Local
Duplex Diner changes owners
MOVA to close, become new club
![Duplex Diner, gay news, Washington Blade](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2014/12/Duplex_Diner_460x470_c_Washington_Blade_by_Pete_Exis.jpg)
![Duplex Diner, liquor license, alcohol, dining, gay news, Washington Blade](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2013/12/Duplex_Diner_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Pete_Exis.jpg)
Duplex Diner (Washington Blade file photo by Pete Exis)
Duplex Diner, a popular D.C. restaurant and lounge in Adams Morgan that has catered to a mostly gay clientele since 1998, is changing owners this month but will remain the same as it has always been for the time being, according to outgoing owner Kevin Lee.
Lee, a longtime employee at Duplex Diner who bought the business from original owner Eric Hirshfield in 2011, is selling it now to businessmen Mark Hunker and Jeff McCracken, who own the popular Rehoboth Beach restaurants Eden and Jam Bistro.
They are āsure to continue their success at the Duplex,ā Lee said in a Dec. 13 email sent to customers and friends.
āAfter thirteen years of first being an employee and then owning and operating the Duplex, I have decided the time is right for me to sell the Diner,ā he said in his email.
Lee said he expected the ownership change at Duplex Diner would be completed by the end of this week.
āThey have chosen our very own bartender, Kelly Laczko, to be the general manager and handle the daily operation of the restaurant,ā Lee said of the new owners. āI am delighted to be handing over the keys into their capable hands.ā
Added Lee, āThe customers walking in next week will not notice any change.ā
Meanwhile, in a separate development, Babak Movahedi, owner of the D.C. gay bar MOVA, announced on his Facebook page on Saturday that the bar and lounge currently located at 2204 14th Street, N.W., will be closing Jan. 3 and a new venue will soon open in its space.
āIt is with great excitement that I announce the agreement reached between MOVA and one of the owners of the hottest bar in D.C., BARCODE,ā Movahedi said in his Facebook message.
āI am even more excited about his future plans for the space as a restaurant and another upscale lounge,ā he said. āThank you, D.C., for your patronage over the past ten years. Our closing party will be on Jan. 3, 2015 with $3 drinks on everything and $5 martinis while supplies last. Enjoy.ā
Movahedi opened his message by offering his greetings from Barcelona, Spain, where he has said he planned to stay for part of 2014.
Steve Rothaus, a journalist who writes an LGBT community column for the Miami Herald, reported in May that Movahedi told him the building in which he operated MOVA of South Miami Beach was being sold for real estate development. Rothaus reported Movahedi as saying he planned to close in the near future MOVA South Beach and its companion bar, also called MOVA, in the Brickell section of Miami to give him a chance to take a break.
But he will soon announce plans for a new club in the Miami area, Rothaus reported.
Movahedi and two business partners first opened MOVA under the name Halo in 2004 at 1435 P St., N.W., in D.C.ās Logan Circle neighborhood. Around 2007 the two partners, gay club owners Ed Bailey and John Guggenmos, sold their share in the business to Movahedi, making him the sole owner of the club. A short time later Movahedi renamed the club MOVA. In 2010 Movahedi announced plans to move the bar to a new location. After a short period of being closed, MOVA reopened in its current location in November 2011.
Virginia
Man went on āhomophobic rantā inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags
Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/07/Justin_Wayne_Hendricks_mugshot_insert_courtesy_Fairfax_County_Police_Department.jpg)
The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a āhomophobic rantā inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.
āLast night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,ā the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. āHe then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,ā the posting continues.
āOur manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,ā the message says. āWe want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,ā the statement concludes.
Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being ādrunk in publicā and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.
āOn Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,ā a Vienna police statement says. āUpon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,ā according to the statement.
The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.
Details of the prior sex offender charge couldnāt immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.
Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealthās Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20240629_Shi-Queeta_Lee_at_Arlington_Pride_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.
Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.
Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.
PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.
Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.
āYou know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,ā Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.
āIt was a great year,ā he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.ā
State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.
Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.
The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.
Baltimore
Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist
Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/07/20240629_Iya_Dammons_at_street_naming_ceremony_in_Baltimore_insert_courtesy_Iya_Dammons.jpg)
Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.
A section of Baltimoreās 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.
The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.
A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women ānavigating survival modeā living.
āThrough compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,ā the statement says. āOur programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,ā it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scottās Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.
āThis is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,ā a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. āIya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,ā it says. āThis honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.ā
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