Local
Victory Fund endorses Catania for mayor
Out gays in Md. Legislature to shrink by at least two
The Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund, an influential national group that raises money for LGBT candidates for public office, created a stir among local activists this week when it announced it has endorsed D.C. Council member David Catania (I-At-Large) for mayor.
With many LGBT activists supporting Mayor Vincent Grayās re-election bid and others in the LGBT community supporting one of the four other City Council members running for mayor, some are asking why the Victory Fund would endorse Catania before he has formally announced heās running for mayor.
Catania has formed an exploratory committee for a mayoral race and has said he most likely would run if Gray wins the Democratic primary on April 1.
Victory Fund Press Secretary Steven Thai said that while the group doesnāt endorse unannounced potential candidates very often, it has taken this step before. He noted that the Victory Fund endorsed former U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) for the U.S. Senate in 2012 before she officially announced she was running for the Senate.
Baldwin went on to declare her candidacy for the Senate and won that race, making history by becoming the first out lesbian or gay person to become a U.S. senator.
āDavid Catania brings an incredible amount of passion and commitment to his job,ā the Victory Fundās chief operating officer, Torey Carter, said in a statement released by the group on Tuesday.
āHe helped guide Washington through a period of unprecedented growth and revitalization,ā Carter said. āHe is ideally positioned to lead a city with such a diverse and dynamic people.ā
The Victory Fund also announced on Tuesday its endorsement of gay Virginia State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria) in his race for the 8th District U.S. House seat being vacated by retiring Rep. Jim Moran (D-Va.).
Ebbin is running in a hotly contested Democratic primary scheduled for June 10 in which two other openly gay candidates are running in an 11-candidate race.
āAdam Ebbin has distinguished himself as an outspoken voice of progressive values,ā Carter said in a separate statement on Tuesday. āAfter ten years in the state legislature, he has remained committed to his goal of increasing equality and opportunity for those who are often left behind.ā
Virginia State Del. Mark Sickles (D-Fairfax), who came out publicly last week in a column in the Washington Post, emerged as an unexpected āoutā candidate in the 8th District congressional race. Also running is gay rights attorney and radio talk show host Mark Levine, who worked as a legal counsel for gay former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). Levine says heās been out as gay since the 1980s.
As of this week, the Victory Fund has endorsed 71 out LGBT candidates in national, state and local races and expects to endorse more than 200 out candidates across the country in the 2014 election cycle, the group says on its website.
Among those endorsed so far are at least nine gay or lesbian candidates running in D.C., Maryland and Virginia, including Catania and Ebbin.
But missing from its endorsement list so far are lesbian Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur (D-Montgomery Country), whoās running for governor, and gay D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1), who is running for re-election to a fifth term.
Spokesperson Thai reiterated the Victory Fundās longstanding policy of not disclosing why the group has not endorsed a candidate. However, he said many more candidates are in the endorsement pipeline and the group could very well endorse candidates not on the list in the next few weeks and coming months.
He said the groupās criteria for endorsing any candidate, as posted on the website, include a demonstration that the candidate is viable and can show a path to victory; a record of support on LGBT rights; and the completion of a detailed application seeking an endorsement. Thai said an endorsement for a prior election doesnāt carry over to the next election and all incumbents must re-apply each time they run.
Graham couldnāt immediately be reached to determine if he applied for an endorsement inĀ his Council race.
The Mizeur for governor campaign didn’t say specifically whether the campaign formally applied for a Victory Fund endorsement.
“We are in close communication with the Victory Fund and we would welcome their support,” campaign spokesperson Steven Hershkowitz told the Blade.
Meanwhile, in a little-noticed development, Del. Peter Murphy (D-Charles County), one of eight openly gay members of the Maryland General Assembly, announced last month that he is not running for re-election to that position. Instead, Murphy said he decided to run for president of the Charles County Board of Commissioners, a position equivalent to a county executive.
āWhether youāre a state legislator or a county commissioner president, itās all about the quality of life for all people,ā Murphy said in a Feb. 3 statement. āIāve always been accessible and responsive as a delegate, and I look forward to the opportunity of continuing to serve all our residents with the same enthusiasm and dedication.ā
As a candidate for governor, Mizeur is giving up her seat in the House of Delegates. Records with the state board of elections show that she did not file for re-election to her delegate post prior to the filing deadline of Feb. 25. The election board lists Mizeur as an āactiveā candidate for governor in the June 24 Maryland primary.
The departure of Mizeur and Murphy from the House of Delegates would lower the number of out gay or lesbian members of the Maryland General Assembly from eight ā the highest in the nation for a state legislature ā to six if all six remaining lawmakers are re-elected this year.
The others running for re-election are State Sen. Richard Madelano (D-Montgomery County) and Delegates Maggie McIntosh (D-Baltimore City), Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City), Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City), Anne Kaiser (D-Montgomery County) and Bonnie Cullison (D-Montgomery County).
All except Kaiser have been endorsed by the Victory Fund.
Other out gay or lesbian candidates in Maryland that have received the Victory Fundās endorsement this year are Evan Glass, Montgomery County Council; Byron Macfarlane, Howard County Register of Wills; and Kevin Walling, Maryland House of Delegates, Montgomery County.
Walling is running in a different district than that of Mizeur and Kaiserās districts in Montgomery County.
Rehoboth Beach
Former CAMP Rehoboth official sentenced to nine months in prison
Salvator Seeley pleaded guilty to felony theft charge for embezzlement
Salvator āSalā Seeley, who served as an official with the Rehoboth Beach, Del., CAMP Rehoboth LGBTQ community center for 20 years, was sentenced on April 5 by a Sussex County Superior Court judge to nine months in prison and to pay $176,000 in restitution to the organization.
The sentencing took place about five weeks after Seeley pleaded guilty to a charge of Theft in Excess of $50,000 for allegedly embezzling funds from CAMP Rehoboth, a spokesperson for the Delaware Department of Justice told the Washington Blade.
Seeley’s guilty plea came shortly after a grand jury, at the request of prosecutors, indicted him on the felony theft charge following an investigation that found he had embezzled at least $176,000 from the nonprofit LGBTQ organization.
āSalvatore C. Seeley, between the 27th day of February 2019 and the 7th day of September 2021, in the County of Sussex, State of Delaware, did take property belonging to CAMP Rehoboth, Inc., consisting of United States currency and other miscellaneous property valued at more than $50,000, intending to appropriate the same,ā the indictment states.
āThe State recommended a sentence of two years of incarceration based on the large-scale theft and the impact to the non-profit organization,ā Delaware Department of Justice spokesperson Caroline Harrison told the Blade in a statement.
āThe defense cited Seeleyās lack of a record and gambling addiction in arguing for a probationary sentence,ā the statement says. āSeeley was sentenced in Superior Court to a nine-month prison term and to pay a total of $176,000 in restitution for the stolen funds,ā Harrison says in the statement.
Neither Seeley nor his attorney could immediately be reached for comment.
At the time of Seeleyās indictment in February, CAMP Rehoboth released a statement saying it first discovered āfinancial irregularitiesā within the organization on Sept. 7, 2021, āand took immediate action and notified state authorities.ā The statement says this resulted in the investigation of Seeley by the state Department of Justice as well as an internal investigation by CAMP Rehoboth to review its āfinancial control policiesā that led to an updating of those policies.
āAs we have communicated from day one, CAMP Rehoboth has fully cooperated with law enforcement,ā the statement continues. āAt its request, we did not speak publicly about the investigation while it was ongoing for fear it would jeopardize its integrity,ā according to the statement. āThis was extremely difficult given our commitment to transparency with the community about day-to-day operations during the recent leadership transition.ā
The statement was referring to Kim Leisey, who began her job as CAMP Rehobothās new executive director in July of 2023, while the Seeley investigation had yet to be completed, following the organizationās process of searching for a new director. It says Seeley left his job as Health and Wellness Director of CAMP Rehoboth in September of 2021 after working for the organization for more than 20 years.
āMr. Seeleyās actions are a deep betrayal to not only CAMP Rehoboth but also the entire community we serve,ā the statement says.
Maryland
Christian Siriano to serve as grand marshal of Annapolis Pride Parade
Fashion designer is an Annapolis native
BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Heās conquered fashion week. His designs have slayed the red carpet during award season. And now Christian Siriano is coming home.
The Annapolis native will serve as grand marshal and keynote speaker June 1 for the annual Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival,Ā which is a major coup as the event enters its fourth year.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
As You Are bar closes temporarily, citing problems with building
Shutdown comes two months after fundraising appeal brought in $170,000
As You Are, the LGBTQ cafĆ© and bar located in the Barracks Row section of Capitol Hill near the Eastern Market Metro station, has announced on its Instagram page that problems associated with its building at 500 8th St., S.E., forced it to ātemporarilyā close on April 8.
āAs you may be aware, As You Areās location in Eastern Market has been closed since April 8, when we began to have concerns about the physical condition of the building,ā the Instagram message states. āWe worked quickly to alert our landlord, and they have assessed the building with their engineers,ā the message says.
āWe understand that certain repairs need to be made to ensure the safety of our staff, patrons, and community,ā the message concludes.
In one of two more recent videos posted on Instagram on April 17 and 26, As You Are co-owners Jo McDaniel and Rachel Pike said they did not have any update on when they can reopen. āThe engineers and contractors have all come into the space, and weāre just waiting on a plan and a timeline from our landlord,ā McDaniel said in the video.
Pike mentioned in one of the videos that As You Are has a Venmo app set up, and said they appreciate the support they have been receiving from the community. McDaniel added, āWeāre really interested in supporting our team through this, as this is an unexpected loss of income for all of us.ā
McDaniel didnāt immediately respond to a request from the Washington Blade for a further update on where things stand with the building repair project and the specific nature of the problems with the building. An earlier message posted on the As You Are website said, āHeavy rain damaged the back wall of our building, and we are closed to assess and repair.ā
The message added, āRegular updates and ways to support can be found on our Instagram page @asyouaredc.ā
The April 8 shutdown came a little over two months after As You Are issued a GoFundMe appeal on Feb. 5 seeking emergency financial support to prevent it from closing in February due to a $150,000 debt. In a display of strong community support, its $150,000 fundraising goal was reached in less than a week. By the following week, the GoFundMe appeal had pulled in more than $170,000 from more than 3,000 individual donations.
Many of the donors left messages on the GoFundMe page for As You Are expressing their strong support for the bar and cafƩ, saying it served as a uniquely supportive space for all members of the LGBTQ community.
In the GoFundMe message, McDaniel and Pike said their goal in opening their business in March 2022 was to offer community center type programming beyond just a bar and cafƩ.
āAYA is a cafĆ©, bar and dance floor that hosts diverse programming nearly every night of the week, including social sport leagues, Queer youth socials, weekly karaoke, book clubs, open mics, Queer author events, dance parties, and much more,ā the two said in their message.
The buildingās owner and the As You Are landlord, Rueben Bajaj, who is the principal operator of the Bethesda, Md., based real estate firm White Star Investments, couldnāt immediately be reached for comment. The Washington Post reported that he contributed $500 to the As You Are GoFundMe appeal, saying, āI personally want to see As You Are succeed.ā