Local
Ronald DeVrou dies at 67
Clinical social worker in D.C. area
Ronald DeVrou
Ronald DeVrou, a clinical social worker in private practice in the D.C. area since the early 1990s who also served as a life coach, consultant, and event planner, died in his apartment in the city’s Mount Pleasant section from natural causes. He was 67.
His sister, Debra DeVrou of Lawton, Mich., said D.C. police informed her that her brother’s body was found in his apartment by authorities on June 22 but they didn’t know the exact date of the death. She said authorities told her the cause of death was heart failure.
She said Ronald DeVrou was born and raised in Grand Rapids, Mich., and later moved to Kalamazoo, Mich., to attend Western Michigan University, where he received a bachelor’s and master’s degree in clinical social work.
“He was one of the original founders of the Gay and Lesbian Task Force on Western Michigan University’s campus,” according to Debra DeVrou.
“And he graduated I think at the top of his class,” she said. “He was very intelligent.”
Debra DeVrou said her brother initially settled in Kalamazoo, Mich., where he and his then wife, Penny DeVrou, had two children, Ryan and Amanda. Debra DeVrou said the couple divorced a short time after Ronald DeVrou came out as gay.
He moved to D.C. around 1990, Debra DeVrou said. Brian Scott, one of Ronald DeVrou’s longtime D.C. friends, said DeVrou a short time later started a private practice as a clinical social worker and life coach initially at an office in the Dupont Circle area.
Scott said DeVrou was a strong supporter of LGBT rights causes.
Debra DeVrou said her brother was predeceased by his parents Marvin J. and Lois DeVrou, his brother Michael Jay DeVrou, and his son Ryan.
He is survived by his sister Debra DeVrou, his daughter Amanda Dutro, three grandchildren, and several nieces and nephews.
Scott, DeVrou’s friend in D.C., said Amanda Dutro was in the process of planning a memorial service for DeVrou and those plans were expected to be announced soon.
The D.C. Center for the LGBT Community announced on its website that DeVrou was a friend of the D.C. Center and the Center would share information about arrangements to remember DeVrou when it becomes available.
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.
Dolly Parton dies at 80
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
Not all trans people are the same
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Calendar: August 21-27
