In 2025, D.C. faced unprecedented challenges as President Trump began a takeover of local police operations and conducted ICE raids in the city. Below are our picks for this year’s top 10 LGBTQ news stories.
10. Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for selling drugs that killed two gay men
A D.C. man was sentenced by a federal judge to 15 years in prison on June 26, 2025, after pleading guilty three months ago to conspiracy-related charges for distributing large quantities of fentanyl and cocaine in the D.C. area, including selling fentanyl that led to the deaths of two gay men in D.C. in December 2023.
Jevon Mark, 33, was charged with selling fentanyl instead of the requested ketamine (also known as “Special K”) to one of two gay victims who shared the drug with a gay friend, according to a statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Washington, D.C. Police identified the men as Brandon Roman, 38, a prominent Washington, D.C., lawyer and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Robbie Valletta, 28, a home improvement business owner and historic preservationist.
Officials with HIPS, a Washington, D.C.-based organization that provides services to people who use drugs, said the two men’s deaths were poisoning rather than overdoses because they unknowingly ingested the highly toxic fentanyl instead of the ketamine they thought they were taking.
9. Drag queens and protesters condemn Trump‘takeover of kennedy center
Washington, D.C., drag performer Tara Foote joined other drag queens and about 100 supporters in marching from Washington Circle to the Kennedy Center in February to protest President Donald Trump’s “takeover” of the center by appointing Trump supporters to the performing arts facility’s board of directors.
Foote and three other local drag performers attended the opening night performance of “Les Miserables” at the Kennedy Center, with Trump himself in attendance, following June’s Kennedy Center protests. Among the concerns raised by protesters was the Kennedy Center’s decision in February to cancel a performance by the Washington Gay Men’s Chorus scheduled for May to commemorate the upcoming WorldPride 2025 DC event. A Kennedy Center spokeswoman said the performance was canceled due to “financial” and “scheduling” factors, not a change in leadership led by Trump.
8. DC LGBTQ Center Celebrates Opening of New Larger Office
The DC LGBTQ+ Community Center officially opened its new expanded office on April 26 at 1828 Wiltberger Street NW, one block from Shaw Metro Station.
Spanning 6,671 square feet of purposefully designed space, the center’s director, Kimberly Bush, said the new space will provide a wide range of resources for LGBTQ people in need, including mental health services, job readiness programs, cultural events and community support groups, all under one roof.
7. Five leading local LGBTQ advocates will die in 2025
The LGBTQ community took note of the deaths of at least five highly respected local LGBTQ advocates in 2025. Among them was Geri Hughes, 73, a longtime local transgender rights activist. Dale Sanders, 75, was a highly regarded Washington, D.C., attorney for more than 40 years, playing a leading role in providing legal services to people living with HIV/AIDS. Patrick Shaw, 60, is a highly regarded public school teacher in Washington, D.C. Thomas Mangrum, 61, is a highly regarded advocate for people with disabilities and an LGBTQ rights activist who participates in the city’s Capital Pride events. Lorraine Hutchins is a nationally known and acclaimed advocate for bisexual and LGBTQ rights, and co-author and editor of groundbreaking books on bisexuality.
6. Pro-LGBTQ Spanberger elected governor of Virginia
Abigail Spanberger (Democratic), a former congresswoman and longtime supporter of LGBTQ rights, won the Virginia gubernatorial race on November 6, defeating Republican Lieutenant Governor Winsome Earl Sears, who had voiced strong opposition to LGBTQ equality. Spanberger, who will replace incumbent Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin in January, will become Virginia’s first female governor.
Meanwhile, John Reed, a longtime gay conservative radio talk show host in Richmond, lost the Republican nomination for lieutenant governor in Virginia, falling short of becoming the state’s first openly gay man to hold a statewide office. Reid lost to Democrat Ghazala Hashmi, the Virginia state senator who was the first Muslim woman elected to a statewide office.
5. Trans erasure hits DC
In February, the National Park Service, which owns and manages Dupont Circle as a federal park, removed all references to transgender people from its website dedicated to Dupont Circle’s history. In a development believed to be related to one of President Trump’s early executive orders banning federal aid for trans-related issues, the Park Service removed all references to transgender people from its website, but left multiple references to the “GLB community” on the site.
In a further act of what LGBTQ activists call “trans erasure,” Children’s National Hospital in Washington, D.C., announced in July that starting August 30, it would discontinue the gender-assignment care it has provided to adolescent patients for at least the past two decades. The highly regarded children’s hospital said in a statement on its website that the changes were made “in light of the increased regulatory risks to Children’s National.” Most observers interpreted this to mean the risk of federal funding cuts related to the Trump administration’s hostility to transgender support programs and policies.
4. DC Mayor Bowser announces he will not run for re-election
Washington, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, who has long been a vocal supporter of the LGBTQ community, announced on November 25 that she will not run for a fourth term. Since first taking office as mayor in January 2015, Bowser has been an outspoken advocate on a wide range of LGBTQ-related issues, including marriage equality and services for LGBTQ youth and seniors.
LGBTQ activists say Bowser’s record of support for LGBTQ issues dates back to her time as the 4th District D.C. council member from 2007, when she became mayor, to January 2015. They also credited her with expanding and significantly increasing the mayor’s office’s funding for LGBTQ issues and appointing more openly LGBTQ officials to D.C. government positions than any previous D.C. mayor.
“It has been the honor of my life to serve as mayor,” Bowser said in a statement.
3. DC LGBTQ Bar ‘hanging there‘ amidst tough economic conditions
Owners of some of D.C.’s at least 25 LGBTQ bars told the Blade in November that they have been negatively impacted by a series of developments and issues that affect most other bars, restaurants and nightlife venues in D.C. The main issues affecting them include President Trump’s deployment of the National Guard to the streets, the nearly two-month federal government shutdown that ended in late November, and the soaring prices of food and other goods brought about by the Trump administration’s tariff program.
Other factors cited include a decline in tourism to Washington, D.C. due to alienation from the Trump administration, and a significant increase in the number of LGBTQ bars in recent years, which some observers say has resulted in fewer people going to individual LGBTQ bars (the latest being Rush at 14).th and U Street Northwest, which opened in December.
2. At least 1.2 million people will attend WorldPride DC
WorldPride DC 2025, held from mid-May to June, attracted at least 1.2 million people from across the United States and abroad. That included hundreds of events held across the city. These include an international human rights conference, the March on Washington for LGBTQ equality, sporting events featuring LGBTQ athletes, and concerts by LGBTQ choirs and nationally acclaimed pop musicians.
The event culminated in a six-hour World Pride Parade on June 7th, which drew hundreds of thousands of participants and onlookers, and a 1,000-foot-long rainbow flag led the parade. The World Pride Street Festival and Concert was held on the same day and the next day, June 8th, with hundreds of booths along Pennsylvania Avenue in the Northwest.
The 1.2 million visitors and $310 million in economic impact for the city were significantly less than city officials had originally anticipated. City officials, along with LGBTQ activists, said the drop in attendance and economic impact is due in part to the Trump administration’s anti-LGBTQ policies and the alienation of many potential foreign tourists.
1. President Trump takes control of DC police and deploys National Guard
LGBTQ rights advocates joined community leaders from across the city in condemning President Donald Trump’s takeover of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department in August and his decision to deploy 800 National Guard troops to combat a crime wave caused by “bloodthirsty criminals” and “mob mobs.”
A coalition of local LGBTQ advocacy groups, along with other local leaders, including D.C. Councilman Zachary Parker (D-5th District), who is gay, called President Trump’s actions a “power grab” aimed at eliminating locally elected D.C. government that negatively impacts people of color, LGBTQ and immigrant communities.
In a development that drew national attention, a gay man was arrested on August 10 on a misdemeanor assault charge for throwing a hero sandwich into the chest of a uniformed U.S. Customs and Border Protection agent on the street near several gay bars, a federal jury ruled in what some observers called an act of protest and defiance against President Trump’s deployment of federal troops and personnel to Washington, D.C., and a gesture of support for gay sandwich thrower Sean Charles Dunn. Not guilty of assault.
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
