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Theater outing proves helpful for the Alston House; GLOV elects new leaders
Transgender Health Empowerment's Earline Budd at the Alston House benefit. THE runs the Alston House. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
Alston House benefit called a success
A Black History Month outing at D.C.’s Studio Theater and a post-theater reception at the nearby Playbill Café on Feb. 13 served as a “successful” benefit for the Wanda Alston House for LGBT homeless youth, according to Alston House official Brian Watson.
The Alston House, named after the late D.C. lesbian activist and city official Wanda Alston, provides housing and supportive services to homeless LGBT youth, “most of whom have been abandoned or kicked out of their homes because of their identity,” according to an announcement promoting the benefit.
The D.C. non-profit organization Transgender Health Empowerment created the Alston House and operates it through funding provided, in part, by the city and through private contributions.
Among those attending the benefit were D.C. Council member Sekou Biddle (D-At-Large), who is running to retain his seat in an upcoming special election; and three candidates competing against Biddle for the seat — former Ward 5 Council member Vincent Orange and candidates Jacque Patterson and Joshua Lopez.
Jeffrey Richardson, who was named earlier this month by Mayor Vincent Gray as director of the city’s Office of GLBT Affairs, also attended.
Others attending included gay activists Phil Pannell, Rick Rosendall, and Kurt Vorndran, who served as hosts of the event.
GLOV elects new leaders
Members of Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence (GLOV), a D.C. group that monitors anti-LGBT hate crimes, elected A.J. Singletary as the group’s chair and Hassan Naveed as vice chair during GLOV’s annual meeting on Feb. 10.
Singletary and Naveed, who ran unopposed and were elected by acclamation, succeed Kelly Pickard and Joe Montoni, who served as the organization’s co-chairs during the past year.
At Singletary’s recommendation and with Naveed in agreement, members voted earlier in the meeting to change the leadership structure from two co-chairs with equal responsibilities to a chair and vice chair system.
Singletary, an Arkansas native, says he’s been a D.C. resident since 2008 and has been active with GLOV for the past three years. Naveed said he moved to D.C. last year from Santa Barbara, Calif., where he worked with an anti-LGBT violence group at the University of California at Santa Barbara.
GLOV is a project of the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community, which has offices and meeting space at 1318 U St., N.W. GLOV’s mission, according to a statement on its website, is to work to reduce violence against LGBT people through community outreach, education and monitoring of incidents of anti-LGBT hate crimes. The group also assists victims of anti-LGBT violence and participates in the training of D.C. police officers on LGBT-related issues.
Singletary said his objectives for GLOV in 2011 include expanding its outreach to lesbians and minorities within the LGBT community and continuing to work with the police department, the mayor’s office and the City Council to improve reporting of anti-LGBT violence and developing strategies to reduce hate violence against LGBT people. He said GLOV would continue to participate in police training on anti-LGBT violence.
He also called for GLOV to develop its own report on hate crimes targeting LGBT people in the District. The police department’s annual report on hate crimes has shown that the highest number of such crimes target LGBT people. But activists have long complained that the police report does not reflect the true number of anti-LGBT hate crimes, which they believe is far higher than the officially reported figure.
District of Columbia
Hands Off the Arts to form ‘human chain’ around Kennedy Center
Drag performer Tara Hoot among event organizers
An organization called Hands Off the Arts has announced it is holding a protest on Friday, Sept. 18, in which between 400 and 800 participants are expected to create a “human chain” around the Kennedy Center to voice their strong objection to President Donald Trump’s call for possibly demolishing the Kennedy Center.
“Hands Off the Arts is organizing a rally Sept. 18 against the president’s defacing of JFK’s memorial, his removal and censorship of art, and the threat to demolish the center if he can’t remake the site in his image,” a statement released by the group says.
The statement says the event will start with a rally at 6:30 p.m. on the Kennedy Center steps and culminate with a “human chain” around the building. “There will be musical performances, testimonials from current and former employees, along with other special guest speakers,” it says
A separate announcement by the group says longtime D.C. drag performer Tara Hoot, who has performed at the Kennedy Center in past years, was among the organizers of the Sept. 18 protest.
The planned protest follows Trump’s decision last year to use his authority to replace the existing members of the Kennedy Center’s board of directors with new members loyal to him. Over the objection of longtime Kennedy Center supporters, the Trump-appointed board changed the name of the center, at Trump’s request, from the John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts to the Donald J. Trump and the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
But following the threat of legal action by opponents who pointed out that the name change could not be legally made unless approved by Congress, the name change was cancelled, with Trump saying he would take steps to restore it later.
The Washington Post, meanwhile, reports in a Sept. 13 news story that because of negative publicity related to Trump’s actions, the Kennedy Center was facing “fiscal collapse” and possible bankruptcy and could be forced to shut down as early as this week.
According to the Post report, a 57-page document presented to the Kennedy Center’s board of trustees says the center was facing a financial and structural building crisis, with the recent collapse of part of the building’s inside ceiling, indicating the building was unsafe for employees and the public. Among other things, the document says the Kennedy Center may not be able to make payroll or pay for routine maintenance “within a matter of weeks,” the Post reports.
Some LGBTQ advocates were among those who joined others in boycotting the Kennedy Center to express their objections to Trump’s actions, including a statement by Trump that he objected to the Kennedy Center’s practice of hosting drag performances.
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington has been among the LGBTQ performing arts groups and artists that have performed at the Kennedy Center.
“With the future still very much uncertain, now more than ever, the Center needs you to stand up for freedom of expression and against authoritarian overreach into arts and culture institutions,” the Hands Off the Arts group says in its announcement of the Hands Around the Kennedy Center protest.
“You have the opportunity to make a difference — show up with Hands Off the Arts and show your power as part of Hands Around the Kennedy Center,” it says.
A spokesperson for the Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Baltimore
Transgender woman killed in Barclay community mourned by friends, advocates
Sophie Lee shot to death on Friday morning
By DARREONNA DAVIS | Denise Johnson imagined spending Sunday with her daughter, Sophie Lee, eating crabs at the park. Instead, she stood on a Barclay street corner Sunday evening surrounded by nearly 100 people who came to remember her daughter, a transgender woman who was fatally shot there Friday.
The 27-year-old woman was found in the 2400 block of North Calvert Street around 1:15 a.m. Friday, Baltimore Police said in a news release.
Lindsey Eldridge, a police department spokesperson, said it’s unclear if her identity had anything to do with her death and the investigation is ongoing.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ+ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, landed an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a new job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Jaime Christopher Pierce on their appointment to serve as a member of the Virginia Governor’s LGBTQ+ Advisory Board. Pierce was sworn in on Sept. 3 by Greg Parks, clerk of the Alexandria Circuit Court.
Pierce currently serves as vice chair of the Alexandria City LGBTQIA+ Task Force and as a member of the Alexandria Pride planning committee. They previously served on the board of directors of Equality Virginia.
Upon being sworn in, Pierce said, “Public service has been a central part of my life for more than 30 years, and this appointment gives me an opportunity to serve the Commonwealth in a different and very personal way. My career has allowed me to work with people and communities throughout Virginia, and I hope to bring that experience, along with my own lived experience and my involvement in the LGBTQ+ community, to the work of the Board.” They added, “Having Greg administer the oath makes the occasion even more meaningful because of his own historic role as Virginia’s first openly gay elected circuit court clerk.”
Pierce also serves as Circuit Court Services Manager for the Department of Judicial Services, at the Office of the Executive Secretary of the Supreme Court of Virginia. They began their career in Virginia’s judiciary in 1994 as a deputy clerk with the Virginia Beach Circuit Court and have since held several professional and leadership positions within the court system. Pierce is a member of the National Association for Court Management (NACM) and the Mid-Atlantic Association for Court Management. At the national level, Pierce participated in the workgroup that developed the National Association for Court Management’s Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Guide, a resource designed to help court professionals advance inclusive practices and strengthen access, fairness and belonging within the justice system.
Pierce earned a degree in Criminal Justice from Liberty University, and a certificate in Paralegal Studies from Norfolk State University.
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Calendar: September 11-17
Comings & Goings
