Local
GLCCB launches welcome center
Drop-in center on first floor will feature computer lab, free wifi, and book exchange


The GLCCB was founded in 1977 and has been in its current 241 W. Chase St. location since 1981. (Blade photo by Steve Charing)
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Maryland (GLCCB) opened its ground floor to the public on Monday as a Welcome, Information and Drop-In Center. The space will be open from 12-6 p.m. on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays and from 12-3 p.m. on Tuesdays.
The space will house a modern computer lab and a free bookstore with mostly LGBT-themed books. The center encourages the community to come by, read a book, do school work or use the Internet and Wi-Fi in a welcoming environment.
āThe Welcome and Information Center is a step in the right direction for the GLCCB and for the LGBT community,ā said Matthew Thorn, interim executive director.
Staff and volunteers will be on hand to direct visitors and callers to support services and community resources as well as provide information on Baltimore businesses and social events.
Book donations are welcome during business hours.Ā Those interested in volunteering should visit GLCCB.org.
Virginia
Education Dept. probes pro-trans policies in Northern Virginia schools
Investigation targets schools in Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William County

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights is investigating five school districts in Northern Virginia for pro-trans policies that may violate provisions of Title IX and run afoul of President Donald Trump’s Jan. 29 executive order prohibiting federally funded educational institutions from promoting what his administration calls “gender ideology.”
The Hill reported news of the probe on Monday, citing a Feb. 12 letter from the agency to America First Legal, a conservative organization founded by White House Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller, which indicated that an investigation had been opened into the Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax, Loudoun and Prince William County school districts.
The letter comes in response to a complaint filed by America First Legal, which argued that “These school districts violate Title IX by maintaining policies that permit ‘gender
expansive and transgender students’ the ability to feel safe and comfortable by using
sex-segregated intimate facilities consistent with their ‘gender identity,’ while
denying similarly situated individuals, whose ‘gender identity’ is the same as their sex, the ability to feel safe and comfortable in the use of the sex-segregated common
restrooms and locker rooms of their sex.”
Per the Education Department’s letter, “the specific polices challenged by complainant are as follows: Alexandria City Public Schoolsā ‘Nondiscrimination in Education’ policy; Arlington County Public Schoolsā ‘Transgender Students in Schools’ policy; Fairfax County Public Schoolsā Regulation 2603.2; Loudoun County Public Schoolsā Policy 8040; Prince William Countyās Regulation 738-5.”
America First argues that the five policies constitute unlawful sex-based discrimination as defined under Title IX because the “only option” available to cisgender students in these school districts who “feel unsafe and uncomfortable” in these spaces is to use “a private restroom or an alternative that ‘minimize[s] the loss of instructional time.'”
The organization further argues that provisions in these policies that instruct educators and staff to use the names and pronouns chosen by their students violate a provision of Trump’s executive order prohibiting schools from helping to facilitate their “social” gender transitions.
District of Columbia
‘AG Schwab! Do your job!’ D.C. activists protest for trans youth healthcare
Action comes days after anti-trans executive order

About 100 activists protested outside of the offices of D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb on Thursday, Feb. 13. The assembled protesters held signs in support of access to gender-affirming care and support for trans youth.
The activists called upon the D.C. Attorney General to “issue public guidance affirming that denying care based on gender identity is unlawful under D.C.’s anti-discrimination laws as well as use the full authority vested in their office to ensure this care is reinstated,” according to a statement.
This action comes days after President Donald Trump signed an executive order banning gender-affirming care nationwide for minors. D.C. hospitals, including Children’s National Hospital, began to comply.
Speakers at the rally included Rebecca York, director of youth development and community engagement for the D.C.-area LGBTQ youth services organization, SMYAL.

“SMYAL has long been a partner of Childrenās National, a partnership we have been incredibly proud of, especially working with their Pride Clinic team,” York told the crowd. “Their dedication to providing gender-affirming care has been a lifeline for many young people and their families in our communities, offering relief, comfort and hope. But now those lifelines have been cut off. We are incredibly disappointed in and concerned by the hospitalās decision to suspend gender-affirming care to comply ā in advance ā with the administrationās executive order attempting to restrict healthcare for trans youth.”
“This decision was made out of fear: the fear of losing funding,” York continued. “And it has abandoned the very youth who need it most. This executive order, barely two weeks old has already had devastating impacts on the lives of trans and non-binary youth. These cruel policies are not abstract. They are real, they are dangerous and they are hurting our young people today.”
“Gender-affirming care saves lives for trans youth,” said York.
Also speaking at the event was Dr. Omar Taweh.
“In our youthful, vibrant, queer city, doctors provide compassionate care for trans people literally all the time.” Taweh told the assembled protesters. “And weāre just here to demand that our local government leaders, including AG Shwalb over here, join the rest of the states that are taking stances ā¦to defend trans and gender-affirming care.”
Protesters formed a picket line and began a series of chants, including, “AG Schwab! Do your job!”
The action was organized by the Democratic Socialists of America.
District of Columbia
Death of D.C. gay robbery victim ruled a homicide
Police pursuing additional charges against two juveniles

D.C. police announced on Feb. 15 that the death of gay DJ and hairstylist Bryan Smith, 39, who police say was assaulted and robbed Oct. 27, 2024, in the 500 block of T Street, N.W., has been ruled a homicide.
Police said Smith was found unconscious at about 5 a.m. on the street where they believed he was assaulted and robbed and taken to a D.C. hospital. A short time later he was transferred at the request of family members while in a coma to a Northern Virginia hospital, where he died on Nov. 7.
āOn Thursday, February 13, 2025, the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerās Office advised that the cause of death for the victim was blunt force trauma and the manner of death a homicide,ā the D.C. police statement says.
The statement notes, as the Washington Blade and other media outlets have reported, that D.C. police on Nov. 14, 2024, arrested two juvenile males, 14 and 16 years of age, on robbery and assault charges in connection with the assault and robbery of Smith.
At the time of the arrest, police said they had evidence showing the two juveniles were implicated in three other assault and robbery incidents that occurred on the same night as the assault and robbery of Smith in nearby locations.
According to the statement, D.C. police detectives are working with the Office of the D.C. Attorney General, which prosecutes crimes committed by juveniles, to determine whether āadditional chargesā should be brought against the two juveniles following the determination that Smithās death was a homicide.
The arrest of the two juveniles was announced by D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith at a Nov. 15 press conference near the site where Smith was attacked.
āWe are here today to announce the arrest of two suspects responsible for a series of robberies in this community on Sunday, Oct. 27, including the robbery of 39-year-old Bryan Smith, who was walking home in the 500 block of T Street, N.W.,ā Chief Smith told reporters attending the press conference.
āOn behalf of the Metropolitan Police Department as well as myself, I send my deepest condolences to Mr. Smithās family as well as his friends,ā Chief Smith said. āWhile nothing can undo this senseless loss, we hope todayās arrests are of some measure of justice and a step toward healing,ā she said.
Chief Smith also said that police investigators had no evidence to indicate the assault and robbery of Bryan Smith was āmotivated by hate or bias.ā