Local
Longtime Gay Men’s Chorus member Russell Capps dies at 54
Served as executive for large non-profits
Russell Craig ‘Russ’ Capps, a longtime resident of Kensington, Md., who worked for most of his career as a chief financial officer and chief operating officer for large non-profit organizations and who served many years as a singer and board member of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., died Aug. 19 at the age of 54.
His friend Michael Hill said the cause of death was complications associated with a heart attack.
A write-up about his life provided by Hill on behalf of Capps’ family says that since 1997, when he first met the man who later became his husband, Kenneth Yazge, in Rehoboth Beach, Del., the two shared more than two decades together, among other things, “hosting some of the most incredible dinner parties” and traveling with a large circle of friends and loved ones.
“The number of people who claimed Russ as their best friend is countless,” the write-up sent to the Washington Blade by Hill says. “He had an intensity for those he loved and would go to the ends of the earth to help anyone who needed him,” it says.
The write up notes that for much of his adult life Capps was a “bedrock leader” for the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. Among other things, he served as the chorus’s treasurer and on its board of directors.
His deepest love, the write-up says, was his 14-year stint as a member of the chorus’s ensemble known as Potomac Fever, with whom he traveled for singing engagements and performed at the first inaugural concert for President Barack Obama and later at the first LGBT reception at the Obama White House.
According to the write-up, Capps most recently worked as COO for the American Foreign Service Association. Prior to that he served as CFO for the Construction Specifications Institute and held similar positions at the American Dental Education Association and the D.C.-based Center for Development & Population Activities
He also served for 12 years as CFO at the Association of Corporate Counsel and was active for many years as a leader and panelist for the American Society of Association Executives, the write-up says.
Capps received a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Virginia’s Radford University and was a graduate of Rebert E. Lee High School in Springfield, Va.
The write-up says Capps and Yazge, who married in 2013, “saw each other through life’s great ups and downs, including renovating their Kensington house, selling and starting businesses and new jobs, and buying a second home in Rehoboth Beach, an escape that they fled to any time they could and one that they shared generously with family and friends.”
Capps is survived by his husband, Kenneth M. Yazge; his brother, Robert L. Capps, Jr.; his niece, Brittany Capps; and his nephew, Stephen Capps. He is predeceased by his parents, Robert and Mary.
A celebration of Capps’ life is scheduled to be held at Foundry United Methodist Church in D.C. on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, at 1 p.m. The write-up provided by Hill says donations in lieu of flowers can be made to the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. at gmcw.org.
Maryland
The UMD student reporter who dared to record Andy Harris — and kept recording
Anti-LGBTQ Republican threatened to have police remove Cat Murphy from briefing
By BRENDA WINTRODE — A University of Maryland student journalist targeted by U.S. Rep. Andy Harris during an informal press briefing Tuesday said she’ll continue to cover the Republican politician who threatened to have police remove her from the room.
Cat Murphy, a graduate student at the Philip Merrill College of Journalism and a reporter for the student newswire Capital News Service, appeared on CNN Wednesday to recount a post-debate clash that has gone viral on social media and been broadcast on national news.
CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked Murphy, 22, how she had processed the exchange one day later.
“It has been a lot,” she said. “But I was focused on doing my job and asking my questions that I wanted answers to. And I think I did that.”
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Center Arts Gallery celebration, auction to take place on Oct. 17
D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center to mark event’s 10th anniversary
The D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center is hosting its 10th anniversary celebration of the opening of its Center Arts Gallery on Saturday, Oct. 17, at the Center’s offices at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W., from 6 – 9 p.m.
“For 10 years, the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center’s Arts Gallery has been more than a place where art is displayed,” a statement released by the center says.
“It has been a space where LGBTQ+ artists are seen, celebrated, and connected to community, and where their work has given expression to the stories of joy, resistance, grief, beauty, survival, courage, and imagination,” the statement adds.
It says those attending the event would have an opportunity to bid on donated artwork in an auction and to meet and interact with “the artists whose creativity has helped bring Center Arts Gallery to life, enjoy wonderful food and music, and celebrate a decade of LGBTQ+ artistic expression.”
But the statement posted on the LGBTQ+ Community Center’s website says free general admission tickets have sold out, with $75 VIP tickets still available. It says the proceeds from ticket sales will be used to help support the LGBTQ+ Community Center’s operations.
Attendees and others were also invited to an event after party at the LGBTQ bar and cafe Spark Social from 9-11 p.m. at 2009 14th St., N.W.
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Congratulations to Richard Garrett on being honored by Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer with the Order of the First State. Garrett is executive director of the Children’s Beach House, in Lewes, Del. Upon accepting the honor he said, “I am deeply honored to be recognized by Governor Meyer with the Order of the First State, but I hope this occasion also shines a light on children who are struggling in some of the same ways I struggled as a child and teenager. Perseverance, connection, patience, and the presence of caring adults made all the difference in my life. For 24 years, my greatest privilege has been helping Children’s Beach House create that same sense of belonging and possibility for children and families across Delaware. They are strong, smart, resilient, and resourceful—and they deserve every opportunity to discover just how much they are capable of becoming.”
He told the Blade, “In many ways, my own childhood helps explain why this work has been so deeply personal to me. I grew up in a family that struggled financially, and I had a speech impediment so severe that, as a young child, I often could not be understood without one of my siblings acting as an interpreter. Thankfully, I had strong parents and a mother who was an educator. She spent countless hours helping me practice consonant blends and trying to master the “R” and “S” sounds. Just as importantly, she understood that being around other children my own age would teach me things that no adult could. What made a difference in my life were competent, caring adults who built relationships with me and gave me the sense of safety and belonging I needed. People like Sister Kathleen Swan, OSF; Father Gerald M. Dunne, OSFS, Dr. Susan Cassidy and her husband, John Bronson, to name a few! In many respects, my story mirrors the work we do every day at Children’s Beach House. The children and families we serve are strong, smart, resilient, and resourceful. Sometimes what they need most is for someone to recognize those strengths, stand beside them, and give them the relationships and opportunities they need to flourish.”
Over the years Garrett has grown the Children’s Beach House’s annual budget from approximately $650,000 in 2003 to $4.5 million while strengthening impact, visibility, and organizational infrastructure. He raised $2.5 million in Delaware foundation capital grants, and established a $7 million endowment for the Margaret H. Rollins Center, a $1 million capital endowment, and increased the general operating endowment to $6 million.
In addition to all that Garrett is the founder and owner of Midway Motion and Fitness. He is also looking forward to the groundbreaking of Midway Pickleball in 2027. He is treasurer of the Community Foundation Board of Kiwanis Club of Coastal Delaware. He began his career as executive director of the Delaware County Children’s CAMP, Media, Pa.; and was director of Student Affairs for the Williamson Free School of Mechanical Trades, Media, Pa.
Garrett earned his bachelor’s degree in psychology from Neumann University, Aston, Pa.; and did his graduate studies in vocational education, Temple University.
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