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Comings & Goings
David Brown named legal director for TLDEF
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 David Brown on his appointment as Legal Director for the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund. TLDEF is committed to ending discrimination based on gender identity and expression and to achieving equality for transgender people through public education, test-case litigation, direct legal services, public policy, and community organizing efforts. In his role, Brown will design and spearhead TLDEF’s legal strategies with a focus on the most vulnerable in our communities. He will build, lead, and mentor an in-house legal team and represent TLDEF in a variety of activist, legal, and public spaces in service of the organization’s goals and priorities. He originally joined TLDEF as a member of its first class of law clerks in 2007 and served on TLDEF’s Board of Directors from 2009 to 2017.
Executive Director Andy Marra said, “We are excited to welcome David as our Legal Director at this critical time in the movement for transgender equality. David has spent his career working on behalf of those most vulnerable to discrimination and often in hostile places. David brings a wealth of insight and skills to TLDEF at a time when transgender and non-binary people face an increasing barrage of attacks on multiple fronts.”
Brown said, “I am honored to take on this new role with TLDEF, an organization I love and with which I have a long history. I believe legal advocacy achieves the best results when it is part of a social movement, and lawsuits have the greatest impact when they are intersectional. In my new role, I will work to bring high-impact cases that, while focusing on discrimination because of gender identity, also acknowledge that transgender and non-binary people face multiple sources of oppression because of their race, class, citizenship status, and disability. Bringing an intersectional perspective to movement lawyering allows us to represent and amplify the voices of the greatest possible range of stakeholders in the transgender community.”
Prior to joining TLDEF, Brown was Director and Senior Counsel for the Lawyering Project an organization dedicated to advancing reproductive health care access and challenging state-imposed restrictions on abortion and other forms of reproductive healthcare, which he helped found in 2017. He has worked for the Center for Reproductive Rights as a senior staff attorney; Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen and Hamilton; and American Jewish World Service as a Program Officer for Mexico & Central America. His publications include “Making Room for Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity in International Human Rights Law: An Introduction to the Yogyakarta Principles,” Michigan Journal of International Law. Brown earned his bachelor’s in International Relations and Latin American Studies from Pomona College, Claremont, Calif., and his J.D. cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School.
Congratulations also to Brian Harris who had been appointed office manager of Central Properties, LLC in Washington, D.C. In that role, he will oversee and support 40 real estate agents in tandem with the president of the firm. Harris said, “I am excited about this position and feel it will use my talents.”
Prior to working with Central Properties, he spent many years as director of Active Physical Therapy, LLC, in Clinton, Md. He has been an active volunteer in the community with the Human Rights Campaign and Toys for Tots.
Baltimore
More than 15K people attend Baltimore Trans Pride
Baltimore Safe Haven organized annual event
More than 15,000 people attended Baltimore Safe Haven’s annual Trans Pride on Saturday.
“Last year we had maybe 2,500, and the year before that, we had 5,000,” Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said. “In today’s political climate, it’s absolutely amazing.”
Lau said allies and other groups “went into hiding” for about a month or two after President Donald Trump’s inauguration, but then all at once, different organizations started to reach out.
“The community has really come together to support us,” Lau said. “It was a fun, exciting day.”
Baltimore Safe Haven Executive Director Iya Dammons in a press release said the “historic turnout” showed the transgender community’s strength, as well as their unity to fight for justice and equality for all LGBTQ people.
At the event, attendees were seen waving flags and shouting “Trans Lives Matter,” showing their support for the community.
On Friday, before Trans Pride, Baltimore Safe Haven opened their new building to the public, gathering notable attendees like the Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohan, Council Member Antonio Glover, and representatives from the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation.
“(It) was historic in itself because … we’re the only direct service providers for people in the LGBT community,” Lau said.
Providing housing for 18- to 24-year-olds, Lau said the new building also serves as a community hub and has office spaces for workers.
With only a few hiccups of arguments between attendees and fixing street blockades during Trans Pride, Lau said the event showed what the community can do.
“It was amazing that so many people came out and had that much fun. We were all giddy by Sunday morning,” Lau said. “(It gave) Safe Haven exposure and continuity. We are not just an LGBT organization, we are an organization that supports the entire community.”
District of Columbia
Juvenile arrested for anti-gay assault in D.C.
Police say suspect targeted victim in house with Pride flags
D.C. police announced on June 16 that they have arrested a 13-year-old juvenile male on a charge of Assault With Significant Bodily Injury for allegedly throwing a rock through the window of a house in Northeast D.C. and “striking the victim in the face.”
In a statement announcing the arrest, police said the incident took place on Friday, June 6, and “LGBTQ+ flags were displayed at the front of the home.”
A separate D.C. police incident report obtained by the Washington Blade states, “Victim 1 reports he was sitting in his living room at the listed location watching television when a rock came through the front window and struck him about his left eye. Victim 1 suffered a laceration under his left eye.”
The report adds, “Victim 1 states he observed Suspect 1 running away.”
According to the June 16 statement issued by police, “On Sunday, June 15, 2025, officers located the suspect and placed him under arrest. [A] 13-year-old juvenile male of Northeast D.C., was charged with Assault With Significant Bodily Injury (Hate/Bias).”
The statement says the house where the incident occurred is located on the 400 block of 20th Street, N.E.
Similar to statements D.C. police have issued regarding LGBTQ bias-related cases in the past, the statement announcing this case says that while the case is being investigated as being potentially motivated by hate or bias, that designation could be changed at any time during the investigation.
It adds that a hate crime designation by D.C. police may not be prosecuted as a hate crime by prosecutors. Under D.C. law, juvenile cases are prosecuted by the Office of the D.C. Attorney General.
Since court records for cases involving juveniles are sealed from public access, the Blade could not immediately determine whether prosecutors designated the case as a hate crime.
It also could not immediately be determined if the juvenile charged in the case was being held in detention while awaiting trial at juvenile court or whether he was released to a parent or guardian and whether a judge set any conditions for release.
The police statement concludes by saying that the department’s Special Liaison Branch, which includes the LGBT Liaison Unit, is assisting with the investigation.
Milton, Del., will host its Pride Fest this Saturday with the theme “Small Town, Big Heart.” The town’s population of just over 3,000 is in its sixth year hosting Pride.
The event is hosted by Sussex Pride and Milton Theatre and will take place from 4-8 p.m. in the area surrounding the theater. Admission is pay-what-you-can and proceeds will support the Milton Theatre’s education wing campaign, an initiative dedicated to expanding arts education and creating spaces for the next generation of performers and artists.
The musical act schedule includes Goldstar at 4 p.m., Magnolia Applebottom and Friends at 5:30 p.m., and Mama’s Blacksheep at 6:45 p.m. There will be vendors, food trucks, and a Kids Fest with an inflatable obstacle course.
“In our little corner of the world, LOVE leads the way! Milton Pride 2025 is a celebration for EVERYONE — neighbors, families, allies, and friends — because acceptance, kindness, and community belong to us all,” Milton Theatre’s website reads. “Whether you’re here to cheer, learn, or simply feel the joy … you’re welcome exactly as you are. Let’s come together and celebrate Milton, a SMALL TOWN … with a BIG HEART!”
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