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Comings & Goings
Victory Fund, HRC name two top new leaders
The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
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].
Ruben Gonzales
Ruben J. Gonzales is now vice president of leadership initiatives at the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute. The Institute is dedicated to advancing LGBT equality by identifying, recruiting, training and supporting openly LGBT public officials as well as building a pipeline of LGBT leaders. Ruben oversees the organization’s international and domestic programs, including its congressional internship and fellowship programs, Presidential Appointments Project and candidate and campaign trainings. He will also focus on growing support for these programs from private foundations and corporations to expand the number of LGBT leaders reached.
Prior to joining Victory this year, Ruben led all fundraising efforts at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Ruben also previously served as the chief development officer at the United Cerebral Palsy, deputy vice president for resource development at the National Council of La Raza, director of development at the Urban Assembly, a school management organization based in New York City, and with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as director of volunteer management. Ruben is also recognized as an expert on the role of Latinos in philanthropy and has been invited by the Association of Fundraising Professionals to present on this topic.
In 2013, Ruben was named by “Advocate” magazine as one of its Top 40 Under 40 for his leadership on behalf of LGBT Latinos. Ruben also serves on the board of directors of the Latin American Youth Center, which is headquartered in Columbia Heights. Ruben holds a bachelor’s degree in political science from Santa Clara University. He is married to Joaquin Tamayo.
The Human Rights Campaign has named Jay Brown as the organization’s new communications director. HRC said, “Brown will serve as an organizational spokesperson and lead a team responsible for advocating for LGBT equality in the media as well as supporting and amplifying HRC programs.”
Jay Brown
Brown currently serves as HRC’s director of research and public education, “where he has helped shape the organization’s approach to generating research and educational campaigns aimed at enhancing the lives of LGBT people,” according to a statement. In his new role he will work closely with senior vice president of communications and marketing Olivia Alair Dalton. According to Dalton, “Jay is an incredibly talented communicator who has also led an impressive career as an advocate. He has spent a decade working to ensure equality for LGBT people at every intersection of their identities and lives. There is no one better equipped to lead our talented communications team and ensure we are ready to meet the challenges ahead in the fight for full equality.”
Brown said, “I couldn’t be more excited to join the communications team at such a pivotal time in the movement for LGBT equality. We still have so many stories left to tell about who we are, and the obstacles that still stand in front of so many LGBT people, in the United States and around the world.”
Brown worked at HRC from 2000 to 2006 where he managed communication strategies around the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment, advancing understanding of transgender people, and building support for hate crimes prevention legislation and the repeal of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell,” among other issues.
According to the HRC website, “prior to working with HRC Jay held director positions at Reading Is Fundamental and Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on integrated marketing and online communications. Jay is an out trans man and lives in Maryland with his spouse, Kendra, and their two children.”
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
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