Local
Comings & Goings
Veteran advocates launch business consulting firm
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].Ā
Congratulations to Matthew Thorn, Sharon Brackett and Morgan Meneses-Sheets who launched Whetstone Point Consulting. Whetstone Point will bring a creative approach to working with their clients by providing thoughtful, customized and strategic support. The three partners bring years of experience in managing and building effective programs to move the dial on key issues and challenge people to consider new ways of thinking.Ā Ā
The co-founders are renowned on progressive issues and policy from working to pass marriage equality and gender identity non-discrimination protections in Maryland to challenging the Trump administrationās ban on transgender service members and working to ensure access to reproductive health services at the state and federal level.
Thorn most recently served as president and CEO of OutServe-SLDN. He was a partner in Beyond the Hill Strategies and served as executive director of the LGBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland and was a director of development and government relations for the Prince Georgeās African American Museum and Cultural Center.
Brackett has started five successful companies in the last 20 years. In 2016, she was named one of Marylandās Top Women in Tech by the Maryland Department of Commerce. In 2010, she was selected by Washington SmartCEO Magazine as one of Washingtonās Smart100 CEOs for 2010 and then again, after her transition, in 2011. She is a savvy businesswoman who has also leveraged her know-how in the policy world. Brackett is a board member of the Point Foundation, a published writer and radio commentator on the movement for LGBT equality. In 2018, she was elected to the Baltimore City Democratic State Central Committee, becoming the first transgender person in Maryland to be elected to any office.
Meneses-Sheets brings more than 20 years of experience in non-profit strategy and communications. She worked with state and national groups throughout the country to draft, introduce and move legislation and create inventive and impactful communications programs to achieve their goals. She provided media training to help clients maximize their ability to amplify their voice and advance their priorities.
Congratulations also to Jay Fisette managing partner, DMV Strategic Advisors, LLC, a new firm he has opened with Roger Berliner. DMV Strategic Advisorsā mission is to assist businesses, non-profits, and local governments advance projects and policies aligned with the overarching goals of the DMV region. Fisette said, āAfter 20 years in elected office, I have found a way to continue advancing many of the public policies I worked on over the years.ā
He servedas member and chair of the Arlington County Board beginning in 1998 until last year. Berliner served for 12 years on the Montgomery County Council. They worked on regional issues together at the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments where Fisette served as chair in 2006,
Fisette has earned numerous awards for his service to the community, including Public Official of the Year from the Virginia Transit Association in 2009.
District of Columbia
Man who had sex with cucumber in driveway wanted by D.C. police
Homeowner provides police with video; incident listed as ālewd, indecent,ā act
D.C. police are seeking help from the community to identify a man captured on video performing a sex act on himself with a cucumber in the driveway of a home in the cityās Truxton Circle neighborhood near Dunbar High School, according to both a police press release and police incident report.
āOn Friday, September 6, 2024, at approximately 5:00 p.m. the suspect was in the 200 block of N Street, NW.,ā the police press release says. āThe suspect performed a lewd act in view of the public,ā it says. āThe suspect then left the scene.ā
The police incident report lists the offense committed by the unidentified man as āLewd, indecent, or Obscene Acts.ā The report says the homeowner called police to report the incident.
The local online publication DC News Now spoke to the homeowner whose security camera video, which she posted on Reddit, shows the man removing a cucumber from what appears to be a lunch box and crouching down and appearing to insert the cucumber in his anus while standing behind the homeownerās car parked in a driveway.
āI was so disgusted, and freaked out,ā DC News Now quotes the homeowner, Catherine Baker, as saying. āI want people, I want my neighbors to know and keep an eye out for this person,ā Baker told DC News Now. āThereās a lot of kids, there are high school students, they walk themselves to and from school, but we all have to be vigilant about this kind of thing,ā Baker is quoted as saying.
The police report, which identifies Baker as having contacted police to report the incident, describes what appears to be the suspectās actions as captured on the video, which Baker provided to police. It says the man, identified as Suspect 1, āwent on to move from the front of the vehicle to the rear of the vehicle in front of respondent 1ās [Bakerās] window and continued to perform lewd and obscene acts to the cucumber.ā
The Washington Blade couldnāt immediately reach Baker for further comment.
She told DC News Now that she had not seen the suspect in her neighborhood prior to seeing him in the video from her security camera. The publication reports that Baker noticed that at one point the suspect appears to notice the security camera as seen in the video.
āIt was that eye contact that really unsettled me, because it then continues for longer than one would imagine,ā DC News Now quotes her as saying. āAnd of course, then he saves the cucumber for later, so it really leaves one with a lot of questions that no one wants to have on their mind,ā she told DC News Now.
She was referring to the video that shows the suspect placing the cucumber back in his lunchbox before he walks away from the scene carrying the lunch box through an alley next to the driveway where the incident took place.
The police press release includes two photos of the suspect taken from the video. It says anyone who can identify the suspect or has further information about the incident should contact police at 202-727-9099.
A NSFW video of the incident was posted on Reddit here.
Virginia
Federal judge denies motion to dismiss gay student’s complaint against Va. school district
Complaint alleges Prince William County School District did not stop bullying
A gay former Prince William County middle school student alleges the county’s school board and school district failed to stop bullying against him because of his sexual orientation.
InsideNoVa.com reported the student’s mother filed the Title IX complaint in June 2023.
The website notes the complainant was a student at Ronald Reagan Middle School in Haymarket from 2019-2022, and his classmates subjected him to “regular and relentless anti-LGBTQ+ bullying.” InsideNoVa.com reports the complaint states the student and his mother “were met with victim blaming and inaction” when they approached the school’s principal and assistant principal.
The complainant is no longer a student in the school district.
U.S. District Court Judge Rossie D. Alston, Jr., in Alexandria on Aug. 22 denied motions to dismiss the complaint.
“PWCS remains committed to providing an inclusive and excellent education for every student and has no tolerance for harassment, bullying or intimidation of students,” Prince William County Public Schools Communications Director Diana Gulotta told the Washington Blade on Monday in an emailed statement.
“Regarding this specific case, PWCS does not comment on active litigation,” she added.
District of Columbia
LGBTQ veterans event set for Sept. 20 at D.C.ās Crush Dance BarĀ
Event to commemorate 13th anniversary of repeal of āDonāt Ask, Donāt Tellā
The Mayorās Office of Veterans Affairs and the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs are hosting a special event on Friday, Sept. 20, to commemorate the 13th anniversary of the repeal of the federal “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell” law that banned LGBTQ people from serving openly in the U.S. military.
The event, called āVoicesĀ of Courage: Reclaiming the Legacy of LGBTQIA+ Inclusion In the Military,ā will take place from 3-5 p.m. at D.C.ās LGBTQ Crush Dance Bar at 2007 14thĀ St., N.W.Ā
An announcement from the mayorās office says the keynote speaker at the event will be Under Secretary of Defense For Personnel And Readiness Shawn G. Skelly, who will discuss āher experiences of service and the future of the LGBTQIA+ inclusion in the military.ā
Skelly, a military veteran, will be joined by another veteran who will also speak at the event, Pip Baitinger, who currently serves as LGBTQIA+ Veterans Outreach and Relation Specialist in the Executive Office of the D.C. Mayor.
The announcement says the event will also include an official reading of a proclamation to be issued by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser declaring Sept. 20, 2024, as LGBTQIA+ Veterans Day in Washington, D.C.
āOn this day, we honor and celebrate the LGBTQIA+ veterans who have served with honor and bravery, and we reaffirm our dedication to fostering an inclusive and respectful environment for all who have served our nation,ā the mayorās proclamation says.
A statement from the mayorās office says that since the “Donāt Ask, Donāt Tell” law was repealed by Congress in 2011, with the repeal bill signed by then President Barack Obama, āLGBTQ+ service members have enjoyed greater opportunities to serve authentically.ā
The statement adds, āHowever, many transgender, intersex, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals still face boundaries to serve fully authentically in the armed services.ā It says the event will allow attendees to āmix and mingleā and allow āveterans, service members, and military family members with lived experiences in navigating restrictive policies to discuss the work that still needs to be done today.ā
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