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D.C. Council gives preliminary approval of anti-bullying bill

Passes unanimously on first reading, expected to fully pass later this month

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The D.C. City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday to approve an anti-bullying bill on first reading, with Council members expected to approve the measure in a final vote at their next session later this month.

The Youth Bullying Prevention Act of 2012 calls on the city’s public schools system, the Department of Parks and Recreation, the city’s public libraries, and the University of the District of Columbia to develop comprehensive anti-bullying policies.

The bill, among other things, creates a bullying task force to consist of experts and representatives of various constituencies to monitor the implementation of the legislation. It strictly prohibits retaliation against a target of bullying or someone who reports an incident of bullying.

Council Chair Kwame Brown (D-At-Larger) called the measure a strong bill ā€œthat will send a message to the entire city that we will not tolerate bullying or harassment of anyone.ā€

LGBT advocates, who supported the bill and lobbied the Council to strengthen some of its provisions, said it would play an important role in easing the longstanding problem of bullying experienced by LGBT youth in the city’s public schools.

Council member Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), who chairs the committee that last month completed work on the bill, told his Council colleagues just before the vote that an impediment in lining up funding needed to pay for the bill’s implementation had been resolved.

ā€œA 2009 survey found that 25 percent of our LGBT middle school students reported being bullied in school because someone thought they were gay,ā€ Wells said in discussing the need for the bill.

ā€œThat bullying impacts attendance as well,ā€ he said. Nine percent of the LGBT high school students reported missing four or more days of school in the previous 30 days, five times the rate that straight students reported for the same time.ā€

The Council vote came 16 months after an earlier version of the measure was first introduced. LGBT advocates familiar with school bullying, led by the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, called on the Council to add language strengthening requirements to report and keep track of bullying incidents.

The vote also came after Mayor Vincent Gray introduced his own anti-bullying initiative, saying he used his executive authority to direct city agencies working with youth to develop anti-bullying policies. Officials with the mayor’s office have said the mayor’s program would be integrated into the policies put in place by the anti-bullying measure passed by the Council.

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Comings & Goings

Armstrong recognized with Lifetime Achievement Award

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Lynden C. Armstrong

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].

Congratulations to Lynden C. Armstrong on his Lifetime Achievement award from the Congressional Management Foundation in recognition of his exemplary public service in Congress. 

Upon receiving the award Armstrong said, ā€œThis recognition is not just a personal achievement, but a testament to the unwavering dedication and hard work of colleagues and mentors who have been with me on this journey. I’ve dedicated my entire career to public service within the Senate, where recognition isn’t the primary motivation for our work, making this recognition even more humbling.ā€ He is currently Deputy Assistant Senate Sergeant at Arms and Chief Information Officer.  

Armstrong started his career with Sen. Pete Domenici (R-N.M.), where he rose to Deputy Chief of Staff in his more than 13-year stint. In 2004, during his tenure with Domenici, amid a debate on the Federal Marriage Amendment, Armstrong became a co-founder of the Gay, Lesbian and Allies Senate Staff (GLASS) Caucus. In 2014, he moved to the Sergeant at Arms CIO organization, where he established a new department within the CIO that was crafted to engage Senate offices in comprehending and harnessing technologies provided by the SAA. 

Lynden has previously served as Chief Clerk on the U.S. Senate, Committee on Rules and Administration, and with the U.S. Senate, Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies, as Deputy Inaugural Coordinator, 2012–2013.  In that role among other responsibilities, he served as civilian liaison to the National Special Security Event Executive Steering Committee and subcommittees, including the Capitol, USCP, Crowd Management, Public Relations, Transportation, and credentialing, and as liaison to the Joint Task Force – National Capital Region. 

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District of Columbia

AIDS Healthcare Foundation celebrates opening of new D.C. healthcare center

Ribbon-cutting marks launch of state-of-the-art facility on Capitol Hill

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AHF’s new healthcare center is located at 650 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.

The AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the world’s largest HIV/AIDS healthcare organization with its headquarters in Los Angeles, held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Sept. 27 to mark the official opening of its Capitol Hill Healthcare Center.

The new center, which AHF describes as a state-of-the-art facility for the holistic care and treatment of people with HIV as well as a site for HIV prevention and primary care services, is located at 650 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E.  a half block away from the Eastern Market Metro station.

A statement released by AHF says the Capitol Hill Healthcare Center will continue AHF’s ongoing delivery of ā€œcutting-edge medical care and services to patients regardless of insurance status or ability to pay.ā€ The statement adds, ā€œThe site also features a full-service AHF Pharmacy and will host Wellness Center services on Saturdays to offer STI testing and treatment.ā€

The statement was referring to the testing and treatment for sexually transmitted infections. The D.C. Department of Health has said the highest number of STIs in the city have been reported for men who have sex with men.

Mike McVicker, AHF’s Regional Director for its D.C., Maryland, and Virginia facilities, said the Capitol Hill center began taking patients in October of 2021 as AHF transferred its operations from its facility on Benning Road, N.E. about two miles from the Capitol Hill site. McVicker said the Benning Road site has now been closed.

AHF’s second D.C. medical center is located downtown at 2141 K St., N.W. AHF operates three other extended D.C.-area health care centers in Falls Church, Va., Temple Hills, Md. and Baltimore.

ā€œOur Capitol Hill Healthcare Center has no waiting room, so patients immediately are escorted to treatment rooms and serviced from a centrally located provider workstation,ā€ McVicker said. ā€œThe goal is to maximize efficiency using this patient-centered model to improve health outcomes and increase retention in care.ā€

McVicker told the Blade the AHF Capitol Hill center is currently serving 585 patients and has a staff of 10, including Dr. Conor Grey, who serves as medical director. He said a separate team of five staffers operates the Saturday walk-in center that provides STI services as well as services related to the HIV prevention medication known as PrEP.

ā€œI’m very excited to be a part of this team,ā€ Dr. Grey said at the ribbon-cutting ceremony, which was held in a courtyard outside the Capitol Hill office building where the AHF center is located. About 50 people, including D.C. government officials, attended the event.

ā€œThis is a beautiful thing to celebrate,ā€ Grey said. ā€œSo, I’m very happy to enjoy the day with all of you, and looking forward to a bright, productive future working together and fighting a common enemy that has unfortunately been with us.ā€

Others who spoke at the event included Tom Myers, AHF’s Chief of Public Affairs and General Counsel; Toni Flemming, Supervisory Public Health Analyst and Field Operations Manager for the D.C. Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Administration (HAHSTA), and Dr. Christie Olejeme, Public Health Analyst for HAHSTA’s Care and Treatment Division.

Also speaking at the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

Bowles called the AHF Capitol Hill center ā€œanother pivotal resourceā€ for the LGBTQ community as well as for the city.

ā€œWe know, as has been previously stated, a low-barrier HIV prevention support is pivotal to the mayor’s mission of eliminating HIV infections in the District of Columbia and the region,ā€ Bowles told the gathering.

ā€œSo, I’m very excited to see more services specifically provided to those in the Southeast and Northeast quadrants of our District,ā€ he said, referring to the AHF Capitol Hill center. ā€œThis is a great moment for our community, but also for D.C. as a whole.ā€

In its statement released this week announcing the official opening of the Capitol Hill Center AHF notes that currently, 11,904 D.C. residents, or 1.8 percent of the population, are living with HIV. It points out that HIV disproportionately impacts Black residents, who make up about 44 percent of the population but comprise nearly three-quarters of the city’s HIV cases.

AHF official Myers said the Capitol Hill center will join its other D.C.-area facilities in addressing the issue of racial disparities related to HIV.

ā€œOur treatment model helps eliminate barriers for those already in care, those who may not know their HIV status, and those living with HIV who may not currently be in care,ā€ he said.

AHF says in its statement that it currently operates more than 900 healthcare centers around the world in 45 countries including 17 U.S. states. It has more than 1.7 million people in care, according to the statement. Founded in 1987, the organization has also taken on the role of public advocacy for federal and local government programs in the U.S. to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic, including efforts to lower the costs of HIV drugs.

During its work in the late 1980s and early 1990s AHF emerged as a strong advocate for addressing the special needs of gay and bisexual men who were hit hardest by HIV/AIDS at the start of the epidemic.

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District of Columbia

Georgetown University hosts panel on transgender, nonbinary issues

Lawmakers from Mont., Okla. among panelists

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Oklahoma state Rep. Mauree Turner speaks at Georgetown University on Sept. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sydney Carroll)

A panel on transgender and nonbinary issues took place at Georgetown University on Tuesday.

The panel included Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr and her fiancĆ©e, journalist Erin Reed, who are both trans, and nonbinary Oklahoma state Rep. Mauree Turner. Charlotte Clymer was also on the panel that Amanda Phillips, a nonbinary Georgetown professor, moderated. 

The panel began with a discussion about anti-trans laws that have been enacted across the country.

Reed said the Alliance Defending Freedom and the American Principles Project developed a strategy in response to North Carolina’s now repealed law that banned trans people from using public restrooms consistent with their gender identity. 

They focused on states that are more ā€œbusiness-friendly and therefore harder to boycott, and started with sports. Reed said bans on gender-segregated sports put an ā€œasterisk on [trans] identityā€ that made further attacks possible.

Clymer spoke on attitudes towards trans policies. 

She referenced a survey that asked Americans if they supported nondiscrimination protections for LGBTQ individuals. Around 75 percent of respondents, including almost half of Republicans, said yes. Clymer said the next question that asked if such protections exist concerns her.

Roughly half of respondents said yes. 

While there are two U.S. Supreme Court rulings — Obergefell and Bostock — that extended marriage rights to same-sex couples and employment protections to LGBTQ people respectively, Clymer noted there are no federal protections based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Turner and Zephyr spoke about being censured for defending trans rights. 

Oklahoma lawmakers in March censured Turner after they refused to turn into the authorities a trans person who had allegedly assaulted a state trooper. 

Turner said in Oklahoma, where there is no public debate, and politicians are openly anti-trans, residents are fighting against an ā€œapatheticā€ and ā€œheinousā€ legislature. On the topic of activism, they said being a ā€œtruth teller,ā€ and saying ā€œabsolutely notā€ is ā€œwhat got [them] censured.ā€

Zephyr’s censure was in April after she criticized a bill to restrict gender-affirming health care in Montana. The protests that followed stemmed from trans issues, but Zepher said they were about much more. 

ā€œThe protests […] were about recognizing that when you silence a legislator, you take away representation from their constituents,” she said. “That fight became a larger fight about democracy.ā€Ā 

From left: Erin Reed and her fiancƩe, Montana state Rep. Zooey Zephyr, speak at Georgetown University on Sept. 26, 2023. (Photo by Sydney Carroll)

The panelists talked about mental health and addressing it.

Turner said that being the representation they needed keeps them going. 

ā€œI didn’t think I was going to make it through middle school,ā€ they said. ā€œRepresentation matters for so many people […] if you can aid in being that representation, being that force that helps somebody else keep going, that is one of the most powerful experiences.ā€ 

The panel agreed that finding community is important to mental health. 

ā€œSometimes our best activism is finding our community,ā€ Reed said. 

The panel also spoke about queer joy and strength. 

ā€œQueer joy is the thing they can’t take away,ā€ Zephyr said. 

Reed talked about photos of activists who were organizing before the Stonewall riots in 1969; they were smiling and enjoying their community. 

ā€œThe queer story is a story of not just surviving in the margins but thriving in the margins,ā€ Reed said.

Turner added ā€œtrans lives aren’t just lives worth fighting for, they are lives worth living.ā€

A self-described “journalist” who didn’t identify himself or his outlet asked the panel, “What is a woman?” Clymer turned the question back to him, and he said it “comes down to genetics.”

Clymer began to explain that chromosomes don’t always define sex. The audience member began to argue and ignored an event organizer who was asking him to leave. Security promptly escorted him out. 

Reed continued Clymer’s point that even biological sex is difficult to define. 

ā€œLast year, 15 different state legislators tried to define sex, did you know that none of them managed to do so in a way that was scientifically correct?ā€

The panelists also offered advice to allies. 

Clymer said treading about trans issues and being informed about them is a great start. 

ā€œYou’ve got to step up,ā€ she said.

Turner said allyship goes beyond relationships, and into the realm of being uncomfortable. 

ā€œAllyship is synonymous with action and moving forward,ā€ they said.

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