District of Columbia
National Trans Visibility March returns to D.C. amid rising attacks
‘We stand tall because that is power’
Community members, advocates, and LGBTQ leaders came together for the annual National Trans Visibility March on Aug. 24 amid a weekend filled with workshops and events focused on transgender rights and advocacy. It was the first time the march returned to D.C. since its inaugural event in 2019.
About 400 people attended the march, which began with a rally at the Human Rights Campaign headquarters at 1 p.m. Hope Giselle, president of the National Trans Visibility March, took the stage to demand respect for the transgender and non-binary community, and emphasize the power the community wields.
“We stand tall because that is power; the ability to influence the people that say that they were un-influential, the ability to speak life into people who have had their very existence crushed by the folks that were supposed to nurture and honor them,” Giselle told the crowd.
The crowd was energized with call-and-response refrains of “Trans — power, trans — power,” as other speakers took the stage, including Rev. Carmarion D. Anderson-Harvey, who led an empowerment service at National City Christian Church the Friday before the rally, and Jay Jones, Howard University’s first trans student president. The president of the Human Rights Campaign, Kelley Robinson, also spoke, connecting the fight for transgender rights to broader LGBTQ causes.
“You can’t get to equality where Black trans women are being killed in the streets. You can’t get to equality where our trans and non-binary kids are under attack,” she said. “Y’all, none of us is free until all of us are free.”
Giselle then honored Robinson with a Torch Award, which Robinson had missed receiving at the ceremony on Friday evening due to being at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago, where she spoke. The National Trans Visibility March presents the award to “individuals whose work has impacted the lives of Transgender, Gender Non-Conforming and Non Binary (TGNCNB) communities across the nation.”
At 1:30 p.m., the crowd began to make its way down 17th Street, N.W. before turning onto P Street, N.W., toward Dupont Circle. Marchers held signs proclaiming “Trans rights are human rights,” “Protect Trans Siblings” and “Trans Lives Matter.” The march then circled back toward the HRC headquarters.
Jordan Alexander, who was crowned king in the Black Trans Advocacy Coalition’s Pageant in May, reflected on the importance of visibility for the transgender and gender non-conforming community.
“This march makes sure that people like us see people like us. A lot of the time we don’t see positive images of ourselves. There’s a lot of talk about how we kind of go at each other, and so this is just a great time for us to come together as family and to show people that we can unite when it’s time,” Alexander said.
The march took place against the backdrop of continued legislative attacks against the transgender community. The transgender legislation tracking organization translegislation.com has tracked a record-breaking 642 anti-trans bills considered across 42 states this year, of which 45 have passed.
Republican-governed state legislatures are attacking transgender and gender non-conforming people’s rights, introducing bills that target nondiscrimination laws and access to gender affirming care. Book and drag performance bans have also been instituted.
Anti-trans legislation has also been introduced on the federal level, and Donald Trump has promised to revoke LGBTQ protections and enforce discrimination through federal law if reelected.
Jamison Henninger, executive director of the DC Area Trans Masculine Society, said the march showed the transgender community’s readiness to mobilize in this year’s election.
“It’s great to be able to come out together and show people that you know we are a strong minority, and that our rights matter and that we won’t be passive in the legislation that tries to attack us,” he said.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
District of Columbia
Man charged with anti-gay assault in D.C. accepts plea offer
Community service offered in exchange for dismissing hate crime charge
A Germantown, Md., man arrested by D.C. police on a charge of simple assault with a hate crime designation for allegedly assaulting a gay man while using “homophobic slurs” has agreed to an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to simple assault without the hate crime designation and with the promise of having the charge dismissed if he completes, among other requirements, 48 hours of community service work.
Dean Edmundson, 26, standing beside his attorney, officially accepted the offer of a Deferred Sentencing Agreement at an Aug. 18 status hearing in D.C. Superior Court after Senior Judge Hiram Puig-Lugo explained the details of the agreement and confirmed Edmundson’s decision to waive his right to a trial.
Among other things, the judge said the agreement offered by prosecutors with the Office of the United States Attorney for D.C. includes the requirement that he successfully completes 48 hours of community service work, stays away from the victim of the assault, writes a letter of apology to the victim, and does not violate any other laws or get into trouble for the next 12 months.
Puig-Lugo then announced he scheduled a sentencing hearing for Edmundson for Aug. 18, 2027, at which time a determination will made on whether he has fulfilled all the requirements under the agreement and whether the simple assault charge will be dismissed. The judge added that if it is determined that Edmundson did not fulfil the terms of the agreement the charge would remain in place and he could be sentenced to a possible maximum penalty of 180 days in jail and a $1,000 fine.
Edmundson, who appeared in court wearing a business suit with a dress shirt and tie, was released on his own recognizance following his arrest by D.C. police on Feb. 7, 2026.
Police and court records show he was initially charged by arresting officers with simple assault with a hate crime designation. In a statement announcing the arrest, D.C. police said, “On Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026, at approximately 7:45 p.m. the victim and suspect were in the 1500 block of 14th Street, Northwest. The suspect requested a ‘high five’ from the victim. The victim declined and kept walking,” the statement says.
A follow-up arrest affidavit filed by police states that Edmundson followed the victim and called him “bald, ugly, and gay,” and then “pushed the victim with both hands, shoving them, causing the victim to feel the force of the push.” The affidavit adds, “The victim stated that they felt offended and that they were also gay.”
According to the court records, the Office of the U.S. Attorney filed its official charge of simple assault against Edmunson on Feb. 9 without the hate crime designation. The office has not responded to a request by the Washington Blade for its reason for dropping the hate crime designation. The office has also not immediately responded to a follow-up inquiry from the Blade this week asking if prosecutors consulted the victim to obtain the victim’s thoughts about the plea offer.
The Blade, which has a policy of not disclosing the identify of crime victims in cases like this without their consent, could not immediately obtain contact information to reach the victim for comment.
Court records show that Edmundson rejected an earlier plea agreement offer by prosecutors and he was scheduled for a non-jury trial on Aug. 18. The records show his attorney filed a motion earlier this month asking the judge to convert the trial into status hearing on that same day after his client accepted the Deferred Sentencing Agreement offer by the U.S. Attorney’s office. The judge approved the motion without objection from prosecutors.
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Calendar: August 21-27
