Crunch Time for 'Don't Ask'
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the lgbtq community news source breaking local local barriers news news Kye Allums, a trans Defendant in killing Newly elected Maryland basketball player at GW, of Brian Betts pleads lawmaker Mary Washington praised as role model guilty to first-degree makes history and is confident for young athletes. felony murder. marriage equality is coming soon. PAGE 23 PAGE 2 PAGE 15 washingtonblade.com • vol. 41, issue 46 • november 12, 2010 • Still sharp after 40 years Homeless gay teen survives streets, eyes college Youth lived in D.C. abandoned buildings while on honor roll at local high school By LOU CHIBBARO JR. [email protected] Kadeem Swenson looks forward to graduating from D.C.’s Ballou STAY High School in June and is applying for admission to college. He gets good grades and his principal considers him a promising student with a good future. But the strapping, 6-foot-tall 18-year-old, who came out as gay at age 16, says he spent most of the past year hiding a part of his life that became far more difficult to deal with than his sexual orientation. Forced by his parents to leave his home in Waldorf, Md., two years ago after he told them he’s gay, Swenson stayed with friends and relatives in D.C. and North Carolina for several months. He and his grandmother then prevailed upon his mother to enroll him in Bal- lou STAY, one of the D.C. public school system’s vocational and aca- demic high schools that offer classes at night. Continues on page 4 Washington Blade photo by Michael Key Kadeem Swenson says his parents kicked him out of the house for being gay two years ago. He spent a year living in abandoned buildings in D.C. while attending Ballou STAY school. Crunch time for ‘Don’t Ask’ Activists pressure senators to where near alignment.” Senate Armed Services Committee Chair Carl end ban during lame duck session Levin (D-Mich.) told reporters on Tuesday that passing the fiscal year 2011 defense authoriza- By CHRIS JOHNSON tion bill with the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal lan- nationalnews [email protected] guage presents challenges. Barney Frank says ‘zero chance’ of pro-LGBT bills in next Congress. “We’re trying to get both things accomplished, PAGE 10 Supporters of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal are and we just don’t know if we can,” Levin said, ac- pushing the Senate to end the law in the lame cording to the Grand Rapids Press. duck session of Congress amid questions about “Republicans have filibustered the whole de- whether sufficient support exists to complete the fense bill because of that [‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’] task by year’s end. provision. There’s some people who say that unless One Democratic aide, who spoke on condition the defense bill has that provision, that we shouldn’t of anonymity, told the Blade that Senate passage pass it,” he continued. “My position is, we should of major defense budget legislation to which try to get both things done some way or another.” “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal is attached would Media reports circulated this week that Levin was require “all the stars aligning” as well as active engaged in talks with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) to support from President Obama and Defense advance the defense authorization bill after stripping socialagenda Secretary Robert Gates. it of the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal language. Asked this week whether those elements were But while some see challenges in moving for- Photos from Shi-Queeta-Lee’s birthday party this week at Nellie’s. coming into alignment as the lame duck session PAGE 38 approaches, the aide said, “Hell no. We ain’t any- Continues on page 14 2 washingtonblade.com • november 12, 2010 LOCALNEWS Teen pleads guilty to murder ocal support for marriage equality, but respectfully dis- agree with him on his recent statement. Maryland voters of gay principal just embraced two important pro-marriage candidates in A 19-year-old D.C. man pleaded guilty Monday to first- re-electing Gov. O’Malley and the AG. … With this kind of degree felony murder in connection with the April 14 shooting support for equality, we believe the Legislature will do the death of gay D.C. middle school principal Brian Betts. right thing, honor the trust that the electorate has placed in Alante Saunders, one of four teenagers charged in Bet- its members, and enact marriage equality legislation dur- ts’ murder, agreed to a plea bargain agreement offered ing the upcoming session.” by prosecutors that is expected to result in a sentence re- KEVIN NAFF duced from life in prison to 40 years. The plea took place during a hearing before a Montgomery County Circuit court judge in Rockville. Gay bar Mova files for Betts was found shot to death April 15 in his Silver bankruptcy in Florida Spring, Md. house. The owner of the D.C. gay bar Mova filed for Chapter Montgomery County Assistant State’s Attorney Sherri 11 bankruptcy protection on Oct. 20 in U.S. Bankruptcy Koch told Judge John Debelius in a hearing that evidence Court in Miami, Fla., according to court documents. shows that Saunders shot Betts to death in the second Mova owner Babak Movahedi filed the bankruptcy docu- Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key floor bedroom of his house after meeting the popular mid- ments through Logan Circle Spectrum, LLC, the company dle school principal through an Internet chat line. that owns Mova bars in both Washington and Miami Beach. Former D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti Sources familiar with the case have said the chat line Movahedi is the sole shareholder of the company, according was named co-chair of Vincent Gray’s transition team’s Committee on Legal Affairs and Public Safety. where the two met caters to gay men seeking to meet to bankruptcy documents. other men for sex. Chapter 11 bankruptcy allows companies unable to In details of the case that had not previously been dis- pay creditors to reorganize and make arrangements to closed, Koch told the court that Betts told Saunders that the pay off the debt over an extended time period without go- Gray makes first door to his house would be unlocked and instructed him ing out of business. Movahedi has said he intends to keep to enter and walk upstairs to his bedroom upon his arrival. his Mova bars open. Police and prosecutors have said Saunders and three The bankruptcy filing shows that Logan Circle Spec- gay appointment other men, one 19 and two 18, hatched a plan to meet trum, which is headquartered in South Miami Beach, has someone on the chat line for the purpose of committing liabilities totaling $874,817 and assets totaling $72,507. By LOU CHIBBARO JR. a robbery. Saunders’ lawyer, David Felsen, and Koch The largest single creditor is PNC Bank, which is owed agreed that Saunders and the others charged in the case more than $560,000, according to the filing. Mayor-elect Vincent Gray last week named gay did not intend to kill Betts. Gay D.C. businessman and drag performer David Lett former D.C. Attorney General Robert Spagnoletti “This was, for want of a better word, a robbery that went and Lett’s company, Harlet Enterprises, Inc., holds the pri- as co-chair of his transition team’s Committee on bad,” said Montgomery County State’s Attorney John Mc- mary lease to the building in which Mova D.C. is located Legal Affairs and Public Safety. Carthy at a news conference following the guilty plea. at 1435 P St., N.W. The bankruptcy filing records show Spagnoletti, who served as attorney general “This case should serve as a reminder to all those in the that Mova owes Harlet, Mova’s landlord, $77,745. during the administration of former Mayor Anthony community who use chat lines that there are dangers,” he It says the money owed to Lett and Harlet Enterprises is Williams, is currently a partner in the D.C. law firm said at the news conference. for “leases, permits, agreements, personal property, furni- Schertler & Onorato, which specializes in criminal Neither McCarthy nor Koch, in her courtroom remarks, ture, fixtures, equipment and all other assets located in or and civil litigation. mentioned that Betts was gay or that the youths charged upon the premise or used in connection with the business Earlier this year, Spagnoletti took part in a with his murder met him through a gay sex chat line. conducted in the premises.” widely reported trial as defense attorney for Dylan Court observers believe the State’s Attorney’s office is ne- LOU CHIBBARO JR. Ward, one of three gay men charged with obstruc- gotiating with attorneys representing the other defendants tion of justice, evidence tampering and conspira- over possible plea bargain agreements that would avoid LGBT program at cy in connection with the 2006 murder of Washing- the need for a trial. The others charged in the case are Joel ton attorney Robert Wone. A D.C. Superior Court Johnson, 19; Sharif Tau Lancaster and Deontra Gray, both Univ. of Md. wins award judge found Ward and fellow defendants Joseph 18. Each is charged with murder, even though authorities The University of Maryland’s One Project won the 2010 Price and Victor Zaborsky not guilty on all charges. believe they may not have been in Betts’ house at the time National Orientation Directors Association’s Innovative Prior to becoming attorney general, Spagnoletti of the shooting.