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District of Columbia

In D.C., 28 percent of homeless youth identify as LGBTQ

Advocacy groups, D.C. agency respond to increase in numbers

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The number of homeless LGBTQ youth is on the rise.

Editorā€™s Note: This article is part of our 2024 contribution to the D.C. Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works will be published throughout the week at bit.ly/DCHCRP.

The LGBTQ operated and LGBTQ supportive homeless shelters and transitional housing facilities in D.C. are operating at full capacity this year as the number of homeless city residents, including LGBTQ homeless residents, continues to increase, according to the latest information available.

The annual 2024 Point-In-Time (PIT) count of homeless people in the District of Columbia conducted in January, shows that 12 percent of the homeless adults and 28 percent of homeless youth between the age of 18 and 24 identify as LGBTQ.

The PIT count shows an overall 14 percent increase in homelessness in the city compared to 2023. This yearā€™s count of a total of 527 LGBTQ homeless people marks an increase over the 349 LGBTQ homeless people counted in 2023 in D.C. and 347 LGBTQ homeless counted in 2022.

Representatives of the LGBTQ organizations that provide services for homeless LGBTQ people have said the actual number of LGBTQ homeless people, especially LGBTQ youth, are most likely significantly higher than the annual PIT counts.

Liz Jaramillo, director of Youth Housing for the D.C. LGBTQ youth advocacy group SMYAL, which provides transitional housing for at least 55 homeless LGBTQ youth through four housing programs, said SMYAL staff members have observed a clear increase in the number of LGBTQ youth facing homelessness or housing insecurity.

She said the increase has been a topic of discussion with other groups providing homeless services for LGBTQ youth as well as with officials from the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS), which provides support and funding for LGBTQ homeless related programs.

ā€œSo, I do think there has been an increase,ā€ Jaramillo said. ā€œWe see it during our meetings when we are talking with DHS and talking about the need for what the next steps will be for growing LGBTQ housing in general across the city.ā€

Among other things, Jaramillo and officials with other LGBTQ organizations, including the D.C. LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition, are calling on the city to expand its funding for LGBTQ homeless programs to keep up with the need to address the increasing number of LGBTQ homeless people in the city.

SMYAL began its housing program for LGBTQ youth in 2017. It was preceded by D.C.ā€™s Wanda Alston Foundation, which opened the cityā€™s first transitional housing program solely dedicated to LGBTQ youth facing homelessness between the ages of 18 and 24 in 2008. As of 2022, the Alston Foundation had opened two more LGBTQ youth homeless facilities.

Both SMYAL and the Alston Foundation provide a wide range of services for their LGBTQ youth residents in addition to a safe and stable shelter, including food and nutrition services, case management services, mental health counseling, crisis intervention, and employment related skills development and education services.

The two groups also have designated at least one of their housing facilities to offer their LGBTQ residents extended transitional housing for up to six years.

In September of 2021, at the time when the LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby lost its city funding for its own longstanding LGBTQ youth homeless shelter, the Department of Human Services awarded a grant for the opening of a new LGBTQ youth homeless shelter to Covenant House, a nonprofit group that provides homeless youth services nationwide. In 2022, Casa Ruby closed all its operations.

At the time, Covenant House announced the facility would serve as a 24-bed LGBTQ youth shelter called Shine in the cityā€™s Deanwood neighborhood. In response to a request by the Washington Blade for an update on the status of the Shine facility, DHS released a statement saying the facility has been expanded to 30 beds and continues to receive DHS funding.

With most of the LGBTQ-specific homeless facilities in D.C. focusing on youth, the DHS opened the cityā€™s first official shelter for LGBTQ adults in August of 2022 following a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser. The 40-person shelter is located at 400 50th St., S.E.

ā€œDHS continues to support LGBTQ adults through its low-barrier shelter, Living Life Alternative,ā€ DHS said this week in its statement to the Blade. The statement says the facility is operated by The Community Partnership for the Prevention of Homelessness, which refers to itself as TCP, through a DHS Sole Source grant. According to the statement, TCP ā€œsub awards the grant fundingā€ to a company called KBEC Group, Inc., which specializes in providing comprehensive social services and residential living for youth and adults. 

ā€œKBEC proactively offers intensive care management services allowing residents to overcome long-standing obstacles preventing them from obtaining and maintaining permanent housing,ā€ the DHS statement says in describing KBECā€™s involvement in the LGBTQ adult housing facility.

ā€œThese include connections to Behavioral Health Services, Substance Use Disorder (SUD) resources, Supportive Employment Job Training Programs, direct access to health care within the shelter at least once a month, and a comprehensive curriculum of Life Skills to include Financial Literacy Classes, Music Therapy, Art Therapy Classes, and Group Therapy sessions,ā€ the statement says. 

It says the goal of the program associated with the LGBTQ adult shelter is to enable its residents to be able to leave the facility within six months through assistance from programs leading to self-sufficiency. 

ā€œKBEC has successfully connected more than 50% of residents to some type of housing subsidy, whether through the Mayorā€™s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, DHS Housing Vouchers, or Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH),ā€ the statement says.  

A least two other non-LGBTQ locally based organizations ā€“ the Latin American Youth Center and Sasha Bruce Youthwork ā€“ also provide services for homeless LGBTQ youth, including housing services, the two groups state on their website.

Jaramillo, of SMYAL, and Hancie Stokes, SMYALā€™s communications director, told the Blade this week that SMYAL and other local LGBTQ organizations continue to advocate for LGBTQ cultural competency training for the staff at non-LGBTQ organizations or private companies that provide LGBTQ-related homeless services.

ā€œWe work closely with our community partners to make sure that when a queer young person is matched into their program or placed into their program that they are equipped with basic cultural competency to be able to provide those supportive services to folks,ā€ Stokes said. 

ā€œBut there is a great need for increased funding for programs like SMYAL and Wanda Alston, which is why we partner with the LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition to advocate for more funding on behalf of all LGBTQ+ housing programs,ā€ she told the Blade.

One example of a possible consequence of inadequate cultural competency training surfaced in April of this year when a transgender woman filed a discrimination complaint against a D.C. homeless shelter after it refused to allow her to stay in the womenā€™s section of the shelter, forcing her to stay in the menā€™s sleeping section.

The complaint was filed against the shelter operated by the Community for Creative Nonviolence at 245 2nd St., N.W., which is one of the cityā€™s largest privately operated shelters. A spokesperson for the shelter did not respond to a phone and email message left by the Blade asking for a response to the complaint.

Transgender rights advocates have said the denial of the placement of a transgender woman in the female section of a place of public accommodation such as a homeless shelter is a violation of the D.C. Human Rights Actā€™s ban on gender identity discrimination. 

Jaramillo and Stokes said SMYAL has responded to yet another growing need for homeless and housing services related to the cityā€™s immigrant community. Shortly after the shutdown of Casa Ruby, Stokes said SMYAL created an LGBTQ youth street outreach program that focuses on Spanish-speaking LGBTQ youth.

ā€œA lot of folks are experiencing homelessness,ā€ Stokes said. ā€œBut this is particularly working with queer and trans Spanish-speaking youth who are experiencing homelessness to either get them connected to housing services, health care, legal documentation or legal support, and education,ā€ she said.

ā€œAnd so, our team goes out to areas like Columbia Heights and other areas where we know a lot of these migrant populations are setting up communities. And this is an outreach directly to them and it builds rapport in the community.ā€

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District of Columbia

Gay man found unconscious near D.C. gay bar dies

Police release video of suspects in incident listed as robbery

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D.C. police released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Bryan Smith that led to his death. (Screen capture via MPD YouTube)

D.C. police have confirmed that a gay man who worked as a hairstylist and a DJ and who was found unconscious about 5 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. near the gay bar Uproar has died.

Friends who knew the victim, Bryan Smith, stated in a GoFundMe message seeking support for his medical expenses that he was hospitalized for a severe head injury. His family members told Fox 5 News that he was in a coma.

A D.C. police spokesperson confirmed that Smith died on Nov. 7 and the cause and circumstances surrounding his death were pending with the Northern Virginia Medical Examinerā€™s Office. ā€œOnce we have more information, weā€™ll be putting that out,ā€ D.C. police spokesperson Thomas Lynch told the Washington Blade.

The information released by D.C police indicates Smith at some point was transferred from a D.C. hospital where he was taken by ambulance at the time he was found unconscious to a Virginia hospital, most likely at the request of family members.

Police also released a video showing two suspects and a vehicle they believe the suspects used in committing the robbery of Smith.

ā€œThe ongoing investigation has determined that the man was robbed by two suspects while walking on the block,ā€ according to an Oct. 30 police statement released before Smith died. ā€œDetectives are still working to determine how the victim sustained his injuries,ā€ the statement says.

The statement adds that the suspects have been linked to three other offenses that took place that same morning, two of which were attempted robberies and one of which was a robbery of victims on nearby streets.

Smith was found unconscious on Oct. 27 about five hours after another gay man, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarra, 22, was reportedly attacked and beaten by as many as 15 men and women at the McDonaldā€™s restaurant at 14th and U Street, N.W., according to a D.C. police report and information provided by Lascarraā€™s husband.

D.C. police announced they made an arrest Nov. 5 of a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the McDonaldā€™s case. The arrest came on the same day police released photos of seven suspects in the McDonaldā€™s assault case taken from video cameras at or near the McDonaldā€™s.

In their release of the video showing the two suspects in the Smith case, police are asking that anyone who may recognize the two individuals should contact police at 202-727-9099 or text their tip to the departmentā€™s TEXT TIP Line at 50411.

ā€œAnyone who may have seen or heard something suspicious in the 500 block of T Street, NW, or the surrounding area around 5:00 a.m. Sunday [Oct. 27] is asked to call the police or text police,ā€ the statement accompanying the release of the police video says. 

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District of Columbia

D.C. voters approve controversial Initiative 83

Proponents hope measure will allow more minority votes to be heard

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Initiative 83 supporters celebrated at Crush Bar on election night. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

It’s ironic that the city that is home to the federal government gets almost no say in how the federal government is run.

From license plates that display the phrase ā€œNo Taxation Without Representationā€ to countless ā€œ51st Stateā€ stickers seen everywhere, the residents of Washington are well aware that their vote carries less weight than other Americans.

Despite this, one group in Washington is attempting to expand residentsā€™ electoral power through Initiative 83. The group ā€˜Yes On 83ā€™ has been the driving force behind the measure. They have put up signs across the city, handed out flyers, and spoken to people about what the initiative would change. Ā 

ā€œInitiative 83 is a two-part ballot initiative,ā€ said Porter Bowman, the volunteer communications director for Yes On 83. ā€œIt does two things. One, would implement ranked choice voting in primaries and general elections in D.C., as well as let independents vote in the primary of their choosing.ā€

On Tuesday after the polls closed, the Yes on 83 team gathered at Crush Dance Bar on 14th Street for an election watch party. There, groups of purple wearing volunteers gathered on the dance floor to celebrate their work and watch election results trickle in.

One of those volunteers is Ruby Coleman, the student engagement coordinator for the Yes On 83 campaign and an American University student who was passionate about the measure. She explained this is a win for Washington voters, regardless of how they voted on the measure.

ā€œIt will hold our politicians accountable,ā€ Coleman said as her co-volunteers danced behind her. ā€œRanked choice voting will make it easier to vote out politicians who do not work for us, since they need the 50% threshold, it’ll make it a lot easier for us to vote them out.ā€

 In ranked choice voting, 51% is the golden number. The way ranked choice voting works is voters rank their preferred candidates in order of preference (first, second, third). Then, only the first choices of voters are counted. If a candidate wins more than 50% of the vote they win the race. 

If no candidate reaches that 51% threshold, then the person with the least number of votes is eliminated and everyone who voted for the now eliminated candidate has their second option vote counted. This process of eliminating the lowest supported candidate continues until one of the candidates reaches above 50% of the vote.

This in theory encourages voters to research all the potential candidates’ platforms and ideas, as well as provide more balanced voting by eliminating ā€œspoilerā€ votes where similar candidates split the vote causing neither to win. 

In addition to ranked choice voting, Initiative 83 also allows for independents, or those not registered to any party, to vote in Washington’s primary elections. Washington has formerly only allowed registered partisan voters to partake in primary votes. Ā 

There are many reasons why residents may not register under a major party. Some people feel party platforms donā€™t reflect their ideas, others, like journalists and high-level federal workers, may not register to avoid appearing partisan.

At about 10:15 p.m. on Tuesday, the Yes On 83 group celebrated a premature victory. At this point, approximately 55% of Washingtonians’ votes had been counted. The ‘Yes’ vote for Initiative 83 held a strong lead, with 72% in favor, while the ‘No’ vote trailed at less than 30%.

Lisa D. T. Rice, the proposer of the initiative, was beaming on Crushā€™s stage as she addressed the volunteers on the dance floor.Ā 

ā€œAfter a full, tiring, but momentous day, I’m especially proud and looking over the sea of faces, I know what an amazing team we have here,ā€ Rice said to start her nearly eight-minute-long speech. ā€œAs a native Washingtonian woman of persistence, I proposed Initiative 83 here in my hometown to put voters first. I love this city, and I think we deserve a political system where politicians have to work harder to earn our votes.ā€

Proponents of Initiative 83 have said the ranked choice system will allow for more voices to be heard, including those of the LGBTQ community. 

ā€œIn ranked choice voting, you have the opportunity to vote based on your values and not necessarily strategically,ā€ Coleman told the Blade. ā€œThat means that you can vote for someone who you want to win over someone who you think is going to win.ā€

ā€œA very easy example of this is if you’re looking at the presidential election and you want to vote third party, but you think the Democratic candidate might win, you can still vote third party first and put the Democratic candidate second,ā€ Coleman continued. ā€œYou’re not losing any votes. You’re not wasting your votes. And so that’s the same minority candidates, including LGBTQ candidates. Studies have shown that ranked choice voting elects women, minority candidates, and candidates of color at a higher rate because people are not afraid to vote for them, to put them first.ā€

Opponents of ranked choice voting have said the process is too complicated and will lead to voter confusion, a longer counting process, and may not reflect the true majority preference.

Despite this opposition, Washington has approved the initiative; 186,277 (or around 72%) of Washington voters said yes to the initiative, while 70,045 (27%) voters said no. 

ā€œRanked choice voting is a proven system to hold politicians accountable to a majority of voters, and letting independents like me, independents like me, vote in these taxpayer funded primaries, is just the right thing to do,ā€ Rice continued in her victory speech. ā€œWe built a strong coalition of voters across the district, all wards, backgrounds, races, classes and political ideologies, who realized it’s time to make politicians work harder for us. Thank you to those who believed in us and joined us on this journey.ā€

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District of Columbia

Juvenile arrested in case of anti-gay attack at 14th & U McDonaldā€™s

Move comes on same day D.C. police released photos of suspects

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Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro was attacked by a group of suspects on Oct. 27. (Photos courtesy of Stuart West)

D.C. police on Nov. 6 announced they had arrested one day earlier a 16-year-old juvenile male in connection with the Oct. 27 incident in which as many as 15 men and women allegedly assaulted a gay man at the McDonaldā€™s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W., with some of them shouting an anti-gay slur.

A police statement says the 16-year-old, a resident of Northwest D.C., was arrested Nov. 5 and charged with Assault With Significant Bodily Injury.

Under longstanding law enforcement policy, police do not release the names of juveniles under the age of 18 who are arrested unless a decision is made by prosecutors to charge the juvenile as an adult.

The arrest came several hours after police on the same day released photos of seven suspects linked to the McDonaldā€™s incident. Police said they obtained the photos from one or more video security cameras at or near the McDonaldā€™s.

But the brief police statement announcing the arrest does not say whether the juvenile was identified by someone who recognized him from one of the photos of suspects released that day. However, the statement announcing the arrest includes the photos of the seven suspects and urges anyone who can identify one or more of them to contact police.

ā€œAnyone who can identify these suspects or who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099 or text your tip to the Departmentā€™s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,ā€ the statement says.

(Images courtesy of MPD)

The victim in the McDonaldā€™s attack, 22-year-old Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, was taken by ambulance to a hospital for treatment of serious but non-life-threatening injuries on the night of the attack before being released the next day. His husband, Stuart West, said Lascarro had been at two gay bars in the 14th and U Street area and stopped at the McDonaldā€™s on his way home.

Lascarro told police, who have listed the incident as a suspected hate crime, that the multiple assaults began inside the McDonaldā€™s when one of the female attackers criticized him for not saying ā€œexcuse meā€ when he walked past her.

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