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Comings & Goings
CAMP Rehoboth scholarship honors David Mixner
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].
Thanks to David Mixner for lending his name to a scholarship with CAMP Rehoboth. CAMP and Danny Sebright invite you to an intimate evening with trailblazing, LGBTQ+ rights activist, David Mixner for cocktails and hors d’ oeuvres on Friday, Sept. 1, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. at 6 Wade Court, in Canal Corkran. The suggested donation to attend the event is $500. The event is the launch of the David Mixner LGBTQ+ Student Scholarship that will honor the legacy of David Mixner and his long career as an advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. This LGBTQ+ Student Scholarship, an endowed fund, will perpetually offer a student a real-world learning experience interning at CAMP Rehoboth, the only LGBTQ+ Community Center in Delaware.
CAMP Executive Director Kim Leisey said, “CAMP Rehoboth Community Center, a 501 (c)3 is greatly appreciative of Danny Sebright and his willingness to host this event with David Mixner. David’s trailblazing LGBTQ+ activism will be honored through this scholarship, ensuring that an LGBTQ+ student has financial support for their education. Education is foundational for a sound democracy, a principle Mr. Mixner has exhibited throughout his career and activism.”
Sebright said, “When CAMP told me they wanted to honor David Mixner, I was excited to host this event. David is a lifelong friend and I honor his commitment to pursuing equality, which has been both trailblazing and heroic. This scholarship should inspire young people for years to come to continue fighting for equal rights for the LGBTQ+ community, along with CAMP Rehoboth.”
Congratulations to Andrew C. Wills on his new position as Senior Vice President for Invenergy. He was most recently Chief of Staff and Senior Advisor, Office of Cybersecurity, Energy Security, and Emergency Response, at the Department of Energy (DOE). Upon leaving DOE and accepting his new position, Wills said, “It was one of my proudest experiences and a distinct honor to serve my fellow Americans by supporting Secretary Granholm and President Biden in advancing a secure energy future. I’m excited to rejoin the country’s largest private clean energy company, Invenergy, as we work to implement recent infrastructure legislation by deploying affordable, clean, and reliable energy to all Americans.”
Prior to working at DOE, Wills served as Director of Federal Affairs at Invernergy, Washington, D.C.; Government Relations Director and Counsel, American Public Power Association (APPA), D.C.; and Associate Counsel, North American Electric Reliability Corporation (NERC), D.C. Prior to that he was a summer associate with Duncan, Weinberg, Genzer, & Pembroke, D.C.; and a legal intern with Georgia Transmission Corporation (GTC), Tucker, GA.
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.”
Gay man murdered in Va.
Trans Day of Visibility events planned
Virginia General Assembly’s 2026 legislative session ends
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