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)
District of Columbia
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Matthew Mahl once served as head of LGBT Liaison Unit
D.C. police announced on April 14 that they have placed one of their lieutenants, Matthew Mahl, on administrative leave and revoked his police powers after receiving information that he was arrested in Maryland one day earlier.
Although the initial D.C. police announcement doesn’t disclose the reason for the arrest it refers to a statement by the Harford County, Md. Sheriff’s Office that discloses Mahl has been charged with sexual solicitation of a minor and child porn solicitation.
“On Tuesday, the Harford County Sheriff’s Office contacted MPD’s Internal Affairs Division shortly after arresting Lieutenant Matthew Mahl,” the D.C. police statement says.
“The allegations in this case are extremely disturbing, and in direct contrast to the values of the Metropolitan Police Department,” the statement continues. “MPD’s Internal Affairs Division will investigate violations of MPD policy once the criminal investigation concludes,” it says.
“MPD is not involved in the criminal investigation and was not aware of the investigation until yesterday,” the statement adds.
Mahl served as acting supervisor of the MPD’s then Gay & Lesbian Liaison Unit in 2013 when he held the rank of sergeant. D.C. police officials placed him on administrative leave and suspended his police powers that same year while investigating an undisclosed allegation.
A source familiar with the investigation said Mahl was cleared of any wrongdoing a short time later and resumed his police duties. Around the time he was promoted to lieutenant several years later Mahl took on the role as chairman of the D.C. Police Union, becoming the first known openly gay officer to hold that position.
NBC 4 reports that Mahl, 47, has served on the police force for 23 years and most recently was assigned to the department’s Special Operations Division.
Records related to Mahl’s arrest filed in Harford County District Court, show Sheriff’s Department investigators state in charging documents that he allegedly committed the offenses of Sexual Solicitation of a Minor and Child Porn Solicitation on Monday, April 13, one day before he was arrested on April 14.
The court records show he was held without bond during his first appearance in court on April 14. A decision on whether he would be released while awaiting trial or continue to be held without bond was scheduled to be determined during an April 15 bond hearing. The outcome of that hearing could not be immediately determined.
Maryland
Evan Glass is leaning on his record. Is that enough for Montgomery County’s top job?
Gay county executive candidate pushing for equitable pay, safer streets, and cleaner environment
By TALIA RICHMAN | During a meet-and-greet at Poolesville Memorial United Methodist Church, Evan Glass got his loudest applause of the night with a plan he acknowledged was decidedly unsexy.
“Day one, I’ll hire a director of permitting services,” the county executive candidate said.
Doing so, he added, is a step toward easing the regulatory burdens that can stifle small businesses in Montgomery County.
The only problem? At least one of his fiercest competitors is making a similar pledge.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
D.C. bar, LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark Lesbian Visibility Week
‘Ahead of the Curve’ documentary screening, ‘Queeroke’ among events
2026 Lesbian Visibility Week North America will take place from April 20-26.
This year marks the third annual Lesbian Visibility Week, run by the Curve Foundation. A host of events take place from April 20-26.
This year’s theme is Health and Wellness. For the Curve Foundation, the term “lesbian” serves as an umbrella term for a host of identities, including lesbians, bisexual and transgender women, and anyone else connected to the lesbian community.
The week kicks off with a flag-raising ceremony on April 19. It will take place in New York, but will be livestreamed for the public.
“Queeroke” is one of the events being held around the country. It will take place at various participating bars on April 23.
As You Are, an LGBTQ bar in Capitol Hill, is one of eight locations across the U.S. participating. Their event is free and 21+.
On April 24, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center will hold a screening of “Ahead of the Curve,” a documentary about the founder of Curve, Franco Stevens. The event is free with an RSVP.
April 25, is Queer Women in Sports Day. And on April 26, several monuments in New York will be illuminated.
Virtual events ranging from health to sports will be made available to the public. Details will be released closer to the start of Lesbian Visibility Week. Featured events can be found on the official website.
Some ways for individuals to get involved are to use #LVW26 and tag the official Lesbian Visibility Week account on social media posts. People are encouraged to display their lesbian flags, and businesses can hand out pins and decorate. They can also reach out to local lawmakers to encourage them to issue an official Lesbian Visibility Week.
Gay D.C. police lieutenant arrested on child porn charges
Demonstrators disrupt OMB director hearing over PEPFAR
HIV/AIDS group NMAC is ‘destabilized’ and in financial crisis: sources
Madonna announces release date for new album
Senegalese court issues first conviction under new anti-LGBTQ law
An effort to increase the number of psychiatrists of color
Trump budget targets ‘gender extremism’
Comings & Goings
Minimal version of ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ heading to Dupont Underground
