Local
Blue Moon owners to wed
Rehoboth’s Tim Ragan and Randy Haney met in 1979
Tim Ragan and Randy Haney, co-owners of the Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, will wed on Saturday. (Photo courtesy of the couple)
Tim Ragan and Randy Haney, co-owners of the popular Blue Moon restaurant and bar in Rehoboth Beach, Del., are to be married on Saturday, May 9, at the Nassau Valley Vineyards in nearby Lewes.
Bishop V. Gene Robinson, the first openly gay bishop in the Episcopal Church, is to officiate. About 275 guests, including family members and friends, are expected to attend the ceremony and a reception in a banquet hall on the grounds of the vineyard.
Ragan, 59, and Haney, 57, met in 1979 when Ragan worked as an administrator and Haney was a student at Salisbury University in Salisbury, Md., where the two lived.
“We’ve been together ever since,” Ragan said. “So it’s as much a celebration of the past as it is of the future.”
Haney, who received a degree in business administration with a concentration in accounting, began his career in finance for car dealerships in the Salisbury area. Ragan left his job at the college to start a printing business in the same area, and Haney soon became co-owner of that business.
The two began their association with the Blue Moon in the 1980s when Joyce Felton, one of its first owners, retained Ragan and Haney’s printing company to do various projects for the restaurant, including the printing of menus and display advertising.
According to Ragan, he and Haney later joined the staff of the Blue Moon, where they met chef Lion Gardner and his wife Meghan Gardner, who also worked there. Ragan said it was at a time when he and Haney – who had vacationed in the Rehoboth-Lewes area for years – decided they wanted to move to that area and enter into semi-retirement.
But instead of retiring, the two became full-time employees of the Blue Moon, Ragan said.
Around 2008, after he and Haney had become good friends with Lion and Meghan Gardner, the two couples decided to take steps to open their own restaurant.
“We enjoyed working together so much that we were going to open our own business,” Ragan said. “And then Joyce decided she didn’t want to do it anymore and offered to sell it to us.”
As part of their business partnership, Haney serves in the role of comptroller handling the finances and number crunching, a write-up on the Blue Moon’s website says. Ragan, among other things, oversees promotion as well as the booking of the popular entertainers that the Blue Moon has become known for hosting.
Lion Gardner serves as executive chef, with wife Meghan operating the Blue Moon’s bustling catering business, which includes catering for weddings.
Ragan said he and Haney currently live in Lewes in a home they recently had built next to a pond.
“We have four dogs and plenty of room for them to play,” said Ragan, in reflecting on their many years as life partners and business partners. “So for almost our entire time together we have not only worked together but lived together – and stayed together.”
The couple has asked that guests make a contribution to one or each of three charities in lieu of a wedding gift — CAMP Rehoboth, Jusst Soup Ministries, and Delaware Humane Association — through this site: http://www.idofoundation.org/TimAndRandy.
A gay man was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Saamel and Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate Sanchez-McCray, 42, was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray shot to death inside a home in Petersburg.
Sanchez-McCray’s brother, Jamal Mitchell Diamond, in a public statement the Washington Blade received from Equality Virginia and GLAAD, said Sanchez-McCray was not transgender as initial reports indicated.
“Our family has always embraced the fullness of who he was. He used the names Saamel, Shyyell, and Mable interchangeably, and we honor all of them. There is no division within our family regarding how he is being represented — only a shared commitment to preserving his truth with love and respect,” said Diamond.
“He was also deeply committed to community work through Nationz Foundation, where he worked and completed multiple state-certified programs to support marginalized communities,” added Diamond. “That work meant a great deal to him.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
Gay man murdered in Va.
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Polish court rules country must recognize same-sex marriages from EU states
