBTQ+ candidate pipeline initiative in the country,” said Stevie McCarty, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, in a July 7 statement that announced the Queering ANCs campaign.
“As an ANC member, I know firsthand how these seats shape our neighborhoods, from housing and public safety to sanitation,” McCarty says in the statement. “I’m proud to lead this effort to ensure more LGBTQ+ Washingtonians see themselves as leaders in their communities,” he said.
The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which was created by LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website that there are currently 38 caucus members consisting of elected LGBTQ ANC commissioners serving in the current 2025-2026 two-year term.
The website shows there are LGBTQ commissioners who are caucus members in each of the city’s eight wards, with six in Ward 1, eight in Ward 2, one in Ward 3, six in Ward 4, five in Ward 5, three in Ward 6, eight in Ward 7, and one in Ward 8.
The Washington Blade couldn’t immediately determine how many of them will be running for re-election in D.C.’s general election in November. But McCarty said Capital Stonewall Democrats hopes to recruit many more LGBTQ candidates to run for ANC seats.
The D.C. Board of Elections website shows the deadline for filing 25 required petition signatures to be placed on the ballot is Aug. 5.
A Queering ANCs website launched this week by Capital Stonewall Democrats provides details on how to run for an ANC seat and offers help for those interested in running.
“Think of someone in your building, neighborhood, friend group, community organization, or professional network who cares deeply about D.C. and would make a strong leader,” McCarty says in his statement. “Send them QueeringANCs.org and personally ask them to consider running,” he said.
The website can be accessed at QueeringANCs.org.
Baltimore
Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies
66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday
By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.
“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”
The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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