Local
Local community mourns death of ‘committed advocate’
Smallwood called ‘pioneer’ in giving back
Local LGBT community members are in mourning after the passing of a D.C. activist who was known as a “committed advocate” for those in need.
Charlotte Smallwood (photo courtest Courtney Williams)
Charlotte Smallwood, 73 and a local lesbian activist, died Monday after a battle with brain cancer.
Following her retirement from the federal government, Smallwood was known for her activism in the LGBT community. One of four founding members of the D.C.-based Transgender Health Empowerment in 1995, Smallwood was also editor-in-chief of FEMAIL Monthly Newsletter and later co-editor of Community Life Newsletter.
Earline Budd, a treatment and healing specialist for Transgender Health Empowerment, recalled Smallwood as a steadfast ally to the transgender community and “just a pioneer in her own way in terms of giving back.”
“She was just a committed advocate, someone who gave herself to not just LGBT community, but to other communities,” she said. “I kind of equate Charlotte to a Mother Teresa in terms of how she extended herself.”
Budd said other duties to which Smallwood devoted herself were involvement with the Mautner Project, a lesbian health organization, and Women in the Life, a local lesbians of color organization. Budd said Smallwood was a standing member with Transgender Health Empowerment until her death.
Courtney Williams, a D.C. resident, also had fond memories of Smallwood and said she was committed to the concerns of women and LGBT people as they aged.
“Basically, when people go out to party and as they get older people tend to forgot about them — Charlotte kept them out at the forefront,” Williams said. “She was involved in her neighborhood as senior citizens were concerned. She really helped them out and tried to find them resources.”
Williams said Smallwood was also “very involved” in D.C. Black Pride in the very beginnings of the annual events in 1991.
Smallwood also contributed to the Human Rights Campaign. Donna Payne, HRC’s associate director of diversity, said Smallwood volunteered for the organization’s national dinner for the past four years.
“Annually, she would help do work no one wants to do — stuffing the gift bags and setting up items for the auction,” Payne said. “She would stay in the back so things would get done.”
Payne said she knew Smallwood from the community meetings with the D.C. mayor’s office liaison and dances for the black women’s circuit in the district.
“She was always fun to be with because she didn’t mind being out,” Payne said. “It’s hard to find black LGBT seniors that are willing to be out.”
At her early years at HRC, Payne said Smallwood would often take her aside and encourage her “to stay focused on our rights because it was expected of her and the elder black LGBT community.”
Vicki Harris, a lesbian D.C. resident, said Smallwood was “always there for everybody,” especially those in need of assistance.
“Whatever you needed, you could call Charlotte,” she said. “She was just that type of person. It was just hilarious that whatever you needed for her, she had it in her. She had our back every last day of the month.”
Harris, who ran a lesbian women’s strippers event for the Edge/Wet Nightclub when it was in existence, recalled with humor how Smallwood had a job as a dressing room attendant to keep an eye on the belongings of women as they performed.
“When I first asked her if she would do the job, she was like, ‘Ehhh,’” Harris said. “So, we’re standing in the dressing room — and one of the girls had just come out of the shower and they were naked — and she looked at me and said, ‘I’ll take the job!’”
A funeral service for Smallwood will is scheduled for Monday at the Moiunt Pleasant Baptist Church at 215 Rhode Island Ave., NW. The viewing is set to take place at 10 am and services with begin at 11 am. A repast will be provided at the church following the burial.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker Health to present ‘Pro Bono Excellence’ award to law firm
Health center set to celebrate 40th anniversary of legal services program
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, announced it will present its annual Dale Edwin Sanders Award for Pro Bono Excellence to the international law firm McDermott Will & Schulte at a May 6 ceremony.
“This year’s award is especially significant as it coincides with the 40th anniversary of Whitman-Walker Health’s Legal Services Program, marking it as the nation’s longest running medical-legal partnership,” a statement released by Whitman-Walker says.
“As a national leader in public health, Whitman-Walker celebrates our partnership with McDermott to strengthen the health center and to enable Whitman-Walker to reach more medical and legal clients,” the statement adds.
“McDermott’s firm-wide commitment to Whitman-Walker’s medical-legal partnership demonstrates a shared vision to serve those most in need,” Amy Nelson, Whitman-Walker’s director of Legal Services, says in the statement. “Our work protects individuals and families who face discrimination and hostility as they navigate increasingly complex administrative systems,” Nelson said.
“Pro bono legal services – like that of McDermott Will & Schulte – find solutions for people who have no place else to turn in the face of financial and health threats,” she added.
“Our partnership with Whitman-Walker Health is a treasured commitment to serving our neighbors and communities,” Steven Schnelle, one of the law firm’s partners said in the statement. “We are deeply moved by Whitman-Walker’s unwavering dedication to inclusion, respect, and equitable access to health care and social services,” he said.
The statement notes that the award for Pro Bono Excellence honors the legacy of the late gay attorney Dale Edwin Sanders. It says Sanders’s pro bono legal work for Whitman-Walker clients “shaped HIV/AIDS law for more than four decades by securing key victories on behalf of individuals whose employment and patient rights were violated.”
It says the Whitman-Walker Legal Services program began during the early years of the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s at a time when people with AIDS faced widespread discrimination and often needed legal assistance. According to the statement, the program evolved over the years and expanded to advocate for transgender people and immigrants.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Lisa Amore said the presentation of the Dale Edwin Sanders Pro Bono Excellency Award will be held at the May 6 fundraising benefit for Whitman-Walker’s Legal Services Program. She said the event will take place at the offices of the DC law firm Baker McKenzie and ticket availability can be accessed here: https://www.whitman-walker.org/gtem-2026/
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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.
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