Local
Veteran LGBT rights activist Jerry Clark dies at 74
Attorney also backed D.C. statehood
Jerry Clark, a long-time LGBT rights and D.C. statehood activist, died April 9. (Photo courtesy of the National LGBTQ Task Force)
Jerry N. Clark, an attorney, union health and pension fund director, and health care benefits consultant in Washington who for years served as an advocate for the cause of LGBT rights and D.C. statehood died April 9 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He was 74.
His sister, Melinda Rider, said the cause of death was complications associated with a severe head injury sustained from a fall in January at his home of 40 years in D.C.’s Adams Morgan neighborhood.
“Jerry was a progressive with an unwavering vision of equality for all people,” said Rea Carey, executive director of the National LGBTQ Task Force, for which Clark has served as a member and co-chair of its board of directors.
“He will be remembered for his leadership, but also for his kindness and compassion,” Carey said in a statement. “Surely the world is a better place having had his talents, and we are beholden to all that Jerry contributed to the movement.”
Among his numerous involvements in progressive political causes; Clark served as chair of the D.C. Statehood Coalition, political director of D.C. For Democracy and a board member of the local group Stop Gun Violence.
He has served as co-chair of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health’s spring gala, a trustee for the Law and Society Association and a member of the Democratic National Committee’s Gay and Lesbian Leadership Council.
Former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray appointed Clark to the Mayor’s Committee on the 50th anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington. In recent years Clark was one of the lead organizers of an LGBT contingent in the city’s annual Martin Luther King Day parade.
In 2014 the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance presented Clark with its Distinguished Service Award for what it called his exemplary and dedicated work on behalf of LGBT equality.
“Time and again on issue after issue, Jerry can be found lending his expertise and offer a hand,” said then-GLAA Vice President for Administration Kevin Davis. “His energy and commitment are an example to others.”
Clark was born and raised in Muncie, Ind. He graduated in 1959 from Muncie’s Burris School, which he attended from kindergarten through 12th grade, according to Rider. Rider said he received his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, a law degree from the University of Chicago and completed his doctoral studies in political science at the University of Minnesota.
He came to Washington in 1973 to work as a legal assistant at the Department of Justice under then-U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson. A short time later Clark began work at the Washington-based United Mine Workers Health and Retirement Funds, Rider said, where he spent the major part of his career as its executive director.
In recent years, Rider said, he did consulting work in the area of health care benefits and health care cost containment.
“He was so committed to making things better and never needed the spotlight,” said gay activist and former White House aide Dave Noble. “A real loss but…what a beautiful legacy.”
Clark is survived by his sisters Alma Marie Osborn of Boise, Idaho; Betty Hunt of Summerfield, Fla.; and Melinda Rider of Greensboro, Ga.; and his brother Parnell David Clark of Battle Creek, Mich. He was predeceased by his parents Parnell David Clark, Sr., and Alma Clark.
Earl Fowlkes, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, D.C.’s largest local LGBT political organization, said Clark was a longtime active member of the club.
“I have known Jerry for almost 20 years and in that time I’ve seen him work in all communities, especially Gertrude Stein, to push for D.C. statehood,” said Fowlkes. “He was a man for all seasons and will be missed by all who knew him.”
Rider said plans for a memorial celebration of Clark’s life will be announced shortly. She said contributions in remembrance of Clark can be made as a gift to Whitman-Walker Health.
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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