Local

UPDATE: GLLU gets temporary new sergeant

Mahl ‘rotating through as part of his training’

Published

14 years ago

July 6, 2012

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

Members of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

A sergeant from the D.C. Police Department’s Sixth District began work on July 1 as supervisor of the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit as part of a three-month training program and will return to the Sixth District upon completion of the program, according to a police spokesperson.

Earlier reports from police sources, now said to be incorrect, indicated that Sgt. Matthew Mahl would become the new permanent supervisor of the GLLU, marking the first time the unit has had a full-time supervisor assigned exclusively to the unit since 2009.

“Sergeant Mahl is an affiliate member [of the GLLU] and he is rotating through as part of his training,” Police Chief Cathy Lanier said on Friday in an email to gay activist Peter Rosenstein.

In a separate email, police spokesperson Gwendolyn Crump told the Blade, “Sgt. Mahl is an affiliate and like every member who attends affiliate training, he is rotating through and will return to his assigned element at the end of his detail.”

Lanier told the Blade in an interview last week that GLLU affiliate members are detailed to the GLLU headquarters in Dupont Circle for a 90-day training period before being rotated back to their regular assignment in one of the department’s seven districts.

Some local LGBT activists have urged Lanier to appoint a full-time sergeant to head the GLLU instead of retaining the unit’s current status of being headed by a sergeant who divides his duties between the GLLU and the department’s Latino Liaison Unit.

Since 2009, Sgt. Carlos Mejia has served as supervisor of both the GLLU and the Latino Liaison Unit. He has been praised by LGBT activists who say he has been doing an excellent job.

But the activists, including leaders of the local group Gays and Lesbian Opposing Violence (GLOV), have said the liaison units would be better served – as they had in past years – with a full-time sergeant assigned exclusively to each of the units, including the GLLU.

“I’m glad that Sgt. Mahl is rotating through the GLLU for training but we are still hoping that previous commitments from the chief and the mayor will secure a fulltime permanent sergeant for the unit,” Rosenstein said on Friday.

In her email to the Blade, Crump said Mejia and Sgt. Kenny Temsupasiri are permanently assigned to the Special Liaison Division, which oversees the GLLU, the Latino Liaison Unit and two other special units — the Asian Liaison Unit and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Liaison Unit.

Temsupasiri heads both the Asian and Deaf and Hard of Hearing Units.

Mahl told the Blade on Thursday that during his tenure at the Special Liaison Division he would serve as full-time supervisor of the GLLU and Mejia would serve exclusively as the Latino Liaison Unit’s supervisor.

“He’s helping me out getting things settled down here,” Mahl said of Mejia.

Capt. Edward Delgado, who heads the Special Liaison Division, sent an email on Thursday to LGBT advocates and various LGBT organizations announcing Mahl’s assignment at the GLLU.

“I would like for each of you to introduce yourself and inform him of the services that each of your organizations provide the community,” Delgado said in his email. “I know that he has been out in the community conducting meet and greet sessions. Therefore, let’s give Sgt. Mahl a warm welcome and support him while he is detailed to the Special Liaison Division,” he said.

Mahl said he has been on the police force for eight and a half years. He began as an officer assigned to the Third District and was assigned to the Sixth District shortly after being promoted to sergeant in 2009.

He said he’s looking forward to working with the LGBT community during his tenure as a GLLU supervisor.

Original post below:

A sergeant from the D.C. Police Department’s Sixth District has been named supervisor of the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit, marking the first time the unit has had a full-time supervisor assigned exclusively to the unit since 2009.

Sgt. Matthew Mahl has replaced Sgt. Carlos Mejia, who had been serving as supervisor of both the GLLU and the Latino Liaison Unit.

LGBT activists, while praising Mejia for his work at the GLLU, have long called on police officials to name a sergeant to head the GLLU who spends all of his or her time assigned to the unit.

But the head of the police division that oversees the GLLU and three other special police liaison units, Capt. Edward Delgado, suggested in an email sent to LGBT activists on Thursday that Mahl’s assignment with the GLLU could be short-lived.

“I would like to welcome Sergeant Matthew Mahl who is an Affiliate Sergeant from the Sixth District,” Delgado said in his email. “He is detailed to the unit to get a better understanding of GLLU operations and requirements…Therefore, let’s give Sergeant Mahl a warm welcome and support him while he is detailed to the Special Liaison Division.”

A police spokesperson couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Mahl’s tenure at the GLLU is consider permanent or temporary.

The Special Liaison Division oversees the GLLU as well as the Latino Liaison Unit, the Asian and Pacific Islander Liaison Unit, and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Liaison Unit.

Mahl said Mejia, who is helping him “get on the ground running” at the GLLU, will remain as head of the Latino Liaison Unit.

“The plan is for him to just take over full time the Latino Liaison and myself the Gay and Lesbian Liaison,” Mahl told the Blade on Thursday. “He’s helping me out getting things settled down here.”

Former D.C. Police Chief Charles Ramsey created the GLLU in the late 1990s as one of the first such units in a large metropolitan police department to be given full authority to make arrests and investigate crimes as well as reach out to the LGBT community.

Current D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier expanded the GLLU and the other three liaison units over the past four years to include dozens of affiliate officers assigned to each of the department’s seven police districts.

The GLLU affiliate officers, who receive training on LGBT related issues, respond to calls in their respective districts on matters such as anti-LGBT hate crimes or LGBT related domestic violence.

The GLLU’s headquarters in Dupont Circle currently includes five full-time “core” officers along with Mahl as supervisor. An aide to Lanier said last week that there are currently 99 GLLU affiliate officers based in the seven police districts.

Sgt. Brett Parson served as full-time supervisor of the GLLU from 2001 to 2007, receiving praise from LGBT activists for having a highly visible presence in the community. Parson served as head of the then Special Liaison Office, which oversaw the GLLU and the other three liaison units, between 2007 and 2009.

In 2009 Parson also took on the role of GLLU head after his replacement, Sgt. Tania Bell, left the unit. Later that year Parson requested a transfer to a street patrol position, saying his first love as a cop was to focus more on active crime-fighting duties. It was at that time that Lanier assigned Mejia to serve as supervisor of the GLLU while retaining his existing post as supervisor of the Latino Liaison Unit.

Lanier said that due to city budget cuts and police spending constraints, it became necessary to assign Mejia to take on the dual role of supervisor of both units.

The two other special liaison units – the Asian Pacific Islander Liaison Unit and the Deaf and Hard of Hearing Liaison Unit – retained a full-time sergeant serving as supervisor.

Mahl said he was approached about taking on the role as head of the GLLU by Deputy Police Chief Diane Groomes and Delgado.

He said he has been on the force for eight and a half years. He said he began as an officer in the Third District and was promoted to sergeant in 2009 before being assigned to the Sixth District. Mahl said he looks forward to his duties with the GLLU and will be meeting with LGBT advocates and various LGBT organizations over the next few weeks.

“I don’t know how long these things last, but I’m here for now,” he said, when asked whether he was told how long his detail with the GLLU would last.

As of Thursday, the department had not issued an official announcement of Mahl’s assignment to the GLLU.

A.J. Singletary, chair of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), which monitors police related issues, said he was unaware of Mahl’s assignment as GLLU head until the Blade contacted him about the development.

“I think it’s great,” he said. “Having someone talking on this role is something we have been asking for and the community has been asking for. GLOV has always called for having a full-time sergeant.”

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District of Columbia

‘No Kings’ protests set for D.C.

Anti-Trump demonstrations to take place across country on Saturday

Published

24 hours ago

March 26, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

A 'No Kings' protest took place in D.C. on Oct. 18, 2025. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

As President Donald Trump and his administration escalate rhetoric targeting transgender youth and student athletes, push efforts to restrict voting access for millions of Americans, and pursue foreign policy decisions that critics say bypass congressional authority, organizers across the country are once again mobilizing in protest.

For many LGBTQ advocates, the moment feels especially urgent.

In recent months, activists have pointed to a surge in anti-trans legislation, attacks on gender-affirming care, and efforts to roll back nondiscrimination protections as direct threats to the safety and visibility of queer and trans communities. Organizers say the demonstrations are not just about policy, but about defending the right of LGBTQ people — particularly trans youth and people of color — to live openly and safely.

Thousands of “No Kings” protests are planned nationwide, with multiple demonstrations set to take place in D.C.

One of the primary events, “No Kings Washington,” will be held in Anacostia, an overwhelmingly Black area of D.C. that is often at the center of conversations around racial justice, policing, and access to resources in the nation’s capital.

The protest in Anacostia is focused on what organizers describe as the “power behind the throne,” specifically Stephen Miller, the White House Deputy Chief of Staff for Policy and Homeland Security Advisor. Miller has been closely associated with the administration’s “zero tolerance” immigration policy, including the family separation practice that resulted in thousands of children being separated from their parents at the Southern border.

Activists have also linked immigration enforcement policies to broader concerns about LGBTQ migrants, including queer asylum seekers who often face heightened risks of violence and discrimination both in their home countries and within detention systems.

Anacostia protest details:

Participants are asked to gather starting at 1:30 p.m. on the southeast side of the Frederick Douglass Bridge. The closest Metro station is Anacostia on the Green Line, about an 8-minute walk from the starting point. Organizers strongly encourage attendees to use public transportation, as street parking is limited.

The march will proceed past Fort McNair and conclude near the Waterfront Metro station.

D.C. icon and LGBTQ activist Rayceen Pendarvis is set to speak at the protest around 2 p.m.

Kalorama protest details:

A separate protest will take place earlier in the day in Kalorama, a neighborhood long associated with political power and home to presidents, cabinet officials, and foreign ambassadors. Demonstrators are expected to gather at 10 a.m., with a march running until approximately noon near the intersection of Connecticut Avenue and Kalorama Road.

Arlington/National Mall protest details:

Another group is expected to assemble at Memorial Circle near Arlington National Cemetery at 10 a.m. before crossing the Memorial Bridge into D.C., passing the Lincoln Memorial and continuing on to the Washington Monument. Organizers say the march is intended to defend “American democracy, the rule of law, and a healthy planet.”

Unlike last June — when organizers discouraged large-scale demonstrations in D.C. due Trump’s military/birthday parade — activists are now explicitly calling on people to show up in the nation’s capital and surrounding areas.

The protests also coincide with Transgender Day of Visibility weekend, which includes additional gatherings and celebrations on the National Mall. At the same time, peak bloom for the National Cherry Blossom Festival is expected to draw large crowds to the city. With multiple major events happening simultaneously, officials and organizers anticipate significant congestion, increased traffic, and crowded public transit throughout the weekend.

Organizers are urging participants to plan ahead and come prepared.

“Bring your signs, noisemakers, music, and creative ideas, and gather in joyful, nonviolent protest,” they said. “Children are very welcome.”

For more information, visit nokings.org.

District of Columbia

Gay priest credited with boosting church support for LGBTQ Catholics

Fr. Tom Oddo’s biographer speaks at Dignity Washington event

Published

2 days ago

March 25, 2026

Lou Chibbaro Jr.

(Book cover image courtesy of Amazon)

The author of a biography of a U.S. Catholic priest said to have advocated for support by the Catholic Church of gay Catholics in the early 1970s has called Father Thomas ‘Tom’ Oddo a little known but important figure in the LGBTQ rights movement.

Tyler Bieber, author of the recently published book “Against The Current: Father Tom Oddo And the New American Catholic,” told of Oddo’s life and work on behalf of LGBTQ rights at a March 22 talk before the local LGBTQ Catholic group Dignity Washington.

Among Oddo’s important accomplishments, Bieber said, was his role as a co-founder of the national LGBTQ Catholic group Dignity U.S.A. in 1973 at the age of 29.

But as reported in the prologue of his book, Bieber presented details of the sad news that Oddo died in a fatal car crash in 1989 at the age of 45 in Portland, Ore., where he was serving as the highly acclaimed president of the University of Portland, a Catholic institution.

“He was a major figure in the gay rights movement in the 1970s, an unsung hero of that movement,” Bieber told Dignity Washington members, who assembled for his talk in a meeting room at St. Margaret Episcopal Church near Dupont Circle, where they attend their weekly Catholic mass on Sundays.

**Tyler Bieber** (Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro, Jr.)

“And Dignity U.S.A. saw intense growth in membership and visibility” during its early years under Oddo’s leadership, Bieber said. “The story of Father Tom and his contemporaries is a story largely untold in the history of the gay rights movement, but one worth knowing and considering,” he said.

As stated in his book, Bieber told the Dignity Washington gathering Oddo was born and raised in a Catholic family on Long Island, N.Y., and attended a Catholic high school in Flushing Queens. It was at that time when he developed an interest in becoming a priest, according to Bieber.

After studying at the University of Notre Dame and completing his religious studies he was ordained as a priest in 1970 and began his work as a priest in the Boston area, Bieber said. It was around that time, Bieber told the Dignity Washington audience, that gay Catholics approached Oddo to seek advice on how they should interact with the Catholic Church. It was also around that time that Oddo became involved in a group supportive of then gay Catholics that later became a Dignity chapter in Boston.

In a development considered unusual for a Catholic priest, Bieber said Oddo in 1973 testified in support of gay rights bill before a committee of the Massachusetts Legislature and collaborated with then Massachusetts gay and lesbian rights advocate Elaine Noble.

In 1982, at the age of 39, Oddo was selected as president of the University of Portland following several years as a college teacher in the Boston area, Bieber’s book states. It says he was seen as a “vibrant and capable administrator who delivered real results to his campus,” adding, “His magnetism was obvious. One student described him as ‘John Kennedyesque’ to the university’s student newspaper.”

Bieber said that although Oddo was less active with Dignity U.S.A. during his tenure as UP president, he continued his support for gay Catholics and what is now referred to as LGBTQ rights.

“For those that knew him prior to his term at UP, though, he represented something greater than an accomplished university administrator and educator,” Bieber’s book states. “He was a new kind of priest, a gay man living and ministering in a world set loose from tradition by the Second Vatican Council,” the book says.

It was referring to the Vatican gathering of worldwide Catholic leaders from 1962 to 1965 concluding under Pope Paul VI that church observers say modernized church practices to allow far greater participation by the laity and opened the way for sympathetic consideration of gay Catholics.

District of Columbia

HRC to host National Rainbow Seder

Bet Mishpachah among annual event’s organizers

Published

2 days ago

March 25, 2026

Sam Epner

(Photo by Rafael Ben Ari/Bigstock)

The 18th National Rainbow Seder will take place at the Human Rights Campaign on Sunday.

The sold out event is the country’s largest Passover Seder for the Jewish LGBTQ community.

Organizations behind the event include Bet Mishpachah, a local D.C. LGBTQ synagogue that Rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin leads, and GLOE, an Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center program that sponsors events for the queer Jewish community. The theme for this year’s Seder is “Liberation For All Who Journey: Remembering, Resisting, Rebuilding.” Rabbis Atara Cohen, Koach Frazier, and Avigayil Halpern will lead it.

The Seder will honor the late GLOE co-chair Michael Singer. Singer also served on the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center’s board.

“This Seder is both a celebration of how far we have come and a call to continue building a more just and inclusive world.” Bet Mishpachah Executive Director Joshua Maxey told the Washington Blade.