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Comings & Goings
Fowlkes named to D.C. Police Complaints Board
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 Earl D. Fowlkes, Jr. on his appointment to the D.C. Police Complaints Board by Mayor Muriel Bowser. He said, “It is a privilege to serve on this important board particularly during this time in our District. I will work hard and be fair to ensure justice is being served to everyone who walks into the Office of Police Complaints.”
Fowlkes is president and CEO of the Center for Black Equity, Inc. Prior to that, he served for 15 years as the executive director of the DC CARE Consortium and Damien Ministries, organizations that provided services to Persons Living With HIV/AIDS in D.C. Fowlkes has worked on health, political, and LGBTQ issues in many communities for nearly 30 years. He currently serves on the Damien Ministries Board of Directors. He previously served two terms as chair of the DC Commission on Human Rights; chair of the D.C. Mayor’s GLBTQ Advisory Committee; community co-chair of the D.C. HIV Prevention Community Planning Group; and a member of the D.C. Commission on the Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday.
Fowlkes is committed to a progressive political agenda for the Black and LGBTQ communities, and currently serves as the Democratic National Committee LGBT Caucus Chair and on the DNC Executive Committee. He has received numerous honors and awards for his community service and was named one of three 2013 grand marshals of the Heritage of Pride (NYC Gay Pride) along with Harry Belafonte and Edith Windsor.
He earned hisbachelor’s degree from Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Congratulations also to Kristine Kippins on her new position as Deputy Legal Director for Policy with Lambda Legal. She said, “I am a fierce supporter of the LGBTQ+ community and have dedicated my life to the collective liberation of marginalized people in this country. Joining the nation’s oldest and largest legal organization advancing the civil rights of LGBTQ people and everyone living with HIV and being part of a large team of more than 30 lawyers and paraprofessionals to help guide its public policy work is a dream come true.”
Prior to this, Kippins was director of policy for the Constitutional Accountability Center, where she helped make more real the promises of the Constitution. Before that she served as a federal policy counsel at the Center for Reproductive Rights. She has also worked for the American Constitution Society for Law and Policy (ACS) and Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor & Reed, P.A., Orlando, Fla.
She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business and her J.D. from William & Mary Law School.
Congratulations also to the Victory Institute’s Victory Empowerment Fellows (VEF).
This fellowship is for emerging LGBTQ leaders of color and transgender leaders who seek to expand their campaign skills and policy-making power and be part of a strong cohort of movement leaders from across the country. Fellows attend LGBTQ-specific training and the International LGBTQ Leaders Conference, and participate in a year-long mentorship program.
Fellows: Deja Alvarez, Philadelphia; Jin-Soo Huh, Chicago; Kendall Martinez-Wright, Palmyra, Miss.; Jaylin McClinton, Chicago; Adri Perez, El Paso, Texas; Rep. Taylor Small, Winooski, Vt.; Rep. Mauree Turner, Oklahoma City, Okla.; and Brandon Wolf Orlando, Fla.
A gay man was murdered in Petersburg, Va., on March 13.
Shyyell Diamond Sanchez-McCray, who was also known as Saamel and Mable, was a drag queen who won the Miss Mayflower EOY pageant in 2015. Reports also indicate Sanchez-McCray, 42, was a well-known community activist in Virginia and in North Carolina.
Local media reports indicate police officers found Sanchez-McCray shot to death inside a home in Petersburg.
Sanchez-McCray’s brother, Jamal Mitchell Diamond, in a public statement the Washington Blade received from Equality Virginia and GLAAD, said Sanchez-McCray was not transgender as initial reports indicated.
“Our family has always embraced the fullness of who he was. He used the names Saamel, Shyyell, and Mable interchangeably, and we honor all of them. There is no division within our family regarding how he is being represented — only a shared commitment to preserving his truth with love and respect,” said Diamond.
“He was also deeply committed to community work through Nationz Foundation, where he worked and completed multiple state-certified programs to support marginalized communities,” added Diamond. “That work meant a great deal to him.”
Authorities have not made any arrests.
The Petersburg Bureau of Police has asked anyone with information about Sanchez-McCray’s murder to call Petersburg-Dinwiddie Crime Solvers at 804-861-1212.
District of Columbia
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Rally on the National Mall scheduled for Saturday
The Christopher Street Project has a number of events planned for the 2026 Trans Day of Visibility, including a rally on the Mall and an “Empowerment Ball” at the Eaton Hotel. Plenaries, panel discussions and meetings with members of Congress are scheduled in the three days of programming.
Announced speakers include N.H. state Rep. Alice Wade; Commissioner of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago Precious Brady-Davis; activist and performer Miss Peppermint (“RuPaul’s Drag Race”); Lexington, Ky. Councilwoman Emma Curtis; Rabbi Abby Stein; D.C. activist and host Rayceen Pendarvis; Air Force Master Sgt. Logan Ireland; among other leaders, advocates and performers.
Conference programming on Thursday and Friday includes an educational forum and a Capitol Hill policy education day. Registration for the two-day conference has closed.
The “Trans Day of Visibility PAC Reception” is scheduled for Thursday, March 26 from 7:30-9 p.m. at As You Are (500 8th St., S.E.). Special guests include Rep. Dina Titus (D-Nevada) and Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.). Tickets are available at christopherstreetproject.org starting at $25.
The National Council of Jewish Women and the Christopher Street Project host a “Trans Day of Visibility Shabbat” on Friday, March 27 from 7-8 p.m. at Sixth & I (600 I St., N.W.). The service is to be led by Rabbi Jenna Shaw and Rabbi Abby Stein.
The “Now You See Me: Trans Empowerment Social & Ball” is scheduled for Friday, March 27 from 6-11 p.m. at the Eaton Hotel (1201 K. St., N.W.). The trans-themed drag ball is hosted by the Marsha P. Johnson Institute with support from the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ+ Affairs, the Capital Ballroom Council, the Christopher Street Project, the Center for Black Equity, Generation for Common Good, and Parenting is Political. RSVP online at christopherstreetproject.org.
The National Transgender Day of Visibility Rally is scheduled for Saturday, March 28 on the National Mall at 11 a.m. The rally will include speakers and performances. Following the rally, attendees are encouraged to participate in the “No Kings” rally being held at Anacostia Park.
Virginia
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Voters in November will consider repealing marriage amendment
The Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ended on March 14.
Lawmakers have yet to approve a budget, but they did pass a resolution that paves the way for a referendum on whether to repeal the state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman. Lawmakers also advanced House Bill 60, which would protect PrEP users from insurance discrimination.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger has until April 13 to decide to pass, amend, or veto legislation before it goes back to the House of Delegates on April 22.
Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed the bill that sets the stage for the marriage amendment referendum. Voters will consider whether to “remove the ban on same-sex marriage; (ii) affirm that two adults may marry regardless of sex, gender, or race; and (iii) require all legally valid marriages to be treated equally under the law?”
Equality Virginia has been working during this legislative cycle to urge lawmakers to allocate funding towards LGBTQ rights. The budget would expand funding for schools, competency training for the 988 suicide hotline, and funding to provide gender affirming care to LGBTQ youth.
“As the budget moves through conference and the Reconvene Session approaches on April 22, Equality Virginia remains focused on ensuring our victories this session translate into durable protections,” Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Progress on marriage equality, nondiscrimination protections, and HIV care funding was essential, but Virginia must do more.”
Markwayne Mullin confirmed as next DHS secretary
Gay man murdered in Va.
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
Polish court rules country must recognize same-sex marriages from EU states
Queer American in Israel discusses Iran war’s impact
‘How We Survived’ panel set for March 25
Calendar: March 21-26
Small is beautiful: subcompact SUVs
