Local
LGBT employees among D.C. workers targeted by hackers
Officials report July 24 phishing attacks
Officials report phishing attacks on July 24.
LGBT D.C. government employees were among possibly thousands of city workers targeted by foreign and domestic hackers last week through a barrage of suspicious emails, according to employees and an official with the D.C. Office of the Chief Technology Officer (OCTO).
“The District of Columbia government received multiple and perhaps coordinated email phishing attacks from overseas and domestic sources on Tuesday, July 24,” said Barry Krucoff, OCTO’s Interim Chief Technology Officer in a statement to the Washington Blade.
Krucoff said his office “took multiple actions to mitigate the attacks, including reporting the events to federal authorities for investigation and potential prosecution.” He said OCTO also “sent out a communication to all District employees reminding them how to safeguard themselves against phishing attacks.”
Experts in cyber security use the term “phishing” to describe attempts by hackers to trick people into revealing personal or sensitive information that could result in cyber criminals gaining access to bank accounts, freezing users’ computer-based data and demanding a ransom payment to get it back, and other potentially harmful actions.
LGBT employees at D.C. government agencies, who spoke on condition of not being identified, said numerous LGBT employees were among the District workers who received the suspicious emails on July 24. None of them believe they were specifically targeted because they are LGBT.
Some of the bogus emails were sent through the email address of other D.C. government workers, sources familiar with the situation said, indicating the hackers were able to get into the email accounts of at least some city workers.
“This was a widespread, non-targeted attempt that did not single out any one person or department in the District government,” Krucoff said in his statement. OCTO spokesperson Nina Liggett said there was no evidence to indicate the hackers targeted specific groups of employees such as LGBT employees.
“Because of the prompt reporting by D.C. government employees, attacks were blocked by the OCTO Security and Messaging Teams,” Krucoff said. “We maintain our monitoring at all times.”
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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