Local
March to begin Tuesday at IHOP to remember LGBT shooting, assault victims
Gathering to be held at Cobalt
The International House of Pancakes restaurant in Columbia Heights (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Friends of one of the victims of three separate incidents of anti-LGBT violence last week have scheduled a march for 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 20, outside the International House of Pancakes restaurant in Columbia Heights to show support for the three victims and others targeted for hate violence.
“This is a march to shows solidarity and support for all the victims of hate violence, whether they be lesbian, gay, bi, or transgender,” said Kyan Brady, a friend of a gay man who was beaten and robbed in one of the incidents.
Brady said it will begin 7 p.m. outside the IHOP restaurant where one of the victims, a 31-year-old gay man, was shot in the abdomen at about 6 a.m. Sunday, March 11 by an unidentified male suspect who called the victim anti-gay names. The restaurant is located at 14th and Irving streets, N.W. steps away from the Columbia Heights Metro station.
According to Brady and other organizers, the march will travel east on Irving St. to Georgia Ave., N.W., the site of the second incident, where a 29-year-old gay man – who is a friend of the organizers — was attacked and beaten by three unidentified male suspects about 9:30 p.m. Monday, March 12. Police say the suspects called the victim anti-gay names as they beat him.
Police say they found the victim three blocks north of where the attack began, at Georgia Ave. and Morton St., N.W. The victim reported he was robbed of his cell phone, iPad, and wallet at the Morton St. location, according to police. Police say they aren’t sure if the robbery was committed by the group of suspects who attacked the victim at the first location or by a different group of male suspects.
Both gay male victims remain in the hospital, with the shooting victim suffering from liver damage caused by the gunshot wound and the victim from the Georgia Ave. attack recovering from surgery needed to repair a broken jaw and additional head injuries.
The third victim, a transgender woman, was attacked and knocked unconscious at West Virginia Ave. and Mt. Olivet Rd., N.E. just before midnight on March 12, police said. The victim was treated and released from a hospital.
Unlike the first two incidents, which police listed as anti-gay hate crimes, police said they lacked sufficient evidence to classify the attack against the transgender woman as an ant-trans hate crime. However, a police report and Assistant Police Chief Peter Newsham said investigators are looking into the possibility that the attack was motivated by hate.
Organizers of the march, which is being promoted on Facebook, say it will travel from Georgia Ave. and Morton Streets back to 14th St., where it will head south to R St, N.W. From there it will turn right on R St. and travel to 17th Street and end at the gay bar Cobalt. Organizers say they will host a fundraiser at Cobalt for the gay male victim attacked at Georgia Ave. and Irving and Morton streets.
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.
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
The ‘X’ returns to court
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
Trump budget would codify expanded global gag rule
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Cuba under pressure and without answers
