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Comings & Goings
Schleusener joins Fractal Industries; Cendana to Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop!


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].

Lucas Schleusener
Congratulations to Lucas Fox Schleusener on joining Fractal Industries as the director of public policy. Schleusener is a veteran of the Obama White House having worked in the Presidential Personnel Office as an associate vetting and recruiting for national security personnel and then worked in the Defense Department.
Before joining Fractal Industries, Schleusener worked for Avicenna Strategy as a speech writer/editor. As a speechwriter for the Secretary of Defense during the Obama administration he worked on a number of issues including enhancing U.S.-Indian security cooperation through drafts of speeches and op-eds for both Indian and American audiences as well as direct bilateral engagements, carefully selecting newspapers in both countries reflecting a range of economic and political preferences. He also worked on a study begun under Secretary Leon Panetta to consider combat roles for women where he analyzed, tested and strengthened the communications strategies for the Women in Service Review.
Schleusener has published “From Blog to Street: The Transformation of the Bahraini Public Sphere,” in Arab Media and Society, in 2007 and is currently working on a piece, “We Have Always Fought: The Lives of Gay, Lesbian, and Transgender Soldiers in the American Military from the Civil War to the War on Terror.” He was a Penn Kemble Fellow, National Endowment for Democracy; and is founder and director, Washington, D.C., Middle East Round Table. Schleusener serves as vice chair of the Board of No One Left Behind, a non-profit that supports Iraqis and Afghans who’ve received Special Immigration Visas following their work for the U.S. government. He received his bachelor’s in history from Wesleyan University and his master’s in Middle East Studies from the University of Chicago.
Congratulations also to Gregory Cendana now working full-time as president and co-founder of Can’t Stop! Won’t Stop! a consulting firm working with nonprofits, philanthropic organizations and diverse leaders across the globe. Their goal is to ensure that historically marginalized communities feel empowered within campaigns, organizations and the world writ large to excel their power to make social and cultural change, work and live in inclusive and nurturing spaces, and break down systemic barriers to socio-economic and societal freedom.
Prior to this, he was executive director of the Asian Pacific America Labor Alliance, AFL-CIO, D.C. He has also served as president of the United States Student Association & Foundation; and was a Resident Assistant with the UCLA Office of Residential Life.
Cendana has been an active member of the LGBTQ+ community in D.C. for many years. He has volunteered with 18MillionRising.org; the D.C. Asian American and Pacific Islander Caucus; was a co-founder of Inclusv, a diversity hiring initiative; and in 2012 was an elected delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Cendana has been honored by a number of groups, including The Young and the Guest List: Washington’s Most Influential 40-and-under leaders, Washington Life; Washington, D.C.’s Inaugural Power 30 Under 30 Award; and he was inducted into the Alumni Hall of Fame, New Leaders Council. He is also the founder and co-captain of SOULcial Justice Dance Team. He earned his bachelor’s in sociology, labor & workplace studies, from the University of California Los Angeles.

Gregory Cendana (Photo by Ron Simms)
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours

D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon

The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert

A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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