Local
Comings & Goings
Strang elected president of GLAA
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].
Bobbi Strang (Photo courtesy of Strang)
Congratulations to Bobbi Elaine Strang on her election as President of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance. Founded in 1971, GLAA is an all-volunteer, non-partisan, non-profit political organization that defends the civil rights of LGBT people in the nation’s capital.
GLAA lobbies the D.C. Council; monitors government agencies; educates and rates local candidates; and works in coalitions to defend the safety, health and equal rights of LGBT families. GLAA remains the nation’s oldest continuously active gay and lesbian civil rights organization.
Strang previously served on the boards of GLOV (Gays and Lesbians Opposing Violence) and the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Currently she co-facilitates the DC Center’s Job Club and sits on both the boards of the Office of Police Complaints and Metropolitan Community Church. She was awarded the Engendered Spirit Award in 2015 by Capital Trans Pride for her advocacy on transgender issues in D.C.
She holds a master’s degree from Salisbury University and has worked at the D.C. Department of Employment Services since 2012 as the first openly transgender employee of the agency. In her spare time, she composes and performs music with a local punk rock band as a guitarist and vocalist.
Congratulations also to Sarah Lawson, the new staff social worker and therapist at the DC Center. There she works with individuals and groups to provide behavioral health support under the OVSJG grant. This position also oversees the D.C. Anti-Violence Project and engages in community outreach.
Lawson has a wealth of experience, including working as a Health Clinical Intern at Whitman-Walker Health and at Synergy Family Services of Langley Park, Md., as a social work intern. Prior to that she was the manager of grants and social media/contract communications consultant at Safe Shores, The DC Children’s Advocacy Center and as a Development Associate at the New Israel Fund.
She earned her bachelor’s in Journalism from Indiana University in Bloomington, and her master’s of Social Work, Clinical Behavioral Health, at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. She has her license as a LGSW.
Sarah Lawson (Photo courtesy of Lawson)
Congratulations also to Renée Rosenfeld who was recently awarded the 2018 Marc A. Levey Award for Distinguished Service to the Producers Guild of America New Media Council during the PGA’s Produced By Conference at Paramount Studios in Los Angeles.
She has more than two decades of experience in entertainment and strategic communications. She guided the strategic creative development and implementation for the first national broadcast PSA campaign for the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, receiving more than 500 million media impressions in less than one year. A native of the District, Rosenfeld returned home to lead the strategy to create and build the AMW Safety Center for America’s Most Wanted, the television show’s brand extension into consumer and family safety. She has developed innovative media, content and communications strategies for the Kellogg Foundation, Phillips Sonicare, Boeing, Justice for Vets, and the Bill Gates led, American Energy Innovation Council, among others.
Prior to creating strategic content, Rosenfeld was a member of the production team for “The West Wing,” “Felicity” and many other theatrical movies and episodic series and worked with JJ Abrams, Aaron Sorkin and Steven Bochco. Having worked with some of the television and movie industry’s most celebrated filmmakers, she brings instinctive perspective and sensibilities to building story and character to create maximum impact.
She has served as Human Services Commissioner for the City of West Hollywood; on the Victory Fund board of directors and co-chair of the Victory Campaign Board; and as National Media adviser for Freedom to Work. She received her bachelor’s in history from Carnegie-Mellon University.
Renée Rosenfeld (Photo courtesy of Rosenfeld)
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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