Local
Mayor, city officials attend memorial for slain trans woman
Gray calls on U.S. Attorney to explain why murder wasn’t classified as hate crime
Mayor Vince Gray attended the memorial for slain trans woman Deoni Jones, along with several other D.C. officials. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray, Fire Chief Kenneth Ellerbe, and Deputy Police Chief Diane Groomes were among a contingent of city officials who joined about 100 participants Saturday night in a memorial remembrance for slain trans woman Deoni Jones.
Jones, 23, was stabbed to death Feb. 2, 2012 while sitting at a bus stop near her home at East Capitol Street and Sycamore Road, N.E. A 56-year-old District man was indicted on a charge of first-degree murder while armed in connection with Jones’ murder.
As participants in Saturday’s memorial assembled next to the bus stop where the murder occurred exactly one year earlier, Earl Fowlkes, president of the gay rights group Center for Black Equity, introduced Jones’ family members, who organized the event.
“First of all, they could have stayed private, which would be understandable to heal, to seek justice, and to grieve,” Fowlkes said. “But instead, they joined with the LGBT community and stayed with the LGBT community in their time of pain to show that we cannot tolerate violence in our community.”
Alvin Bethea, Jones’ stepfather, told the gathering he and his family were deeply moved by the support they have received from the LGBT community as well as from Mayor Gray and the police and fire departments, which he said responded quickly to the scene where Deoni Jones was attacked.
“President Obama put the country on notice that discrimination against the GLBT community is wrong,” he said, adding that many in the D.C. community were following Obama’s message of equality for all citizens.
But Bethea said he and his family were troubled that the U.S. Attorney’s office has declined their repeated calls for classifying Jones’ murder as a hate crime. He called on the city and the LGBT community to join his family’s efforts to persuade the prosecutor in charge of the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gorman, to add a hate crime designation to the charge against defendant Gary Montgomery, whom D.C. police arrested eight days after the murder.
Bethea said the family plans to file a complaint with the U.S. Justice Department’s criminal and civil rights divisions requesting an investigation into the handling of the case by the D.C. U.S. Attorney’s office.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the office has a policy of not commenting on criminal cases currently before the courts.
In charging documents, police and prosecutors said that a video recording of the incident obtained from a nearby video surveillance camera shows that the person who stabbed Jones took her purse immediately after the stabbing and walked from the scene with the purse in his possession.
The charging documents say the assailant shown on the video recording, which witnesses have identified as Montgomery, dropped the purse after a witness shouted and chased after him. A police arrest affidavit says that the suspect escaped from the scene and remained at large until D.C. police apprehended him eight days later.
Remembrance of Deoni Jones. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Jones’ friends and family members have said they believe the true motive was hatred toward a transgender person rather than robbery. At the time of Montgomery’s arrest, a police investigator said police were considering the possibility that the incident was a hate crime.
When asked about the family’s and community’s concerns over the lack of a hate crime designation to the case, Gray told reporters after the memorial ended that he would ask the D.C. Attorney General’s office to look into the matter.
“I think there ought to be a clear indication of why or why not this is viewed or not viewed as a hate crime,” Gray said. “The family clearly is not satisfied. And I think we all owe it to them to give a clear explanation over why the direction of the case is proceeding the way it is.”
Gray added, “We can get our attorney general to make a statement to the U.S. Attorney’s office to say we want a clear determination on this situation. And let the family have peace on this because they clearly are still very restive about this whole situation.”
Others who spoke at the memorial included D.C. Council members David Catania (I-At-Large) and Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7); Groomes and Ellerbe; Sterling Washington, director of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs; Hassan Naveed, co-chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence; and Brian Watson of Transgender Health Empowerment.
District of Columbia
Brian Footer suspends campaign for Ward 1 D.C. Council seat
Race’s third LGBTQ candidate cites family reasons for ‘stepping back’
Gay Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Brian Footer, who was one of three out LGBTQ candidates running for the open Ward 1 D.C. Council seat in the city’s June 16, 2026, Democratic primary, announced on Dec. 17 he has decided to “suspend” his campaign to focus on his family.
“After deep reflection and honest conversations with my family, I have decided to suspend my campaign for the D.C. Council,” he said in a statement. “This moment in my life requires me to be present with the people I love most and honor the responsibilities I carry both at home and in the community,” he states. “This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
Footer, a longtime Ward 1 community activist and LGBTQ rights advocate, announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat in July, one month before bisexual Ward 1 community activist Aparna Raj announced her candidacy for the Council seat on Aug. 12.
Gay Ward 1 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Miguel Trindade Deramo announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat on Nov. 18, becoming the third out LGBTQ candidate in what appeared to be an unprecedented development for a race for a single D.C. Council seat.
At least three other candidates who are not LGBTQ are running for the Ward 1 Council seat. They include Ward 1 ANC member Rashida Brown, longtime Ward 1 community activist Terry Lynch, and Jackie Reyes-Yanes, the former director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs.
In his statement announcing the suspension of his candidacy, Footer said he would continue to be involved in community affairs and advocate for the issues he discussed during his campaign.
“I want to be clear: I am stepping back from the race, not the work,” he says in his statement. “Public service has always been my calling. I will continue advocating for affordability, for safer streets, for stability for small businesses, and for a government that responds to people with urgency and respect,” he wrote. “And I will continue showing up as a partner in the work of building a stronger Ward 1.”
Footer concluded by thanking and praising his campaign supporters and calling his campaign suspension a “transition,” suggesting he is not likely to resume his candidacy.
His campaign press spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Footer might later resume his campaign or if his latest action was in effect an end to his candidacy.
“To everyone who knocked on doors, hosted conversations, donated, shared encouragement, and believed in this campaign, thank you,” he says in his statement. “I am deeply grateful for every person who helped this campaign take root,” he added. “This isn’t an ending, it’s a transition. And I’m excited for the work ahead, both in Ward 1 and at home with my family.”
Longtime gay D.C. Democratic Party activist Peter Rosenstein said in a statement to the Blade, “I respect Brian Footer’s decision to end his campaign for Council. It is not easy to run a campaign in D.C. and there are many others running in Ward 1.” He added, “While not living in Ward 1, I thank Brian for all he has done and clearly will continue to do for the people in the ward.”
Local
LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly congregations to hold holiday services
Bet Mishpachah’s Hanukkah service to take place on Friday
LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly congregations in D.C. will hold services and other events throughout the holiday season.
Bet Mishpachah on Friday will hold its Sparks in the Dark Happy Hour at Spark Social on 14th Street from 5:30-7:30 p.m. It’s Chanuka Shabbat Service will begin at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m.
Hanukkah began on Sunday and will end on Dec. 22.
Two gunmen on Sunday killed 15 people and injured more than two dozen others when they opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Jake Singer-Beilin, Bet Mishpachah’s chief rabbi, in a Facebook post mourned the victims.
“We grieve for the victims and send heartfelt prayers of healing for those who were wounded,” he wrote.
“This Chanuka, our lights will shine brightly in the darkness, but our hearts will be heavy with mourning for those who were murdered on Bondi Beach while observing what should have been a joyous day,” added Singer-Beilin. “We will still celebrate our Festival of Lights and we will commit ourselves to illuminating and repairing our broken world. Let us channel the bravery of the Maccabees who found hope where there seemed to be none, and who fought to create a better future. We must do the same.”
LGBTQ Catholic group to hold annual Christmas Day Mass
Dignity Washington’s Christmas Day Mass will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Dec. 25 from 6-7 p.m. Parishioners can attend in person or watch it online via Facebook.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington D.C.’s Christmas Eve service will take place at the church (474 Ridge St., N.W., on Dec. 24 at 6 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1517 18th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist from 5-6 p.m. A Christmas Eve dinner will take place in the Parish Hall from 6-8:30 p.m. The church’s Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist will occur on Dec. 25 from 10-11 a.m.
Washington National Cathedral throughout the holiday season has a number of services and events scheduled. These include the virtual Gospel Christmas Service on Dec. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m., the Family Christmas Service on Dec. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon, the Christmas Eve Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 24 from 10-11:45 p.m., and the Christmas Day Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 25 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Family Service on Dec. 24 at 4:30 p.m. Its Carols and Candlelight Service will take place at 8 p.m.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum to celebrate Kwanzaa
The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place S.E.) in Anacostia will mark the first day of Kwanzaa on Dec. 26 with storytelling and drumming with Mama Ayo and Baba Ras D from noon to 2 p.m. The museum will hold a series of other events through the 6-day celebration of African American culture that ends on Jan. 1.
The Creative Suitland Arts Center (4719 Silver Hill Road) in Suitland, Md., on Friday will hold their Almost Kwanzaa: A Creative Kind of Holiday event from 6-8:30 p.m.
Maryland
Joseline Peña-Melnyk elected Md. House speaker
Family immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic
By PAMELA WOOD | Moments after being elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Tuesday, state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk stood before the chamber and contemplated her unlikely journey to that moment.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the Peña family lived in a small wooden house with a leaky tin roof and no indoor plumbing. Some days, she said, there was no food to eat.
When she was 8 years old, the family immigrated to New York City, where Peña-Melnyk was dubbed “abogadito” or “little lawyer” for helping her mother and others by translating at social services offices.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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