Local
Comings & Goings
Renna joins Task Force; couple opens market in Rehoboth
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 businesses, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: [email protected].
Congratulations to Cathy Renna on her appointment as Interim Communications Director with the National LGBTQ Task Force. Rea Carey, executive director said, “We are thrilled to welcome Renna as our Interim Communications Director. She has been a part of the Task Force family for a long time, working on projects and has been a fixture at Creating Change. I’ve appreciated her as a trusted partner and colleague for almost 30 years and her leadership and experience will be of tremendous value at such a critical and uncertain time for our community and the world, as we navigate the challenges faced by the LGBTQ movement and beyond.”
Upon accepting the appointment Renna said, “My relationship with the Task Force goes back to my early days as an activist and frequent consultant on projects, particularly Creating Change. At such a precarious and challenging time, I look forward to helping amplify the Task Force’s important work, from imminent Supreme Court decisions affecting LGBTQ people to the historic ‘Queer the Census’ campaign and ‘Queer the Vote’ in the upcoming November elections.”
Renna is the principal of Target Cue, an LGBTQ-focused communications firm. Prior to that she worked at GLAAD. Renna has executed her particular expertise in crisis and strategic communications, playing a central role in shaping many major issues affecting the LGBTQ community, from the beating death of Matthew Shepard in 1998 to the fight for marriage equality and the repeal of “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell.”. She recently worked with the team that coordinated historic coverage for WorldPride/Stonewall 50, working with NYC Pride.
Congratulations also to David Lyons and Rick Hardy on their new business, Coho’s Market and Grill in Rehoboth Beach, Del. It is never easy to open a business but in this incredibly difficult time they are to be congratulated for opening to serve the community. Coho’s is open Thursday to Monday 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. for take-out orders with curbside delivery at 305 Rehoboth Avenue.
Lyons and Hardy have been partners for more than 27 years. Lyons said, “Rick and I have always enjoyed entertaining and life here in Rehoboth. We have had a home here since the mid-90’s and like so many others were ‘weekend warriors’ coming to Rehoboth to enjoy the surf, sand, great restaurants and a small town community lifestyle.
“Starting Coho’s is an opportunity for a second career and to become year-round members of the community we love so much. The outpouring of support and interest in our endeavor have been amazing and when it is safe for people to be out we hope everyone will come to our in-town market for grocery staples and specialty foods or the grab ‘n go section we will have.”
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Not all trans people are the same
Calendar: August 21-27
