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D.C. U.S. Attorney meets with LGBT advocates over hate crimes
Concerns that Liu’s office has backed away from prosecuting hate crimes
The United States Attorney for D.C., Jessie K. Liu, met on Tuesday with two members of the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commission’s Rainbow Caucus and the president of the LGBT Bar Association of D.C.
Dupont Circle ANC member and LGBT rights advocate Mike Silverstein told the Washington Blade the Rainbow Caucus requested the meeting to discuss concerns by LGBT activists that Liu’s office has backed away from prosecuting as hate crimes violent attacks against LGBT people, especially transgender women.
Joining Silverstein at the meeting were Rainbow Caucus member Jasper Bowles and DC LGBT Bar Association President Joseph Vardner.
Silverstein said that Liu, who was joined by five of her top staff members, told the three activists that the D.C. hate crimes law is vague regarding what prosecutors must prove in court before a jury in order to obtain a hate crime conviction.
According to Silverstein, Liu said her office interprets the law to require only that a motive of hate was a contributing factor in the crime. But the D.C. Public Defender Service, which represents many defendants charged with crimes, insists that the law requires prosecutors to show and prove that hate or bias was the only driving factor in the crime, Liu said at the meeting.
Currently, judges in individual cases must decide how to interpret the law, and depending which interpretation they make, prosecutors could negatively impact the ability to obtain a hate crime conviction, legal observers have said.
“We supported the U.S. Attorney’s interpretation and offered to lobby the D.C. Council to clarify the statute,” Silverstein told the Blade.
He called the meeting “productive and cordial.” A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office couldn’t immediately be reach for comment on the meeting.
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PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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