Local
Teenager charged in D.C. lesbian attack
Police have made one arrest; say more are being investigated
D.C. police on Tuesday charged a 19-year-old D.C. man with assault for a July 30 incident in which five lesbians reported being attacked and beaten by two men outside the Columbia Heights Metro station.
In a statement released late Tuesday, police said detectives from the department’s Third District announced the arrest of Christian Washington of Northwest D.C. on a charge of assault after obtaining a D.C. Superior Court warrant.
“The Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating whether others were involved,” the statement says.
The case has attracted widespread attention after two of the victims told the Blade that police officers responding to the scene of the attack refused to take a report of the incident. The two women also said the officers released a suspect they apprehended upon their arrival on the 3100 block of 14th Street, N.W., where the incident occurred.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier issued a statement on Aug. 5 saying she was “appalled” over the conduct of the officers who responded to the scene of the incident. She said the department would conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.
One day earlier, she told members of the D.C. group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence that officers failing to take a report of a crime similar to this one could be fired from the department depending on the findings of an investigation.
An officer with the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit did take a report of the incident on Aug. 2. The report prepared by the GLLU officer listed the incident as an anti-lesbian hate crime.
The report says the victims reported that at least one of the two male attackers called the women “dykes” and “bitches” before he and another man punched each of the five women in the head and face several times.
Court records show that D.C. police charged a man named Christian Washington with unauthorized use of a vehicle on July 27, just three days before the attack against the five lesbians. The Blade could not immediately determine whether the Christian Washington charged in the unauthorized use of a vehicle case is the same person as the man charged with assaulting the five lesbians.
The four-paragraph police statement released Tuesday doesn’t say whether the charge filed against Washington was listed as a misdemeanor or felony assault or whether it was listed as a hate crime.
More information about the case was expected to emerge on Wednesday, when Washington was expected to appear in court for a hearing.
“I appreciate the personal interest that Chief Lanier has shown in this case and the fact that the MPD announced an arrest in the case today,” said D.C. gay activist Peter Rosenstein. “I anticipate there may be more arrests, and the LGBT community needs to follow up and make sure that the officers who mishandled this are disciplined or fired.”
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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.).
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Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
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