Local
Gay minister seeks Baltimore Council seat
AIDS activist, father of 5, is second out gay man to run
Rev. Kinji Scott is running for Baltimore City Council in the 5th district.
Citing flaws in the Baltimore City government and drawing upon his own experience of discrimination, Rev. Kinji Scott has filed as a candidate for the Baltimore City Council in the 5th District. In doing so, he becomes the second openly gay candidate to run for the City Council in 2016. Kelly Cross recently announced he is a candidate for the 12th District.
Scott, 46, and a father of five sons, will be among seven candidates vying for the seat in the 5th Councilmanic District, which includes the West Baltimore neighborhoods of Pimlico, Mount Washington, Cheswolde and Glen. It has been represented by the retiring Rochelle “Rikki” Spector for the past 36 years.
“I am running for office because the Baltimore City Council has lost touch with the citizens,” Scott told the Blade. “I am not a politician.”
Scott said that there is a need for a voice that represents the people’s interests and not those of the politicians and noted he is that proven voice.
“I have stood against the city administration, criminals in our community, and Baltimore City Police Department on behalf of Baltimoreans,” he said. “I will continue when I am elected to the City Council.”
Scott, who prides himself as being the only gay Baptist minister in Baltimore, was an activist most of his life. However, he says a tragic event in 2005 motivated him to do more.
He had been a group home manager for the now defunct Fellowship of Lights — a place in Baltimore where homeless or runaway gay or straight youths ages 12 to 17 came for shelter. When Scott found suitable housing for a 16-year-old boy named Vatell Murray, who was a resident of the home, the Baltimore City Department of Social Services dismissed it, according to Scott, and instead placed the teenager in an area where people had threatened to kill him. Department officials, said Scott, had promised to keep him safe.
Tragically, the teen was murdered 45 days later, and after denouncing the tragedy publicly, Scott said he was fired from his job. Since then he has spoken out on such community issues as lead paint poisoning, juvenile services, housing, police reform and public education. He has also been a strong voice concerning hate crimes against LGBT community, such as the beating of Kenni Shaw in 2012.
Scott accelerated his activism after his experience at a Baltimore City Health Department clinic soon after being diagnosed in 2012 with the co-infections HIV and syphilis. Scott said contracting both infections is not uncommon from MSM encounters.
“Syphilis ulcers on the genitals establish entry ways for HIV,” Scott explained. “We can’t simply talk about HIV without talking about syphilis. Baltimore City Health Department has to do a better spreading this message in our schools, churches and places where people gather like bars and clubs. Especially when it comes to our young LGBTQ community members that message has to be established.”
He added, “The Baltimore City Police stepped up patrolling the infamous ‘meat rack’ in Mount Vernon where young black men sex workers can be found, but the Health Department canvassing and outreach has not increased. That needs to happen and when I am elected I will get it done.”
Scott earned a master’s in American history from Southern Illinois University and has completed all but his thesis for a second master’s in city planning from Morgan State University. He said his life’s experiences and his zeal to help others in need provide the rationale for his candidacy.
“I am an outspoken and passionate activist with a history of advocating on behalf of Baltimoreans,” he said. “I want to advocate on behalf of Baltimoreans as a member of Baltimore City Council.”
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
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