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AIDS Action Baltimore celebrates 25 years

More than 200 supporters attended gala

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Anthony Fauci, Lynda Dee, John Bartlett, gay news, gay politics dc

AIDS Action Baltimore founder and president Lynda Dee (center) flanked by award presenter Dr. Anthony Fauci (left) and award recipient Dr. John Bartlett for his groundbreaking work on infectious diseases. (Blade photo by Steve Charing)

More than 200 supporters of AIDS Action Baltimore attended the organizationā€™s 25th anniversary gala March 25 at the Four Seasons Hotel. AAB raises money to support its own patient services programs and to advocate for more efficient and effective treatment services and research programs for people with HIV as well as fair pricing for newly approved drugs and reasonable price increases for all HIV drugs.

Founder and president Lynda Dee, a Baltimore attorney, acknowledged the work of many individuals and companies over the course of its 25-year-history. Most notable was the late Garey Lambert, whom she credited as the ā€œvisionaryā€ for the creation of AAB.

Special awards were given to Dr. John G. Bartlett, presented by Dr. Anthony S. Fauci; Rev. Debra Hickman presented by Heather Hauck and Charlie Reid presented by Lynda Dee.

ā€œThis is not about altruism, this is about my friends and my fear of losing them,ā€ Dee told the Blade.

The event was underwritten by PNC Bank. For more information, visit aidsactionbaltimore.org.

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District of Columbia

D.C. to conduct first-of-its-kind LGBTQ veteransā€™ survey

Forum on trans, gender diverse service members set for Nov. 15

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From left, Mayor's office of LGBTQ Affairs Director Japer Bowles, Department off Defense official Shawn Skelly, Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs Director Charlotte Woodward, Crush Dance Bar co-owner Stephen Rutgers, Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs official Pip Baitinger, and drag performer MacKayla Starr attend the 'Voices of Courage: Reclaiming the Legacy of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in the Military' event at Crush Dance Bar on Sept. 20. (Photo courtesy of the Mayor's Office of Veterans Affairs)

As Veterans Day is celebrated in D.C. and across the nation, Mayor Muriel Bowserā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs announced it has recently drawn up an LGBTQIA+ veteransā€™ survey that it will begin distributing in the next few months.

ā€œThis attempt to survey the LGBTQIA+ veterans population in D.C. will be the first of its kind,ā€ according to Pip Baitinger, who serves as LGBTQIA+ Veterans Outreach and Relation Specialist in the Mayorā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs.

ā€œBarriers have existed in surveying this population due to issues of trust and neglect of the community by institutions in the past,ā€ Baitinger told the Washington Blade. ā€œHowever, this survey will attempt to accurately represent the number of LGBTQIA+ veterans in D.C. and better understand their needs,ā€ she said.

Baitinger pointed out that in addition to working on the survey, the Mayorā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs is hosting a special forum on Nov. 15 called Empowering Voices: Health and Wellness for Transgender and Gender Diverse Veterans.

The forum, which will be held from 1-3:30 p.m. at the D.C. Veterans Administration Medical Center at 50 Irving St., N.W., will include discussion, workshops, and provide resources on topics such as gender affirming care and support from experts, a flyer announcing the event says.

The D.C. LGBTQ veterans survey and the Nov. 15 forum follow a Sept. 20 LGBTQ veterans event hosted jointly by the Mayorā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs and the Mayorā€™s Office of LGBTQ Affairs called ā€œVoices of Courage: Reclaiming the Legacy of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion in the Military.ā€

The event, which was held at the D.C. LGBTQ Crush Dance Bar, was not open to the press because organizers wanted to ensure that LGBTQ veterans could discuss issues that may be sensitive or private that could impact their ability to obtain certain veteransā€™ benefits.

Baitinger provided the Blade with a summary of the issues discussed and raised at the event and identified some of those who spoke at the event. Among them was U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel And Readiness Shawn G. Skelly, who is the highest-ranking transgender official in the Department of Defense. 

Others participating in the event, Baitinger said, were U.S. Air Force member MaKayla Starr, who performed in drag; Charlette Woodward, an official with the Mayorā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs; Japer Bowles, director of the Mayorā€™s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; and Baitinger herself.

The mayorā€™s office noted at the time that the event was scheduled to take place on the 13th anniversary of the repeal of the ā€˜Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€™ law that banned LGBTQ people from serving openly in the U.S. military. Mayor Bowser issued an official mayoral proclamation declaring the day LGBTQIA+ Veterans Day in the District of Columbia.

ā€œDiscussions during the event included the need for greater LGBTQIA+ representation in the military and the progress that has thus far been achieved,ā€ Baitinger said. 

ā€œOne of the primary areas of concern is that of transgender and nonbinary veterans and service members, who are in vital need of gender affirming care and resources, such as hormones, surgeries, and just general affirming care from doctors who will use correct pronouns during routine doctor visits,ā€ Baitinger said in describing the issues discussed at the Nov. 20 event.

She said an additional issue deemed important at the event was ongoing efforts to upgrade the discharges of LGBTQ veterans, many of whom received so-called ā€œundesirableā€ discharges under the ā€˜Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€™ law before it was repealed. President Joe Biden earlier this year issued a presidential pardon that enabled veterans discharged under the ā€˜Donā€™t Ask, Donā€™t Tellā€™ law to apply for an upgrade of their discharge to the status of honorable discharge.

A list of resources for LGBTQ veterans offered by the Mayorā€™s Office of Veterans Affairs can be accessed at the departmentā€™s website.

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Delaware

Delaware advocacy group to host panel on mediaā€™s role in countering hate

Blade editor among journalists participating in Wednesday event

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Blade editor Kevin Naff is among journalists participating in a panel discussion on hate this week.

LEWES, Del. ā€” Speak Out Against Hate (SOAH) will hold its bi-monthly community meeting at 5 p.m. on Nov. 13 at the Lewes Library and via Zoom. The meeting will concentrate on the role of the press in responding to the divisiveness and rising tide of hatred in our country and communities.Ā 

The meeting will feature a panel of journalists comprised of Chris Rauch, owner and publisher of the Cape Gazette; Benjamin Rothstein, journalist at the Daily State News and its sister paper the Greater Dover Independent; Kevin Naff, editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade; and Jake Owens, editor-in-chief of Spotlight Delaware.

Patty Maloney, president of SOAH said, ā€œFollowing a national and state elections that saw our country nearly evenly divided, this important discussion with our local press will shine a light upon the role of the press locally and nationally in confronting the obvious chasm within our citizenry.ā€

For more information about the event and to register, please visit Speak Out Against Hate at soah-de.org.

Speak Out Against Hate was formed to confront and counter the rising tide of hate, whenever and wherever it exists.

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District of Columbia

Gay man found unconscious near D.C. gay bar dies

Police release video of suspects in incident listed as robbery

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D.C. police released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Bryan Smith that led to his death. (Screen capture via MPD YouTube)

D.C. police have confirmed that a gay man who worked as a hairstylist and a DJ and who was found unconscious about 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. near the gay bar Uproar has died.

Friends who knew the victim, Bryan Smith, stated in a GoFundMe message seeking support for his medical expenses that he was hospitalized for a severe head injury. His family members told Fox 5 News that he was in a coma.

A D.C. police spokesperson confirmed that Smith died on Nov. 7 and the cause and circumstances surrounding his death were pending with the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerā€™s Office. ā€œOnce we have more information, weā€™ll be putting that out,ā€ D.C. police spokesperson Thomas Lynch told the Washington Blade.

The information released by D.C police indicates Smith at some point was transferred from a D.C. hospital where he was taken by ambulance at the time he was found unconscious to a Virginia hospital, most likely at the request of family members.

Police also released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Smith.

ā€œThe ongoing investigation has determined that the man was robbed by two suspects while walking on the block,ā€ according to an Oct. 30 police statement released before Smith died. ā€œDetectives are still working to determine how the victim sustained his injuries,ā€ the statement says.

The statement adds that the suspects have been linked to three other offenses that took place that same morning, two of which were attempted robberies and one of which was a robbery of victims on nearby streets.

Smith was found unconscious on Oct. 27 about five hours after another gay man, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarra, 22, was reportedly attacked and beaten by as many as 15 men and women at the McDonaldā€™s restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., according to a D.C. police report and information provided by Lascarraā€™s husband.

D.C. police announced they made an arrest Nov. 5 of a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the McDonaldā€™s case. The arrest came on the same day police released photos of seven suspects in the McDonaldā€™s assault case taken from video cameras at or near the McDonaldā€™s.

In their release of the video showing the two suspects in the Smith case, police are asking that anyone who may recognize the two individuals should contact police at 202-727-9099 or text their tip to the departmentā€™s TEXT TIP Line at 50411.

ā€œAnyone who may have seen or heard something suspicious in the 500 block of T Street, NW, or the surrounding area around 5:00 a.m. Sunday [Oct. 27] is asked to call the police or text police,ā€ the statement accompanying the release of the police video says. 

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