Baltimore
Man with Trump sign charged again after alleged attack at Baltimore queer event
34-year-old faces similar charges for an incident last month by Red Emma’s
By CLARA LONGO DE FREITAS and DARREONNA DAVIS | A man was arrested in connection with the alleged pepper-spraying of two women outside of a popular queer event in North Baltimore, the second time in just under a month that he’s been charged with assault in the neighborhood.
Matthew Middleton, 34, is facing second-degree assault charges in two separate incidents that took place in Waverly. Both times, Middleton stood outside businesses holding a sign supporting President Donald Trump before the situations escalated, according to charging documents.
“This is a free country, and he can hold his sign wherever,” City Councilwoman Odette Ramos, who represents the neighborhood, said in a statement. “But he can’t expect that someone won’t say something to him.”
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Baltimore
The government pressured USA Rugby to ban transgender women. A Baltimore team refused to comply.
Ferals is a women’s-plus team within the Flamingos
By KYLE GOON | It was midmorning, and the March winds lashed against the faces of the players on the Ferals rugby team as they suited up at a park in Frederick. The turf was frozen.
Harper Ockert, 24, wrapped her left knee with tape, stabilizing her joint for the jarring hits to come. She had struggled to sleep the night before, but her anxiety was not strictly about the game.
She and her teammates were preparing to defy newly enacted rules set by the sport’s governing body. A nervous energy thrummed in her chest as she considered what her defiance meant.
Ockert is a transgender woman who plays for the Ferals — the women’s-plus team within the Baltimore Flamingos rugby club. Three of her teammates are trans women, too. They had played games for the Ferals before, but this match at Walnut Ridge Park was the team’s first since USA Rugby had shifted its policy to allow only people assigned female at birth to play women’s rugby.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Baltimore
Popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s to temporarily close after owner’s death
Ron Singer passed away on July 7
By WESLEY CASE | Leon’s Backroom, Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, temporarily shut down after service on Wednesday night, according to a post on the business’s Instagram page.
The announcement comes a little more than a week after the death of the Mount Vernon bar’s owner, Ron Singer, who died at 66 on July 7.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
Baltimore
Ron Singer, owner of popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s, dies
66-year-old’s funeral to take place Friday
By CAYLA HARRIS | Ron Singer, the owner of Baltimore’s popular gay bar Leon’s Backroom, died Tuesday, the venue announced in a social media post. He was 66.
“For more than 20 years, Ron made Leon’s a place so many people were proud to call home,” the post reads. “He will be deeply missed.”
The Mount Vernon bar, typically open from 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. daily, is still open Thursday, but doors will close at midnight so staff can attend his funeral Friday morning. Services are scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. at Sol Levinson’s Chapel.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
LGBTQ ‘human rights crisis is unfolding in Puerto Rico’
Polish president vetoes same-sex relationship recognition bills
In the middle of the Bible Belt, a summer camp lets trans kids exhale
Tickets on sale for chef Patrick O’Connell’s book launch event
