Prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. disclosed in court filings that Tommy Hudson, 58, the gay man who was stabbed to death by his domestic partner on May 26, had a criminal record of eight arrests and convictions between 1987 and 2018, including two domestic violence assault convictions in which the partner charged with killing him was the victim.

Ted Anthony Brown, 54, who court records show had a longtime romantic relationship with Hudson, was charged on May 29 with second-degree murder while armed for allegedly fatally stabbing Hudson inside Brown’s apartment at 517 Harvard St., N.W., following an argument  He is being held in jail without bond while awaiting trial.

Charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court show that at the time of his arrest, Brown waived his Miranda rights to remain silent and confessed to having stabbed Hudson, saying he did so after Hudson punched him in the face while the two were arguing.

“Brown reported that he and the decedent have been involved in a romantic relationship for a significant period and that he was very jealous of the decedent’s possible infidelities,” an affidavit by police in support of his arrest states. “Suspect 1 [Brown] reported to detectives that he believed the decedent punching him to the face did not justify Suspect 1 stabbing the decedent, which ultimately killed him,” the affidavit says.

Court records show that prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney on May 31 sent a letter to Brown’s defense attorney, Todd Baldwin, disclosing Hudson’s prior arrests and convictions as part of a required discovery process in which prosecutors must disclose information relevant to a criminal case to the defense, even if the information may be harmful to the prosecutors’ case at trial.

The prosecutors’ letter, sent by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lauren Galloway, says Hudson’s prior convictions include a 2018 charge of violating a Temporary Protection Order requiring he stay away from someone he was accused of threatening with domestic violence; a 2015 charge of domestic violence related simple assault against his partner Brown;  and a 2014 domestic violence related simple assault and unlawful entry charge also involving Brown.

 The letter says Hudson was also convicted of a 2012 charge of Bail Reform Act violation; a 2010 charge of possession of cocaine; a 2002 charge of cruelty to an animal; a 2001 charge of felony “escape;” a 2000 charge of second-degree theft; a 1997 charge of violation of the Bail Reform Act; and a 1987 charge of criminal “contempt.”

Court records, meanwhile, show that on June 17 D.C. Superior Court Judge Anthony Epstein approved a motion by the defense calling for defendant Brown to undergo a mental health competency screening to determine whether he is competent to stand trial. Prosecutors did not oppose the motion. The judge scheduled a “Mental Observation” hearing for Brown on July 11 to review and assess the findings of the competency screening.

Court records also show that prosecutors agreed to keep a plea bargain offer they made earlier open until the findings of the mental health exam become known.

Bernie Delia, a founding member of the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most D.C. LGBTQ Pride events, and who served most recently as co-chair of World Pride 2025, which D.C. will be hosting next June, died unexpectedly on Friday, June 21, according to a statement released by Capital Pride Alliance. He was 68.

“It is with great sadness that the Capital Pride Alliance mourns the passing of Bernie Delia,” the statement says. “We will always reflect on his life and legacy as a champion, activist, survivor, mentor, friend, leader, and a true inspiration to the LGBTQ+ community.”

The statement says that in addition to serving six years as the Capital Pride Alliance board president, Delia served for several years as president of Dignity Washington, the local LGBTQ Catholic organization, where he helped create “an environment for spiritual enrichment during the height of the AIDS epidemic.”

“He also had a distinguished legal career, serving as one of the first openly gay appointees at the U.S. Department of Justice and later as an appellate attorney,” the statement reads.

Delia’s LinkedIn page shows that he worked at the U.S. Department of Justice for 26 years, serving as an assistant U.S. attorney from 2001 to 2019. Prior to that, he served from 1997 to 2001 as associate deputy attorney general and from 1994 to 1997 served as senior counsel to the director of the Executive Office for United States Attorneys, which provides executive and administrative support for 93 U.S. attorneys located throughout the country.

His LinkedIn page shows he served from January-June 1993 as deputy director of the Office of Presidential Personnel during the administration of President Bill Clinton, in which he was part of the White House staff. And it shows he began his career as legal editor of the Bureau of National Affairs, which published news reports on legal issues, from 1983-1993.

The Capital Pride Alliance statement describes Delia as “an avid runner who served as the coordinator of the D.C. Front Runners and Stonewall Kickball LGBTQ sports groups.”

“He understood the value, purpose, and the urgency of the LGBTQ+ community to work together and support one another,” the statement says. “He poured his soul into our journey toward World Pride, which was a goal of his from the start of his involvement with Capital Pride.”

The statement adds, “Bernie will continue to guide us forward to ensure we meet this important milestone as we gather with the world to be visible, heard, and authentic. We love you, Bernie!”

In a statement posted on social media, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said she and her administration were “heartbroken” over the news of Delia’s passing.

“Bernie leaves behind an incredible legacy in our city and country — through his life and advocacy, he helped pave a path for LGBTQIA+ residents in our city and within the federal government to live and work openly and proudly,” the mayor says in her statement.

“He helped transform Capital Pride into one of the largest and most inclusive Pride celebrations in the nation — a true reflection and representation of our people and values,” the statement says. “This is the D.C. that Bernie helped build and that he leaves behind.”

“All of the hopes and dreams that we had about what Pride could be and what CPA could do, are things that Bernie actualized over the last many years and in his work for next year,” said Vincent Slatt, Rainbow History Project’s director of archiving in a statement. “He wasn’t the first one to say it, but he always reminded everyone: ‘we make each Pride special because, for someone, it is their first Pride, and they’ll remember it always.’ Bernie lived that ideal each and every year. WorldPride 2025 will be a testament to his efforts and his legacy will live on — it will be someone’s first Pride. We’ll try to make Bernie proud of us.”

Delia’s oral history interview is part of the Rainbow History Project Archives. You can access it at rainbowhistory.org.

Ashley Smith, the Capital Pride Alliance president, said he and other Capital Pride officials became concerned when Delia did not respond to their routine calls or messages. Smith said he called D.C. police to arrange for a welfare check on Delia at his house in Northwest D.C. on Friday, June 21. He said police accompanied him to Delia’s house and police entered the house and found Delia unconscious.

Smith said an ambulance was called and attempts to resuscitate Delia were unsuccessful. Smith said a definitive cause of death had not been determined other than it was due to natural causes. “He had a heart attack last year, so he had been recovering from that, but he seemed to have been doing in fairly good order,”  Smith told the Blade.

Smith said the emergency medical technicians who arrived at the scene and who declared Delia deceased said, “it looked like it probably had to do with the previous heart condition that he already had, and that it’s more than likely what it came from,” Smith said in referring to Delia’s passing. “He died peacefully at home,” Smith added.

Smith and Dignity Washington spokesperson Jake Hudson said Delia’s two sisters, one from Baltimore and the other from Charlotte, N.C., were in D.C. working on funeral arrangements. Smith and Hudson said Capital Pride and Dignity planned to consult with the two sisters on plans for a possible Catholic mass in Delia’s honor as well as a celebration of life that Smith said would take place in D.C. in August or September.

Capital Pride was also working with the sisters to create a memorial fund in Delia’s honor that would raise money for the causes and programs that Delia supported over the course of his many years as an activist. “It’s still being formulated,” Smith said. “That will be forthcoming when we get ready to do the celebration of life ceremony and everything else,” he said.

According to Smith, the sisters, in consultation with Joseph Gawler’s and Sons funeral home in Northwest D.C,  were making arrangements for a cremation rather than a burial.

The D.C. Council on June 12 gave final approval for a $21 billion fiscal year 2025 budget for the District of Columbia that includes more than $8.5 million in funding for LGBTQ-related programs, including $5.25 million in support of the June 2025 World Pride celebration that D.C. will be hosting.

Also included in the budget is $1.7 million in funds for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which includes an increase of $132,000 over the office’s funding for the current fiscal year, and a one-time funding of $1 million for the completion of the renovation of the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community’s new building in the city’s Shaw neighborhood.

The D.C. LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition earlier this year asked both the D.C. Council and Mayor Muriel Bowser to approve $1.5 million for the D.C. Center’s building renovation and an additional $300,000 in “recurring” funding for the LGBTQ Center in subsequent years “to support ongoing operational costs and programmatic initiatives.” In its final budget measure, the Council approved $1 million for the renovation work and did not approve the proposed $600,000 in annual operational funding for the center.

The mayor’s budget proposal, which called for the $5.25 million in funding for World Pride 2025, did not include funding for the D.C. LGBTQ Center or for several other funding requests by the LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition.

At the request of D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member, the Council approved at least two other funding requests by the LGBTQ+ Budget Coalition in addition to the funding for the LGBTQ Center. One is $595,000 for 20 additional dedicated housing vouchers for LGBTQ residents who face housing insecurity or homelessness. The LGBTQ housing vouchers are administered by the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.

The other funding allocation pushed by Parker is $250,000 in funds to support a Black LGBTQ+ History Commission and Black LGBTQIA+ history program that Parker proposed that will also be administered by the LGBTQ Affairs office.

Also at Parker’s request, the Council included in its budget bill a proposal by Parker to change the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to become a “stand-alone entity” outside the Executive Office of the Mayor. Parker told the Washington Blade this change would “allow for greater transparency and accountability that reflects its evolution over the years.”

He said the change would also give the person serving as the office’s director, who is currently LGBTQ rights advocate Japer Bowles, “greater flexibility to advocate for the interest of LGBTQ residents” and give the Council greater oversight of the office. Parker noted that other community constituent offices under the mayor’s office, including the Office of Latino Affairs and the Office of Veterans Affairs, are stand-alone offices.

The budget bill includes another LGBTQ funding provision introduced by D.C. Council member Charles Allen (D-Ward 6) that allocates $100,000 in grants to support LGBTQ supportive businesses in Ward 6 that would be awarded and administered by the Office of LGBTQ Affairs. Allen spokesperson Eric Salmi said Allen had in mind two potential businesses on 8th Street, S.E. in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill as potential applicants for the grants.

One is the LGBTQ café and bar As You Are, which had to close temporarily earlier this year due to structural problems in the building it rents. The other potential applicant, Salmi said, is Little District Books, D.C.’s only LGBTQ bookstore that’s located on 8th Street across the street from the U.S. Marine Barracks.

“It’s kind of recognizing Barrack’s Row has a long history of creating spaces that are intended for and safe for the LGBTQ community and wanting to continue that history,” Salmi said  “So, that was his kind of intent behind the language in that funding.”

The mayor’s budget proposal also called for continuing an annual funding of $600,000 to provide workforce development services for transgender and gender non-conforming city residents experiencing homelessness and housing instability.