The trial for a 50-year-old man who was arrested July 14, 2022, on charges that he allegedly assaulted five men he believed to be gay at D.C.’s Meridian Hill Park between 2018 and 2021 was postponed for the third time last month and has now been rescheduled for Aug. 19 of this year.

The arrest of Michael Thomas Pruden came two weeks after a federal grand jury handed down an indictment on June 29, 2022, charging him with five counts of assault on federal park land, one count of impersonating a federal officer and a hate crime designation alleging that he assaulted four of the men because of their perceived sexual orientation.

Prosecutors with the Office of the U.S. Attorney for D.C. filed a motion in court on Jan. 10 of this year opposing a request by Pruden’s defense attorney to postpone the most recent prior trial date set for Feb. 26.

“Following indictment in June 2022, the defendant has delayed the trial in this case several times, including by firing two prior attorneys,” the prosecutors’ motion states. “While the government has not previously objected to any continuance, no further delay is warranted,” the motion says. “This is a straightforward case that should proceed to trial as currently scheduled.”

The indictment against Pruden by a U.S. District Court for D.C. grand jury provides some of the details surrounding the case.

“After nightfall, Meridian Hill Park was informally known in the Washington, D.C., community to be a meeting location for men seeking to engage in consensual sexual encounters with other men,” the indictment says. “This practice is colloquially known as ‘cruising,’” the indictment continues.

“Michael Thomas Pruden frequented Meridian Hill Park after nightfall and on multiple occasions, including those described below, assaulted men in Meridian Hill Park by approaching them with a flashlight, giving them police-style commands and spraying them with a chemical irritant,” the indictment states.

Virginia court records show that the D.C. indictment against Pruden was handed down 11 months after a U.S. District Court jury in Alexandria, Va., found him not guilty of a charge of assault with a dangerous weapon for allegedly pepper spraying and hitting in the head with a large tree branch a man in Daingerfield Island Park in Alexandria, which is also known as a gay cruising site.

Federal Public Defender A.J. Kramer, who is representing Pruden in the D.C. case, said in his own motion calling for postponing Pruden’s Feb. 26 trial date that he has at least two other unrelated trials coming up soon and what he called voluminous documents recently provided to him by prosecutors made the latest postponement necessary.

“Firstly, while Mr. Pruden prefers to go to trial as soon as possible, counsel cannot be ready by February 26, 2024,” his motion states. “Given that the case against Mr. Pruden is actually five cases spanning a three-year period, the discovery is extremely voluminous, in excess of 7,000 pages,” he states in his motion. “Due to this as well as counsel’s other pending matters in the coming weeks, counsel is unable to effectively prepare motions and prep for trial under the current timeline.”

By the 7,000 pages of “discovery” documents, Kramer was referring to the requirement that prosecutors turn over to the defense attorney in advance of a trial details of the evidence prosecutors plan to present at a trial. U.S. District Court Judge Jia M. Cobb approved Pruden’s request for the postponement in a Feb. 5 ruling.

Court records also show that Pruden was released on personal recognizance following his arrest into the custody of his mother, who lives in Norfolk, Va., where he has been staying since his release. Among other things, conditions for his release prohibit him from having any contact with the individuals he is charged with assaulting and require that he always remain inside his mother’s residence from sunset to sunrise.

D.C.’s Walker Memorial Baptist Church located on 13th Street, N.W., just off U Street had one of its workers on June 3 remove an arrangement of Pride flags and banners displayed on the front fence of a townhouse the church owns that were put up by a gay couple who rent an apartment in the house.

Jay Richards, who along with his partner lives in a rented apartment at the house at 2014 13th Street, N.W., said he was contacted by a rental agency working for the church a few hours after he put up the decorations on May 30 asking that the decorations be taken down.

The church is located next door to the townhouse, which has three apartments that are rented to tenants, including Richards and his partner. Richards said the tenants in the other two apartments were fully supportive of the Pride decorations.

“We kindly ask that any decorations or items be removed by Tuesday, June 3, 2025, at 1:00 p.m.,” a follow-up message sent to Richards by the rental agency says. “If items are still in place after this time, our team will remove them, and please note that a fee may apply for this service,” the message said.

Richards said the rental company, EJF Real Estate Services, pointed to a provision in his apartment’s rental lease that does not allow exterior decorations to be placed on or in front of the house. He said he asked if an exception could be made to allow him to keep the Pride decorations up until Monday, June 9, the day after WorldPride 2025, ends on Sunday, June 8.

In a statement released this week to the online publication DC News Now, EJF said it was proud to support the LGBTQ community and decided to allow the tenants to keep the decorations up until June 9 as requested by Richards.

“While we remain mindful of our responsibility to both the lease and our client, we believe this is a respectful and reasonable approach,” the statement says. “EJF will not be removing the decorations ourselves and is honoring the residents’ plan, trusting they will follow through as promised,” DC News Now quotes the statement as saying.

Richards told the Washington Blade he was hopeful that the church would also allow the decorations to remain up through the end of the WorldPride festivities. “I wanted to leave them up all month for Pride month,” he said. “But we were willing to take them down on Monday, after Pride weekend.”

Much to his disappointment, Richards said the church’s custodian early Tuesday evening, May 3, came to the house and pulled down the decorations and left them next to the front steps of the house.

A photo that Richards provided for the Blade taken before they were taken down shows the decorations included several rainbow flags and banners draped over an iron fence in front of the house and two long ropes extending from the front wall of the house to the fence on which multiple small rainbow flags were suspended.

Rev. Ademuyiwa T. Bamiduro, the pastor of Walker Memorial Baptist Church, did not immediately respond to a phone message left for him by the Blade seeking comment from the church about the removal of the Pride decorations.

Richards said he and the other tenants in the house received an email message from the church Tuesday night, June 3, shortly after the decorations were removed explaining why they were taken down, which he provided to the Blade.

“Decorations on the outside of the property or common areas regardless of the event, holiday, season, occasion, or reason violate the lease terms,” the message states.

“This is not about subject matter,” the message says. “The mission of Walker Memorial Baptist Church is a prayerful congregation, walking in the spirit, bringing souls to Christ. That is our focus. We seek unity, not division, through our lease requirement that there be no decorations on the outside of the property or common areas,” the message continues.

“In doing so, we avoid arbitrary decision-making and the need to distinguish between the content or subject matter of any decorations,” it states.

Local LGBTQ rights attorney Mindy Daniels, when told by the Blade of the content of the lease in question, which bans external decorations, said it appears that the church is within its legal rights to not allow those decorations.

Daniels said the church could be in violation of the D.C. Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, among other categories, if it were to make an exception and not enforce its lease requirements for some types of decorations while enforcing them for others such as Pride flags.

“The email they sent me said we can’t put decorations up for any holidays,” Richards told the Blade. “But I do feel like if I had put something up for the holidays for Christmas that they wouldn’t have taken it down. But now they’re saying that no decorations can be put up.”

Thousands of people celebrating Pride will show up Saturday for the WorldPride parade in downtown Washington, D.C., followed by a festival and concert. On Sunday morning, participants plan to rally and march for freedom for the LGBTQ+ community internationally.

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But if you’re headed out to celebrate bring an umbrella or a poncho. There is a chance of scattered storms throughout the day for the D.C. area on Saturday, according to

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PARADE INFO & ROUTE

The parade will take off around 2 p.m. and is expected to last until around 8 p.m., according to WorldPride organizers.

The parade will go from 1844 14th Street, Northwest, and continue along 14th Street past Thomas Circle Park. Parade participants will go around the circle before turning past Freedom Plaza, and concluding at 919 Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest.

The announcers’ stand will be near the beginning of the route, and the review stand will be near Thomas Circle Park or Freedom Plaza.

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Be on the lookout for traffic closures in the area and changes to the

POST-PARADE CELEBRATIONS

After the parade, celebrants can see performances from stars, including the headliner performance by Wicked star Cynthia Erivo. That free performance will take place on 3rd Street & Pennsylvania Avenue, Northwest.

Other performers include David Archuleta, CeCe Peniston, and Kristine W.

DC PRIDE LIST |

There will be a “Camp Pride” kids’ zone where children can play, color, paint, and participate in a talent show.

There will also be a street festival at the same site of the concert.

Prohibited items at the street festival include:

Alcohol

Ammunition

Animals, except ADA service animals

Balloons

Umbrellas

Bicycles /Scooters

Coolers

Drones / Unmanned Aerial Systems Explosives / fireworks

Firearms/Weapons of any kind

Structures: tents, portable chairs, or tables

Signs, Flags or Banners

Suitcases/Large Backpacks

Toy guns / toy weapons

Any other items determined to be potential safety hazards

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PROTESTS PLANNED FOR SUNDAY

Smaller protests are planned ahead of the largest rally on Sunday morning.

There will be a dance-oriented protest outside the Tesla showroom in Georgetown at 11:00 a.m., which will protest “Dance Against Doge.” The organizers are a queer and trans partnered dance troup aimed at protesting Elon Musk and MAGA, according to the organizers.

There will also be an art exhibition and protest featuring transgender youth at the WorldPride Parade Staging Area Purple from 1-4 p.m. The protest is focused on anti-LGBTQ bills, especially those that target trans youth, according to the organizers.

Amid the WorldPride protests, the Men’s March to Abolish Abortion and Rally for Personhood is planned

Around Lafayette Park from 11:00 am to 1:30 p.m. The protest is focused on calling for an executive order from President Donald Trump to abolish abortion, according to the organizers.

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At Lafayette Square, protestors also planned a Refuse Fascism protest featuring veterans and advocates. The protest is also aimed against the upcoming military parade, said the organizers.

For 28 years, Freddie Lutz and Johnny Cervantes have been through nearly everything together. From starting one of the most successful and well-known LGBTQ bars in the DMV — Freddie’s Beach Bar and later opening a second location in Rehoboth — to navigating a pandemic and even overcoming death threats for supporting the LGBTQ community, the pair has been through a lot.

So it only makes sense for them to take advantage of a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and get married in the middle of the WorldPride parade as it makes its way down 14th Street.

For the longest time, the couple had contemplated getting married, but according to Lutz, none of those times felt quite right.

“When they passed gay marriage in Virginia, I asked him if he wanted to get married the following day,” Lutz told the Blade. “And [Cervantes] said, ‘No, but you can take me to Tiffany’s.’”

Cervantes shared that although the thought had crossed his mind, he had seen the two as committed long before the courts deemed them worthy.

“I don’t think it was until about 2009 that we really considered marriage,” Cervantes said. “We had gone to some fundraiser where Gavin Newsom was speaking — he was such an advocate for gay rights and gay marriage, that that’s what kind of got us both thinking. Like any other marginalized group, you learn to feel that you’re not worthy, that you’re not entitled to certain rights. However, his speech at that time got us realizing that we were worthy and were entitled to marriage.”

“We still hadn’t taken advantage of marriage because it’s like—we have our daily lives together, both in Arlington and in Rehoboth,” Cervantes added. “I think spiritually, we have been committed as if we were married to each other. Going through a ceremony wouldn’t change things.”

Another—and seemingly bigger—concern the pair had about throwing a wedding was who would make the guest list—and which one of their friends would have to sit out due to the nature of hosting such an event.

“We’ve thought about getting married a few times over the past 28 years, but we know so many people that I said to him, ‘Oh my gosh, where would we cut off the invitation list?’ I’d have a lot of pissed off people at me. This way, we’re literally inviting the entire world,” Lutz said.

And invite the world they have. As their home becomes the center of the gay universe this week with WorldPride coming to Washington, the pair decided to get married with some special help and support from the Equality Chamber of Commerce DC (ECCDC).

“If you know Freddie, the idea of his wedding being in the middle of a Pride parade embodies the joy of who he is and his whole spirit,” said Kat Dean, director of the Equality Chamber Foundation. “It was this perfect alignment of continuing to lift up queer economic empowerment and give the spotlight back onto him. I mean, this is what we do as a chamber. Our whole purpose is to continue to uplift businesses—and this is a great way for us to uplift a cornerstone of queer businesses in the area. He’s brought a lot of joy and community into a lot of people’s lives. This is our way of kind of thanking him for the work that he’s done by serving the community.”

Fiancés Freddie Lutz and Johnny Cervantes standing together at National Landing BID Pride celebration. (Photo courtesy of Freddie Lutz)

When asked what has been the most exciting part of making this idea a reality, Dean—one of the float’s original concept creators and one of the people responsible for the Pride Parade wedding idea—was ready with an answer.

“To watch the design that’s being built by this incredible designer, and seeing that concept start to come to life—it’s been, honestly, a lot of joy when a project like this unfolds,” she said. “The float designer is scenic designer August Henney; Kevin Fenton of Walla Design helped us with the concept and branding. … We’ve received some donated material as well and some support from the community. But really, it’s less about the organizations that have been helping, and more about the individuals who are helping to build the float, to get it up there. There’s some people from our board, some volunteers from our community—a bunch of people coming together to help make this super duper fun.”

This project has been in the works since February, according to Dean, and was inspired by her own recent path to marriage.

“We knew that we, ECCDC, were going to have a float in the parade. We got approved at the beginning of the year that we were actually able to have a float,” Dean said. “I believe it was because of our February Chamber Connect [the monthly networking series], that was conveniently at Freddie’s. But that was not the correlation at the time. It was at Freddie’s in Arlington, but no direct tie-in at all that it had come out.”

“My partner and I had just decided to get engaged and get married,” she added. “The chamber was still coming up with what the idea was for the float, and one conversation led to the next, and the topic of gay marriage came up. The day after the Chamber Connect, I sent out an email—I think at like 6:30 in the morning—to a couple people that I started talking to, including our executive director, and said, ‘Hey, here’s a rough idea following our conversation from last night,’ and everyone just jumped on it.”

As discussions of logistics continued, Dean and her wife took some time to get married ahead of the chaos of WorldPride. This led them to a mini-honeymoon in Rehoboth, where they met Lutz.

“We connected with Freddie and we were talking to him about our wedding. My wife and I were actually in Rehoboth, and we were having a little ‘mini-moon’ there after we just got married. We were telling him about the wedding and the decision of why we wanted to get married sooner rather than later.”

“He told me that he had had similar thoughts with his partner of 28 years, and they were deciding to do the same thing. And after a couple orange crushes, I turned and looked at him, and I said, ‘Hey, how about you do this in the middle of the Pride parade? We’ve got a chapel already being built.’ It was fate! This was almost identical to the idea that he and Johnny wanted to have, and there was just no better choice for us than having somebody who’s been an incredible member of the DMV queer community and an awesome chamber member for many years.”

Lutz explained that this organic conversation between the two sparked an unexpected but perfect alignment of dreams and opportunity.

“I have a second Freddie’s location in Rehoboth Beach, and I’m literally down there two weeks ago, and I’m chatting this girl up at the bar, and she says, ‘I’m with the Equality Chamber of Washington. We are doing a wedding chapel float in the WorldPride Parade,’” Lutz said. “And I said, ‘Wait, what? That’s my all-time dream—to get married on a Pride float with Johnny.’ I couldn’t believe it. I’ve been actually thinking about doing a wedding float with Freddie’s for years—I’ve been talking about it for years. So she says to me, ‘We’re going to be marrying several couples on the float. Would you like to be one of them?’ And I said, ‘No, but if you’ll do just us and let me put Freddie’s signage on the float, I’ll do it.’”

“I do think I probably owe that couple [Dean and her wife] a nice wedding gift,” Lutz added, laughing.

“I know that this is something that he always wanted,” Cervantes said. “Freddie and I are like yin and yang. We’re almost exact opposites of each other. And I like to think I bring the voice of reason to the relationship and he brings creativity and excitement.”

The meeting of Dean and Lutz in an LGBTQ bar—which ultimately led to the wedding coming to fruition—closely mirrors how the soon-to-be-wed grooms first met.

The couple met in another of Washington’s best-known LGBTQ institutions—JR.’s.

“I was actually meeting with a group of people, and we were celebrating my birthday and my friend Dylan’s birthday,” Lutz said. “We all met for a drink at JR.’s, and then went to dinner at Trumpets. Johnny was sitting way down at the end of the table, and I kept looking at him, and that’s how we met.”

The opportunity Lutz and Cervantes had to meet—specifically at an LGBTQ-run business—is exactly the message Dean hopes to highlight with the float and with ECCDC overall.

“We keep going with this tagline—‘Love is good for business,’” Dean said. “Support of queer economic power. But it’s also to remind you guys that we’re here to support you and support our community in whatever it is that they’re doing. We’re just really excited to share in the joy and share in Pride with everyone.”

“I’m so excited,” Lutz said. “I can’t believe that this dropped in my lap just two weeks ago. I mean, we just agreed to do it six days ago.”

“It’s going to be fun,” Cervantes said. “I’ve ridden with Fred in the Pride Parade—just what to expect from the crowd and the number of people there—and it’s always very friendly and celebratory, and I think that’s going to just make our event even more special.”

As the parade rolls through the heart of D.C., the float will transform into the ultimate queer altar, giving the couple the chance to say “I do” while the world celebrates love, visibility, and acceptance around them.

The Little Gay Chapel will be decorated to the nines—with floral arrangements, music, signage, and surprise elements—making it a rolling celebration of queer joy. The float will travel down the increasingly queer 14th Street, pass through Thomas Circle, and head toward Pennsylvania Avenue, where the celebration will culminate at the annual Tea Dance Party overlooking the U.S. Capitol.

When asked if there was anything special about the float—besides the fact that a whole wedding would be taking place as the Little Gay Chapel travels down 14th Street—Lutz said to keep an eye out for the outfits and party invitations.

Wedding reception invitation to be passed out along the Pride parade route.

“I asked them to build a little box for Johnny, because he’s shorter than I, and he will be in black tails with a top hat, and I’ll be in white tails with a white bow tie and a white dress under it,” Lutz said, beaming while showing the Blade inspirational images of the outfits. “And the wedding reception invitation that will be passed out along the parade route says, ‘You are cordially invited to drag your gay asses across the river to celebrate the marriage of Freddie Lutz and Johnny Cervantes at Freddie’s Beach Bar, the only straight-friendly gay bar in Northern Virginia.’”

The LGBT community shows up for WorldPride in D.C., despite some worries about Trump

toggle caption Aaron Schwartz/Middle East Images/AFP via Getty Images

Charley Beal says he has been fighting his whole life.

When he was six, his mother took him to a Civil Rights demonstration in downtown Lansing, Michigan. At 17, he marched against the U.S. invasion of Cambodia, an offshoot of the Vietnam War. In 2000, he attended the inaugural WorldPride in Rome. He was accompanying his late friend Gilbert Baker, the creator of the rainbow flag, who was scouting a gallery space for an exhibit. Beal said emissaries were going around town telling business owners not to do business with gay people.

So instead, Baker held his exhibit on a boat in the middle of the Tiber River, with a giant rainbow flag. Beal has since carried on Baker’s legacy as president of the Gilbert Baker Foundation.

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“We didn’t run away and hide,” he said.

Twenty-five years later, WorldPride continues — this year in Washington, D.C. But so does the queer community’s fight to be seen, said Beal, now 69. Members of the queer community have expressed fear, hesitation and fortitude as Pride festivities kicked off in D.C., where President Trump signed several executive orders limiting the rights of transgender people, including banning them from the military , banning transgender women from women’s sports and ending gender-affirming care for those under age 19.

The White House did not respond to a request for comment on this story.

“Unfortunately, we have to go in a defensive mode a lot of times, in times like this,” Beal said.

But make no mistake — Beal will still be at D.C. Pride. He is appearing on a panel hosted by the Human Rights Conference and will be toting a 1,000-foot rainbow flag in the parade. Though, not everyone is feeling celebratory.

June Crenshaw is the deputy director of Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit that throws D.C. Pride annually and has helped produce more than 350 WorldPride events across the city from mid-May to the first week of June. She said she understands that people have to assess their own comfort levels in deciding whether to come.

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“We are trans and gender non-conforming, we are Black and brown, we are immigrants, we are disabled. And so the environment that is created for all the members of our community has impacted folks’ decision to participate,” she said.

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The Trump administration has also influenced the participation of corporate sponsors, several of which pulled their funding from D.C. Pride events, Crenshaw said. (In recent months, some private companies have rolled back their diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives, after Trump ended such programs in various federal agencies.)

On Tuesday, several news outlets reported the National Park Service planned to close DuPont Circle Park, a central area for D.C.’s queer community, the weekend of the parade. According to Fox 5 DC, NPS cited previous cases of vandalism during Pride and said it was keeping with an executive order Trump signed during his first term to preserve monuments. But it reversed its decision in less than 24 hours after backlash from D.C. government officials.

Meanwhile, Capital Pride Alliance and its partners are doing what it can to assuage concerns.

CPA moved its Pride events from the Kennedy Center after members of the transgender and drag communities told the organization they no longer felt welcomed once Trump was appointed chair. Capital Pride Alliance did not receive any directives from the administration, she said.

Metropolitan Police Chief Pamela Smith said in a press conference last week that the department spent over a year preparing for the event. Its safety plan includes dispatching an increased police presence across the city and enlisting specialized units and neighboring jurisdictions to help.

She said there are no known credible threats to any Pride events, but the department will continue monitoring.

“Whatever the needs are for Capital Pride when it comes to public safety, we are in lockstep, we’re in solidarity and we’re going to stand side-by-side with everybody during the parade to ensure that we have a festive occasion,” Smith said.

Crenshaw said, “WorldPride is going to happen. This is the year that visibility and showing up and challenging both the narrative and the harm that’s being done to our community is more important than ever, and that anyone that is in a position to be here to show up…would be really essential for you to be here.”

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Jayden Squire, 22, of Australia, was wary about attending WorldPride at first. His parents told him not to go. He is also very vocal politically on social media, having run for town council, and thought his profiles would be screened as he came into the country. They were not, and ultimately Squire has been looking forward to congregating with “similarly minded people from all over the world.”

“I really wanted to come because now is the time where we have to show solidarity to queer communities…we can’t let gay rights go backwards despite who’s in the White House,” he said.

After Trump’s first election, Dave Peruzza was working at a gay bar and said there was about a 30% drop in sales soon after. Now, he is the owner of Pitchers Bar DC and A League of Their Own, a gay bar and a lesbian bar, respectively. He said he is seeing the usual patronage at his bars for Pride, with expected crowds from the area, as well as Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.

“We have a lot of trans customers, so there’s a lot of defeatedness, but then there’s also this fight,” he said.

Some of his customers consider Pride itself to be a protest, a declaration that the LGBTQ+ community cannot be erased, he said. Amid that protest, Peruzza said he is dedicated to making sure his customers have fun.

“Just come to D.C. and just have a good time and have an open mind. It’s gonna be a party no matter what,” he said.

Dylan Drobish, a drag performer and federal worker from Baltimore, said he has seen some members of the queer community grow closer since the election while others have distanced themselves. In the drag world, performers have become a bit more reserved. Drobish said recruitment numbers are down for pageants.

“There are still some folks, I think, in the community that are on the side of ‘If we just go along with things. It’s not really that bad,'” he said. “There’s still that divide, and I think the conversations are getting a little more heated just because of the stakes right now.”

However, the thought of not attending Pride never crossed his mind, Drobish said. More than anything, he revels in seeing queer people find their place.

“Joy is resistance,” he said, “Seeing people’s faces when they realize this is where they belong – it’s my favorite thing to see at any Pride,” he said.

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But showing up is a way to honor himself, and much like Beal, he’s not running away.

“I spent so much of my life hiding and minimizing myself in one way or another, and I think that every time that something has challenged me this way, even when I say I’m going to give up and want to give up and hide, there’s that part of me that never lets myself,” he said.