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Comings & Goings
De Guzman named acting director of Office on Asian & Pacific Islander Affairs


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].

Ben de Guzman
Congratulations to Ben de Guzman, named Acting Director of the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA). He most recently served as the Community Outreach Specialist in the Mayor’s Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Questioning (LGBTQ) Affairs, helping to lead the agency’s constituent services and engagement efforts. De Guzman has been a leading voice at the local and national level on issues of racial equity, immigrants’ rights, veterans’ affairs, and LGBTQ justice for 20 years.
Previously, de Guzman served on the Executive Committee for the Filipino Veterans Recognition and Education Project, a non-profit organization whose mission is to ensure a legacy of remembrance for Filipino WWII veterans and their service to the U.S. and the Philippines. He led their communications, outreach and political strategies leading to the passage of the Filipino Veterans of WWII Congressional Gold Medal Act in 2016. He also served as the National Coordinator for the National Alliance for Filipino Veterans Equity, where he organized a national legislative campaign that created the Filipino Veterans Equity Compensation Fund in 2009. In October 2015 he helped coordinate Mayor Bowser’s first-ever Filipino American History Month commemoration.
Among his other positions, he served as National Managing Coordinator for the Diverse Elders Coalition. He coordinated local and national strategies to bring the voices of diverse constituencies to the 2015 White Conference on Aging. He planned the only Town Hall Forum providing feedback to Conference planners that was translated simultaneously in four languages; English, Spanish, Khmer, and Tagalog.
He was principal staff at the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance, where he managed the policy and programmatic work for NQAPIA and its federation of 40 Asian American, South Asian, Southeast Asian, and Pacific Islander LGBT groups around the country. As a trainer for OCA: Asian Pacific American Advocates APIAU Leadership 101 program for more than a decade he has trained over 1,000 Asian American and Pacific Islander students.
Congratulations also to David Do, named Interim Director of Department For-Hire Vehicles (DFHV). Since 2015, Do served as Director of the Mayor’s Office on Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs (MOAPIA). On taking the new job he said, “As the Department of For-Hire Vehicles continues to innovate the industry, I am looking at how big data will help us address equity and affordability issues in transportation. The key to that is looking at how we can leverage the industry to serve our most vulnerable communities.”
Do is a seasoned community advocate and a champion for neighborhood and constituent engagement. Prior to working for Mayor Bowser he served in the administrations of both Mayors Adrien Fenty and Vincent Gray. He has extensive experience working with numerous businesses and community-based organizations around the District, including his promotion of capital improvement grants during his tenure in the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development (DMPED).
Do earned a bachelor’s in Economics from the University of California, Merced and a master’s in Community Planning from the University of Maryland, College Park. He has also gone through the George Washington University/Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, certified public manager and regional executive program.

David Do
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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