Maryland
Judge denies bail for gay former College Park mayor
Court documents include graphic description of images in child porn allegations

A Prince George’s County District Court Judge on Monday, March 6, ordered gay former College Park, Md., Mayor Patrick Wojahn held in jail without bond following his arrest last week on 56 counts of possession and distribution of child pornography.
“His husband and mother were both in the courtroom and were crying and hugging after the decision was made,” Channel 9 reporter Evan Koslof reported in an online post.
The denial of bond means Wojahn, 47, must remain in custody until at least March 31, when he is scheduled to appear for a preliminary hearing related to the charges against him, a clerk of the court told the Washington Blade.
In a development that shocked College Park officials and LGBTQ activists who knew and worked with Wojahn on LGBTQ rights issues for many years, Wojahn resigned as mayor on March 2, hours before his arrest and two days after Prince George’s County Police Department investigators executed a search warrant at his College Park house.
In a statement released on the day of his arrest, police said they confiscated during the search multiple cell phones, a storage device, a tablet and a computer, which contained evidence that Wojahn allegedly had downloaded at least 56 videos or still images of child pornography. The statement said police charged him with 40 counts of possession of “child exploitative material” and 16 counts of distribution of “child exploitative material.”
The statement said the investigation into the allegations remains open and active. Later on the day of his March 2 arrest, Prince George’s County Police Chief Malik Aziz said at a press conference that authorities anticipate filing additional charges, but he declined to say what those charges might be.
In his letter of resignation, which College Park officials publicly released, Wojahn said he fully cooperated with police at the time they searched his home and he planned to cooperate further.
“While this investigation does not involve any official city business of any kind, it is in the best interests of our community that I step aside and not serve as a distraction,” he stated in his resignation letter. “I am stepping away to deal with my own mental health,” he wrote. “I ask that you continue to keep me and my family in your prayers.”
In one of two detailed charging documents filed in court, Prince George’s County Police Det. J. Spicer, the lead investigator in the case, states that at the time police executed their search of the Wojahn residence police read to him his Miranda Rights to remain silent, which Wojahn waived and provided police with a statement.
In his statement, according to Spicer, he confirmed what investigators found in their earlier search of online records that Wojahn allegedly downloaded files containing child porn videos and child porn mages on the app known as KiK under the disguised username of “skippy_md.”
“He also indicated that when viewing these files, he ‘may have passed it on,’ indicating he has distributed files depicting child pornography to other persons,” Det. Spicer states in the charging document.
In the same charging document, Spicer provides a one or two sentence description of what each of the 56 video or still image files that Wojahn allegedly downloaded, possessed, or distributed. Most of the detective’s descriptions say the video or image show a “prepubescent male” engaging in sex with another “prepubescent male” or with an adult male. Other descriptions say the prepubescent male was engaging in masturbation.
In a separate statement of charges prepared by Spicer filed in the District Court of Maryland for Prince George’s County, which is in Upper Marlboro, Wojahn is charged with 16 individual felony counts of knowingly possessing with the intent to distribute an image or a video that “depicts a minor engaged as a subject of sexual conduct.”
Written next to each of the 16 charges, which bear a coded number for the specific video or image Wojahn allegedly distributed, is the potential penalty of 10 years in jail and/or a $25,000 fine.
The same document charges him with 40 individual misdemeanor counts of possession of videos or images “showing an individual under 16 years of age engaged in sexual conduct.” The document shows that each of those charges carries a possible maximum sentence of five years in prison and/or a $2,500 fine.
If convicted on all 16 counts of possession with intent to distribute, Wojahn could theoretically be sentenced to 160 years in jail and/or a fine of $400,000. However, legal observers have said prosecutors in cases like this often extend a plea bargain offer with a reduced number of charges in exchange for a guilty plea.
Wojahn’s attorney, David H. Moyse, has said it was too soon for him to comment on the case other than to reiterate that Wojahn “has been cooperating fully with law enforcement throughout this process and will continue to do so.”
Maryland
Maryland’s oldest rural gay bar — and one of the last — is a log cabin in the woods
The Lodge is a Boonsboro watering hole resembling a log cabin

By SAPNA BANSIL | In the woods of a conservative Western Maryland town of fewer than 4,000 people is an unlikely landmark of state LGBTQ history.
The Lodge, a Boonsboro watering hole that resembles a log cabin, is Maryland’s oldest rural gay bar — one of a few remaining in the country, according to historians.
For about four decades, the Washington County venue has offered safety, escape and community to queer people far from large, liberal cities. Starting Friday night, The Lodge will close out Pride month with one of its biggest parties of the year: a weekend of dancing, drinking and drag in celebration of Frederick Pride, held about 20 miles away in the area’s largest city.
The rest of this article the Baltimore Banner published on June 27 can be read on its website.
Maryland
LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline option is going away. Here’s where else to go in Md.
Changes will take effect July 17

By ANNA RUBENSTEIN | The national suicide prevention hotline will no longer offer specialized support to LGBTQ people, starting July 17, the Trump administration announced last week.
Dialing the hotline at 988 will still be available for crisis support. But callers will no longer be able to reach specific LGBTQ services by pressing Option 3. The change worries advocates because their data shows the LGBTQ community has a disproportionally high suicide rate.
Even after the option ends, here’s how to receive tailored support if you’re in Maryland.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Maryland
Silver Spring holds annual Pride In The Plaza
‘Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience’

Silver Spring’s annual Pride in the Plaza event took place on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ community and emphasize inclusion and resilience.
“Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience, love,” Robyn Woods, program and outreach director for Live In Your Truth, which organized the event, said. “I mean, just being surrounded by the community and so many great entrepreneurs, business owners, and just being a part of this whole rainbow coalition that we call the LGBTQIA to be about.”
With the event being her first time organizing for Live In Your Truth, Woods said she felt emotional to see the support and love at the event.
“Some people (are) bringing out their children, their babies, their grandparents,” Woods said. “It’s a lot more allies here than anything else. That type of support to me means so much more than just support from my community; just outside support, inside support, so much support around it, so much love. Everyone’s smiling outside, helping each other.”
Attendees of the event were able to head over to the Family Fun Zone, an air-conditioned Pride Cool Down Lounge, or watch live drag performances in the main stage area.
Along with entertainment and a shaved-ice stand, rows of information tables stood along the plaza, including FreeState Justice, the Washington Spirit, Trans Maryland, Moco Pride Center, and the Heartwood Program, an organization that offers support, therapy, education, and resources to the LGBTQ community.
“I want people to know about our services, and I love what we have to offer,” Jessica Simon, psychotherapist for Heartwood Program’s Gender Wellness Clinic, said. “I (also) want to be part of a celebration with the community, and so it feels good to be here with other people who have something they want to give to the community.”
She added that within today’s political climate, to which she called an “antidote to shame,” it’s important to be celebrating Pride.
“There’s a lot of demonization of LGBTQI people,” Siena Iacuvazzi, facilitator for Maryland Trans Unity, said. “(Pride) is part of the healing process.”
Iacuvazzi said she was taught to be ashamed of who she was growing up, but being a part of a community helped her flourish in the future.
“I was taught how to hate myself. I was taught that I was an abomination to God,” she said. “But being a community is like understanding that there are people who have experienced the same thing, and they’re flourishing. They’re flourishing because they’re willing to stand up for themselves as human beings and discover themselves and understand what’s true for themselves.”
She added that Pride allows for a mutual understanding to take place.
“It’s more of a sense of belonging … and just taking that home and understanding you’re not alone,” Iacuvazzi said. “We’re each taking our own journey — we’re not putting that on each other. It’s just walking away with a sense of belonging and humanity.”
Similar to Iacuvazzi, Woods said she hopes attendees’ biggest takeaways would be family, fun, resilience, and pride.
“Being proud of yourself, being happy for who you are, and representation and how much it matters,” she continued. “And I think all these young people that are walking around here get to see versions of themselves, but older. They get to see so many different lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual people that are successful, that are showing love, that care, and it’s not how we’re portrayed in the media. It’s lovely to see it out here. (It’s) like we’re one big old, happy family.”
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