District of Columbia
D.C. trans group suspends operation of LGBTQ crime victim housing facility
Says court officials failed to provide promised number of residents
The D.C.-based LGBTQ organization Empowering the Transgender Community, known as ETC, was forced to suspend its operation of a temporary emergency housing facility for LGBTQ victims of violent crime because the D.C. Superior Court did not provide enough tenants to financially sustain the facility, according to ETC founder and executive director Earline Budd.
Budd and Benita Nero, ETC’s director of programs, told the Washington Blade an official in charge of the Superior Court’s Crime Victims Compensation Program informed ETC in March of 2022 that she expected the court program to provide tenants needing emergency housing to fill the ETC facility to its capacity of 26 individuals or families.
“That never happened,” Nero said. She and Budd said the overhead expenses for renting the small apartment building and hiring staff to oversee its 14 apartments and a capacity of accommodating about 26 to 28 people caused ETC to go into debt because the reimbursement they received from the court for far fewer people than initially promised did not cover the expenses.
“We have had to suspend the program during the last four weeks because we couldn’t keep having staff work and not get paid and not being able to pay the landlord,” Budd said.
“We weren’t even getting 15 people a month,” Nero said. “Fifteen a month would have kept the doors open. They were giving us three people, six people” per month, she said, during most of the time the facility was operating from May through November.
Nero said on a few occasions, the court sent over families with five or six children but provided insufficient reimbursement for the cost of feeding the children and their adult parent, further adding to the debt ETC incurred under the program. The court also was sometimes a month or two late in making its payments for ETC’s housing services, according to Nero.
A description of the crime victims housing program on the Superior Court website in March 2022 said the program establishes arrangements with housing providers for crime victims who could be subjected to danger if they remain in the residence where they had been living at the time they became victims, usually of a crime of violence.
Many of the individuals admitted to the program are victims of domestic violence and need emergency housing, Budd said. She said some of the victims may also be victims of a hate crime.
Budd said ETC was hopeful that it could reopen the emergency housing facility under a revised memorandum of understanding with the Superior Court.
Douglas Buchanan, a spokesperson for the D.C. Superior Court, declined a request by the Blade for an official comment by the court system in response to the concerns raised by Budd and Nero that the court did not fulfill its original commitment to provide a larger number of residents for the ETC housing facility.
Patricia Hawkins, vice chair of the ETC Board of Directors, told the Blade a key factor that caused fewer people than initially promised to be sent to the ETC housing facility was a decision by court officials to reverse an earlier decision to stop sending crime victims needing emergency housing to local hotels. Hawkins said court officials informed ETC in early 2022 that they were discontinuing the hotel option for crime victims and expected to send far larger numbers of crime victim residents to the ETC facility.
Budd and Nero said staffing problems at ETC surfaced from what they say was a severe financial shortfall brought about when the court program did not provide sufficient tenants to pull in funds needed to keep up with the overhead expenses of renting the apartment building and paying the staff.
“I have the data to prove it,” said Nero, referring to the number of people the court program sent in as emergency tenants during the six months or so that the facility was open. “And I felt like if you open an entity, that means you needed it,” she said. “So, evidently you didn’t need it because we weren’t sent enough people to stay open. So, why would you approve an entity to open if you didn’t have the people to support it?”
Budd said an official with the D.C. Department of Human Services (DHS) has reached out to ETC about the possibility of using the ETC apartment building as a low barrier homeless shelter. She said the facility would not likely be able to be used as both a homeless shelter and a housing facility for the courts at the same time, requiring ETC to decide which of the two programs to pursue.
According to Nero, the financial shortfall caused by overhead costs far exceeding the reimbursement funds ETC received from the Superior Court’s Crime Victims Compensation Program resulted in a debt, including back rent, of close to $80,000. This has prompted Budd to launch a GoFundMe fundraising site seeking financial support from the community.
District of Columbia
JR.’s hosts meet & greet for mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George
Event organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, Queers for Janeese
D.C. mayoral candidate Janeese Lewis George spoke to a crowd of LGBTQ supporters on June 1 at a meet & greet event held at JR.’s on 17th Street in the Dupont Circle neighborhood.
The event, organized by Capital Stonewall Democrats, which has endorsed Lewis George for mayor, with support from a group called Queers for Janeese, was followed by a “get out the vote” canvassing endeavor in which several of those attending the meet & greet visited the homes of nearby residents known to be Lewis George supporters.
The purpose of the canvassing was to remind Lewis George supporters to return their mail-in ballots or go to the polls on June 16 to elect Lewis George as the city’s next mayor, according to Matthew Kavanagh, one of the leaders of Queers for Janeese who attended the meet & greet event at JR.’s.
Local political observers consider Lewis George, a Ward 4 D.C. Council member, and former At-Large D.C. Council member Kenyan McDuffie, to be the two leading candidates in this year’s race for mayor. The two are among seven mayoral candidates competing in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George told those attending the meet & greet, which was held on the JR.’s outdoor patio, that she has a long record of advocating for and initiating city polices and laws in support of the LGBTQ community. She said large corporate donors were backing her opponents and urged her LGBTQ supporters to help raise funds for her in the remaining days of the campaign.
Among those attending the meet & greet was gay longtime Dupont Circle civic activist Randy Downs who last November opened a nearby eatery called Protest Pizza. “I am queer and I am a Janeese supporter,” Downs told the Blade.
Stevie McCarty, president of Capital Stonewall Democrats, who also spoke at the meet & greet event, said his group would organize events in support of Lewis George in the remaining days of the campaign. Among them, he said, was an LGBTQ bar crawl in which supporters of Lewis George, including the candidate herself, would visit LGBTQ bars to promote her candidacy.
District of Columbia
D.C. kicks off Pride month with flag raising ceremony
Mayor, Council members join LGBTQ activists in 4th annual event
Members of the D.C. Council joined Mayor Muriel Bowser and a crowd of LGBTQ activists and supporters on June 1 for the city’s fourth annual LGBTQ Pride flag raising ceremony held outside the John A. Wilson Building, which serves as the D.C. City Hall.
Since its inception four years ago by Mayor Bowser, the event has served as the official kickoff of D.C. Pride month, which culminates this year with the annual Capital Pride Parade on June 20 and Pride festival on June 21, which takes place on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. near the U.S. Capitol.
“As I like to say, we’re celebrating Pride month in the gayest city in the world,” Bowser told a crowd that included city officials and Council members joining her on the front steps of the Wilson Building.
“Fifty-one years of Pride in the future 51st state,” she said, adding, “And both movements are rooted in the same belief – every person deserves to be seen, heard, and fully represented.”
Among those who spoke at the event in addition to Bowser were Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb; and D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large).
“This year is special,” Bowles told the gathering. “It’s special because we celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs,” he said. “For two decades this office has helped make Washington, D.C. one of the most welcoming and affirming cities in the world.”
He added, “We have expanded LGBTQ services across agencies, invested millions of dollars into community organizations, championing culturally competent care and training, supporting LGBTQ supportive businesses and workers and celebrated our history.”
Schwalb said his Office of the D.C. Attorney General continues to safeguard the city’s laws protecting residents against discrimination but expressed concern about “high court” rulings that he said continue to roll back civil rights, voting rights, and human rights.
He said, “We’re seeing cases limiting medical care for transgender youth while at the same time green lighting so-called conversion therapy.” He pointed to cases or policies “excluding transgender girls from participating in sports and excluding story books with LGBTQ characters from our school libraries.”
He said his office is committed to protecting all residents, including LGBTQ residents, from all forms of discrimination. “And that includes the right to be our authentic selves, to freely express our identities and ourselves to be who we are and to love who we love.”
Mendelson, who also expressed strong support for the LGBTQ community and for the upcoming Pride events, said 10 of the Council’s 13 members were attending the Pride flag raising event, including gay Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5).
“I’m just here with gratitude,” Parker told the Washington Blade. “There’s a lot to be grateful for and a lot more to fight for,” he said. “And so, raising this flag is a reminder that our government is here to serve all of our residents regardless of how you identify or who you love.”
Shortly after Mendelson spoke, D.C. Council member Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4), who is running for mayor in the city’s June 16 primary, arrived at the event, becoming the 11th Council member to turn out for the event.
Among those also attending the event were Ryan Bos and June Crenshaw, the two top officials of the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Pride events.
Bowser, who is not running for re-election this year and will be stepping down as mayor in January 2027, thanked those attending the Pride flag raising event for playing a role in an all-inclusive city.
“We speak with one clear voice – that D.C. is a welcoming city,” she said in her remarks. “But also, we know that our work has been robust, but it is not done. We fly this flag in front of the John A. Wilson Building because it tells a story,” she said.
“It tells a story of a city that takes care of itself,” she added. “And we take care of each other. We are a city that is diverse and welcoming.”
Serving as the event’s master of ceremony and who introduced Bowles as the first speaker was longtime D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot.
District of Columbia
D.C. Pride flag raising ceremony set for June 1
Mayor, council members to participate
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs is inviting the LGBTQ community and friends to attend the city’s annual Pride flag raising ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday, June 1, outside the John Wilson Building that serves as the D.C. City Hall.
Like in prior years, members of the D.C. Council and officials with the Office of LGBTQ Affairs were expected to join Bowser in delivering remarks on the front entrance steps at the Wilson Building before raising the Pride flag atop one of the tall flagpoles next to the building’s entrance.
Gaby Vincent, a spokesperson for the LGBTQ Affairs Office, said attendees of the flag raising ceremony will be invited to attend a reception immediately following the ceremony in the main lobby of the Wilson Building, which is located on Pennsylvania Avenue at 14th Street, N.W.
She said the reception will feature a DJ, dancing, and refreshments provided by the D.C. LGBTQ bar and café Spark Social House.
Vincent said the flag raising event will also mark the 20th anniversary of the opening of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
In its official announcement of the flag raising event the LGBTQ Affairs Office also announced it is hosting the 7th annual District of Pride Showcase event to be held Friday, June 17, at 7 p.m. at the Lincoln Theater.
The announcement says LGBTQ community members, families, and allies are also invited to walk with Bowser in the Capital Pride Parade scheduled for Saturday, June 20. It says the mayor’s parade contingent will assemble at 2 p.m. at the parade’s starting location at 14th and U Streets, N.W.
“As we also celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, we invite residents, community members, families and allies to join us throughout June for moments of pride, connection, visibility, and joy,” the announcement says.
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