Local
Activists end Nellie’s protests, but continue boycott
Concerns over ‘anti-Black’ practices of bars voiced at community listening session
LGBTQ activists who have organized weekly Friday night protests outside D.C.’s Nellie’s Sports Bar since June announced at an Aug. 26 Community Listening Session that they would discontinue the protests after 11 consecutive weeks, but they are continuing to ask the community to boycott Nellie’s.
Nellie’s, a gay bar located at 9th and U Streets, N.W., became embroiled in controversy when one of its security guards pulled a Black woman by her hair down a flight of stairs during a June 13 brawl between customers and security officers that broke out during the night of the city’s LGBTQ Pride celebration.
The action by the security guard, which was captured on video taken by one of the customers on their phone, went viral on social media, prompting LGBTQ activists and others to demand that Nellie’s take appropriate action to review its security procedures
Nellie’s issued an apology for the incident the following day and announced it had fired the private security company whose employee, who is Black, dragged Keisha Young, 22, down the stairs. Nellie’s also announced it would temporarily close for business to assess what had happened and develop plans for reopening as a safe space for all members of the community.
It has since reopened and has been operating despite the weekly Friday night protests, although protest organizers say fewer customers have been showing up at the bar than prior to the start of the protests.
The activists that organized the protests said they have learned from longtime customers of the bar that Nellie’s staff and management allegedly have a long history of racial bias toward the bar’s Black customers.
Andrew Kline, an attorney representing Nellie’s, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday that he and Nellie’s owner Doug Schantz would have no comment on the Community Listening Session or the allegations by the protesters at this time. In July, following requests by the protesters, Schantz issued an apology to Young, which he had not done earlier, and said he had arranged for his employees to undergo training aimed at addressing the concerns raised by protesters.
He has since hired Ruby Corado, founder and CEO of D.C.’s LGBTQ community services center Casa Ruby, to arrange for the staff training and advise him on community outreach efforts.
But several of the protesters, including Makia Green, who serves as co-conductor of the Black-led community defense group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, said Schantz last week appeared to display a disrespect for the protesters and for Young by declining to show up in person for the Aug. 26 Community Listening event to which he was invited. The official name of the event released by organizers was the Boycott Nellie’s Community Listening Session.
The session was held at D.C.’s Eaton Hotel at 1201 K St., N.W. and was live-streamed on Facebook. Schantz informed the organizers that he was attending the event online. But under the Facebook Live format, he and others viewing the event online could only submit written messages and could not speak or be seen on video like other online meeting platforms such as Zoom.
Organizers of the Listening Session, in which about 35 people showed up in person at one of the Eaton Hotel’s meeting rooms, said Schantz did not submit any comments other than to say he was watching the event live on Facebook.
The Listening Session, which lasted a little over two hours, included a panel of speakers including moderator Iris Jacob, a trained facilitator with the local group Social Justice Synergy; Preston Mitchum, an attorney and board co-chair of the local group Collective Action for Safe Spaces (CASS); and Makia Green and NeeNee Taylor, local activists who are both affiliated with Harriet’s Wildest Dreams.
Green recounted at the Listening Session what activists and others who witnessed the June 13 incident in which Young was dragged down a flight of stairs at Nellie’s that security guards appeared to have incorrectly believed Young was among a group of customers that brought their own bottle of liquor into the bar in violation of the bar’s longstanding policy. Green said Young, a college student, was not part of the group that brought in the liquor bottle and had arrived at Nellie’s minutes before the incident began.
Witnesses have said the altercation broke out after a Nellie’s employee arranged for security guards to order those believed to have brought in the liquor to leave the bar. Minutes before the security guard is seen on the video dragging Young down the stairs, Young is seen on the video punching one or more men at the top of the stairs.
Green told the Listening Session that Young was attempting to help her male cousin, who Green said was being attacked and beaten by others during the fight that broke out.
Green and the other panelists who spoke at the Listening Session noted that organizers arranged for the weekly Friday night protests outside Nellie’s to be carried out as block parties, with DJ’s playing music and some participants dancing in the street in front of the bar. They said their aim was to create a “safe space” for Black LGBTQ people to celebrate who they are that they have not been able to do in Nellie’s and other D.C. gay bars, which the panelists said have displayed a bias toward “Black queer” customers.
The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, which issues liquor licenses to bars and restaurants announced shortly after the Nellie’s incident that it had opened an investigation into the incident and found Nellie’s may have violated the D.C. liquor law in its handling of the fight. The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board referred the case to the Office of the D.C. Attorney General to further investigate whether Nellie’s violated city laws in its response to the fight on its premises.
Spokespersons for the liquor board and the Attorney General’s office didn’t immediately respond to a Blade inquiry about whether the investigations were completed and reached a determination on who was at fault in the Nellie’s incident.
Mitchum, one of the panelists at the Listening Session last week, said organizers have decided not to schedule another such session at this time.
“Overall, the event went well,” Mitchum told the Blade in a statement. “It was a safe space curated by Black queer and nonbinary organizers and activists to speak about the history of anti-Black racism at Nellie’s and other queer bars in D.C. and across the country,” he said.
“Attendees also shared their personal experiences navigating majority-white queer spaces, namely bars and clubs,” he said, adding, “Though I am disappointed that Doug did not show up in-person to meet the activists, organizers, and attendees, we hope he listens to us clearly and takes action to crate safe spaces for all, not just the acceptable few.”
The Community Listening Session can be viewed here.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
Maryland
Md. Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlines 2026 priorities
Expanded PrEP access among objectives
Maryland’s Legislative LGBTQ+ Caucus outlined legislative priorities for the remainder of the General Assembly’s 2026 term during a press conference on March 5.
State Del. Kris Fair (D-Fredrick County) led the press conference. State Del. Ashanti Martinez (D-Prince George’s County) and other caucus members also spoke.
Caucus members are sponsoring 12 bills and supporting four others.
Martinez is sponsoring House Bill 1114, which would expand PrEP access in Maryland.
“PrEP is 99 percent effective in preventing HIV transmission,” he explained, noting PrEP’s cost often turns away potential users.
The bill aims to extend insurance coverage and expand pharmacists’ ability to prescribe PrEP along with other HIV treatments and testing. Martinez is working with state Sen. Clarence Lam (D-Anne Arundel and Howard Counties) and FreeState Justice on the bill.
The House Health Committee had a hearing last week that included HB1114.
“Ending the HIV epidemic is about expanding access and providing these life-saving tools to all persons in Maryland,” Martinez said.
Several other pieces of legislation were highlighted during the press conferences. They included measures focused on youth and education, birth certificate markers, so-called conversion therapy, and hormone medications.
State Sen. Cheryl Kagan (D-Montgomery County) is cosponsoring Senate Bill 950, which would update and strengthen conversion therapy laws. State Del. Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County) has introduced an identical bill that would extend the statute of limitations on individuals who facilitate conversion therapy.
Kagan explained the bill would allow conversion therapy victims to come to terms with their experience undergoing the widely discredited practice that “creates shame and it silences survivors.”
When questioned, Fair explained the press conference happened late into the legislative session because “we [the caucus] are constantly having to respond in real time to what’s happening in Washington” while drafting and considering pieces of legislation.
The Frederick County Democrat described this session’s bills as the “most ambitious list of priorities to date.” Fair also described the caucus’s goals.
“It’s decency, it’s dignity, and its humanity,” he said.
District of Columbia
Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79
Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’
John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.
Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.
“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.
“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”
The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”
It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17th Street, N.W. called Peppers.
According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.
The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.
“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.
“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.
The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.
“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”
Senegalese lawmakers approve bill to further criminalize homosexuality
Spring’s best in queer TV and film
D.C. springs back to life with new, returning events
‘Queer Eye’ star Dorriene Diggs on life before and after appearing on hit show
A dream: Democrats focus on candidates who can win
In D.C. comedy, be sure to shop local
Comings & Goings
Too afraid to leave home: ICE’s toll on Latino HIV care
Intense doc offers transcendent treatment of queer fetish pioneer
