District of Columbia
Gay incumbent challenges petition signatures of gay opponent in ANC race
Rivals clash over Shaw bike lane project
Gay D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Michael Eichler, who represents the newly configured ANC Single Member District 2G02 in the city’s Shaw neighborhood, has filed a challenge to the petition signatures of his opponent, gay former Shaw ANC commissioner Alexander ‘Alex’ Padro, before the D.C. Board of Elections.
Eichler and Padro are among at least a dozen confirmed openly LGBTQ candidates running for Advisory Neighborhood Commission seats in the city’s Nov. 8 election, although activists believe there are far more out LGBTQ ANC candidates who have yet to be identified.
Padro told the Washington Blade Eichler has challenged seven signatures of the 32 he obtained from residents of the ANC district. Twenty-five valid signatures are required for an ANC candidate to be placed on the ballot. Padro said he is certain that all but one of the seven challenged signatures will be upheld by the Board of Elections as valid.
“This is not a challenge that will bear fruit,” he said.
“I am challenging his petition because it’s part of the process,” Eichler told the Blade in an email message. “I reviewed the signatures and found some irregularities,” he said. “The only way to resolve those irregularities is through a petition challenge.”
The Board of Elections is scheduled to make a final determination on Sept. 12 on whether the petition challenge will be upheld or turned down.
Eichler and Padro each said the main issue the two have clashed over in the past and that will likely be one of the lead issues before voters in the Shaw ANC election is the D.C. Department of Transportation’s controversial 9th Street, N.W. bike lane project.
Eichler, who describes himself as an environmentalist and advocate for ending what he calls “traffic violence,” has been a leading supporter of the project, among other things, on grounds that it will help curtail a growing number of pedestrian and bicyclist fatalities caused by vehicles operated by reckless drivers.
Padro, who serves as executive director of Shaw Main Streets, a nonprofit group that advocates for Shaw historic preservation and support for community-based businesses, has been a vocal opponent of the project on grounds that it will harm Shaw businesses.
The project, which has the support of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, calls for installing a 1.6-mile protected bike lane connecting Florida Avenue/U Street on its north end to Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W., to the south.
Part of the project has already been put in place along 9th Street between T Street and the block where U Street becomes Florida Avenue in the heart of the Shaw business and nightlife district. The area is sometimes referred to as Little Ethiopia because many Ethiopian owned bars and restaurants are located along 9th Street between T and U Streets.
Nellie’s Sports Bar, one of the city’s popular gay bars, is located at the corner of 9th and U Streets.
According to Padro, the installation of the one-block long bike lane on the east side of 9th Street in the Shaw business district involved closing one of the two northbound traffic lanes to make room for the bike lane. He said the change created an immediate hardship for the businesses along the street by eliminating parking spaces and making it difficult for trucks to deliver supplies to the businesses.
He said he met about two weeks ago with representatives of the businesses along the 1900 block of 9th Street, where the bike lane was installed, and was told of the problems they have encountered. “They are already registering losses of sales from 40 to 50 percent,” Padro said. “There will be businesses that will fail.”
Eichler has pointed to studies conducted by the Department of Transportation, known as DDOT, which show removal of the 9th Street traffic lane for vehicles would result in a minimal impact on traffic congestion and instead would lead to lower vehicular speeds, making the street safer for bicyclists, pedestrians, and drivers. Bike lane supporters have also argued that businesses have not been significantly impacted by bike lanes in other parts of the city.
LGBTQ activists have said the LGBTQ community, like city residents in general, is divided over bike lane projects in different parts of the city, including the 17th Street, N.W. commercial strip near Dupont Circle that has several LGBTQ owned and supportive bars and restaurants.
District of Columbia
Juvenile arrested for anti-gay assault in D.C.
Police say suspect targeted victim in house with Pride flags
D.C. police announced on June 16 that they have arrested a 13-year-old juvenile male on a charge of Assault With Significant Bodily Injury for allegedly throwing a rock through the window of a house in Northeast D.C. and “striking the victim in the face.”
In a statement announcing the arrest, police said the incident took place on Friday, June 6, and “LGBTQ+ flags were displayed at the front of the home.”
A separate D.C. police incident report obtained by the Washington Blade states, “Victim 1 reports he was sitting in his living room at the listed location watching television when a rock came through the front window and struck him about his left eye. Victim 1 suffered a laceration under his left eye.”
The report adds, “Victim 1 states he observed Suspect 1 running away.”
According to the June 16 statement issued by police, “On Sunday, June 15, 2025, officers located the suspect and placed him under arrest. [A] 13-year-old juvenile male of Northeast D.C., was charged with Assault With Significant Bodily Injury (Hate/Bias).”
The statement says the house where the incident occurred is located on the 400 block of 20th Street, N.E.
Similar to statements D.C. police have issued regarding LGBTQ bias-related cases in the past, the statement announcing this case says that while the case is being investigated as being potentially motivated by hate or bias, that designation could be changed at any time during the investigation.
It adds that a hate crime designation by D.C. police may not be prosecuted as a hate crime by prosecutors. Under D.C. law, juvenile cases are prosecuted by the Office of the D.C. Attorney General.
Since court records for cases involving juveniles are sealed from public access, the Blade could not immediately determine whether prosecutors designated the case as a hate crime.
It also could not immediately be determined if the juvenile charged in the case was being held in detention while awaiting trial at juvenile court or whether he was released to a parent or guardian and whether a judge set any conditions for release.
The police statement concludes by saying that the department’s Special Liaison Branch, which includes the LGBT Liaison Unit, is assisting with the investigation.
District of Columbia
Drive with Pride in D.C.
A new Pride-themed license plate is now available in the District, with proceeds directly benefiting local LGBTQ organizations.
Just in time for Pride month, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles has partnered with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to create a special “Pride Lives Here” license plate.
The plate, which was initially unveiled in February, has a one-time $25 application fee and a $20 annual display fee. Both fees will go directly to the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs Fund.
The MOLGBTQA Fund provides $1,000,000 annually to 25,000 residents through its grant program, funding a slew of LGBTQ organizations in the DMV area — including Capital Pride Alliance, Whitman-Walker, the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community, and the Washington Blade Foundation.
The license plate features an inclusive rainbow flag wrapping around the license numbers, with silver stars in the background — a tribute to both D.C.’s robust queer community and the resilience the LGBTQ community has shown.
The “Pride Lives Here” plate is one of only 13 specialty plates offered in the District, and the only one whose fees go directly to the LGBTQ community.
To apply for a Pride plate, visit the DC DMV’s website at https://dmv.dc.gov/
District of Columbia
Drag queens protest Trump at the Kennedy Center
President attended ‘Les Misérables’ opening night on Wednesday
On Wednesday night, four local drag performers attended the first night of the Kennedy Center’s season in full drag — while President Donald Trump, an outspoken critic of drag, sat mere feet away.
Three queens — Tara Hoot, Vagenesis, and Mari Con Carne — joined drag king Ricky Rosé to represent Qommittee, a volunteer network uniting drag artists to support and defend each other amid growing conservative attacks. They all sat down with the Washington Blade to discuss the event.
The drag performers were there to see the opening performance of “Les Misérables” since Trump’s takeover of the historically non-partisan Kennedy Center. The story shows the power of love, compassion, and redemption in the face of social injustice, poverty, and oppression, set in late 19th century France.
Dressed in full drag, the group walked into the theater together, fully aware they could be punished for doing so.
“It was a little scary walking in because we don’t know what we’re going to walk into, but it was really helpful to be able to walk in with friends,” said drag queen Vagenesis. “The strongest response we received was from the staff who worked there. They were so excited and grateful to see us there. Over and over and over again, we heard ‘Thank you so much for being here,’ ‘Thank you for coming,’ from the Kennedy Center staff.”
The staff weren’t the only ones who seemed happy at the act of defiance.
“We walked in together so we would have an opportunity to get a response,” said Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in full drag before. “It was all applause, cheers, and whistles, and remarkably it was half empty. I think that was season ticket holders kind of making their message in a different way.”
Despite the love from the audience and staff, Mari Con Carne said she couldn’t help feeling unsettled when Trump walked in.
“I felt two things — disgust and frustration,” Carne said. “Obviously, I don’t align with anything the man has to say or has to do. And the frustration came because I wanted to do more than just sit there. I wanted to walk up to him and speak my truth — and speak for the voices that were being hurt by his actions right now.”
They weren’t the only ones who felt this way according to Vagenesis:
“Somebody shouted ‘Fuck Trump’ from the rafters. I’d like to think that our being there encouraged people to want to express themselves.”
The group showing up in drag and expressing themselves was, they all agreed, an act of defiance.
“Drag has always been a protest, and it always will be a sort of resistance,” Carne said, after pointing out her intersectional identity as “queer, brown, Mexican immigrant” makes her existence that much more powerful as a statement. “My identity, my art, my existence — to be a protest.”
Hoot, who is known for her drag story times, explained that protesting can look different than the traditional holding up signs and marching for some.
“Sometimes protesting is just us taking up space as drag artists,” Hoot added. “I felt like being true to who you are — it was an opportunity to live the message.”
And that message, Ricky Rosé pointed out, was ingrained with the institution of the Kennedy Center and art itself — it couldn’t be taken away, regardless of executive orders and drag bans
“The Kennedy Center was founded more than 50 years ago as a place meant to celebrate the arts in its truest, extraordinary form,” said Ricky Rosé. “President Kennedy himself even argued that culture has a great practical value in an age of conflict. He was quoted saying, ‘the encouragement of art is political in the most profound sense, not as a weapon in the struggle, but as an instrument of understanding the futility of struggle’ and I believe that is the basis of what the Kennedy Center was founded on, and should continue. And drag fits perfectly within it.”
All four drag performers told the Washington Blade — independently of one another — that they don’t think Trump truly understood the musical he was watching.
“I don’t think the president understands any kind of plot that’s laid out in front of him,” Vagenesis said. “I’m interested to see what he thinks about “Les Mis,” a play about revolution against an oppressive regime. I get the feeling that he identifies with the the rebellion side of it, instead of the oppressor. I just feel like he doesn’t get it. I feel it goes right over his head.”
“Les Misérables” is running at the Kennedy Center until July 13.
Madras High Court says families are possible outside marriage
More than 15K people attend Baltimore Trans Pride
Baldwin, Pocan named on alleged Minn. shooter’s target lists
Blogging my way through the Norwegian Fjords and the Arctic
Juvenile arrested for anti-gay assault in D.C.
Tel Aviv Pride parade cancelled after Israel attacks Iran
Drive with Pride in D.C.
Delawareans march in D.C. WorldPride parade
Why queer firearm ownership is a matter of survival
