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Comings & Goings
LGBT Congressional Staff Association names new board
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].
Congratulations to Tom Sommers, who was elected chair of Center Global. This is the organization within the DC Center supporting LGBTQ asylum seekers who’ve arrived in the area to start their new lives.
Center Global is in its fifth year and provides a safe, stable community along with financial and housing support to help asylum seekers who are legally present as they’re going through the multi-year asylum-application process. Asylum seekers, unlike refugees, receive no government aid and must rely on friends, family and organizations like ours to sustain themselves. Sommers said, “Our goal for 2018 is to continue the great work that Matt Corso and Eric Scharf began five years ago and to increase awareness of our efforts and needs to the larger DMV, LGBTQ community.”
Sommers has been involved with the D.C. LGBTQ community for seven years most recently serving on the LGBTQ National Task Force’s initiative to host the 30th Creating Change conference. He is also a past president of the International Association of Business Communicators (IABC) DC/Metro chapter.
He is a principal with Explorations & Insights, an insight-based communication and data-solutions company. Prior to that he was a senior account director with GfK Custom Research, NA; sales director with MarketTools (now MetrixLab); and a communications specialist with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts.
Congratulations also to David Perez on his new position as senior director of Donor Relations at the Hispanic Federation (HF), which provides grants and services to a broad network of Latino non-profit agencies serving the most vulnerable members of the Hispanic community and advocates nationally with respect to the vital issues of education, health, immigration, economic empowerment, civic engagement and the environment. HF programs include Proyecto Somos Orlando founded after the Pulse nightclub tragedy to provide bilingual wrap-around services and LGBTQ community education; Immigrants Get the Job Done coalition founded with Lin Manuel Miranda, and the UNIDOS Disaster Relief and Recovery Program, which has raised $30 million to serve the immediate and long-term needs of families and communities in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria.
Previously, Perez served as director of development for the League of United Latin American Citizens, the largest and oldest Latino civil rights volunteer membership organization in the U.S. He co-founded the annual Unión Hace La Fuerza Latino Institute at the Creating Change Conference, which annually gathers 250 LGBT Latino grassroots activists for a full day of networking and bilingual issue and skill-based training. David currently serves as the chair of the District of Columbia Mayor’s LGBTQ Advisory Committee and is on the Community Advisory Board for ¡Empodérate! Youth Center at La Clínica del Pueblo. He has received awards from The DC LGBT Center, Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, Next Generation Leadership Foundation, Capital Pride and Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence.
Finally, congratulations also to the new board members of the LGBT Congressional Staff Association, an official, non-partisan congressional staff organization whose mission is to advance the interests of current as well as prospective members and the LGBT community at-large. The LGBT CSA is dedicated to developing the careers of its membership and advocating on behalf of the LGBT community. New board members are; President, Robert Edmonson, Chief of Staff, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Vice President, Christopher Cunningham, Legislative Assistant & Correspondent, Rep. Elizabeth Esty (D-CT); Communications Director, Pablo A. Sierra-Carmona, Press Assistant, Rep. Linda T. Sánchez (D-CA); Professional Development Director, Jayson Schimmenti, Legislative Assistant, Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-NJ); Social Events Director, Hector Colón, Legislative Correspondent, Rep. Joe Crowley (D-NY); Membership Director, Sarah Jackson, Legislative Assistant, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); At-Large Director, Christofer Horta, Policy Assistant, House Democratic Caucus; At-Large Director, Matthew Ramirez, Legislative Correspondent, Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA).
The new board of the LGBT Congressional Staff Association. (Photo courtesy LGBT CSA)
Rehoboth Beach
Rehoboth Summer Kickoff Party set for May 15 with Ashley Biden
The Washington Blade’s 19th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for Friday, May 15 in Rehoboth Beach, Del.
Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, has joined the list of speakers, the Blade announced. She will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau Biden for his LGBTQ advocacy work as Delaware attorney general. (Her appearance was rescheduled from last year.)
The event, to be held this year at Diego’s (37298 Rehoboth Ave. Ext.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient will be introduced at the event.
The event will also feature remarks from state Rep. Claire Snyder-Hall. New CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Dr. Robin Brennan and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Diego’s.
A suggested donation of $25 is partially tax deductible and includes a drink ticket and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door.
District of Columbia
Curve magazine honors Washington Blade publisher
Lynne Brown named to 2026 Power List
Washington Blade Publisher Lynne Brown has been named to the 2026 Curve Power List celebrating LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary individuals in North America who are blazing trails in their chosen fields.
“From sports and entertainment icons to corporate leaders and lawmakers, these individuals are breaking barriers, challenging norms, and shaping the future,” Curve Foundation/Curve magazine said in announcing this year’s list, which includes ABC newscaster Robin Roberts, comedian/actress Hannah Einbinder, and singer/actress Renee Rapp, among others.
Brown has worked for the Washington Blade for nearly 40 years. She was named publisher in 2007 before becoming a co-owner in 2010.
“I am honored to be recognized by Curve magazine during Lesbian Visibility Week,” Brown said. “Receiving this Curve honor is twofold. I was an early subscriber to Curve. I enjoy the product and know its history. Its journalism, layout and humorous features have inspired me.
“As an owner/publisher, receiving recognition from a similar source acknowledges my work and efforts, with a sincerity I truly appreciate. Franco Stevens, the publisher of Curve, is a business person of duration, experience, and purpose. The fact that they are in the media business, and honoring me and my publication makes it a tiny bit sweeter.”
Nominations for the Curve Power List come from the community: peers, mentors, fans, and employers.
Curve explained the significance of the list in its announcement: “An annual, publicly nominated list of impactful LGBTQ+ women and nonbinary changemakers is crucial in current times to counter discrimination, legislative rollbacks, hostility, and the invisibility of queer women within mainstream and marginal spaces and endeavors. Such a list also fosters encouragement and solidarity, and elevates voices and achievements—from high-profile roles to under appreciated areas of life.”
Rehoboth Beach
Auction of Rehoboth’s Blue Moon canceled
Details on sale of iconic bar, restaurant not disclosed
The Blue Moon in Rehoboth Beach, Del., has been an iconic presence in the local LGBTQ community for four decades but its status remains murky after a sheriff’s auction of the property was abruptly called off on Tuesday.
The property was listed for sale in December. At that time, owner Tim Ragan told the Blade that he is committed to preserving its legacy as a gay-friendly space.
“We had no idea the interest this would create,” Ragan said in December. “I guess I was a little naive about that.”
Ragan explained that he and longtime partner Randy Haney were separating the real estate from the business. The two buildings associated with the sale were listed by Carrie Lingo at 35 Baltimore Ave., and include an apartment, the front restaurant (6,600 square feet with three floors and a basement), and a secondary building (roughly 1,800 square feet on two floors). They were listed for $4.5 million.
The bar and restaurant business is being sold separately; the price was not publicly disclosed.
But then, earlier this year, the Blue Moon real estate listing turned up on the Sussex County Sheriff’s Office auction site. The auction was slated for Tuesday, April 21 but hours before the sale, the listing changed to “active under contract” indicating that a buyer has been found but the sale is not yet final. As of Wednesday morning, the listing has been removed from the sheriff’s auction site.
Ragan didn’t respond to Blade inquiries about the auction. Back in December, he told the Blade, “It’s time to look for the next people who can continue the history of the Moon and cultivate the next chapter,” noting that he turns 70 this year. “We’re not panicked; we separated the building from the business. Some buyers can’t afford both.”
The identity of the buyer was not disclosed, nor was the sale price.
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