Local
Doc on 1950s-era ‘war on gays’ premieres
Looking back at Hoover-era discrimination
Former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover depicted homosexuals as ‘sex perverts’ and a dire threat to national security. (Photo public domain)
More than 150 people turned out at D.C.’s E Street Cinema Monday night for the premiere showing of the documentary film “Uniquely Nasty: The U.S. Government’s War on Gays.”
The 30-minute film produced by Yahoo News and its chief investigative correspondent Michael Isikoff depicts a little-known 1950s-era campaign by the FBI and other federal government agencies to purge gays from the federal workforce.
Isikoff, a former investigative reporter for ABC News, takes viewers on a dramatic ‘tour’ of some of the thousands of documents unearthed by the recently resurrected gay rights group Mattachine Society of Washington and its leader Charles Francis. The documents, including several written by former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, depict homosexuals as “sex perverts” and a dire threat to national security.
“Each Supervisor will be held personally responsible to underline in green pencil the names of individuals mentioned in any report, letter, memorandum, newspaper article or other communication who are alleged to be sex deviates,” Hoover wrote in one of the FBI documents shown in the film.
In an interview in the film, Francis notes that gays were referred to repeatedly as “sex deviates” in many of the documents, which his group obtained through multiple Freedom of Information Act requests from government agencies. The group obtained other documents by persuading the presidential libraries of Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Lyndon Johnson, among others, and the National Archives, to release them.
Actor George Takei of “Star Trek” fame, who’s gay, speaks in the film as Hoover’s voice, reciting in a somber and angry tone Hoover’s writings warning of the threat gays posed for the government.
Francis has credited the law firm McDermott, Will & Emery with providing pro bono legal help for the Mattachine Society in its effort to secure the release of many of the documents through its Freedom of Information Act requests.
In a panel discussion moderated by Washington Post editorial board member Jonathan Capehart, which took place after the film viewing, Isikoff said he was taken aback by the degree of animus directed at gays in the documents Francis showed him.
One document – a 1964 memo written by then-U.S. Civil Service Commission official John W. Steele – is representative of the views of gays shared by many government officials, Isikoff told the gathering.
“Some feel that ‘once a homo, always a homo,’” Steele wrote in the memo. “Our tendency to ‘lean over backwards’ to rule against a homosexual is simply a manifestation of the revulsion which homosexuality inspires in the normal person,” Steele wrote.
The film reports that thousands of gay men and lesbians were fired from or refused jobs with federal government agencies during the height of the anti-gay purges that took place from the 1940s through the 1960s.
Others speaking on the panel were Francis; Douglas Charles, author of the recently released book “Hoover’s War on Gays: Exposing the FBI’s ‘Sex Deviates’ Program”; and JoDee Winterhof, the Human Rights Campaign’s vice president for policy and political affairs.
Yahoo News says it will release the film for nationwide viewing on June 22 on Yahoo.com.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
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