Local
Some D.C. gay bars to require proof of COVID vaccination
Action prompted by mayor’s order reinstating masks indoors
At least six D.C. gay bars announced last week on social media that they will require patrons to show proof that they have been vaccinated for COVID-19 as a condition for being admitted to the bars.
They include the Logan Circle area gay bars Number Nine and Trade, which are operated by the same co-owners; the Adams Morgan gay sports bars Pitchers and A League of Her Own, which are also operated by the same owner and share the same building; the 17th Street, N.W. gay bar JR.’s; and the U Street, N.W. gay bar The Dirty Goose.
The six bars, which also offer dining service, announced their proof of vaccination requirement shortly after D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser on Thursday, July 29, issued a new order reinstating the city’s requirement that facial masks be worn inside all businesses and other public establishments.
The mayor’s order applies to all vaccinated and unvaccinated people over the age of two. It took effect at 5 a.m. Saturday, July 31.
At a July 29 news conference, Bowser pointed to a new U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidance issued two days earlier recommending that fully vaccinated people resume wearing masks indoors in places where transmission of the coronavirus is considered “substantial” or “high.”
The mayor said that, at the advice of her public health experts, she decided to issue the new order to help curtail the rising number of COVID cases in D.C. over the past month or more due to the rapid spread of the virus’s Delta variant, which is surging throughout the nation. Like other parts of the country, Bowser and D.C. Department of Health Director Dr. LaQuandra Nesbit said people who are unvaccinated in D.C. make up nearly all of the newly infected cases.
“I know D.C. residents have been very closely following the public health guidelines, and they will embrace this,” Bowser said in referring to the new mask requirement.
The four-page order released by the mayor’s office, similar to the city’s earlier mask requirements, allows indoor patrons of restaurants and bars to remove their masks while “actively” eating or drinking.
But some representatives of restaurants and bars have pointed out that other jurisdictions, including Maryland and Virginia, have followed the CDC’s initial policy of making mask wearing a recommendation rather than a requirement.
“Mayor Bowser’s announcement that nightlife hospitality patrons must wear a mask indoors when not ‘actively eating or drinking’ renders the reinstated mandate essentially unenforceable and results in the rule being reduced to a largely theatrical requirement,” said Mark Lee, director of the D.C. Nightlife Council, a local trade association representing bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other nightlife related businesses.
“The greatest disappointment for many venue operators and staff, however, is that the mayor’s decision does not allow an option for establishments to admit only fully vaccinated patrons and be exempt from the mandate, as a number of other jurisdictions across the country have done,” Lee said.
John Guggenmos, co-owner of the bars Trade and Number Nine, told the Washington Blade he and his co-owners adopted the proof of vaccination policy as an added means of protecting the safety of both patrons and employees of the two bars.
“We’re hopeful that this will be in effect for just a few weeks or a month or two,” Guggenmos said. “Our patrons have always been very supportive,” he said in referring to the city’s public health directives last year and early this year in which masks were required up until May of this year.
Guggenmos said Trade and Number Nine would allow an alternative to the vaccination requirement if patrons provide proof of a negative COVID-19 test conducted within the previous three days of their admission to the bars.
In its social media postings, Pitchers and A League of Her Own said their proof of vaccination requirement was based on the concern for the health of their patrons and staff.
“We will require proof of a COVID vaccination until further notice at Pitchers/ALOHO and masks per the mayor,” a Facebook posting says. “We take guidelines and the health of our patrons and staff very seriously. We will accept a picture or hard copy of your COVID vaccination card,” it says. “No exceptions, no arguing, no talking to the manager.”
Tammy Truong, owner of the gay bar Uproar Lounge at 639 Florida Ave., N.W., told the Blade the bar has no immediate plans to require proof of vaccination as a requirement for admission, but Uproar will fully comply with the mayor’s order requiring indoor masks.
Justin Parker, co-owner of the nearby gay bar The Dirty Goose at 913 U St., N.W., told the Blade he and his staff decided on July 30 to also put in place a requirement that patrons show either proof of vaccination or proof of a negative COVID-19 test within the past five days. He said a five-day window for the COVID test, which the CDC allows in some cases, was chosen rather than a three-day requirement to accommodate people who may not be able to get tested during weekends.
Owners of other D.C. queer bars couldn’t immediately be reached. But the Blade could not find any announcements by the other bars as of Friday afternoon that they planned to put in place a proof of vaccination requirement.
Virginia
Va. House approves resolution to repeal marriage amendment
Two successive legislatures must approve proposal before it goes to voters
The Virginia House of Representatives on Tuesday approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
The resolution that state Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax County) introduced by a 58-35 vote margin. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) has proposed an identical measure in the Virginia Senate.
Ebbin and Sickles are both gay.
Voters approved the Marshall-Newman Amendment in 2006.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin last year signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
The General Assembly in 2021 approved a resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment. It must pass in two successive legislatures before it can go to the ballot.
The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee on Tuesday advanced Ebbin’s resolution by a 10-4 vote margin. The House on Tuesday also approved resolutions that would enshrine reproductive rights and restore formerly incarcerated people’s right to vote in the state constitution.
Maryland
Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus to hold town hall on Eastern Shore
Delmarva Pride Center, DoCoPride to co-host Wednesday event
The Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus on Wednesday will hold a town hall with the Delmarva Pride Center and DoCoPride that will focus on legal protections for LGBTQ Marylanders.
The town hall will take place from 6-7:30 p.m. in the Waterfowl Building (40 S. Hanson St.) in Easton. It will also be virtual for those who cannot attend in person.
A press release notes elected officials and “state and federal legal experts” will talk about “the current status of protections for LGBTQ+ Marylanders and what the future may hold.”
“As Maryland prepares for the incoming federal administration, the LGBTQ+ Caucus is steadfast in reaffirming Maryland’s commitment to supporting all of its residents,” said state Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County), who chairs the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus. “Coordination will be critical to building a comprehensive package of legislation that affirms the unique lived experiences of all its residents — especially queer, nonbinary, and transgender people targeted by harmful legislation.”
Tina Jones, co-founder and chair of the Delmarva Pride Center in Easton, in the press release notes the LGBTQ community “is facing unprecedented levels of bias and potential harm at this time.”
“As part of our safe spaces initiative, we are honored to have this opportunity to partner with the Maryland Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus and DoCo Pride to educate folks on their rights and stand together to say hate, bias, and harm have no place on the Eastern Shore or anywhere in Maryland,” said Jones.
Registration for the event is here:
District of Columbia
Teen gets probation in attack on gay man at 14th & U McDonald’s
16-year-old pleaded guilty to assault, apologized to victim
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Jan. 10 sentenced a 16-year-old male to a year of probation after he pleaded guilty to a single charge of simple assault related to the Oct. 27 incident in which police said as many as 15 people attacked a gay man at the D.C. McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W., with some of the attackers shouting anti-gay slurs.
The Washington Post published an exclusive report of the sentencing after its reporter was allowed to attend a juvenile court hearing that is closed to the public and the press on the condition that the Post would not disclose the name of the juvenile.
The Post story says prosecutors at the court hearing said that a week after the attack, the juvenile, accompanied by his mother, met with D.C. police, admitted to being a part of the attack, and was arrested. “The youth said he was intoxicated at the time and did not remember many of his actions,” the Post reports.
The victim in the case, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, 22, told police and the Washington Blade through a statement from his husband, Stuart West, that the attack began inside the McDonald’s about 1 a.m. when one of the attackers, a woman, criticized him for not saying “excuse me” when he walked past her inside the crowded restaurant.
When he walked away from the woman as many as 10 or more people started to assault Lascarro, according Lascarro’s account relayed by West. “And so, they started punching him all over his face and body, and it eventually moved to the outside of the McDonald’s on the D.C. sidewalk, where more people got involved and started hitting him and assaulting him,” West said.
Lascarro was taken by ambulance to Howard University Hospital, where he was treated and released the next day recovering from multiple bruises and cuts on his face, head and body, his husband said. Police listed the incident as a suspected hate crime.
No immediate arrests were made, but police released to the public and the media photos of seven suspects obtained from video surveillance cameras at McDonald’s, all of whom appeared to be juveniles. In a Nov. 6 statement, police announced they arrested one day earlier a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the attack on a charge of Assault With Significant Bodily Injury.
The Post story reports that during the Jan. 11 hearing D.C. prosecutor Gabrielle LoGaglio played two security videos that captured the outdoor part of the Oct. 27 attack against Lascarro at the McDonald’s. “The youth charged in the attack was clearly identifiable because he was wielding a tiki torch-like pole and was seen striking Lascarro on the head with it, she said,” the Post story reports.
The story reports that through an arrangement with prosecutors, the juvenile pleaded guilty to a single count of simple assault. It says while standing next to his court appointed attorney, the juvenile repeatedly apologized to Lascarro, who was watching the hearing through a video hookup.
“From the bottom of my heart, I want to say I am sorry to the victim and his family,” the Post quoted him as saying. “I was not raised by my mother to behave like that,” the Post quote continues. “I am sorry. I am not a criminal. I have shown people love and respect and kindness. I am sorry for the emotional and physical damage I have caused.”
The Post story also quoted from a statement that Lascarro submitted to the court and which prosecutors read. West, Lascarro’s husband, sent a copy of the statement to the Blade.
Lascarro says in his statement that he moved to D.C. from his home country of Colombia in 2023 after marrying his husband because D.C. “felt so open and welcoming to people like me — gay and proud.” He added, “Here, I felt safe to be myself, to dress how I wanted, wear makeup, and just live my life” as he could not feel safe doing in his home country.
“After the attack, everything changed,” he says in his statement. “I don’t feel safe anymore. I don’t feel like I can be myself without looking over my shoulder,” the statement continues. “It’s hard to put into words how this has hurt me mentally. The bruises are gone now, but the fear and trauma are still with me every day.”
The Post reports that prosecutors said they agreed to a sentence of one year’s probation because the juvenile had no prior arrests. At the request of prosecutors, Judge Charles J. Willoughby Jr. agreed to include in the sentencing that the juvenile be placed on GPS monitoring and be “ordered to attend school regularly and take random drug and alcohol tests as needed.”
According to the Post, Judge Willoughby described the attack against Lascarro as “vicious and unprovoked,” and told the juvenile “you need to stay away from those other juveniles” who joined him in the attack on Lascarro.
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Teen gets probation in attack on gay man at 14th & U McDonald’s
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