District of Columbia
Slain D.C. trans woman honored at vigil
Family, friends gather on street where fatal stabbing occurred
Nearly 100 people turned out on Jan. 16 to honor the life of D.C. transgender woman Jasmine Star Parker at a vigil held on the 2000 block of Gallaudet St., N.E. where D.C. police say she was found stabbed to death at 3 a.m. on Jan. 7.
Among those participating in the vigil were Parker’s mother, brother, and sister, who have expressed their love and admiration for their deceased loved one.
Earline Budd, executive director of the D.C. group Empowering the Transgender Community (ETC), which organized the vigil along with D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the gathering she knew Parker for many years and observed first-hand how Parker did her best to overcome discrimination and bias as a trans woman of color.
“We’re here today to remember a life taken away from us on Jan. 7, the life of Star Jasmine Parker,” Budd said. “Star was 36 years old. And Star deserved to live. So, today I want to take an opportunity to first of all let there be blessings in this place.”
Budd pointed out that the table where she and others who spoke at the vigil was set up on the sidewalk in front of a tall chain link fence were Parker’s body was found, with her blood still visible on the pavement.
D.C. police said that as of this time, they have no suspects and no known motive for the Jan. 7 homicide. A police spokesperson said the case was not listed as a suspected hate crime, but that could change if new information is obtained. Police are urging anyone with information about the case to call police at 202-727-9099.
A $25,000 reward is being offered for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the murder.
Police initially identified Parker as Jasmine Star Mack. But family members and Earline Budd have since said that the beloved trans woman was known to the family as Jasmine Star Parker and preferred to be called Star. Parker was her birth surname.
Budd said Parker’s family informed her that a viewing and funeral service for Parker would be held Friday, Jan. 20, at Meridian Baptist Church at 5354 Sheriff Road in Capitol Heights, Md., beginning at 10 a.m. for the viewing and 11 a.m. for the service.
Among those attending the vigil were members of the D.C. police LGBT Liaison Unit, including Lt. Livio Rodriguez, director of the police Special Liaison Division, which oversees the LGBT Liaison Unit. Budd praised the LGBT Liaison members, saying they have been longtime supporters of the transgender community.
Parker’s mother, Arlene Witherspoon and her brother, Andre Tinsley, told those attending the vigil that Parker was raised in a religious family and she embraced God during many of her times facing hardship.
Parker’s sister, Pamela Witherspoon, was scheduled to speak at the vigil but told Budd she was too emotionally distraught to speak. In earlier interviews with WUSA 9 and the Washington Post, Pamela Witherspoon told how her sister faced hardship from discrimination in spite of her upbeat personality as someone who was “always singing and dancing — just trying to make you laugh,” she told WUSA 9.
“She wasn’t the type of person that did things to people,” WUSA 9 quoted Witherspoon as saying. “I don’t understand why. What did she do to deserve this? I’ll never understand that.”
Members of the community who spoke at the vigil during an open mic session, including longtime D.C. transgender activist Taylor Chandler and Center for Black Equity Deputy Director Kenya Hutton, said the city was not doing enough to address the problems of discrimination and threats of violence faced by members of the trans community, especially trans women of color.
“We have the ability to do more,” Chandler said. “There is no reason why we should be having this vigil for Star. We need to be giving more money to organizations that value Black trans lives.”
Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, said he agreed that the city should be doing more to address problems faced by the transgender community.
“Circumstances have put Star and many members of the community of D.C. in the danger that they’re in,” Bowles told the gathering. “And that is a failure from where I’m at, my job,” he said. “And it’s something that we are working on with the community.”
Added Bowles, “And this is D.C., the nation’s capital, where we have done more. And we have a record of doing more. And we need to do more,” he continued. “So, I promise we will do more.”
Sebrena Rhodes, the D.C. Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner representing the area where Parker was killed in the Ivy City neighborhood, said although the area is faced with crime, this was the first known homicide to take place in the neighborhood in a long time.
“I’m sure everyone loved her for who she is,” Roads said of Parker in her remarks at the vigil. “I’m deeply sorry. I live here in Ivy City. We all have to work together.”
Budd told the Washington Blade that the area is known as a place where some transgender sex workers congregate for what Budd and others who spoke at the vigil called survival sex work made necessary when discrimination and transphobia prevent trans women from finding other means of employment.
“Well, we talk about survival sex,” Budd said. “It’s not a secret. And you know, when people ask, what was she doing here, I say what does it matter? What does it matter? The fact that her life was taken, that’s what matters, whether she was here doing survival sex work or whatever.”
Rev. D. Amina B. Butts, pastor at D.C.’s LGBTQ-friendly New Hope Baptist United Church of Christ, appeared to sum up the sentiment of most of those attending the vigil by calling for an end to the hostility and violence faced by transgender people in D.C. and across the nation.
“It’s hard to find words of comfort,” she said. “There are no words to describe what has happened. It is a travesty of injustice. It needs to stop,” she continued. “Right now, in the name of the Divine, it needs to stop. We command that it stops.”
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary gala draws sold out crowd
D.C. elected officials, mayoral candidates praise LGBTQ Democratic group
A sold-out crowd of 186 people, including D.C. elected officials and candidates running for D.C. mayor, turned out Friday, March 20, for the Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary celebration.
Among those attending the event, held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building next to the city’s Chinatown neighborhood, were seven D.C. Council members and four Democratic candidates running for mayor.
But at the request of Capital Stonewall Democrats leaders, the Council members, most of whom are running for re-election, and mayoral contenders did not give campaign speeches. Instead, they mingled with the crowd and focused on the accomplishments of the LGBTQ Democratic group over the past 50 years, with some presenting the group’s special “honor” awards to about a dozen prominent LGBTQ Democratic activists.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who was initially expected to attend the event, did not attend.
The mayoral candidates attending included D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) and former At-Large Council member Kenyan McDuffie, an independent turned Democrat, who are considered the leading mayoral contenders in the city’s June 16 Democratic Primary. Both have strong, longtime records of support for LGBTQ rights issues.
The other two mayoral candidates attending the event were Gary Goodweather, a real estate manager, and Rini Sampath, a cybersecurity consultant. Sampath told the Washington Blade she self-identifies as queer. Both have expressed strong support on LGBTQ-related issues.
The D.C. Council members attending the event included Lewis George; Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large); Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Robert White (D-At-Large); Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3); Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member; and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6).
“Tonight we celebrate not just 50 years of history but 50 years of showing up,” Howard Garrett, Capital Stonewall Democrats immediate past president, told the gathering in opening remarks. “Showing up when it was easy, showing up when it wasn’t popular,” he said, adding, “This work only continues if we continue to show up.”
He noted that the deadline for joining the organization in time to be eligible to vote on its endorsement of candidates running in D.C.’s 2026 election was midnight that night. He urged attendees who were not members to go to two tables at the event to join.
The group’s current president, Stevie McCarty, thanked the group’s longtime members who he said played a key role in what he called its historic work in building political support for the D.C. LGBTQ community. Among those he thanked was Paul Kuntzler, 84, one of the group’s founding members in January 1976, when it was initially named the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club.
Members voted to rename the group the Capital Stonewall Democrats in 2021.
Among the LGBTQ advocates who were honored at the event was Rayceen Pendarvis, the longtime host of a D.C. LGBTQ online interview show that included interviews of candidates for public office. Pendarvis also served as emcee for the Capital Stonewall Democrats 50th anniversary event.
“Thank you everyone in this room who has done the work to make this world a better place,” Pendarvis said in opening remarks. “To all our prestigious activists in the room, all of our amazing politicians in the room who are doing the work, we love you and we honor you.”
Among the honorees in addition to Pendarvis was Malcolm Kenyatta, the Democratic National Committee’s vice chair who became the first openly LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other honorees included Parker; 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; and Philip Pannell, longtime LGBTQ Democratic activist, Ward 8 civic leader, and longtime Capital Stonewall Democrats member.
The 50th anniversary event included an open bar and refreshments and entertainment by three drag performers.
District of Columbia
Gay candidate running for D.C. congressional delegate seat
Robert Matthews among 19 hoping to replace Eleanor Holmes Norton
Robert Matthews, a former director of the D.C. Child and Family Services Agency, is running in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary for the D.C. Congressional Delegate seat as an openly gay candidate, according to a statement released by his campaign to the Washington Blade.
Matthews is one of at least 19 candidates running to replace longtime D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), who announced earlier this year that she is not running for re-election.
Information about the candidates’ campaign financing compiled by the Federal Elections Commission, which oversees elections for federal candidates, shows that Matthews is one of only six of the candidates who have raised any money for their campaigns as of March 17.
Among those six, who political observers say have a shot at winning compared to the remaining 13, are D.C. Council members Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) and Robert White (D-At-Large). Both have longstanding records of support for LGBTQ rights and the community.
The FEC campaign finance records show Matthews was in fourth place regarding the money raised for his campaign, which was $49,078 as of March 17. The FEC records show Pinto’s campaign in first place with $843,496 raised, and White in third place with $230,399 raised.
The Matthews campaign statement released to the Blade says Matthews’s “commitment to the LGBTQ community is not a campaign position. It is the foundation of his life and his life’s work.”
The statement adds, “As the former director of D.C.’s Child and Family Services Agency, Robert led the District’s child welfare system with an explicit commitment to LGBTQ-affirming care.” It goes on to say, “He ensured that LGBTQ, trans, and nonbinary youth in foster care — among the most vulnerable young people in our city — were served with dignity, cultural humility, and genuine support.”
Among his priorities if elected as Congressional delegate, the statement says, would be “fighting to end homelessness among queer and trans seniors and youth,” opposing “federal roadblocks” to LGBTQ related health services, and defending D.C.’s budget and civil rights laws “from federal interference that directly threatens LGBTQ residents.”
The other three candidates who the FEC records show have raised campaign funds and observers say have a shot at winning are:
• Kinney Zalesne, former deputy national finance chair at the Democratic National Committee and an official at the U.S. Justice Department during the Clinton administration, whose campaign is in second place in fundraising with $593,885 raised.
• Gordon Chaffin, a former congressional staffer whose campaign has raised $17,950.
• Kelly Mikel Williams, a podcast host and candidate for the Congressional Delegate seat in 2022 and 2024, whose 2026 campaign has raised $3,094 as of March 17.
The Blade reached out to the Zalesne, Chaffin, and Williams campaigns to determine their position on LGBTQ issues. As of late Wednesday, the Zalesne campaign was the only one that responded.
“Kinney believes LGBTQ rights are fundamental civil rights and central to what makes Washington, D.C. a strong and vibrant community,” a statement sent by her campaign says. “At a time when LGBTQ people (especially transgender and nonbinary neighbors) are facing escalating political attacks across the country, she believes the District must continue to lead in protecting dignity, safety, and freedom for all,” it says.
The statement adds, “Throughout her career in government, business, and nonprofit leadership, Kinney has worked alongside LGBTQ and queer advocates and leaders. She is committed to maintaining an active partnership with the community to make sure LGBTQ voices remain central to the District’s future.”
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