Local
Gay D.C. teacher acquitted of sexual assault
10-year-old witness says alleged victim fabricated allegation
Following a two-week trial, Judge Robert Morin found Leroy Damien Ware not guilty on all counts.
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Thursday found a former D.C. special education teacher who’s gay not guilty of charges that he sexually assaulted on two occasions a 9-year-old male student at Minor Elementary School on Capitol Hill.
Following a two-week non-jury trial, Judge Robert Morin found Leroy Damien Ware, 34, not guilty on two counts each of misdemeanor sexual assault of a child or minor and misdemeanor sex abuse.
In delivering the verdict from the bench in oral remarks, Morin said police and prosecutors failed to show that Ware had intentionally interacted with the boy in a way that constituted sexual assault, according to gay activist Martin Moulton, who attended the trial.
Moulton, who did not know Ware prior to the trial, said the not-guilty verdict came about a week after a 10-year-old boy and classmate of the alleged victim took the witness stand and gave dramatic testimony saying the alleged victim had made anti-gay remarks about Ware and said he planned to do something against Ware.
“Most notably, during the trial, a 10-year-old male peer of the supposed ‘victim’ gave extensive testimony on behalf of his teacher, Mr. Ware, about what was in fact a blatantly homophobic attack from a notoriously unruly and troubled child who had impudently pulled his pants down during class,” Moulton told the Blade.
“On the witness stand, this child’s testimony demonstrated convincing and remarkable wisdom, compassion, and sensitivity to all of the adult issues involved,” said Moulton, who noted that the 10-year-old told others that he has a gay uncle and doesn’t think it’s right to treat gay people in an unfair way.
William Miller, a spokesperson for the Office of the U.S. Attorney, which prosecuted the case against Ware, said the office would have no comment on the case or the acquittal.
A D.C. police arrest affidavit filed in court Feb. 5, 2015 says police learned of the sexual assault allegation from the alleged victim’s mother, who helped arrange for the boy to talk to police investigators. The affidavit says the alleged victim, who is referred to as the complainant in the case, told police Ware “touched my private parts” once in a classroom and another time in a computer lab.
Charging documents say the alleged touching took place sometime between October and December of 2014.
According to the affidavit, Ware told investigators in a “non-custodial interview” on Feb. 2, 2015, that he inadvertently touched the complainant’s penis while “attempting to remove the complainant’s hands from inside his pants” during a session at the computer lab. It says the second incident occurred in a classroom when Ware allegedly touched the boy on his buttocks.
Moulton said that Ware testified at the trial that the touching incidents occurred when the student was acting inappropriately in class and in the computer lab. In the interaction at the computer lab, Ware testified it appeared that the boy was masturbating with his hand inside his own pants, and Ware approached him and removed the boy’s hand from his pants, Moulton recounted.
During a trial session on Jan. 14, in which a Blade reporter was present, Ware’s defense attorney, Chantaye Redmon-Reid, played an audio recording of the police interview of Ware and argued that one or more detectives repeatedly “badgered” Ware into saying things that were not true.
Redmon-Reid said police investigators “lied” to Ware during the interview by claiming they had obtained DNA evidence showing Ware sexually assaulted the 9-year-old. Moulton said police subsequently acknowledged fabricating the DNA claim but have said doing so is a legally permissible technique for interrogating suspects in a criminal case.
“Judge Morin was very critical of MPD detectives’ tactics in deceiving the teacher and essentially badgering him until they obtained the story they wanted to hear,” Moulton said.
Morin called the claim about DNA evidence a “legal” but “concerning tactic in view of the court,” which “was not productive,” Moulton recounted.
In describing Morin’s explanation for his verdict, Moulton said the judge said he carefully looked at the facts in the case.
“And he just said the guy didn’t intend to touch the kid, Moulton recalls. “He wasn’t planning to do it. It took at most like two seconds that he was reaching for his hand and may have accidentally touched the kid’s penis. But it was in no way intentional. And that’s what the case hinged on,” Moulton recounted the judge as saying.
Ware told the Blade in a brief interview on Friday that he plans to release a statement soon, among other things, expressing concern that the news media for the most part downplayed or failed to report that he was acquitted after sensationally reporting the accusations against him at the time of his arrest.
He said he “unofficially” submitted a letter of resignation from his job as a special education teacher in the D.C. public school system shortly after his arrest. But he said the letter was never formally processed through the school system’s personnel office. He said he later informed school officials that he rescinded the resignation and would take a leave of absence until his case was resolved.
Virginia
DOJ seeks to join lawsuit against Loudoun County over trans student in locker room
Three male high school students suspended after complaining about classmate
The Justice Department has asked to join a federal lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools over the way it handled the case of three male high school students who complained about a transgender student in a boys’ locker room.
The Washington Blade earlier this year reported Loudoun County public schools suspended the three boys and launched a Title IX investigation into whether they sexually harassed the student after they said they felt uncomfortable with their classmate in the locker room at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.
The parents of two of the boys filed a lawsuit against Loudoun County public schools in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center and America First Legal, which White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller co-founded, represent them.
The Justice Department in a Dec. 8 press release announced that “it filed legal action against the Loudoun County (Va.) School Board (Loudoun County) for its denial of equal protection based on religion.”
“The suit alleges that Loudoun County applied Policy 8040, which requires students and faculty to accept and promote gender ideology, to two Christian, male students in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” reads the press release.
Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the press release said “students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.”
“Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality,” said Dhillon.
Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in May announced an investigation into the case.
The Virginia Department of Education in 2023 announced the new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students for which Youngkin asked. Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups claim they, among other things, forcibly out trans and nonbinary students.
The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in February launched an investigation into whether Loudoun County and four other Northern Virginia school districts’ policies in support of trans and nonbinary students violate Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federally funded educational institutions from promoting “gender ideology.”
District of Columbia
Capital Pride announces change in date for 2026 D.C. Pride parade and festival
Events related to U.S. 250th anniversary and Trump birthday cited as reasons for change
The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, has announced it is changing the dates for the 2026 Capital Pride Parade and Festival from the second weekend in June to the third weekend.
“For over a decade, Capital Pride has taken place during the second weekend in June, but in 2026, we are shifting our dates in response to the city’s capacity due to major events and preparations for the 250th anniversary of the United States,” according to a Dec. 9 statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.
The statement says the parade will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, with the festival and related concert taking place on June 21.
“This change ensures our community can gather safely and without unnecessary barriers,” the statement says. “By moving the celebration, we are protecting our space and preserving Pride as a powerful act of visibility, solidarity, and resistance,” it says.
Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President, told the Washington Blade the change in dates came after the group conferred with D.C. government officials regarding plans for a number of events in the city on the second weekend in June. Among them, he noted, is a planned White House celebration of President Donald Trump’s 80th birthday and other events related to the U.S. 250th anniversary, which are expected to take place from early June through Independence Day on July 4.
The White House has announced plans for a large June 14, 2026 celebration on the White House south lawn of Trump’s 80th birthday that will include a large-scale Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event involving boxing and wrestling competition.
Bos said the Capital Pride Parade will take place along the same route it has in the past number of years, starting at 14th and T Streets, N.W. and traveling along 14th Street to Pennsylvania Ave., where it will end. He said the festival set for the following day will also take place at its usual location on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., between 2nd Street near the U.S. Capitol, to around 7th Street, N.W.
“Our Pride events thrive because of the passion and support of the community,” Capital Pride Board Chair Anna Jinkerson said in the statement. “In 2026, your involvement is more important than ever,” she said.
District of Columbia
Three women elected leaders of Capital Pride Alliance board
Restructured body includes chair rather than president as top leader
The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced it has restructured its board of directors and elected for the first time three women to serve as leaders of the board’s Executive Committee.
“Congratulations to our newly elected Executive Officers, making history as Capital Pride Alliance’s first all-women Board leadership,” the group said in a statement.
“As we head into 2026 with a bold new leadership structure, we’re proud to welcome Anna Jinkerson as Board Chair, Kim Baker as Board Treasurer, and Taylor Lianne Chandler as Board Secretary,” the statement says.
In a separate statement released on Nov. 20, Capital Pride Alliance says the restructured Board now includes the top leadership posts of Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, replacing the previous structure of President and Vice President as the top board leaders.
It says an additional update to the leadership structure includes a change in title for longtime Capital Pride official Ryan Bos from executive director to chief executive officer and president.
According to the statement, June Crenshaw, who served as acting deputy director during the time the group organized WorldPride 2025 in D.C., will now continue in that role as permanent deputy director.
The statement provides background information on the three newly elected women Board leaders.
• Anna Jinkerson (chair), who joined the Capital Pride Alliance board in 2022, previously served as the group’s vice president for operations and acting president. “A seasoned non-profit executive, she currently serves as Assistant to the President and CEO and Chief of Staff at Living Cities, a national member collaborative of leading philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to closing income and wealth gaps in the United States and building an economy that works for everyone.”
• Kim Baker (treasurer) is a “biracial Filipino American and queer leader,” a “retired, disabled U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of service and extensive experience in finance, security, and risk management.” She has served on the Capital Pride Board since 2018, “bringing a proven track record of steady, principled leadership and unwavering dedication to the LGBTQ+ community.”
• Taylor Lianne Chandler (Secretary) is a former sign language interpreter and crisis management consultant. She “takes office as the first intersex and trans-identifying member of the Executive Committee.” She joined the Capital Pride Board in 2019 and previously served as executive producer from 2016 to 2018.
Bos told the Washington Blade in a Dec. 2 interview that the Capital Pride board currently has 12 members, and is in the process of interviewing additional potential board members.
“In January we will be announcing in another likely press release the full board,” Bos said. “We are finishing the interview process of new board members this month,” he said. “And they will take office to join the board in January.”
Bos said the organization’s rules set a cap of 25 total board members, but the board, which elects its members, has not yet decided how many additional members it will select and a full 25-member board is not required.
The Nov. 20 Capital Pride statement says the new board executive members will succeed the organization’s previous leadership team, which included Ashley Smith, who served as president for eight years before he resigned earlier this year; Anthony Musa, who served for seven years as vice president of board engagement; Natalie Thompson, who served eight years on the executive committee; and Vince Micone, who served for eight years as vice president of operations.
“I am grateful for the leadership, dedication, and commitment shown by our former executive officers — Ashley, Natalie, Anthony, and Vince — who have been instrumental in CPA’s growth and the exceptional success of WorldPride 2025,” Bos said in the statement.
“I look forward to collaborating with Anna in her new role, as well as Kim and Taylor in theirs, as we take on the important work ahead, prepare for Capital Pride 2026, and expand our platform and voice through Pride365,” Bos said.
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