Local
Comings & Goings
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 Carlos Noel on receiving the Lord Botetourt Medal from William & Mary College. The Lord Botetourt Medal is presented each year to the undergraduate student who has most distinguished him or herself in scholarship during their time at William & Mary. Noel was recognized for his scholarship as well as his humility, character, empathy, and commitment to inclusion. In the words of an adviser, “Carlos is a rare gem who the academy or the world only has the chance to engage with once in a lifetime.”
This honor is just one of a host of honors Noel has received. Noel diligently pursued research at William & Mary, earning recognition by the Barry Goldwater Scholarship, one of the most prestigious national undergraduate scholarships in natural sciences, engineering, and mathematics. He gave a poster presentation at the American Society of Biochemistry 2023 Annual Meeting and is the first to investigate N2a neuronal cells in the lab of Professor Shantá Hinton, enhancing her research programs as well as contributing to understanding neurological disorders such as dementia.
In addition to a perfect GPA, Noel has received a plethora of scholarships. He is a Murray 1693 Scholar, Monroe Scholar and WMSURE Scholar. As part of the REACH Undergraduate Research Program, he worked with Dr. Vanessa B. Shepard at VCU Medical School on research focusing on hypertension in Black breast cancer survivors. Noel is also a Hulon Willis Memorial Scholar, Virginia Space Grant Consortium STEM Bridge Scholar, and Phi Beta Kappa inductee. Recently, he was named the Albert and Phyllis Cornell Pre-Medical Awardee. This award, established in honor of the late Dr. Albert Cornell ’30 is made annually to two graduating senior premedical students who show great promise to become outstanding physicians.
Noel co-founded the W&M chapter of MindVersity, an organization focused on mental health, and has advocated for policies that relieve academic stress. He was a music director for the Gentlemen of the College, and a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity.
In addition to all this Carlos was accepted into many prestigious medical schools, including being offered a full scholarship to Vanderbilt University Medical School, and a 90% (the highest provided) scholarship to Harvard University Medical School, which he will attend.
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
NYC lawmakers seek to repeal bathhouse ban
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Not all trans people are the same
