Local

Brett Parson waives right to attend arraignment after not guilty plea

Former D.C. police lieutenant charged with unlawful sex with minor

Published

4 years ago

April 22, 2022

Former D.C. police lieutenant Brett Parson was arrested in February in Florida. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Former D.C. police lieutenant Brett Parson, who was arrested in Coconut Creek, Fla., in February for allegedly having sex with a 16-year-old boy, waived his right to attend his April 19 court arraignment after pleading not guilty and requesting a trial by jury in a written motion filed by his lawyer on March 1.

Online records from the Broward County Circuit Court, where Parson’s case is pending, show that the arraignment was held as scheduled. The records show a judge who is not identified in the online records scheduled a follow-up “Calendar Call” hearing for May 20 to allow prosecutors and the defense to deliberate over how to proceed with the case.

Prosecutors with the Broward County State Attorney’s Office charged Parson with two counts of unlawful sexual activity with a minor following his arrest for allegedly engaging in oral sex with a 16-year-old he met on the Growlr gay dating app, which requires people using the site to be 18 or older. Sources familiar with the app say the age restriction is not enforced.

An arrest affidavit says the 16-year-old told police he and Parson met on the dating app, exchanged “explicit” photos of each other, and arranged to meet at a location in Coconut Creek near where the 16-year-old lived. It says the two, who were in separate cars, drove to a second location in a secluded parking lot around 1 a.m., where the 16-year-old entered Parson’s car and they engaged in mutual oral sex.

After becoming concerned that they might be seen by people in that location, the affidavit says the 16-year-old persuaded Parson that they each drive their cars to another location. While following each other, police in the area saw the 16-year-old drive into a restricted location owned by Comcast, according to the affidavit. It says police stopped the youth and questioned him while officers in a separate car stopped Parson but allowed him to drive away after he told them he was from out of the area and wasn’t sure where he was.

Without giving a reason, the affidavit says the 16-year-old provided police with full details of his interaction with Parson that police would otherwise not have known at the time they stopped him for driving into a restricted space.

The affidavit makes it clear that the 16-year-old, who is not identified, consented to the sexual encounter. But authorities point out that Florida’s age of consent is 18 and a minor at the age of 16 or 17 cannot legally consent to sexual acts with someone older than 24 under Florida law.

It says that after questioning the 16-year-old, Coconut Creek police contacted his parents, who requested that charges be brought against Parson. The affidavit says police identified Parson through the 16-year-old’s phone, which he used to exchange text messages and photos with Parson.

Court records show that a judge on Feb. 18, six days after his arrest, set bond for Parson’s release at $25,000 for each of the two charges of unlawful sexual activity with a minor, for a total of $50,000. The Blade couldn’t determine at that time if Parson was able to pay the required 10 percent of the bond at $5,000. A check with the Broward County Jail in Fort Lauderdale where most arrestees are held showed Parson was not being held there as of Feb. 18.

However, the current updated court records show that bond for Parson was posted on Feb. 21, raising the question of whether he was held someplace in custody until that time.

A spokesperson for the Broward County State Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes criminal cases, confirmed that neither Parson nor his attorney attended the April 19 arraignment, but declined to comment further, saying the office never discusses pending cases.

Court records identify Parson’s attorney as Michael E. Dutko, whose law office website says he worked as a Fort Lauderdale police officer and prosecutor prior to starting his criminal law practice. Dutko did not respond to phone and email messages from the Washington Blade seeking comment on the Parson case.

Court records also show that upon his release, a judge ordered Parson to remain in Florida at the residence of his parents in Boca Raton, who he had been visiting at the time of his arrest, while his case remained pending.

Parson served as supervisor for the D.C. police LGBT Liaison Unit and later as head of the division overseeing all the department’s community liaison units before he retired from the force in 2020 after a 26-year police career. At the time of his retirement, he announced he was starting a consulting business to advise law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad on police-related issues.

D.C. Police Chief Robert Contee, while saying he could not comment on the circumstances surrounding Parson’s arrest, told the Blade at a press conference in February on unrelated issues that he had worked closely with Parson in past years, saying Parson “served the citizens of the District of Columbia well.”

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Virginia

DOJ seeks to join lawsuit against Loudoun County over trans student in locker room

Three male high school students suspended after complaining about classmate

Published

5 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Staff reports

Loudoun County Public Schools building. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Justice Department has asked to join a federal lawsuit against Loudoun County Public Schools over the way it handled the case of three male high school students who complained about a transgender student in a boys’ locker room.

The Washington Blade earlier this year reported Loudoun County public schools suspended the three boys and launched a Title IX investigation into whether they sexually harassed the student after they said they felt uncomfortable with their classmate in the locker room at Stone Bridge High School in Ashburn.

The parents of two of the boys filed a lawsuit against Loudoun County public schools in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria. The Richmond-based Founding Freedoms Law Center and America First Legal, which White House deputy chief of staff Stephen Miller co-founded, represent them.

The Justice Department in a Dec. 8 press release announced that “it filed legal action against the Loudoun County (Va.) School Board (Loudoun County) for its denial of equal protection based on religion.”

“The suit alleges that Loudoun County applied Policy 8040, which requires students and faculty to accept and promote gender ideology, to two Christian, male students in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,” reads the press release.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division in the press release said “students do not shed their First Amendment rights at the schoolhouse gate.”

“Loudoun County’s decision to advance and promote gender ideology tramples on the rights of religious students who cannot embrace ideas that deny biological reality,” said Dhillon.

Outgoing Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin and outgoing Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares in May announced an investigation into the case.

The Virginia Department of Education in 2023 announced the new guidelines for trans and nonbinary students for which Youngkin asked. Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups claim they, among other things, forcibly out trans and nonbinary students.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in February launched an investigation into whether Loudoun County and four other Northern Virginia school districts’ policies in support of trans and nonbinary students violate Title IX and President Donald Trump’s executive order that prohibits federally funded educational institutions from promoting “gender ideology.”

District of Columbia

Capital Pride announces change in date for 2026 D.C. Pride parade and festival

Events related to U.S. 250th anniversary and Trump birthday cited as reasons for change

Published

11 hours ago

December 12, 2025

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

A scene from the 2024 Capital Pride Festival. (Washington Blade file photo by Emily Hanna)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C. based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, has announced it is changing the dates for the 2026 Capital Pride Parade and Festival from the second weekend in June to the third weekend.

“For over a decade, Capital Pride has taken place during the second weekend in June, but in 2026, we are shifting our dates in response to the city’s capacity due to major events and preparations for the 250^th anniversary of the United States,” according to a Dec. 9 statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.

The statement says the parade will take place on Saturday, June 20, 2026, with the festival and related concert taking place on June 21.

“This change ensures our community can gather safely and without unnecessary barriers,” the statement says. “By moving the celebration, we are protecting our space and preserving Pride as a powerful act of visibility, solidarity, and resistance,” it says.

Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance CEO and President, told the Washington Blade the change in dates came after the group conferred with D.C. government officials regarding plans for a number of events in the city on the second weekend in June. Among them, he noted, is a planned White House celebration of President Donald Trump’s 80^th birthday and other events related to the U.S. 250^th anniversary, which are expected to take place from early June through Independence Day on July 4.

The White House has announced plans for a large June 14, 2026 celebration on the White House south lawn of Trump’s 80th birthday that will include a large-scale Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) event involving boxing and wrestling competition.

Bos said the Capital Pride Parade will take place along the same route it has in the past number of years, starting at 14^th and T Streets, N.W. and traveling along 14^th Street to Pennsylvania Ave., where it will end. He said the festival set for the following day will also take place at its usual location on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., between 2^nd Street near the U.S. Capitol, to around 7^th Street, N.W.

“Our Pride events thrive because of the passion and support of the community,” Capital Pride Board Chair Anna Jinkerson said in the statement. “In 2026, your involvement is more important than ever,” she said.

District of Columbia

Three women elected leaders of Capital Pride Alliance board

Restructured body includes chair rather than president as top leader

Published

4 days ago

December 9, 2025

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Capital Pride Alliance announced three women will lead its board. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The Capital Pride Alliance, the D.C.-based group that organizes the city’s annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced it has restructured its board of directors and elected for the first time three women to serve as leaders of the board’s Executive Committee.

“Congratulations to our newly elected Executive Officers, making history as Capital Pride Alliance’s first all-women Board leadership,” the group said in a statement.

“As we head into 2026 with a bold new leadership structure, we’re proud to welcome Anna Jinkerson as Board Chair, Kim Baker as Board Treasurer, and Taylor Lianne Chandler as Board Secretary,” the statement says.

In a separate statement released on Nov. 20, Capital Pride Alliance says the restructured Board now includes the top leadership posts of Chair, Treasurer, and Secretary, replacing the previous structure of President and Vice President as the top board leaders.

It says an additional update to the leadership structure includes a change in title for longtime Capital Pride official Ryan Bos from executive director to chief executive officer and president.

According to the statement, June Crenshaw, who served as acting deputy director during the time the group organized WorldPride 2025 in D.C., will now continue in that role as permanent deputy director.

The statement provides background information on the three newly elected women Board leaders.

• Anna Jinkerson (chair), who joined the Capital Pride Alliance board in 2022, previously served as the group’s vice president for operations and acting president. “A seasoned non-profit executive, she currently serves as Assistant to the President and CEO and Chief of Staff at Living Cities, a national member collaborative of leading philanthropic foundations and financial institutions committed to closing income and wealth gaps in the United States and building an economy that works for everyone.”

• Kim Baker (treasurer) is a “biracial Filipino American and queer leader,” a “retired, disabled U.S. Army veteran with more than 20 years of service and extensive experience in finance, security, and risk management.” She has served on the Capital Pride Board since 2018, “bringing a proven track record of steady, principled leadership and unwavering dedication to the LGBTQ+ community.”

• Taylor Lianne Chandler (Secretary) is a former sign language interpreter and crisis management consultant. She “takes office as the first intersex and trans-identifying member of the Executive Committee.” She joined the Capital Pride Board in 2019 and previously served as executive producer from 2016 to 2018.

Bos told the Washington Blade in a Dec. 2 interview that the Capital Pride board currently has 12 members, and is in the process of interviewing additional potential board members.

“In January we will be announcing in another likely press release the full board,” Bos said. “We are finishing the interview process of new board members this month,” he said. “And they will take office to join the board in January.”

Bos said the organization’s rules set a cap of 25 total board members, but the board, which elects its members, has not yet decided how many additional members it will select and a full 25-member board is not required.

The Nov. 20 Capital Pride statement says the new board executive members will succeed the organization’s previous leadership team, which included Ashley Smith, who served as president for eight years before he resigned earlier this year; Anthony Musa, who served for seven years as vice president of board engagement; Natalie Thompson, who served eight years on the executive committee; and Vince Micone, who served for eight years as vice president of operations.

“I am grateful for the leadership, dedication, and commitment shown by our former executive officers — Ashley, Natalie, Anthony, and Vince — who have been instrumental in CPA’s growth and the exceptional success of WorldPride 2025,” Bos said in the statement.

“I look forward to collaborating with Anna in her new role, as well as Kim and Taylor in theirs, as we take on the important work ahead, prepare for Capital Pride 2026, and expand our platform and voice through Pride365,” Bos said.