District of Columbia
DC man charged with killing partner in gay domestic violence case
Charging document says victim, 58, stabbed to death
D.C. police announced they have arrested 54-year-old Ted Anthony Brown on a charge of second-degree murder while armed for allegedly fatally stabbing his domestic partner, Tommy Hudson, 58, inside Brown’s apartment at 517 Harvard St., N.W., on May 26.
A four-page arrest affidavit filed by police and prosecutors in D.C. Superior Court says police arrested Brown two days later on May 28 after an investigation by Metropolitan Police Department homicide detectives identified Brown as a suspect in the case through information provided by witnesses.
The affidavit says Brown, following his arrest, waved his Miranda rights to remain silent and confessed to having stabbed Hudson after the two got into an argument and after Brown claimed his partner punched him in the face.
“Brown reported that he and the decedent have been involved in a romantic relationship for a significant period and that he was very jealous of the decedent’s possible infidelities,” the affidavit states. “Suspect 1 [Brown] reported to detectives that he believed the decedent punching him to the face did not justify Suspect 1 stabbing the decedent, which ultimately killed him,” the affidavit continues.
“Suspect 1 reported that he had stabbed the decedent in the past and threatened to kill him if he learned of subsequent cheating within their relationship,” the affidavit says. “Suspect 1 reported that he was the aggressive and argumentative party in their relationship and that the decedent would never like to argue,” it says.
Court records show that a D.C. Superior Court Judge Renee Raymond ordered Brown held without bond pending a detention hearing scheduled for June 17.
A D.C. police statement says that at about 8:57 a.m. on May 26, police responded to a call for a stabbing on the 500 block of Harvard Street, N.W. The arrest affidavit says that upon their arrival, officers found a man later identified as Hudson unconscious while sitting on the steps leading up to the front door of one of two apartments located in a two-story attached row house at 517 Harvard St., N.W.
The affidavit says an autopsy conducted by a physician with the Office of the D.C. Chief Medical Examiner determined the cause of death was a stab wound to the right shoulder that severed an artery. The manner of death was ruled a homicide.
It says a crime scene investigation found a trail of blood leading from the apartment where defendant Brown had been living to the outside steps where Hudson was found and subsequently taken to Washington Hospital Center, where he was pronounced deceased.
The affidavit states that two witnesses told detectives that they knew Brown as a resident of the neighborhood and encountered Brown on the day of the murder. Both witnesses told detectives that Brown told them he stabbed Hudson during an argument.
“Witness 1 reported that IT asked Ted what had transpired inside his residence on Sunday, May 26, 2024, and Ted stated words to the effect of, ‘My boyfriend assaulted me, look at my head, and I stabbed him in the heart!’” the affidavit states.
The affidavit also states that Brown has a history of prior domestic violence complaints lodged against him and that he had been arrested at least once for a prior domestic violence incident targeting Hudson.
Neither the arrest affidavit nor the D.C. police report states whether Hudson had been living in Brown’s apartment. But the D.C. police report lists Hudson’s address as 1355 New York Ave., N.E. An online search by the Washington Blade of that address shows it is listed as a men’s shelter operated by Catholic Charities.
Todd S. Baldwin, Brown’s court appointed attorney, when contacted by the Blade, said, “Mr. Brown is pursuing all legal options and defenses, and he’s presumed innocent. And I would ask that the public and all news media allow the justice system to work its way to justice.”
Asked if his client might pursue an argument of self-defense after telling police he stabbed his partner Hudson after Hudson allegedly punched him in the face, Baldwin replied, “I think that’s certainly a possibility. But we’re waiting for a full investigation to take place.”
Local LGBTQ rights advocate Vincent Slatt, who serves as chair of the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissions’ Rainbow Caucus, which monitors crime targeting the LGBTQ community, said the murder of Tommy Hudson was yet another example of how intimate partner violence is an “alarming problem” in D.C.
“The vast preponderance of it is straight men beating and killing women,” Slatt told the Blade. “But this case demonstrates, yet again, that LGBTQ people also use violence against their partners, too,” he said. “More information on this case will come forward in the days and weeks ahead, but one thing is already clear from the charging documents,” Slatt said.
“This death was not the first domestic violence incident for this couple,” he noted. “It was the escalation of a pattern that went back several years. Obviously, they did not receive the intervention they needed to end the cycle of violence.”
Slatt also noted that the Hudson murder underscores the need for more social services to address the issue of domestic violence. He said D.C. Mayor Muriel Bower’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs includes a Violence Prevention and Response Team that provides services for LGBTQ people who experience domestic violence, but he said that program is underfunded. Slatt called on the mayor’s office and the D.C. Council to add additional funds for that program and other domestic violence response programs in the city’s Fiscal Year 2025 budget.
District of Columbia
First D.C. LGBTQ seniors home ready to open
Mary’s House for Older Adults to operate facility for 15 seniors
The first nine residents of Mary’s House For Older Adults, D.C.’s first LGBTQ home for seniors, are expected to move into the newly built group home within the next week or two, according to Mary’s House founder and CEO Imani Woody.
Located at 401 Anacostia Rd., S.E. in the city’s Fort Dupont neighborhood, a write-up on its website says the house includes 15 single-occupancy residential units and more than 5,000 square feet of shared communal living space.
Woody said construction of the three-story house was completed in January and leases have been obtained by the first nine of the 15 residents, with the remaining six still available for interested seniors. She points out that Mary’s House, which is a nonprofit operation, is not an assisted living facility.
A large sign hanging near the top of the front wall of the Mary’s House building says, “Now Leasing! Single Bedroom Communal Living—LGBTQ+ Affirming Housing for Adults 62+”
The sign also includes the Mary’s House phone number and website address that Woody said interested seniors or those who may know a senior who would be interested should use to contact the LGBTQ supportive seniors residence.
Woody said each of the individual units or suites includes a sleeping area, living room, bathroom, and kitchenette with a sink, microwave, and refrigerator but no stove. According to the Mary’s House website, the shared communal areas of the house include a “fully equipped kitchen, separate dining area and living room.”
It says the communal area also includes a computer room, arts and crafts room, an exercise room, laundry facilities, community meeting space for gatherings, a “tranquil quiet room for relaxation,” and an outdoor terrace with seating.
Woody said the monthly rent for Mary’s House residents, depending on their income, is currently set at $812 or $886.
“Our mission extends beyond providing housing,” a statement on the Mary’s House website says. “We strive to build welcoming communities that address affordability, accessibility, and the unique needs of LGBTQ/SGL [Same Gender Loving] older adults.”
The statement adds, “Through health and wellness programs, connections to community services, and advocacy efforts, Mary’s House for Older Adults endeavors to ensure that all elders, regardless of identity, can enjoy fulfilling and secure lives in their golden years.”
Woody said a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the opening, to be led by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser is planned for early May, with a specific date to be announced soon.
Further information about Mary’s House, including a lease application, can be obtained at MarysHouseDC.org or at 240-972-2500.
District of Columbia
DC Trans Picnics event brings trans community together
Allied groups participated in March 22 gathering in Malcolm X Park
DC Trans Picnics on March 22 held a gathering in Malcolm X Park to celebrate joy and networking in the city’s transgender community ahead of Transgender Day of Visibility.
DC Trans Picnics is a collective known for offering space for trans and gender nonconforming members of the local queer community to spend time with and connect with one another. The March 22 event was geared specifically to BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and People of Color) individuals to help them connect with those of similar and different cultures, but anyone was allowed to come and celebrate if invited.
The gathering itself was not just one of sharing food, laughs, games and music, but a bolstering of the network of organizations, resources, and collectives in the community.
One of the volunteers for the event gave the Washington Blade a statement about some of the resources DC Trans Picnics offers in order to help as many trans people as possible. These efforts specifically target trans women who are early in their transition by connecting them with organizations that help people who are at risk of homelessness, voice training resources, and message boards with information about other resources.
Another event volunteer was a member of the Metro DC DSA, a group founded on achieving bodily autonomy and reproductive justice for queer and trans people in the DMV.
“It’s still TDOV, but it’s Trans Day vision instead of visibility.” the volunteer told the Blade. “The idea with that one is that trans people have a hypervisibility right now. Like nobody hasn’t heard of trans people or like, doesn’t know, not trans people.”
“That’s not the problem. The problem is that people don’t know the problem is they can’t see us. We’re trying to get the focus on instead of being seen, it’s about seeing trans people’s vision and like and shifting the perspective from like, instead of looking at us to looking with us.”
The Trans Day of Vision is taking place on Sunday, the day before Trans Day of Visibility.
Metro DC DSA is holding the event at Malcolm X Park. The group received permission to alter and use the TDOV acronym from Rachel Crandall, who founded the Trans Day of Visibility.
“Trans people actually have something unique to contribute,” the Metro DC USA volunteer said. “Our vision as a society and where we think we’re going and that trans people just because of our lived experiences, we know how to take the situation as it seems to be and say I don’t want that. There is so much need, demand, energy, and enthusiasm for change in our society, and trans people know what that feels like to know that they feel like things have to change.”
Other groups aside from Metro DC USA attended the event in solidarity. They include Lavender Evolutions, a BIPOC group focused on expanding their work from helping lesbian community members to supporting trans and nonconforming people in the area.
“This inclusionary event has encouraged queer and trans POC to come out and celebrate together.” said a Lavender Evolutions member.
The group aims to continue to work with DC Trans Picnics to help bring more events that promote unity for BIPOC members of the community to avoid any whitewashing in the future.
Another group that participated is the DC Area Transmasculine Society or DCATS, a support network that aims to provide transmasculine people in the D.C. area with resources about which they may otherwise not know in this political climate. Apart from providing binders, resources on homelessness, mutual aid networks, and other beneficial services, DCATS was taking any and all recommendations for resources that would benefit transmasculine people.
DC Trans Picnics can be found on Instagram at @dctranspicnics.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker facing 40% federal research budget cut
Trump terminates range of health grants related to sexual minorities
Officials at Whitman-Walker Health revealed that the organization’s Institute for Health Research and Policy is facing a 40 percent cut to its federal funding due to President Trump’s ongoing effort to reduce federal government spending.
The news was announced at a weekend drag brunch fundraiser held at Her Diner.
A spokesperson for Whitman-Walker told the Blade that final numbers of the cuts are not yet available and the full impact of the federal funding loss is not yet clear. The Institute for Health Research & Policy at Whitman-Walker works to advance good health outcomes via research, clinical trials, and evidence-based policy solutions. So it’s fair to assume the cuts will impact research into HIV and cancer treatments.
In related news, last week the U.S. government terminated at least 68 grants to 46 institutions totaling nearly $40 million, according to a report from the AP.
“Most were in some way related to sexual minorities, including research focused on HIV prevention. Other canceled studies centered on cancer, youth suicide and bone health,” AP reported.
Health and Human Services spokesman Andrew Nixon said the agency is “dedicated to restoring our agencies to their tradition of upholding gold-standard, evidence-based science.”
One canceled project at Vanderbilt University was following the health of more than 1,200 LGBTQ people age 50 and older, the AP said.
This is a developing story; the Blade will update this with details on the Whitman-Walker cuts when they are available.
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