Local
Liquor board suspends Ziegfeld’s/Secrets license
Activists, customers denounce sex-related charges as unfair, ‘silly’
The D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Control Board has voted to suspend the liquor license of gay nightclub Ziegfeld’s/Secrets for five days based on allegations that the club permitted its nude dancers to engage in “sexual conduct” prohibited under the city’s liquor law.
The suspension is scheduled for June 16-20, and will result in the closing of the club during that period.
A spokesperson for the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, of which the ABC Board is a part, said the unanimous May 26 suspension vote was also based on charges that Ziegfeld’s/Secrets management failed to put in place sufficient security measures to prevent four separate “altercations” in which patrons became involved in minor scuffles inside the club.
Another charge that ABC Board inspectors saw customers consuming beer 13 minutes after the required 2 a.m. closing time became yet another ground for the suspension, said the spokesperson.
An ABC Board report about the after-hours drinking allegation says the management disputed the allegation.
“We wish to express our sincerest regret to our community, customers and staff,” says a statement the club’s management released Monday.
“We strive to operate under strict compliance with the ABC Board policies and requirements and to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone who enters our establishment,” it says. “However, sometimes things happen that we or anyone is unable to control, and for this — or for some other reason — we have been issued this penalty.”
Cynthia Simms, the ABRA spokesperson, said that Ziegfeld’s/Secrets and the board reached an agreement in which the board did not file as many charges as it could have against the club and the club agreed not to contest the charges at a full hearing.
Simms said the board’s decision includes a $4,000 fine against the club and a 20-day license suspension, with 15 days of the license suspension stayed.
A report prepared by ABC Board Inspector Felicia Dantzler, who filed the sexual conduct charge against the club, says she observed “five to six nude male performers standing on individual pedestals, each performing a sexual act on themselves (masturbation).”
Her report includes a photo she took of one dancer, showing him with his hand gripping his penis. The dark, blurred photo accompanying the report captures the dancer from the shoulders down and does not show his face.
Dantzler’s report says she also saw “patrons, fully clothed, gratifying the performers by rubbing and massaging the performers about the body (not genital area) and the performers did the same to the patrons.”
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets owner Allen Carroll has said the club strictly prohibits any sexual activity by dancers or customers.
The incidents involving the alleged altercations and after-hours drinking took place in February and March of 2009 during the first few weeks after Ziegfeld’s/Secrets reopened at 1824 Half St., S.W. The reopening came three years after the city displaced the club from its home of more than 30 years on O Street, S.E., to allow construction of the Washington Nationals baseball stadium.
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets was the only one of several gay bars and nightclubs displaced by the stadium to find a new location in which to reopen. Strict zoning laws that bar adult entertainment have prevented the other clubs from finding a new home, a development that has prompted some of the customers to criticize city officials for not taking a greater role in helping the clubs relocate.
Two regular customers of Ziegfeld’s/Secrets, who spoke on condition that their names be withheld, said the management and employees made it clear that the club prohibited sexual acts of any kind by the performers and strictly banned improper touching between performers and customers.
The two customers said the incidents in question appeared to have occurred during the first few weeks the club was open, and that large crowds and “some confusion” during the opening weeks may have temporarily distracted staff attention.
“It’s incredibly unfair to blame the club for activity that violates their own rules and which they try to prevent,” said one of the customers.
Veteran D.C. gay activist Frank Kameny agreed with that assessment, noting that he was “outraged” over what he called a “Victorian-era” campaign by the ABC Board to crack down on entertainment performed by and for consenting adults.
“It’s about time we got off the anti-sex crusade here,” he said. “There’s a fundamental question that nobody asks: Were any of the customers offended by any of this? Did any of the customers disapprove? Clearly they didn’t.”
When told that ABRA officials said they are required to enforce existing liquor law restrictions against sexual conduct within licensed establishments, Kameny and other activists called for repealing those laws.
“My main point is we are living in 2010 and not 1910,” Kameny said. “And it’s about time they stop applying the standards of 1910. Queen Victoria has been dead for 108 years. It’s about time they realize that.”
Gay activist Tom DePriest, a retired attorney for the federal government and a Ziegfeld’s/Secrets customer, said he strongly objected to the ABC Board’s apparent assumption that customers and dancers of clubs offering nude entertainment “need protecting” by the ABC Board.
“It’s part of some sort of sex-phobic moral code enforcement that is determined by people who don’t enjoy these clubs,” he said. “If adults want to get together and have nude entertainment, then why is it anybody else’s business, especially people who aren’t there for that?”
Three of the reports by ABRA inspectors outline incidents they observed at Ziegfeld’s/Secrets during their visits there in February and March of 2009. The case reports became the basis of the ABC Board’s charges against the club, according to Simms.
The first incident occurred Feb. 15, 2009, two days after the club opened in its newly renovated warehouse building on Half Street, S.W.
According to the ABC Board report for that incident, a male customer was punched in the nose by another male customer as he walked out of the men’s restroom in what the victim and witnesses said was an unprovoked assault. The report says the attacker, who appeared intoxicated, later told police he punched the victim because the victim resembled a person who had bullied him while he was in elementary school.
Paramedics who responded to the scene treated the victim, who declined an offer of transportation to a hospital, the report says.
The assailant was arrested on a charge of simple assault, and the ABC Board charged Ziegfeld’s/Secrets with harboring a “physical altercation” that involved “misuse of licensed premises,” although the report quotes the victim as saying there was “no way” the club could have prevented a spontaneous assault like that from happening.
One day later, on Feb. 16, 2009, another assault occurred when two women who met in the club that night and became “intimate” with each other got into a fight, with one grabbing the other in a headlock and shoving her head into a wall, according to the report for that incident. Police who were stationed outside the club arrested both women after the club’s staff broke up the fight, the report says. Neither of the women was seriously injured.
That incident happened minutes before ABC Board Inspector Susan Mitchell said she observed two customers drinking beer at 2:13 a.m., following the required 2 a.m. closing time after which consumption of alcohol is prohibited, according to the board’s report of the incident.
Another incident cited by the board occurred March 6, 2009, when a customer described as intoxicated attempted to grab the penis of one of the dancers performing on a platform, according to an ABC Board report. The report says the dancer swatted the man’s hand away several times before the customer succeeded in touching the dancer’s penis. The dancer immediately alerted management, and a bartender and the manager escorted the customer out of the bar, the report says.
While being escorted out of the club, the customer shoved the bartender and later shoved him again outside the club. D.C. Police Lt. Brett Parson, the former head of the Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit, was standing nearby and arrested the customer on a charge of simple assault, the report says.
The ABC Board, at the recommendation of Inspector Susan Mitchell, charged Ziegfeld’s/Secrets with two counts of “physical altercation” on its premises in connection with the incident.
Another ABC Board report says the “sexual conduct” incidents occurred Nov. 19, 2009. The report says two inspectors, including Danzler, visited the club that night “to investigate a complaint regarding employees engaged in sexual acts.”
The report does not disclose who made the complaint.
“In some situations, individuals that file a complaint with ABRA regarding an establishment request to be anonymous,” said Simms. “Since there is no mention of a name in the case report, I can assume that this is what happened.”
Simms said she inquired about the photo of the dancer in the case report and confirmed that Danzler took it with her cell phone.
The statement issued by Ziegfeld’s/Secrets doesn’t discuss the individual charges filed against the club.
“We’ve served our gay community for over 40 years without infractions with the ABC Board,” it says. “We were forced out of business for three years due to the city invoking eminent domain to take possession of our former home to make way for the construction of the Washington Nationals Stadium.
“After our three-year fight to reopen, which included a difficult search for a new building, we have been subjected to the utmost scrutiny from the ABC Board. Now we have been forced to close for the above stated period of time.”
The statement says that the situation is not a “punishment,” but instead an “injustice.”
Rick Rosendall, a local gay activist, called the ABC Board investigation and enforcement against the club a waste of tax dollars.
“If we have money to pay a single person to spend a single hour in those kinds of places looking for things to be shocked about, then we should abolish all of those jobs because this is completely silly from beginning to end,” he said.
“Anybody that doesn’t want to see these strippers, whatever they might be doing, is perfectly free not to go to these clubs and in which case there’s no chance that it will fall under their eyes.”
Among the members of the seven-person ABC Board that voted for the club’s license suspension was gay member Mike Silverstein, who is a member of the Dupont Circle Advisory Neighborhood Commission.
The full text of the Ziegfeld’s/Secrets statement follows:
ZIEGFELD’S & SECRETS
We wish to express our sincerest regret to our community, customers, and staff.
Due to circumstances imposed upon us by the District of Columbia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board, Ziegfeld’s & Secrets will be closed June 16 – June 22.
We’ve served our gay community for over 40 years without infractions with the ABC Board. We were forced out of business for three years due to the city invoking eminent domain to take possession of our former home to make way for the construction of the Washington Nationals Stadium.
After our three-year fight to reopen, which included a difficult search for a new building, we have been subjected to the utmost scrutiny from the ABC Board. Now we have been forced to close for the above stated period of time.
We strive to operate under strict compliance with the ABC Board policies and requirements and to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for everyone who enters our establishment. However, sometimes things happen that we or anyone is unable to control, and for this – or for some other reason – we have been issued this penalty.
PUNISHMENT – NOT
INJUSTICE – YESRespectfully,
The Management of Ziegfeld’s & Secrets
District of Columbia
Gay ANC commissioner sues D.C. over police ‘failure’ to pay reward money
Lawsuit says information led to conviction in murder, armed robbery cases
Gay D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Tom Donohue on Aug. 11 filed a lawsuit in D.C. Superior Court charging that D.C. police acted improperly and violated a local law by not paying him $30,000 in reward money for his role in helping police identify and arrest — and obtain the subsequent conviction — of one man charged with murder and another man charged with armed robbery in separate cases.
Although the lawsuit alleges improper action by D.C. police in carrying out the city’s Crime Solvers reward program, it names as defendants the District of Columbia and the Office of the Attorney General for D.C., which, among other things, defends the city against lawsuits.
Donohue, who is a member of the city’s ANC Rainbow Caucus consisting of LGBTQ elected ANC members, held a news conference outside the D.C. Superior Court building on Aug. 11 to talk about the lawsuit before entering the courthouse to officially file it.
The lawsuit states that Donohue “provided key video evidence that led to the arrest and conviction” of a man initially charged with first degree murder for allegedly running over a bicyclist with his car after the two got into an argument.
The lawsuit states that police had offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the defendant in that case, but police “arbitrarily slashed the payment to $5,000 without prior notice or policy justification.”
Court records show that D.C. resident Eric Beasley was charged with first degree murder for killing David Farewell, 45, by hitting him with his car on Sept. 4, 2020, on the 2100 block of Young Street, S.E. The records show the evidence for the case was based in large part on video camera footage of the incident obtained by police. Donohoe has said he provided that video camera evidence.
The records show that during Beasley’s October 2023 trial a jury was unable to reach the required unanimous verdict, and the judge declared a mistrial.
According to the records, Beasley later agreed to an offer by prosecutors to plead guilty to a lesser charge of involuntary manslaughter and was sentenced in September 2024 to eight years in prison, a development that angered the victim’s family members who called it a “slap on the wrist,” according to a Fox 5 News report.
Donohue’s lawsuit says the second case in which he provided police with pivotal information involved a series of armed robberies known as the Fairlawn Serial Armed Robbery Spree that occurred in the Fairlawn neighborhood in Southeast D.C. in 2023 near where Donohue lives.
The lawsuit says evidence consisting of video surveillance footage provided by Donohue to police enabled police to determine they initially wrongfully arrested an 18-year-old male for the robberies. “Using Plaintiff’s security video, MPD identified, arrested, and convicted the actual robber, David Crocker, who was sentenced to 18 years in federal prison,” the lawsuit states.
It says one of the detectives investigating the case recommended a $10,000 reward for Donohue’s help in the case based on the police Crime Solvers reward program. The detective’s recommendation was approved by then-Assistant D.C. Police Chief Kyle Ramey on Aug. 4, 2025, according to the lawsuit.
But it adds, “Nevertheless, MPD improperly withheld payment.”
When contacted by the Washington Blade for comment on Donohue’s lawsuit allegations, a D.C. police spokesperson said “MPD does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation.”
Gabriel Shoglow-Rubenstein, who serves as press secretary for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General, which will be defending the city against the Donohue lawsuit, said he would look into obtaining a possible comment but said the office has a similar longstanding policy of not commenting on pending litigation.
“This action arises from the District of Columbia Metropolitan Police Department’s arbitrary, bad-faith, and legally unsupportable failure to honor its public reward promises and administrative obligations to Plaintiff,” the lawsuit states.
It says the MPD violated the city’s Freedom of Information Act or FOIA law by not responding to Donohue’s request for information and documents related to the decision not to pay him the full reward money.
“MPD’s reduction of Plaintiff’s homicide reward from $25,000 to $5,000, and its withholding of his approved $10,00 robbery reward, were undertaken completely devoid of written standards, making such decisions inherently arbitrary, capricious, and an abuse of administrative discretion,” it says.
It calls for Donohue to be awarded $30,000 in compensatory damages consisting of the $20,000 “unpaid balance” for the homicide case reward and $10,000 for the robbery case reward. It also calls for reimbursement for “reasonable” litigation costs and attorney’s fees. Donohue told the Washington Blade that at this time he is representing himself without an attorney.
Donohue told the Blade that the refusal by D.C. police to pay him the full reward money also limited his plans to donate some of that money to the family of murder victim David Farewell to help pay for a burial stone. He said that due to the family’s limited resources Farewell is buried in an unmarked grave
Delaware
New LGBTQ visitor center slated for Wilmington, Del.
The Collective to feature gift shop, queer museum, more
During Pride month this year, the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective (DSGC) announced plans for The Collective, which will become Delaware’s first LGBTQIA+ visitor center and Wilmington’s first dedicated LGBTQIA+ space in nearly 40 years.
“We’ve been talking about the concept of a brick-and-mortar space for a long time,” said Noah Duckett, co-founder of DSGC.
A licensed clinical social worker, Duckett co-founded DSGC with his mother, Julissa Coriano, in 2018. DSGC is an independent nonprofit organization that provides vital clinical and educational support, social programming and direct-need support to the LGBTQIA+ community.
Some of the programs DSGC offers include a free clothing closet for the trans community, meal support for people recovering from gender-affirming surgery, connections to pro bono legal services, a biannual Pride Market featuring over 100 LGBTQIA+-owned small businesses, and more.
“Our vision for The Collective is a place where our community can come to learn, create, work and be inspired,” said Coriano.
The Collective will feature a visitor center and gift shop highlighting LGBTQIA+-owned businesses in Delaware.
“I think that this is something that’s going to benefit our community so much,” said Duckett.
Some of the LGBTQIA+-owned businesses that DSGC has already partnered with include Stress Induced Art Attack, Moonbeam Art Collaborative, Voce Coffee, Groovy Gemini Co., Scout Cafe, Macaron Social and Huxley and Hiro.
“Specifically in Wilmington, we haven’t had an LGBTQIA+-dedicated space in almost 40 years,” said Duckett.
The Griffin Community Center, which operated from 1986 to 1990, was Delaware’s first LGBTQ+ community center. The Griffin was founded by Ivo Dominguez Jr. and James C. Welch and provided a range of community services during the height of the HIV/AIDS crisis, including AIDS hotlines, organizational offices and meeting space. The center ultimately closed because of a lack of financial support.
Duckett said DSGC hopes The Collective will carry on The Griffin’s legacy while building a sustainable space for the LGBTQIA+ community.
“I think now more than ever, there’s more and more spaces closing their doors. More and more spaces are losing funding, seeing reduced funding and reduced access, especially LGBTQ+ organizations and communities,” said Duckett.
The Collective will also feature Delaware’s first LGBTQ+ history museum, curated by LGBTQ+ historian Carolanne Deal.
“We don’t have any permanent displays in the state about Delaware’s queer history, and we want people to be able to access that history any day of the year, not just during Pride Month,” said Deal.
With a master’s degree in art history for museum professionals, Deal has more than seven years of experience in curatorial work and hands-on collections care.
“It’s mainly going to be a graphic display with photographs, articles and accessible text that draws people in and creates a story for the community,” said Deal.
Although the museum will not initially have an object collection, Deal said she hopes to add physical archival pieces in the future.
“Delaware has been at the forefront of a lot of queer civil rights, and it’ll be really amazing to have that enshrined in a permanent display that’s not only up for Pride Month,” said Deal.
Duckett said DSGC is currently raising funds with the goal of beginning construction this summer and opening by the end of the year.
Duckett told the Blade that fundraising efforts have reached just under $29,000 and that the organization is awaiting several major donations from community partner organizations.
However, he said DSGC continues to be denied many grants tied to federal or state funding because of restrictions on those funds being used for LGBTQ+-serving organizations.
“Private and corporate donations are absolutely vital,” said Duckett.
Anyone interested in supporting the construction and renovation of The Collective can donate online or contact [email protected] for more information.ose funds being used for LGBTQ-serving organizations.
“Private and corporate donations are absolutely vital,” said Duckett.
Anyone interested in supporting the construction of The Collective can donate online or contact [email protected] for more information.
Rehoboth Beach
HISTORIC: Susan Stewart elected Rehoboth’s first out mayor
Thanks LGBTQ supporters and vows to protect city’s small town charm
Residents of Rehoboth Beach elected City Commissioner Susan Stewart with 61% of the vote on Aug. 8, making her the city’s first openly gay mayor.
Stewart beat fellow commissioners Craig Their and Suzanne Goode in the race, as well as newcomer Jake Raak.
The final mayoral vote results were:
- Susan Stewart: 632
- Craig Their: 203
- Suzanne Goode: 177
- William “Jake” Raak: 23
“I’m very grateful because the LGBTQ+ community not only voted for me, but also supported me,” said Stewart.
Stewart said that she is particularly grateful for the support she received on social media from members of the LGBTQ+ community.
“I’ve had incredible support,” said Stewart.
Stewart said that her campaign showed her just how much residents of Rehoboth are engaged and care about the city.
“They really want to see what’s best for the community,” said Stewart.
Stewart spoke about the master planning initiative she has been working on as a commissioner, which she plans to continue as mayor.
“We’ve undertaken rewriting the commercial zoning code, and that’s foundational to the next step of the initiative,” said Stewart.
She said that she was proud of the results of charette week that was held last month where residents and business owners had the opportunity to speak with hired urban planners to give feedback for a zoning code update.
Stewart said that Rehoboth is at a tipping point as the city must find a way to balance the growth of the commercial district while improving the quality of life for residents.
“I don’t believe there needs to be tension between the business community and the residential experience,” said Stewart.
“I’m excited about a new master plan because we have a couple hotels coming, and we also have Clear Space Theatre looking for a new home, and we’re working with them,” said Stewart. “We want businesses to stay here.”
Stewart also said that she aims to embrace the concept of a ‘15-minute city,’ making the city much more accessible in terms of transportation in the downtown area for residents.
“The goal is to protect the small town charm and natural beauty of Rehoboth,” said Stewart. “I want to keep the momentum going.”
The Blade asked Stewart about any concerns she might have working with Commissioner Goode, whom she has criticized for sending inappropriate and offensive emails to city staff. Goode finished a distant third in the mayoral race and her husband fell short in his bid for a Commissioner’s seat. In that race, Jeffrey Goode received 239 votes; Patrick Gossett, who’s gay, received 813 votes and Mark Saunders 852. Saunders and Gossett will be sworn in next month.
“I’m really eager to move past this issue with Commissioner Goode,” said Stewart.
She said that she’s heard ‘loud and clear’ from the city that they want to move past this situation as best as they can while Goode remains in her seat as commissioner.
“There are no mechanisms for us to remove a sitting commissioner. Our laws don’t allow it,” said Stewart.
Stewart clarified that she has always focused on Goode’s behavior toward city staff.
“One thing I feel really passionate about is that the city employees have to know that they are heard. They are real people with real jobs, real professional reputations, and they’ve been harmed,” said Stewart.
The Blade also asked if Stewart had made a final decision on whom she plans to nominate to fill her Commissioner seat.
“I’m considering who to appoint and I have not made any final decisions,” said Stewart.
She noted that, as mayor, she only has the power to nominate a candidate and that the board of commissioners will have the final vote on whom to appoint to the board.
Stewart shared that she has received interest from a number of people and finds that to be a good sign.
“I think that’s a great sign because people want to serve. I’m eager to have someone in that seat who’s smart and has the best interests of the city,” said Stewart.
Stewart will be sworn in during the Board of Commissioners meeting on Sept. 18.
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Gay ANC commissioner sues D.C. over police ‘failure’ to pay reward money
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