Local
Pro-marriage ministers plan Gallaudet protests
University mum on reinstatement of McCaskill
Angela McCaskill was placed on leave by Gallaudet University from her job as a diversity officer after it was revealed she signed an anti-gay marriage petition. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Two prominent black Baptist ministers who have been strong supporters of Maryland’s same-sex marriage law were scheduled to begin a series of weekly protest rallies outside Gallaudet University beginning Thursday, Oct. 25.
Rev Delman Coates, senior pastor of Mt. Ennon Baptist Church in Prince George’s County, and Rev. Donte Hickman, senior pastor of the Southern Baptist Church, which has congregations in Baltimore City and Anne Arundel and Hartford counties, said the protests would call on the university to immediately reinstate Angela McCaskill as the school’s diversity director.
The action by the two ministers was the latest in a series of developments triggered by Gallaudet’s decision earlier this month to place McCaskill on administrative leave with pay after news surfaced that she signed a petition to place Maryland’s same-sex marriage law on the Nov. 6 ballot in a referendum.
“It is unacceptable for Dr. McCaskill to be professionally sanctioned for merely exercising her right as a citizen in our democracy,” Coates and Hickman said in a joint statement. “Our advocacy for marriage equality is about protecting the rights of all people, gays and lesbians, as well as those who may have a traditional view of marriage.”
The two added, “It is the height of hypocrisy for an institution that claims to support individual choice and freedom of expression to deprive that freedom to someone they assume has a different opinion with respect to this policy issue.”
Gallaudet’s administration issued a statement last week inviting McCaskill to meet with university officials to discuss ways she could be reinstated. But McCaskill’s attorney, J. Wyndal Gordon, said at a news conference in Annapolis on the same day that his client suffered damage to her reputation as well as emotional distress over what he called her improper suspension.
Gordon said McCaskill was seeking compensation for the damages and has not ruled out a lawsuit if the university doesn’t make a “good faith” offer for her reinstatement along with compensation.
Meanwhile, with polls showing that the Maryland same-sex marriage law has a lead among voters expected to turn out for the Nov. 6 election, anti-gay groups working to defeat the marriage equality measure have used the McCaskill suspension as the theme for a TV commercial urging Maryland residents to vote ‘no’ on the marriage bill.
The ad uses video footage of McCaskill taken from the Gallaudet University website and YouTube link showing her speaking in sign language in what appears to be a classroom.
Catherine Murphy, a Gallaudet spokesperson, told the Blade on Wednesday that the university’s attorneys have called on the Maryland Marriage Alliance, the group that produced the TV ad, to take it down.
“It is copyrighted,” Murphy said. “Our attorneys asked them to take it down.”
Gordon told the Blade that McCaskill has also called on the Maryland Marriage Alliance to pull the ads with the video footage of her.
The alliance has so far refused to stop airing the ads on Maryland TV stations, saying it has no plans to do so.
“This places us in an untenable position, it’s difficult to be a proponent of the First Amendment and then have to renounce it at the same time,” Gordon told the Blade. “But what has actually occurred is that by taking her image and likeness and using it in their ad, they sort of prejudged her the same way Gallaudet prejudged her,” he said.
“If we had our druthers we would have it pulled,” Gordon said. “However, it’s Gallaudet’s place to demand that they pull the footage because it’s Gallaudet’s footage.”
Murphy said she could not comment on the status of any negotiations between McCaskill and the university over her possible reinstatement.
“That’s something the lawyers are working on,” she said.
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
Police mental health struggles gain growing attention
Man faces first S.C. ‘hate intimidation’ charge
Trump budget would codify expanded global gag rule
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