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Comings & Goings
Kinney publishes photo book on Clinton’s 2016 campaign
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].
Barbara Kinney (Photo courtesy of Kinney)
Congratulations to Barbara Kinney on the publication of her new book. “#Still With Her; Hillary Rodham Clinton and the Moments that Sparked a Movement.” It’s a 268-page coffee table book of amazing photographs Kinney took during Clinton’s 2016 campaign for president. Anyone interested in great photography will want this book.
The book is written by Sandra Sobieraj Westfall with an introduction by Clinton and short essays by those who have known and supported her including: John West, Cecile Richards, Jamie Lee Curtis, Chad Griffin and Mary Steenburgen among others. But it’s a book of photographs and they are incredible. When they say a picture is worth a thousand words they are clearly talking about those taken by Kinney. They make you laugh and cry; they bring back good memories and leave you wanting more. She dedicates the book to the 65,845,063 who voted for Clinton.
Kinney was a staff photographer for President Bill Clinton during his time in the White House. The photograph she took of President Clinton and the leaders of the Middle East straightening their ties before a press event won her First Place for “People in the News” in the World Press Photo competition. It is currently on display in the exhibit “Pictures of the Year: 75 Years of the World’s Best Photography” at the Newseum in D.C. through January 2019. Her photographs have graced the covers of both Time and Newsweek magazines.
Kinney has been close to Hillary since those Clinton White House years. In 2008, she spent five months traveling with Hillary during the primary. She photographed Chelsea’s wedding. This time she spent the presidential campaign with Hillary being given unprecedented access to everything.
When not working with the Clintons, Kinney has worked for various foundations and non-profit groups helping them to document their work around the world. Photographing the Mobility Project distributing wheelchairs in Afghanistan; Operation Smile during a trip to Nairobi, Kenya; maternal health care in Tanzania with CARE; and a congressional delegation traveling to West Africa with former President Clinton and the Clinton Foundation. She has traveled to the Democratic Republic of Congo with Ben Affleck and his Eastern Congo Initiative and has worked with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation photographing their leadership team and grantees in Mozambique, South Africa, Malawi, India and Mexico. Kinney was a photo editor and lead photographer for the 2014 “Shriver Report: A Woman’s Nation Pushes Back from the Brink” and was selected as one of 20 photographers to be featured in the American Society of Media Professionals Best of 2011 Portfolios for her project on Alzheimer’s, also for the Shriver Report.
In addition, she was one of a few very select photographers to work on the “A Day in the Life of the American Woman” and “A Day in the Life of the U.S. Armed Forces” book projects. She has worked as a photo editor on staff at USA Today, Reuters, The Seattle Times and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
If you are in D.C. on Jan. 19, 2019, you will have a chance to hear Kinney talk about the book and her photography at Politics and Prose. Barbara currently lives in Marin County with her 14-year-old daughter and their two cats. She joined the Emerson Collective in Palo Alto, Calif., in January 2017 as senior photo editor and photographer.
Congratulations also to David Gonce, Tyler Townsend and Bob Suppies, of the much-anticipated The Pines restaurant and bar in Rehoboth Beach, which has secured its certificate of occupancy. The first event held in the new space was the annual Thanksgiving weekend bash hosted by Marvin Miller, Dan Kyle and Tony Burns. The place is beautiful and the food was delicious. The Pines will soon open to the public and be a welcome addition to Baltimore Avenue.
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.”
Markwayne Mullin confirmed as next DHS secretary
Gay man murdered in Va.
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
