District of Columbia
HIV-positive D.C. attorney commissioned as officer with U.S. Army National Guard
Longtime National Guard member successfully challenged military HIV policy
Gay D.C. attorney Nicholas Harrison, a longtime member of the U.S. Army National Guard, was officially commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the D.C. Army National Guard at an Aug. 5 ceremony.
The ceremony at the D.C. National Guard Armory located next to RFK Stadium took place a little over a year after Harrison, who was diagnosed with HIV in 2012, successfully challenged the military’s longstanding policy of banning soldiers with HIV from becoming commissioned officers in a lawsuit initially filed in 2018.
In what LGBTQ and AIDS activists consider a landmark ruling, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia handed down a decision in April 2022 declaring the military’s HIV restrictions unconstitutional. The decision ordered the U.S. Department of Defense to discontinue its policy of refusing to deploy and commission as officers members of the military with HIV if they are asymptomatic and otherwise physically capable of serving.
Two months after that ruling, the Biden administration announced it would not contest the court ruling in an appeal, and a short time later U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin issued a memorandum announcing changes in the military policy that would allow members of the military with HIV to be deployed and become officers in accordance with the court ruling.
The memorandum states that individuals “who have been identified as HIV positive, are asymptomatic, and who have clinically confirmed undetectable viral load will have no restrictions applied to their deployability or to their ability to commission while a service member solely on the basis of their HIV-positive status.”
Kevin Jennings, CEO of Lambda Legal, the LGBTQ litigation organization that represented Harrison in his lawsuit and who attended Harrison’s commissioning ceremony, called the court ruling and the Biden administration’s decision not to appeal the ruling an important advancement in efforts to remove barriers to people with HIV who wish to serve in the military.
“Today is a historic day in Washington, D.C., as we witness the commissioning of Nick Harrison,” Jennings and Lambda Legal Senior Attorney Kara Ingelhart said in a statement. “Although the journey to wearing his officer’s bars took several years, Nick’s perseverance, along with his legal team and other involved service members, helped to realize his dream of becoming an officer in the District of Columbia Army National Guard,” Jennings and Ingelhart said.
Among the more than 50 people who attended Harrison’s commissioning ceremony were family members, friends, LGBTQ rights advocates, and fellow service members.
Serving as master of ceremonies at the event was Dr. Joshua Fontanez, chair of the board for the Modern Military Association of America, the nation’s largest organization representing LGBTQ military service members, their spouses, family members, and veterans. The association joined Lambda Legal in supporting Harrison’s lawsuit to overturn the military’s HIV policy.
Donald Cravins Jr., the U.S. Under Secretary of Commerce for Minority Business Development, administered the oath of office commissioning Harrison to the rank of First Lieutenant.
And Jennings of Lambda Legal and Baraq Stein, Harrison’s partner, performed the ceremonial “Pinning of Rank” by attaching the lieutenant’s rank insignia on each side of the shoulder of the Army uniform that Harrison was wearing at the ceremony.
“This commissioning ceremony, steeped in long-standing military tradition, is intentionally focused on honoring the network of support and inspiration that brought me to this juncture,” Harrison said in remarks following his official commissioning.
“My own path has been far from conventional, leading me into the heart of a storm that allowed me to become part of a larger narrative – challenging the military’s discriminatory HIV policies through a landmark court case brought by Lambda Legal and the Modern Military Association of America,” he said.
A native of Oklahoma, Harrison joined the U.S. Army in September 2000 at the age of 23, at the time he was about to enter his third year as a student at the University of Central Oklahoma. He said he served for three years as an airborne paratrooper with a Parachute Infantry Regiment in Anchorage, Alaska.
After completing his initial enlistment in the Army, he resumed his university studies while joining the Oklahoma National Guard. He graduated in May 2005 with a bachelor’s degree and “proceeded to Oklahoma City University’s law school,” he told the Blade in a statement.
In March 2006, while enrolled in law school, he was deployed to Afghanistan with the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Infantry Division, he recounted in his statement. Upon his return, he said he had to restart his law school studies at the University of Oklahoma in August 2007.
After receiving a law degree and Master of Business Administration degree he was deployed once again, this time to Kuwait and Iraq. “On my return, I passed the bar and began job hunting, which led me to Washington, D.C. in July 2013,” he says in his statement.
In October of 2013, he transferred his National Guard membership from Oklahoma to D.C. by joining the D.C. National Guard, where he was assigned to a military police company with the rank of sergeant, he said. During that same year, he was selected for a Judge Advocate General position, which involves duties similar to a civilian judge.
Having been diagnosed with HIV the previous year, he requested a waiver from the military’s HIV policy that would have allowed him to take on his new JAG position. But his request was turned down, prompting him to initiate a campaign to challenge what he and many others believed to be an outdated policy denying fully capable people with HIV from serving in positions as military officers.
A short time later, through support from Lambda Legal and an organization that later became the Modern Military Association of America, he filed his lawsuit challenging the military’s HIV policy that has led to what his supporters are calling the landmark event on Aug. 5 during which he became a commissioned officer.
Harrison, however, said the Army has interpreted the changed HIV rules in a way that has forced him to take his case once again to court to challenge a decision by Army officials to have him reapply to join the National Guard under the new policy rather than commission him as an officer retroactively based on his 23 years of military service.
Having to reapply, Harrison told the Washington Blade, would require him to serve in the National Guard for another eight years, even though he became eligible to retire in 2020. He has contested the decision to require him to reapply before the same court that overturned the military’s discriminatory HIV policy and before the Army Board for the Correction of Military Records, which he says has the authority to “rectify” the Army’s position on reenlistment.
Jennings of Lambda Legal said at Harrison’s commissioning ceremony that Harrison’s ongoing dispute with military officials indicates that some details related to Harrison’s case must still be worked out.
“But today we really should just celebrate Nick’s perseverance,” Jennings told the Blade. “His determination, and the fact that he has made history has paved the way for thousands of people.”
In his remarks following his commissioning, Harrison said among the lessons he has learned in his many years in the military is the need to be respectful of the military as an institution and to engage in “respectful disagreement” when at odds with others.
“When I chose to don the uniform, to become part of an institution that has had its share of failures, it was not a decision made lightly,” he said. “I embarked on this journey because I believe in the potential for change from within, in the power of standing up from within a marginalized community to serve, protect, and defend a nation that doesn’t always reciprocate in kind,” he told the gathering.
Harrison currently serves as managing partner for the downtown D.C. law firm Harrison-Stein.
District of Columbia
Imperial Court of Washington drag group has ‘dissolved’
Board president cites declining support since pandemic
The Imperial Court of Washington, a D.C.-based organization of drag performers that has raised at least $250,000 or more for local LGBTQ and non-LGBTQ charitable groups since its founding in 2010, announced on Jan. 5 that it has ended its operations by dissolving its corporate status.
In a Jan. 5 statement posted on Facebook, Robert Amos, president of the group’s board of directors, said the board voted that day to formally dissolve the organization in accordance with its bylaws.
“This decision was made after careful consideration and was based on several factors, including ongoing challenges in adhering to the bylaws, maintaining compliance with 501(c)(3) requirements, continued lack of member interest and attendance, and a lack of community involvement and support as well,” Amos said in his statement.
He told the Washington Blade in a Jan. 6 telephone interview that the group was no longer in compliance with its bylaws, which require at least six board members, when the number of board members declined to just four. He noted that the lack of compliance with its bylaws also violated the requirements of its IRS status as a nonprofit, tax-exempt 501(c) (3) organization.
According to Amos, the inability to recruit additional board members came at a time when the organization was continuing to encounter a sharp drop in support from the community since the start of the COVID pandemic around 2020 and 2021.
Amos and longtime Imperial Court of Washington member and organizer Richard Legg, who uses the drag name Destiny B. Childs, said in the years since its founding, the group’s drag show fundraising events have often been attended by 150 or more people. They said the events have been held in LGBTQ bars, including Freddie’s Beach Bar in Arlington, as well as in other venues such as theaters and ballrooms.
Among the organizations receiving financial support from Imperial Court of Washington have been SMYAL, PFLAG, Whitman-Walker Health’s Walk to End HIV, Capital Pride Alliance, the DC LGBT Community Center, and the LGBTQ Fallen Heroes Fund. Other groups receiving support included Pets with Disabilities, the Epilepsy Foundation of Washington, and Grandma’s House.
The Imperial Court of Washington’s website, which was still online as of Jan. 6, says the D.C. group has been a proud member of the International Court System, which was founded in San Francisco in 1965 as a drag performance organization that evolved into a charitable fundraising operation with dozens of affiliated “Imperial Court” groups like the one in D.C.
Amos, who uses the drag name Veronica Blake, said he has heard that Imperial Court groups in other cities including Richmond and New York City, have experienced similar drops in support and attendance in the past year or two. He said the D.C. group’s events in the latter part of 2025 attracted 12 or fewer people, a development that has prevented it from sustaining its operations financially.
He said the membership, which helped support it financially through membership dues, has declined in recent years from close to 100 to its current membership of 21.
“There’s a lot of good we have done for the groups we supported, for the charities, and the gay community here,” Amos said. “It is just sad that we’ve had to do this, mainly because of the lack of interest and everything going on in the world and the national scene.”
District of Columbia
Two pioneering gay journalists to speak at Thursday event
Blade’s Chibbaro, Falls Church News-Press’s Benton talk long careers
Two local gay journalists will speak on a panel this week about their long, pioneering careers.
A celebration of the Falls Church News-Press’s Nicholas Benton and the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr., two trailblazing LGBTQ journalists who have spent decades reporting on the front lines of social, cultural, legal, and political change in America, will be held this Thursday, Jan. 8, at the Women’s National Democratic Club of Washington. D.C., 1526 New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., at 6 p.m., according to a statement from organizers.
The program will explore their journeys, the evolution of LGBTQ journalism, and the ongoing fight for equality and justice. Benton and Chibbaro will also examine the various factors causing many news outlets to cease print publication and their energetic efforts to continue publishing their work both in print and online.
EVENT DETAILS:
- Remarks and Q&A, in-person and via Zoom.
- 6 p.m. complimentary hors d’oeuvres and cash bar; 6:30–7:30 p.m. program followed by book signing.
- Zoom only: $10. In-person: members: $20, nonmembers: $30 plus tax.
Benton’s latest book, “Please Don’t Eat Your Children, Cult Century, and Other Essays,” will be available for purchase at the event.
Benton is a longtime local journalist and LGBTQ rights activist whose work has had a lasting impact on both community journalism and social justice. Author of the first-ever editorial in the pioneering Gay Sunshine newspaper in 1970, he is best known as the founder, owner, and editor of the Falls Church News-Press, an independent weekly newspaper he launched in 1991 and is the paper of record for the City of Falls Church, Virginia.
Chibbaro is the senior news reporter for the Washington Blade and a pioneering journalist in LGBTQ news coverage. He has reported on the LGBTQ rights movement and community continuously since 1976, first as a freelance writer and later as a staff reporter, joining the Blade in 1984.
The year 2025 brought unprecedented challenges to D.C. as President Trump initiated a takeover of local police operations and implemented ICE raids in the city. Below are our picks for the top 10 LGBTQ news stories of the year.
10. Man gets 15 years for drug sale that led to deaths of two gay men
A D.C. man was sentenced by a federal judge on June 26, 2025, to 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty three months earlier to conspiracy related charges that he distributed large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine in the D.C. area, including the sale of fentanyl that resulted in the December 2023 deaths of two D.C. gay men.
A statement released by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. said Jevaughn Mark, 33, was charged, among other things, with selling fentanyl rather than the requested ketamine, known as “Special K,” to one of the two gay victims who shared the drug with his gay friend. Police identified the men as Brandon Roman, 38, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Robbie Barletta, 28, a home renovation business owner and historic preservationist.
An official with the D.C.-based group HIPS, which provides services to drug users, called the deaths of the two men a poisoning rather than an overdose because they unknowingly consumed the highly toxic fentanyl rather than the ketamine they thought they had.
9. Drag queens, protesters denounce Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover
D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot was among other drag queens and about 100 supporters who marched in February from Washington Circle to the Kennedy Center to protest President Donald Trump’s Kennedy Center “takeover” by his appointment of Trump supporters to the performing arts facility’s board of directors.
Hoot and three other local drag performers followed up with their own Kennedy Center protest in June by attending the Kennedy Center’s opening night performance of “Les Misérables” while Trump himself was in attendance. Among the concerns raised by the protesters was the Kennedy Center’s decision in February to cancel a performance by the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington scheduled for May to celebrate the upcoming WorldPride 2025 DC events. A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the performance was canceled because of “financial” and “scheduling” factors and not by the Trump initiated management changes.
8. D.C. LGBTQ Center celebrates opening of new, larger offices
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center officially opened its new expanded offices on April 26 at 1828 Wiltberger St., N.W., located one block from the Shaw Metro station.
Spanning 6,671 square feet of intentionally designed space, Center Director Kimberley Bush said the new space would offer a wide range of resources for LGBTQ individuals in need – including mental health services, job readiness programs, cultural events and community support groups, all under one roof.
7. Deaths of five key local LGBTQ advocates in 2025
The LGBTQ community took note of the passing of at least five highly regarded local LGBTQ advocates in 2025. Among them were Jeri Hughes, 73, a longtime local transgender rights activist; Dale Sanders, 75, a highly acclaimed D.C. attorney for more than 40 years who played a leading role in providing legal services to people with HIV/AIDS; Patrick Shaw, 60, a highly regarded D.C. public schools teacher; Thomas Mangrum, 61, an acclaimed advocate for people with disabilities and LGBTQ rights activist involved in the city’s Capital Pride events; and Loraine Hutchins, a nationally known and acclaimed advocate for bisexual and LGBTQ rights, and co-author and editor of a groundbreaking book on bisexuality.
6. Pro-LGBTQ Spanberger elected Va. governor
Former congresswoman and longtime LGBTQ rights supporter Abigail Spanberger (D) won her race for governor of Virginia on Nov. 6, defeating the state’s Republican lieutenant governor, Winsome Earle-Sears, who expressed strong opposition to LGBTQ equality. Spanberger, who will succeed incumbent GOP Gov. Glenn Youngkin in January, becomes Virginia’s first female governor.
Meanwhile, John Reid, a gay conservative radio talk show host in Richmond for many years, lost his race as the Republican candidate for lieutenant governor in Virginia, falling short of becoming the state’s first openly gay person to win a statewide office. Reid lost to Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, a member of the Virginia State Senate, who became the first Muslim woman to win election to a statewide office in any state.
5. Trans erasure hits D.C.
The National Park Service, which owns and maintains Dupont Circle as a federal park, in February removed all references to transgender people from its website devoted to Dupont Circle history. In a development believed to be linked to one of President Trump’s early executive orders banning federal support for trans related issues, the Park Service removed all mention of trans people from its website but left on the site multiple references to the “GLB community.”
In yet another act of what LGBTQ activists are calling “trans erasure,” D.C.’s Children’s National Hospital in July announced it would discontinue beginning Aug. 30 gender transition medical care it has provided for juvenile patients for at least the past 20 years. In a statement posted on its website, the highly acclaimed pediatric hospital said the change was made “in light of escalating legal and regulatory risks to Children’s National.” Most observers interpreted that to mean the risk of federal funding cuts linked to the Trump administration’s animus toward trans supportive programs or policies.
4. D.C. Mayor Bowser announces she will not run for re-election
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.
LGBTQ activists have pointed out that Bowser’s record of support on LGBTQ issues dates back to her tenure as the Ward 4 D.C. Council member from 2007 through January 2015, when she took office as mayor. They also credit her with expanding and significantly increasing funding for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and appointing the largest number of openly LGBTQ officials to D.C. government jobs than any prior D.C. mayor.
“It has been the honor of my life to be your mayor,” Bowser said in a statement.
3. D.C. LGBTQ bars ‘hanging in there’ amid tough economy
The owners of several of D.C.’s at least 25 LGBTQ bars told the Blade in November they had been negatively impacted by a series of developments and issues impacting most other D.C. bars, restaurants, and nightlife venues. Among the lead issues impacting them, they said, were the deployment by President Trump of National Guard troops on city streets, the nearly two-month-long federal government shutdown that ended in late November, and skyrocketing prices of food and other supplies brought about by the Trump administration’s tariff program.
Other factors cited were a decline in tourist visits to D.C. due to alienation from the Trump administration and a large increase in the number of LGBTQ bars in recent years that some observers said has resulted in fewer people going to each of the LGBTQ bars, the latest one, Rush at 14th and U Street, N.W., having opened in December.
2. At least 1.2 million turn out for WorldPride D.C.
At least 1.2 million people turned out from throughout the U.S. and internationally for WorldPride D.C. 2025, which took place from mid-May through June. It included hundreds of events held across the city. Among them were an international human rights conference, a March on Washington for LGBTQ Equality, sporting events with LGBTQ athletes, concerts by LGBTQ choral groups and nationally acclaimed pop musicians.
The events culminated with a six-hour-long WorldPride Parade on June 7 that drew hundreds of thousands of participants and bystanders and included a 1,000-foot long rainbow flag that led the parade. The WorldPride street festival and concert took place that same day and the following day, on June 8, along Pennsylvania Ave, N.W. that included hundreds of booths.
The 1.2 million attendance and the a $310 million economic impact it had on the city were significantly less that what had been initially predicted by city officials, who, along with LGBTQ activists, said the lower attendance and economic impact was due in part to the anti-LGBTQ policies and alienation of many potential foreign visitors by the Trump administration.
1. Trump takes control of D.C. police, deploys National Guard
LGBTQ rights advocates joined community leaders across the city in condemning President Donald Trump’s decision in August to take control of the D.C Metropolitan Police Department and deploy 800 National Guard troops to address what he called a crime wave caused by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “roving mobs of wild youth.”
A coalition of local LGBTQ advocacy organizations joined other community leaders, including gay D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), in calling Trump’s action a “power grab” aimed at eliminating D.C.’s locally elected government that would adversely impact people of color, the LGBTQ and immigrant communities.
In a development that captured national attention, a gay man was arrested on Aug. 10 on a misdemeanor assault charge for tossing a hero sandwich into the chest of a uniformed U.S. Customs and Border Control agent on a street near several gay bars in what he called an act of protest and defiance of the Trump deployment of federal troops and agents in D.C. In what some observers called a gesture of support for gay sandwich thrower Sean Charles Dunn, a federal court jury handed down a verdict of not guilty for the assault charge.
Gay Venezuelan man who fled to Colombia uncertain about homeland’s future
PHOTOS: Freddie’s Follies
Imperial Court of Washington drag group has ‘dissolved’
What to watch for in 2026: midterms, Supreme Court, and more
A reminder that Jan. 6 was ‘textbook terrorism’
A look back at the best books of 2025
D.C.’s 10 best theater productions of 2025
Safer Ways to Pay for Online Performances and Queer Events
The year in photos
