Local
Local news in brief: March 18
Ethics complaint dismissed against Beyer and more
Dana Beyer, center. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Ethics complaint dismissed against Beyer
The Montgomery County Ethics Commission on March 8 dismissed a complaint against retired eye surgeon and transgender activist Dana Beyer that alleged Beyer violated county ethics rules in 2008 by improperly campaigning against a proposed referendum to overturn a transgender non-discrimination law.
The complaint was filed by Ruth Jacobs, president of the Maryland Citizens for a Responsible Government, an anti-LGBT group. The group filed petitions calling for a voter referendum to overturn a transgender non-discrimination law passed by the Montgomery County Council in November 2007.
The referendum never made it to the ballot because supporters failed to gather the required number of petition signatures.
Beyer had been working at the time on the staff of County Council member Duchy Trachtenberg, an at-large Democrat, who authored the law. The law bans discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations and other areas based on a person’s gender identity.
Jacobs alleged in her complaint that Beyer and others opposed to the referendum improperly interfered with efforts by her group to gather signatures outside various Giant Food stores by, among other things, “yelling and screaming” at petition circulators and potential signers of the petitions. Jacobs also charged that Beyer abused her role as an employee of the County Council by allegedly telling the manager of one of the Giant stores that he would have “problems” with the county if he allowed the petitions to be circulated on store property.
Beyer denied the allegations, saying they were fabricated by Jacobs and others as a means of retaliating against legitimate efforts by supporters of the non-discrimination law to campaign against the referendum.
“In order for [the ethics code] to be violated, the employee’s conduct must be on the job, include self-identification as a public employee, or otherwise entail the prestige of office,” the Ethics Commission said in its ruling. “Assuming that Dr. Beyer did confront MCRG volunteers, Giant Food managers, and patrons, there is no credible evidence that she invoked her county position while doing so.”
In a statement Beyer hailed the decision to dismiss the case but expressed concern that the commission’s earlier decision to find probable cause that she may have violated ethics rules indicates the county’s ethics process is flawed.
“After having failed to defeat anti-discrimination protections for transgender citizens in the County Council, and then failing to get their referendum on the ballot, a small group of narrow-minded, political motivated individuals tried to obstruct justice a third time by going after me personally,” she said.
Jacobs could not be immediately reached for comment.
Murder trial opens in anti-gay ‘hate’ case
A trial began this week for a 26-year-old D.C. man charged with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the November 2009 stabbing death of a man that prosecutors have classified as an anti-gay hate crime.
In charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court, police and prosecutors said Justin L. Navarro, 26, stabbed D.C. resident Kevin Massey at least 18 times inside Massey’s apartment in the 4200 block of 2nd St., N.W., on Nov. 6, 2009.
The court documents say an eyewitness told police the witness saw Navarro enter Massey’s bedroom after asking the witness, “Where is the faggy ass nigger?”
“Witness 1 observed the defendant armed with a large kitchen knife which the defendant used to thrust into the decedent’s body,” a police arrest affidavit says. “Witness 1 stated that it observed the defendant thrust the knife into the decedent’s body twice before Witness 1 fled the apartment for its safety,” the affidavit says.
An eight-count grand jury indictment of Navarro charges that, “the murder demonstrated the prejudice of Justin L. Navarro…based on the actual or perceived sexual orientation of Kevin Massey.”
A law enforcement source said Navarro allegedly stabbed Massey because he incorrectly believed that Massey had made a pass at him weeks before the murder and that “rumors were spreading about the two men.”
Prosecutors filed a motion last September objecting to plans by the defense to argue that Navarro committed the stabbing in self-defense. An attorney representing Navarro could not be immediately reached for comment.
The trial before Judge Lynn Leibovitz was expected to last through this week.
San Fran mayoral candidate seeks support in D.C.
A gay candidate running for mayor in San Francisco, who served for eight years on that city’s Board of Supervisors, is scheduled to hold a fundraiser in D.C. on March 21.
D.C. area supporters of Bevan Dufty say Dufty has the “drive, energy, responsiveness and effectiveness” to be an excellent mayor and are calling on local activists to contribute to his campaign. Dufty is a former D.C. resident who started his career as a staff member to former U.S. Reps. Shirley Chisholm and Julian Dixon, both Democrats.
He is the only gay candidate in a field of eight competing for the mayoral post in the Nov. 8 election.
Dufty’s campaign announced earlier this year that he reversed an earlier decision to limit the amount of campaign contributions he would accept to $200 rather than the legal limit of $500. He also initially vowed not to accept contributions from donors outside San Francisco. Those restrictions hurt his campaign, according to political pundits, who noted he had fallen behind most of his competitors in funds raised.
In addition to seeking support from individual donors in D.C., Dufty is applying for the endorsement of the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund, a national group that supports openly LGBT candidates for public office.
Information about the D.C. event, set to take place at a private residence near Dupont Circle, can be obtained by contacting Jill McCarthy at 202-316-8006 or [email protected].
Virginia
Youngkin calls on gay Va. GOP LG candidate to exit race over alleged ‘porn’ scandal
John Reid denounces ‘fabricated internet lie’ as anti-gay smear campaign
Less than a week after John Reid, the conservative gay radio talk show host from Richmond secured the Republican nomination for the office of lieutenant governor in Virginia, sensational allegations have surfaced, which he strongly denies, that he allegedly posted pornographic photos on social media.
According to the Virginia Mercury newspaper, the allegations surfaced when Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin’s office released a statement saying Youngkin contacted Reid on Friday, April 25, and asked him to withdraw his candidacy over reports that a social media account with Reid’s username included “pornographic content” that was “shared” with others.
“The governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,” the Virginia Mercury quotes a Youngkin spokesperson as saying. “Friday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the governor asked him to step down as the lt. governor nominee,” the spokesperson is quoted as saying.
Reid responded to the allegations in an early Friday evening video he posted on his campaign’s Facebook page, calling the allegations “a totally fabricated internet lie” motivated by anti-gay bias.
“I can tell you that’s not my account and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people,” he stated in his video. “It’s predictable,” he added.
“But what I didn’t expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond,” Reid states in his video.
He said he will not drop out of the lieutenant governor’s race and called the allegations against him just the latest in what he said was an ongoing effort by some in the Republican Party, especially conservative Christians, to force him out of politics.
“Let’s be honest,” he said. “it’s because I’m openly gay. And I have never backed down to the establishment, and will not,” he continued in his video message. “What happened today is another coordinated assassination attempt against me to force the first openly gay candidate off of a Virginia statewide ticket.”
Reid added, “It’s shameful, and I won’t back down, even though I know the plan is for the attacks to continue in this overt effort to make me toxic.”
Reid secured the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor last week after his only rival in the Republican primary, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
By securing the nomination Reid became the first known openly gay candidate, Republican or Democrat, to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.
In an interview with the Washington Blade earlier this week Reid pointed out that he came out as gay in 1996 or 1997 on National Coming Out Day in his role as TV news anchor in Richmond, where he worked for 10 years.
Following that, Reid worked as a radio talk show host for the next eight years, promoting his ideas as a gay conservative Republican, up until shortly before he announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor, he told the Blade.
Reid’s video responding to the accusations against him can be accessed here.
Reid’s campaign website and statements he has released to the media acknowledge his status as a gay candidate but point out he has a long record of support for conservative Republican positions on a wide range of issues that are against the positions of most mainline LGBTQ rights organizations.
“I’m not a diversity hire,” he stated in a press release issued at the time he announced his candidacy in January. “I’m the most conservative and proven candidate running, and I’ve boldly stood up for our beliefs in a way that should make my personal life a total nonissue,” he stated.
A statement on his campaign website states “John is uniquely positioned to take the fight to the radical progressives head on as he continues his fight against boys in girls’ sports and the extreme trans agenda being forced upon our children.”
His campaign website statement on transgender issues concludes by saying, “And we must be blatant in saying that it is factually impossible for biological men or women to personally decide to change their gender. John believes in the right for grown adults to live their lives as they see fit, but not if they impose restrictions and obligations on others and not if any of their behavior sexualizes or grooms children.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump
BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw
School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ‘warmth, humor, kindness’
Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.
Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.
“Patrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,” Martinez said. “He was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.”
In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.
“Patrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,” his colleagues said in their posting. “His daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.”
The posted message adds, “Patrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.”
The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon.
Youngkin calls on gay Va. GOP LG candidate to exit race over alleged ‘porn’ scandal
George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case
Navigating employer-sponsored health insurance, care
Timely comedy ‘Fake It’ focuses on Native American themes
Taste of Point returns May 7
HHS to retire 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth
David Hogg’s arrogant, self-indulgent stunt
D.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case
Gay talk show host wins GOP nom for Va. lieutenant guv
On Pope Francis, Opus Dei and ongoing religious intolerance
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Federal Government3 days agoHHS to retire 988 crisis lifeline for LGBTQ youth
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Opinions3 days agoDavid Hogg’s arrogant, self-indulgent stunt
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District of Columbia3 days agoD.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case
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Virginia3 days agoGay talk show host wins GOP nom for Va. lieutenant guv