Local
Guy Allen Overland dies at 54
Export-Import Bank official succumbs to rare disease
Guy Allen Overland
Guy Allen Overland, a librarian who managed libraries and resource centers in Washington for the National Endowment for Democracy and the U.S. Export-Import Bank for more than 20 years, died Jan. 23 at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington. He was 54.
Jim Houser, his partner of 16 years, said the cause of death was complications stemming from Systemic Capillary Leak Syndrome, a rare disease marked by severe body swelling and organ failure.
Overland most recently served as Supervisory Librarian for the Research Library and Archives of the Export-Import Bank, where he worked from October 2013 until early January of this year, when he was hospitalized for his illness.
He served for 19 years, from 1994 to October 2013, as director of the National Endowment for Democracy’s Democracy Resource Center. Houser said Overland helped start the resource center and oversaw its growth from a traditional library to a technologically advanced resource facility.
Houser said the National Endowment for Democracy plans to add Overland’s name to the official name of its Democracy Resource Center in recognition of his distinguished tenure and service to the center. An aide to the organization’s president, Carl Gershman, confirmed plans for the name change.
Prior to joining the National Endowment for Democracy, Overland worked as a law librarian for the law firm Fulbright and Jaworski and, prior to that position, served as a program officer for the United Nations Institute for Training and Research.
“He was active in library and international organizations in Washington, D.C., and was the originator and coordinator for the Washington International Library Group,” Houser said in a statement.
“He overcame obstacles with the illness he had,” said longtime friend Patrick Kalk. “He was just a very positive person, always in a good mood, hardworking, intelligent, a good sense of humor — all of those good things.”
Overland received a master’s degree from Catholic University in Library and Information Science and a separate master’s degree from American University in International Affairs. He received his bachelor’s degree in history and political science from Florida State University, where he was president of Phi Gamma Delta Fraternity.
According to Houser, Overland was born in Bellefonte, Pa. He is survived by his mother, Cynthia Overland, of Fairfax, Va.; his three siblings, John Overland, Laura Maun Garcia and Linda Stewart, all of the Tampa Bay, Fla., area; and his partner Jim Houser of Arlington, Va.
A celebration of his life is scheduled for 12:45 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 22, at Foundry United Methodist Church, 1500 16th St., N.W., Washington, D.C. A reception is scheduled to follow the service at the church’s Fellowship Hall.
In lieu of flowers, loved ones request that a donation be made in his memory to either the National Organization for Rare Disorders, which funds research and treatment of patients with rare diseases, or Doorways for Women and Families, which provides services for people encountering domestic violence and homelessness.
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.
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Not all trans people are the same
Calendar: August 21-27
