Local
Teen pleads guilty in ‘McDonald’s’ trans beating case
Prosecutor asks for 5-year jail term
A 19-year-old woman who was charged with the April 18 beating of a transgender woman inside a McDonald’s restaurant in a Baltimore suburb pleaded guilty Thursday to one count each of first-degree assault and a hate crime.
The incident drew international attention after a bystander captured the attack on video and posted it online, where it went viral.
The video shows Teonna Monae Brown and a 14-year-old female, whom authorities have not identified, repeatedly punching an kicking Chrissy Polis, 22, in the head and body while dragging her by her hair across the floor of the restaurant.
Police said the incident started when Brown got angry after seeing Polis enter the woman’s bathroom at the restaurant and began shouting derogatory remarks about Polis’ gender identity. Police and witnesses said Brown and the juvenile then started the assault.
In a statement released on Thursday, Baltimore County State’s Attorney Scott D. Shellenberger said his office will ask for a “sentence of ten years, with five years suspended, and five years to serve in jail.”
A sentencing date had not been announced as of late this week.
“On July 1, 2011, a juvenile co-defendant who participated in this crime admitted responsibility to a first-degree assault and a hate crime,” the statement says. “The juvenile was found delinquent and has been committed to a secure juvenile facility.”
Shellenberger didn’t disclose how long the juvenile would be required to stay at the juvenile facility.
The incident drew expressions of shock and outrage in the LGBT community and the community at large, both in Maryland and throughout the country. Transgender activists in Maryland have said they are hopeful that the incident would prompt the Maryland State Legislature to pass a transgender non-discrimination bill next year. The legislature deliberated over the bill earlier this year but did not pass it.
Dana Beyer, executive director of Gender Rights Maryland, a statewide transgender advocacy group, noted that the group expressed faith in the Maryland justice system and in State’s Attorney Shellenberger shortly after incident.
“We feel that faith has now been vindicated, and that justice has been obtained,” she said. “We hope this gives Ms. Polis some comfort and peace. We also trust that her experience has helped the residents of Maryland come to a deeper understanding of the problems facing the state’s transgender community, so that such incidents never happen again.”
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Trump budget would codify expanded global gag rule
Cuba under pressure and without answers
