Local
City pushes D.C. bid for Gay Games
City faces competition from Hong Kong, Guadalajara
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has pledged full city support for the Gay Games bid. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The leader of the city’s official convention and sports authority has pledged to wage an aggressive campaign in support of D.C.’s bid to host the 2022 Gay Games, the quadrennial LGBT athletics competition that draws as many as 15,000 competitors and between 80,000 and 100,000 spectators.
Max Brown, chairman of the board of Events D.C., which owns and operates more than a dozen D.C. sports and events facilities, including RFK Stadium and the Washington Convention Center, said the organization has already lined up locations where most of the Gay Games events would be held should D.C. win its bid to host the competition.
Last week, the Federation of Gay Games, the organization that selects the host city, announced that D.C. had been picked as one of three finalists to host the Games in July 2022. The other two cities in contention are Hong Kong and Guadalajara, Mexico.
“We’re just really excited about being part of the team pursuing the Gay Games,” Brown told the Washington Blade. “We have a lot of experience working in large-scale events like this, not only in the city but across the region,” he said. “We’re hopeful that we’ll be selected.”
Brent Minor, chair of the Gay Games Washington, D.C. 2022 Bid Committee, said Brown and Events D.C. have been doing a “great job” in working with the committee in support of the bid.
He noted that Events D.C. and its sister organization, Destination D.C., which serves as the city’s lead promoter of conventions and sporting and entertainment events, are listed as partner organizations in the official bid for the Games.
According to Minor, the two organizations will provide support for the bid committee in May when representatives of the Federation of Gay Games come to D.C. for an official site visit of all of the locations where Gay Games events would be held.
“The delegation will visit and inspect all proposed sites for Games events, evaluate the logistics for the Games, and appraise the level of community support for the bid,” Minor said in a statement.
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and the D.C. City Council have also pledged full city support for the bid, including financial support.
Last October, Council members Anita Bonds (D-At-Large) and Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) introduced a Council resolution supporting the city’s bid for the Games.
“D.C. looks forward to welcoming LGBTQ athletes from around the world and I truly hope the committee selects D.C. because of our rich history of support for equal rights and world renowned cultural attractions,” Bonds said in a statement.
The FGG is scheduled to make its final decision selecting the host city at its Annual General Assembly meeting in Paris in October.
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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.).
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Calendar: April 10-16
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
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