Local
Vice president’s husband visits vaccination station at D.C. gay bar
Second Gentleman Emhoff expresses support for nightlife outreach
The D.C. gay sports bar Pitchers, which opened its first-floor space as a COVID-19 vaccination site on Thursday afternoon, June 3, received a surprise visit by Douglas Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris who holds the title as the nation’s first Second Gentleman.
Pitcher’s customers and employees, including owner David Perruzza, joined D.C. government officials in greeting Emhoff and members of his staff who accompanied him warmly. The D.C. officials said they came to lend support for the city’s efforts to expand vaccination sites to nightlife establishments such as bars and restaurants.
Emhoff said he had heard that Pitcher’s and League of Her Own, the lesbian bar located in Pitcher’s lower floor space, would be serving as a vaccination site and he wanted to stop by to show his support while he was in the Adams Morgan neighborhood where Pitchers is located for another engagement.
He readily agreed to numerous requests by customers to allow them to stand next to him for photos as he greeted people in Pitcher’s outdoor and indoor space. He stood a few feet away from three tables where members of the staff of Giant Food’s pharmacy waited to administer vaccine shots to interested customers.
Emhoff stayed for about 30 minutes before leaving to attend another nearby engagement. He was accompanied by staff members and members of the Secret Service.
Among those present who greeted Emhoff was Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, which worked with the D.C. Department of Health to arrange for a vaccination site at Pitchers.
“We’ve been doing these all over the city,” Alexander-Reid said in discussing the vaccination site. “So, this was like a natural next step to reach out to the LGBTQ community,” she said. “And because Pitcher’s is a part of the community this was kind of a no-brainer to do this here,” Alexander-Reid told the Washington Blade.
Among the D.C. government officials joining Alexander-Reid at the event was Shawn Townsend, director of the Mayor’s Office of Nightlife and Culture, who played a role in arranging for the vaccination station to be set up at Pitcher’s as well as other D.C. bars.
“The idea was to go to different sectors of business in different communities to encourage folks to get the vaccine,” Townsend said. “I think that if you wanted a vaccination, you’ve gotten it at this point,” he said. “So, moving forward we have to think about how to reach others in different communities in the city,” he said, who up until now have chosen not to get vaccinated.
Other D.C. officials who came to Pitcher’s to support the vaccination site were Ben DeGuzman, director of the Mayor’s Office of Asian and Pacific Islander Affairs; Jim Slattery, former head of the LGBTQ charity group Brother Help Thyself who serves as Correspondence Officer for the Office of the D.C. Mayor; and Patrick Ashley, senior deputy director at the D.C. Department of Health.
Perruzza said some of his customers came forward to get vaccinated as of around 5:30 Thursday evening, 90 minutes after the Giant Pharmacy staff set up their vaccination tables. He said a larger number of customers would be arriving at Pitcher’s and League of Her Own in the next few hours and he expected more people to consider taking the vaccine.
“I’m grateful they’re here and I immediately said yes when the mayor’s office approached me to do this,” Perruzza said. “But from talking to a lot of people I think most people in the gay community have been vaccinated,” he said.
The vaccination site was scheduled to stay at Pitcher’s until 8 p.m.
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Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
Attendees encouraged to wear appropriate gear
Diego’s in Rehoboth Beach hosts a monthly leather happy hour. April’s edition is scheduled for Friday, April 10, 5-7 p.m. Attendees are encouraged to wear appropriate gear. The event is billed as an official event of BLUF, the free community group for men interested in leather. After happy hour, the attendees are encouraged to reconvene at Local Bootlegging Company for dinner, which allows cigar smoking. There’s no cover charge for either event.
District of Columbia
Celebrations of life planned for Sean Bartel
Two memorial events scheduled in D.C.
Two celebrations of life are planned for Sean Christopher Bartel, 48, who was found deceased on a hiking trail in Argentina on or around March 15. Bartel began his career as a television news reporter and news anchor at stations in Louisville, Ky., and Evansville, Ind., before serving as Senior Video Producer for the D.C.-based International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers union from 2013 to 2024.
A memorial gathering is planned for Friday, April 10, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at the IBEW International Office (900 7th St., N.W.), according to a statement by the DC Gay Flag Football League, where Bartel was a longtime member. A celebration of life is planned that same evening, 6-8 p.m. at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.).
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BLUF leather social set for April 10 in Rehoboth
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