Local
Gray signs D.C. anti-bullying bill
D.C. to join 17 other states with comprehensive LGBT-inclusive anti-bullying laws
Mayor Vincent Gray signs the Youth Bullying Prevention Act of 2012 on Friday. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Mayor Vincent Gray signed a bill on Friday that will require city agencies that work directly with young people to implement an anti-bullying policy.
“I am absolutely proud to say that today we are taking yet another bold and concrete step towards eradicating bullying in our city,” he said during a ceremony at the Wilson Building. “There is much more work to do, but I can’t think of a more noble or impactful goal than to end bullying of our youth and continue to create environments where our young people learn and thrive in health and safety.”
The Youth Bullying Prevention Act of 2012 establishes an anti-bullying task force that will include representatives from D.C. Public Schools, the Department of Parks & Recreation, the Metropolitan Police Department, the Mayor’s Office on GLBT Affairs, the Gay, Lesbian & Straight Education Network, the Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League and other government agencies and community organizations. They will be charged with developing a comprehensive model policy that supporters of the law hope will provide the foundation upon which D.C. government agencies can create their own anti-bullying strategies.
The new law will also protect those who report incidents of bullying from retaliation.
“This is a very, very important piece of legislation,” said D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Kaya Henderson. “Bullying has significant impacts on our young people and it is a barrier to students’ success. We can’t insure that our young people are prepared and they have a world class education that ensures that they’re ready for college or a career if they don’t feel safe, if they don’t feel confident, if they don’t feel able to be themselves because other people are bullying them.”
Office of Human Rights Director Gustavo Velasquez, Police Chief Cathy Lanier, D.C. Council members Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6) and Michael Brown (I-At Large) and Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin were among those who attended the signing ceremony.
“For our city, this is part of our values,” said Wells, who chairs the Council committee that originally approved the bill in April. “This is who we are. This is very important.”
Pending congressional review, D.C. will join 17 other states that have enacted comprehensive anti-bullying laws that include LGBT-specific provisions.
The ceremony took place just days after a video of four upstate New York middle school students bullying a 68-year-old bus monitor went viral on the Internet.
An HRC report earlier this month noted that 51 percent of LGBT youth have been verbally harassed at school. The survey also reported that LGBT students are twice as likely to suffer violence in the classroom than their heterosexual classmates.
“Today really is a landmark day for our city’s youth,” said Griffin, who described the law as the “most robust” anti-bullying measure in the country because it applies to all city agencies that work directly with youth. “Laws can be more than words on a page. They can send a powerful message and today that message rings loud and clear. The fact that we’re standing here today and the mayor will soon sign this bill into law tells every LGBT young person not just in D.C. but around the country that they have value and that they have reason to be hopeful.”
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
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