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.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
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.).
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