District of Columbia
Judge closes hearing for D.C. gym owner charged in child porn case
Everts was expected to disclose decision on plea deal
In a surprise development, a U.S. District Court Judge on Oct. 23 agreed to a request by a defense attorney to close to the public and the press a court hearing in which gay D.C. gym owner Michael Everts was expected to disclose whether he would accept an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge than the charge of distribution of child pornography initially filed against him.
Everts has been held in jail since the time of his arrest on Nov. 29, 2023, on a single charge of distributing child porn. Prosecutors disclosed in court documents shortly after Everts’s arrest that they extended a plea bargain offer to him, but did not publicly disclose the details of the offer.
In three separate status hearings before Judge Tanya S. Chutkan, Everts requested through his attorney and was granted additional time to consider whether to accept the plea offer.
At the hearing on Wednesday, Oct. 23, before Judge Chutkan ordered it closed, a written notice of the hearing posted on the wall next to the courtroom door stated, “U.S. v. Everts – change of plea.”
That notice, which a court clerk removed immediately after the hearing was ordered closed, suggests that Everts may have accepted the offer to plead guilty. But no public court records had been released as of the end of the business day to confirm whether Everts accepted the plea offer or why his attorney requested, and the judge agreed to close the hearing.
Minutes before the hearing was ordered closed, the lead prosecutor in the case, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jocelyn Bond, expressed opposition to the request by the defense to close the hearing. That was when Chutkan agreed to the defense request and ordered the hearing closed, requiring a Washington Blade reporter and one other spectator to leave the courtroom.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s office has not responded to a request by the Blade for an explanation of why the defense requested the hearing be closed and whether Everts accepted the plea offer.
In yet another unexplained development, the federal court online docket site PACER.gov had not been updated as of the close of business on Oct. 23 for the Everts case to show what happened during the closed hearing, which began at 10 a.m. That raised speculation that the judge, at the request of the defense, may have ordered the case sealed.
Court observers, however, have said the public court records almost always state that a case has been sealed. In the Everts case, as of early evening on Oct. 23, no information about what happened at the Oct. 23 hearing, including whether the case has been sealed, was posted on the court’s online site.
Everts pleaded not guilty to the child porn distribution charge at an April 4 arraignment hearing. At that hearing Judge Chutkan agreed to the first request by Everts’s attorney, David Benowitz, to give Everts more time to consider the plea offer by prosecutors.
Everts is the owner and until the time of his arrest was the lead operator of the FIT Personal Training gym located at 1633 Q St., N.W. near Dupont Circle.
Court records show that Everts’s arrest last November came after a joint D.C. police and FBI investigation determined, among other things, that Everts allegedly distributed images of underage boys engaging in sexual acts to an undercover D.C. police detective posing in an online gay hookup site as someone interested in underage boys for sex.
Court observers familiar with this type of criminal case have said one possible reason for closing the hearing and sealing the case could be that the defendant is cooperating with police and prosecutors in a related investigation into other people believed to have engaged in similar criminal conduct.
Another potential reason, court observers say, is the defense wants to discuss mental health issues impacting a defendant that court rules say should remain confidential.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
District of Columbia
Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79
Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’
John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.
Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.
“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.
“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”
The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”
It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17th Street, N.W. called Peppers.
According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.
The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.
“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.
“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.
The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.
“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride theme, performers announced at ‘Speakeasy’
Durand Bernarr to headline 2026 programming
The Center for Black Equity held its 2026 DC Black Pride Theme Reveal event at Union Stage on Monday. The evening, a “Speakeasy Happy Hour,” was hosted by Anthony Oakes and featured performances by Lolita Leopard and Keith Angelo. The Center for Black Equity organizes DC Black Pride.
Kenya Hutton, Center for Black Equity president and CEO, spoke following the performances by Leopard and Angelo. Hutton announced this year’s theme for DC Black Pride: “New Black Renaissance.”
Performers for 2026 DC Black Pride were announced to be Bang Garcon, Be Steadwell, Jay Columbus, Bennu Byrd, Rue Pratt and Akeem Woods.
Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was announced as the headliner for the 2026 festivities. Bernerr gave brief remarks through a video played on the screen at the stage.
DC Black Pride is scheduled for May 22-25. For more information on DC Black Pride, visit dcblackpride.org.
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