Local
Colleagues urge gay ANC commissioner to resign
Dwyer accused of assaulting homeless man
Gay ANC commissioner Robert Leo Dwyer was arrested after allegedly assaulting a homeless man while shouting a racial slur. (Photo courtesy Dupont Circle ANC 2B)
Eighteen Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners representing districts in each of the city’s eight wards issued a joint statement on Tuesday calling on Dupont Circle ANC member Robert Leo Dwyer to resign from his seat.
The commissioners’ statement cites Dwyer’s alleged “intolerant behavior,” which they called a possible hate crime, in connection with his arrest on July 28 for allegedly assaulting a homeless man while shouting a racial slur.
Dwyer, who’s gay, has not responded to numerous news media requests for comment on his arrest in which police charged him with simple assault. Last week, Dwyer withdrew as a candidate for re-election by not submitting to the Board of Elections the petition signatures required for being placed on the ballot in the November election.
The joint statement by the commissioners refers to a police report saying the victim told police he saw Dwyer tossing the belongings of a homeless man into the street in front of the McDonald’s restaurant at 17th and Corcoran Streets, N.W. The report says the victim alleges that Dwyer sprayed him with a chemical cleaning fluid in a squirt bottle causing him to suffer skin irritation on his arms.
The report says the victim told police Dwyer allegedly shouted a racial slur at him during the incident. According to the report, Dwyer, when asked by police detectives if he made a racial slur, replied by saying, “I don’t think so.”
“Anyone who feels the need to attack a person who is homeless, then allegedly use a racial slur that he’s not even sure that he used, is not fit to hold public office in my hometown,” said Ward 8 Commissioner Anthony Lorenzo Green in the joint statement.
Green, who’s gay, added in the joint statement, “Commissioner Dwyer needs to do what’s right for the greater good of the residents he represents and resign.”
Among those who added their name to the statement was Dwyer’s fellow Dupont Circle ANC member Kishan Putta, who is running for an at-large seat on the D.C. City Council.
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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