Local
Del. guv courts gay Dems
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell; Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden; and U.S. Rep. John Carney (D-Del.), the state’s sole member of the U.S. House, were among nearly a dozen elected officials who attended a Rehoboth Beach fundraiser on July 28 for the Delaware Stonewall Democrats.
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell was among nearly a dozen elected officials who attended a Rehoboth Beach fundraiser on July 28 for the Delaware Stonewall Democrats. (Photo by Molly Keresztury via Wikimedia)
Delaware Gov. Jack Markell; Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden, the son of Vice President Joe Biden; and U.S. Rep. John Carney (D-Del.), the state’s sole member of the U.S. House, were among nearly a dozen elected officials who attended a Rehoboth Beach fundraiser on July 28 for the Delaware Stonewall Democrats.
Markell and Biden praised the group for playing a key role, along with the statewide LGBT group Equality Delaware, in successfully lobbying the legislature last year for a civil unions bill that Markell signed into law.
“I think a marriage equality bill is inevitable in Delaware and my guess is it will be fairly soon,” Markell told the Blade at the fundraiser, which was held at Mariachi Restaurant located near the Rehoboth boardwalk.
“I don’t know for sure it will happen in this next session but I don’t think it’s far off,” he said in discussing a state same-sex marriage bill. “And it’s something that I would support.”
Biden told those attending the event that he and his parents were deeply moved earlier this year when the Biden family watched Vice President Biden declare his support for same-sex marriage on the Sunday morning news show “Meet the Press.”
Noting that his father’s interview on the program was taped two days in advance, Beau Biden said he, his wife and their two children and his mom and dad gathered in the living room of the vice president’s house in Washington to watch the program together.
“That Sunday morning when you were all watching ‘Meet the Press,’ I was sitting there with my mom and my dad,” he said. “I watched my dad and I watched him watching and my mom watching. But even more than that, I watched my kids watching us watch this,” said Beau Biden.
“I have an eight year old and a seven year old, who know their dad and their grandpop watch the news a bunch,” he told the crowd, which was listening in silence. “And they knew something was going on because at the end of the interview we all had tears in our eyes — my mom and my dad, my mom and I. And they asked me what was going on.
“And I tried to explain to them why what my dad said was so meaningful to me and to my mom … But to me what it means and I think what it meant to them was I’m not going to have to explain to them anymore as they get older why their parents’ friends can’t get married.”
Biden joined Markell in expressing support for a same-sex marriage bill in Delaware.
Others attending the fundraiser were three out gay candidates running for state offices — Mitch Crane, who is running for the statewide office of insurance commissioner; Andy Staton, who’s running for a seat in the State Senate from the Rehoboth area; and Marie Mayor, who’s running for a State House of Representatives seat in the area of Milton, Del.
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.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
Calendar: April 10-16
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