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GLAA celebrates 47th anniversary

Group honored as nation’s oldest continuously active LGBT civil rights group

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GLAA, gay news, Washington Blade

D.C. Council member Robert White, left, joins Council members Mary Cheh and Jack Evans in presenting GLAA President Guillaume Bagal with a Council proclamation recognizing GLAA’s 47th anniversary. (Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro Jr.)

Five D.C. Council members, the director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, and D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham joined about 100 people Thursday night for the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance’s 47th Anniversary Reception.

The event, held at Policy Restaurant on 14th Street, N.W., highlighted what many of the group’s longtime members and supporters say is its role as the nation’s oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization that later expanded its mission to advocate for transgender rights.

It was founded in 1971 by a group of gay activists who worked that year on D.C. gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny’s election campaign for the city’s non-voting representative to Congress. Kameny lost the election but his highly visible campaign drew attention to the city’s emerging gay rights movement.

Guillaume Bagal, the group’s current president, said the turnout for the reception reflected the efforts by a new crop of officers who took charge of the group last year to expand its ranks.

“Just looking into the crowd I saw many of the old faces but so many new ones as well, which is really what we tried to achieve beginning last year – to bring in new members and even younger ones with fresh ideas,” Bagal said. “It gives me hope for the future of GLAA.”

Bagal and other GLAA officers presented the group’s annual Distinguished Service Award to one organization and two individuals that the group said advanced the cause of LGBT equality as well as helped uplift marginalized communities beyond just the LGBT community.

Among the recipients of the award was Check It Enterprises, formerly known as the Check It Gang, which was started by a group of young LGBT people that came together as a street gang to protect each other from being bullied and attacked because of their identities as gay, lesbian or transgender.

With the help and encouragement of D.C. youth advocate Ron Moten, Check It members transformed themselves from a gang into a fledgling business enterprise in which they produce, market and sell a line of clothing. Since the transformation began five years ago they have held several fashion shows that began in public spaces but are now held, along with other events, at their own headquarters office and production space in historic Anacostia.

“They also use the building as a safe haven and conduct activities and programming for LGBT youth and young adults,” according to a GLAA write-up about the group, which notes that Check It became the subject of an award-winning documentary film.

The two individuals receiving GLAA’s Distinguished Service Award on Thursday night were D.C. Council member Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3), and Whitman-Walker Health Executive Director Don Blanchon.

GLAA noted that Cheh, among other things, has been a longtime supporter of LGBT rights and introduced and pushed through a bill in the D.C. Council in 2013 that prohibits so-called conversion therapy seeking to change people from gay to straight from being practiced on people younger than 18 years old.

Other accomplishments of Cheh cited by GLAA include the Death with Dignity Act of 2015, which she authored; her advocacy for legislation to protect the environment, improve the health of D.C. residents, efforts to combat homelessness and prosecute bias crimes against homeless people; and an effort to eliminate the statute of limitations for the prosecution of sexual assaults.

In presenting its Distinguished Service Award to Blanchon, GLAA said he has played a key role for the past 11 years as executive director of Whitman-Walker Health in providing “an affirming and safe healthcare environment to gender and sexual minorities and other marginalized communities in the District.”

In addition to Cheh, members of the D.C. Council who attended the GLAA anniversary reception were Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), Robert White (D-At-Large), Jack Evans (D-Ward 2), and Elissa Silverman (I-At-Large). Also attending were former D.C. Council member and longtime LGBT rights supporter Carol Schwartz and D.C. Council candidate Ed Lazere, who’s running against Mendelson for the Council Chair seat in the June 19 Democratic primary.

Evans presented GLAA with an official proclamation unanimously approved by the D.C. Council recognizing GLAA’s anniversary. Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, presented the group with an official proclamation issued by Mayor Muriel Bowser honing GLAA on its 47th anniversary.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham also attended the event along with Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the department’s special liaison units, and Sgt. Jessica Hawkins, who serves as supervisor of the LGBT Liaison Unit.

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Rehoboth Beach

Rehoboth Beach’s iconic Purple Parrot is sold

Popular restaurant/bar purchased by local entrepreneurs

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Drew Mitchell (left) and Tyler Townsend recently completed their purchase of the Purple Parrot.

After 25 years of success, owners Hugh Fuller and Troy Roberts recently sold Rehoboth Beach’s Purple Parrot restaurant and bar. 

During those 25 years, they built it into an iconic establishment in Rehoboth Beach, Del., popular with locals and tourists alike.

 “I think you know that this has basically been my entire adult life,” Fuller said. “Selling wasn’t something I was even contemplating until my health took a turn after contracting COVID, which took a toll on my everyday health. I went from working almost every day to barely going in.” 

Fuller added that when local entrepreneurs Tyler Townsend and his partner Drew Mitchell reached out, he knew it was time to sell. 

“We knew we made the right decision going with some young blood that knew the staff, the restaurant, and us,” Fuller said. “We know that our baby is in good hands and will breathe for another 25+ years with them at the helm. I plan to take some time and bring my mom back to her hometown in Germany to visit her family, which she hasn’t seen in over 30 years.” 

Roberts added, “It is bittersweet selling a business you created, nurtured, and ran for 25 years. It is much easier knowing who is going to love it next. More importantly, we really wanted our staff to be OK and again picking the right guys offering that security to them was a major plus. I’ve learned so much being in the restaurant business for 30+ years. You meet so many great people, so many loyal customers, amazing locals, and even better staff. It truly does become a family situation. I will always be grateful to every single one of them past and present. I cannot wait to see what the next chapter of the Purple Parrot Grill has in-store.”

The new owners, Townsend and Mitchell, are already a big part of the Rehoboth scene. Townsend is a successful restaurateur, part of the Second Block Hospitality Group, which owns The Pines, Drift, and Bodhi Kitchen. Townsend is also one of the owners of Aqua Bar and Grill.  Townsend and the other three partners in Second Block Hospitality, were named restaurateurs of the year by the Delaware Restaurant Association earlier this year. Mitchell has a company that does corporate branding, but is no newcomer to hospitality. He is the owner of the Fathom Gallery on 14th Street in D.C., a popular event space. 

Townsend told the Blade he and Mitchell are not planning any big changes for the Parrot. The staff will remain the same and the food and drinks will continue as they are now. They will continue to be open on Thanksgiving and Christmas, as a home for those looking to have a great place to spend the holidays with old, and new friends. While the Parrot is independent of Townsend’s other businesses, he believes there can be some synergy among them, and if the time and event are right, there will be collaboration. 

Reaction to the news from locals has been overwhelmingly positive.

Christopher Chandler, who has worked as a bartender and manager at the Parrot for years, is well respected in the community and has been voted best bartender in Rehoboth Beach a number of times by Blade readers. Chandler said, “Hugh and Troy were, and are, like family to me. They treated me and the staff of the Parrot as part of theirs. I’m sad they are gone but if anyone is capable of continuing their legacy it is Tyler and Drew.

“In the short time since their purchase of the Purple Parrot they have continued on that tradition. I’m excited about continuing into the future what the Parrot has been to the community, and to the employees, just with new owners.”  

Bob Suppies, who is a partner with Townsend in Second Block Hospitality said, “I couldn’t be more excited for Tyler and Drew having purchased The Purple Parrot. When Tyler, Kevin McDuffie and I bought Aqua Bar & Grill from the famed Bill Shields, it was important for us to honor the brand and legacy of a great Rehoboth Beach institution. I know Tyler and Drew will do an outstanding job protecting what Hugh and Troy have built and given to our community.” 

Steve Fallon, owner of local retail store Gidget’s Gadgets, said, “The Purple Parrot is a monumental institution produced by the hard work of Hugh, Troy, Cathy, and their loyal staff. We will be sad not to yell “Hey Hugh!” across the street. But I also know that Tyler and Drew will carry on the history of the Parrot with a fresh approach and always keep the customers happy. I wouldn’t fear that they would do as others have done and try changing a functioning landscape into a horror show.” 

The Purple Parrot (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)
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Maryland

Hate crime charges dropped against most Salisbury students in off-campus attack

Suspects allegedly used Grindr to target victim

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Students walk outside the Guerrieri Academic Commons at Salisbury University, where 15 students were charged in an off-campus attack. (Photo by Wesley Lapointe of the Baltimore Banner)

BY MIKE HELLGRIN, CHRISTIAN OLANIRAN, AND ELLIE WOLFE | Prosecutors in Wicomico County are dropping felony assault and hate crime charges against at least 12 of the 15 Salisbury University students charged in an off-campus attack in October.

Misdemeanor false imprisonment and second-degree assault charges remain for most of the defendants, and many trials are set for late January.

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

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District of Columbia

D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs moving to new location

LGBTQ community center also set to leave Reeves Center

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There are plans to demolish the Reeves Center and replace it with a redevelopment project. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which is currently located at the city’s Reeves Center municipal building at 14th and U Street, N.W., was scheduled to move during the week of Dec. 9 to a new location at 899 North Capitol St., N.E., according to Japer Bowles, the office’s director.

Bowles said the LGBTQ Affairs office will be located on the seventh floor of the privately owned office building in which the city has rented space for several other city agencies, including the D.C. Department of Health.

The move comes about amid longstanding plans to demolish the Reeves Center and replace it with a redevelopment project that will include a mix of housing, office space, a hotel, and retail stores along with a public plaza and a 200-seat amphitheater.

The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center, which has been located in the Reeves Center for about 10 years, also expects to be moving out of the building in the spring of 2025, said Kimberley Bush, the LGBTQ center’s executive director.

Bush said the LGBTQ center looks forward to moving into its new, larger space in a building at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, which is located one block away from the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.

The LGBTQ center entered a joint lease to rent space in the Wiltberger Street building with the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, including the upcoming World Pride 2025 events set to take place in D.C. May 17-June 8.

In response to a request by Bowser, the D.C. Council earlier this year approved $1 million in funding for fiscal year 2025 to support the build-out and construction of the LGBTQ Center’s space in the Wiltberger Street’s converted warehouse building.

But shortly after the Council approved that funding, the D.C. Center and Capital Pride Alliance announced the launch of a fundraising campaign called “Welcome Home – Building Together, Thriving Together” to raise an additional $1.5 million needed to complete the renovation of the new building.

“This endeavor is more than just the construction of a building; it represents a commitment to carve out a generous 7,000 square feet of space devoted to nurturing unity, empowerment, and support across the LGBTQ+ spectrum,” a statement announcing the fundraising campaign says.

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