District of Columbia
Dupont Circle murder alarms ANC commissioner
Man fatally stabbed on P Street
D.C. police announced on Friday that a 47-year-old man with no fixed address was found suffering from a fatal stab wound at about 9:39 p.m. on Wednesday, Jan. 18, in the 2000 block of P Street, N.W.
According to a police press release and a separate police incident report, the victim, identified as Mubarak Mursal, was taken by ambulance to Med Star Washington Hospital Center, where he was pronounced dead at 10:27 p.m. that same day.
The police incident report says Mursal was found unconscious lying in the street at the intersection of P Street and Hopkins Street, N.W. close to 2020 P St., N.W., which is where the New Dynasty Chinese Restaurant is located.
“A few detectives said there were multiple stab wounds,” said Jeffrey Rueckgauer, the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner whose district includes the location where the fatal stabbing took place. Rueckgauer, who lives nearby, said he was on the scene shortly after Mursal was taken to the hospital.
“It is really alarming,” Rueckgauer told the Washington Blade. “This is not a common occurrence in West Dupont. We don’t know the circumstances of this attack.”
He said that although this was the first murder in the immediate area that he is aware of in the more than 20 years he has lived in the area, crime has been going up in the area since former D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier discontinued police foot patrols in the neighborhood.
The online D.C. news site Popville posted a video on its website taken from a surveillance camera from one of the nearby buildings that shows the victim walking east bound on the 2000 block of P Street, N.W., before he is seen collapsing on the street at the intersection of P Street and Hopkins Street. The video shows him getting up and attempting to walk a few feet before he collapses again and remains still on the street.
The video indicates that Mursal was stabbed at a nearby location west of where he lost consciousness and fell onto the street. The D.C. gay bar Fireplace is located a block and a half west at the corner of 22nd and P Streets, N.W.
The police report and press release provide no further information about the stabbing incident or whether Mursal knew the attacker.
Police are calling on anyone with information about the incident to contact police at 202-727-9099. Similar to other homicides in the city, police are offering a reward of up to $25,000 to anyone that provides information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder.
The Popville video of the incident can be accessed here:
@PoPville video of the guy after he got stabbed last night in Dupont Circle pic.twitter.com/yJ4GGemV6C
— Muchlas Amirinanto (@amirinanto) January 19, 2023
District of Columbia
D.C. bar, LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
‘Ahead of the Curve’ documentary screening, ‘Queeroke’ among events
2026 Lesbian Visibility Week North America will take place from April 20-26.
This year marks the third annual Lesbian Visibility Week, run by the Curve Foundation. A host of events take place from April 20-26.
This year’s theme is Health and Wellness. For the Curve Foundation, the term “lesbian” serves as an umbrella term for a host of identities, including lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, and anyone else connected to the lesbian community.
The week kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on April 19. It will take place in New York, but will be livestreamed for the public.
“Queeroke” is one of the events being held around the country. It will take place at various participating bars on April 23.
As You Are, an LGBTQ bar in Capitol Hill, is one of eight locations across the U.S. participating. Their event is free and 21+.
On April 24, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold a screening of “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the founder of Curve, Franco Stevens. The event is free with an RSVP.
April 25, is Queer Women in Sports Day. And on April 26, several monuments in New York will be illuminated.
Virtual events ranging from health to sports will be made available to the public. Details will be released closer to the start of Lesbian Visibility Week. Featured events can be found on the official website.
Some ways for individuals to get involved are to use #LVW26 and tag the official Lesbian Visibility Week account on social media posts. People are encouraged to display their lesbian flags, and businesses can hand out pins and decorate. They can also reach out to local lawmakers to encourage them to issue an official Lesbian Visibility Week.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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