District of Columbia
UDC law school hit with bias complaint from nonbinary student
Alleged victim sought protections from stalker on campus
A third-year student at the University of the District of Columbia’s David A. Clarke School of Law who self-identifies as a “non-binary, Black Femme” filed a discrimination complaint on Jan. 9 alleging that the school violated federal law by refusing to take action on campus to protect the student from domestic violence and stalking from a former boyfriend.
The student, D.C. resident Loreal Hawk, filed the complaint through their attorney before the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights. Among other things, it alleges that the law school refused over a period of close to three years to provide accommodations such as allowing virtual attendance of classes to help safeguard Hawk from repeated stalking and threats of domestic violence from the ex-boyfriend, who’s referred to in the complaint as the “respondent” and is not identified by name.
The complaint says Hawk is philosophically opposed to police involvement in this type of domestic situation and that under federal law, colleges are required to provide a reasonable accommodation to protect students from domestic violence and stalking without requiring them to report the threats to campus police or a municipal police department.
The complaint charges that the UDC law school’s intentional refusal to act in support of Hawk violates Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments Act of 1972, which bans discrimination at schools based on sex and gender identity. It charges that the school’s lack of action also violates another federal statute known as the Clery Act, which requires schools and colleges to take reasonable steps to safeguard students from threats of sexual harassment and stalking, among other hostile actions.
The 37-page complaint further calls on the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights to investigate and impose civil penalties against UDC for violating the two laws and to order the school to take emergency action to protect Hawk from further threats by the respondent between now and the time Hawk is scheduled to graduate in May of this year.
The UDC Clarke School of Law did not immediately respond to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on the complaint and whether it disputes the allegations included in the complaint.
Jim Bradshaw, a spokesperson for the Department of Education, said the department’s Office of Civil Rights “does not acknowledge specific complaints until they have been evaluated and accepted for investigation.” Bradshaw added, “We’ll be in touch,” implying his office would respond to press inquiries about the Hawk complaint at the appropriate time.
Hawk’s complaint, which was little noticed at the time it was filed in early January, surfaced on Monday at a D.C. Council Committee of the Whole oversight hearing on UDC-related matters when both Hawk and Hawk’s attorney, Megan Challender, brought up the complaint and Hawk’s allegations against UDC in testimony during the virtual hearing.
D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large), who presided over the hearing, asked UDC President Ronald Mason, who also testified, to respond to the allegations made in Hawk’s complaint at a later time, but did not ask Mason to respond to the allegations at the Feb. 27 hearing.
The complaint says the respondent, who allegedly assaulted and continues to stalk Loreal Hawk, has no affiliation with the law school or UDC. It says he had been dating Hawk until Hawk attempted to end their relationship in October 2020, which it says prompted the respondent to physically assault Hawk, forcibly take Hawk’s car keys and drive Hawk against their will to Hawk’s apartment in D.C.
Once there, the complaint states, the respondent held Hawk as a prisoner in Hawk’s own apartment for a period of time until the law student persuaded the respondent to leave the apartment after being subjected to physical violence.
“When Mx. Hawk demanded that Respondent leave, Respondent lunged at Mx. Hawk, knocking Mx. Hawk to the ground,” according to the complaint. “Mx. Hawk was able to get free and lock themselves in the bathroom. Respondent tried to beat down the door, but eventually left,” the complaint says.
“After leaving, Respondent began repeatedly calling Mx. Hawk,” the complaint continues. “Between October 2020 and March 2021, Respondent directed a persistent course of conduct at Mx. Hawk that caused Mx. Hawk to reasonably fear for their own safety,” it says. “This included as many as 30 unwanted calls a day, text messages, and emails.” It says Hawk received many of the calls and text messages while on the UDC campus taking classes.
The complaint adds that, “Following over a year of relative respite from Respondent, Respondent’s course of conduct resumed on October 6, 2022, and continues to this day.”
It says UDC further violated the law by at one point informing Hawk that it could only take protective action if Hawk reported the threats to campus police or filed a report with D.C. police.
“Mx. Hawk does not feel comfortable reporting to the police,” the complaint states. “Mx. Hawk organizes in the police violence space and thus does not feel police will handle their situation in a way that would be adequate and best for their unique situation,” it says. “Further, Mx. Hawk is Black and nonbinary, two identities that experience high rates of disbelief by law enforcement and brutality at the hands of law enforcement,” the complaint says.
“Finally, Mx. Hawk fears possible escalation from Respondent if police were to become involved,” it says.
Hawk’s attorney, Megan Challender, an official with the legal services organization Network for Victim Recovery of DC, said she understands that some in the LGBTQ community might raise questions about her client’s concerns about dealing with D.C. police without knowing Hawk’s specific situation.
LGBTQ activists in D.C., including longtime transgender rights advocate Earline Budd, have pointed out that after many years of advocacy work by the LGBTQ community, D.C. police have put in place safeguards and police training programs to ensure supportive behavior and support for LGBTQ crime victims.
Activists, including Budd, point to the longstanding D.C. Police LGBT Liaison Unit, which provides services for LGBTQ crime victims and is called upon by other police units to assist in investigating crimes targeting LGBTQ people. Police officials have said many LGBTQ people also now serve openly as officers on the D.C. police force.
When asked if Hawk considered obtaining a D.C. Superior Court stay-away order to prohibit the respondent from engaging in stalking or harassing phone calls or contact with Hawk of any kind, which can be obtained without filing a police report, Challender said she could not provide that information because it would violate attorney-client privilege.
“Of course, we talked about options,” Challender told the Blade. “And to be clear, we wouldn’t expect an educational institution to act as a policing authority,” she said. “But there is a lot of stuff that could have been taken that was not offered and they were not really engaged with us on,” she said in referring to UDC law school officials.
Among the actions the university could have taken but did not, Challender said, is to allow Hawk to take some or all their classes virtually, which was the case for all students in 2020 during the peak of the COVID pandemic. Challender notes that the respondent in his phone calls and email and text messages to Hawk has made it clear he was surveilling the UDC campus and knew Hawk’s whereabouts, including the classrooms and building where Hawk’s classes were being held.
Another option UDC did not undertake was to issue its own no-contact order to the respondent, something most other schools routinely do for students being harassed, Challender said. She said her law office issued such a stay away order to the respondent, which the respondent ignored.
“Another option to consider would be providing Loreal with a parking spot in the garage underneath the building so that Loreal doesn’t have to park on the street and walk and experience harm on the street and instead can go directly into a secure building,” she said.
In their testimony before Monday’s D.C. Council hearing Hawk told how Hawk had high hopes and expectations of their role as law student at UDC
“Further, I was thrilled by the opportunity to attend my first Historically Black College or University, where I hoped to be nurtured and in community with BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and people of color) attorneys and advocates,” Hawk stated in their written testimony submitted to the D.C. Council. But all that changed after Hawk attempted to seek support and accommodations from the school in response to the domestic violence and stalking Hawk encountered from the respondent, Hawk says in their testimony.
“UDC Law’s response to my request for accommodations has been inadequate, endangering, or altogether absent,” Hawk told the D.C. Council hearing. “In the first iteration of this issue, UDC Law enacted a punitive measure, refused to notify me of Title IX and Clery Act accommodations, rescinded my scholarship, and failed to reinstate my scholarship once I performed the terms of our agreement,” their testimony states.
“I was repeatedly misgendered throughout the entire process and their actions indicated that I was being excluded, punished and ignored because of my intersectional identities as a non-binary, Black femme, and survivor of domestic violence,” Hawk told the Council hearing.
The Washington Blade will report the UDC School of Law’s official response and answer to the complaint as soon as it either decides to publicly release it or the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights, where the complaint was filed, makes it part of the public record.
District of Columbia
Bowser announces she will not seek fourth term as mayor
‘It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor’
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, a longtime vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community, announced on Nov. 25 that she will not run for a fourth term.
Since first taking office as mayor in January 2015, Bowser has been an outspoken supporter on a wide range of LGBTQ related issues, including marriage equality and services for LGBTQ youth and seniors.
Local LGBTQ advocates have also praised Bowser for playing a leading role in arranging for widespread city support in the city’s role as host for World Pride 2025 in May and June, when dozens of LGBTQ events took place throughout the city.
She has also been credited with expanding the size and funding for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which was put in place as a Cabinet level office by the D.C. Council in 2006 under the administration of then-Mayor Anthony Williams.
It was initially called the Office of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Affairs. At Bowser’s request, the D.C. Council in 2016 agreed to change the name as part of the fiscal year 2016 budget bill to the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, and Questioning Affairs.
As she has in numerous past appearances at LGBTQ events, Bowser last month greeted the thousands of people who attended the annual LGBTQ Halloween 17th Street High Heel Race from a stage by shouting that D.C. is the “gayest city in the world.”
In a statement released after she announced she would not run for a fourth term in office; Bowser reflected on her years as mayor.
“It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor,” she said. “When you placed your trust in me 10 years ago, you gave me an extraordinary opportunity to have a positive impact on my hometown,” her statement continues.
“Together, you and I have built a legacy of success of which I am immensely proud. My term will end on Jan. 2, 2027. But until then, let’s run through the tape and keep winning for D.C,” her statement concludes.
Among the LGBTQ advocates commenting on Bowser’s decision not to run again for mayor was Howard Garrett, president of D.C.’s Capital Stonewall Democrats, one of the city’s largest local LGBTQ political groups.
“I will say from a personal capacity that Mayor Bowser has been very supportive of the LGBTQ community,” Garrett told the Washington Blade. “I think she has done a great job with ensuring that our community has been protected and making sure we have the resources needed to be protected when it comes to housing, public safety and other areas.”
Garrett also praised Bowser’s appointment of LGBTQ advocate Japer Bowles as director of the Office of LGBTQ Affairs,
“Under the leadership of the mayor, Japer has done a fantastic job in ensuring that we have what we need and other organizations have what they need to prosper,” Garrett said.
Cesar Toledo, executive director of the D.C. based Wanda Alston Foundation, which provides housing services for homeless LGBTQ youth, credits Bowser with transforming the Office of LGBTQ Affairs “into the largest and most influential community affairs agency of its kind in the nation, annually investing more than $1 million into life-saving programs.”
Toledo added, “Because of the consistent support of Mayor Bowser and her administration, the Wanda Alston Foundation has strengthened and expanded its housing and counseling programs, ensuring that more at-risk queer and trans youth receive the safety, stability, and life-saving care they deserve.”
Gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein is among those who have said they have mixed reactions to Bowser’s decision not to run again.
“I am sorry for the city but happy for her that she will now be able to focus on her family, and her incredible daughter,” Rosenstein said.
“She has worked hard, and done great things for D.C,” Rosenstein added. “Those include being a stalwart supporter of the LGBTQ community, working to rebuild our schools, recreation centers, libraries, gaining the RFK site for the city, and maintaining home rule. She will be a very hard act to follow.”
Local gay activist David Hoffman is among those in the city who have criticized Bowser for not taking a stronger and more vocal position critical of President Donald Trump on a wide range of issues, including Trump’s deployment of National Guard soldiers to patrol D.C. streets. Prior to Bowser’s announcement that she is not running again for mayor, Hoffman said he would not support Bowser’s re-election and would urge the LGBTQ community to support another candidate for mayor.
Bowser supporters have argued that Bowser’s interactions with the Trump-Vance administration, including her caution about denouncing the president, were based on her and other city officials’ desire to protect the interests of D.C. and D.C.’s home rule government. They point out that Trump supporters, including Republican members of Congress, have called on Trump to curtail or even end D.C. home rule.
Most political observers are predicting a highly competitive race among a sizable number of candidates expected to run for mayor in the 2026 D.C. election. Two D.C. Council members have said they were considering a run for mayor before Bowser’s withdrawal.
They include Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), who identifies as a democratic socialist, and Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who is considered a political moderate supportive of community-based businesses. Both have expressed strong support for the LGBTQ community.
The Washington Post reports that Bowser declined to say in an interview whether she will endorse a candidate to succeed her or what she plans to do after she leaves office as mayor.
Among her reasons for not running again, she told the Post, was “we’ve accomplished what we set out to accomplish.”
District of Columbia
Fadi Jaber’s Middle Eastern background shapes Adams Morgan bakery
The Cakeroom is on 18th Street, N.W.
Fadi Jaber is the gay owner behind the Cakeroom’s bright pink facade on 18th Street, N.W. He combines his Middle Eastern background and American flavors to bring a nostalgic spread of desserts to Adams Morgan.
Born and raised in a U.S. compound in Saudi Arabia, Jaber first unlocked an interest in classic American desserts from his classmates.
“I was jealous that their moms would bring these delicious cupcakes to school when it was their birthdays, and my mom never made stuff like that. It was just grape leaves and hummus and very good Arabic food,” Jaber said.
After years of making boxed cake mixes in Saudi Arabia, Jaber tried a carrot cake from a friend’s wife from the U.S. He soon decided to make the recipe himself. When letting his parents sample the treat, Jaber’s mother suggested adding dates instead of carrots.
Now, Jaber sells the same date cake at the Cakeroom.
Jaber solidified his appreciation for American baked goods after a friend took him to Magnolia’s Bakery in New York. The visit inspired him to enroll in the Institute of Culinary Education.
“I just fell in love with the concept, and it was very much up my alley,” Jaber said. “I was already baking from scratch and making homemade style desserts that weren’t super chichi and elegant, but more just delicious and fun and nostalgic, and a throwback to people’s childhood.”
Upon leaving culinary school, Jaber moved to Jordan, where his parents relocated. He decided to leave his corporate job and open a bakery. According to Jaber, his father initially refuted the idea until he tried the desserts Jaber perfected in culinary school.
“He was part of the Palestinian diaspora. So, you know, given all the instability in his life having been forced out of their homes in 1948, it was really a very scary thought to add more instability by going out on your own and starting your own business,” Jaber said.
Jaber then opened Sugar Daddy’s, his first bakery, in Amman, Jordan, in 2007.
According to Jaber, the bakery was the first cupcake shop in the Middle East. He soon launched additional locations in Beirut, Lebanon, and Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
After six years, Jaber decided to return to the U.S. Jaber noted that he had “always longed” to live there, but he struggled to make his cakes a novel concept to an American audience.
“I’m kind of bringing pasta to the Italians, in a sense, where my cupcakes were very unique in Jordan, they wouldn’t be as unique in D.C.,” Faber said. “But my mom had confidence. She didn’t even bat an eye, and she was like, ‘I think you should do it.’”
Years prior, Jaber began visiting Washington while attending the College of William & Mary. Upon the move, he settled on Washington as a less competitive market than New York, citing his appreciation for the city’s international feel, architecture and nature.
After recruiting investors, Jaber opened Sugar Daddy’s in Adams Morgan in December 2013. However, upon being struck with a cease and desist letter from a bakery in Ohio with a similar name, Jaber experimented with 20 different names for the business.
Finally, he settled on the Cakeroom in the summer of 2014.
“I actually got some calls from D.C. government employees thanking me for the name change, because they said Sugar Daddy’s didn’t look good when they would Google it on their work laptops,” Jaber said, jokingly.
As for Jaber’s identity as a gay man, he notes that he hopes customers visit the Cakeroom because “they like our product” rather than due to his sexual identity. Still, he notes that operating the bakery in an LGBTQ-friendly city increases business opportunities to bake for LGBTQ weddings.
“A lot of people know me as the owner, I’m the face behind the brand. People in D.C. know that I’m gay, so I think we do get some business that way, but I would hate for people to just support my business because of my sexual orientation,” Jaber said.
Jaber manages the Cakeroom remotely, focusing on online orders, deliveries, scheduling, ordering, cash management, and more. He notes that while most days are routine, “at least two, three times a week there’s some firefighting that needs to happen.”
While Jaber does not intend on opening another location of the Cakeroom, he hopes to continue managing the business for another decade.
“I’ve been in this industry for 18 years,” Jaber said. “So if I can just keep it afloat, that would be my hope. It gives me purpose on a daily basis.”
Jaber’s top recommendations from the Cakeroom’s array of sweets include Nutella cookies, the date cake, and the carrot cake.
The carrot cake is based on the dessert that first inspired Jaber to pursue a career in baking.
“I think I altered it just a tiny bit, but for the most part, it is based off of the original recipe that I got from my friend’s wife,” Jaber said.
District of Columbia
D.C.’s LGBTQ bookstore moves to new location
Little District Books’ larger shop to host more authors, book club events
Little District Books, D.C.’s only LGBTQ bookstore, in early October moved its store from the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill to a new, larger space at 631 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E. in a more prominent location on Capitol Hill less than a block from the Eastern Market Metro station.
The store, which describes itself on its website as a “queer owned and operated” independent bookstore that “celebrates LGBTQ+ authors and stories,” first opened in its previous location on 8th Street, S.E. in June 2022.
At that time it became the first D.C. LGBTQ bookstore since 2009, when the city’s famed Lamda Rising LGBTQ bookstore closed its doors after its owner Deacon McCubbin retired.
Little District Books owner, D.C. attorney Patrick Kern, said his main reason for moving was to find a larger space in which to provide a larger number of books and to host larger events. Among the events he said his store has hosted in the previous location were author book-signings and meetings of a number of book clubs.
“We started looking for somewhere that would allow us to do a lot more,” he told the Washington Blade. “So, in the old space we had like 2,800 different titles,” he said. “And in this new space we will be able to go up significantly. We are probably closer to 4200 titles at this point. We will likely get closer to 5000 next year.”
According to Kern, the old location was only about 700 square feet, with the new location providing nearly 2,000 square feet.
“We have a lot of plans,” Kern said. “We will launch a little café corner later this year, so we’ll have a more dynamic in-space experience,” he said. “We’re going to have a little tea counter where you can buy hot drinks” as well as cold non-alcoholic beverages, he said.
Kern has said Little District Books carries books that cover a wide range of topics and stories, both fiction and nonfiction.
“We have books by LGBT authors about LGBT topics. We have books by LGBT authors about non-LGBT topics,” he said. “And then I have LGBT stories that are written by non-LGBT people as well,” he told the Blade in a July 2023 interview.
He told the Blade last week that he was hopeful that the new location’s larger space, that will allow more and larger events and more books, will continue to prompt people to come into the store to buy their books rather than buy them through online sites where most books are now sold.
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