Connect with us

Local

A conversation with Police Chief Lanier

Her thoughts on domestic violence, trans victims and putting the GLLU ‘out of business’

Published

on

Cathy Lanier, DC Metro Police, gay news, Washington Blade

‘People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion … So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business,’ D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit. (Washington Blade photo by Strother Gaines)

Editor’s note: Chief Lanier’s exclusive interview with the Blade covered a wide range of topics. Visit washingtonblade.com for the full transcript.

D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier said her decision to invite the Anti-Defamation League, a nationally acclaimed civil rights group, to conduct an independent assessment of how the department investigates and reports hate crimes was prompted, in part, by complaints from LGBT activists.

In an exclusive interview with the Washington Blade, Lanier said she believes the department is doing well in investigating and reaching out to the LGBT community in its fight against hate crimes, especially those targeting gay, lesbian and transgender residents.

But she cited concerns raised by some LGBT activists, including transgender advocate Jason Terry, a member of the D.C. Trans Coalition, who have questioned her and the department’s commitment to adequately addressing the city’s hate crimes problem. Terry has been among the activists who have criticized Lanier’s handling of hate crimes and other transgender-related matters during D.C. City Council hearings called to review police policies on hate crimes.

“I did it because a lot of times we compare ourselves with other law enforcement agencies,” Lanier said. “So we look at all the things we do and we say we think we’re doing really well. And then we go to a hearing and Jason Terry will say you’re a bunch of Keystone Cops,” said Lanier.

“And I go, ‘Wait a minute. I thought everything was going really well.’ And when we compare ourselves to other police agencies we’re light years above a lot of other agencies,” she said. “But you know sometimes just comparing yourself to other law enforcement agencies is not the mark. And so I thought I would have ADL tell me, ‘What is the mark?’”

Lanier took the unusual step of enlisting David Friedman, director of the ADL’s Washington, D.C., regional Office, to form a special task force to assess the department’s response to hate crimes.

Friedman invited the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group; the National Center for Transgender Equality; the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, another nationally recognized mainline civil rights organization; and two university professors considered experts on hate violence to join ADL as members of the task force.

Among other things, the task force will look at how law enforcement agencies in other jurisdictions address hate crimes, a police statement said. The statement said the task force would begin its work by conducting interviews and meetings with LGBT community members to obtain their views on how D.C. police are doing in addressing local hate crimes that target LGBT people.

“What I’ve asked them to do and what we’ve all agreed is just come in and take a look at everything we’re doing and kind of grade us,” Lanier said.

New lead in beating of gay man

In a wide-ranging discussion on a number of other issues, Lanier told the Blade that police investigators have identified a person of interest in the March attack against a gay man on Georgia Avenue in the city’s Columbia Heights section.

The victim, who has asked not to be identified, was severely beaten and dragged by three or four male assailants, who punched and kicked him while shouting anti-gay names, causing him to suffer a broken jaw among other injuries, according to accounts by police and the victim.

“I think we will close that case,” Lanier said, noting that investigators are looking for a second person implicated in the attack in addition to the person of interest already identified.

That incident, which police listed as an anti-gay hate crime, along with the shooting of a gay man inside a nearby International House of Pancakes restaurant, also listed as a hate crime; and the beating of a transgender woman in Northeast D.C. – all occurring within a two-day period – prompted hundreds of LGBT activists and their supporters to hold a march and rally in the Columbia Heights neighborhood to condemn anti-LGBT violence.

Police have made an arrest in the IHOP shooting case, in which the victim suffered a non-life threatening gunshot wound. Police said no arrests have been made in the attack against the transgender woman, which police said was not listed as a hate crime due to insufficient evidence that it was motivated by hate.

In discussing the changes she has made with the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, Lanier said her ultimate goal is to ensure that all members in the department are trained to fully respond to LGBT-related issues, making the GLLU no longer necessary.

“People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion,” she said. “All that shouldn’t matter. So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business. In the meantime by spreading the affiliates around and putting more and more affiliates out there with the enhanced training there’s a better understanding that there really is nothing different about people.”

Lanier was referring to her creation of a GLLU affiliate officers program in which officers from the department’s seven police districts respond to LGBT-related police service calls to supplement and expand the work performed by the five full-time GLLU members based in the unit’s Dupont Circle headquarters.

The department says there are now 99 affiliate GLLU members, with 10 or more assigned to each of the seven police districts. Lanier said officers cannot become affiliate members of the GLLU until they complete a special training program.

‘Domestic violence is huge’

Lanier said that although hate crimes capture much of the attention in the LGBT community concerning police matters, incidents of domestic violence make up a far greater number of cases GLLU officers and police detectives in general are called on to investigate.

“Domestic violence is huge,” she said. “Every morning when I look at my crime reports there are two things that stand out that have been unusual over the last year. The number of domestic violence assaults of all kinds and, yes, in all communities, and the robberies. Robbery is huge,” she said in referring to citywide trends against all residents.

Following is a partial transcript of D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier’s June 26 conversation with the Blade. The interview was conducted at the home of gay activist John Klenert, who hosted the session and participated in the discussion:

 

Washington Blade: What do you expect the newly created task force on hate crimes to accomplish?

Chief Lanier: What I’ve asked them to do and what we’ve all agreed is just come in and take a look at everything we’re doing and kind of grade us. You’ve got some of the experts that David Friedman [of the Anti-Defamation League] has brought in who have helped draft hate crimes statutes.

So based on that, the way we capture them, the way we investigate them, the way we report them – are we missing the mark somewhere? If we’re missing the mark, yes, give me recommendations on how to go forward. In terms of the outreach, I’m not sure what they’re going to find. And again, I’m looking from a law enforcement perspective. They may come back with some completely different recommendations about how we do outreach that’s not based on a law enforcement model at all.

But what we’re looking for is – How are we doing? And what is it we’re missing? And what are the recommendations? How can we improve that so that everybody else feels like we’re doing as well as we feel like we’re doing?

 

Blade: By outreach, do you mean alerting people in the community that a hate crime has taken place?

Lanier: Well that’s a good question isn’t it? For us, outreach has always been – in every community – one is getting information to people about what’s going on crime wise, how can you product yourself? What are the crime trends so you know what you need to protect yourself from? And then receiving information back from people in the community about what are they seeing and how do they feel about our response. So it’s kind of a two-way communication. That’s the biggest part of outreach. I think we’re doing that. We report everything. We hear back from the team members in the community in a variety of ways through the multi-team meetings and through email.

But the real outreach is kind of us doing things jointly. So in terms of hate crimes it’s great that we report it. It’s great that we have relationships with advocates. And I have exactly the same scenario going on right now in sex crimes in general related to sexual assaults in the city. We have these great relationships with all these advocates. We meet monthly. We exchange information two ways.

But what are we doing jointly to prevent these crimes to start with? We have a great team that discusses how we respond to it. But what are we doing to prevent it? So when I think of outreach I think having some of the advocate groups go out with us.

 

John Klenert: Who determines whether an incident is a hate crime? Is it the Attorney General?

Lanier: It’s the United States Attorney.

 

Blade: Don’t the police make the first call on whether a hate crime has occurred in the police report known as the 251 Report?

Lanier: We do mark it on the 251 but that is irrelevant as to whether they classify it as a hate crime. It’s not always apparent in the initial investigation. The initial investigation is, say when an arrest is made, when an arrest is made on the scene the investigation is just beginning. That’s just the preliminary. Did you break the law? Is there a violation of the law here? From there it becomes this lengthy investigation – grand juries, all those things – that’s where the determination is made whether they’re going to place actually the enhanced penalty of a hate crime.

It’s not something we have any control over. So that creates a little tension for us. And we’re a lot more visible and up front than the United States Attorney’s office….I’m not saying anything bad. But it’s the nature of our business. We’re at the front end. So we’re where people interact and see all the time. Very few people interact with the U.S. Attorney’s office.

 

Blade: Aren’t there some cases that the police list as hate crimes and the U.S. Attorney’s office doesn’t? One example may be the Marine who was stabbed to death near the 8th and I Street Barracks, where the accused man called the victim an anti-gay name.

Lanier: Here’s the challenge that they [the U.S. Attorney’s office] have. And believe me; I don’t often defend the United States Attorney’s office. Our standard is probable cause. So if you look at a continuum of what you need to charge somebody with a crime – with reasonable suspicion you can stop somebody and detain them. With probably cause you can now place them under arrest. Arrest is not guilt, it’s just we have probable cause. And then the United States Attorney’s office has to take that and continue to push until they get to a point where they feel like there’s high probability of conviction.

When there’s not a high probability of conviction they have trouble going forward, not just because they like their conviction rate but because judges are not going to push the case through. So they have a much higher standard than we do. I have to give them that. And I know because once we make that arrest my detectives are working around the clock to help them get to where they need for beyond a reasonable doubt. And there’s a big jump between probable cause and beyond a reasonable doubt.

 

Blade: Do they sometimes consult the police when they are deciding whether to offer a plea bargain and lower the charge in a case?

Lanier: No, we do not consult on pleas. Obviously we’re the police. When we make an arrest we feel like we’ve got the right person. Again, they’ve got to get to a jury or a judge to get to beyond a reasonable doubt. And all these little things can create reasonable doubt.

 

Blade: Concerning the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, can you say where it stands now in terms of the changes you set out to make when you became chief? You made it clear you wanted some changes by adding affiliate GLLU members from the police districts. Is that complete at this time?

Lanier: Well it’s still going. We have a core group of five officers that are fully assigned – that’s their only assignment. And then we rotate the new affiliates. We rotate a couple of affiliates in for 90 days. When they come out of training two will rotate in. They will stay there full-time for 90 days and then they’ll rotate back out.

 

Blade: Do GLLU officers have to go through a class to be an affiliate member? Are you able to do enough of those? Isn’t that where GLOV [Gays and Lesbian Opposing Violence] provides trainers for the classes?

Lanier: They are. And that came out of the meeting here also [meeting between Lanier and community activists]. It was [transgender activist] Ruby [Corado]. Ruby just told this heart-wrenching story on the day I was here. And I said look, if you can tell that story yourself to the police officers you will completely change their perception in how they interact with people. It was a terrible story she told. And she said OK, I’ll do it. And that’s how the whole concept came about and others said we’ll help too. Now they’re at a point where they’re a little frustrated. They want to get paid.

 

Blade: They’re hoping to get a city grant to cover their costs.

Lanier: Right and the deputy mayor is looking into that. But the recommendation that came out of the meeting last week with the deputy mayor is that there are other city agencies that need to be educated on LGBT issues as well. It’s not just the police. And if we’re talking about grant funding for organizations to train [we should] put together a more comprehensive approach for all city employees because a person who is either insensitive or not familiar with LGBT issues who’s working in any branch of government isn’t that a problem?

 

Blade: Some sources are saying there’s a perception now that the GLLU officers are not doing the direct law enforcement work they had been doing in the past. They’re saying GLLU officers are no longer investigating cases, they’re no longer making arrests, interviewing witnesses or victims, and –

Lanier: There are too many cases for five people to handle – honestly.

 

Blade: Are they the only ones that can do that?

Lanier: No, no, no, no…The GLLU folks are not detectives. Remember now a detective is on a whole different career track in MPD. There’s a lot of work that goes along with being a detective. And investigating crimes should be done by a detective. And believe me that’s what the United States Attorney’s Office wants because the detective is the one that’s going to go through with the prosecution – all those steps I talked to you about – about building beyond a reasonable doubt.

Detectives do that. Uniformed officers do not for the most part. So certainly there’s no possible way that a group of five or seven or even 10 GLLU core members could do all those investigations. You wouldn’t have a quality investigation if they were trying to do them all. They should go to the district detective unit where the crime occurs.

Remember, the ultimate goal here at the end – I hope that someday we don’t need a LGBT anything. People are people. Police officers should be investigating, reporting, patrolling, managing crime regardless of who the suspect is and regardless of who the victim is.

So you know the whole goal is to put the whole thing out of business so that there’s no internal discrimination, so there’s no external discrimination. People are people regardless of their sexual orientation, your race, your gender, your religion. All that shouldn’t matter. So my goal is to put the whole thing out of business.

In the meantime by spreading the affiliates around and putting more and more affiliates out there with the enhanced training there’s a better understanding that there really is nothing different about people.

 

Blade: What can you say about whether some or most of the GLLU affiliate officers are gay?

Lanier: Some are gay; I would say about 60 percent are but not all.

 

Blade: So there are straight cops that don’t mind being part of the GLLU?

Lanier: Not at all. They volunteered. That’s all voluntary. And we have a group of volunteers for every class. I mean, it’s 2012. I don’t know anybody who doesn’t have friends or family members. We’re people just like everybody else. We all have family and friends that are alcoholics, drug addicts, you know, white, black, whatever.

 

Blade: In terms of the guidelines for the GLLU, did somebody say recently – it might have been Deputy Chief Diane Groomes, that the GLLU members are not supposed to take official statements at the time they may interview a victim or something like that?

Lanier: They shouldn’t be getting statements from suspects until the detective is on the scene. That’s the case for any crime because if we’re going to go forward with a prosecution, if we have a suspect on the scene, there’s procedures that they follow to make sure that statements that are made are not excluded. And we want detectives to handle that. That’s for every crime. People will spontaneously make statements and we will copy them down. But in terms of debriefing and interviewing that’s the detective’s job.

 

Blade: Can you tell a little about a few incidents that happened in recent years where homophobic graffiti and anti-gay fliers were found in a few of the police districts, including the Third District?

Lanier: There was one in the Third District against an officer that I love dearly, one of the best police officers I’ve ever worked with. And he’s one of the most loved officers in the police department. Whoever did that, it really outraged a lot of people. And sometimes these cops that make these insensitive – you know, what they think are funny jokes or gestures – that’s got to stop because that’s not funny. So that’s why I spoke about that one. The other one at 5-D was Jehovah Witness literature. It was left in the station [by a member of the public].

 

Blade: The only other one we know about took place at the traffic division station – a flier with a photo making fun of one or two male officers saying they got married.

Lanier: It was in the major crash unit. It wasn’t a gay officer. I can tell you that cops make stupid jokes and it’s inappropriate. But I can tell you I have been here a long time and I’m still the majority on the police department now, my whole crew. I came on in ’89 or ’90. So the bulk of the department and my group is the biggest group and I’ve worked with them for many years. I can tell you the department has changed an awful lot. Women and a lot of people that were in the clique, old school, were treated very, very poorly over the years. This is a very different police department.

 

Blade: Are you saying these incidents are taking place less frequently?

Lanier: Do we have isolated people who have their own biases? Yes, sure. Do they act out inside the police department for others to see them? Extremely rare, extremely rare. I’m sure there are people out there policing who have biases we don’t even know about. What I’m saying is they know that there is no tolerance for it in the police department and they could lose their job for it. So you don’t see that outward bias inside the police department. Plus, like I’ve said, things have changed so much. I don’t know anybody that doesn’t have friends in just about every community. It’s just different now.

 

Klenert: Do we have any Muslim cops?

Lanier: Oh, sure. And I just signed off to let the Sikh community keep their religious scarf. They have been prohibited from policing and in fact they’re suing in New York. So I just signed an order to allow the Sikhs to keep their beards and their turbans.

 

Blade: In terms of the incidents we were talking about, did anything ever come of the investigations? You said at the time that the Internal Affairs division was investigating them.

Lanier: There was no discipline for the Jehovah Witness literature. It was put there. It should have been thrown out. We don’t know how long it was there. And still today they come through the station and they put literature there and we just throw it away because we can’t have any religious stuff there.

 

Klenert: Are the police up to full force?

Lanier: We’re at 3,900. At one point we were up to 4,100 and because of the budget cuts it dropped down. We were down below 3,800 for a while. So we’re back up to 3,900 now. I can tell you that this city is exploding.

 

Klenert: There are a lot of people moving in.

Lanier: I just did an analysis of the number of alcohol licenses. Another thing I’m looking at very closely is the alcohol-related assaults. I said let me see the top 10 locations that have the highest clusters of alcohol licenses. How many ABC licenses do you think there are in two blocks in Adams Morgan?

 

Klenert: About 40?

Lanier: Very good. It’s 38. So that’s like the gold mark. That’s like the most alcohol establishments you can cram into two blocks. I’ve got another block that’s got 36 in a three-block area. I’ve got another block that’s got 18. So now I’ve got at least 10 little Adams Morgans around the town. H Street, N.E., like I say. The U Street corridor I think has 36. So those are all things that if the city is going to keep thriving – if you go down there on weekends it’s Maryland and Virginia tags. People are coming from all over. Our nighttime population is as big as our daytime population…

 

Blade: What are your thoughts on the mayor’s proposal to allow the bars to stay open an extra hour during the week and on weekends?

Lanier: Here’s my take on that. Honestly, with all the interactions I have, I have the authority to do emergency closures [of bars] on a very limited basis. And I can tell you the bars I’ve had to close on an emergency basis – it’s the same bars over and over – or it’s the same owners. So either the bars are managed very well, which means they don’t over serve. They don’t bring in entertainment that they know has difficult followers. They have good security. I never have a problem with 85 percent of those businesses in this city. I never have a problem. They can stay open around the clock and I’d never have a problem. The ones that have a problem, they are going to be a problem all the time.

 

Blade: Regardless of how late they can stay open?

Lanier: That’s exactly right. Now in a neighborhood like this, would I want them stumbling through my neighborhood at 4 o’clock as opposed to 3 o’clock? That might be a problem. Crime wise it’s not a problem. I think disturbing people might be a problem.

 

Blade: Looking at the type of crimes I see reported by the GLLU in the crime reports we receive from Capt. Edward Delgado, who oversees the GLLU, it seems like domestic violence is far more prevalent than hate crimes. Is domestic violence the single most frequent type of case the GLLU gets calls for?

Lanier: It is. Domestic violence is huge and even though we’ve had – I said this to someone. Three years ago 20 percent of all murders were domestic violence related, which is dramatic. That’s a lot.

 

Blade: Is that across the board?

Lanier: It’s across the board, across the city. And we’ve been able to bring it down. We’ve only had three domestic violence murders this year. Unfortunately, two of those were children, infants. So we’ve put a couple of pilot programs in place to try and reduce domestic violence lethality and it’s worked. It’s called lethality assessment for high-risk domestic violence cases. But the number of actual assaults is just phenomenal.

 

Blade: Do you mean the number of domestic violence related assaults?

Lanier: Yeah. Every morning when I look at my crime reports there are two things that stand out that have been unusual over the last year. The number of domestic violence assaults of all kinds and, yes, in all communities, and the robberies still. Robbery is huge.

 

Blade: Are the two about the same or would you say domestic violence is a little higher?

Lanier: It’s street robberies that are high right now.

 

Klenert: But the murder rate is down, isn’t it?

Lanier: It’s way down … So right now if our trends hold – we’re at 40 murders today and we’re going into the seventh month. If our trends hold we’ll come in not only under a hundred but well under a hundred, under 80. …

 

Blade: The number of LGBT murders are also way down since the 1980s and 1990s. Do you have any idea why that is?

Lanier: I think it’s the culture of violence itself. I think in the culture of violence we’ve finally broken through. I think of the whole tipping point thing. We had to get to a tipping point where not only did we as a city but particularly as a police department say we can prevent murders and we’re going to and not, ‘Well, we can’t stop murders,’ which used to be our mentality and also sending that message to the criminal population.

 

Blade: You’ve said in the past that under some circumstances the department might not identify a murder victim as being gay on grounds of privacy. But have there been murders of gay men recently that we don’t know about because they’re not identified as such?

Lanier: I can’t think of any off the top of my head – no. But this is the hard part for me. If something happens in an area where there’s a lot of transgender prostitution, the first question from the advocates is was that a gay person or a transgender person? It’s not really my right to tell people somebody’s sexual orientation. And to a certain extent, people do deserve a little bit of privacy. We had a little bit of tension with the advocates in one of the transgender cases because a family member gave us a photo to use for the flier and the photo was pre-transition. That’s what the family wanted. How do I go back to mom and say I know this is the photo you want me to use, mom, but the advocates are up in arms because we didn’t use this picture? I’m going to respect the family. That’s really my tough decision but that’s my job. Whatever the next of kin expresses they want I have to honor that. And the advocates don’t understand that sometimes. They think we’re just being insensitive or at the very least we should show both photos. But you know I’m a mom. If that’s what the mom asks, how can I not do that?

 

Blade: That becomes difficult for the LGBT community because in some cases there is homophobia on the part of the parents and the child who may have been murdered was estranged from the parents.

Lanier: If we had a situation where the parents said no we don’t want that to be a part of this but we thought it would be important for us to put that out to the public to help us close the case, we would go back to mom and say look, I know you don’t want this out there and you don’t want this to be the last photograph of your son or daughter or whatever – I don’t think we have as good a chance of finding the killer unless we do this. And I would make that plea. But if I don’t think it’s relevant to closing the case then I’m going to respect the family. It’s a fine line, it really is. It’s a difficult line for us to walk…

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Virginia

Arlington church seeks to offer LGBTQ-affirming senior housing

Project by Clarendon Presbyterian faces opposition from residents

Published

on

Clarendon Presbyterian Church (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

Leaders and members of the Clarendon Presbyterian Church, which will celebrate its 100th anniversary on April 13, have said they decided to continue to fulfill their mission of religious faith by using the land on which their church is located in the Clarendon section of Arlington, Va., to develop a new, larger church building to include LGBTQ affordable housing for seniors along with an independently run childcare center that currently operates in the church.

“In line with the church’s deep history of supporting affordable housing, LGBTQ communities, and seniors, in 2021, the church relaunched a visioning process of how we might invest our most valuable physical resources, our church property, for the good of the community,” church leaders said in a Feb. 9, 2024, statement describing the project.

The statement says that in 2022, the congregation voted to partner with the Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing (APAH), a real estate development company that specializes in affordable housing projects. Through that partnership, the statement says, the two partners in June of 2023 applied to the Arlington County government for a zoning change that would allow the construction of a building that could accommodate as many as 92 residential apartments for seniors 55 or 62 and older.

Among other things, the project calls for demolishing the current church building and constructing a new, larger building that would include a smaller version of the church space for its religious services as well as space for 40 to 58 children ages two through six at the Clarendon Child Care Center, which has operated at the church for more than 60 years.

Rev. Alice Tewell, the current pastor at Clarendon Presbyterian Church, told the Washington Blade another important factor contributing to the decision to redevelop the church property is the high cost of maintaining a 100-year-old building and its aging infrastructure that was becoming less and less affordable for the church’s budget. And like many churches across the country, the membership of Clarendon Presbyterian Church has declined over the years, making it no longer necessary for a worship service space as large as that in the current church building, Tewell said.

The statement describing the development plan says that without a major redevelopment project, the church could no longer afford to remain in the current building, forcing it to move to another location outside of Clarendon and possibly outside of Arlington. 

According to Rev. Tewell, the redevelopment decision came after several years of internal discussion, meetings with longtime church allies, including members of the LGBTQ community and other community groups.

“And after all these conversations, we came to where we could serve Christ, which is part of our faith, and where we could be good neighbors in Arlington – would be to tear down our entire property and rebuild so it would include senior affordable housing as LGBT welcoming, a new church space, which we also plan to turn into a community space, and the new space for our preschool center,” Tewell told the Blade.

She noted that the church’s location at 1305 N. Jackson St. is walking distance to the Clarendon Metro station and many local amenities such as restaurants and retail stores, making it a convenient location for the senior residents in the redeveloped space. 

She also points out that church members have consulted with the New York-based LGBTQ seniors advocacy organization SAGE, which informed them of the great need for LGBTQ welcoming senior housing, including in Northern Virginia.

But news of the church’s redevelopment project, especially reports that it would include a proposed 92-unit apartment building, prompted many nearby residents to raise strong objections and to call on the Arlington County Board, which must make a final decision on a zoning change, to deny the zoning change request.

Most of the opposition comes from residents of single-family houses, who point out that the church is located in a largely low-density residential neighborhood with just a few nearby low-rise apartment buildings. In August of 2023, a group of nearby residents created an online petition that gathered at that time more than 1,000 signatures calling for the county to turn down the church development project.

“We, the concerned residents of Arlington, Virginia, stand united in opposition to the proposed destruction of the historic, over 100-year-old, Clarendon Presbyterian Church (CPC) and the subsequent construction of a massive 6-story apartment building having 100 units within our cherished residential neighborhood,” the petition states. “We believe that this development project will have serious detrimental effects on our community’s character, quality of life, and historic heritage,” it says.

The Arlington Partnership for Affordable Housing, or APAH, the development company working in partnership with the church, submitted an official application on June 29, 2023, for a Special General Land Use Plan Study calling for the needed zoning change for the church project with Arlington County Zoning Administrator Arlova Vonhm. APAH officials have said the initial application was the first of a multi-step process seeking final approval of the project.

Garrett Jackson, APAH’s Director of Resource Development and Communications, told the Blade that APAH on behalf of the church asked the Zoning Administrator to put the application on hold while the church and APAH consider revisions for the project.

“We are currently working with our architect, engineer, and construction management team to assess the feasibility of different development options while also considering feedback we have received from the county and the community,” Jackson told the Blade in a March 15 email.

In a phone interview with the Blade on March 21, Jackson and APAH officials Mitchell Crispell and Brian Goggin, said the decision to put the project on hold did not come as a result of an informal message from the Zoning Administrator that the project was about to be turned down. 

“So, we were the ones that put it on hold,” said Crispell, APAH’s Director of Real Estate Development. “It wasn’t the county that said no to us at all. We wanted to kind of pause for a minute and consider our options, the feasibility of different options and the development plans,” he said.

Crispell noted that the decision to put the project on hold came last fall, a few months after the application was submitted in June and after strong opposition to the project surfaced by nearby residents. Crispell, Jackson, and Goggin pointed out, however, that opposition to development projects is a common phenomenon in Arlington and other jurisdictions and that ongoing dialogue between developers and concerned residents often leads to a resolution to the objections.

“We understand the back and forth that it takes to get these projects to fruition,” Jackson said. “So, you’ve got to rest assured that this is very much a part of the very thorough process that both APAH and the county go through regularly to make sure that we’re getting the absolute best product in the actual building that will go up for Clarendon Presbyterian Church and for the future residents,” Jackson points out.

Jackson and his two APAH colleagues said they couldn’t immediately predict when they will resubmit the application for the zoning change. Spokespersons for the Zoning Office, the Arlington County Board, and Arlington County Manager Mark Schwartz didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Blade for comment on the church project and the likelihood of the county approving the project.

Among those supporting the church project is James Fisher, a longtime Arlington LGBTQ rights advocate and longtime church member. Fisher and Arlington gay civic activists Jay Fisette, a former elected member of the Arlington Board, and longtime Arlington resident Bob Witeck, who support the project, told the Blade they believe many nearby residents also support the church development project.

Fisette and Witeck said they do not believe anti-LGBTQ bias is a significant factor, if a factor at all, in the opposition to the church project.

“I personally observe this as disquiet about building a larger and taller presence in a space that abuts residential neighbors unsure of the implications or stresses that might come,” Witeck said. “I’m no Pollyanna, but really believe that with time, this change will be smoother than people fear or imagine,” he said.

Fisette said the church project comes a short time after the Arlington County Board adopted an “Expanded Housing Options” policy that allows for larger residential buildings in some areas originally zoned for low-density, single-family homes. This change drew objections among many residents in areas similar to where Clarendon Presbyterian church is located.

“I would say the LGBTQ elements of the proposal are likely more of a plus than a minus,” Fisette told the Blade. “I expect 99 percent of any resistance-anxiety relates to density  and the real-feared impacts of that density,” he said.

Tewell told the Blade the church’s support for the LGBTQ community dates back to the 1980s, when church members voted in support of a then-controversial proposal to allow the D.C.-based Whitman-Walker Clinic, which had a Northern Virginia outreach, to use space in the church for a support group for people with HIV/AIDS and for HIV caregivers.

“And that started changing the church to becoming a church that was very welcoming to LGBTQ people,” she said, adding that the church subsequently opened its door for LGBTQ community events, some of which were organized by gay church member James Fisher. Among those using the church now is IMPACTO LGBT, a Spanish-speaking LGBT church that holds its worship services at Clarendon Presbyterian Church.

“This is how we are living out our faith in the world,” Tewell said. “We worked out what does God’s embodied love look like for the world? And how do we embody God’s grace, justice, and love? And we really feel that it is through housing for seniors that is welcoming to LGBTQ+ people,” she added. “And to transform our church space so it’s better equipped to welcome the community.”

Continue Reading

Maryland

Maryland’s Joe Vogel would make history if elected to Congress

27-year-old gay lawmaker running for David Trone seat

Published

on

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) (Photo courtesy of Joe Vogel)

Maryland state Del. Joe Vogel (D-Montgomery County) on Monday said it is time for a new generation of leaders in Congress.

The Montgomery County Democrat last May declared his candidacy for Maryland’s 6th Congressional District after Congressman David Trone announced his run for retiring U.S. Sen. Ben Cardin (D-Md.)’s seat. Vogel, 27, would be the first Latino, the first gay man and the first Gen Zer elected to Congress from Maryland if he were to win in November.

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we want things to get better in this country,” Vogel told the Washington Blade during an interview at the Line Hotel in Adams Morgan.

Protecting democracy among priorities

Vogel was born in Uruguay and immigrated to Rockville with his family when he was three years old.

He volunteered for former President Barack Obama’s 2012 re-election campaign. Vogel, who is Jewish, in 2014 worked for Maryland state Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County)’s campaign.

He was part of Hillary Clinton’s National Advance Team during her 2016 presidential campaign, and worked on former Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s 2017 gubernatorial bid. Vogel later joined the March for Our Lives movement for gun control that began after a gunman killed 17 people at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., on Feb. 14, 2018.

Vogel in 2020 worked for U.S. Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.)’s presidential campaign. The Montgomery County Democrat in 2022 became the first Gen Zer to win a seat in the Maryland General Assembly. 

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that he has introduced 18 bills in this year’s legislative session. 

One of them, a bill that would prohibit the state from giving foster children in their custody trash bags for them to transport their belongings, passed unanimously in the House on March 14. Other measures that Vogel has sponsored would, among other things, provide security grants to abortion clinics and increase investments in local newspapers.

“I have a record of being able to deliver results,” he said. “That’s what I’m running on.”

Vogel pointed out to the Blade that his platform includes:

  • • Protecting democracy
  • • Preventing “attacks on fundamental rights”
  • • Fighting climate change
  • • Stopping gun violence

Vogel also noted his support for the Equality Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to federal civil rights laws.

“At a moment of time when you have attacks against the LGBTQ+ community, against our rights, against our identities, I believe that there’s nothing more powerful than electing Maryland’s first openly LGBTQ+ member of Congress,” he said.

Vogel added his election would send “a message to all the young LGBTQ+ people across the state that they belong, and that they have someone in the United States Congress who understands them and is going to fight for them every single day,” added Vogel.

Vogel’s great-grandparents fled Europe ahead of the Holocaust. Uruguay’s military dictatorship was in place from 1973-1985. 

His multiple identities remain a cornerstone of his legislative priorities and of his campaign.

“When we talk about the attacks on LGBTQ+ people, I get that. I feel that,” said Vogel. “I understand that when we talk about the attacks on immigrant communities … not only do I understand that, personally, but I’m around so many immigrants that feel that pain of what we’ve seen over the last many years of the incessant attacks on immigrants and Latino people. When we see the rise in anti-Semitism, I feel that personally.”

HRC, Victory Fund have endorsed Vogel

The Democratic primary will take place on May 14.

April McClain Delaney, a former U.S. Department of Commerce official whose husband is former Congressman John Delaney, and state Del. Lesley Lopez (D-Montgomery County) are among Vogel’s primary opponents. Former state Del. Dan Cox, an anti-LGBTQ Republican who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2022, is also running for Trone’s seat.

Campaign finance reports indicate Vogel raised $379,755.91 between May 4, 2023, and Dec. 31, 2023. McClain Delaney reported she received $536,557 in campaign contributions from Oct. 1, 2023, to Dec. 31, 2023.

The Human Rights Campaign, the LGBTQ+ Victory Fund, Equality PAC and the Sierra Club are among the organizations that have endorsed Vogel’s campaign. U.S. Reps. Robert Garcia (D-Calif.), Becca Balint (D-Vt.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) and Frederick County Council President Brad Young are among those who have also backed him. The Maryland State Education Association and the National Education Association this week endorsed Vogel.

Vogel dismissed suggestions that he does not have enough legislative experience to run for Congress and that he is too young.

“When you’re elected to Congress, you’re elected for a two-year term,” he said. “Look at what I’ve been able to accomplish in a two-year term. I’ve proven that I can hit the ground running, get results, deliver results.”

Vogel added the race to succeed Trone in Congress is “me versus the status quo.”

“We need a new generation of leadership with new perspectives, new ideas and the courage to actually deliver for our communities if we actually want things to get better in this country,” said Vogel.

Democratic opponent gave money to Jim DeMint

Former Republican Gov. Larry Hogan last month announced he is running for U.S. Senate. Prince George’s County Executive Director Angela Alsobrooks is also hoping to succeed Cardin.

Vogel sharply criticized Cox. 

“He is as bigoted as it gets,” Vogel told the Blade. “He is a far-right extremist who bussed people to D.C. on Jan. 6, who is as homophobic as it gets, and who is as transphobic as it gets.”

Vogel said Maryland voters in November “need to reject Dan Cox” and “we have to reject Larry Hogan.” (Vogel has endorsed Trone’s Senate campaign.)

“We have to elect pro-equality members of Congress this November, to finally secure the protections that we need for our community in Congress,” said Vogel.

Vogel also vowed to “do everything in my power to ensure that” former President Donald Trump does not win re-election in November.

“Three generations in my family: My great-grandparents, my grandparents, my parents experienced the loss of democracy,” Vogel told the Blade. “My great-grandparents escaped fascism. My grandparents and parents lived under a repressive military dictatorship in Uruguay, and I see the concern that my parents feel seeing the rise of Trump.”

“I refuse to be the fourth generation in my family who experienced the loss of democracy,” he added. “This November, the election fundamentally is going to decide the future of our democracy.”

Vogel on Sunday during a forum the Frederick County Democratic Party sponsored criticized McClain Delaney over her 2005 campaign donation to then-U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) after he said gay people should not be teachers.

“I can’t imagine making any sort of political contribution to any anti-LGBTQ+, anti-choice, pro-NRA member of the United States Senate, and let alone the maximum allowed contribution,” said Vogel. “There is a stark contrast there.”

‘My heart breaks for what we saw on’ Oct. 7

Vogel spoke with the Blade less than six months after Hamas launched a surprise attack against southern Israel.

“It was the deadliest attack on the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” he said. “What concerns me is that Hamas has made clear that they intend to carry out an attack like that again and again and again and again.”

“My heart breaks for what we saw on that day,” added Vogel.

Vogel is among those who attended a pro-Israel rally that took place on the National Mall last November. He has also met with relatives of hostages who remain in the Gaza Strip.

“Hearing the stories of parents whose kids are still in Gaza, the pain that I feel is tremendous,” said Vogel. “We have to bring those hostages home.”

Vogel told the Blade that Hamas can no longer control Gaza. He also said peace cannot be achieved with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in office.

“If we want to reach peace, a number of things have to happen: Hamas needs to go. We need a change in leadership in Israel and we need diplomatic negotiations to get a bilateral ceasefire, which is not what I think people are calling for when they call for an immediate ceasefire.”

Vogel last October posted to his X account pictures of anti-Semitic graffiti in his apartment building.

He told the Blade the graffiti was removed, but “it took a very long time.” Vogel has introduced a bill that would require the removal of graffiti in a specific period of time if it violates Maryland’s hate crimes law.

Book bans ‘have absolutely no place’

Vogel during the interview also criticized Moms for Liberty and their efforts to ban books in Maryland. He noted Jaime Brennan, the chair of the group’s Frederick County chapter, is running for the county’s Board of Education.

“Book bans in a free democratic society have absolutely no place,” said Vogel.

The Maryland House on March 15 by a 98-37 vote margin approved the Freedom to Read Act. The measure would create a “state policy that local school systems operate their school library media programs consistent with certain standards,” require “each local school system to develop a policy and procedures to review objections to materials in a school library media program” and ban “a county board of education from dismissing, demoting, suspending, disciplining, reassigning, transferring or otherwise retaliating against certain school library media program personnel for performing their job duties consistent with certain standards.”

The bill is now before the Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee.

Amber Laenen contributed to this story.

Continue Reading

District of Columbia

Whitman-Walker names new CEO for Health System unit

Heather Aaron credited with advancing LGBTQ health for seniors

Published

on

Heather Aaron (Photo courtesy Whitman-Walker)

Whitman-Walker Health, D.C.’s longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider, announced on March 26 that it has appointed Heather Aaron, a health care educator and executive for more than 30 years, as the new CEO for Whitman-Walker Health System.

Whitman-Walker Health System, a division of Whitman-Walker, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation; the Whitman-Walker Institute, which conducts HIV-related research; and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, according to a write-up on the Whitman-Walker website.

In a press release announcing the appointment, Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair Ann Bonham called Aaron a “dynamic and collaborative leader that will help us to realize the vision and full potential of our health system … building revenue and growth opportunities that will further Whitman-Walker’s care, advocacy, education, and research goals in partnership with Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health.”

The Whitman-Walker Health System CEO position became open in April 2023 when former Health System CEO Dr. Ryan Moran left the position to become Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance for the State of Maryland. Whitman-Walker named Cindy Lewin, a healthcare specialist with nonprofit organizations, as interim CEO while it conducted a national search for a permanent CEO.

“Heather has spent her entire career in health care, making a difference for the communities where she has served as Health Care Executive and Educator for more than thirty years,” the Whitman-Walker announcement of her appointment says. “She has worked tirelessly to develop diversity, equity, and inclusion in all her work,” it says, adding that her work experience includes services for members of the LGBTQ community and people with HIV/AIDS.

“In Connecticut, she operated the only continuum of care model which included a nursing home, independent living apartments and case management in one centralized community,” the announcement continues. “The care model was specifically designed for people living with HIV and AIDS,” it says. 

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Whitman-Walker family in service to the community,” Aaron said in the announcement press release. “I look forward to getting to know staff, patients, and engaging with D.C. in a meaningful way,” she said. 

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Advertisement

Sign Up for Weekly E-Blast

Follow Us @washblade

Advertisement

Popular