Local
D.C. shelter drops ban on trans women
Shelter director doesn’t contest court restraining order sought by trans woman
Lakiesha Washington, a transgender women who challenged the John L. Young Shelter for homeless women’s policy of denying admission to transgender women, holds a judge’s order requiring the shelter to immediately discontinue that policy. (Photo courtesy of DCTC)
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Friday issued a temporary restraining order requiring a city funded shelter for homeless women located near the U.S. Capitol to stop denying transgender women access to the facility.
The Blade had previously reported about a lawsuit brought upon the shelter by a trans women alleging discrimination.
Judge Geoffrey Alprin issued the order after the executive director of New Hope Ministries, which operates the John L. Young Shelter for Women, chose not to contest a request for the restraining order filed by an attorney on behalf of Lakiesha Washington, a transgender woman who was denied admission to the shelter.
D.C. Trans Coalition attorney Jeffrey Light filed a motion seeking the restraining order as part of a lawsuit that accuses the shelter of violating the D.C. Human Rights Act by denying Washington access to the shelter on April 3.
“We don’t do transgenders here,” the lawsuit quotes an employee at the shelter saying when Washington, who was homeless, attempted to enter the shelter. “You have to leave,” the lawsuit quotes the employee as saying.
A decision by New Hope Ministries’ executive director, John Shetterly, not to contest the restraining order followed negotiations between Shetterly and Light earlier in the week, according to a statement issued by the D.C. Trans Coalition. The statement says Shetterly also agreed to provide transgender sensitivity training to the shelter’s staff and was taking steps to provide private bathroom and shower facilities to better serve all shelter clients, including transgender women.
Shetterly told the Blade on April 10 that the John Young shelter was reluctant to accept transgender women because its communal bathroom and shower facilities didn’t provide privacy for shelter occupants. He said the lack of privacy would create a problem in some cases where trans women and other female clients used shower facilities at the same time.
He said New Hope Ministries is supportive of transgender people and would never intentionally discriminate against them.
The D.C. Trans Coalition statement says the staff sensitivity training to which Shetterly agreed is being organized by Earline Budd, an official with Transgender Health Empowerment, a local organization that provides services to the transgender community, and by the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs.
“This is a great day for all transgender people,” Washington said in commenting on the decision by Shetterly to open the shelter to trans women. “Nobody should have to face discrimination and humiliation, and thanks to this case, homeless transgender people will now be safer.”
D.C. Trans Coalition member Andy Bowen, who filed a separate complaint against the John Young Shelter with the D.C. Office of Human Rights charging anti-transgender discrimination, told the Blade that she has dropped her complaint based on the latest actions by New Hope Ministries.
“D.C. has great nondiscrimination laws, but good laws do not equal adequate enforcement,” Bowen said in a statement. “This case showed the need for more vigilant enforcement, and if D.C. Trans Coalition has anything to do with it, enforcement’s gonna happen.”
Virginia
Black transgender woman murdered in Va.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray killed in Petersburg on March 13
A Black transgender woman was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate she was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray, 42, shot to death inside a home in Petersburg. These initial media reports also misgendered her.
“My heart is shattered and heavy with grief at the news of Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray’s murder — the first trans life stolen from us this year,” said Victoria Kirby York, director of public policy and programs for the National Black Justice Coalition, in a statement.
Kirby York in her statement also criticized the media coverage of Sanchez-McCray’s murder.
“The early reports of Shyyell’s death stripped her of her identity by misgendering her, a deeply damaging and persistent failure by law enforcement and media that haunts these cases again and again,” she said. “Misgendering doesn’t just erase a person’s truth — it can derail justice entirely, or worse, bury a case in silence as investigators chase the wrong identity, the wrong face, the wrong name.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
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