Local
Nellie’s reopens, closes after protesters block entrance
Demands include public apology, release of video
Hours after it reopened for the first time in a month, Nellie’s Sports Bar on Tuesday night closed its doors again shortly after 8 p.m. when protesters formed a human chain to block the gay bar’s entrance doors.
About 50 protesters showed up outside Nellie’s, which is located at 9th and U Streets, N.W., about 8 p.m. after learning that the bar had reopened. D.C. police closed the streets surrounding Nellie’s to vehicle traffic as the protesters occupied the busy intersection.
Protesters have been assembling outside Nellie’s on Saturday nights for close to a month in response to a June 13 incident during D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride weekend when a security guard was captured on video dragging a Black woman down a flight of stairs shortly after a fight broke out among Nellie’s customers.
Nellie’s announced in a statement a short time later that it dismissed the security company for which the security guard was an employee and apologized for the guard’s action. But LGBTQ and racial justice activists have alleged that Nellie’s has a history of bias against people of color despite the fact that many of its longtime customers have been African-American men and women, LGBTQ and straight.
The city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board two weeks ago asked the Office of the D.C. Attorney General to open an investigation into allegations that Nellie’s violated the terms of its liquor license for its handling of fights that broke out in the bar shortly before Keisha Young, 22, was dragged by her hair down the stairs by the security guard.
The action by the ABC Board came after the D.C. Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) conducted its own investigation of the June 13 incident and concluded that Nellie’s appeared to have been engaged “in a method of operation conducive to unlawful conduct” at the time the fight broke out inside the bar. An ABRA spokesperson said it will be up to the Attorney General’s Office to make a final determination of whether Nellie’s violated city laws or regulations at the time of the fight.
The protesters assembled outside Nellie’s on Tuesday night after organizers posted messages on social media saying they had just discovered that Nellie’s had reopened and called on people show up outside the bar for a protest. Among the protest organizers was Makia Green, co-conductor of the Black-led community defense group Harriet’s Wildest Dreams, who describes herself as a queer trans nonbinary Black liberation organizer.
Green told the Washington Blade during the protest that protesters want Nellies to make a full public apology to Keisha Young and to release its own surveillance video of the incident involving Young being pulled down the flight of stairs. An ABRA report of the June 13 Nellie’s incident says ABRA has obtained a copy of the Nellie’s video.
Green said protesters are also calling on Nellie’s owner Douglas Schantz and his managers to participate in “public listening sessions” to hear concerns raised by Nellie’s Black customers and members of the community about alleged racial bias at the bar. She said that also among the protesters’ demands is for Nellies to make “reparations” for Young and the Black community.
According to Green, some but not all of the protesters are calling for Nellie’s to close permanently and for its building to be “put into the hands of Black queer and trans people” as a community center for social justice endeavors.
Nellie’s owner Schantz didn’t immediately respond to a request by the Blade for comment on the protesters’ action and to disclose whether he plans to reopen Nellie’s again this week.
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
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.
“You 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,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.
“It was a great year,” 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.”
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.
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 Baltimore’s 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 “navigating survival mode” living.
“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s 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.
“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya 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,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”
Baltimore
Despite record crowds, Baltimore Pride’s LGBTQ critics say organizers dropped the ball
People on social media expressed concern about block party stampede
BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | This year’s Baltimore Pride Week attracted 150,000 people — record attendance that far exceeded initial projections of 100,000.
But some see room for improvement and want organizers to address safety issues and make changes so the annual event that celebrates the LGBTQ population is better run.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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