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Comings & Goings

Blade Foundation offering $2,000 reporting fellowship

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Blade Foundation, Martin Rendon, gay news, Washington Blade
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]

Martin Rendon (Photo courtesy of Rendon)

Congratulations to Martin Rendon on his appointment to the State of Delaware Human Relations Commission. This is one of the most important commissions in the state since it is responsible for the enforcement of laws related to fair housing, equal accommodations, and employment discrimination. It also conducts hearings and resolves conflicts involving these issues and promotes programs aimed at eliminating discrimination.

Martin recently retired and moved to Rehoboth Beach. He worked for 25 years for UNICEF, retiring as its vice president of public policy and advocacy. He also worked for six years as a personal trainer at Chinn Aquatics and Fitness Center (Prince William County Park Authority). 

He graduated magna cum laude with a BSFS from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and received his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center in D.C. 

Congratulations also to Stephen J. Belcourt who recently began his new position as associate director for new business across Canada with Wiley Digital Archives, a division of John A. Wiley & Sons Ltd. (Hoboken, NJ). 

Upon accepting the position, he said, “Our primary source materials help preserve and make discoverable the archives of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain & Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians, and The New York Academy of Sciences. These society archives contain century’s worth of at-risk materials, previously only available to researchers on-site, and in their initial form.   The archives contain a variety of materials including photographs, maps, letters, manuscripts, and ephemera. My new role includes working with university libraries and researchers, to help them take full advantage of this newly digitized material.”

Prior to this, he worked for ProQuest in a number of positions most recently as manager, GovDocs, History, and News. Prior to that he worked as general manager of a family restaurant; sales executive for Interbiz a division of Computer Associates; and as a senior account manager for ANGOSS Software Corporation. He has his MSc International Management degree from the University of Liverpool (Laureate International Universities).

Stephen J. Belcourt (Photo courtesy of Belcourt)

$2,000 Blade Foundation Reporting Fellowship

Application deadline extended to Jan. 10, 2020. The Blade Foundation is offering a paid fellowship to an aspiring LGBTQ+ journalist in the D.C. area to begin in early 2020. Applicants must be over 18 and must either be currently enrolled in a college journalism program or have an acceptance letter to a program.

The fellowship will require 15-20 hours a week with a focus on reporting and writing LGBTQ-specific stories in D.C. and Virginia. The fellowship recipient will report directly to a member of the Washington Blade’s editorial staff and will be expected to participate in weekly staff meetings.

To apply send a letter of interest, resume and links to three published articles to Blade Foundation Executive Director Kevin Naff at  HYPERLINK “mailto:[email protected][email protected]. The deadline to apply for the fellowship is Jan. 10, and applicants will be notified of a final decision by Jan 31.

All LGBTQ+ journalism students in the D.C. area are encouraged to apply and we especially encourage LGBTQ people of color, transgender and/or non-binary individuals to take advantage of this opportunity. The Blade Foundation would like to give special thanks to the DC Front Runners for raising money to fund this opportunity.

The Blade Foundation is offering a $2,000 reporting fellowship.
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District of Columbia

Norton reintroduces bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ jurors in D.C. Superior Court

Congresswoman notes Congress controls local court system

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D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) on Friday, June 20, reintroduced her bill to ban discrimination against LGBTQ D.C. residents in the process for selecting people to serve as jurors in D.C. Superior Court.

“The bill would clarify that D.C. residents may not be excluded or disqualified from jury service in the local D.C. trial court, the D.C. Superior Court, based on sexual orientation or gender identity,” Norton said in a statement.

“Specifically, this bill would clarify that the term ‘sex,’ which is a protected class under the nondiscrimination law that applies to jurors in the D.C. Superior Court includes sexual orientation and gender identity,” Norton said.

She points out in her statement that under the D.C. Home Rule Act approved by Congress that created D.C.’s local government, including an elected mayor and City Council, the federal government retained control over the local court system.

“Therefore, until D.C. is given authority to amend Title 11 of the D.C. Code, which one of my bills would do, an act of Congress is required to clarify that LGBTQ+ jurors in the D.C. Superior Court are protected from discrimination,” according to her statement.

A spokesperson for Norton couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Norton is aware of specific instances where residents were denied jury service because of their sexual orientation or gender identity.  

Online records of congressional action on Norton’s juror nondiscrimination bill show she had introduced it in 2019, 2021, and 2023, when it died in committee each year, except for the 117th Congress in 2022, when it was approved by a committee but died in the full House.

“During Pride month we are reminded of the many contributions of the LGBTQ+ community,” Norton said in her June 20 statement. “Nobody, including D.C. jurors, should be discriminated against based on their sexual orientation or gender identity, and D.C. juries should not be deprived of the service of LGBTQ residents,” she added.

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PHOTOS: Pride on the Pier

Blade’s WorldPride celebration ends with fireworks show

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The Washington Blade's Pride on the Pier. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Washington Blade’s second day of Pride on the Pier at The Wharf DC ended with a fireworks show on Saturday, June 7. The fireworks show was presented by the Leonard-Litz LGBTQ Foundation.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

The Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier (Photo by Cedric Craig for Wild Side Media)
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Virginia

Hashmi to face Reid in Va. LG race

State senator won Democratic primary on Tuesday

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Ghazala Hashmi (Screen capture via One Vote At A Time/YouTube)

State Sen. Ghazala Hashmi (D-Chesterfield) will face John Reid in the race to become Virginia’s next lieutenant governor. 

Hashmi won the Democratic primary with 27.49 percent of the vote. She defeated former Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, state Sen. Aaron Rouse (D-Virginia Beach), Babur Lateef, Victor Salgado and Alexander Bastani.

“Tonight, Virginians made history,” said Hashmi in a statement. “We didn’t just win a primary, we sent a clear message that we won’t be bullied, broken, or dragged backward by the chaos in Washington.”

Reid, a gay conservative talk show host, in April won the Republican nomination to succeed Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears, who is running to succeed Gov. Glenn Youngkin. 

The incumbent governor days after Reid secured the nomination called for him to withdraw his candidacy amid reports that a social media account with his username included “pornographic content.” Reid, who would become the first openly gay person elected to statewide office in Virginia if he wins in November, has strongly denied the reports.

Former state Del. Jay Jones defeated Henrico County Commonwealth’s Attorney Shannon Taylor in Democratic attorney general primary. Jones will face Republican Attorney General Jason Miyares in November.

Youngkin cannot run for a second, consecutive term.

Former Congresswoman Abigail Spanberger will face off against Earle-Sears in November. The winner will make history as the first woman elected governor in the state’s history.

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