Local
LGBTQ contingent to join D.C.’s MLK Day Peace Walk
King family members to participate in commemorating civil rights leader
Members of Check It Enterprises, an LGBTQ youth-organized clothing store in Anacostia that provides community services and music events, were expected to participate as a contingent in D.C.’s Martin Luther King Day Peace Walk scheduled for Monday, Jan. 17.
Ron Motten, one of Check It Enterprises’ lead organizers, said he was hopeful that predictions of rain and possible snow would not materialize and as many people as possible would turn out for the event.
It couldn’t immediately be confirmed whether other LGBTQ organizations and activists would be joining this year’s annual MLK Day Peace Walk, but LGBTQ advocates have participated in the event in past years.
Among those expressing strong support for this year’s King Day Peace Walk is longtime gay activist Bo Shuff, who serves as executive director of DC Vote, the lead organization advocating for D.C. statehood.
Shuff told the Washington Informer that the King family, including Martin Luther King III, who will be playing a lead role in this year’s King Day Peace Walk, are strong supporters of D.C. statehood.
A large number of local LGBTQ activists have been involved with DC Vote, and a number of them were expected to participate in the Peace Walk.
Information posted on the Peace Walk website states that participants in the event will begin to assemble at 8:30 a.m. at the intersection of Potomac Avenue and South Capitol Street, S.E., across from Washington Nationals Stadium.
The Peace Walk was scheduled to kick off at 10 a.m. with hundreds of participants walking on and across the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge.
Martin Luther King III, his wife Andrea Waters King, and their daughter, Yolanda Renee King, along with other civil rights and human rights activists were scheduled to hold a press conference at 10:30 a.m. midway across the span of the bridge to call on the U.S. Senate to pass the Freedom to Vote Act and the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act
Supporters say both bills are aimed at ensuring that all eligible Americans, especially members of minority groups, can vote without hurdles put in place by numerous state laws passed by Republican controlled state legislatures over the past year.
After crossing the Frederick Douglass Memorial Bridge, the Peace Walk was scheduled to travel southeast along Howard Road and South Capitol Street and make its way to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, S.E., and Good Hope Road, S.E., before reaching its final destination — Ambassador Baptist Church at 1412 Minnesota Ave., S.E.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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