District of Columbia
Apparent overdose deaths of two beloved D.C. gay men trigger ‘powerful response’
LGBTQ bars to offer training, distribution of Narcan, fentanyl testing kits

Sources familiar with D.C.’s LGBTQ nightlife scene say widespread reports on social media of the sudden and unexpected deaths of two widely known and beloved gay men from an apparent accidental drug overdose on Dec. 27 at one of the men’s homes has triggered an outcry for the city and the community to become more aggressive in addressing the opioid overdose problem and how it is impacting the LGBTQ community.
D.C. police and Fire and Emergency Medical Services Department reports show that prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights supporter Brandon Roman, 38, and historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner Robert ‘Robbie’ Barletta, 28, were found unconscious when police and emergency medical personnel arrived at Barletta’s house on the afternoon of Dec. 27.
The reports show that Roman was declared deceased at the scene shortly after D.C. police and an ambulance arrived at the house in response to a 911 call. According to one of the reports, Barletta was taken to Washington Hospital Center where he died on Dec. 29.
Both men were regular patrons at popular D.C. gay bars, including the gay nightclub and dance bar Bunker and the recently opened gay bar and lounge Shakers.
“Come to Honor their Lives in Your Best Sparkles and Shimmers – Saturday, February 3rd 5-8pm at Shakers,” according to an announcement by Shakers posted on Instagram of a celebration of life for Roman and Barletta.
Johnny Bailey, community outreach coordinator for the LGBTQ supportive community services organization HIPS, said the widespread news of Roman and Barletta’s passing has prompted more interest and support for the overdose training sessions that HIPS and other groups have been organizing at D.C. nightlife venues, including bars and nightclubs.
Bailey noted that one of the training sessions is scheduled for Saturday, Jan. 27 at the D.C. gay bar Trade. He said the next one was scheduled for Monday, Jan. 29 at the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers. Among other things, facilitators at the trainings will be distributing the life-saving overdose antidote Narcan and testing kits for fentanyl, which experts say is the leading cause of drug overdose deaths when it appears in other drugs such as cocaine without the knowledge of users of those other drugs.
According to Bailey, the gay bar JR.’s on 17th Street near Dupont Circle has hosted a table set up by HIPS to distribute Narcan, fentanyl test strips, and condoms on nights when the bar holds its popular drag shows.
Bailey said he did not know Roman and Barletta personally but people he works with at HIPS knew them and, according to his sources in the community, people who knew the two men believe their apparent overdose was caused by taking some other drug contaminated with fentanyl.
“It’s horrible when it takes a tragedy for things to come together,” Bailey told the Washington Blade. “But this tragedy has truly triggered a powerful response. It was a real wakeup call to a lot of people,” he said. “So, this happening to them really triggered something.”
Among other things, Bailey said, it has heightened interest in the training sessions at bars and other nightlife venues and prompted HIPS and other organizations to increase the number of the trainings.
David Perruzza, owner of Pitchers, said he was happy to host the training session at his bar on Jan. 29. He said he was among the business owners and community members to urge D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to become involved in boosting overdose prevention efforts “because I was sick of people dying.”
Bailey and Jennifer Loken, interim director of Therapy and Substance Use Treatment at D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health, each said it was difficult to determine exactly how many LGBTQ people in the city have survived or died from a drug overdose because the city doesn’t specifically count or keep track of overdose cases based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity.
The D.C. Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, which investigates and gathers data on D.C. drug overdose cases, breaks down its demographic data by race-ethnicity, gender, age, and jurisdiction of residence by city ward. In its most recent report, the medical examiner’s office says it has investigated 2,134 deaths due to the use of opioids from Jan. 1, 2017, through Feb. 28, 2023. In those years, the number of overdose deaths increased each year except for 2018, when there was a small decrease, followed by an increase in 2019 with a sharp increase in 2022 and 2023.
In 2022, the most recent year in which the full year data was tabulated, the report says there were 458 overdose deaths, with an average of 38 deaths per month.
“Overall, 1,807 or 84 percent of all deaths due to opioid use were among Blacks” from January 2017 through May 2023, the report says. “Approximately 72 percent of all fatal opioid overdoses occur among adults between the ages of 40-69 years old,” with 30 percent of those deaths due to opioid use among people ages 50 to 59, the report states. And the report shows that fatal opioid overdoses are far more common among males than females. In 2023, 76 percent of the overdose deaths were among men and 24 percent among women, the report shows.
Asked if Whitman-Walker has a sense or estimate of whether LGBTQ overdose cases are increasing like they are in the overall D.C. population, Loken said, “I would say yes from what I hear anecdotally. Any overdose death is a significant loss.” She added, “So, I think in general, yes, the risk is increasing. Exactly to what degree I don’t know.”
Rodney Adams, general counsel and spokesperson for the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner, said it would be difficult for the office to attempt to keep track of overdose deaths based on a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity for transgender people. Among other things, the sexual orientation or gender identity of a deceased person taken to the medical examiner’s facility for an autopsy and toxicology tests to determine the cause and manner of death would be difficult to determine, Adams said.
“I don’t think we can go out and question the next of kin of what they think their loved one identified as,” Adams told the Blade. “We have a difficult enough conversation with families when we tell them that their loved one is deceased.”
Loken of Whitman-Walker said Whitman-Walker has several programs and services for those who use drugs, including providing medication to help people who may want to stop using an opioid drug as well as harm reduction programs to help someone who wishes to continue using a drug to do so in the safest possible way.
“Sometimes there’s a lot of stigma around substance use in general,” Loken said. “And we definitely don’t want anyone to feel shameful or that they can’t ask for what they need.” All of Whitman-Walker’s substance use treatment or support programs are nonjudgmental toward those who are substance users, Loken told the Blade.
Bailey said one potential problem HIPS has encountered in organizing overdose training sessions at bars and other nightlife businesses is some of the businesses declined to host a training session because they were concerned the city’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration (ABCA), which regulates the sale of alcoholic beverages in the city, might penalize them for appearing to encourage drug use. Bailey said owners at some bars said they were afraid ABCA might take steps to revoke their liquor license if they hosted an overdose training session in which Narcan and drug testing kits were distributed
Jarred Powell, ABCA’s chief of staff, in response to an inquiry from the Blade, said ABCA would not penalize businesses for hosting such a training.
“ABCA is strongly supportive of alcohol licensed businesses encouraging their staff to become trained in opioid overdose prevention and naloxone administration and for businesses to have naloxone on hand to administer if any opioid overdose occurs,” Powell said in a statement to the Blade. Naloxone is the generic name for the overdose treatment medication Narcan.
“Additionally, ABCA supports businesses posting and distributing overdose prevention and treatment resources such as posters and brochures,” Powell said. “All are critically important components to D.C.’s harm reduction approach to substance abuse.”
Powell said ABCA is also collaborating with the D.C. Department of Behavioral Health, which oversees the city’s overdose prevention programs, and the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture and Office of LGBTQ Affairs to increase the city’s overdose prevention initiatives and to co-host Narcan administration trainings.
Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, issued an announcement on Dec. 31 praising HIPS, the city’s Department of Behavioral Health, and the LGBTQ supportive Capital Ballroom Council for making sure “every LGBTQIA nightlife establishment in D.C.” had Narcan in time for their New Year’s Eve celebrations.
Bailey, meanwhile, said he and other HIPS staff members will continue the work they started in the recent past to organize overdose prevention trainings.
“We go anywhere in the community,” he said. “I’ve done libraries, bars. I did a church one day and the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence the next day,” he said, referring to the group that performs in drag dressed as nuns. “Any and all sorts of places we do these Narcan trainings.”
District of Columbia
Taste of Pride serves community, cuisine ahead of WorldPride
Capital Pride Alliance partners with local restaurants to celebrate LGBTQ culture, support small businesses, and raise funds for the Pride365 Fund.

With WorldPride set to kick off next month, bringing an estimated two million visitors to D.C., the city’s LGBTQ and restaurant communities are preparing for an unprecedented celebration.
Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit organization behind D.C.’s Pride events, is uniting the city’s LGBTQ and culinary communities to raise money for the Pride365 Fund through a program called Taste of Pride.
Taste of Pride partners with local restaurants across the District to generate funds for the Pride365 Fund, which, in turn, supports local LGBTQ organizations.
The Washington Blade sat down with Brandon Bayton, Special Projects & Influencer Manager for Capital Pride, to discuss how Taste of Pride is giving everyone the chance to support the LGBTQ community while enjoying incredible local cuisine.
“D.C. has become really known as sort of a foodie city,” said Bayton. “The restaurants that are participating are really stepping up to show their support for the LGBTQ community-especially in these troubling times right now. For them to step up and say, ‘Hey, we support you,’ it’s an opportunity for us to share them with our community and say, ‘We can support you too.’”
For Bayton, who is also the lead planner and producer for Taste of Pride, these restaurants’ open commitment to being safe spaces for the LGBTQ community serves three key purposes. The first is that they create a sense of belonging.
“By these restaurants participating, there is visibility,” he said. “They’re saying the LGBTQ community is here. They are patrons. We respect them and we support them. That, first and foremost, is one.” The participating restaurants are also given a sticker to display in their window that proves they are an official restaurant of Taste of Pride.
The second key aspect, Bayton explained, is that these restaurants are financially supporting an organization that directly benefits Washington’s LGBTQ community. To participate, restaurants must contribute at least $250 to Capital Pride, which serves as a donation to the Pride365 Fund.
“These restaurants are supporting us financially too,” Bayton said. “They are pretty much donating. There are tiers, and those tiers are donations to the Pride365 Fund-which is Capital Pride’s fundraising arm. That fund supports not just Capital Pride, but our sister organizations too, where we do grants and loans. We can disperse funds to SMYAL or the DC LGBTQ Center. Some of the funds that we’ve been raising go into the completion of the LGBTQ Center. It’s a fund that really supports the community.”
Lastly, Taste of Pride provides a platform for restaurants to showcase not only their food but also the queer history of their neighborhoods.
“The third thing is some of these restaurants are doing actual events, from drag events to poetry readings and hosting artists,” Bayton said. “Annie’s is a participant that’s going to be part of the Dupont Circle/17th Street Taste of Pride weekend in June, and they’re hosting a book launch for an author. His name is Erik Piepenburg, and he has featured Annie’s and other LGBTQ establishments in his book, “Dining Out.” The Watergate [Hotel] has four events that they’re doing. The Union Market community is doing special events for its Taste of Pride. It has been a win-win for everyone.”
So far, Taste of Pride has hosted two events: a kickoff event at Hook Hall and a weekend event with the Georgetown Business Improvement District (BID). If those events were any indication, Bayton said, this year’s Taste of Pride is shaping up to be both delicious and fabulous.
“We had a great panel of chefs,” he said about the January kickoff party. “We had David Hagedorn, Rob Heim from Shaw’s Tavern, these guys who call themselves Pirate Ventures. And we had Chef Angela Rose, who not only is a member of the [LGBTQ] community but also leads the Go-Go Museum’s café.”
The event also showcased two local drag artists.
“We had two performers-Frieda Poussáy and Dior Couture, a definite rising star in D.C. It was a night of food, camaraderie, networking, and friends getting together. It was a nice community event.”
Taste of Pride will continue throughout the city, with different Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) hosting culinary-focused weekends from now until July 31. Participating neighborhoods include NoMa, Dupont Circle, Golden Triangle, Capitol Hill, the Capitol Riverfront, and more.
This weekend, Adams Morgan will take center stage, serving up its own Taste of Pride. From the famous pupusas at El Tamarindo to the juicy burgers at Lucky Buns, these iconic and top-rated AdMo restaurants will not only be selling delicious food and raising money for the LGBTQ community, but they’ll also be “sharing a story — one of diversity, inclusion, and Pride.”
When asked how people should get involved in the Taste of Pride events, Bayton explained that Capital Pride found an app to “try to take the heavy lifting off of the restaurants by creating a specialized portal and employing an app.”
“One of the things is to download your Bandwango pass, because that gives you access to all the neighborhood groups as they come online,” he said.
Additionally, Bayton said posting a photo on social media is a great way to bring awareness to local restaurants supporting the LGBTQ community.
“When you go into the restaurants, take a picture, tag them, show your support for them,” he said.
This is not the first year Taste of Pride has taken place, Bayton told the Blade. It began in 2021 to support struggling local businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic but has since evolved into what it is today.
Bayton also shared his hopes for the future of Taste of Pride and for it to be recognized as much as a foodie event as a fundraising opportunity.
“My vision for Taste of Pride is that it becomes a staple of Capital Pride, not just something we do around Pride weekend. It becomes something that is ongoing. I would like to see it grow to become a major event, similar to the Pink Tie Party or Chefs for Equality, but always with the goal of interacting with the community and the allies of our community.”
That goal, he said, is impossible to achieve without food.
“I think we connect over food,” Bayton said. “When people sit down and they have dinner, it’s that time that provides an opportunity to allow us to connect with one another. Food serves as a key bridge.”
District of Columbia
D.C.-area schools to protest Trump’s ‘assault on public education’
Students unite against Trump’s education cuts in unprecedented protest

Student government leaders from multiple D.C.-area schools are coming together to protest recent Trump administration actions aimed at restricting student rights in America.
On Friday, April 4, at 4 p.m., the student governments of Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, American, George Mason, and Temple plan to protest the Trump-Vance administration’s efforts to dismantle public education at the Department of Education building (400 Maryland Ave., S.W.), just south of the National Mall. This “unprecedented coalition” of higher education student governments in the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia region, representing 130,000 students, will gather to tell the administration to keep its “Hands Off Our Schools.”
In a statement emailed to the Washington Blade, Asher Maxwell, press coordinator for the Georgetown University Student Association, called this a “historic coalition” and said the protest will highlight how Trump’s policies—dismantling the Department of Education, eradicating DEI initiatives, eliminating funding for academic programs and financial aid, and silencing student voices—are affecting students.
Former middle school principal and U.S. Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, along with campus free speech advocate Mary Beth Tinker, known for her role in Tinker v. Des Moines, are slated to speak at the rally about the importance of public education and free speech amid what they call the administration’s disregard for the rule of law and constitutionally protected acts such as protesting and speaking out against the government.
The rally is expected to draw thousands of students, from college to kindergarten, as well as First Amendment supporters and those angered by the administration’s efforts to minimize the federal government. Since taking office, Trump has laid off tens of thousands of federal employees, including many within the Department of Education, as he and his senior adviser, Elon Musk, strip away protections and federal spending that disproportionately affect LGBTQ people, people of color, and students.
The Washington Blade reached out to the White House for comment but has not received a response.
District of Columbia
D.C. police investigating anti-gay assault in Shaw
Police say suspect punched victim in face after shouting ‘homophobic slurs’

D.C. police are investigating a March 7, 2025, assault case listed as a suspected hate crime in which an unidentified male suspect punched a man in the face on the sidewalk outside an apartment building after calling the victim and his male friend “faggots.”
The victim, Destin Karol, and his friend, Ian Dotson, both residents of Arlington, Va., told the Washington Blade the assault took place about 10 p.m. while they were walking along 7th Street, N.W. on their way to the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.
The two men said while walking in front of the upscale 7th Flats apartment building at 1825 7th St., N.W., they saw the male suspect and a woman he was with get out of a car parked in front of the building. Seconds later, they saw the woman vomiting on the sidewalk as they walked past her, the two men told the Blade.
At that time, the male suspect yelled, “What are you looking at, faggots,” Karol and Dotson told the Blade. The suspect then punched Karol in the face “several times,” according to a D.C. police report.
Karol said he was diagnosed the next day at a hospital in Arlington near his home with a broken jaw that required the jaw to be wired shut.
Dotson said D.C. police arrived on the scene after he called 911 after witnessing the suspect punching Karol, knocking him down and kicking Karol in the face while he was lying on the sidewalk.
Karol said an ambulance arrived on the scene and paramedics treated his facial injury with an ice pack and offered to take him to the hospital. He said he declined the offer, choosing to go home first. But upon experiencing intense pain the next day, he visited a medical clinic whose doctors told him to immediately go to the nearby hospital emergency room.
An initial version of the D.C. police incident report did not list the incident as a suspected hate crime. But a revised version of the report, which was issued after the Blade contacted police to ask about the earlier report, classifies the incident as a “suspected hate crime.”
The revised report states that the suspect, after telling the victim, “What are you looking at,” proceeded to “close fist strike Victim 1 in the left jaw area several times.” It says Subject 2, who was Dotson, told police the suspect “yelled out homophobic slurs.”
The report concludes by saying, Suspect 1 “was last seen heading inside 1825 7th Street, N.W.”
According to Karol, police so far have not changed the report, at Karol’s request, to list the incident as an ‘aggravated assault’ rather than its current listing as a “simple assault.” Karol points out that under police policy, an assault-related injury that causes a broken bone should be classified as an aggravated assault.
Karol and Dotson said the police report also does not mention that they told the two police officers who arrived on the scene that they saw the suspect and the woman he was with get out of a car and they showed the two officers which car it was as it was parked in front of the apartment building.
Karol told the Blade he and Dotson asked at least one of the officers to take down the license plate number of the car, but the officer said it was not necessary for him to do so. Dotson said he recalls that the car was a white, 4-door Volkswagen hatchback with a Virginia license plate.
Dotson said he and Karol were disappointed that the police did not appear to take down the license number and he regrets that he did not write it down himself. But he said he recalls that the Virginia license tag consisted of all letters and no numbers, with the letters “IN” as part of it.
He described the suspect as a white male appearing to be between 35 or 45 years old with brown hair and a goatee or beard.
D.C. police spokesperson Paris Lewbel said a Third District police detective has been assigned to the case and the case remains under active investigation. He said he could not comment on the issues raised by Karol and Dotson under a police policy of not disclosing specific details in an ongoing investigation.
Karol said he has been speaking with Detective Wilson, whose first name he does not recall, and said he most recently spoke with her on Tuesday, April 1. “They’re trying to get the license plate of this individual and they’re trying to get the camera footage from the apartment building and the adjacent buildings,” Karol said the detective told him.
Dotson said at the time the police arrived on the scene on the night of March 7, an employee from the 7th Flat apartment building who identified himself as the concierge came out of the building and told one of the police officers that he saw the male suspect and the woman he was with enter the building.
Police spokesperson Lewbel said he could not disclose whether the concierge was able to help police identify the suspect under the policy of not disclosing details of an ongoing investigation.
Police urge members of the public who may have witnessed an incident like this or who may know something about it, including the identity of a suspect, to call the police information line of 202-727-9099.
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