Local

Man charged in D.C. murder says victim was gay

Police say man shot, set on fire in Euclid Street apartment

Published

13 years ago

August 6, 2013

Friend and neighbors of Randolph Scott Harris Jr. set up a memorial for him outside the apartment building where he was murdered on July 26. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

A D.C. man charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the July 26 shooting death of D.C. resident Randolph Scott Harris Jr., 31, told homicide detectives Harris was gay and tried to establish a relationship with him.

According to a six-page police affidavit in support of the Aug. 1 arrest of Jermaine Brown, 34, Brown allegedly shot Harris three times while attempting to rob him inside Harris’s apartment at 1034 Euclid St., N.W.

The D.C. Medical Examiner determined that Harris, who worked for a contractor that provided services for 7-Eleven stores, died of both gunshot wounds and severe burns. The affidavit says Harris appears to have been set on fire while alive and seated on a wicker chair in the living room of his apartment.

The arrest affidavit says Brown gave several conflicting versions of his actions and whereabouts on the night before Fire Department rescue workers found Harris unconscious in his apartment shortly after 6 a.m. on July 26. Police said residents in the building called 911 after they noticed smoke coming from Harris’s second-floor apartment.

The affidavit says homicide detectives linked Brown to the murder after discovering he was in possession of items missing from Harris’s apartment, including iPhones and an iPad. It says Brown later admitted using a “spare key” to take Harris’s Mercedes SUV, which was reported stolen from the apartment building where Harris lived.

“He reported that he would visit the decedent, who he called by the nickname “Man,” the police affidavit says. “[H]owever, he said he had just met Man. Defendant 1 [Brown] referred to Man as gay and that Man tried to ‘holla’ at him (tried to talk to establish a relationship),” says the affidavit.

“[H]e denied ever ‘going that way’ because something is wrong with it and he sees a problem with it,” the affidavit says in referring to Harris’s sexual orientation. “He described it as being nasty.”

The affidavit says that in a follow-up interview just prior to his arrest Brown admitted to stealing Harris’s Mercedes and then told detectives “he occasionally engaged in sex with men, but that he has never had a sexual relationship with the decedent.”

Court records show that prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office didn’t list the murder charge filed against Brown as a hate crime.

William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office, said the office doesn’t comment on pending cases.

Gay activists have expressed concern over past cases in which suspects charged with killing or assaulting a gay man have invoked the so-called gay panic defense. The defense involves claims by defendants that they killed or assaulted a gay man after the gay man allegedly propositioned them for sex, causing the defendant to panic and commit a violent act that should be excused as a form of self-defense.

Anthony Lorenzo Green, a Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner who is gay, said he and Harris were in a relationship in 2007 and remained close friends after the relationship ended. He said most people who knew Harris knew he was gay and that his sexual orientation did not matter.

“He was a giving person. He wouldn’t try to take advantage of anyone,” Green said. “This just burns me up that this would happen to somebody who was such a loving person.”

At the request of prosecutors, a Superior Court judge ordered Brown held without bond pending an Aug. 22 preliminary hearing, at which time prosecutors are expected to request that he be held until the time of his trial.

The local blog Homicide Watch D.C. posted a copy of the affidavit in support of Brown’s arrest on its website.

Hassan Naveed, co-chair of the D.C. group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), said the D.C. police Critical Incident Task Force, which monitors LGBT-related crimes, sent GLOV and local LGBT activists an alert informing them about Harris’s murder.

WJLA-7 News reported that family members and neighbors who knew Harris expressed shock over his death, saying he was well liked in the apartment building where he lived.

“I just can’t imagine who would do such a thing,” WJLA quoted a friend, Sabrina Kenney, as saying.

Friends and neighbors from the apartment building on Euclid Street set up a memorial for Harris directly in front of the building by placing toy stuffed animals and a poster-size placard bearing notes expressing their fondness for him on a sidewalk lamppost.

“We love you, Randy,” said one of the notes.

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District of Columbia

Anti-LGBTQ violence prevention efforts highlighted at D.C. community fair

Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs organized May 8 event

Published

7 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

(Washington Blade photo by Ernesto Valle)

Detailed advice on how LGBTQ people can avoid, defend themselves against, and prevent themselves and loved ones from becoming victims of violence, with a focus on domestic and intimate partner violence, was presented at a May 8 LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers Community Fair.

The event, organized by the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, included five workshop sessions and information tables set up by 14 LGBTQ-supportive organizations and D.C. government agencies or agency divisions, including the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s LGBT Liaison Unit and the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center.

Also playing a lead role in organizing the event was the D.C. LGBTQIA+ Violence Prevention and Response Team, or VPART, a coalition of D.C. officials and leaders of community-based organizations that work with the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

The event was held in meeting space in the building where the Office of LGBTQ Affairs is located at 899 N. Capitol St., N.E.

The workshop topics included de-escalation training on healthy relationships, bystander intervention, self-defense training, violence prevention grants, and suicide prevention.

“This will be a public safety and violence prevention event where community partners will educate attendees on various methods of violence intervention and trauma-informed practices,” according to a statement released by the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs prior to the start of the event.

The statement adds, “We will have live demos, interactive games, and workshops focused on strategies for self-defense, protecting vulnerable communities, increasing access to mental health resources, providing tools for recognizing domestic violence/intimate partner violence signs in intimate relationships, and assistance for substance abuse.”

Sonya Joseph, associate director of engagement for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the Washington Blade that studies have shown rates of domestic or intimate partner violence are higher in the LGBTQ community than in the community at large.

“Domestic violence and intimate partner violence are two very big prevalent issues in the LGBTQ community,” she said, adding that some of the workshops at the event would be providing “training on healthy relationships and how to recognize and prevent intimate partner violence and the signs of it.”

About 35 to 40 people attended the workshop sessions.

Experts specializing in violence impacting the LGBTQ community have said domestic violence refers to violence among people in domestic relationships that can include spouses but also siblings, parents, cousins, and other relatives. Intimate partner violence, according to the experts, refers to violence perpetuated by a partner in a romantic or dating relationship.

These D.C. based organizations or agencies that participated in the LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers event, and which can be contacted for assistance, include:

• Defend Yourself

• DC LGBTQ+ Community Center

• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

• Joseph’s House

• Us Helping Us, People into Living, Inc.

• MCSR (formerly known as Men Can Stop Rape)

• MPD LGBT Liaison Unit

• Volunteer Legal Advocates

• DC SAFE

• Destination Tomorrow

• D.C. Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants

• Life Enhancement Services

• ONYX Therapy Group

• U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.

Rehoboth Beach

Celebrated performer Rose Levine plays Rehoboth on May 15

Freddie’s to host Fire Island legend

Published

9 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

Rose Levine performs May 15 at Freddie’s in Rehoboth Beach.

Rose Levine is a celebrated entertainer best known for her longstanding performances in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, since 1955 where she has become a beloved fixture of the community’s vibrant arts and nightlife scene. With a career spanning decades, Levine has captivated audiences with her cabaret singing shows full of charisma, classic numbers, humor, and unmistakable stage presence—proving that some stars don’t fade, they simply get better lighting.

Levine is also closely associated with the legendary Fire Island Invasion of the Pines, the annual Fourth of July spectacle in which performers and revelers make their grand (and gloriously over-the-top) entrance by boat from Cherry Grove to Fire Island Pines, now a 50-year tradition. Her role in launching and sustaining this tradition has helped make it one of the most iconic—and entertaining—events of the summer season.

A consummate storyteller, Levine brings audiences along for a glittering ride through entertainment history. Rose will sing her Broadway melodies by Jerry Herman, Irving Berlin, Cy Coleman, Cole Porter, and others. With music direction by Mark Hartman the one-night-only event will celebrate Levine’s legendary life in drag, featuring signature crowd-pleasers and celebrity stories. A friend of Broadway composer Jerry Herman, she shares delicious stories of legends like Ethel Merman and recalls a young Barbra Streisand before she became Barbra Streisand while both performing at the famed singing contests at Greenwich Village’s famed Lion nightclub before her big break at the Bon Soir. Her shows are a mix of music, mischief, and memories of old New York and Fire Island — back when Cherry Grove didn’t even have electricity, but somehow still had better nightlife than most cities today.

Her legendary Fire Island home, Roseland, has hosted its fair share of unforgettable gatherings (and likely a few stories that can’t be printed in a family newspaper), making it a cornerstone of the community’s social scene. Levine splits her time between Manhattan and her summer perch on Fire Island—though audiences across the country are grateful she travels.

In fact, she performs at The Green Room and 54 Below in Manhattan, Cherry Grove in Fire Island, Act 2 and The Palm in Puerto Vallarta, Red Dot Cabaret in Hudson, N.Y., and now Freddie’s in Rehoboth Beach—because retirement, frankly, sounds boring. Her place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest continuously performing drag queen in the world only adds to the legend and gives her bragging rights she fully intends to use.

And now, Rehoboth—consider yourself warned.

Don’t miss Rose Levine live on May 15 at Freddie’s Beach Bar. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m., with the show at 7 p.m. Come for the cocktails, stay for the stories, and leave wondering how one person can have that many fabulous decades.

Levine’s legacy is defined not only by her remarkable career, but by her ability to connect with audiences across generations—usually while making them laugh, gasp, and occasionally blush. Don’t miss this show.

Arts & Entertainment

Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week

Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.

Published

10 hours ago

May 11, 2026

Staff reports

The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.

Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.

“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”

Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.

Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.

Event Details:

📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026

⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP