District of Columbia
Man accused of assaulting lesbian activist surrenders to D.C. police
Aiyi’nah Ford attacked at Congress Heights bar earlier this month
D.C. police on Aug. 11 charged a 46-year-old D.C. man with assault with a dangerous weapon in connection with an incident earlier this month in which lesbian activist Aiyi’nah Ford said she was hit in the head three times with the metal legs of a barstool wielded by a man yelling anti-gay names at her.
A police report says the incident took place at the Player’s Lounge, a restaurant and bar at 2737 Martin Luther King Jr. Ave., S.E., in the city’s Congress Heights neighborhood shortly before and after midnight on Aug. 3 and Aug. 4.
Police identified the man charged in the case as Donnell Anthony Peterson, who police say is a resident of 1200 block of Southern Avenue in Southeast D.C.
Ford told the Washington Blade that Peterson, who is a regular customer at Player’s Lounge as is she, assaulted her after the two got into a verbal argument over, among other things, the city’s violence interruption program. Ford said she told Peterson and others who were having a discussion that she considered the program to be ineffective and a “joke.”
It was around that time, Ford said, that Peterson began repeatedly calling her a “dyke bitch” and threatened to shoot her.
The arrest affidavit says witnesses reported seeing Ford covered in blood from a serious head injury before an ambulance arrived on the scene and took her to George Washington University Hospital, where she was treated for a head and scalp wound that required multiple stitches.
The affidavit, which was filed in D.C. Superior Court, says Peterson on Aug. 11 “turned himself into the Seventh District Police Station,” saying he did so after someone told him police issued a Twitter posting announcing he was wanted on an assault allegation.
Court records show that at the time of his arrest, D.C. police also charged Peterson with Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (Cocaine) based on an unrelated Aug. 26, 2021, outstanding warrant for his arrest on the drug charge obtained by U.S. Park Police.
The affidavit for his arrest on the assault charge says police learned about the outstanding U.S. Park Police arrest warrant when they conducted a criminal record background check after learning through a tip that Peterson was the person who allegedly assaulted Ford at Player’s Lounge.
Court records also show that Peterson appeared before Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond on Aug. 12, one day after his arrest, for a presentment hearing in which Raymond ordered him held in the D.C. Jail until a scheduled preliminary hearing on Monday.
At the Monday hearing, through his attorney, Peterson waived his right to a full preliminary hearing and agreed that Judge Neal E. Kravitz, who presided over the hearing, would rule that prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s office established probable cause that Peterson committed the assault. The probable cause finding means that the case can proceed to a trial.
While ruling in favor of probable cause, Kravitz denied a request by Assistant U.S. Attorney Alec Levy that Peterson continue to be held in jail pending trial. Levy argued that Peterson “viciously” hit Ford over the head with a barstool at least two times as shown on a video recording of the incident obtained from a camera from Player’s Lounge video security system.
Levy also said that at the time Peterson assaulted Ford he used “derogatory” language referring to her sexual orientation.
But court records show that as of the time of the Monday hearing, the U.S. Attorney’s office did not list the assault against Ford as a bias related crime.
In response to an inquiry by the Blade, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office said the office is not considering adding a bias or hate related enhancement to the assault charge. “We typically do not comment on charging decisions and have no further comment,” said spokesperson William Miller.
As part of his argument for Peterson to be held while awaiting trial, Levy requested and received permission from the judge to show a segment of the video on a large projection screen in the courtroom. Peterson, who is seen in the video wearing a red shirt, is shown knocking Ford to the floor, and picking up a bar stool and twice hitting her in the head with the metal legs of the stool.
Levy concluded his argument by noting that Peterson has three prior convictions on drug related charges. The prosecutor said Peterson fled the scene when he was stopped in his car by U.S. Park Police who found cocaine in the vehicle in August 2021, which resulted in the warrant for his arrest being issued and which Levy called a fourth prior criminal offense.
Combined with the Assault with a Dangerous Weapon charge, Levy argued that Peterson should be held pending trial on grounds that he is a danger to the community.
Brandon Burrell, Peterson’s court appointed attorney, argued that the current assault case was the only case in which Peterson is accused of a crime of violence. Burrell said that Peterson has never failed to appear at a court hearing in any of his prior arrest cases and is gainfully employed at a facility providing services to senior citizens in Ward 8.
Burrell also said he plans to point to evidence shown in the video of the assault at Player’s Lounge that Ford acted in an aggressive and hostile way toward Peterson and that Peterson has grounds for making a case of self-defense. Levy disputed Burrell’s claim that there may be grounds for self-defense. Levy said that, among other things, the video footage shows Peterson acting as the aggressor by violently wielding a bar stool as a weapon.
After listening to the arguments by the defense and prosecutor and after reading the arrest affidavit, which describes in detail the segments of the video that were not shown in the courtroom, Kravitz ruled that Peterson was eligible to be released into the court’s high intensity supervision program. Kravitz ordered Peterson into “home confinement” at his residence in Southeast D.C. except for the time during the week when he goes to work at his job. The judge also ordered that Peterson must wear a GPS device that keeps track of his whereabouts.
Kravitz scheduled a felony status conference for which Peterson must return to court on Sept. 16.
The four-page arrest affidavit prepared by a D.C. police detective describes in detail the video obtained from the security camera at Player’s Lounge that captured the incident as it occurred and in which Peterson is seen striking Ford in the head at least two times with what it describes as a chair.
“The suspect grabs one of the chairs that’s at the bar (red with black frame) at 23: 11:06,” the affidavit says. “The suspect then slams the chair into the complainant’s head,” it says.
“The suspect then pushes the complainant into the bar at 23:11:09. The suspect pulls a chair from underneath the complainant and slams it into the complainant’s upper body again at 23:11:15,” the affidavit states.
According to the affidavit, “The suspect attempts to grab a chair for the third time, but patrons are able to separate the suspect and push him into another room.”
District of Columbia
LGBT exhibition at D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum opens May 16
‘LGBT Jews in the Federal City’ arrives for WorldPride and beyond
The D.C. Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum is opening a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on Friday, May 16, that will remain at the museum at 575 3rd St., N.W. until Jan. 4, 2026.
Museum officials have said they are pleased that the LGBT exhibition will be open concurrently with WorldPride 2025 D.C., which takes place May 17-June 8. The exhibition also takes place during Jewish American Heritage Month in May and during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, the museum points out in a statement.
“This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebration, activism, and change in the nation’s capital led by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum statement says. “This is a local story with national resonance, turning the spotlight on Washington, D.C. to show the city’s vast impact on LGBTQ+ history and culture in the United States.”
LGBT Jews in the Federal City includes “more than 100 artifacts and photographs representing the DMV region’s Jewish LGBTQ+ celebrations, spaces, struggles, joys, and personal stories,” the stamen points out.
A pre-opening tour of the exhibition provided for the Washington Blade shows that among the displays are first-ever shown materials from Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, which is the nation’s fourth-oldest LGBTQ friendly synagogue.
Also included is a prominent display about Barrett Brick, a longtime D.C. LGBT rights advocate and Jewish community leader who served as a board member and president of Bet Mishpachah in the 1980s and as executive director of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish organizations from 1987 to 1992. Brick passed away following a 10-year battle with cancer in 2013.
Another display in the museum’s several rooms accommodating the exhibition includes the ability to listen to audio clips of local LGBTQ community members sharing in their own voices their oral histories provided by D.C.’s Rainbow History Project.
Other displays include campaign posters and photos of prominent gay rights icon Frank Kameny, who led efforts to end discrimination against LGBTQ people from the federal government; and a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt that includes the name of a prominent Jewish Washingtonian who died during the AIDS epidemic.
“Through prompts, questions, and thoughtful design throughout the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to ponder new ways to understand Jewish teachings and values as they relate to gender and sexuality,” the museum’s statement says.
“After leaving the exhibition, visitors can contribute to the Museum’s collecting and storytelling by sharing photographs, personal archives, or by recording stories,” it says.
The museum is open for visitors to see the LGBT exhibition and other museum exhibits 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission to LGBT Jews in the Federal City is $12.
District of Columbia
Rainbow History Project WorldPride exhibition to open May 18
‘Pickets, Protests and Parades’ to be on display at Freedom Plaza
D.C.’s Rainbow History Project is scheduled to open its WorldPride 2025 exhibition called “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington” on Sunday, May 18, in Freedom Plaza.
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. between 13th and 14th streets less than three blocks from the White House, the exhibition will be open to the public free of charge for 24 hours through July 6.
The exhibition “will chronicle the local LGBTQ+ Pride movement and how the pickets and protests of the 1960s led to the vibrant celebrations of the 2020s,” a statement released by Rainbow History Project says.
The statement notes that the exhibition’s displays will include photos and information about a 1965 protest in front of the White House by 10 gay men and lesbians carrying picket signs in what is believed to be one of the city’s and possibly the nation’s first public demonstrations in support of the then homosexual community.
“The exhibition disrupts the popularly held belief that the LGBTQ+ rights movement began with the Stonewall Riots in 1969 in New York,” the statement points out. It says the 1965 gay protest outside the White House, which took place four years before Stonewall, represents “the start of D.C.’s rich queer history.”
“Covering 1965 to the present, the exhibition explores the history of Pride in D.C. in 10 distinct thematic eras,” according to the statement. “Large hero images around the perimeter will draw people into the exhibit to explore a timeline wall with historic quotes from Pride’s organizers. Each of the 10 eras are detailed in thematic cubes rich with history and visuals.”
The statement says Rainbow History Project is seeking community members to serve as Exhibit Monitors to assist in operating the display in four shifts each day and night to be compensated from between $80 and $100 per shift depending on the time of the shift.
Information about applying to become an exhibit monitor can be accessed at Rainbow History’s website.
District of Columbia
Jeanine Pirro has mixed record on LGBTQ rights in N.Y.
Trump pick for interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. under fire
Jeanine Pirro, the controversial Fox News host and commentator appointed by President Donald Trump on May 8 to become interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia has a little-noticed record of partial support for gay rights while mostly opposing transgender rights.
She expressed support for gay rights during her tenure as a prosecutor and candidate for public office in New York State beginning in 2000, media reports show.
According to news media reports at that time in New York, Pirro actively supported the approval by the New York State Legislature of a hate crimes law that included sexual orientation as a protected class in 2000. Press reports show she also spoke out in support for anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people during her unsuccessful election campaign for State Attorney General in 2006.
Although she supported civil unions rather than legal marriage for same-sex couples, Pirro spoke out strongly against a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, press reports show. However, media reports also show she supported the federal Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Reports show that in 2006 she acknowledged participating in both a Pride parade and a fundraising event organized by Log Cabin Republicans, the LGBTQ GOP group.
Other media reports show that Pirro called on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports
“Women are being condemned, disavowed, and erased by allowing transgender women to compete with biological women in sports,” she stated on one of her Fox News talk shows. “This is the ultimate elimination and subjugation of women in our society,” she stated on that show.
In his decision to appoint Pirro as Acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., which by law is a temporary position, Trump has not said whether he plans to nominate Pirro for the permanent D.C. U.S. Attorney position.
Trump’s decision to name Pirro as acting U.S. Attorney came after congressional Democrats as well as some Republicans made it clear they would not support Ed Martin, Trump’s earlier appointment as acting D.C. U.S. Attorney for the permanent U.S. Attorney position.
The Washington Post reports that congressional Democrats have raised strong concerns about Pirro’s ability to serve as D.C.’s U.S. Attorney based, among other things, on her controversial statements as a Fox News talk show host.
The Post reports that she was among the Republicans who disputed the 2020 presidential election results, noting she was named as one of the Fox News commentator defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by a company producing voting machines that accused Pirro and others with making false statements that faulty voting machines played a role in Trump receiving fewer votes than he actually received when he lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Congressional Democrats are also raising questions about whether Pirro has sufficient experience to serve as U.S. Attorney based on her past role as three-term Westchester County, N.Y. District Attorney, the Post reports. The Democrats reportedly are claiming Pirro lacks experience as a prosecutor in federal cases, which the D.C. U.S. Attorney prosecutes as well as local D.C. cases.
Trump, in a social media post, called Pirro a “powerful crusader for victims of crime.” Several prominent Republican U.S. senators also expressed strong support for Pirro’s appointment.
“Jeanine Pirro has had a long and storied career as a prosecutor, and she is a great choice by [Trump] to serve as U.S. Attorney for D.C.,” the Post quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) as saying.
Pirro served as a judge in Westchester County, which is a suburb of New York City, before being elected as the county’s district attorney in 1993. She held that position until 2005, when she announced her GOP candidacy for New York’s U.S. Senate seat held then by Democrat Hillary Clinton, which was up for election in 2006.
The Post and other media outlets report conservative Republican leaders pressured Pirro to drop out of the U.S. Senate race on grounds that her moderate positions on a number of issues, including her support for a woman’s right to choose an abortion, would alienate conservative voters.
After withdrawing her candidacy for the Senate, Pirro became a candidate for the New York State Attorney General’s position.
She won the GOP nomination for that position and emerged, according to political observers, as a true “moderate” Republican on issues including her support for LGBTQ rights protections in employment and LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes laws. In November 2006 Pirro lost the election to Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Among the issues that hurt her campaign, media reports show, was her former husband’s conviction in 2000 on federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges following his tenure as Trump’s real estate attorney.
He was sentenced to 29 years in prison but served just 11 years before Trump pardoned him at the end of the last year of Trump’s first term as president. According to media reports, Jeanine Pirro lobbied Trump to pardon her ex-husband.
Wikipedia reports that in 2013 Pirro interviewed on her talk show William Owens, an official with the anti-LGBTQ National Organization for Marriage, which opposed same-sex marriage. But the Wikipedia write-up doesn’t say whether Pirro expressed her own views on that subject during the interview.
However, Wikipedia reports that in 2021 Pirro attended Log Cabin Republicans’ Spirit of Lincoln Gala, the group’s largest annual fundraising event.
Andrew Minik, president of Log Cabin Republicans of D.C., said the LGBTQ GOP group strongly supports President Trump’s decision to appoint Pirro as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C.
“Judge Pirro is a longtime friend and ally of Log Cabin Republicans, a fierce advocate for law enforcement officers, and defender of the rule of law,” Minik told the Blade in a statement. “Her appointment marks a turning point in restoring order and ending the culture of leniency that has put D.C. residents at risk,” he said.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest national LGBTQ advocacy organization, considers Pirro’s appointment “a slap in the face of justice,” according to Brandon Wolf, the group’s national press secretary.
“Given her insulting comments about transgender people, the people of D.C. cannot count on Pirro to protect the rights of all of our residents and visitors,” Wolf said in a statement to the Blade.
“As U.S. Attorney, she would be responsible for prosecuting hate crimes and civil rights violations but based on her time as a Fox News talking head, she can be expected to advance the administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, including non-enforcement of critical civil rights protections,” Wolf said.
Cuban lawmakers to consider simplifying process for trans people to change IDs
Frank Kameny’s legacy lives on
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information
