In the early morning hours of May 23, Sinners and Saints, an LGBTQ bar catering mainly to Queer and trans communities of color in Adams Morgan, was broken into.
Intruders shattered the glass on the front door, and after gaining entry, stole bottles of alcohol, shut off the bar’s electricity, and left the back door ajar.
They also scrawled a homophobic slur on a wall.
An employee from the restaurant above the bar was the first to notice the break-in after going downstairs to investigate why the building was without power.
They then called Blair Nixon, the co-owner and manager of Sinners and Saints, to inform them of the break-in.
The Metropolitan Police Department is investigating the break-in as a suspected hate crime. Thus far, no arrests have been made.
Nixon called the vandalism “disheartening,” telling the Washington Post, “If you have somebody who’s in your space who isn’t supposed to be there, it’s scary.”
The vandalism occurred during D.C. Black Pride Weekend and mere weeks before Washington is scheduled to host WorldPride, an international LGBTQ festival that will attract hundreds of thousands of LGBTQ visitors and allies to the District.
Rather than be silenced by the attack, the bar’s co-owners wanted to defy the vandals and send a message that they wouldn’t be pushed around.
Nixon posted pictures of the vandalism on social media, writing in an Instagram post, “To the coward who broke in and scribbled slurs: your fear is loud, but our pride is louder. This space remains queer, defiant, and beautifully unbothered.”
“This space exists to protect and celebrate Queer and Trans BIPOC communities, and this attack only strengthens our resolve,” the post continues. “We will NOT be silenced. We will NOT be intimidated. We will NOT back down. To those who tried to harm us: hate fuels our defiance. To our community: we see you, we love you, and we will continue fighting for you.”
The post sparked a flood of comments from patrons and community members offering to help with repairs or stand guard outside the bar.
Sinners and Saints launched a GoFundMe page, seeking to raise $9,000. It has so far raised over $7,800.
“D.C. has one of the biggest queer communities in the entire world and what’s important to note is that the acceptance of the LGBT community has been amazing,” he said. “However, just like many other situations, the acceptance of people of the color and the trans community is lagging behind and our entire mission is to provide a space where underrepresented and marginalized communities within the greater LGBT community can feel safe.”
Twelve hours after discovering the vandalism, the bar cleaned up the debris and opened to the public, with dozens of people packing the bar’s dance floor on Friday night.
<p?>Nixon said the owners are considering framing the slur, which remains on the wall, as a way of reclaiming their power and proving how they successfully stood up to hatred.
“We don’t ever want to send the message that we can be repressed,” he said. “We don’t want to be shaken, we don’t want to be down, we want to be sure we stick to our mission.”
Ruby Corado plans to request a new court-appointed attorney after her current lawyer withdrew from her case.
The transgender advocate and founder of the now-defunct LGBTQ nonprofit Casa Ruby is scheduled to be sentenced on federal wire fraud charges on October 15.
A longtime fixture in D.C.’s transgender community, Corado was arrested in March 2024 and accused of diverting $150,000 from $1.3 million in federal COVID-era relief funds awarded to her nonprofit for her personal use.
Sian Radaskiewicz-King, of Baltimore, has pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors for spray-painting a transgender symbol near Saints Peter & Paul Elementary School in Easton -- conduct that prompted a hate-crime charge and kept her jailed without bond for more than two months.
Under a plea deal with the Talbot County State's Attorney's Office, the 32-year-old admitted to one count of defacing religious property and one count of malicious destruction of property, with prosecutors dropping 24 additional charges.
Prosecutors say Radaskiewicz-King spray-painted a transgender symbol -- a circle with male and female glyphs and a third combined spoke -- around Saints Peter & Paul Elementary School in Easton on the night of September 4. They allege she tagged the same symbol at several other spots in town, including a liquor store fence, the sidewalk outside an Ulta Beauty, and a brick archway at a nearby shopping center.
Capital Pride Alliance Board President Ashley Smith has stepped down, effective October 18.
Smith was elected board president in 2018, succeeding longtime leader Bernie Delia, who passed away in 2024.
In a brief emailed statement to Metro Weekly, Capital Pride Alliance confirmed Smith’s resignation, saying the organization was recently "made aware of a claim" regarding Smith but offered no details about the nature of the claim or the circumstances surrounding his departure.
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