District of Columbia
D.C. Jail agrees to end anti-trans housing policies
Officials settle lawsuit filed by former inmate placed in men’s unit
The D.C. Department of Corrections on March 23 agreed to change its housing policies for transgender people at the D.C. Jail as part of a settlement of a lawsuit filed by the ACLU of D.C. and the D.C. Public Defender Service on behalf of a transgender woman who last year was forced against her will to live in the men’s section of the jail.
The class action lawsuit charged that D.C. Jail and Department of Corrections officials violated transgender woman Sunday Hinton’s constitutional rights of equal protection and violated the D.C. Human Rights Act’s ban on gender identity discrimination by placing her in the men’s housing facility for more than two weeks in May 2021.
“Under the settlement, DOC will implement new safeguards to ensure that transgender people will be housed in accordance with their gender identity upon intake and will limit the time they may be held in isolating ‘protective custody’ status absent the person’s request or specific safety concerns,” according to a statement released by the ACLU.
“Additionally, DOC will end its practice of shackling all ‘protective custody’ residents, including transgender people, while they are being transferred or moved within the jail,” the ACLU statement says. It says the DOC also agreed to report to the Public Defender Service for four months about the status of the implementation of its new policies.
“No one should face what I had to face in the D.C. Jail,” Hinton said in the ACLU statement. “DOC put my safety and mental health at risk, and I’m glad that other trans people at the Jail will be treated with more dignity,” she said.
Court records show that Hinton spent about four weeks at the D.C. Jail in the spring of 2021 after a judge ordered her to be detained while awaiting trial based on a charge of unarmed burglary with intent to steal $20. The charge has since been dismissed.
The settlement of Hinton’s lawsuit comes nine months after the DOC in June 2021 transferred Hinton from the men’s to the women’s housing unit and dropped its policy of automatically placing transgender inmates in the housing section of the jail in accordance with their biological sex or “anatomy.” Those changes came one month after the lawsuit was filed.
But the ACLU announced at the time that it would keep the lawsuit going on Hinton’s behalf because DOC and Jail officials continued to require transgender people entering the jail as new inmates to be placed in an isolation unit in “protective custody” during their intake period, which could take two weeks or longer.
The ACLU noted that DOC officials also continued to subject all inmates in the isolation unit, including trans inmates, to be placed in shackles while they moved them from one place to another within the Jail.
“Both the D.C. Jail’s practice of assigning transgender people to housing based on anatomy rather than gender identity and its decision to place trans residents in unnecessary full-body shackles in protective custody were discriminatory and profoundly harmful,” said Scott Michelman, Legal Director of the ACLU of D.C. “It shouldn’t take a lawsuit to gain recognition of transgender peoples’ basic humanity and dignity, but we’re pleased the Department of Corrections has agreed to change its unlawful polices,” he said.
“Sunday Hinton’s courageous fight against discrimination has led to important changes not only for transgender individuals but for all protective custody jail residents, who until now were subjected to the degrading and unjustified practice of full-body shackling,” said Rachel Cicurel, a staff attorney with the Public Defender Service. “Ms. Hinton’s case has exposed several kinds of inhumane treatment by DOC,” she said.
Spokespersons for the Department of Corrections and and the office of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. A spokesperson for the Office of the D.C. The Attorney General, which represented the DOC in its defense against the lawsuit, said the AG’s office would have no comment on the matter of the lawsuit settlement.
The seven-page settlement agreement, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court on March 23, states, among other things, that, “Defendant denies all allegations of wrongdoing and any liability to plaintiff.”
It adds, “This Settlement does not and shall not be deemed to constitute an admission by Defendant as to the validity or accuracy of any of the allegations, assertions, or claims made by Plaintiff.”
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
District of Columbia
Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79
Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’
John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.
Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.
“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.
“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”
The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”
It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17th Street, N.W. called Peppers.
According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.
The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.
“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.
“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.
The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.
“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride theme, performers announced at ‘Speakeasy’
Durand Bernarr to headline 2026 programming
The Center for Black Equity held its 2026 DC Black Pride Theme Reveal event at Union Stage on Monday. The evening, a “Speakeasy Happy Hour,” was hosted by Anthony Oakes and featured performances by Lolita Leopard and Keith Angelo. The Center for Black Equity organizes DC Black Pride.
Kenya Hutton, Center for Black Equity president and CEO, spoke following the performances by Leopard and Angelo. Hutton announced this year’s theme for DC Black Pride: “New Black Renaissance.”
Performers for 2026 DC Black Pride were announced to be Bang Garcon, Be Steadwell, Jay Columbus, Bennu Byrd, Rue Pratt and Akeem Woods.
Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was announced as the headliner for the 2026 festivities. Bernerr gave brief remarks through a video played on the screen at the stage.
DC Black Pride is scheduled for May 22-25. For more information on DC Black Pride, visit dcblackpride.org.
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