News section: Metro Weekly

LGBT News

ORAM Marks World Refugee Day

LGBTI-focused asylum and migration organization holds D.C. discussion

Published on June 18, 2013, 5:57pm

Outside, it was a seasonally sunny day in D.C., with spring giving way to summer. Inside, in a meeting room of the Open Society Institute, on Pennsylvania Avenue a stone's throw from the White House, there were tears and turbulence, as well as bright spots. The June 17 occasion was ''Pathways to Protection: The unseen struggles of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex refugees and asylum seekers,'' a panel discussion presented by the San Francisco-based Organization for Refuge, Asylum & ...[Read]

Montgomery Co. Committee Holds Hate-Crime Discussion

Community members focus on tracking crimes and LGBT cultural-sensitivity training

Published on June 14, 2013, 5:44pm

The Montgomery County Committee on Hate/Violence, part of the county's Office of Human Rights, convened a meeting at the Rockville Memorial Library Town Center Wednesday to discuss how to best respond to violence or other acts against members of the county's LGBT community. The committee, appointed by the Montgomery County executive and tasked with educating the public about hate and violence and recommending policies or legislation to reduce the incidence of hate crimes, asked community members to engage in an ...[Read]

Coverboy A.J. Williams, 26, Killed in Car Accident

Friends raising funds to assist family with funeral expenses

Published on June 14, 2013, 12:02pm

Matt Bamford will always remember his friend Aaron Jerel ''A.J.'' Williams smiling. ''There was just something about his smile,'' Bamford recalls. ''A.J. wasn't the type of guy you'd notice at first, but when you did, you were drawn to him. He was so genuinely full of life. He was very enthusiastic about life, and happy.'' That same zest for life was apparent when Williams, when appearing as a Metro Weekly Coverboy in February, chose to share his life philosophy, telling ...[Read]

14th Street Assault Case Moves Forward

Judge finds probable cause in case of two men accused of robbing, beating gay man in April

Published on June 13, 2013, 4:27pm

A D.C. Superior Court judge today found probable cause in the case of two men accused of beating and robbing a man in the 1300 block of 14th Street NW while yelling homophobic slurs, allowing government prosecutors to move forward with their case in the hope of obtaining an indictment that would allow them to go to trial. Judge Frederick Sullivan determined there was probable cause to believe that Gustavo Velasquez, 24, and Ciriaco Oxlaj, 26, could be tried for ...[Read]

Council Committee Passes Two Pro-LGBT Bills

Legislation allowing District residents to obtain new gender-specific birth certificates held up as 'model bill'

Published on June 7, 2013, 2:16pm

The D.C. Council's Committee on the Judiciary and Public Safety passed two bills intended to benefit members of the LGBTI community Thursday, allowing District residents to amend the gender on their birth certificates to align with their gender identity, and expanding the ability for people to be authorized as a marriage officiant for specific weddings. The committee, led by Councilmember Tommy Wells (D-Ward 6), unanimously approved an amended version of the JaParker Deoni Jones Birth Certificate Equality Amendment Act of ...[Read]

Coming-Out Contest

Local developer debuts effort to coax someone out of the closet

Published on June 6, 2013, 2:43pm

How much does the truth cost? That's the question Drew Frederick is asking – and he's offering $1,000 to find out. Frederick, a straight real-estate developer in Arlington, is the sponsor of a coming-out contest to encourage Washington-area people to liberate themselves from a secret they've been hiding. Inspired by Navy SEAL Chris Beck's coming out as transgender, Frederick's contest will award $1,000 to the winner's charity of choice. {Drew Frederick (Photo courtesy of Drew Frederick)} ''The goal is simply ...[Read]

IHOP Shooting Trial Postponed

LaShawn Carson to be tried in September on seven counts related to Columbia Heights anti-gay incident

Published on June 6, 2013, 2:40pm

The trial of a Washington woman accused of shooting a gay man at an IHOP restaurant in March 2012 has been postponed to September, a year-and-a-half since she was officially charged. LaShawn Carson, 28, faces seven charges related to the shooting: one count of aggravated assault while knowingly armed; one count of assault with a dangerous weapon; two counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence; a count of unlawful possession of ammunition; one count of unlawful ...[Read]

Latino Pride Split

Casa Ruby and others break from LHP to offer alternative pride events

Published on June 6, 2013, 7:43am

A schism among organizers of D.C.'s Latino Pride celebration has resulted in two different sets of events in the days leading up to Capital Pride's LGBT celebration. A disagreement between the Latino GLBT History Project (LHP), the chief presenter of DC Latino Pride, and 11 other groups such as Casa Ruby, Foundation Angie, and Project Stripes, arose when some felt they had been left out of LHP's planning process, according to Ruby Corado, a local transgender activist and the executive ...[Read]

NCAVP Report Cites D.C. Efforts

Report praises local actions, government initiatives as models to combat anti-LGBT violence, discrimination

Published on June 4, 2013, 5:53pm

A report released today by the National Coalition of Anti-Violence Programs (NCAVP) holds up several initiatives led by local organizations and District agencies as models that can replicated in the effort to address and the incidence of anti-LGBT violence. Although the report is national in scope, its authors cite several D.C. stakeholders, such as NCAVP affiliates Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), a program of The DC Center; the DC Trans Coalition (DCTC); and the Rainbow Response Coalition. Particularly, the ...[Read]

D.C. Names Director of Bullying-Prevention Program

Suzanne Greenfield to help implement policies approved by city's anti-bullying task force

Published on June 4, 2013, 5:06pm

The D.C. Office of Human Rights (OHR) today announced the appointment of Suzanne Greenfield, formerly of Advocates for Justice and Education (AJE), as the first citywide Bullying Prevention Program director. In this role, Greenfield will help District agencies, educational institutions, recreational centers and grantees implement model anti-bullying policies, as required in the 2012 bill approved by the D.C. Council and signed into law by Mayor Vincent Gray (D). Greenfield's new position is permanent and falls under the auspices of OHR, ...[Read]

Mautner Joining with Whitman-Walker Health

Lesbian health organization announces WWH collaboration, executive director departure

Published on June 4, 2013, 2:12pm

Mautner Project: The National Lesbian Health Organization announced today that is has begun partnering with Whitman-Walker Health, the nonprofit community health center specializing in LGBT-sensitive health care and HIV/AIDS treatment, as part of a new collaboration aimed at expanding Mautner's client base and providing it greater access funding. ''We are very excited that we'll be working with Whitman-Walker Health,'' Leslie Calman, the executive director of Mautner Project, said in a release announcing the partnership. ''It has a long, prestigious history ...[Read]

Virginia Supermajority Oppose Discrimination

Poll shows 4 out of 5 Virginians think employers should not be able to discriminate based on sexual orientation

Published on May 31, 2013, 6:40pm

A supermajority of Virginians believe employers should not be able to discriminate against people based on their sexual orientation, according to poll data released May 30 by the North Carolina-based Public Policy Polling (PPP). According to PPP, 80 percent of Virginians believe employers should not be allowed to discriminate, while 12 percent believe they should have that right, and 8 percent are unsure. Among Democratic respondents, 94 percent said employers should not be able to discriminate on the basis of ...[Read]

Opinion

Family Affairs

Having my nieces with me in the Pride parade taught them about the gay community -- and me about family

Published on June 13, 2013, 4:27am

For last year's Capital Pride Parade, I brought along my 12-year-old nephew. So in the interest of equality, this year I brought along my 12-year-old niece, Vivienne, to ride along with Metro Weekly as we threw thousands and thousands of beads into the cheering crowds. Naturally, being at her first-ever LGBT event, besides her two uncles' wedding, Vivienne learned an important lesson: People really, really love beads. She also got to see that the gay community is a big, broad ...[Read]

Statutory Sunshine State

Kaitlyn Hunt's case hits close to home

Published on June 13, 2013, 4:25am

As a former Floridian, I went into the Capital Pride weekend feeling particularly proud of Hillsborough County, Fla. On Wednesday, June 5, the seven-member Board of County Commissioners unanimously voted to repeal a ban on recognizing LGBT pride celebrations. That's also a point of pride for Equality Florida. On the state's ''Treasure Coast,'' however, due east of Tampa, last week also saw Kaitlyn Hunt graduate at Sebastian River High School, where ''You Can't Hide That Shark Pride!'' There was plenty ...[Read]

Mixing Up the Message

The GetEqual heckling of Michelle Obama was the wrong play on the right issue

Published on June 6, 2013, 7:46am

All's fair in love and war and, increasingly, politics. That's not an endorsement of, say, the current Republican political strategy of just making things up and having hearings to try to prove it later, but rather a recognition that it takes all kinds of tactics to make a democracy work. So I don't actually have a problem with a GetEqual protestor heckling first lady Michelle Obama at a private LGBT fundraiser on Tuesday evening. Yes, the first lady isn't elected ...[Read]

Work Ahead for Marriage

Illinois is not a defeat, but a wake-up call

Published on June 6, 2013, 7:45am

When the Illinois marriage-equality bill was not brought up for a vote on May 31, anti-gay obsessives like Brian Brown of National Organization for Marriage crowed as if they had defeated SB10 and turned back the Gay Menace. This was reinforced by gay activists' anger at their suddenly dashed expectations. In fact, Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan extended the deadline for the bill through August; it may be taken up in a special session. To treat one setback as a ...[Read]

Backlash to the Future

Outbursts of anti-gay violence over marriage in France remind us that hatred has a long half-life

Published on May 30, 2013, 6:12am

France is such a strange country. I don't say that from first-hand experience of strolling the streets of Paris — my only brief time there was as a 14-year-old struggling to pronounce ''rue vingt-deux'' through an exceptionally thick Kentucky accent. I say it because of my perusal of recent news, where France has been in the vanguard of both legalizing same-sex marriage and in violent protests against homosexuals tying the knot. It's always disconcerting to remember that France has an ...[Read]