District of Columbia
D.C. police release photos of suspects in anti-gay attack at 14th & U
In separate case, gay couple attacked on Metrobus on Halloween night
D.C. police on Nov. 5 released photos of seven suspects linked to the Oct. 27 assault of a 22-year-old gay man at the McDonald’s restaurant at 14th and U Streets, N.W. that a police report lists as a suspected hate crime.
The police report says the victim, Sebastian Thomas Robles Lascarro, told police as many as 15 people, mostly men and some women, punched him repeatedly in the face and body, with some yelling the word “faggot,” after one of the women criticized him for not saying “excuse me” when he walked past her.
“Thomas was attacked by a mob who used hateful, derogatory language targeting his identity as a gay man,” Lascarro’s husband, Stuart West, said and who noted that Lascarro goes by his middle name Thomas. “This horrific hate crime left him hospitalized overnight, facing serious physical injuries and emotional trauma,” West said.
In a Nov. 5 statement, D.C. police said the photos of the suspects were obtained from nearby surveillance cameras. D.C. police chief Pamela Smith told the Washington Blade police investigators were working with McDonald’s officials to obtain the video recordings from security cameras inside and outside the MacDonald’s.
“Anyone who can identify these suspects or who has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099,” the police statement says. The statement adds that police are offering a $1,000 reward to anyone who provides information that leads to an arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for a violent crime in D.C., including the crime targeting Lascarro.
In a separate incident, FOX 5 News has reported this week that a gay male couple said they were the victims of a violent attack on a D.C. Metrobus on Halloween night, Oct. 31, and the two believe the incident should be listed as a hate crime.
According to FOX 5, Nico Nieves and Roy Capell said the incident took place around 1:30 a.m. after they left a gay bar on U Street, N.W., and boarded a Metrobus.
“They were all hitting us from all different angles,” FOX 5 quoted Capell as saying. “I was in the middle trying to block them and protect my partner from getting hit. I took a lot of punches to the back of the head, he took a lot of punches to his face,” FOX 5 quoted him as saying.
The Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority, or WMATA, which operates the Metro bus and subway system, didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Washington Blade for further information on the Metro Police investigation of the incident. The Blade also couldn’t immediately reach Nieves and Capell for comment.
FOX 5 reports that WMATA officials said the assault occurred after a group boarded the bus at New Jersey Avenue in the city’s Shaw neighborhood.
“A Metro spokesperson indicated that preliminary investigations and video reviews suggested that Nieves and Capell were ‘belligerent and antagonistic’ toward other passengers, which led to a verbal altercation before they were assaulted and robbed of Nieves’s necklace and watch,” FOX 5 reports.
But the TV news station’s report adds that Nieves and Capell dispute that claim, saying they were “simply being affectionate when a woman began yelling at them.” It further quotes Nieves as saying, “They were just calling us names, questioning why we are gay and f****, bunch of names. They started throwing punches because I said it was none of their business who we are, if I’m gay or not.”
Following a Nov. 4 press conference about security plans for election night activity in D.C. at which Mayor Muriel Bowser and Police Chief Smith spoke, Smith told the Blade police were actively investigating the McDonald’s assault against Lascarro. She also responded to concerns raised by West, Lascarro’s husband, that police did not initially list the attack as a possible hate crime until he contacted police the next day to ask about that.
“We’ve taken the time to review the body worn camera footage from the officer who conducted the investigation with the victim of that particular crime,” Smith said. “And during that interview there was nothing that was said from the victim that there were any anti-gay or gay or racial slurs being shared with him,” according to Smith.
“We do recognize that often times when individuals go through a significant amount of trauma, they may forget details of what may have occurred,” she told the Blade. “But when we were made aware of the fact that there were some homophobic comments being made, we sent out an investigator, a detective, to do that investigation.”
District of Columbia
Capital Pride chair resigns from board after just 10 months
Anna Jinkerson ‘taking step back to move forward’
Anna Jinkerson, who has served as chair of D.C.’s Capital Pride Alliance Board of Directors for the past 10 months and has served on the board for the past four years, confirmed she is resigning from the board effective Sept. 30.
Capital Pride Alliance serves as the lead organizer of D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
“I am taking a step back to move forward and plan to stay engaged in the community,” Jinkerson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Serving as a volunteer leader during a period of transition following World Pride was both an honor and a challenge,” she said.
“Throughout my tenure, I focused on strengthening accountability, improving communications, supporting staff and volunteers, and helping position the organization for long-term success,” she told the Blade in her statement. “Meaningful organizational progress requires collaboration, dedication, and a shared commitment to serving the community, and I am proud of the work accomplished during this period.”
In February of this year, during Jinkerson’s tenure on the board, Capital Pride announced it had expanded the size of its board from 12 to 25 members.
Around that same time one of the existing board members, transgender activist Taylor Lianne Chandler, announced in a letter to fellow board members that the Blade obtained from an anonymous sender that she was resigning from the board. Among her reasons for resigning, she said in the letter, was the board’s failure to address “sexual misconduct” within the Capital Pride organization.
In the letter, which she confirmed for the Blade was authentic, Chandler said she and other board members raised “credible concerns” of alleged sexual misconduct within the Capital Pride organization and the board chose not to adequately respond to those concerns.
Chandler told the Blade a Capital Pride investigation identified an individual implicated in a “pattern” of sexual harassment related behavior, but said she was bound by a Non-Disclosure Agreement that applied to all board members and she could not provide further details.
When the Blade contacted Capital Pride for comment on Chandler’s allegations, Jinkerson responded with a statement saying Capital Pride was addressing her concerns.
“When concerns are brought to CPA, we act quickly and appropriately to address them,” Jinkerson said. “As we continue to grow our organization, we’re proactively strengthening the policies and procedures that shape our systems, our infrastructure, and the support we provide to our team and partners,” she said.
In her statement to the Blade this week commenting on her planned resignation from the Capital Pride board, Jinkerson appeared to refer to the concern raised by Chandler.
“I am proud to have advocated for sexual harassment training, supported staff and volunteers when concerns were raised, engaged community leaders in important conversations, and helped advance practices that strengthen safety, transparency, and accountability,” she said.
“As I step away from board service, I do so with gratitude for the opportunity to serve and with confidence in the organization’s future,” she added. “I am taking a step back to move forward, and I look forward to remaining actively engaged in our community and continuing to support efforts that advance equality, belonging, and pride for all.”
District of Columbia
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Drag performer Tara Hoot serves as MC, Gay Men’s Chorus of DC performs, attendees shout for Trump to keep ‘hands off’ Kennedy Center
More than 2,000 supporters of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts turned out on Sept. 18, for a rally in support of the performing arts center and a vocal protest against President Donald Trump’s threats to permanently close the center and possibly demolish it.
The event was organized by a group called Hands Off the Arts, which initially called for participants to form a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center’s main building following a rally on the plaza in front of the building.
However, due to a decision by the Trump-controlled Kennedy Center’s board of trustees to close the center earlier in the week and install fencing around part of the building, participants could only form the chain around part of the building, according to organizers.
Drag performer Tara Hoot, who co-organized the event and served as master of ceremonies for the rally preceding the “human chain,” said the large turnout could have fully surrounded the building at least twice had the fencing not prevented a full encirclement.
Among the musicians and singing groups that performed at the rally was the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which, like other rally performers, had performed at the Kennedy Center in past years. They drew loud applause after singing one of their favorite songs from the Broadway musical show Ragtime, which includes the lyrics, “Will justice be demanded by 10 million men? Make them hear you. When they hear you, I’ll be near you again.”
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Prior to their performance, Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington’s artistic director, Thea Kano, spoke at the rally, reminding participants that shortly after the Trump takeover of the center last year, Kennedy Center officials cancelled a concert the chorus was scheduled to perform there for World Pride 2025.
A Kennedy Center spokesperson said the cancellation was due to a scheduling conflict, but chorus members and LGBTQ activists believe it resulted from policies put in place by Trump and his leadership team at the Kennedy Center following Trump’s statements that he would end controversial “woke” performances that he claimed the majority of Americans disapprove of.
“Now this building sits empty in silence,” Kano told the crowd at the rally. “Let us raise our voices together and bring back the Kennedy Center as it was intended, a place where American culture could be celebrated and elevated, embracing the vibrancy with the spectrum of identify without censure and without politics,” she said.
Among the others who spoke at the rally were U.S. Rep. Don Beyer (D-Va.), U.S. Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-Ill.), and D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large).
Most speakers, along with LGBTQ participants in the hands-around-the-building event expressed strong opposition to Trump’s demand that the Kennedy Center name be changed from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
At Trump’s request, his appointed board initially made that name change and placed Trump’s name on the front wall of the building along with the Kennedy name. But following legal action taken by opponents who pointed out that Congress must approve such a name change, a judge ordered the removal of Trump’s name from the building. Trump has said he will take steps to reverse that order and has said he will stop plans to renovate the Kennedy Center building and possibly demolish it if his name is not restored in the Kennedy’s Center’s official name.
Throughout the Sept. 18 rally, LGBTQ participants repeatedly responded to the Trump threats by shouting, “Hands Off!”
Chris Raleigh, one of the founders of Hands Off the Arts and a lead organizer of the Sept. 18 event at the Kennedy Center who spoke at the event told the Washington Blade that more similar events are being planned and he welcomes the support the event has received from the LGBTQ community.
“The LGBTQ community was here first, and we’re following them,” he said. “They’ve been the spearhead; they’ve been the vanguard. And I’m so thankful for heroes like Tara Hoot,” he said, adding, “It’s because they know what it means and how this is a safe place – the theater – for many LGBTQ people.”
The DMV’s own furry group was on full display on the Metro on Sept. 12.
Shutterpaws is a volunteer-led 501(c)(3) non-profit organization located in Maryland.
The furry group has been doing the FurRide event since 2024 and has blown up in popularity for furries around DMV. They showcased themselves on the Silver and Blue Lines near the Smithsonian on Sept. 12.
“A lot of careful planning goes into running these events, with the goal being a seamless and enjoyable experience for everyone who attends,” says Zayre, a Shutterpaws staff member. “There’s a lot that you learn just by trial and error, and as Shutterpaws hosts more and more events, our team of event organizers continues to learn and refine our approach to keep things running smoothly and finding new ways to engage with our community.”
With a larger growth of participation in the community comes many challenges with the group, especially when it comes to the Metro rides and organizing.
“The biggest challenge that we face as organizers is keeping things fresh and finding new and engaging venues to host events,” says Zayre. “Recently we saw a lot of success hosting a meet at On Target Battlezone, an indoor NERF gun battle arena where our crew was welcome to show up and play both with and without a fur suit.”
Nevertheless, Shutterpaws receive overwhelming support from the community and partners.
“Across the DMV there are so many amazing places to host a Shutterpaws event so we can pursue our mission of helping connect fur suiters and photographers, and we’re blown away with the amount of support we’ve received from our community partners,” says Zayre.
Shutterpaws plans to do more events for anyone in the DMV who is interested.
Their next event in collaboration with DC Fur Meet will take place at Pitchers (2317 18th St., N.W.) on Saturday. Visit Shutterpaws’ website for more information.
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A roundup of fall events not to be missed
Over 2,000 turn out for Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest
Furries take over the Metro
PHOTOS: Wanda Alston Foundation Fall Reception
