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Howard County activists and allies hit back at censorship, hate

More than 100 people attended ‘We ARE the People’ rally

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(Photo by Bob Ford)

A diverse crowd of 100 to 200 folks gathered at the Columbia Lakefront on Saturday to attend a rally to push back against censorship in the countyā€™s public schools as well as homophobia and transphobia emanating from a group of conservative parents.

The rally called ā€œWe ARE the Peopleā€ was organized in response to the comments and actions by members of a Maryland-based conservative group ā€œWe the People 2ā€ that among other things are anti-masks, anti-vaccinations and are opposed to teaching racial history in the schools. They also oppose two books that are in Howard County Public Schools library shelves: ā€œGender Queerā€ and ā€œLawn Boy.ā€

Speakers at a We the People 2 rally last month at an Elkridge warehouse condemned the books, which contain LGBTQ characters, as sexually explicit. The group later filed police reports against the Board of Education alleging the books constitute pornography with ā€œgraphic sexual content and materials being used and disseminated in public schools,ā€ according to the groupā€™s press release.  A flier announcing this action used the loaded terminology, ā€œWe must not allow our children to be abused and victimized.ā€

Among the speakers at the Elkridge rally was Republican Gordana Schifanelli who is running for lieutenant governor on the ticket with Daniel Cox. Another speaker, George Johnson, a teacher from Baltimore City, was heard on a video of the event saying, ā€œWeā€™re doing Godā€™s work because Marxism, homosexuality and transgenderism is the devil.ā€

In response, the pro-LGBTQ rally in Columbia announced the following:

We are taking a stance against hate in the community as we raise our voices in support of equity in our schools. Attacks on teachers and school staff have prompted us to stand united and drown out the noise.

In addition, We ARE the People states:

We stand for LGBTQ+ students and educational professionals

Teaching accurate history to our students

Supporting equitable practices in our schools

Providing students with relevant LGBTQ+ media through their school libraries

The two-hour rally, which was attended by several county council members, featured speakers representing a wide swath of community, educational, religious and political organizations. They included: Community Allies of Rainbow Youth (CARY), Black Lives Activists of Columbia (BLAC), Absolutely Dragulous, Howard County Schools, PFLAG-Columbia/Howard County, IndivisibleHoCoMd, Columbia Democratic Club, Howard Progressive Project, Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Columbia (UUCC), HoCo Pride, Progressive Democrats of Howard County, and the Columbia United Christian Church.

Many of the speakers denounced the censorship of materials that are needed by many LGBTQ students. Genderqueer and non-binary students, they point out, are most vulnerable and need affirming literature to help with their development and self-acceptance. The speakers also decried hate speech, which has surfaced again, as well as the opposition to teaching history as it relates to race.

Others argued that the community must not sit back and take it from extremist groups.

ā€œYou are all defenders,ā€ said Cynthia Fikes, president of the Columbia Democratic Club, in a fiery speech. ā€œBut to succeed a strong defense also needs a strong offense.ā€

The two books in question were recently the center of controversy in the Fairfax County (Va.) school system. The books were removed in September from the shelves of the high schools pending a comprehensive review following opposition from a parent at a school board meeting. It should be noted that both books were previous winners of the American Library Associationā€™s Alex Awards, which each year recognize ā€œ10 books written for adults that have special appeal to young adults, ages 12 through 18.ā€  

The board established two committees consisting of parents, staff and students to assess the content of the books and make recommendations to the assistant superintendent of instructional services who would make the final determination.

One committee found that ā€œLawn Boyā€ includes themes that ā€œare affirming for studentsā€ with marginalized identities. ā€œThere is no pedophilia in the book,ā€ the committee added. The other committee found that ā€œGender Queerā€ depicts ā€œdifficulties non-binary and asexual individuals may face.ā€ The committee concluded that ā€œthe book neither depicts nor describes pedophilia.ā€ The books were restored to the shelves.

ā€œAs this backlash against LGTBQ+ literature demonstrates, we must be ready to stand up and defend the progress we have made,ā€ said Jennifer Mallo, member of the Howard County Board of Education, expressing her own point of view. ā€œWe must ensure our elected officials understand and share our values and will fight for our marginalized students.ā€

The enthusiastic crowd was clearly pleased with the event.

ā€œTodayā€™s rally was meant to inspire our community to take action,ā€ said Chris Hefty, who was the lead organizer of the rally and the emcee. ā€œAction that protects our youth. Action that protects our educators and admins. This action comes in the form of advocacy, communication with elected officials so they know your voice, and through well informed voting to ensure those who represent us are those we know will support us. We shared a message of love, acceptance, and warmth.ā€

Hefty adds, ā€œThe unity we facilitated through this rally was a sight to behold. As the lead organizer I couldnā€™t have been more pleased! In the future we will be sure to better meet the needs of all our community members. We thank all those in our community for their support and feedback and look forward to accomplishing great things together moving forward.ā€

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District of Columbia

Taste of Pride serves community, cuisine ahead of WorldPride

Capital Pride Alliance partners with local restaurants to celebrate LGBTQ culture, support small businesses, and raise funds for the Pride365 Fund.

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Taste of Pride (Photo by Mark Mahon; courtesy Capital Pride Alliance)

With WorldPride set to kick off next month, bringing an estimated two million visitors to D.C., the cityā€™s LGBTQ and restaurant communities are preparing for an unprecedented celebration.

Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit organization behind D.C.’s Pride events, is uniting the city’s LGBTQ and culinary communities to raise money for the Pride365 Fund through a program called Taste of Pride.

Taste of Pride partners with local restaurants across the District to generate funds for the Pride365 Fund, which, in turn, supports local LGBTQ organizations.

The Washington Blade sat down with Brandon Bayton, Special Projects & Influencer Manager for Capital Pride, to discuss how Taste of Pride is giving everyone the chance to support the LGBTQ community while enjoying incredible local cuisine.

ā€œD.C. has become really known as sort of a foodie city,ā€ said Bayton. ā€œThe restaurants that are participating are really stepping up to show their support for the LGBTQ community-especially in these troubling times right now. For them to step up and say, ā€˜Hey, we support you,ā€™ it’s an opportunity for us to share them with our community and say, ā€˜We can support you too.ā€™ā€

For Bayton, who is also the lead planner and producer for Taste of Pride, these restaurants’ open commitment to being safe spaces for the LGBTQ community serves three key purposes. The first is that they create a sense of belonging.

ā€œBy these restaurants participating, there is visibility,ā€ he said. ā€œThey’re saying the LGBTQ community is here. They are patrons. We respect them and we support them. That, first and foremost, is one.ā€ The participating restaurants are also given a sticker to display in their window that proves they are an official restaurant of Taste of Pride.

The second key aspect, Bayton explained, is that these restaurants are financially supporting an organization that directly benefits Washingtonā€™s LGBTQ community. To participate, restaurants must contribute at least $250 to Capital Pride, which serves as a donation to the Pride365 Fund.

ā€œThese restaurants are supporting us financially too,ā€ Bayton said. ā€œThey are pretty much donating. There are tiers, and those tiers are donations to the Pride365 Fund-which is Capital Prideā€™s fundraising arm. That fund supports not just Capital Pride, but our sister organizations too, where we do grants and loans. We can disperse funds to SMYAL or the DC LGBTQ Center. Some of the funds that we’ve been raising go into the completion of the LGBTQ Center. Itā€™s a fund that really supports the community.ā€

Lastly, Taste of Pride provides a platform for restaurants to showcase not only their food but also the queer history of their neighborhoods.

ā€œThe third thing is some of these restaurants are doing actual events, from drag events to poetry readings and hosting artists,ā€ Bayton said. ā€œAnnieā€™s is a participant that’s going to be part of the Dupont Circle/17th Street Taste of Pride weekend in June, and they’re hosting a book launch for an author. His name is Erik Piepenburg, and he has featured Annie’s and other LGBTQ establishments in his book, “Dining Out.” The Watergate [Hotel] has four events that they’re doing. The Union Market community is doing special events for its Taste of Pride. It has been a win-win for everyone.ā€

So far, Taste of Pride has hosted two events: a kickoff event at Hook Hall and a weekend event with the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID). If those events were any indication, Bayton said, this yearā€™s Taste of Pride is shaping up to be both delicious and fabulous.

ā€œWe had a great panel of chefs,ā€ he said about the January kickoff party. ā€œWe had David Hagedorn, Rob Heim from Shawā€™s Tavern, these guys who call themselves Pirate Ventures. And we had Chef Angela Rose, who not only is a member of the [LGBTQ] community but also leads the Go-Go Museumā€™s cafĆ©.ā€

The event also showcased two local drag artists.

ā€œWe had two performers-Frieda PoussĆ”y and Dior Couture, a definite rising star in D.C. It was a night of food, camaraderie, networking, and friends getting together. It was a nice community event.ā€

Taste of Pride will continue throughout the city, with different Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) hosting culinary-focused weekends from now until July 31. Participating neighborhoods include NoMa, Dupont Circle, Golden Triangle, Capitol Hill, the Capitol Riverfront, and more.

This weekend, Adams Morgan will take center stage, serving up its own Taste of Pride. From the famous pupusas at El Tamarindo to the juicy burgers at Lucky Buns, these iconic and top-rated AdMo restaurants will not only be selling delicious food and raising money for the LGBTQ community, but theyā€™ll also be ā€œsharing a story ā€” one of diversity, inclusion, and Pride.ā€

When asked how people should get involved in the Taste of Pride events, Bayton explained that Capital Pride found an app to ā€œtry to take the heavy lifting off of the restaurants by creating a specialized portal and employing an app.ā€

ā€œOne of the things is to download your Bandwango pass, because that gives you access to all the neighborhood groups as they come online,ā€ he said.

Additionally, Bayton said posting a photo on social media is a great way to bring awareness to local restaurants supporting the LGBTQ community.

ā€œWhen you go into the restaurants, take a picture, tag them, show your support for them,ā€ he said.

This is not the first year Taste of Pride has taken place, Bayton told the Blade. It began in 2021 to support struggling local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since evolved into what it is today.

Bayton also shared his hopes for the future of Taste of Pride and for it to be recognized as much as a foodie event as a fundraising opportunity.

ā€œMy vision for Taste of Pride is that it becomes a staple of Capital Pride, not just something we do around Pride weekend. It becomes something that is ongoing. I would like to see it grow to become a major event, similar to the Pink Tie Party or Chefs for Equality, but always with the goal of interacting with the community and the allies of our community.ā€

That goal, he said, is impossible to achieve without food.

ā€œI think we connect over food,ā€ Bayton said. ā€œWhen people sit down and they have dinner, it’s that time that provides an opportunity to allow us to connect with one another. Food serves as a key bridge.ā€

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District of Columbia

D.C.-area schools to protest Trumpā€™s ā€˜assault on public educationā€™

Students unite against Trumpā€™s education cuts in unprecedented protest

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U.S. Department of Education (Photo public domain)

Student government leaders from multiple D.C.-area schools are coming together to protest recent Trump administration actions aimed at restricting student rights in America.

On Friday, April 4, at 4 p.m., the student governments of Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American, George Mason, and Temple plan to protest the Trump-Vance administrationā€™s efforts to dismantle public education at the Department of Education building (400 Maryland Ave., S.W.), just south of the National Mall. This ā€œunprecedented coalitionā€ of higher education student governments in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region, representing 130,000 students, will gather to tell the administration to keep its ā€œHands Off Our Schools.ā€

In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade, Asher Maxwell, press coordinator for the Georgetown University Student Association, called this a ā€œhistoric coalitionā€ and said the protest will highlight how Trumpā€™s policiesā€”dismantling the Department of Education, eradicating DEI initiatives, eliminating funding for academic programs and financial aid, and silencing student voicesā€”are affecting students.

Former middle school principal and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, along with campus free speech advocate Mary Beth Tinker, known for her role in Tinker v. Des Moines, are slated to speak at the rally about the importance of public education and free speech amid what they call the administrationā€™s disregard for the rule of law and constitutionally protected acts such as protesting and speaking out against the government.

The rally is expected to draw thousands of students, from college to kindergarten, as well as First Amendment supporters and those angered by the administration’s efforts to minimize the federal government. Since taking office, Trump has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees, including many within the Department of Education, as he and his senior adviser, Elon Musk, strip away protections and federal spending that disproportionately affect LGBTQ people, people of color, and students.

The Washington Blade reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response.

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District of Columbia

D.C. police investigating anti-gay assault in Shaw

Police say suspect punched victim in face after shouting ā€˜homophobic slursā€™

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The victim said he was punched in the face while walking in front of the 7th Flats apartment building at 1825 7th St., N.W. (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

D.C. police are investigating a March 7, 2025, assault case listed as a suspected hate crime in which an unidentified male suspect punched a man in the face on the sidewalk outside an apartment building after calling the victim and his male friend ā€œfaggots.ā€

The victim, Destin Karol, and his friend, Ian Dotson, both residents of Arlington, Va., told the Washington Blade the assault took place about 10 p.m. while they were walking along 7th Street, N.W. on their way to the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.

The two men said while walking in front of the upscale 7th Flats apartment building at 1825 7th St., N.W., they saw the male suspect and a woman he was with get out of a car parked in front of the building. Seconds later, they saw the woman vomiting on the sidewalk as they walked past her, the two men told the Blade.

 At that time, the male suspect yelled, ā€œWhat are you looking at, faggots,ā€ Karol and Dotson told the Blade. The suspect then punched Karol in the face ā€œseveral times,ā€ according to a D.C. police report.

Karol said he was diagnosed the next day at a hospital in Arlington near his home with a broken jaw that required the jaw to be wired shut.

Dotson said D.C. police arrived on the scene after he called 911 after witnessing the suspect punching Karol, knocking him down and kicking Karol in the face while he was lying on the sidewalk.

Karol said an ambulance arrived on the scene and paramedics treated his facial injury with an ice pack and offered to take him to the hospital. He said he declined the offer, choosing to go home first. But upon experiencing intense pain the next day, he visited a medical clinic whose doctors told him to immediately go to the nearby hospital emergency room.

An initial version of the D.C. police incident report did not list the incident as a suspected hate crime. But a revised version of the report, which was issued after the Blade contacted police to ask about the earlier report, classifies the incident as a ā€œsuspected hate crime.ā€

The revised report states that the suspect, after telling the victim, ā€œWhat are you looking at,ā€ proceeded to ā€œclose fist strike Victim 1 in the left jaw area several times.ā€ It says Subject 2, who was Dotson, told police the suspect ā€œyelled out homophobic slurs.ā€  

The report concludes by saying, Suspect 1 ā€œwas last seen heading inside 1825 7th Street, N.W.ā€

According to Karol, police so far have not changed the report, at Karolā€™s request, to list the incident as an ‘aggravated assaultā€™ rather than its current listing as a ā€œsimple assault.ā€ Karol points out that under police policy, an assault-related injury that causes a broken bone should be classified as an aggravated assault.

Karol and Dotson said the police report also does not mention that they told the two police officers who arrived on the scene that they saw the suspect and the woman he was with get out of a car and they showed the two officers which car it was as it was parked in front of the apartment building.

Karol told the Blade he and Dotson asked at least one of the officers to take down the license plate number of the car, but the officer said it was not necessary for him to do so. Dotson said he recalls that the car was a white, 4-door Volkswagen hatchback with a Virginia license plate.

Dotson said he and Karol were disappointed that the police did not appear to take down the license number and he regrets that he did not write it down himself. But he said he recalls that the Virginia license tag consisted of all letters and no numbers, with the letters ā€œINā€ as part of it.

He described the suspect as a white male appearing to be between 35 or 45 years old with brown hair and a goatee or beard.

D.C. police spokesperson Paris Lewbel said a Third District police detective has been assigned to the case and the case remains under active investigation. He said he could not comment on the issues raised by Karol and Dotson under a police policy of not disclosing specific details in an ongoing investigation.

Karol said he has been speaking with Detective Wilson, whose first name he does not recall, and said he most recently spoke with her on Tuesday, April 1. ā€œTheyā€™re trying to get the license plate of this individual and theyā€™re trying to get the camera footage from the apartment building and the adjacent buildings,ā€ Karol said the detective told him.

Dotson said at the time the police arrived on the scene on the night of March 7, an employee from the 7th Flat apartment building who identified himself as the concierge came out of the building and told one of the police officers that he saw the male suspect and the woman he was with enter the building.

Police spokesperson Lewbel said he could not disclose whether the concierge was able to help police identify the suspect under the policy of not disclosing details of an ongoing investigation.

Police urge members of the public who may have witnessed an incident like this or who may know something about it, including the identity of a suspect, to call the police information line of 202-727-9099.

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