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49 House members urge HHS to restore LGBT questions to elder survey

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Ted Deutsch, gay news, Washington Blade
Ted Deutsch, gay news, Washington Blade

Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.) is calling for the restorations of LGBT questions in an elder survey. (Photo public domain)

A group of 49 U.S. House members this week called on the Department of Health & Health Services to restore questions allowing responders to identify as gay, lesbian of bisexual to a federal survey for elders.

The letter, dated May 11, says the questions must be restored to the the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, or NSOAAP, because the survey examines whether services such as meal home delivery and caregiver support are reaching all elders.

“LGBT seniors deserve to have their specific needs examined,” the letter says. “To erase LGBT demographic questions from the NSOAAP is to pretend the needs of older LGBT Americans do not exist. Indeed, it is to pretend that LGBT older Americans do not exist.”

Much to the dismay of LGBT advocacy groups, the Trump administration indicated in March it would remove questions seeking to identify the sexual orientation of respondents from the National Survey of Older Americans Act Participants, or NSOAAP. (A Federal Register notice indicating the survey would not be changed, although an examination of proposals reveals the questions are removed.)

At the time, HHS said the LGBT questions were part of a pilot test and removed because the sample response ā€œhas not been sufficient enough to date to allow for reliability and reporting.ā€

The lead for the letter was Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), chair of the LGBT Aging Issues Task Force, who said in a statement “itā€™s important to recognize the unique needs of LGBT seniors” in the effort to fight for LGBT rights.

ā€œOlder LGBT Americans often face new levels of discrimination as they age and struggle with higher than average levels of poverty and social isolation,” Deutch said. “Federally funded programs should not contribute to this terrible homophobic and transphobic culture. We need the data from these surveys to better ensure that LGBT seniors are receiving the care they need and deserve, without prejudice.ā€

The letter is signed by four of the six openly LGB members of Congress: Reps. Jared Polis (D-Colo.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Mark Pocan (D-Wis.). Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.), who’s gay, and Rep. Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), who’s bisexual, didn’t sign it. The bipartisan letter is also signed by Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), an LGBT-supportive Republican.

The letter is similar a different one last month led by Sens. Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Bob Casey (D-Pa.) that was signed by 19 senators urging HHS to restore the question to the survey.

The Washington Blade has placed a request in HHS seeking comment on the letter.

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District of Columbia

Gay man found unconscious near D.C. gay bar dies

Police release video of suspects in incident listed as robbery

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D.C. police released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Bryan Smith that led to his death. (Screen capture via MPD YouTube)

D.C. police have confirmed that a gay man who worked as a hairstylist and a DJ and who was found unconscious about 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. near the gay bar Uproar has died.

Friends who knew the victim, Bryan Smith, stated in a GoFundMe message seeking support for his medical expenses that he was hospitalized for a severe head injury. His family members told Fox 5 News that he was in a coma.

A D.C. police spokesperson confirmed that Smith died on Nov. 7 and the cause and circumstances surrounding his death were pending with the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerā€™s Office. ā€œOnce we have more information, weā€™ll be putting that out,ā€ D.C. police spokesperson Thomas Lynch told the Washington Blade.

The information released by D.C police indicates Smith at some point was transferred from a D.C. hospital where he was taken by ambulance at the time he was found unconscious to a Virginia hospital, most likely at the request of family members.

Police also released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Smith.

ā€œThe ongoing investigation has determined that the man was robbed by two suspects while walking on the block,ā€ according to an Oct. 30 police statement released before Smith died. ā€œDetectives are still working to determine how the victim sustained his injuries,ā€ the statement says.

The statement adds that the suspects have been linked to three other offenses that took place that same morning, two of which were attempted robberies and one of which was a robbery of victims on nearby streets.

Smith was found unconscious on Oct. 27 about five hours after another gay man, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarra, 22, was reportedly attacked and beaten by as many as 15 men and women at the McDonaldā€™s restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., according to a D.C. police report and information provided by Lascarraā€™s husband.

D.C. police announced they made an arrest Nov. 5 of a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the McDonaldā€™s case. The arrest came on the same day police released photos of seven suspects in the McDonaldā€™s assault case taken from video cameras at or near the McDonaldā€™s.

In their release of the video showing the two suspects in the Smith case, police are asking that anyone who may recognize the two individuals should contact police at 202-727-9099 or text their tip to the departmentā€™s TEXT TIP Line at 50411.

ā€œAnyone who may have seen or heard something suspicious in the 500 block of T Street, NW, or the surrounding area around 5:00 a.m. Sunday [Oct. 27] is asked to call the police or text police,ā€ the statement accompanying the release of the police video says. 

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Comings & Goings

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Gary Fisher

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].Ā 

Congratulations to Rehoboth Beach artist Gary Fisher who will be exhibiting at Aqua Art Miami, during Art Basel week, Dec. 4 – 8, 2024, with Nepenthe Gallery, booth #226. Fisher says these days he creates primarily in his studio and surrounding gardens in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Prior to that he had a studio on 14th Street, N.W., in D.C. He says he found painting, his passion, in mid-life, after a career as a natural resource and environmental attorney. He got active as a participant in the local art scene in D.C. as a founding member of the Mid-City Artists Group and created and managed the Gallery in Results the Gym, on Capitol Hill. He also served as the Managing Art Director for the American Society of Interior Designers (ASID), and is now an active member of the Rehoboth Art League. 

Fisher paints in oils and his artwork ranges from the textural abstract landscape work that has been the focus of his major recent work, to brilliantly colored still life, figurative paintings and recently he has had an interest in small plein-air paintings inspired from the poppy fields of Provence, and his own beautiful gardens in Rehoboth.

He talks about his art as an expression of the ā€œbeauty I see all around me, particularly the coastal environment with its beautiful sunrises and sunsets reflecting off the wetlands and bays of Delaware, the gardens around my studio, or the amazing places I travel on my active biking, hiking, and painting trips.ā€  

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Baltimore

5 more Salisbury students charged after man said he was lured to apartment attack

Suspects allegedly targeted victim on Grindr

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Twelve total Salisbury University students have been charged in an attack, which police said was captured on video, that is being investigated as a hate crime. (Photo from Tom Nappi/Office of the Maryland Governor)

By CODY BOTELER | Five more Salisbury University students have been charged in an alleged attack where a man said he was lured into an apartment and punched, kicked, and spat on because of his ā€œsexual preferences,ā€ the Salisbury Police Department said Thursday afternoon.

The latest charges come after seven students were arrested earlier in the week, in an incident law enforcement officials are investigating as a hate crime.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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