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D.C. anti-bullying bill stalls

Cost of implementation a factor in hold-up

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Advocates rally for safer schools in Washington D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

An anti-bullying bill introduced in the D.C. City Council in January 2011 is stalled in committee because its supporters haven’t been able to figure out how to pay for its implementation, according to an aide to D.C. Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6).

Charles Allen, Wells’ chief of staff, said Wells is facilitating discussions with advocates for the legislation and with the city’s Chief Financial Officer to identify funding sources and make changes to lower the potential cost of putting the bill’s provisions in place.

Wells is chair of the Council’s Committee on Libraries, Parks, Recreation and Planning, one of two committees with jurisdiction over the Bullying and Intimidation Prevention Act.

The bill would require D.C. public schools, city public charter schools, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the D.C. public library system, and the University of the District of Columbia to adopt policies ā€œprohibiting harassment, intimidation or bullyingā€ at their respective facilities.

At the time it was introduced, 11 of the Council’s 13 members signed on as co-introducers or co-sponsors of the bill.

LGBT activists said the bill was needed because large numbers of LGBT youth are victims of bullying in schools, parks and other public places. TheyĀ praised the introduction of the bill but called on the Council to strengthen its enforcement and implementation provisions, saying shortcomings in the bill would prevent it from having a meaningful impact on the problem of bullying.

Allen said a problem arose when the Office of the D.C. Chief Financial Officer, an agency independent of the Council and the mayor, reviewed the bill in its role of preparing a financial impact statement for all proposed city legislation. According to Allen, the Office of the CFO indicated informally that the cost would be high for implementing the anti-bullying bill and the Council would have to determine where it would obtain the funds to pay for the implementation.

He said Wells wants to make changes to the bill to reduce the potential costs before the CFO’s office issues its official financial impact statement.

ā€œUnless there is a plan to pay for it we would be passing empty legislation,ā€ Allen said. ā€œWe don’t want to do that. We want to make sure that whatever we pass, it is something that can be put in place and implemented.ā€

He said Wells was hopeful that revisions could be made in the legislation that would lower the potential costs.

Council Chair Kwame Brown (D-At-Large) serves as chair of the Council’s Committee of the Whole, which has concurrent jurisdiction over the bill in its role of overseeing the city’s public school system. Allison Abney, a spokesperson for Brown, said Brown has delegated the task of resolving the funding issue to Wells’ committee.

ā€œWe’re working with them and monitoring this very closely,ā€ she said.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

ā€œF—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,ā€ a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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District of Columbia

Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw

School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ā€˜warmth, humor, kindness’

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Patrick Shaw (Photo via GoFundMe)

Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.

Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.

ā€œPatrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,ā€ Martinez said. ā€œHe was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.ā€

In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

ā€œPatrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,ā€ his colleagues said in their posting. ā€œHis daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.ā€

The posted message adds, ā€œPatrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.ā€

The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon. 

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District of Columbia

D.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case

Victim threatened with assault, called ā€˜faggot’ as he left Capitals game

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D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera.

D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera after he allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to assault a man at 6th and H Streets, N.W. on March 20 at about 9:54 p.m.

A police report says the victim told police the incident took place shortly after he exited the nearby Capital One Arena where he had attended a Washington Capitals hockey game.

The police report says the incident began when the victim saw the suspect yell a racist slur at a person behind the victim and started to berate a valet operator.

ā€œSuspect 1 then turned his attention to Victim 1 and called him a ā€˜faggot’ among other homophobic slurs,ā€ the report says. It says the victim then used his phone to record the suspect, prompting the suspect to walk away before returning and ā€œsnatchingā€ the phone from the victim’s hand.

ā€œSuspect 1 walked several feet as Victim 1 followed, requesting his phone back,ā€ the report continues. ā€œSuspect 1 stopped and turned to Victim 1 and while yelling other obscenities exclaimed ā€˜if you keep recording, I’m going to kick your ass.ā€™ā€ The report concludes by saying the victim was able to recover his phone.

It lists the incident as a ā€œThreats To Do Bodily Harmā€ offense that is a suspected hate crime.

ā€œAnyone who can identify this suspect or has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099, or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,ā€ according to a separate police statement released April 23.

The statement says police currently offer an award of up to $1,000 to anyone who can provide information that leads to an arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in D.C.

D.C. police spokesperson Tom Lynch said the case has been under investigation since the incident occurred on March 20. He said the video image of the suspect, most likely obtained from a security camera from a nearby business, was released to the public as soon as it was obtained and processed through the investigation.

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