District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Dems announces D.C. election endorsements
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, has announced it has endorsed all but one of the Democratic candidates on the Nov. 5 D.C. election ballot.
Among those the group says it has endorsed wholeheartedly are Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris and her vice-presidential running mate, Tim Walz.
The one D.C. Democratic candidate it chose not to endorse is Ward 8 D.C. Council member Trayon White, who was indicted earlier this year on federal bribery charges.
“The membership declined to vote on the Ward 8 Council seat until the investigation and trial of the Democratic candidate is concluded,” the group said in an Oct. 9 statement announcing its endorsements.
In its endorsements for the two At-Large D.C. Council seats up for election this year, Capital Stonewall Democrats broke from its tradition of endorsing only Democratic candidates. In addition to endorsing incumbent At Large Council member Robert White (D), the group also endorsed independent At Large Council member Christina Henderson. Both Henderson and Robert White are longtime LGBTQ rights supporters.
Among the other Democratic candidates endorsed by Capital Stonewall Democrats include D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton; Ward 2 Council member Brooke Pinto; Ward 4 Council member Janeese Lewis George; and Ward 7 D.C. Council candidate Wendell Felder. Felder is running for the seat being vacated by incumbent Council member and former D.C. mayor Vincent Gray (D), who is not running for re-election.
Pinto and Lewis George are running unopposed.
The remaining Democratic candidates endorsed by Capital Stonewall Democrats include D.C. Shadow U.S. Senate candidate Ankit Jain and D.C. Shadow U.S. House candidate Oye Owolewa.
The“shadow” U.S. Senate and House seats are unpaid positions with no voting rights or privileges in Congress. They were created to lobby for D.C. statehood and other issues of importance to D.C. that come before Congress.
The statement released by the group says it declined to take a position on Initiative 83, a measure on the D.C. election ballot calling for creating a rank choice voting system in D.C. and calling for open D.C. primaries. If approved by voters, the measure would allow independents to vote in party primaries that are currently open only to registered members of the Democratic, Republican, and Statehood-Green parties.
The D.C. Democratic State Committee, the governing body of the D.C. Democratic Party, is strongly opposed to Initiative 83 on grounds, among other things, that it opposes allowing non-Democrats to vote in D.C. Democratic primary elections.
Howard Garrett, the Capital Stonewall Democrats president, said the group has taken no official position on Initiative 83 other than it has chosen not to endorse the measure.
“We just think it is in the best interest of our organization to let individuals within our organization make their own determination on this issue,” he told the Washington Blade. “We will not endorse or state that we are not in agreement with I-83.”
The Log Cabin Republicans of the District of Columbia, the local chapter of the national LGBTQ Republican organization Log Cabin Republicans, has not issued endorsements of any of the six Republican candidates running for local D.C. elective positions, according to Andrew Mink, the D.C. Log Cabin president.
Among the D.C. Republican candidates are Nate Derenge, who is running against Ward 8 Council member Trayon White. Political observers say White is expected to win re-election despite the criminal charges pending against him. However, the D.C. Board of Elections’ list of candidates who have filed papers as write-in candidates shows five candidates are challenging White as a write-in candidate.
District of Columbia
Activists hold chalk art protest at McDonald’s after anti-gay assault
Police say victim attacked, beaten by 15 people for not saying ‘excuse me’
Local gay activist Joey Minervini and two others used chalk to draw LGBTQ supportive messages on the sidewalk outside the McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W. at 9 a.m. Sunday Nov. 3, one week after D.C. police say a gay man was attacked and assaulted by 15 men and women at that McDonald’s while shouting the word “faggot.”
Police say they are investigating the Oct. 27 assault against Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, 22, that Lascarro has said began inside the McDonald’s at about 1 a.m. when one of the attackers, a woman, criticized him for not saying “excuse me” when he walked past her.
“He ignored her, and he walked away,” Lascarro’s husband, Stuart West, told the Washington Blade. West said his husband told him the woman then called him a faggot and her friends, who were mostly men, blocked the exit door at the McDonald’s, preventing Lascarro from leaving and about 10 of the attackers began to punch him repeatedly in the face and body.
He was taken by ambulance to Howard University Hospital, where he was treated for multiple cuts and bruises before being released the next day.
Minervini released a series of photos he took of the Nov. 3 chalk protest, a few of which show the words “EXCUSE ME We All Belong” drawn in rainbow colored chalk on the sidewalk in front of the McDonald’s entrance. Other messages they drew on the sidewalk included, “We all belong here,” and “D.C. For You And Me,” with a drawing next to it with fingers making the peace sign.
Joining Minervini for the protest was D.C. artist and muralist Chelsea Ritter-Soronen, who operates a local chalk art and mural business called CHALK RIOT, Minervini told the Blade. He said one of his friends, Darren Pierre, also participated in doing the chalk art drawings.
Minervini said most passersby, including customers entering and leaving the McDonald’s, appeared to be supportive of the protest, with some taking pictures of the chalk drawings.
“The vibe there was positive,” he said. “Some people were unaware of what we were doing, so I explained to them a gay man was attacked for apparently not saying ‘excuse me.’ So, that’s why we were chalking the words ‘excuse me’ to reclaim the phrase,” Minervini said. “We were doing it there to reclaim the space a little bit.”
He said he did not see any of the McDonald’s employees come out to look at the drawings up until the time the three ended their chalk art action about 10:15 or 10:30 a.m. Minervini said he and a friend walked past the McDonald’s around 5 p.m. Sunday evening and the chalk drawings were still on the sidewalk.
D.C. police have listed the attack against Lascarro as a suspected hate crime. But they have not provided an update on their investigation, including whether investigators have interviewed McDonald’s employees who were present during the attack or whether they have requested video footage from the security cameras at the McDonald’s.
West, Lascarro’s husband, said the ambulance took Lascarro to the hospital before police arrived and police officers first spoke to Lascarro about the attack at the hospital rather than at the scene of the assault.
“Thankfully, he has been recovering from his injuries, the scrapes, cuts, bruising and swelling have all started to heal, but I fear the real damage can’t be seen,” West said in an updated message in a GoFundMe posting he set up to help defray the costs of Lascarro’s medical expenses.
“Unfortunately, after this incident, he’s battling with many emotions including anxiety, depression, fear of leaving the house and worse, questions whether D.C. is the right fit for him,” West says in his posting.
West told the Blade Lascarro, who goes by his middle name of Thomas, is a recent immigrant from Colombia who has permanent U.S. resident status. He said Lascarro had been at the nearby gay bars Crush and Bunker before stopping at the McDonald’s on his way home.
District of Columbia
D.C. police investigating anti-gay assault at 14th & U McDonald’s
In separate incident, gay man found unconscious near Florida Avenue bar
D.C. police are investigating an incident in which a group of as many as 15 men and women allegedly assaulted a gay man while some of them called him a “faggot” at around 1 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 27, at the McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W., according to a police report and the victim’s husband.
The report, which lists the incident as a suspected hate crime, says the victim, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, was taken to Howard University Hospital for treatment. A police spokesperson said he was released from the hospital the next day.
A GoFundMe page posted by Stuart West, Lascarro’s husband, who said Lascarro goes by his middle name Thomas, states, “Medical bills, therapy costs, and ongoing recovery needs will continue to increase and any help to ensure he gets the care he needs to regain his health and peace of mind will be a blessing.”
The GoFundMe message adds, “Thomas was attacked by a mob who used hateful, derogatory language targeting his identity as a gay man. This horrific hate crime left him hospitalized overnight, facing serious physical injuries and emotional trauma.”
In response to an inquiry from the Blade about the 14th and U Street incident, a D.C. police spokesperson disclosed that a man whose friends identify him as gay was found unconscious on the ground suffering from a head injury about 5 a.m. also on Sunday, Oct. 27, at the intersection of 5th and T Streets, N.W. just off Florida Avenue near the gay bar Uproar.
A police report lists the case as a robbery but doesn’t say how the injuries he suffered to his head happened. And like the case of the gay man attacked at the McDonald’s, friends of the man found unconscious posted a GoFundMe page identifying the man.
“Bryan Smith (aka the barber) recently suffered immense trauma to his head and will be hospitalized for the foreseeable future,” it says. “Bryan is a dear friend and a pillar in the D.C. queer and nightlife communities,” the GoFundMe appeal says. “Any amount of donations would be greatly appreciated to go towards the upcoming expenses he will incur.”
One of the friends who posted the GoFundMe told the Washington Blade they would have no further comment at this time. However, D.C.’s Fox 5 News reports members of Smith’s family said he remains in a coma, with D.C. police saying they have video footage of two possible suspects who reportedly took Smith’s phone and wallet containing credit cards.
Although people who knew Smith said he had worked for many years as a hairstylist, the Fox 5 News report says he had recently been serving as a DJ. It points out that police are offering a $1,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction of the perpetrators responsible for Smith’s robbery and assault.
West, the husband of Lascarro, when contacted by the Blade, said Lascarro, 22, had been at the nearby gay bars Crush and Bunker, and he stopped at the McDonald’s on his way home. West said the assault began inside the McDonald’s, which was crowded with customers. He said the police report correctly states that Lascarro told police the incident began when one of the attackers, a woman, criticized him for not saying “excuse me” when he walked past her.
“He ignored her, and he walked away,” West told the Blade, adding that the woman then called him a faggot and her friends, who were mostly men, blocked the exit door at the McDonald’s, preventing Lascarro from leaving and demanded that he apologize to the woman.
“And when he said he was not going to apologize and he raised his hand to try and move the door to get out, that’s when more than 10 individuals started to assault him,” West said. “And so, they started punching him all over his face and body, and it eventually moved to outside the McDonald’s on the D.C. sidewalk, where more people got involved and started hitting him and assaulting him.”
At one point when Lascarro was sitting on the ground, “bloodied, dazed, and confused, they decided to throw drinks and trash at him,” West said. He said when two people walking by asked him if he needed help, Lascarro was able to dial 911 on his phone, and an ambulance arrived minutes later, which took him to the hospital.
“They performed a full CT scan and thankfully there were no critical injuries discovered,” West said. “So, the only injuries are bruises and scrapes and cuts and a very sore jaw,” he said, adding that the head injuries have caused his husband to suffer migraine headaches.
West said he later visited the McDonald’s and asked two supervisors if they would release to him a copy of the video surveillance camera images from their security cameras from the night of the attack. He said the two declined his request but said they were cooperating with the police investigation.
D.C. police officials have said investigators routinely obtain video camera footage from businesses or from city security cameras along public spaces such as parks or streets when investigating crimes.
Police have said anyone with information that could lead to the identification of the perpetrators involved in the crimes targeting Lascarro and Smith should contact police at 202-727-9096.
The GoFundMe pages for the two men are here:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-thomass-recovery-from-hate-crime
https://www.gofundme.com/f/support-bryan-smiths-medical-recovery
District of Columbia
46 known LGBTQ candidates running for D.C. ANC seats
32 running unopposed on ballot, 22 are incumbents
At least 46 known LGBTQ candidates are running for seats on the city’s Advisory Neighborhood Commissions in the Nov. 5 D.C. election, with a half dozen or more LGBTQ candidates running in each of the city’s wards except for Ward 3, where just two known LGBTQ candidates are running.
Among the 46 known LGBTQ candidates, 22 are incumbent ANC commissioners seeking re-election to another four-year term. The ANC Rainbow Caucus, which consists of LGBTQ ANC members, shows on its website it currently has 27 incumbent commissioners, most of whom are running for re-election.
That appears to indicate the percentage of LGBTQ ANC members seeking to run for re-election is greater than the percentage of the overall number of ANC members running for another term. According to reports by the Washington Post and other media outlets, many ANC members have chosen not to run for re-election this year, based in part on the stress that goes with the job
Under the D.C. Home Rule Charter, Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners serve as unpaid elected officials charged with making recommendations to the city government on a wide range of neighborhood issues, including the approval of liquor licenses for bars and restaurants and zoning regulations. City officials are required to give “great weight” to the ANC recommendations, but government officials are not required to accept the recommendations.
The official list of ANC candidates on the D.C. election ballot released by the D.C. Board of Elections shows that 51 of the 345 ANC Single Member Districts, or SMDs, do not have a candidate running on the Nov. 5 election ballot. The Board of Elections has released a separate list of registered write-in candidates that includes several ANC candidates.
The Board of Elections list shows there are a far larger number of ANC single member districts in which a single candidate is running unopposed. Among the 46 LGBTQ ANC candidates, 32 have no opponent on the election ballot.
Gay ANC commissioner Vincent Slatt, who represents the Dupont Circle ANC district 2B03, and who serves as chair of the ANC Rainbow Caucus, said ANC members face a considerable amount of stress.
“ANCs are volunteer, uncompensated positions that we do in addition to our day jobs,” Slatt told the Washington Blade. “There is an extremely high turnover rate due to the lack of support we receive from the executive agencies, and the perception of our neighbors that we provide constituent services that our Council members provide,” he said.
Slatt added that residents sometimes lack full understanding of the role of ANC members, which “has created a large amount of turnover, and the problem is getting worse.”
The Blade obtained its list of known LGBTQ ANC candidates in part from the ANC Rainbow Caucus, which compiled its own list of LGBTQ candidates, and from the LGBTQ Victory Fund, the national group that supports LGBTQ candidates for elective office, which released a list of 13 Victory Fund “approved” ANC candidates. The Blade obtained a few additional names of LGBTQ ANC candidates not on the Rainbow Caucus or Victory Fund lists from people who knew the candidates.
Also, among the known LGBTQ ANC candidates, in just two single member districts, two LGBTQ candidates are running against each other. One is in district 1B03 in the Columbia Heights neighborhood in which J. Swiderski is challenging incumbent Jamie S. Sycamore.
The other is in district 2G01 in the Shaw neighborhood in which Howard Garrett, the recently elected president of the Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s LGBTQ Democratic group, is running against community activist Parker Griffin. The two are competing for an ANC seat in which the incumbent is not running for re-election.
Similar to past election years, the largest number of known LGBTQ ANC candidates are running this year in districts in Ward 2, including the Dupont Circle, Logan Circle, and Shaw neighborhoods. However, more LGBTQ candidates this year are running in Wards 4, 5, and 8 than in past years.
Gay former ANC commissioner Kent Boese, who until 2022 had represented the Ward 1 SMD in the Park View neighborhood, continues in his current role as director of the D.C. Office of Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, to which he was appointed in October 2022. Among his duties is to oversee fiscal and administrative operations of ANCs across the city.
Following is a list of the LGBTQ ANC candidates and the single member districts and neighborhoods in which they are running.
1A04 – (Columbia Heights)
Jeremy Sherman, he/him
1A07 – (Columbia Heights)
Mukta Ghorpadey, she/her
1A10 – (Columbia Heights)
Billy Easley, he/him
1B03 – (Columbia Heights/U Street)
J. Swiderski, they/he
Jamie S. Sycamore, he/him
1B06 – (Columbia Heights/Meridian Hill)
Miguel Trindade Deramo, he/him
1B07 – (U Street)
Matthew Holden, he/him
1D01 – (Mount Pleasant)
Jay Falk, she/her
1E01 – (Park View)
Brad Howard, he/him
1E07 – (Howard University/Pleasant Plains)
Brian Footer, he/him
2A05 – (Foggy Bottom)
Luke Chadwick, he/him
2B02 – (Dupont Circle)
Jeffrey Rueckgauer, he/him
2B03 – (Dupont Circle)
Vincent Slatt, he/him
2B09 – (Dupont Circle/U Street)
Christopher Davis, he/him
2C01 – (Penn Quarter)
Michael D. Shankle, he/him
2F05 – (Logan Circle)
Christopher Dyer, he/him
2F06 – (Logan Circle)
John Fanning, he/him
2F07 – (Logan Circle)
Kevin Cataldo, he/him
2G01 – (Shaw)
Parker Griffin, he/him
Howard Garrett, he/him
2G02 – (Shaw)
Alexander ‘Alex’ Padro, he/him
2G04 – (Shaw)
Steven McCarty, he/him
3B06 – (Wesley Heights)
S. Robert Rodriquez, he/him
3F05 – (Van Ness/Cleveland Park)
Adrian Jesus Iglesias, he/him
4B01 – (Takoma)
Doug Payton, he/him
4B10 – (Lamond Riggs)
Jinin Berry, she/her
4C06 – (Petworth)
Christen Boss Hayes, they/them
4E02 – (16th Street Heights)
Vince Micone, he/him
5B02 – (Brookland)
Nandini Sen, she/her
5B04 – (Brookland)
Ra Amin, he/him
5B05 – (Brookland)
Mónica Martínez López, she/her
5D05 – (Trinidad)
Salvador Sauceda-Guzman, he/him
5D06 – (Trinidad/Carver)
Charquinta (Char) McCray, she/her
5E05 – (Bloomingdale)
Tyler Lopez, he/him
5F06 – (Eckington)
Joe Bishop-Henchman, he/him
6B03 – (Capitol Hill)
David Sobelsohn, he/him
6B09 – (Capitol Hill/Barney Circle)
Karen Hughes, she/her
7B05 – (Hillcrest)
Elizabeth Reddick, she/them
7C01 – (Deanwood)
Brian Glover, he/him
7C03 – (Lincoln Heights)
Carlos Richardson, he/him
7C08 – (Capitol View)
Brandon M. Scott, he/him
7E06 – (Benning Ridge)
Ravi K. Perry, he/him
8A01 – (Fairlawn)
Tom Donohue, he, him
8B05 – (Garfield Heights)
Marcus Thomas Hickman, he/him
8C08 – (Douglass)
Elizabeth Carter, she/her
8F04 – (Navy Yard)
Edward Daniels
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