Local
D.C. Jail drops policy of placing trans women in men’s facility
But ACLU proceeds with lawsuit anyway
One month after it was hit by a lawsuit from the ACLU for placing a female transgender inmate in the men’s housing facility at the D.C. Jail, the D.C. Department of Corrections announced on June 17 it has dropped its policy of placing transgender inmates in the male or female section of the jail based on their “anatomy” rather than their gender identity.
But the ACLU has said it will continue its lawsuit on behalf of trans woman Sunday Hinton despite the DOC’s announced change in policy on grounds that the new policy requires trans inmates to be placed in isolation cells, which the ACLU says are equivalent to solitary confinement, during an inmate intake period.
“The intake period can last more than a week before the individuals receive their regular housing assignment,” the ACLU said in a statement. “As the original complaint notes, ‘Placing a transgender woman in solitary confinement puts her at grave risk for suicide,’” the statement says.
The ACLU has said that days after it filed its lawsuit against the DOC on Sunday Hinton’s behalf, D.C. Jail officials transferred her from the men’s housing unit to the women’s unit. A short time later, a D.C. Superior Court Judge ordered Hinton released from jail while awaiting trial for her arrest for an alleged unarmed burglary in which she attempted to take $20.
Despite her release, the ACLU says it still has legal grounds to continue the lawsuit, which originally charged the DOC with violating the D.C. Human Rights Act’s ban on transgender discrimination by placing Hinton in the men’s housing unit at the jail.
In a brief filed in court on July 16, the ACLU, and the DC Public Defender Service, which joined the ACLU in filing the lawsuit, the two groups argue that the DOC’s new policy is still discriminatory because it forces transgender inmates into solitary confinement “simply because they are transgender.”
The court brief also says that although the DOC’s new policy claims to provide transgender inmates with the choice of deciding which housing unit they prefer to be assigned, the two groups learned that at least three trans inmates were not reassigned to the housing unit of their choice.
“Because DOC has inaugurated a new type of discrimination against transgender individuals, we continue to litigate against its new policy and seek classwide relief,” the court brief states, referring to the original lawsuit’s classification as a class action lawsuit.
DOC spokesperson Dr. Keena Blackmon didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on the lawsuit’s new allegations.
In a 12-page revised policy document, which the DOC says applies to housing for transgender, intersex, and gender nonconforming inmates, the DOC says the policy calls for placing those inmates “in a cell by themselves during the intake process for their safety and security and the safety, security, and order of the facility.”
The document says once the safety of placing a trans, intersex, or gender nonconforming inmate in the male or female housing unit of their choice is confirmed and the DOC’s Transgender Housing Committee has a chance to review the matter, the policy calls for granting the inmate’s request for being placed in the housing unit of their choice.
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
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Not all trans people are the same
Calendar: August 21-27
