Local
Janice Moncier dies at 68
Award-winning activist, longtime D.C. resident
Janice L. ‘Jan’ Moncier
Janice L. “Jan” Moncier, a certified financial planner and longtime resident and neighborhood activist on Capitol Hill, died July 16 at the Washington Home and Community Hospices following a lengthy battle with breast cancer. She was 68.
According to information released by her partner of 33 years, Ann Norwood, the couple lived in D.C. since 1988, when they bought a Capitol Hill townhouse near Stanton Park that became their home.
“Jan’s interest in historic preservation led to a basement full of hardware, skylights, and door frames that she used to authentically restore elements of their 100-year-old Victorian row house,” according to a write-up prepared by Norwood.
“A dedicated neighborhood activist, Jan participated in neighborhood cleanups and ‘orange hat’ crime watches and advocated for years for the recent repaving of the alley behind their home,” the write-up says.
It says Moncier was born and raised in Tennessee on a small tobacco and dairy farm. She became an active member of the 4-H Club during her childhood years, pursuing many civic activities such as health, leadership and recreation projects.
She became a recognized athlete both in high school and at Wheaton College in Illinois, where she was inducted into its Hall of Fame for athletic achievement. She received a master’s degree in physical education at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville.
The write-up released by Norwood says Moncier went on to teach high school at U.S. Department of Defense schools in Iceland and Germany. Norwood said her partner later became a stockbroker for the E.F. Hutton Company in San Francisco. Norwood said that’s where the two met in 1981 while Norwood was completing her psychiatric residency with the U.S. Army at Letterman Army Medical Center.
The couple next moved to the Fort Hood, Texas, area where Moncier became a certified financial planner. The two moved to Washington in 1988.
In 1996, when she was first diagnosed with breast cancer, Moncier received support services from the Mautner Project, a D.C.-area lesbian health organization. The following year, after completing treatment, she became a Mautner volunteer and was recognized for her service to the group in 1999 by receiving its direct services award.
She retired from her job with the ICMA-RC retirement planning company for public-sector employees in 2008 for health reasons after her cancer returned, Norwood said.
“Jan was known for her extreme generosity, love of gardening, travel and women’s basketball; and her devotion to finding a good deal on Craigslist,” Norwood said in her write-up.
Moncier was predeceased by her parents, Mark and Bonnie Wilhoit Moncier; her sister, Sherry Rockstad; and her brother, David Moncier. She is survived by Norwood, her spouse; her brother-in-law Phil Rockstad; sister-in-law Margaret Moncier; her nephew Jonathan Moncier; and several aunts, uncles and cousins.
A memorial service is scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 9, at 1 p.m. at the Hill Center on Capitol Hill at 921 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. in D.C. The family asks that memorial contributions be made to a favorite charity in lieu of flowers.
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
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