Local
Banking analyst, Realtor Victor Saulsbury dies at 66
Lifelong D.C.-area resident loved to travel
Victor Saulsbury, a lifelong D.C. area resident. died Jan. 4.
Victor Saulsbury, a lifelong D.C. area resident who worked for 30 years as a financial analyst and writer for the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation before switching careers to become a Realtor, died Jan. 4 at the Manor Care Health Services rehabilitation center in Chevy Chase, Md., from complications associated with spinal lymphoma. He was 66.
His longtime friend, Gary Mastroddi of Philadelphia, said Saulsbury was active socially in the D.C. gay community since the 1970s and enjoyed spending time in the summer in Rehoboth Beach, Del., and Provincetown, Mass.
He said Saulsbury, an only child, was born and raised in D.C. as the son of Lewis J. Saulsbury and Dorothy Graury. He received his primary and secondary education in D.C.-area military schools.
According to Mastroddi, Saulsbury graduated cum laude from Georgetown University in 1973 with a bachelor’s degree in economics. He received a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University in 1976.
After completing college he worked for the Western Union communications company before beginning work in 1974 for the FDIC as a financial analyst and author, where he wrote numerous technical papers and articles on the banking industry and banking regulation. His career at the FDIC lasted for 30 years.
An online search shows that his name appears on a wide variety of articles as a contributor on topics such as problems associated with the Savings and Loan industry and bank failures.
Mastroddi said Saulsbury retired from his job at the FDIC in 2004 and took a year off to travel before obtaining a real estate license and beginning a new career as a real estate broker at the Long & Foster realty office in Georgetown. Five years later, in 2009, he retired “for good” and, among other things, pursued his love for travel, Mastroddi said.
Italy and France, along with his favorite get-away destinations in Rehoboth Beach and Provincetown, were among the places to which he traveled in his retirement years, said Mastroddi.
Beginning in the 1970s, Saulsbury became a behind-the-scenes supporter of LGBT rights causes, assisting in fundraising efforts for LGBT groups in D.C., Philadelphia, and New York, Mastroddi said.
“He lost a lot of friends to AIDS and also helped in fundraising for AIDS organizations,” Mastroddi told the Washington Blade.
Mastroddi said Saulsbury cared for his mother, his only surviving relative, until she passed away in 2014.
He said Saulsbury lived in a house he bought in 1974 on Corcoran Street, N.W. until he sold the house in 2009 and moved into an apartment in the Crystal City section of Arlington where he remained until he became ill last year following a diagnosis of lymphoma of the spinal cord.
Mastroddi said Saulsbury underwent complicated spinal surgery last September and was admitted to the Manor Care rehabilitation facility in Chevy Chase in October, but complications related to the cancer and its treatment took its toll on him. A short time later he was transferred to a hospice unit at the Manor Care facility.
“He was witty and intelligent and he was an amazing writer,” said Mastroddi in commenting on Saulsbury from the many years Mastroddi and his and partner, Ettore Mastroddi, have known him.
“He said I am fine with moving on. I’m tired,” Gary Mastroddi quoted Saulsbury as saying a short time before his passing. “But he said we had a wonderful life. I enjoyed every moment of it.”
Mastroddi said Saulsbury is survived by many friends in D.C., Rehoboth Beach, and Philadelphia, among other places, including Mastroddi and his partner and longtime D.C. gay activists Paul Kuntzler and Richard Maulsby.
Plans for what Mastroddi said would be an informal memorial service among friends, in accordance with Saulsbury’s wishes, would be announced sometime soon.
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.”
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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
Queer American in Israel discusses Iran war’s impact
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
Calendar: March 21-26
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