Local
D.C. paid McClurkin $5,000 for cancelled appearance
Gospel singer assailed for ‘ex-gay’ advocacy
Mayor Vincent Gray asked Donnie McClurkin to withdraw from appearing at an MLK-related concert. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities paid anti-gay gospel singer Donnie McClurkin $5,000 for his cancelled appearance at a city-sponsored concert held on Aug. 10 at the Martin Luther King Memorial, according to the commission’s executive director Lionell Thomas.
Thomas told the Blade this week that the Commission also had to pay for McClurkin’s airline ticket and for one of the two nights that he was booked to stay at a D.C. hotel due to the abrupt cancellation of McClurkin’s appearance. He said the city made these payments directly to an airline company and a hotel, not to McClurkin.
Mayor Vincent Gray directed the Commission to ask McClurkin to withdraw from appearing at the concert, saying McClurkin’s past public statements condemning homosexuality and his role as an “ex-gay” leader would be inappropriate for an event commemorating Martin Luther King’s call for equality for all people.
Thomas said the Commission was obligated to pay McClurkin his full $5,000 performance fee under a contract that a producer retained by the Commission had entered into with McClurkin. Thomas said both the Commission staff and the 17-member commission appointed by the mayor and confirmed by the D.C. Council did not play a direct role in selecting McClurkin for the concert, which was entitled, “Reflections on Peace: From Gandhi to King.”
“This was part of a much larger performance contract that we have with a producer to present approximately seven shows over a period of time, and this is one of the shows that we were presenting,” Thomas said.
“He was invited to be a part of the program by the producer,” Thomas said of McClurkin. “It typically doesn’t go through the Commission for that level of detail.”
But Thomas acknowledged the Commission was ultimately responsible for the selection. He said the Commission staff was not aware of McClurkin’s controversial statements about gays and homosexuality at the time the producer booked his appearance.
The mayor’s office said Gray had not been informed in advance of McClurkin’s booking to appear at the concert.
“No disrespect to Mr. McClurkin, but Mayor Gray thought it best that he withdraw from the concert in the name of not having his appearance be a distraction at an event about peace, love and justice for all,” mayoral spokesperson Doxie McCoy told the Blade.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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