Local
Catholic University LGBTQ student group remains unrecognized
CUAllies formed in 2009
The only on-campus queer student organization at the Catholic University of America, CUAllies, is still fighting for official recognition.
Despite operating “underground,” the club’s roughly 10 members meet regularly to talk about issues facing LGBTQ college students, to create friendships and to connect LGBTQ students and allies with one another. Since the formation of CUAllies in 2009, the administration at Catholic University, most notably President John Garvey, has denied the club official recognition multiple times.
“Just the act of having the university recognize us would be a huge step because it would make people feel way more welcome,” said CUAllies President Ash Samuels. “The nature of having a club that operates under the radar makes you feel like they have to operate under the radar and so just being recognized would make people feel a lot more welcome.”
Additionally, without recognition CUAllies does not have access to the same resources as official student organizations. For example, they cannot rent rooms on campus for meetings, receive funding for events, and are prohibited from advertising club meetings or events on fliers on campus. According to Samuels, the club uses space at the Center for Cultural Engagement, where Director Javier Bustamante allows the club to meet and advertise events.
According to Samuels, CUAllies has been advised by the Dean’s Office to wait until next year to reapply when a new university president will replace Garvey. Until then, Samuels said the group still plans to hold meetings in-person, and he hopes to bring in speakers to talk to members about mental health and issues facing LGBTQ college students.
The last attempt by CUAllies to gain recognition was in March 2021, when the Catholic University’s Student Government Association passed a resolution after hours of public comment from students to support a resolution for the club to request official status. The request, however, was denied by Garvey.
“It was an interesting SGA meeting,” said Samuels. “A lot of people came to public comment and spoke their minds. There was a lot of homophobia.”
Catholic University is one of the 180 campuses deemed unsafe for LGBTQ youth on Campus Pride’s “Worst List.” Campus Pride, an organization that advocates for safe and inclusive college campuses for LGBTQ students, stated on their website that “Catholic University of America has qualified for the Worst Life because it has an extensive and well-documented history of anti-LGBTQ discrimination.”
In addition to repeatedly depriving LGBTQ students of the right to have an official student club, the university has also displayed its homophobic ideology by filing an amicus brief in the 2019 U.S. Supreme Court case Bostock v. Clayton County. In the brief, the university argued that the campuses should be allowed to discriminate based on sexual orientation or gender identity under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“This campus has repeatedly proven that they do not support LGBTQ rights, LGBTQ equality,” said Campus Pride Executive Director Shane Windmeyer.
A 2021 survey by the Religious Exemption Accountability Project, an organization that promotes equity for LGBTQ college students at Christian colleges, said that students at Christian colleges are 15 times more likely to report that their gender or sexual identity has prevented them from being accepted by others on campus compared to LGBTQ students at non-Christian colleges.
The pandemic has increased this sense of isolation, as students were forced to attend classes online and did not have access to the same social networks that were once offered in person on many campuses. Although mental health struggles have increased overall for college students overall throughout the pandemic, research has shown that LGBTQ individuals were more likely to have struggled with depression, anxiety, or suicidal thoughts than people identifying as straight.
Attending a university that already has limited resources for its LGBTQ student population, combined with the isolating effects of the pandemic, makes the Catholic University increasingly worrisome for LGBTQ students from a mental health perspective.
“It is a pretty awful environment from the standpoint of mental health if your campus did not have inclusion or had limited inclusion for LGBTQ policies, programs, or practices before the pandemic, the pandemic has only worsened that because of the isolation that these students feel,” said Windmeyer.
Samuels said that CUAllies has served as an important place for students at the Catholic University to meet other queer students, with many members making their first contact with other LGBTQ students through the club. However, Samuels said that operating remotely during the pandemic made it difficult to feel the same level of connection, despite the fact that the group was still meeting routinely over Zoom.
“The feeling of isolation is amplified for LGBTQ students, especially on this campus,” said Samuels. “You might not have friends who you are out to or you might not have friends at all. If you don’t have [club meetings] in person in order to make those connections, and you are already isolated, it makes it a lot harder.”
Despite not having an officially recognized LGBTQ student organization, the Catholic University offers groups orientated towards LGBTQ students through its Counseling Center and Campus Ministry.
The Counseling Center runs a weekly therapy group called MOSAIC, which “provides an environment where LGBT-identified and straight students can come together to learn about available resources, discuss various topics related to personal wellness, and build a supportive network with other students,” according to the Counseling Center’s webpage.
Samuels, who is an active participant in MOSAIC, said that both the therapy group and the Counseling Center are “very LGBTQ+ friendly.” Samuels said he routinely encourages members of CUAllies to get connected with the Counseling Center during club meetings.
According to Samuels, therapists at the Counseling Center have told him that they often get students who identify as LGBTQ, but are hesitant to join CUAllies because they are perceived as being “too liberal or not Catholic enough” despite the organization not having any political or religious affiliation and being welcoming to people of all backgrounds.
Additionally, Catholic University’s Campus Ministry offers a faith group called ‘Beyond the Labels’ which defines itself as a ministry for LGBTQ students “to support each other in their Catholic Christian life by forming holistic friendships,” according to Campus Ministry’s website.
The group was formed last fall by Father Jude DeAngelo, director of Campus Ministry.
“Because we are a Catholic school I think there is a population of students who are trying to integrate their faith with all the different labels that they have either chosen or that people put on them,” said DeAngelo to the Washington Blade. “I just want to have a place where students can come and they can be themselves and they can talk about their faith and their struggles to be Catholic Christians.”
On “Beyond the Labels,” Samuels said, “I think [DeAngelo] has the right intentions, but it still has that risk that people could turn it into a negative thing or misconstrued his words.”
Samuels said that leadership at CUAllies has expressed their concerns to the Counseling Center that “Beyond the Labels” could be potentially harmful towards LGBTQ students. Samuels said that he encourages people who are in need to seek out the Counseling Center first.
DeAngelo did not offer a comment to the Blade on whether he believed CUAllies should be officially recognized by the university, however, according to Samuels, DeAngelo has been an advocate for CUAllies to be officially recognized by the university.
Windmeyer said what the Catholic University has done with its ministry has been replicated at other campuses with harmful policies against LGBTQ students as a push to better their public image.
He said that these colleges try to, “create a narrative that shows that [they] are compassionate, that [they] recognize, underneath our ministry, our LGBTQ group, but [they] are not going to recognize them as student organizations, they have to do it through the ministry. That in itself is just telling me that they are just doing enough to pacify their students, they do not see Catholicism as giving LGBTQ people the human dignity and worth that they deserve.”
Windmeyer noted that other Catholic Universities, such as the University of Notre Dame — which has an official LGBTQ student organization — have made improvements throughout the years to be more inclusive of their LGBTQ student population.
The Catholic Church’s stance on LGBTQ-related issues has improved as well. Last year Pope Francis stated that he endorsed civil unions. However, despite these advancements, activists in conversation with the Blade have remarked church teachings on homosexuality and gender identity remain largely unchanged.
Samuels said that he hopes that the LGBTQ faith group run by DeAngelo will be a step to help the university advocate for CUAllies to become recognized. DeAngelo expressed that he is interested in getting more members of CUAllies involved with “Beyond the Labels,” specifically, he said wants to create joint day-retreat programs with the club.
In the past, “Beyond the Labels” partnered with CUAllies on a day retreat focused on forgiveness. Samuels, who was not a member of CUAllies during the forgiveness retreat, said that he would be more interested in partnering on a team-building retreat instead of focusing on forgiveness because many of CUAllies members are not Catholic.
“I am hopeful that it will lead him to be a larger advocate for us to be a club in the future, but I do also worry that they will just say ‘oh look we already have this program we don’t need you guys,’” said Samuels.
Catholic University did not return the Blade’s request for comment for this story.
District of Columbia
Memorial service for trans rights advocate SaVanna Wanzer set for May 17
Beloved activist was founder of D.C. Trans Pride, Black Trans Pride events
A celebration of life for D.C. transgender rights advocate SaVanna Wanzer has been scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday, May 17, at D.C.’s Westminster Presbyterian Church, according to statements released by her brother, Lee Livingston Perine and Whitman-Walker Health, the local LGBTQ supportive medical center where Wanzer served as a volunteer for many years.
Wanzer, 63, a lifelong D.C. resident, died April 23 of natural causes, Perine told the Washington Blade.
“Join us as we gather to honor SaVanna Wanzer, a woman whose leadership, vision, and care deeply shaped communities in Washington, D.C. and beyond,” the Whitman-Walker statement says.
“SaVanna created spaces where transgender people, especially Black and Brown transgender individuals could gather, be affirmed, and lead,” the statement adds. “From D.C. Trans Pride to D.C. Black Trans Pride and May Is All About Trans, her impact continues to be felt,” it says in referring to events that Wanzer played a lead role in organizing.
“A longtime member of Westminster Presbyterian Church, home of D.C.’s first Trans Pride, this celebration reflects both her spiritual home and the community she nurtured and serves as a meaningful conclusion to Trans Pride Weekend,” according to the statement.
It says the service will include American Sign Language interpretation and will be livestreamed on the Westminster DC Facebook page.
It also says a celebratory vigil for Wanzer was being planned for Saturday night, May 16, also at Westminster Presbyterian Church to provide an opportunity “for SaVanna’s friends to gather and share their stories, memories, and love for her.”
Perine said the Saturday event will take place from 6:30-8 p.m. and will be led by longtime D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate and event organizer Rayceen Pendarvis. In his statement he describes the Saturday event as an “evening of reflection and fellowship as we honor the life, legacy, and unstoppable spirit of SaVanna Wanzer.”
His statement adds, “Community members are invited to share stories, memories, and testimonies in celebration of SaVanna’s life.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said Whitman-Walker is extending support for the memorial events by helping to put out an announcement, but it is not the organizer of the events.
The Whitman-Walker statement says live music will begin at 12:15 p.m. prior to the May 17 memorial service at Westminster Presbyterian Church located at 400 I St., S.W.
It says if Westminster becomes filled to capacity, nearby Riverside Baptist Church at 699 Maine Ave., S.W. has offered to open its doors to host additional guests who will be able to view the service via a livestream arrangement,
It says a “Meal Of Love” will follow the Sunday service at Westminster.
District of Columbia
Judge issues revised order in Capital Pride stalking case
Defendant Darren Pasha agreed to accept less restrictive directive
A D.C. Superior Court judge on April 30 reinstated an anti-stalking order requested by the Capital Pride Alliance against local gay activist Darren Pasha based on allegations that Pasha engaged in a year-long effort to harass, intimidate, and stalk the organization’s staff, board members, and volunteers.
The reinstated order by Judge Robert D. Okun followed an April 17 court hearing in which he rescinded a similar order he initially approved in February on grounds that more evidence was needed to substantiate the need for the order.
At the time he rescinded the earlier order he scheduled an evidentiary hearing for April 29 at which three Capital Pride staff members testified in support of the anti-stalking order. But Okun discontinued the hearing after Pasha, who was representing himself without an attorney, announced he was willing to accept a revised, less restrictive temporary restraining order.
The judge said Pasha’s decision to accept a restraining order made it no longer necessary to continue the evidentiary hearing. He then asked Capital Pride and Pasha to submit their suggested revisions for the order which they submitted a short time later.
The case began when Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based LGBTQ group that organizes the city’s annual Pride events, filed a civil complaint on Oct. 27, 2025, against Pasha, accusing him of engaging in a year-long effort to harass, intimidate, and stalk Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers. It includes a 167-page addendum of “supporting exhibits” that includes multiple statements by unidentified witnesses.
Pasha, who has represented himself without an attorney, has argued in multiple court filings and motions that the stalking allegations are untrue. In his initial court response to the complaint, he said it appears to be a form of retaliation against him for a dispute he has had with Capital Pride and its former board president, Ashley Smith, who has since resigned from the board.
Similar to his earlier anti-stalking order against Pasha, Okun’s reissued order on April 30 states, a “Temporary Anti-Stalking Order is GRANTED, effective immediately and remaining in effect until further order of the Court or final disposition of this matter.”
It adds, “The defendant shall not contact, attempt to contact, harass, threaten, or otherwise communicate with any protected person, directly or indirectly, including through third parties, social media, electronic communication, or any other means.”
Unlike the earlier order, which did not identify the “protected persons” by name, the latest order includes a list of 34 people, 13 of whom are Capital Pride staff members or volunteers, including CEO Ryan Bos and Chief Operating Officer June Crenshaw. The other 21 people listed are identified as Capital Pride board members, including board chair Anna Jinkerson.
Possibly because Pasha addressed this in his suggested version of the order, the judge’s revised order says Pasha is allowed to visit the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center, where the Capital Pride office is located, if he gives the community center a 24 hour advance notice that he will be visiting the center, which hosts many events unrelated to Capital Pride. The earlier order required him to stay at least 100 feet away from the Capital Pride office.
The new order also prohibits Pasha from attending 21 named events that Capital Pride Alliance either organizes itself or with partner organizations that were scheduled to take place from April 30 through June 21. The order says he is allowed to attend the two largest events, the June 20 Pride Parade and the June 21 Pride Festival and Concert, in which 500,000 or more people are expected to attend.
It says Pasha is also allowed to attend the June 15 Pride At The Pier event organized by the Washington Blade.
But for those three events the order says he is restricted from entering “ticketed and controlled access areas.”
At the April 29 court hearing, Okun also scheduled a mandatory remote mediation session for July 23, in which efforts would be made to resolve the civil complaint case brought by Capital Pride without going to trial.
District of Columbia
Both sides propose revised orders in Capital Pride stalking case
Defendant Darren Pasha agreed to accept less restrictive directive
An evidentiary hearing in D.C. Superior Court on April 29 in which the Capital Pride Alliance presented three of four planned witnesses to testify in support of its civil complaint that D.C. gay activist Darren Pasha engaged in a year-long effort to harass, intimidate, and stalk its staff, board members, and volunteers ended abruptly at the direction of the judge.
Judge Robert D. Okun announced from the bench that the hearing, which was intended provide Capital Pride an opportunity to present evidence in support of its request to reinstate an anti-stalking order against Pasha that the judge temporarily rescinded on April 17, was no longer needed because Pasha stated at the hearing that he is willing to accept a revised, less restrictive temporary restraining order.
Pasha made that statement after two Capital Pride witnesses — June Crenshaw and Vincenzo Volpe — each testified in support of the stalking allegations against Pasha for over an hour under questioning from Capital Pride attorney Nick Harrison and under cross-examination from Pasha, who is representing himself without an attorney.
After Capital Pride’s third witness, Tifany Royster, testified for just a few minutes, and after the judge called a recess for lunch and to attend to an unrelated case, Pasha announced that after obtaining legal advice he determined that he was unsuited to continue cross-examining the witnesses. He said he would be willing to accept a significantly less restrictive temporary restraining order.
Okun then ruled that the evidentiary hearing was no longer needed and directed Capital Pride and Pasha to submit to him their version of a revised stay away order. He said he would use their proposed revisions to help him develop his own order, which he would issue after deliberating over the matter.
He also scheduled a mandatory remote mediation session for July 23, in which efforts would be made to resolve the case without going to trial. He then adjourned the hearing at 3:50 p.m.
The online Superior Court docket for the case stated after the hearing ended that the judge would issue “a new modified Temporary Protective Order,” but it did not say when it would be issued.
Shortly before the April 29 hearing began at 11 a.m., Harrison filed a “Draft Temporary Anti-Stalking Order” that included a list of 34 “Protected Persons” that Harrison said during the hearing were affiliated with Capital Pride Alliance as staff and board members, volunteers, and others associated with the group.
The proposed order stated, “The defendant shall not contact, attempt to contact, harass, threaten, or otherwise communicate with any protected person, directly or indirectly, including through third parties, social media, electronic communications, or any other means.”
The proposal represented a significant change from Capital Pride’s initial civil complaint against Pasha filed in February that Pasha claimed called for him to stay away at least 200 yards from all Capital pride staff, board members, and volunteers without naming them. Okun granted that stay away request in February but reduced the stay away distance to 100 feet.
Capital Pride attorney Harrison disputes Pasha’s interpretation of the order, saying the 100-foot stay-away was for events, not for individual Capital Pride staff, volunteers, or board members. He said the order prohibited Pasha from engaging in any way with the Capital Pride staffers, volunteers or board members.
But the proposed order Capital Pride at first submitted at the April 29 hearing also called for Pasha to stay away from and to not attend as many as 25 Capital Pride events scheduled to take place this year from April 30 through June 21 and for him to say away from the Capital Pride office located at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W., which is the building in which it shares with the DC LGBTQ Community Center.
At the April 29 hearing, at Pasha’s request, Okun called on Capital Pride to consider allowing Pasha to attend at least the two largest events — the Capital Pride Parade and Festival — which draw over 500,000 participants.
Harrison said in a follow-up message to the judge following the hearing that Capital Pride would allow Pasha to attend those two events and one other as long as he stays away from “ticketed and controlled access areas.”
At an April 17 status hearing Okun rescinded the earlier stay away order at Pasha’s request, among other things, on grounds that it was too vague and didn’t provide Pasha with sufficient specific information on who to stay away from. It was at that hearing that Okun scheduled the April 29 evidentiary hearing, saying it would give Capital Pride a chance to provide sufficient evidence to justify an anti-stalking order and Pasha an opportunity to challenge the evidence.
In his own response to the initial civil complaint filed in February and in subsequent court filings, Pasha has strongly denied he engaged in stalking and has alleged that the complaint was a form of retaliation against him over a dispute he has had with Capital Pride and its former board president, Ashley Smith.
Like its initial complaint filed in February, Capital Pride filed a multipage document at the start of the April 29 hearing with written testimony from staff members and volunteers who allege that Pasha did engage in stalking, harassment, and intimidating behavior toward them and others.
Like Capital Pride, Pasha following the April 29 hearing, filed his own proposed version of the stay away order with significantly less restrictions than the Capital Pride proposal. Among other things, it calls for him to restrict his contact with Capital Pride CEO Ryan Bos and Crenshaw but says it “does not by its terms restrict the defendant’s communications with any other person, entity, governmental body, or media outlet.”
“Darren Pasha sent multiple messages to us and to the court after the proceedings asking for further modifications — which we are not accepting or responding to,” Harrison told the Blade in response to a request for further comment on Judge’s request for each side to submit proposed revisions of the stay away order.
“We appreciate the court’s time and careful attention to the evidence presented today,” Harrison told the Washington Blade in a written statement after the hearing. “This process was about bringing forward the experiences of individuals who reported a pattern of conduct that caused fear, serious alarm, and emotional distress,” he said.
“Capital Pride Alliance remains committed to ensuring that our events and community spaces are safe, welcoming, and free from harassment and we will continue to take appropriate steps to support and protect our community,” his statement says.
“I am happy with what we have accomplished so far,” Pasha told the Blade after the hearing. “I’m just waiting to see what will happen next. But I want to reiterate this goes back to when someone treats you wrong you speak up,” he said. “Even if I lose this case, I am glad that I spoke up and raised concerns.”
He added, “I will just be confident that in the next couple of months the truth will come out. But for now, I am happy with the progress that we have made regarding this.”
This story will be updated when the judge issues his revised stay away order.
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