Local
McDuffie wins Ward 5 Council race
Gay Republican finishes fourth in 11 candidate race
Democrat Kenyan McDuffie, a civil rights attorney who received the endorsement of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the city’s largest LGBT political group, won a decisive victory on Tuesday in an 11-candidate race for the Ward 5 seat on the D.C. City Council.
The seat became vacant earlier this year when incumbent Democrat Harry Thomas Jr. resigned shortly after being indicted for embezzling city funds. He pleaded guilty to the charge and was sentenced to 38 months in jail.
Gay Republican candidate Tim Day, an accountant who is credited with raising questions about Thomas’s financial dealings that prompted authorities to open an investigation that led to Thomas’s indictment, came in fourth place. Day received the endorsement of the gay group Log Cabin Republicans of Washington.
Ward 5 political observers say McDuffie pulled together a broad coalition of supporters from all parts of the ward, including the Brookland, Bloomingdale, and Eckington neighborhoods believed to be home to large numbers of LGBT residents.
“Ward 5 has united behind Kenyan McDuffie, and that’s a good thing,” said Bloomingdale resident Barry Daneker, the Stein Club’s treasurer and vice chair of the Ward 5 Democratic Committee.
“This shows that Kenyan reached out to all the different factions that make up Ward 5,” Daneker said. “Ward 5 is changing and he did his best appeal to everyone.”
McDuffie told members of the Stein Club at an endorsement meeting in April that he is a strong supporter of LGBT equality, including the city’s same-sex marriage law.
According to final but unofficial results released Tuesday night by the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics, McDuffie received 4,085 votes or 44.5 percent, more than double the 1,850 votes or 20.2 percent received by his closest rival, Democrat Delano Hunter.
Hunter drew criticism from gay activists in 2010 when he ran against Thomas for the Ward 5 Council seat and said he would support a voter referendum to decide whether the city’s same-sex marriage law should be retained or repealed. At the time he accepted campaign contributions from the anti-gay National Organization for Marriage, which strongly opposed the same-sex marriage law. Earlier this year, Hunter told the Blade he changed his mind and supports the marriage equality law.
Democrat Frank Wilds came in third place, with 1,380 votes or 14.8 percent.
In his fourth place finish, Day received 490 votes or 5.3 percent.
Day beat Democratic attorney Ron Magnus, a longtime supporter of LGBT rights, who came in fifth place with 379 votes or 4.1 percent.
Of the remaining candidates, Democrat Shelly Gardner received 241 votes (2.6 percent); Democrat Kathy Henderson, 228 votes (2.5 percent); Democrat Drew Hubbard, 199 votes (2.2 percent); Democrat Rae Zapata, 182 votes (1.9 percent); Ruth Marshall 63 votes (0.7 percent);and independent John Cheeks, 38 votes (0.4 percent).
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, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
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.).
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
Comings & Goings
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Tenn. lawmakers pass transgender “watch list” bill
Cuba under pressure and without answers
Vance speaks at Orbán rally in Hungary
Amendments to India’s transgender rights law criticized
