Local
Metro mum on teen suspects linked to anti-gay assault
Victim suffered concussion, broken jaw
A spokesperson for Metro Transit Police disclosed on April 15 that investigators had identified two juvenile suspects linked to an April 11 incident at the Congress Heights Metro station in which a gay man was attacked and beaten while being called anti-gay names.
The 23-year-old victim suffered a concussion, broken jaw and loosened teeth at the hands of four male suspects who assaulted him inside the station at about 10:45 p.m., according to a police report.
Nearly one month later, neither Metro Police nor D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine, who is in charge of prosecuting juvenile offenders, have disclosed whether the two juvenile males, ages 16 and 17, have been arrested or prosecuted under the cityās juvenile justice system.
On April 22, Metro spokesperson Morgan Dye told the Blade the two suspects had not been arrested at that time. She said a juvenile court proceeding known as a Pre-Petition Custody Order (PPCO) hearing was expected to be held the following week to determine how the case should proceed.
But since that time Dye said she has been unable to determine from Metro Transit Police whether arrests have been made in the case. Detectives were seeking to identity at least one more suspect, she said.
The victim, who has asked that his name not be disclosed, told the Blade he was invited to a meeting with a Metro Transit detective and a representative of the Attorney Generalās Office on April 28.
āThey asked me if I want to press charges and I said yes I do want press charges,ā he said. āThey have my medical records from the hospital,ā the victim said. āI signed papers to have them released.ā
He noted that he underwent emergency surgery to reset a broken jaw, which included the wiring of the jaw in a closed position to allow the bone to heal.
The Attorney Generalās representative told him he would likely be called to testify in court, but as of Tuesday he had not heard back from anyone, he said.
Robert Marus, a spokesperson for the D.C. Attorney Generalās Office, said his office could not comment on any juvenile case, including whether or not an arrest has been made, under the cityās strict confidentiality rules pertaining to juvenile offenders.
LGBT activists following cases of anti-LGBT violence have expressed concern over past cases in which authorities declined to disclose whether juveniles implicated in anti-LGBT assaults were prosecuted and, if so, what the outcome of the case was. Some activists have asked why this information could not be disclosed as long as the names and identities of the juvenile defendants remain confidential.
Racine won election in November as the cityās first elected independent attorney general. He told the Blade during his election campaign that he would look into ways to provide more information on juvenile cases while complying with existing rules and statutes that require confidentiality.
Virginia
Norfolk transgender resource center vandalized
Anti-trans graffiti spraypainted onto Southeastern Transgender Resource Center’s windows
The Norfolk Police Department is investigating the vandalism of a transgender resource center’s building.
Tarena Williams, founder of the Southeastern Transgender Resource Center, told WAVY that someone spraypainted anti-trans graffiti on the windows of her organization’s offices on Sunday or Monday morning. Williams told the Hampton Roads television station that seeing the messages was like “walking into hell.”
āI opened up STRC, even the Lamina House,ā she told WAVY. āI opened up that to get away from those types of words. This is a place you can come to get away from that, but to see that sprayed over the window. Itās kind of like you are walking into hell. ā¦ To be honest, I was like in shock.ā
Authorities are investigating the vandalism.
West Virginia
Appeals court strikes down W.Va. transgender athlete ban
Ruling finds law violates studentsā constitutional rights, Title IX
BY LORI KERSEYĀ | The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has struck down West Virginiaās ban on transgender athletes, finding the law violates trans studentsā rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the constitution and Title IX, a federal civil rights law prohibiting discrimination based on sex in education programs.
The case, B.P.J. vs. the West Virginia Board of Education, was filed in May 2021 on behalf of Becky Pepper-Jackson, a 13-year-old trans middle school student and track athlete who would be barred from participating if the ban is upheld. Pepper-Jackson is represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, the American Civil Liberties Union of West Virginia and Lambda Legal.
In April 2021, West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice signed into law a bill prohibiting trans women and girls in the state from participating in sports that align with their gender identity. The U.S. Court of Appeals in February 2023 blocked the state from removing Pepper-Jackson from her schoolās track and field team as legal advocates appealed a lower courtās ruling upholding the ban.
In Tuesdayās ruling, Judge Toby Heytens wrote that offering Pepper-Jackson the āchoiceā between not participating in sports and participating only on boys teams is not a real choice.
āThe defendants cannot expect that B.P.J. will countermand her social transition, her medical treatment, and all the work she has done with her schools, teachers and coaches for nearly half her life by introducing herself to teammates, coaches and even opponents as a boy,ā the judge wrote.
āBy participating on boys teams, B.P.J. would be sharing the field with boys who are larger, stronger, and faster than her because of the elevated levels of circulating testosterone she lacks,ā he wrote. āThe Act thus exposes B.P.J. to the very harms Title IX is meant to prevent by effectively āexclud[ing]ā her from āparticipation inā all non-coed sports entirely.ā
In a statement Tuesday, Joshua Block, senior staff attorney for the ACLUās LGBTQ and HIV Project, called the courtās ruling āa tremendous victory for our client, transgender West Virginians and the freedom of all youth to play as who they are.ā
āIt also continues a string of federal courts ruling against bans on the participation of transgender athletes and in favor of their equal participation as the gender they know themselves to be,ā Block wrote. āThis case is fundamentally about the equality of transgender youth in our schools and our communities and weāre thankful the 4th Circuit agreed.ā
āWe hope todayās ruling sends a message of hope to the trans youth of West Virginia,ā Aubrey Sparks, legal director of the ACLU of West Virginia, said in the statement. āAnd a message of warning to politicians who continue to dehumanize this vulnerable population.ā
West Virginia is one of 21 states that have banned trans student-athletes over the last three years, according to the ACLU.
In a statement Tuesday, West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey vowed to defend the ban and said he is ādeeply disappointedā in the decision.
āThe Save Womenās Sports Act is āconstitutionally permissibleā and the law complies with Title IX,ā Morrisey said. āI will keep fighting to safeguard Title IX. We must keep working to protect womenās sports so that womenās safety is secured and girls have a truly fair playing field. We know the law is correct and will use every available tool to defend it.ā
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Lori Kersey is a reporter with a decade of experience reporting in West Virginia. She covers state government for West Virginia Watch.
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The preceding article was previously published by the West Virginia Watch and is republished with permission.
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West Virginia Watch is part of States Newsroom, the nationās largest state-focused nonprofit news organization.
District of Columbia
Reenactment of first gay rights picket at White House set for April 17
Event marks 59th anniversary of historic push for gay rights in nationās capital
D.C.ās Rainbow History Project announced it will hold a reenactment on Wednesday, April 17, of the historic first protest for gay rights in the form of a picket line in front of the White House that took place on that same day in 1965.
In a statement released last week, Rainbow History Project says the reenactment will mark the 59th anniversary of an event that is credited with bringing attention for the first time to the federal governmentās longstanding discrimination against a minority group referred to then as homosexuals or gays and lesbians.
The statement notes that the 1965 event was organized by the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., the first politically active LGBT organization in the nationās capital founded by local gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny.
āThe picket took place on the White House sidewalk, Lafayette Park, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave., on April 17, 1965,ā the statement says. āFor exactly one hour, from 4:20 p.m. to 5:20 p.m., members of the Mattachine Society of Washington walked in a circle, non-stop, in silence, carrying posters of their demands,ā the statement continues.
āThe White House picket is the origin story for public demonstrations for gay rights in the U.S., and the origin story for Pride Marches and the annual LGBTQ Pride celebrations which occur across the globe,ā according to the statement.
It says those picketing in the April 1965 event, which included Kameny and longtime local D.C.-area lesbian activist Lilli Vincenz, both of whom held doctorate degrees, called on the government to adopt the Mattachine Society of Washingtonās four major demands: an end to the exclusion of homosexuals from federal government employment; an end to the ban on gays and lesbians from serving in the U.S. military; an end to the āblanket denialā of security clearances for gay people; and an end to the āgovernment refusal to meet with the LGBTQ community.ā
Among those who chose not to respond to the request for a meeting was President Lyndon B. Johnson, who occupied the White House at the time of the 1965 picketing.
Vincent Slatt, the Rainbow History Projectās director of archiving and one of the lead organizers of the April 17 reenactment event, said the event is aimed, among other things, at drawing attention to how far the LGBTQ community has come since 1965. He said the event is not in any way a protest of the administration of President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris, who Slatt called staunch supporters of the LGBTQ community.
āWe are just reenacting this historical event and pointing out how far weāve come,ā Slatt told the Washington Blade. āIf you think about what it means in 1965 when these people were protesting and LBJ would not even respond to them. And now, we are at a place where Vice President Harris speaks on a stage at Capital Pride.ā
The Rainbow History Project statement notes that the reenactment event will also be held in honor of Kameny, who died in 2011, and Vincenz, who passed away in 2023, both of whom participated in a similar reenactment event in 2008.
Among those who will be participating in this weekās reenactment on April 17 will be longtime local LGBTQ rights activist Paul Kuntzler, who is the only known surviving person who was among the White House picketers at the April 1965 event. Kuntzler will be carrying a replica of his own picket sign he held at the 1965 event, the statement says.
It says Rainbow History Project volunteers will also carry replicas of the original protest signs and hand out literature explaining the picket to passersby and tourists.
Similar to the 1965 event, the reenactment picketing at the White House will begin on April 17 at about 4:15 p.m., according to Slatt of the Rainbow History Project.
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