Local
Possible hate crime charge in assault on drag performer
Two women await trial for attack captured on video
Miles Denaro was dragged by the hair across the floor of a restaurant, punched and kicked by two women. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is considering hate crime charges. (Screen capture)
Prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office told a D.C. Superior Court judge on Wednesday that the office is considering classifying as a hate crime an assault charge filed against the second of two women accused of attacking a gay male drag performer in June at a D.C. carry-out pizzeria.
The disclosure by prosecutors that they may upgrade the charge of simple assault against Raymone Harding, 28, to a bias-related offense that could result in a stiffer penalty came one week after they made a similar announcement for co-defendant Rachel Manna Sahle, 22.
The two women were arrested a week and a half after they were captured on video dragging Miles Denaro by the hair across the floor of the restaurant after knocking him down and punching and kicking him. Denaro reported that the women called him a “faggot” and “tranny” during the assault.
Denaro said he was dressed in women’s clothes at the time of the incident. He said he had just finished a drag performance at the nearby Black Cat nightclub.
The video, which was taken by one of the customers at the restaurant near 14th and U Street, N.W., went viral after the customer posted it on a website that caters to hip-hop music enthusiasts.
At the time of their first court appearance in early July, a judge released Harding and Sahle on their own recognizance on the condition that they stay away from Denaro.
During Wednesday’s court hearing, Judge Juliet McKenna scheduled a status hearing for Harding on Sept. 20 at 9:30 a.m., the same time and date the judge last week ordered Sahle to return court for a status hearing.
Court documents posted on the Superior Court’s online docket, which list Harding and Sahle as co-defendants, say Judge McKenna agreed to a request by prosecutors for a continuance in the case while they assess whether to file “enhancement papers” classifying the assault charge as a hate crime.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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