Local
Gay student loses bid for Georgetown class president
Rosenberger finishes last in 5-candidate race
Tim Rosenberger finished last in a five-candidate race for Georgetown University class president. (Photo courtesy Rosenberger)
Tim Rosenberger, an out gay student who serves as secretary of Georgetown University’s LGBT campus group, GU Pride, lost his race for student president at Georgetown on Feb. 19, finishing last in a five-candidate race.
According to Georgetown’s student newspaper, The Hoya, the winning candidate, Joe Luther, and his vice presidential running mate, Connor Rohan, ran an unprecedented satirical campaign that mocked the Georgetown Student Government Association as being unresponsive to the needs of the students.
Rosenberger told the Blade he saw no signs of anti-gay sentiment in the campaign or in the unorthodox statements and positions taken by Luther, who received 1,080 votes or 30 percent of the first round vote in an instant runoff voting system, according to figures reported by The Hoya.
The Luther-Rohan ticket received a final vote count of 1,693 votes, or 54 percent, after three additional rounds of adjusted counting as part of the runoff.
Rosenberger, a junior majoring in English, and his vice presidential running mate, Reno Verghese, who’s straight, received 154 votes, or 4.3 percent, of the vote in the first round before being eliminated from contention.
“The two guys that won are good guys,” Rosenberger said. “I didn’t see that coming, but I’m not unhappy about it,” he said. “Actually, out of all the tickets they may be the second best qualified to do good things for the gay community at Georgetown.”
The Hoya published a large photo of Luther and Rohan kissing each other on the lips at their election night celebration. Rosenberger said the two, who are straight, apparently did that as part of the satirical gestures they made during their campaign, which appears to have struck a chord of dissatisfaction among the student body over the existing student government.
In addition to his involvement in GU Pride, Rosenberger has been active in the D.C. Federation of College Republicans.
Last month, a conservative online Catholic publication called Pewsitter published an article attacking Rosenberger as a “militant homosexual activist/Catholic/Republican.” The article quoted an anonymous Georgetown student urging fellow students to support candidate Abby McNaughton, whom the student described as a “faithful Catholic” better qualified to carry out Georgetown’s tradition as a Jesuit school.
McNaughton denounced the article, saying she was never contacted by the publication and believed it unfairly criticized Rosenberger. McNaughton finished second in the race for student president.
Asked if he thought he might have lost support among some students because of his sexual orientation, Rosenberger said, “Not particularly.” He added that the votes he did receive came largely from fellow gay students.
“The gay community at Georgetown really rallied around me and helped staff this campaign and we wouldn’t have had a campaign without them,” he said.
Two years ago, out gay student Nate Tisa won election as class president, becoming the first open gay to win the class president post at Georgetown and one of the first out gays to win such an election at a major Catholic college in the U.S.
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].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Yadiel Meléndez, on their new role as Community Associate, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Meléndez is piloting a new role as a Community Associate at the Wanda Alston Foundation, where they support queer and trans young people in finding their footing, building independence, and experiencing a housing community where they are seen, valued, and affirmed. They are coming into this role with more than a decade of experience as a community organizer and operations specialist, supporting diverse communities through service, advocacy, and program coordination.
Previously they worked for Right Proper Brewing Shaw as a server and bartender and at Sephora, Washington, DC, and at FreshFarm, DC, in bilingual food access. They also worked freelance to build foundational structures for local queer BIPOC performance art coalitions, producing variety shows to curate space for marginalized performance artists in the community. They were a production manager for Haus of Hart Productions, a BIPOC centric performance art production. They also worked as field staff with the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention in Stafford, Va.
Meléndez is bilingual, Spanish and English. Their work is guided by a commitment to dignity, safety, and trauma-informed engagement, particularly within LGBTQ and BIPOC communities.
Congratulations also to Ben Rosen LICSW, on his new role as program director, with the Wanda Alston Foundation. Rosen previously worked with Fountain House’s OnRamps program, helping to build a new, innovative outreach program for individuals considered chronically homeless, and living with serious mental illness, in the Times Square area of New York. Rosen is a Psychotherapist, having worked with SG Psychotherapy, and as the psychotherapist with the Nest Community Health Center (URAM).
Rosen has a B.F.A. in Theatre Arts: Musical Theatre, Minor in Psychology (Cum Laude) from Malloy University Conservatory; and his M.S.W. in Clinical Practice with Individuals, Families, and Groups, from The Silberman School of Social Work, Hunter College, N.Y. He is independently licensed in New York and Washington, D.C.
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.).
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