Local
D.C. Black Pride leader Fowlkes elected chair of DNC LGBT Caucus
Equality Delaware leader elected as caucus secretary
Earl Fowlkes Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The Democratic National Committee’s LGBT Caucus voted unanimously on Thursday to elect D.C. gay Democratic activist and Black LGBT Pride leader Earl Fowlkes as the caucus’s chair.
The election took place during the DNC’s annual summer meeting in Scottsdale, Ariz. DNC Chair Debbie Wasserman Schultz was among several guests speakers at the LGBT Caucus meeting in which Fowlkes was elected.
“The meeting was our first official Caucus meeting since the [Democratic National] Convention so it gave us an opportunity to celebrate the president’s re-election, all of the amazing LGBT victories last November at the ballot box and all the wonderful progress made in state legislatures over the past few months,” said gay DNC member Jason Rae of Wisconsin.
Rae, who has served as the LGBT Caucus secretary, assumed the position of acting chair in January, when then Caucus Chair Rick Stafford of Minnesota and Vice Chair Sue Lovell of Texas left the DNC after their terms expired.
Rae said he chose to run for a position representing the Midwest Caucus on the DNC’s Executive Committee rather than for chair of the LGBT Caucus.
“I wanted to help bring an LGBT voice to the executive team for the Midwest Caucus,” he said.
Rae said the LGBT Caucus on Thursday elected Laura Calvo, an official with the Oregon Democratic Party, as vice chair; and Lisa Goodman, co-chair of the statewide LGBT organization Equality Delaware, as caucus secretary.
Goodman played a lead role last year in campaigning for a same-sex marriage equality law and a transgender non-discrimination law that were passed by the Delaware Legislature.
Fowlkes served last year as an Obama delegate to the Democratic National Convention. He currently serves as president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, an international LGBT advocacy organization that Fowlkes helped found. The organization, formerly known as the International Federation of Black Prides, among other things, organizes D.C.’s annual Black Pride celebration and conference. Fowlkes is also a member of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, D.C.’s largest LGBT political organization.
Fowlkes was attending DNC related meetings on Friday and could not immediately be reached for comment.
Rae told the Blade that the subject of the National Stonewall Democrats did not come up at the LGBT Caucus meeting on Thursday. NSD, an LGBT group, ceased operating last December due to financial problems.
LGBT Caucus member Raymond Buckley, the openly gay chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party, told the Blade in February that he and other LGBT Caucus members were taking steps to resurrect NSD this year. In a phone interview on Friday, Buckley said he and the others working with him have made progress on the NSD front.
“We’re optimistic,” he said. “Some announcements will be coming soon.”
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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