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Comings & Goings

Lewis, Wilson assume new roles at NBJC

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Comings & Goings, gay news, Washington Blade
Samuel Brinton, Comings & Goings, gay news, Washington Blade

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].

Samuel Brinton, gay news, Washington Blade

Samuel Brinton

Congratulations to Samuel Brinton, who recently founded Core Solutions Consulting to serve the national need for expertise on socio-technical translation on issues ranging from nuclear waste management to congressional outreach on advanced nuclear energy innovation policy. Along with his technical expertise on nuclear engineering issues and political connections in the energy policy field, Brinton will continue his state-level political work to end conversion therapy through the 50 Bills 50 States effort.

He recently served as a fellow at the Breakthrough Institute, Clean Air Task Force and at Third Way. He was also a senior policy analyst at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Brinton earned his dual master’s degrees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in nuclear engineering and the technology and policy program. He is a graduate of Kansas State University earning a bachelor’s in mechanical and nuclear engineering and a bachelor’s in vocal music performance, with a minor in Chinese language.

His activism included co-founding NuclearPride an LGBT organization in the nuclear field and creating the ‘Stand With Science’ campaign uniting 10,000 students and allies from across the country to advocate for federal science and engineering research funding.

Congratulations also to both Nakisha M. Lewis and Isaiah R. Wilson who have new positions on the staff of the National Black Justice Coalition. Lewis as director of programs and Institutional Development and Wilson as director of External Affairs.

Lewis is known as a thought leader in the field of philanthropy specializing in developing grant-making strategies addressing racial, gender and educational inequities. She worked extensively with individual donors and foundations to foster grant-making seeking to support, empower and strengthen marginalized communities, including in her most recent position as program officer and senior strategist for Safety at the Ms. Foundation for Women. She is co-creator of the Philanthropic Action for Racial Justice, an effort to organize black philanthropic practitioners around a shared vision for racial justice and investment in black communities centering on the needs and experiences of black women, youth and LGBTQ people.

She is a writer, speaker and lifelong community organizer most recently working to establish Black Lives Matter NYC. She is a co-founder of the #SheWoke Committee, the catalyst for the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls, established in 2016, and is the co-chair of Grantmakers for Girls of Color.

Wilson’s new position focuses on the public policy implications of critical issues for black LGBTQ and same-gender loving (SGL) people including: health and wellness; HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention; safe and inclusive schools; employment non-discrimination; relationship recognition; anti-violence; and economic justice.

He will lead the organization’s efforts to advocate for sound policy solutions empowering black LGBTQ/SGL people in the United States and play an integral role in the development of NBJC’s rapid response messaging strategy speaking to the diverse needs of its constituency at the intersection of racial justice and LGBTQ equality.

Prior to joining NBJC in January of 2014, Wilson spent five years working for former Rep. Steve Rothman (D-N.J.). There, Wilson worked on issues important to both working-class and marginalized communities. He was Rothman’s chief aide on the judiciary and LGBTQ issues drafting several pieces of legislation, including the original Juror Non-Discrimination Act, prohibiting attorneys from striking potential federal jurors on account of their sexual orientation or gender identity. He was as an officer of the Congressional Black Associates and member of the Congressional LGBT Staff Association.

Nakisha M. Lewis and Isaiah Wilson

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PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards

Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony

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Members of the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington as well as local drag artists joined hosts Mike Millan and Felicia Curry with other performers for a WorldPride dance number at the Helen Hayes Awards on Monday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.

A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.

The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals

Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade

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Deacon Maccubbin attends the 2024 Capital Pride Parade. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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.

Laverne Cox (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

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.

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PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride

Schuyler Bailar gives keynote address

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D.C. Trans Pride 2025 was held at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on May 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

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)

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