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Sean Meloy, politics guru for LGBTQ Victory Fund, declares run for Congress

Hopeful would be first out person to represent Pa. in Congress

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Sean Meloy, political director for LGBTQ Victory Fund, has declared his run for a seat representing Pennsylvania's 17th congressional district.

Sean Meloy, the political director for the LGBTQ Victory Fund who has taken a lead role in helping LGBTQ hopefuls get into elected office, has now taken the goal on for himself and launched a campaign to run for Congress.

Meloy, who has also served as a member of the Democratic National Committee, announced on Monday his run to represent Pennsylvania’s 17th congressional district in Congress via video on Twitter, emphasizing his background as a middle-class native son of Pittsburgh.

“I was born and raised in Allegheny County,” Meloy said. “I’m a public school kid, a lifelong organizer and the product of a middle class upbringing that is no longer available for so many families. I’m running to fix that.”

Pennsylvania’s 17th congressional district is currently represented by Rep. Conor Lamb (D), who’s vacating the seat at the end of the his term to pursue a run for U.S. Senate. If elected, Meloy would be the first openly gay person to represent in Pennsylvania in Congress.

Meloy is not yet an endorsed candidate by the LGBTQ Victory Fund. According to the organization, Meloy would have to go through the same process as LGBTQ political candidates seeking an endorsement from the organization, which exclusively seeks to help LGBTQ people get into elected office.

Annise Parker, CEO of LGBTQ Victory Fund, commended Meloy in a statement for taking the leap from helping other candidates get elected to seeking elected office himself.

ā€œThere is no bigger advocate for Pittsburgh and the surrounding communities than Sean, who invests enormous amounts of time and resources to building up the Democratic Party and its candidates throughout the state,” Parker said. “Not driven by ideology or absolutism, Sean is a leader who prizes progressive pragmatism and believes a government that reflects the diversity of America will perform best for its people.”

Other candidates seeking the Democratic nomination to run for the congressional seat are Christopher Deluzio, a voting rights attorney, and William Murphy, an engineer at GE-Hitachi Nuclear Energy and member of the Democratic Soclalists of America. The date of the primary is not yet announced.

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Politics

George Santos sentenced to 87 months in prison for fraud case

Judge: ‘You got elected with your words, most of which were lies.’

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Former U.S. Rep. George Santos (Washington Blade photo by Christopher Kane)

Disgraced former Republican congressman George Santos was sentenced to 87 months in prison on Friday, after pleading guilty last year to federal charges of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. 

ā€œMr. Santos, words have consequences,ā€ said Judge Joanna Seybert of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York. ā€œYou got elected with your words, most of which were lies.ā€

The first openly gay GOP member of Congress, Santos became a laughing stock after revelations came to light about his extensive history of fabricating and exaggerating details about his life and career.

His colleagues voted in December 2023 to expel him from Congress. An investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee found that Santos had used pilfered campaign funds for cosmetic procedures, designer fashion, and OnlyFans.

Federal prosecutors, however, found evidence that “Mr. Santos stole from donors, used his campaign account for personal purchases, inflated his fund-raising numbers, lied about his wealth on congressional documents and committed unemployment fraud,” per the New York Times.

The former congressman told the paper this week that he would not ask for a pardon. Despite Santos’s loyalty to President Donald Trump, the president has made no indication that he would intervene in his legal troubles.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

ā€œF—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,ā€ a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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District of Columbia

Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw

School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ā€˜warmth, humor, kindness’

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Patrick Shaw (Photo via GoFundMe)

Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.

Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.

ā€œPatrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,ā€ Martinez said. ā€œHe was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.ā€

In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

ā€œPatrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,ā€ his colleagues said in their posting. ā€œHis daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.ā€

The posted message adds, ā€œPatrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.ā€

The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon. 

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