Local
Teenager charged in D.C. lesbian attack
Police have made one arrest; say more are being investigated
D.C. police on Tuesday charged a 19-year-old D.C. man with assault for a July 30 incident in which five lesbians reported being attacked and beaten by two men outside the Columbia Heights Metro station.
In a statement released late Tuesday, police said detectives from the department’s Third District announced the arrest of Christian Washington of Northwest D.C. on a charge of assault after obtaining a D.C. Superior Court warrant.
“The Metropolitan Police Department is still investigating whether others were involved,” the statement says.
The case has attracted widespread attention after two of the victims told the Blade that police officers responding to the scene of the attack refused to take a report of the incident. The two women also said the officers released a suspect they apprehended upon their arrival on the 3100 block of 14th Street, N.W., where the incident occurred.
D.C. Police Chief Cathy Lanier issued a statement on Aug. 5 saying she was “appalled” over the conduct of the officers who responded to the scene of the incident. She said the department would conduct a thorough investigation of the incident.
One day earlier, she told members of the D.C. group Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence that officers failing to take a report of a crime similar to this one could be fired from the department depending on the findings of an investigation.
An officer with the department’s Gay and Lesbian Liaison Unit did take a report of the incident on Aug. 2. The report prepared by the GLLU officer listed the incident as an anti-lesbian hate crime.
The report says the victims reported that at least one of the two male attackers called the women “dykes” and “bitches” before he and another man punched each of the five women in the head and face several times.
Court records show that D.C. police charged a man named Christian Washington with unauthorized use of a vehicle on July 27, just three days before the attack against the five lesbians. The Blade could not immediately determine whether the Christian Washington charged in the unauthorized use of a vehicle case is the same person as the man charged with assaulting the five lesbians.
The four-paragraph police statement released Tuesday doesn’t say whether the charge filed against Washington was listed as a misdemeanor or felony assault or whether it was listed as a hate crime.
More information about the case was expected to emerge on Wednesday, when Washington was expected to appear in court for a hearing.
“I appreciate the personal interest that Chief Lanier has shown in this case and the fact that the MPD announced an arrest in the case today,” said D.C. gay activist Peter Rosenstein. “I anticipate there may be more arrests, and the LGBT community needs to follow up and make sure that the officers who mishandled this are disciplined or fired.”
Virginia
VIDEO: LGBTQ groups march in Va. inaugural parade
Abigail Spanberger took office on Saturday
The inaugural ceremonies for Virginia Gov. Abigail Spanberger were held in Richmond, Va. on Saturday. Among the groups marching in the parade were Diversity Richmond and the Virginia Pride project of Diversity Richmond.
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Virginia
Va. Senate approves referendum to repeal marriage amendment
Outgoing state Sen. Adam Ebbin introduced SJ3
The Virginia Senate on Friday by a 26-13 vote margin approved a resolution that seeks to repeal a state constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Outgoing state Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) introduced SJ3. The Senate Privileges and Elections Committee on Wednesday approved it by a 10-4 vote margin.
Same-sex couples have been able to legally marry in Virginia since 2014. Outgoing Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin in 2024 signed a bill that codified marriage equality in state law.
A resolution that seeks to repeal the Marshall-Newman Amendment passed in the General Assembly in 2021. The resolution passed again in 2025.
Two successive legislatures must approve the resolution before it can go to the ballot. Democrats in the Virginia House of Delegates have said the resolution’s passage is among their 2026 legislative priorities.
“It’s time for Virginia’s Constitution to reflect the law of the land and the values of today,” said Ebbin after Friday’s vote. “This amendment, if approved by voters, would affirm the dignity of all committed couples and protects marriage equality for future generations.”
Maryland
Layoffs and confusion at Pride Center of Maryland after federal grants cut, reinstated
Trump administration move panicked addiction and mental health programs
By ALISSA ZHU | After learning it had abruptly lost $2 million in federal funding, the Pride Center of Maryland moved to lay off a dozen employees, or about a third of its workforce, the Baltimore nonprofit’s leader said Thursday.
The group is one of thousands nationwide that reportedly received letters late Tuesday from the Trump administration. Their mental health and addiction grants had been terminated, effective immediately, the letters said.
By Wednesday night, federal officials moved to reverse the funding cuts by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, estimated to total $2 billion, according to national media reports. But the Pride Center of Maryland’s CEO Cleo Manago said as of Thursday morning he had not heard anything from the federal government confirming those reports.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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