News
GOP congressional hopeful says ENDA is ‘segregation’
Democrats demand apology for ‘disgusting remarks’
Nevada Assemblyman Cresent Hardy says ENDA is “segregation” (Photo public domain).
A Republican candidate running for Congress in Nevada said he opposes the Employment Non-Discrimination Act because the pro-LGBT measure would amount to “segregation” under the law.
Cresent Hardy, a Nevada Assembly member, expressed opposition to ENDA in an interview with the Las Vegas Sun on Tuesday — the same day he launched his congressional bid.
“When we create classes, we create that same separation that we’re trying to unfold somehow,” Hardy was quoted as saying. “By continuing to create these laws that are what I call segregation laws, it puts one class of a person over another. We are creating classes of people through these laws.”
The long-sought measure, passed by the U.S. Senate and pending in the U.S. House, would prohibit employers from discriminating against or firing someone because of their sexual orientation and gender identity.
As an Assembly member, Hardy voted against a state law extending job protections to transgender workers before it was signed in 2011 by Gov. Brian Sandoval, a Republican.
Meanwhile, Rep. Steve Horsford (D-Nev.), the Democratic incumbent Hardy is challenging, is among the 201 sponsors of ENDA in the U.S. House. Both U.S. senators from Nevada, Sen. Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.), voted for ENDA on the Senate floor late last year, where it passed on a bipartisan basis.
In addition to expressing opposition to ENDA, Hardy, a Mormon, also reportedly expressed opposition to same-sex marriage based on his religious beliefs, saying the issue should be left to the states.
I will always vote against same sex marriage because of my religious beliefs, the way I was raised,” Hardy was quoted as saying. “For me to vote for it would be to deny the same God that I believe in.”
Hardy is the middle of a primary fight for the Republican nomination to represent Nevada’s 4th congressional district in the U.S. House. He’s facing a challenge from Tea Party activist Niger Innis. The primary is set for June 10.
Zach Hudson, communications director for the Nevada State Democratic Party, criticized Hardy for expressing opposition to ENDA despite widespread public support for the measure, calling on the candidate to apologize for the remarks.
“Only months after Nevada Republicans cheered at the prospect of minorities not voting and said they would vote to legalize slavery if their constituents wanted it, Cresent Hardy piled on yesterday and compared the Employment Non-Discrimination Act to ‘segregation,’” Hudson said. “The Employment Non-Discrimination Act would end employment discrimination based off sexual orientation, yet somehow Cresent Hardy thinks it is comparable to a discriminatory practice that the Supreme Court rightly ruled unconstitutional decades ago. Cresent Hardy clearly needs a history lesson, and, more importantly, Nevadans deserve an apology for his disgusting remarks.”
UPDATE: Following the publication of this posting, Hardy issued a statement via his campaign to the Washington Blade to clarify his position on ENDA.
“I believe in advancement through performance,” Hardy said. “There is no room for discrimination in the workplace at any level and I strongly oppose laws to hold back, or advance, a person strictly based upon a label or grouping. Political spin doctors will twist that comment in ways that benefit those that fund their activities. The truth is, I support workplace laws that reward those who do the best job regardless of who they are. Any suggestion otherwise is simply not true.”
The campaign also pointed to a subsequent article published by the Las Vegas Sun with the full transcript of the interview. Although Hardy did suggest ENDA amounts to “segregation” under the law, he also said “you shouldn’t discriminate against anybody.”
Photos
PHOTOS: Black Pride Opening Reception
The Opening Reception for the 34th annual D.C. Black Pride was held at the Capital Hilton on Friday, May 23. Presenters, speakers and entertainers included Ts Madison, Monroe Alise, Billy the Goat, Kerri Colby, Apple Brown Betty, Heather Mahogani, Lyrical Mar, Lolita Leopard, Ink, and Bang Garçon. Anthony Oakes was the host.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The 2025 Silver Pride Resource Fair and Tea Dance was held at the Eaton Hotel on Wednesday, May 21.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Sinners and Saints bar vandalized in suspected anti-LGBTQ hate crime
Blade spoke with General Manager Blair Nixon after incident
On Thursday, shattered glass, broken doors, and homophobic slurs were discovered in the entryway of Adams Morgan queer bar Sinners and Saints (2309 18th St. N.W.) Images of the destruction were posted to the bar’s Instagram, and news of the break-in began to spread.
The Washington Blade sat down with one of the co-partners and general manager of Sinners and Saints, Blair Nixon, to discuss the break-in and the overwhelming response from the LGBTQ community.
“Our door was broken-so the glass was shattered,” Nixon told the Blade when describing the damage done to the space. “They wrote a slur on our wall, and unfortunately-we’re not sure to the extent that it was, but there’s a bunch of inventory missing from our liquor closet. It does seem like it was targeted because of what they wrote on the wall.”
Nixon, who has been with Washington’s only QTBIPOC (queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color) bar since its opening last August, explained that upon learning of the break-in, fear was his first reaction.
“It was really scary,” Nixon said. “To know that somebody was in our space, vandalizing it-it was very scary and honestly, devastating.”
He went on to say that if it weren’t for the restaurant above Sinners and Saints, La Grotta, they wouldn’t have known until hours later.
“We found out because of the restaurant upstairs that we’re partnered with,” he said. “The electricity to the entire building was turned off-including apartments and the restaurant above us. Whoever broke in went into the closet that’s outside of the building and turned the electricity off to the entire building. When the restaurant owners got there, they tried to figure out why there wasn’t any electricity. They went downstairs and saw the shattered glass, the door broken, and the slur on the wall.”
Once Sinners and Saints staff arrived to survey the damage, they posted the images to their Instagram and called the Metropolitan Police Department. Nixon was grateful for both MPD and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs’s quick reaction.
“We were really happy with the response,” Nixon said. “The mayor’s office reached out relatively quickly, and I had a conversation with them, and the police came shortly afterwards, and they did a really good job. So we’re very appreciative of the response. They took a statement, they looked at the damage, took photos of everything, and made a report.”
“They actually sent, like, the entire department,” he added. “There were multiple police officers, multiple detectives, and the LGBTQ liaison came a little bit later. In general, I just really appreciated the response overall.”
The Blade obtained a copy of the filed police report, which described the break-in as a felony-more specifically, MPD considered it a second-degree burglary. MPD’s report also classified the break-in and subsequent graffiti as having “a hate bias or motivation” against sexual minorities who own and frequent the bar.
Unfortunately, there were no cameras on the premises at the time of the break-in, which MPD estimates happened sometime between 2-6 p.m., but Sinners and Saints were able to obtain footage from nearby businesses.
“We did have some camera footage from the hostel next door, and we submitted that to law enforcement,” he said. “We’re just going to let them do their investigation, and I don’t want to make any suppositions about what might have happened.”
When asked what he believed motivated the assailant(s), Nixon didn’t offer a definitive answer. He suggested it was likely someone hostile to LGBTQ businesses in Washington but assured the Blade that Sinners and Saints would not back down-and that the LGBTQ community stands firmly behind them.
“I don’t want to make any statements about what we think happened. We’re going to let the police do their job. But, as the only QTBIPOC bar in D.C., I think it’s important to note that we’re still here. We’re not going to close. We appreciate the support of our community, and I think that overall, it’s really important that we’re a safe space for the underserved and marginalized communities in D.C. Given that D.C. has, you know, one of the largest queer populations-but there aren’t very many spaces for the communities that we serve-we’re very proud to serve those communities. And we aren’t going to stop.”
Nixon had one critique for MPD, but was overall with their quick response.
“We hope that law enforcement would have a greater presence in Adams Morgan,” he said. “I think that, especially from talking to other establishment owners and bar owners, there’s definitely been some increased issues in Adams Morgan, and we hope that that doesn’t continue. We talked to the Mayor’s Office about it and to the police when they came-to have a greater presence in Adams Morgan.”
Since its opening, Nixon said the support from the QTBIPOC and broader LGBTQ community felt strong-but now, after the break-in, that connection has only grown stronger.
“We opened in August of last year, and we think that D.C. in general has really responded to our mission, and the community has really shown up for us-just like the same way that we’ve shown up for them.”
That community support for Sinners and Saints, Nixon said, extends past the diverse group of QTBIPOC people buying shots and tipping 20 percent nightly. Some of the city’s LGBTQ organizations showed up, offering to help. One of those community members who reached out owns a popular gay bar just up 18th Street.
“The response has been really strong, and we definitely appreciate the support. A few of the other LGBT bar owners in Adams Morgan actually stopped by in person. We really appreciated that Dave Perruzza from Pitchers came by, and just in general that the community has been rallying around us.”
On Thursday night, Sinners and Saints opened as planned and hosted their “Sapphic Sailor Moon” party. Despite the break-in, the LGBTQ community came out to support them.
“I was working-actually bartending,” Nixon said. “I wasn’t originally supposed to be working, but I thought it was important for all the partners to be there. So everyone that’s involved in Sinners and Saints’ leadership team came out. Obviously, we were dealing with the incident, but being there the entire night, we thought that the response from the community was really strong. We wanted to make sure that we posted on social media the fact that we were still open, because a lot of people were contacting us and asking if we were going to be continuing on, if we were going to close. We thought it was really important to make sure that we were there and still open and still available.”
That community, Nixon said, includes members of the LGBTQ population who are often overlooked-which makes the attack on a space intentionally dedicated to them-particularly trans people and people of color-even more painful.
“I think that DC in general, as one of the cities with the biggest queer populations, has adopted the LGBT community in general-and it’s great. However, the adoption of people of color and the overall QTBIPOC community, you know, our trans community, hasn’t been the same. It’s super important to us to make sure that that community is protected and that there are safe spaces for them, and that’s what our core mission is. We never want that to stop. The most important thing is that the safe space for those marginalized and underrepresented communities continues. And I would hope that the acceptance of the community that we serve continues-and is just as important as the acceptance of the LGBT community as a whole.”
If you have any information about the break in, please contact MPD at (202) 727-9099. Sinners and Saints has set up a GoFundMe page for repairs. It can be accessed here.
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