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GLAA releases ratings for only four of 10 D.C. Council candidates

Defends decision to base scores on non-LGBTQ issues

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Council member Robert White scored a nearly perfect +9 on GLAAā€™s rating system. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

GLAA D.C., formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, announced on Oct. 8 that it has issued ratings for only four of the 10 D.C. Council candidates running in the cityā€™s Nov. 5 general election.

Under a policy adopted earlier this year, GLAA only rates candidates that return a GLAA questionnaire, the responses to which GLAA uses to determine its ratings. In resent years, GLAA has also limited its ratings to D.C. Council candidates and candidates for mayor in years when a mayoral race takes place.

The GLAA ratings for the four candidates, three of whom are incumbent Council members, include Council members Robert White (D-At-Large) +9; Christina Henderson (I-At-Large) +8.5; and Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) +9.5. Ward 7 Democratic candidate Wendell Felder received a rating of +2 rating.

Felder is running for the seat being vacated by Council member and former D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (D), a longtime LGBTQ rights supporter who is not running for re-election.

Under the GLAA rating system, the candidate ratings range from a +10, the highest possible score, to a -10, the lowest possible score.

When GLAA, a nonpartisan LGBTQ advocacy group, began its candidate ratings in the 1970s, it based its ratings on the candidatesā€™ positions and record on specific LGBTQ-related issues. But in recent years, with D.C.ā€™s local government having long ago passed LGBTQ supportive nondiscrimination legislation, the group has based its ratings on issues raised in its candidate questionnaire that are mostly non-LGBTQ specific.

Among the issues raised in the GLAA candidate questionnaire this year include asking candidates if they support decriminalizing sex work among consenting adults; removing criminal penalties for possession of drugs that are currently illegal for personal use; increased funding for programs to reduce drug overdose deaths; and ā€œaddressing concentrated wealth in the Districtā€ by raising revenue ā€œthrough taxing the most wealthy residents.ā€  

Just one of the nine questions on the questionnaire asks about a potentially LGBTQ-specific issue. The question asks if the candidate supports sufficient funding in the cityā€™s budget for the D.C. Office of Human Rights to adequately investigate cases of discrimination. The Office of Human Rights has investigated LGBTQ discrimination cases and could investigate those cases in future years.

GLAA President TyrONE Hanley has argued that each of the specific issues it raises in its questionnaire has an impact on LGBTQ people and should not be dismissed as non-LGBTQ issues.

ā€œWe believe all of the issues are LGBTQ issues as they impact LGBTQ people,ā€ he told the Washington Blade. ā€œLGBTQ people are disproportionately impacted by the lack of affordable housing, incarceration, and overdoses,ā€ he said. ā€œTo ignore the questions in our questionnaire would mean abandoning LGBTQ people who are most impacted by the failures of our government and community inaction.ā€

The D.C. Council candidates that were not rated because they did not return the GLAA questionnaire included Council members Brooke Pinto (D-At-Large), and Trayon White (D-Ward 8). The non-incumbent candidates who GLAA did not rate include Rob Simmons (R-At-Large), Darryl Moch (Statehood-Green Party-At Large), Noah Montgomery (R-Ward 7), and Nate Derenge (R-Ward 8).

Under its policy of only rating D.C. Council and mayoral candidates, GLAA also does not rate candidates running for the D.C. Board of Education, Delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives, and the shadow U.S. Senate and U.S. House seats, which are unpaid offices with no voting authority in Congress.  

Among those who disagree with GLAAā€™s focus on non-LGBTQ specific issues for its candidate ratings is gay Democratic activist Peter Rosenstein.

ā€œGLAA has moved from asking candidates questions related to the LGBTQ+ community to asking general questions,ā€ Rosenstein said. ā€œI donā€™t believe that is their role, or that anyone consults the GLAA ratings anymore before they vote,ā€ he said. ā€œMy recommendation is we as a community thank GLAA for all their past work, when activists like Rick Rosendall ran the organization, and now they should close their doors and disband.ā€

The questionnaire and candidate ratings can be accessed at glaa.org.

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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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