Local
Comings & Goings
Fryer appointed manager in U.S. Travel Association
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 Eric Fryer on his appointment as Manager, Grassroots and PAC with the U.S. Travel Association.
“I’m proud of the work that the Dulles Area Association of Realtors (DAAR) has done to advance homeownership opportunities for all in Loudoun County,” he said. “It’s been an honor to lead the Association’s advocacy and DEI initiatives with our members, president, and CEO. I’m thrilled to take these next steps in my career with the U.S. Travel Association, where I’ll be supporting the growth of their grassroots program and increasing political involvement across the travel industry.”
Prior to working with the Dulles area Association of Realtors, Fryer was a U.S. Public Affairs Intern; and Communication/Membership Intern with the Public Affairs Council; legislative intern, Office of Congressman John Sarbanes (D-MD); and an intern working as Deputy Field Organizer for State Sen. Rich Madaleno’s campaign for Maryland governor in 2018.
Congratulations also to Ted Jackson on his appointment as Executive Director of the The Center for Independent Living-Berkeley (TheCIL). In his new role as Executive Director, Jackson will prioritize independent living programs and disability rights and justice initiatives, while working to build partnerships with other local social justice and service organizations that value individual dignity and agency.
Board Co-Chair Caleb van Docto said, “Ted’s demonstrated leadership skills showed the board he has a real understanding of organizational management and movement building to make sure that TheCIL continues to grow the scope of its Independent Living services.” Co-Chair Josh Halstead added “He’ll work in collaboration with allies; his commitment to bring an intersectional focus to our work will keep the center oriented toward the values that created it 50 years ago.”
Upon accepting the position, Jackson said, “I lived half my life under the stigmatic pressure of a medical model that denied my disabilities, discovering myself as a disabled person was freedom. I want that freedom for TheCIL’s consumers and community members. I have personally navigated difficult healthcare systems, confusing government programs for food, housing assistance and jobs and encountered accessibility obstacles at work. I know the reality of these barriers and I commit to work every day to provide programs that empower people with disabilities to achieve equity in the community.”
Jackson began his professional life as a theater artist and teacher. When he encountered roadblocks to continuing this profession because of his disability and his sexual orientation, he began working as a political and community organizer to change the systems that perpetuated these obstacles to inclusion.
Jackson has served in multiple roles at cross-community social justice organizations and on initiatives to create change. These include Equality California, California Foundation for Independent Living Centers (CFILC); the Democratic National Committee (Senior Advisor-Disability); accessibility and political staff roles at The Women’s March, Inc.; and as an organizer at the American Association for People with Disabilities and the Partnership for Inclusive Disaster Strategies. This year he joined the American University School of Public Affairs faculty as an adjunct professor teaching a disability focused political curriculum.
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.).
District of Columbia
D.C. Council member honored by LGBTQ homeless youth group
Doni Crawford receives inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award
About 100 people turned out Tuesday evening, April 7, for a presentation by D.C.’s Wanda Alston Foundation of its inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award to D.C. Council member Doni Crawford (I-At-Large) for her support for the foundation’s mission to support homeless LGBTQ youth.
Among those who attended the event was Japer Bowles, director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who delivered an official proclamation issued by Bowser declaring April 7, 2026 “A Day of Remembrance for Wanda Alston.”
Alston, a beloved women’s and LGBTQ rights activist, served as the city’s first director of the then newly created Office of LGBTQ Affairs under then-Mayor Anthony Williams from 2004 until her death by murder on March 16, 2005.
To the shock and dismay of fellow LGBTQ rights advocates, police and court records reported Alston, 45, was stabbed to death inside her Northeast D.C. house by a man high on crack cocaine who lived nearby and who stole her credit cards and car. The perpetrator, William Martin Parrott, 38, was arrested by D.C. police the next day and later pleaded guilty to second-degree murder. He was sentenced in July 2005 to 24 years in prison.
Crawford was among those attending the award event who reflected on Alston’s legacy and outspoken advocacy for LGBTQ and feminist causes.
“I am deeply humbled and honored to receive this inaugural award,” Crawford told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the event. “I think the world of Wanda Alston. She has set such a great foundation for me and other Council members to build on,” she said.
“Her focus on inclusivity and intersectionality is really important as we approach this work,” Crawford added. “And it’s going to guide my work at the Council every day.”
Crawford was appointed to the D.C. Council in January of this year to replace then Council member Kenyan McDuffie (I-At-Large), who resigned to run for D.C. mayor as a Democrat. She is being challenged by four other independent candidates in a June 16 special election for the Council seat.
Under the city’s Home Rule Charter written and approved by Congress, the seat is one of two D.C. Council at-large seats that cannot be held by a “majority party” candidate, meaning a Democrat.
A statement released by the Alston Foundation last month announcing Crawford’s selection for the Wanda Alston Legacy Award praised Crawford’s record of support for its work on behalf of LGBTQ youth.
“From behind the scenes to now serving as an At-Large Council member, she has fought fearlessly for affordable housing, LGBTQ+ funding priorities, and racial justice,” the statement says. “Council member Crawford’s leadership reflects the same courage and conviction that defined Wanda’s legacy.”
Organizers of the event noted that it was held on what would have been Wanda Alston’s 67th birthday.
“Today’s legacy reception was a smashing success,” said Cesar Toledo, the Alston Foundation’s executive director. “Not only did we come together to celebrate Wanda Alston on her birthday, but we also were able to raise over $10,000 for our homeless LGBTQ youth here in D.C.,” Toledo told the Blade.
“In addition to that, we celebrated and we acknowledged a rising star in our community,” he said. “And that is At-Large Council member Doni Crawford, who we named the inaugural Wanda Alston Legacy Award recipient.”
At the request of D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-At-Large) the Council voted unanimously on Jan. 20, 2026, to appoint Crawford to the Council seat being vacated by McDuffie.
Council records show she joined McDuffie’s Council staff in 2022 as a policy adviser and later became his legislative director before McDuffie appointed her as staff director for the Council’s Committee on Business and Economic Development for which McDuffie served as chair.
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