The DC Center, the District's LGBT community center, has announced two new autumn initiatives in the areas of combating anti-LGBT violence and promoting better health.
First, the center's anti-violence program, Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), will receive a $60,000 grant from the Mayor's Office of Victims Services (OVS) to expand work in addressing bias-based crimes in the District, including providing sensitivity training to members of the Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), community education, and directing victims of violence to appropriate resources. GLOV will also be collaborating with Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS) to expand HIPS's crisis hotline to serve all members of the LGBT community who are victims of violent crimes.
David Mariner
(Photo by Todd Franson)
''On behalf of The DC Center and GLOV's volunteer membership, we are excited to receive increased support from the Office of Victim Services to increase awareness about bias-based violence and better serve the LGBT community,'' GLOV co-chairs Hassan Naveed and Matthew Corso said in a statement. ''We look forward to working with the D.C. government to expand these critical efforts.''
Second, starting Oct. 1 the center will helping uninsured members of the community enroll in private insurance or Medicaid using DC Health Link, the local exchange established in accordance with the Affordable Care Act (ACA). That initiative is part of a partnership with HealthHIV, which received a grant through the DC Health Benefit Exchange Authority.
According to The DC Center, 42,000 people in the District are living without health insurance, and LGBT people are less likely than others to have health coverage.
''This is an important opportunity to engage our communities in a conversation about healthcare and for us all to better understand the changes that are taking place in the healthcare system,'' said David Mariner, The DC Center's executive director, in a statement. ''Our goal is to help 300 individuals enroll in a healthcare plan, and to make the process as simple as possible for them.''
For more information on GLOV or the upcoming health-insurance initiative, contact The DC Center at 202-682-2245 or visit thedccenter.org.
...moreOne of the defendants seen in an online video apparently attacking a local drag performer in a June 23 incident at a restaurant at 14th and T Streets NW has been offered a deferred-sentencing agreement in exchange for community service, according to records from D.C. Superior Court.
Rachel Manna Sahle, 22, of Gaithersburg, Md., appeared in D.C. Superior Court Friday and accepted the deferred-sentencing agreement on a charge of simple assault. Under such an agreement, a defendant agrees to meet certain requirements or obligations in order to avoid serving jail time and to potentially have the charges dropped.
According to D.C. Superior Court records, Sahle will be required to perform community service, submit to regular drug testing, and avoid the victim, Miles DeNiro, who performs as drag personality Heidi Glüm.
Sahle has been scheduled for a deferred-sentencing review in six months, at which point Judge Juliet McKenna will determine if she has been compliant with the terms of her release. Typically, if a defendant has been compliant, a judge may decide to throw out the sentence and dismiss the charge altogether.
The second defendant, Raymone Harding, 28, also of Gaithersburg, has been ordered to return to court Sept. 27. McKenna continued the status hearing to that date to allow prosecutors to determine if Harding is eligible for a similar agreement, which is usually granted to only first-time offenders or those accused of minor crimes. If eligible, Harding's deferred-sentencing agreement would likely mirror Sahle's.
Friday's deferred-sentencing agreement for Sahle comes weeks after the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia advised McKenna that it was considering whether to pursue bias enhancements – known colloquially as ''hate-crime charges'' – to the charge of simple assault against both defendants.
In the video of the attack, which was posted to the site WorldStarHipHop.com, Sahle and Harding are seen hitting and dragging DeNiro by his hair while several bystanders watch at a Manny & Olga's restaurant near the intersection of 14th and T Streets NW. The footage also shows DeNiro bleeding from his head and trying to staunch the wound with napkins as he and the two women shout at each other.
DeNiro later told Metro Weekly that the women were being encouraged to beat him up by several men who were telling them he was a man. He said that the women continued to loiter outside the restaurant and yelled anti-gay slurs like ''faggot'' and ''tranny'' at him when he exited with his order.
...moreFloyd Lee Corkins II, the 29-year old Virginia gay man who pleaded guilty in February to committing the August 2012 shooting at the Family Research Council's (FRC) D.C. headquarters with the intent of carrying out a mass killing, was sentenced Thursday morning by U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Roberts to 25 years in jail, with five years supervised release after finishing his sentence.
Corkins, of Herndon, Va., originally faced 10 separate charges related to the shooting, but chose to plead guilty to committing an act of terrorism while armed, assault with intent to kill (AWIK), and interstate transportation of a firearm and ammunition. Corkins is the first defendant to be charged and convicted under the District of Columbia's Anti-Terrorism Act of 2002, which prosecutes actions committed with the intent to ''intimidate or coerce a significant population of the District of Columbia or the United States.''
Prosecutors had originally pushed for a 45-year sentence for Corkins on the three charges, while Corkins's lawyer, David Bos, had argued for an 11-and-a-half year sentence, as well as assurances that Corkins would continue to receive mental-health treatment during his time and prison and when placed on supervised release. In his Sept. 10 sentencing memorandum, Bos noted that Corkins had no prior criminal record and had been receiving mental health treatment as a result of suffering from ''auditory hallucinations and having thoughts of killing his parents and conservative right-wing Christians.'' Bos also noted that Corkins had been diagnosed with severe depression with schizophrenic aspects and had been receiving anti-psychotic medication as part of his treatment, but missed a crucial dose on Aug. 14, the night prior to the shooting.
But prosecutors had sought, months earlier, to preempt Bos's requests for a lighter sentence, writing in their April 19 sentencing memorandum: ''Although the defendant appears to suffer from bouts of severe depression and unidentified 'psychosis,' there is absolutely nothing to indicate that the defendant did not fully comprehend what he was planning and sought to accomplish in the shooting perpetrated at the FRC. Instead, the detailed nature of his planning and execution reveal the deliberate and clear-headed manner in which the defendant acted in this case.''
According to the government's evidence, Corkins, who briefly served as a volunteer receptionist at The DC Center, the city's LGBT community center, purchased a semiautomatic pistol that he later converted from a 22-caliber pistol into a 9-millimeter firearm in Virginia on Aug. 9, 2012, and began planning his trip to the FRC's downtown D.C. headquarters. On the evening of Aug. 14, Corkins returned to the store where he purchased the gun and engaged in shooting practice.
On Aug. 15, Corkins entered the Family Research Council headquarters, posing as a prospective intern. After being allowed into the building, he pulled the pistol from his backpack and pointed it at security guard Leonardo Reno ''Leo'' Johnson, who charged Corkins. The two struggled, with Corkins firing off three shots and striking Johnson in the arm. Johnson eventually subdued Corkins and handed him over to law enforcement officers.
Johnson underwent emergency surgery, in which metal plates were inserted into his arm to allow his shattered bones to heal. Numerous bullet fragments remain in his arm, and he was unable to work for several months. For his actions in protecting the FRC staff, Mayor Vincent Gray (D) awarded Johnson with the inaugural Mayor's Medal of Honor on Oct. 22, 2012.
Once he was subdued, Corkins told Johnson, ''It's not about you,'' but about the FRC's policies. He was heard making remarks such as, ''I don't like these people, and I don't like what they stand for.''
Police later discovered two fully loaded magazine clips, 50 rounds of ammunition, a handwritten list of four socially conservative, anti-gay organizations that included the FRC, and 15 wrapped Chick-fil-A sandwiches on Corkins's person or in his backpack. Corkins told investigators he was an activist and had planned to ''kill as many people as I could'' and smear the Chick-fil-A sandwiches on their faces afterward. Chick-fil-A has received attention for supporting anti-gay organizations through an affiliated foundation. Among other things, Corkins told detectives, ''Chick-fil-A came out against gay marriage so I was going to use that as a statement.''
Corkins also told investigators he had been thinking about perpetrating similar violence for years. He said that had he not been stopped at FRC headquarters, he planned to go to the next organization on his list and carry out a similar shooting there. Corkins also claimed he had gotten the names of the organizations from a list of anti-gay hate groups on the website of the Southern Poverty Law Center.
Following Corkins's sentencing, Ronald C. Machen Jr., the U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia; Valerie Parlave, assistant director of the FBI's Washington Field Office; and Metropolitan Police Department Chief Cathy Lanier issued a joint statement praising the sentence.
''A security guard's heroism is the only thing that prevented Floyd Corkins, II from carrying out a mass shooting intended to kill as many people as possible,'' Machen said in the statement. ''Our entire community is thankful to the hero who stood up to this heinous attack. Today's 25-year prison sentence demonstrates the steep price to be paid for turning to violence to terrorize your political enemies.''
''Acts of terrorism, like the one that Mr. Corkins admitted to committing in pursuit of political aim, are horrific events that instill a sense of fear on our community,'' Parlave said. ''The FBI applauds the heroic acts of the security guard who deterred Mr. Corkins from inflicting harm on additional victims. With our law enforcement partners, the FBI will respond to, secure and investigate scenes and bring violent actors to justice.''
In the joint statement, Lanier said, ''I want to commend FRC employee Leonardo Johnson for his heroism and the first responding officers for their quick assessment of the situation, which brought stability and control to the chaos.'' Then, referencing the Sept. 16 shootings that killed 13, including the suspected shooter, at the Navy Yard in Southeast Washington, she added, ''As recent events have shown us, quick thinking and bravery during incidents like this can save many lives.''
...moreMcCain writes an op-ed calling out the nation's generally repressive climate, including its antigay laws, and he gets some praise and some ribbing.
School administrators told Kasey Caron and his family that they plan to take no action regarding his request to be listed on the male ballot for homecoming king.
The first two polls released in New York City’s race for Mayor show Democrat Bill de Blasio with a commanding lead over his Republican contender Joe Lhota. The Marist Institute for Public Opinion poll conducted for WNBC and the Wall Street Journal, released earlier in the week, put de Blasio at 65 percent and showed […]
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.I don’t talk a lot about my family but I think it’s time for you all to meet them. Mind you, I have more than one. Now-a-days you kinda have to just to remain sane and balanced. I’m just saying that if you have people that are so special and important to your life that […]
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Bill de Blasio officially became the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York City this week as Bill Thompson conceded the race eliminating any chance of a run-off election. Thompson finished second to de Blasio in the November 3rd primary, but it was debatable as to whether or not de Blassio earned the 40 percent […]
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On Wednesday night, the first openly gay house guest won CBS’s Big Brother as Andy Herren took home the $500,000 prize. After a three-part “Head of Household” competition, Andy beat out his fellow alliance members Gina Marie and Spencer. That gave Herren the choice of which house guest he would take would join him in […]
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.Pope Francis says says the Catholic Church should lay-off its obsession with teachings on homosexuality and other social issues. In a rare difference of opinion from his predecessor Pope Benedict, who called homosexuality an intrinsic disorder, Francis said that he was hurt to hear from homosexuals that they felt “social wounded” when condemned by the Church […]
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