Local
Trans group: D.C. hate crimes review biased toward police
Emails from police chief ‘raise questions’ about independence task force
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier
More than 1,500 pages of private email correspondence from D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier related to the work of the city’s Hate Crimes Review Task Force show that the Task Force may be biased in favor of the police and may not present an impartial assessment of police handling of hate crimes, according to the D.C. Trans Coalition.
In written testimony submitted on Wednesday to the D.C. Council’s Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety, DCTC disclosed it obtained the Lanier email correspondence through a Freedom of Information Act request earlier this year.
DCTC’s testimony says much of the email correspondence is between Lanier and David Friedman, director of the Anti-Defamation League’s Washington regional office, who serves as chair of the Hate Crimes Review Task Force.
“Our concern is that the ADL-led task force is a publicity stunt rather than a good-faith effort at making progress,” the DCTC statement says.
Lanier and Friedman dispute the DCTC’s assessment, saying they expect the task force to provide an independent review of the department’s response to anti-LGBT hate crimes and to make recommendations on how the response can be improved.
“It is a shame that the D.C. Trans Coalition is attacking the work of this group before they even issue their report and recommendations,” Lanier told the Washington Blade in a statement.
Lanier’s office announced last June that she enlisted the ADL, a nationally recognized group that fights prejudice and discrimination, to help the department assess how it investigates and reports hate crimes. The announcement came at a time when LGBT activists raised concerns over the police handling of hate crimes targeting the LGBT community, especially the transgender community.
The police announcement said that at ADL’s invitation, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Center for Transgender Equality, the Leadership Conference on Civil Rights, and two university professors considered experts on hate violence agreed to join ADL as members of the task force.
DCTC says in its testimony submitted to the D.C. Council that the email correspondence between Lanier and Friedman suggests a bias exists that the task force may not be impartial.
“We received the [FOIA] results last month, five month late, only to discover evidence that the independent review isn’t really independent at all,” DCTC says in its testimony.
Freedman “appears to be a close personal friend of Chief Lanier,” the testimony says. “Further, Lanier personally approved the membership of the review task force,” a development DCTC says raises questions about its ability to make an impartial assessment of the police department’s handling of hate crimes targeting the LGBT community.
The DCTC testimony says the group learned last week at a private task force meeting held at offices of Casa Ruby, a D.C. LGBT community center with an outreach to the Latino community, that the task force will submit its findings to Chief Lanier to give her a chance to respond.
DCTC member Jason Terry told the Blade on Wednesday that a task force representative told activists attending the Casa Ruby meeting that it would be up to Lanier to decide when or if the report should be released to the public and the community.
One of the email exchanges DCTC included in its testimony, which is dated Nov. 3, 2011, shows Friedman mentioning in a lighthearted way that Lanier’s high performance ratings in a public opinion poll of 80 percent may be equivalent to a “B” on a report card.
“Actually the last Clarus poll was 84 percent. Am I slipping?” Lanier said in her response.
“Wouldn’t worry,” Friedman said in his response. “The only people who don’t like you have outstanding warrants.”
Replied Lanier: “That David is one of the many reasons I love you…So quick.”
In a phone interview on Wednesday afternoon, Friedman told the Blade his remark about outstanding warrants was a joke. He also noted that his Nov. 3 email exchange with Lanier that DCTC quoted took place at least a month before Lanier informed him of her plans for the task force and asked him to create it.
“Yes, I am lucky to call David a friend, as are many law enforcement leaders in the country,” Lanier said in her statement to the Blade. “He is a highly respected professional dedicated to making communities throughout the country safe from crime motivated by hate.”
LGBT activists who know Friedman have said he and the ADL’s D.C. regional office have been strong and outspoken advocates for LGBT rights for many years.
“We’re very proud of that,” Friedman said. “We’re proud of our leadership on hate crimes on the local and national level. And I hope that people will feel when this process is done that the task force contributed significantly to protecting the LGBT community from hate crimes and to strengthening the relationship between the LGBT community and the MPD.”
One task force member, who spoke on condition of not being identified, said the DCTC appears to have made a “premature judgment” in assessing whether the task force is biased or whether the outcome of the task force’s work would be biased.
HRC spokesperson Paul Guequierre said in a statement that ADL asked HRC to join the task force because of HRC’s “extensive work on hate crimes prevention legislation at both the state and federal levels.” He said HRC saw its participation in the task force as an opportunity to make sure “there was a fair process” in assessing the police handling of hate crimes in D.C.
“HRC is committed to ensuring that law enforcement respond swiftly and appropriately to incidents of bias crimes without further victimizing the LGBT community,” he said.
Friedman acknowledged that it was he who told people attending the task force community meeting at Casa Ruby’s that the task force’s findings and recommendations would be delivered to Lanier.
“What I said at that meeting was that the chief asked us to review the MPD handling of hate crimes and its relationship with the LGBT community was to be reviewed,” he said. “So obviously we’re going to give her first the report and our findings. She asked for this. And I have every reason to expect – I think all of us would want – these findings to be made public.”
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
Virginians for Marriage Equality on Monday launched a campaign in support of repealing Virginia’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman, former state Sen. Adam Ebbin, former state Del. Mark Sickles, and American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia Executive Director Mary Bauer are among those who spoke at the launch that took place in Richmond. State Del. Kirk McPike (D-Alexandria), who co-chairs the campaign, also participated.
“This amendment is about making clear that the government has no business deciding which marriages or which families are worthy of recognition,” said Bauer. “The ACLU of Virginia has been fighting for Virginians’ right to marry who they love since the landmark case, Loving v. Virginia, which struck down the ban on interracial marriage. Now we are proud to carry that legacy forward by standing with our coalition partners in the fight to pass this amendment and finally enshrine the right to marriage equality in the commonwealth’s constitution.”
Voters in 2006 approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Former Gov. Glenn Youngkin, who is a Republican, in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
Two successive legislatures must approve a proposed constitutional amendment before it can go to the ballot.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger in February signed a bill that finalized the referendum’s language.
The referendum will take place on Nov. 3.
Rehoboth Beach
CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
Dr. Robin Brennan on joyful approach to leadership role
Dr. Robin Brennan, CAMP Rehoboth’s new executive director, has been getting adjusted to her role and connecting with the Rehoboth community.
In March of this year, Brennan took on the role of executive director of CAMP Rehoboth, an LGBTQ+ community center in Delaware working to Create A More Positive (CAMP) environment, following the retirement of Kim Leisey.
When asked about her first few months with CAMP, Brennan said that she’s “in the listening and learning phase.”
“The first few months have been overwhelmingly beautiful, with such warm wishes from so many really diverse groups,” said Brennan.
“The more time that I’ve been at CAMP, it’s almost like I have more questions and more admiration for the solid foundation that it has,” said Brennan. She explained that she is taking her time to listen and connect with the Rehoboth community during these crucial first months.
She spoke to the stressful nature of this work, saying, “This work takes a lot of resiliency, especially being in a front-facing position as executive director of an organization. There’s so much pressure on this to be successful.”
Brennan is no stranger to high-pressure work environments, having worked in the public health field during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Brennan earned a doctorate in public health from Drexel University and has spent nearly two decades working in higher education, which she says greatly influences her approach to her work.
“I am always giving back to and mentoring students, that’s always been a part of who I am,” said Brennan. She said that the adaptability and flexibility she practiced during her time as a professor influences her work, noting, “I think that to be flexible is a key to success.”
Aside from her tenure in academia, Brennan has worked for nonprofits, including with organizations such as Redeemer Health and Nemours Children’s Health.
Leslie Ledogar, president of CAMP’s board of directors, said that Brennan’s joyful approach to this work made her stand out in the search for a new executive director.
“I think that I’ve always naturally been positive and joyful because if I don’t, I will burn out,” said Brennan.
For Brennan, honoring CAMP’s legacy remains a top priority in her role at CAMP. “For me, legacy is so critical, so I want to honor the legacy that this foundation was built on.”
When asked about DEI funding cuts by the Trump administration, Brennan shared how she is navigating an administration that is targeting organizations like CAMP.
“This administration doesn’t open doors for opportunities. As a nimble nonprofit organization, we have always had to be creative,” said Brennan.
She said that she “would never want CAMP Rehoboth to rely on federal dollars, regardless of what type of political administration we’re in. I think relying on any kind of dollars or funding is problematic.”
“We need to stay creative and innovative, not chase money, and also our ears need to be listening to what our community needs,” said Brennan.
As younger members of the LGBTQ+ community grow disheartened by the growing attacks on queer rights, Brennan shared her thought process behind helping younger members of the community.
“I think my number one thing is to listen to them, to ensure that they know their voice is valuable. That’s the most important thing before giving advice is to listen to their concerns, their needs, their fears, their struggles,” said Brennan.
“They may not be your struggles, but ultimately, as a human being, they’re all of our struggles.”
Brennan brought up PRISM, CAMP’s social group for young LGBTQ+ adults to gather in community and experience new activities with likeminded young adults. This group offers a safe space where members can form connections with one another to build a sense of belonging.
Throughout the interview, Brennan reiterated her admiration for CAMP and the community it has brought to Rehoboth for decades.
“There is no place like CAMP Rehoboth, and what it has done for Rehoboth or what it has done for countless individuals who see it as an escape and a place of freedom, visibility, belonging, and hope,” said Brennan.
Born and raised in Philadelphia, Brennan said that she first visited Rehoboth in 1996 as a young gay person. “I felt at home. I could breathe,” said Brennan. She said that she has been a frequent visitor ever since and bought a house in town three years ago.
Brennan shared how happy she is to have her teenage daughter growing up with Rehoboth in her life. She said that her ideal day in Rehoboth involves going to the beach, trying new food, and enjoying time with her friends and family that live in the area.
As the summer season commences, Brennan shared that there is a plethora of upcoming events for members of the community to attend and enjoy.
Brennan highlighted the CAMP Women’s Golfing League, which is getting started on June 4 with tickets on sale now for CAMP Rehoboth members.
The CAMP Rehoboth Chorus is singing to honor the 250th anniversary of the U.S. on June 19 with tickets on sale now.
This year also marks the 35th anniversary of CAMP, which will be celebrated with Pride in the Courtyard on June 26.
Brennan was excited to promote CAMP’s new partnership with Beebe Healthcare starting this summer. The partnership is designed to expand access to patient-centered health services in downtown Rehoboth Beach.
“Relying on this partnership will be critical to the success of the health of our community,” said Brennan.
Brennan also talked about SUNFESTIVAL, which will be held during Labor Day weekend and will feature David Archuleta as the headliner.
Lastly, Brennan highlighted CAMP’s annual Block Party, which is held each October. “We shut down several streets, we have 100 vendors, and it’s a beautiful way for the whole community to come together to wrap up the summer,” said Brennan.
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Campaign to support Va. marriage amendment repeal launched
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White House Correspondents’ Dinner rescheduled after shooting
CAMP Rehoboth’s new director shares plans for busy summer
Nine Russian LGBTQ groups deemed ‘extremist’ banned
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