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Comings & Goings
Gregg Kelley joins Washington Lawyers’ Committee
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].
Gregg Kelley
Congratulations to Gregg Kelley who recently joined the Washington Lawyers’ Committee (WLC) as director of development and communications. He will lead and oversee the planning, implementation and evaluation of WLC’s fundraising and communications efforts. The WLC, a non-profit organization, was established in 1968 to provide pro bono legal services to address discrimination and entrenched poverty in the D.C. community.
Kelley has extensive experience and background in development. Prior to joining the Committee, Gregg was director of development for the Legal Aid Society of the District of Columbia, Washington’s largest civil legal services organization. During the 2004 presidential election, he served as director of events at the Human Rights Campaign supervising a national events fundraising program for the country’s largest LGBT organization.
Kelley began his legal services career in 1995 as the pro bono coordinator of the Legal Services Program at the Whitman-Walker Clinic. He remained in that position for just two years before becoming a member of the development team and eventually the director of special events. He is an active member of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, and served as president of the D.C. Metro Area Chapter in 2015. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Florida State University.
Congratulations also to Nick Martin who recently began his new position as communication and outreach director at the Coalition to Transform Advanced Care. The Coalition is a network of 150 provider organizations, health systems, insurance companies, businesses and consumer advocates working to ensure Americans with advanced illnesses receive comprehensive, high-quality personal and family-centered care. Previously, Martin was an associate director in the Office of Intergovernmental and External Affairs at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. He handled external affairs for Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell and stakeholder engagement on the administration’s top healthcare initiatives including open enrollment, Medicaid expansion, delivery system reform and public health issues such as the opioid epidemic and Zika virus outbreak.
Martin previously worked at the Human Rights Campaign coordinating campaign teams during the 2012 election when marriage equality was won or protected at the ballot in several states. He earned a bachelor’s degree from Northeastern University.
Nick Martin
Congratulations also to David Reid who recently joined the government relations practice at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck as a policy adviser. Reid brings a wealth of on-the-ground policy and finance experience to his government relations work with Brownstein.
A seasoned finance director, Reid most recently worked with Hillary for America where he was the D.C. and PAC finance director. His efforts raised a record-breaking $30 million from the D.C. and PAC community during the last election. He had a wealth of experience before joining Hillary for America, which included being PAC Manager for the United Health Group, Inc.; field organizer for the 2007 Coordinated Campaign, the Democratic Party of Virginia; Mid-Atlantic finance director for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee; and deputy finance director of the Democratic Governors Association.
Over the course of his successful career, Reid has amassed an in-depth network of industry contacts both on Capitol Hill and within the business and association communities. He began his career in Washington as a page in the United States House of Representatives. He received his bachelor’s degree in American Politics from the University of Virginia where he was a Jefferson Scholar. He is an Eagle Scout.
David Reid
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
