Local
Accused killer incompetent to stand trial
Man suspected in murder of trans woman
A D.C. Superior Court Judge on Dec. 2 ruled that a 57-year-old man charged with first-degree murder while armed for the February 2012 stabbing death of transgender woman Deoni JaParker Jones is incompetent to stand trial.
Judge Robert E. Morin ordered Gary Niles Montgomery transferred from the D.C. jail to St. Elizabethās Hospital for ācompetency restorationā and scheduled a court hearing to assess his mental health status for Feb. 7.
According to court records, Morin based his decision on a 30-day competency examination of Montgomery conducted at St. Elizabethās, the third such examination given to Montgomery since the time of his arrest two weeks after the Feb. 2, 2012 murder.
The first two exams found him competent to stand trial and prompted Morin to set a trial date for April 4, 2014. During the Dec. 2 hearing Morin vacated the trial date pending the outcome of further evaluation of Montgomery.
At the request of Montgomeryās defense attorneys, Anthony Matthews and Colle Latin, Morin agreed in October to send Montgomery to St. Elizabethās Hospital, a city-run psychiatric facility, to undergo a third mental competency evaluation.
A copy of the report for that examination, on which Morin based his decision to declare Montgomery incompetent to stand trial, couldnāt immediately be obtained.
In a Sept. 9, 2013 motion filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Holly Shick, the lead prosecutor in the case, Shick argued that prevailing evidence showed Montgomery understood the issues surrounding his case and was competent to proceed to a trial.
āThe defendant was arraigned in early November 2012 and pled not guilty,ā Shick said in her motion. āDuring a Nov. 30 status hearing, the defense argued for the defendantās release into the community, claiming there was insufficient evidence that the defendant was a danger to the community or a risk of flight ā claims that the defense would be hard pressed to make if they had concerns about his competency.ā
Alvin Bethea, the stepfather of Jones, told the Blade this week he is troubled over the judgeās decision to declare Montgomery incompetent for trial. He said he also remains concerned that prosecutors have yet to classify the murder as an anti-transgender hate crime.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House draws interest of tourists
LGBTQ activists carry signs from historic 1965 protest
About 30 LGBTQ activists formed a circular picket line in front of the White House Wednesday afternoon, April 17, carrying signs calling for an end to discrimination against āhomosexualsā in a reenactment of the first gay rights protest at the White House that took place 59 years earlier on April 17, 1965.
Crowds of tourists looked on with interest as the activists walked back and forth in silence in front of the White House fence on Pennsylvania Avenue. Like the 1965 event, several of the men were dressed in suits and ties and the women in dresses in keeping with a 1960s era dress code policy for protests of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the cityās first gay rights group that organized the 1965 event.
Wednesdayās reenactment was organized by D.C.ās Rainbow History Project, which made it clear that the event was not intended as a protest against President Joe Biden and his administration, which the group praised as a strong supporter of LGBTQ rights.
āI think this was an amazing event,ā said Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Project official who led efforts to put on the event. āWe had twice as many that we had hoped for that came today,ā he said.
“It was so great to see a reenactment and so great to see how far we’ve come,” Slatt said. “And also, the acknowledgement of what else we still need to do.”
Slatt said participants in the event who were not carrying picket signs handed out literature explaining the purpose of the event.
A flier handed out by participants noted that among the demands of the protesters at the 1965 event were to end the ban on homosexuals from working in the federal government, an end to the ban on gays serving in the military, an end to the denial of security clearances for gays, and an end of the government’s refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.
āThe other thing that I think is really, really moving is some of the gay staff inside the White House found out this was happening and came out to greet us,ā Slatt said. He noted that this highlighted how much has changed since 1965, when then President Lyndon Johnsonās White House refused to respond to a letter sent to Johnson from the Mattachine Society explaining its grievances.
āSo now to have gay people in the White House coming out to give us their respects and to say hello was especially meaningful to us,ā Slatt said. āThat was not expected today.ā
Among those walking the picket line was longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler said he proudly carried a newly printed version of the sign at Wednesdayās reenactment event that he carried during the 1965 protest. It stated, āFifteen Million Homosexuals Protest Federal Treatment.ā
Also participating in the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās Office of LGBTQ Affairs. Bowles presented Slatt with a proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 17, 2024, Mattachine Society Day in Washington, D.C.
āWhereas, on April 17, 1965, the Mattachine Society of Washington courageously held the nationās inaugural picket for gay rights, a seminal moment in the ongoing struggle for LGBTQIA+ equality in the United States, marking the genesis of public demonstrations advocating for those rights and paving the way for Pride Marches and Pride celebrations worldwide,ā the proclamation states.
About 30 minutes after the reenactment event began, uniformed Secret Service agents informed Slatt that due to a security issue the picketers would have to move off the sidewalk in front of the White House and resume the picketing across the street on the sidewalk in front of Lafayette Park. When asked by the Washington Blade what the security issue was about, one of the Secret Service officers said he did not have any further details other than that his superiors informed him that the White House sidewalk would have to be temporarily cleared of all people.
Participants in the event quickly resumed their picket line on the sidewalk in front of Lafayette Park for another 30 minutes or so in keeping with the 1965 picketing event, which lasted for one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., according to Rainbow History Projectās research into the 1965 event.
Although the LGBTQ picketers continued their procession in silence, a separate protest in Lafayette Park a short distance from the LGBTQ picketers included speakers shouting through amplified speakers. The protest was against the government of Saudi Arabia and organized by a Muslim group called Al Baqee Organization.
A statement released by the Rainbow History Project says the reenactment event, among other things, was a tribute to D.C.-area lesbian rights advocate Lilli Vincenz, who participated in the 1965 White House picketing, and D.C. gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny, who founded the Mattachine Society of Washington in the early 1960s and was the lead organizer of the 1965 White House protest. Kameny died in 2011 and Vincenz died in 2023.
The picket signs carried by participants in the reenactment event, which were reproduced from the 1965 event, had these messages:
ā¢ āDISCRIMINATION Against Homosexuals is as immoral as Discrimination Against Negroes and Jews;ā
ā¢ āGovernment Should Combat Prejudice NOT PROMOTE ITā
ā¢ āWhite House Refuses Replies to Our Letters, AFRAID OF US?
ā¢ āHOMOSEXUALS Died for their Country, Tooā
ā¢ āFirst Class Citizenship for HOMOSEXUALSā
ā¢Ā āSexual Preference is Irrelevant to Employmentā
ā¢Ā āFifteen Million U.S. Homosexuals Protest Federal Treatmentā
District of Columbia
Organizers announce details for D.C. Black Pride 2024
Most events to take place Memorial Day weekend at Westin Downtown
The Center for Black Equity, the organizer of D.C. Black Pride, the nationās first and one of the largest annual African-American LGBTQ Pride celebrations, announced this yearās event will take place Memorial Day Weekend from May 24-27.
The announcement, released April 16, says that most 2024 D.C. Black Pride events will take place at the Westin Washington, D.C. Downtown Hotel at 999 9th St, N.W.
āWith the theme Black Pride Forever, the event promises a weekend filled with vibrant celebrations, empowering workshops, and a deep exploration of Black LGBTQIA+ history and culture,ā the announcement says.
It says events will include as in past years a āRainbow Rowā vendor expo at the hotel featuring āorganizations and vendors created for and by the LGBTQIA+ communityā offering products and services āthat celebrate Black excellence.ā
According to the announcement, other events include a Health and Wellness Festival that will offer workshops, demonstrations, and activities focused on āholistic well-being;ā a Mary Bowman Poetry Slam āshowcasing the power and beauty of spoken word by Black LGBTQIA+ artists;ā the Black Pride Through the Decades Party, that will celebrate the ārich history of the Black LGBTQIA+ movement;ā and an Empowerment Through Knowledge series of workshops that ādelve into various topics relevant to the Black LGBTQIA+ community.ā
Also, as in past years, this yearās D.C. Black Pride will feature its āOpening Night Extravaganzaā reception and party that will include entertainment and live performances.
The announcement notes that D.C.ās annual Black Pride celebration, started in 1991 as a one-day outdoor event at Howard Universityās Banneker Field, has inspired annual Black LGBTQ Pride events across the United States and in Canada, United Kingdom, Brazil, Africa, and the Caribbean. More than 300,000 people attend Black LGBTQ Pride events each year worldwide, the announcement says.
Full details, including the official schedule of events, can be accessed at dcblackpride.org.
District of Columbia
Trans woman files bias complaint against D.C. homeless shelter
Says staff forced her to stay in male sleeping section
A transgender woman has filed a discrimination complaint with the D.C. Office of Human Rights charging that officials with the Community for Creative Non-Violence homeless shelter refused to allow her to stay in the womenās section of the shelter, forcing her to stay in the menās sleeping section.
The shelter, located at 425 2nd St., N.W., is one of the cityās largest privately operated homeless services facilities organized by the Community for Creative Non-Violence, which is known as CCNV. It was founded by nationally acclaimed homeless services advocate Mitch Snyder, who passed away in 1990.
The complaint, filed last week by Stephon āLashawnā Jordan, states that Jordan and a cisgender female friend arrived at the CCNV shelter around 2:30 a.m. on March 22 after they obtained a ride to the shelter through the cityās Emergency Shelter Hotline.
āUpon arrival we were informed that we would have to complete an intake once upstairs at the female housing unit,ā Jordan states in the complaint. āOnce we arrived a staff member came out. The staff member stated to me that we donāt house transgender individuals in this unit and that I would have to go down to the male shelter unit,ā the complaint says.
It says Jordanās female friend told the staff member she was not going to leave her friend, who identifies as female, by herself in another location at the shelter. āThe staff member did not want to hear it and said that both of you can go downstairs too,ā the complaint says. āOnce we got downstairs to the male shelter unit we asked to speak with a supervisor,ā it says.
āSomeone came, but the decision was that myself and my friend could go and sleep in the male housing unit,ā the complaint states. āDuring our stay it was very humiliating especially using the restroom,ā it concludes.
A spokesperson for the CCNV shelter did not immediately respond to a phone and email message left by the Washington Blade asking for a response to the complaint.
Transgender rights advocates, including D.C. trans activist Earline Budd, who assisted Jordan in filing the complaint, have said the denial of placement of a transgender woman in the female section of a place of public accommodation such as a homeless shelter is a violation of the D.C. Human Rights Actās ban on gender identity discrimination.
The Office of Human Rights website explains that under its policy for responding to discrimination complaints, the complainant and the accused party are required to enter mediation to determine if the complaint can be resolved. If the mediation fails, the OHR website statement says, a full investigation is conducted that can take up to six months to complete. It says upon completion of the investigation, the office makes a determination of whether probable cause exists that discrimination occurred.
If probable cause is found, the case is sent to the D.C. Commission on Human Rights, which holds a public evidentiary hearing with witnesses before making a final decision on whether discrimination occurred.
-
Africa3 days ago
Congolese lawmaker introduces anti-homosexuality bill
-
World4 days ago
Out in the World: LGBTQ news from Europe and Asia
-
District of Columbia3 days ago
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House set for April 17
-
Africa3 days ago
Ugandan activists appeal ruling that upheld Anti-Homosexuality Act