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Comings & Goings
Sklarz takes new role at SAGE; Zumwalt lands promotion
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].
Congratulations to Scott Paul Zumwalt on his appointment as a managing director at Bully Pulpit Interactive (BPI). Bully Pulpit Interactive is a modern communications agency that builds believers for brands, causes and candidates. Founded by leaders of the Obama campaign, they apply their expertise to create customized strategies for companies, causes and candidates. Upon his promotion Zumwalt said, “I’m especially proud of our team’s work to drive innovation in the fight for LGBTQ equality. Whether through our work the last six years with the Human Rights Campaign or this past year in Massachusetts where we successfully fought to protect transgender rights in Massachusetts, the BPI team has been an amazing partner to our movement.”
Zumwalt has been at BPI for six years helping to develop BPI’s metrics-driven approach to many of their largest corporate and public affairs clients. He has more than a decade of experience in digital strategy and marketing for Fortune 500 corporations, non-profits and progressive political campaigns. In his time at BPI, he’s also served as a lead digital marketing consultant for the Human Rights Campaign for the past six years and worked on multiple campaigns and initiatives. He has also served on the Gay & Lesbian Victory Fund Campaign Board since 2014.
Before joining BPI, Zumwalt was a freelance consultant and owner of Empowered Media Strategies. As a digital innovator in the LGBTQ+ rights movement, he was the chief digital strategist that helped launch and develop the award-winning It Gets Better Project in 2010. Zumwalt earned his bachelor’s in Political Economy from Georgetown University where he graduated cum laude and he was president of the Georgetown University College Democrats and then the D.C. College Democrats. He is anticipating finishing his Executive MBA at Columbia Business School in May.
Congratulations also to Melissa Sklarz who has started her new position with SAGE, Advocacy and Services for LGBT Elders as a Senior Government Relations Strategist. She will be advocating for SAGE at the city and state level in New York to help with their legislative agenda including fighting for LGBT veteran services and protection in long-term care. She will work on the capital campaign to provide resources for the Ingersoll Senior Residences in Brooklyn. Sklarz said, “This position is a good fit for my skills and I am very grateful to Lynn Faria and Michael Adams for the opportunity.”
She has broken ground in many ways for the transgender community. In 1999, Sklarz became the first transgender person elected to office in New York when she was elected a Judicial Delegate from the 66th Assembly District. In 2004, she became the first transgender person from New York to be part of the state delegation at the Democratic National Convention, by being appointed to the Credentials Committee and again on the Rules Committee in 2008. In 2016, she became the first New York trans person elected to be a delegate to the Democratic National Convention. Later that year, Sklarz became the first trans American to be selected for the Electoral College.
She is a past board co-chair of the Empire State Pride Agenda and of National Stonewall Democrats. She is a former president of Stonewall Democratic Club of New York and of Gay & Lesbian Independent Democrats. In 2008, she served as a co-chair for Obama Pride NYC, helping to organize the LGBT community for the campaign and was one of 250 activists invited to the first LGBT Pride in White House in June 2009.
Sklarz worked for two years as director of development for the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund resigning in 2018 to run for Assembly. She also had a featured role in the film “Transamerica.”
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
Polish court rules country must recognize same-sex marriages from EU states
Queer American in Israel discusses Iran war’s impact
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
Calendar: March 21-26
Small is beautiful: subcompact SUVs
