Local
Rehoboth Beach Museum hosts LGBTQ series
A look at the past, present and future of the community


Rehoboth Beach has a long and complicated history when it comes to welcoming LGBT visitors. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)
The Rehoboth Beach Museum is hosting a listening and discussion series on the past, present and future of the LGBTQ community in Rehoboth Beach this month. The event is free and is split into three sessions.
The first session was held on July 9 and was titled “Our Roots: LGBTQ History in Rehoboth.” This part of the series discussed how the LGBTQ community came to Rehoboth, the initial pushback and how the community came together during a difficult period in Rehoboth history. The second session will be held on July 16 at 6 p.m. and is titled “The Current State of Affairs: LGBTQ Rehoboth as We Know It.” This part of the series will allow attendees to share their opinions on what the current climate of Rehoboth is as well as how Rehoboth is one of the most accepting towns in the Mid-Atlantic. The final session will be held on July 23 at 6 p.m. and is titled, “Where are We Going? The Future of the LGBTQ Community in Rehoboth.” This part of the series will discuss what the future of the LGBTQ community will look like along with what goals there are for the future.
“We chose to host this series because we needed to keep our audience engaged while the museum is closed for renovations this summer,” said Casey McClintick-Sink, an intern for the museum this summer. “With guidance from Paula, we decided that I would conduct research on the LGBTQ community here in Rehoboth because I am a part of that community.”
McClintick-Sink conducted research by listening to oral histories, conducting interviews, reading news articles and ensured that a lot of different perspectives on the Rehoboth LGBTQ community were heard. Paula Roberts is McClintick-Sink’s intern coordinator.
“As you know, Rehoboth Beach has a history of struggling with and largely overcoming anti-gay prejudice. We have a vibrant LGBTQ community anchored by CAMP Rehoboth,” Roberts said. “However, not many of the current residents (gay or straight) know that history and what it took to get where we are. One of the functions of a local history museum is to document and share that history so we can all participate and safeguard our gains.”
Roberts stated that the museum made the decision to include the history of the LGBTQ community in every phase of their presentation because a separate presentation would imply that LGBTQ folks are ‘other’ rather than an integral part of the community. She mentioned that the museum collection had very little about the LGBTQ community and that the museum needed to do a major outreach to the LGBTQ community to let them know that they wanted to include them in the telling of Rehoboth Beach’s story.
Roberts did some initial research to outline what the museum knew and didn’t know. McClintick-Sink then took that research and developed it into a three-part presentation for the series. They decided to host the presentation at the Anna Hazzard House, as it will allow them to keep the group small to better foster conversation and let them learn from the participants, as well as encourage participants to donate artifacts so the museum can educate the public.
“Casey is fabulous. She is bright and curious and works really hard,” Roberts said. “We did not know when she contacted us about doing an internship this summer that she was a lesbian and was raised by two mothers. When we learned this, it seemed a perfect fit to have her work on the project. She both knows the issues and brings the perspective of a young person to the subject matter.”
Roberts said that having a young person’s perspective is important because young people must know the history and share it with their peers in order to hold onto the gains made and make more towns gay friendly.
“I wanted to find out how Rehoboth became such a gay-friendly town, and where we might see the community going in the future,” said McClintick-Sink. “This is a really significant story to be told right now as we face the possibility of LGBTQ rights, along with the rights of other minorities, being taken away.”
The Anna Hazzard House is located at 17 Christian St. For additional information and to RSVP, call the Rehoboth Beach Museum at 302-227-7310.

The 2025 Silver Pride Resource Fair and Tea Dance was held at the Eaton Hotel on Wednesday, May 21.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)










District of Columbia
Sinners and Saints bar vandalized in suspected anti-LGBTQ hate crime
Blade spoke with General Manager Blair Nixon after incident

On Thursday, shattered glass, broken doors, and homophobic slurs were discovered in the entryway of Adams Morgan queer bar Sinners and Saints (2309 18th St. N.W.) Images of the destruction were posted to the bar’s Instagram, and news of the break-in began to spread.
The Washington Blade sat down with one of the co-partners and general manager of Sinners and Saints, Blair Nixon, to discuss the break-in and the overwhelming response from the LGBTQ community.
“Our door was broken-so the glass was shattered,” Nixon told the Blade when describing the damage done to the space. “They wrote a slur on our wall, and unfortunately-we’re not sure to the extent that it was, but there’s a bunch of inventory missing from our liquor closet. It does seem like it was targeted because of what they wrote on the wall.”
Nixon, who has been with Washington’s only QTBIPOC (queer, trans, Black, Indigenous, and people of color) bar since its opening last August, explained that upon learning of the break-in, fear was his first reaction.
“It was really scary,” Nixon said. “To know that somebody was in our space, vandalizing it-it was very scary and honestly, devastating.”
He went on to say that if it weren’t for the restaurant above Sinners and Saints, La Grotta, they wouldn’t have known until hours later.
“We found out because of the restaurant upstairs that we’re partnered with,” he said. “The electricity to the entire building was turned off-including apartments and the restaurant above us. Whoever broke in went into the closet that’s outside of the building and turned the electricity off to the entire building. When the restaurant owners got there, they tried to figure out why there wasn’t any electricity. They went downstairs and saw the shattered glass, the door broken, and the slur on the wall.”
Once Sinners and Saints staff arrived to survey the damage, they posted the images to their Instagram and called the Metropolitan Police Department. Nixon was grateful for both MPD and the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs’s quick reaction.
“We were really happy with the response,” Nixon said. “The mayor’s office reached out relatively quickly, and I had a conversation with them, and the police came shortly afterwards, and they did a really good job. So we’re very appreciative of the response. They took a statement, they looked at the damage, took photos of everything, and made a report.”
“They actually sent, like, the entire department,” he added. “There were multiple police officers, multiple detectives, and the LGBTQ liaison came a little bit later. In general, I just really appreciated the response overall.”
The Blade obtained a copy of the filed police report, which described the break-in as a felony-more specifically, MPD considered it a second-degree burglary. MPD’s report also classified the break-in and subsequent graffiti as having “a hate bias or motivation” against sexual minorities who own and frequent the bar.

Unfortunately, there were no cameras on the premises at the time of the break-in, which MPD estimates happened sometime between 2-6 p.m., but Sinners and Saints were able to obtain footage from nearby businesses.
“We did have some camera footage from the hostel next door, and we submitted that to law enforcement,” he said. “We’re just going to let them do their investigation, and I don’t want to make any suppositions about what might have happened.”
When asked what he believed motivated the assailant(s), Nixon didn’t offer a definitive answer. He suggested it was likely someone hostile to LGBTQ businesses in Washington but assured the Blade that Sinners and Saints would not back down-and that the LGBTQ community stands firmly behind them.
“I don’t want to make any statements about what we think happened. We’re going to let the police do their job. But, as the only QTBIPOC bar in D.C., I think it’s important to note that we’re still here. We’re not going to close. We appreciate the support of our community, and I think that overall, it’s really important that we’re a safe space for the underserved and marginalized communities in D.C. Given that D.C. has, you know, one of the largest queer populations-but there aren’t very many spaces for the communities that we serve-we’re very proud to serve those communities. And we aren’t going to stop.”
Nixon had one critique for MPD, but was overall with their quick response.
“We hope that law enforcement would have a greater presence in Adams Morgan,” he said. “I think that, especially from talking to other establishment owners and bar owners, there’s definitely been some increased issues in Adams Morgan, and we hope that that doesn’t continue. We talked to the Mayor’s Office about it and to the police when they came-to have a greater presence in Adams Morgan.”
Since its opening, Nixon said the support from the QTBIPOC and broader LGBTQ community felt strong-but now, after the break-in, that connection has only grown stronger.
“We opened in August of last year, and we think that D.C. in general has really responded to our mission, and the community has really shown up for us-just like the same way that we’ve shown up for them.”
That community support for Sinners and Saints, Nixon said, extends past the diverse group of QTBIPOC people buying shots and tipping 20 percent nightly. Some of the city’s LGBTQ organizations showed up, offering to help. One of those community members who reached out owns a popular gay bar just up 18th Street.
“The response has been really strong, and we definitely appreciate the support. A few of the other LGBT bar owners in Adams Morgan actually stopped by in person. We really appreciated that Dave Perruzza from Pitchers came by, and just in general that the community has been rallying around us.”
On Thursday night, Sinners and Saints opened as planned and hosted their “Sapphic Sailor Moon” party. Despite the break-in, the LGBTQ community came out to support them.
“I was working-actually bartending,” Nixon said. “I wasn’t originally supposed to be working, but I thought it was important for all the partners to be there. So everyone that’s involved in Sinners and Saints’ leadership team came out. Obviously, we were dealing with the incident, but being there the entire night, we thought that the response from the community was really strong. We wanted to make sure that we posted on social media the fact that we were still open, because a lot of people were contacting us and asking if we were going to be continuing on, if we were going to close. We thought it was really important to make sure that we were there and still open and still available.”

That community, Nixon said, includes members of the LGBTQ population who are often overlooked-which makes the attack on a space intentionally dedicated to them-particularly trans people and people of color-even more painful.
“I think that DC in general, as one of the cities with the biggest queer populations, has adopted the LGBT community in general-and it’s great. However, the adoption of people of color and the overall QTBIPOC community, you know, our trans community, hasn’t been the same. It’s super important to us to make sure that that community is protected and that there are safe spaces for them, and that’s what our core mission is. We never want that to stop. The most important thing is that the safe space for those marginalized and underrepresented communities continues. And I would hope that the acceptance of the community that we serve continues-and is just as important as the acceptance of the LGBT community as a whole.”
If you have any information about the break in, please contact MPD at (202) 727-9099. Sinners and Saints has set up a GoFundMe page for repairs. It can be accessed here.
District of Columbia
Adams Morgan queer bar broken into and vandalized
Sinners and Saints targeted Thursday night

On Thursday night, Sinners and Saints, a popular queer bar in Adams Morgan and the only QTBIPOC (queer, trans, Black, Indigenous and people of color) bar in D.C., was broken into and vandalized with homophobic slurs, according to a recent Instagram post from the establishment.

“Last night, our bar — the only QTBIPOC bar in DC — was broken into and hate-crimed during DC Black Pride, a time meant for celebration, resilience, and joy — and on the eve of WorldPride 2025. We are heartbroken, but we are not broken,” the post read.
The statement was accompanied by a slideshow showing the damage: the front iron gate door and its glass counterpart shattered, glass strewn across the floor, and the word “FAGGOT” scrawled in black ink on the wall.
“This space exists to protect and celebrate queer and trans BIPOC communities, and this attack only strengthens our resolve,” the post continued. “We will NOT be silenced. We will NOT be intimidated. We will NOT back down.”
“To those who tried to harm us: hate fuels our defiance. To our community: we see you, we love you, and we will continue fighting for you. Sinners and Saints is resistance. We will rebuild. We will STAY OPEN. And we will keep our doors — and hearts — wide open for all who need refuge.”
They ended the message with a call to action: “Stand with us. Share this. Show up. We keep us safe.”
“What happened was truly disheartening, but we won’t be silenced,” co-owner Fazeel Ashraf told the Washington Blade. “QTBIPOC spaces are so important in this current political climate. I’d love to do a phone interview with one of my fellow partners.”
Despite the heartbreak surrounding the break-in and what Ashraf described as “a hate crime,” the LGBTQ community quickly rallied in the comments, offering support and assistance.
“Please let us know how we can help!” wrote Nik Battaglia. “I’m a handy queer with handy queer friends — I can fix shit, paint shit, and am happy to stand guard outside.”
Even national figures chimed in.
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” star Laganja Estranja commented, “Incredible response! I believe in you. Sending so much love and strength.”
The Blade reached out to the Metropolitan Police Department regarding the break-in but has not received a response.
To view the damage, and some of the LGBTQ community’s supportive statements, visit the Sinners and Saints’s Instagram page.
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