Local
Gay & Lesbian Chamber honors locals
22nd Annual event will honor six local business leaders on April 20
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2012/03/CAGLCC_Meetup_thumb_c_Washington_Blade_by_Joe_Tresh.jpg)
The Capital Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CAGLCC) will honor six local business and community leaders on April 20 at its annual awards gala at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, where it will also celebrate its 22nd anniversary, the group said in a statement.
āEach year the Chamber recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that have contributed to the economic, social and cultural fabric of the LGBT community in the metro D.C. area,ā the statement says. āAwardees display exemplary business success and have been strong leaders within the LGBT community based on philanthropy, advocacy and awareness.ā
Recipients of this yearās awards include:
- Excellence in Business Award ā Chef Art Smith: Known as a celebrity chef, Smith served as personal chef to Oprah Winfrey for 10 years. He regularly appears on popular TV shows, authored three award-winning cookbooks, founded a non-profit group that teaches children about tolerance, and oversees the operation of several restaurants, including the D.C. restaurant Art and Soul.
- Business Leadership Award ā D.C. Allen, owner of the Crew Club, a gay-oriented gym and spa located in D.C.ās Logan Circle area on 14th Street, N.W. In opening the Crew Club in 1995 Allen has been credited with helping to revitalize the 14th Street corridor as a thriving neighborhood and business area. He has made the Crew Club available for on-site testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases; funded a $40,000 advertising campaign in local LGBT media to promote awareness of a resurgence of syphilis, which has been credited with reducing the rate of syphilis infections among gay men in D.C. He has also supported the DC LGBT Community Centerās Took Kit safer sex campaign.
- Emerging Entrepreneur Award ā JD Warford DVM and Jessica Serensits-DC MetroVet: Warford and Serensits are business partners and spouses who operate a veterinary medicine business that specializes in veterinary house calls. They service more than 130 patients in D.C. and Maryland, with a large majority of their clients in the LGBT community. The two serve as volunteers with feral cat organizations, have plans for seminars for dog and cat owners and for helping the local group Pride of Pets.
- Volunteer of the Year Award ā June Crenshaw: An IT project manager for Coventry Health Care company, Crenshaw has been a volunteer at Whitman-Walker Health since the 1980s. She serves on the Whitman-Walker board and is a former board chair. She has served as board co-chair for Rainbow Response Coalition, a local group that addresses domestic violence in the LGBT community. She has also helped victims and survivors of domestic violence, rape and child abuse as a volunteer for more than six years with the local group Heartly House.
- Community Advocacy Award ā Joe Solmonese. For the past seven years Solmonese has served as president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nationās largest LGBT civil rights group. CAGLCC says that in addition to overseeing legislative and political efforts to advance LGBT rights on the national and state level, Solmonese played a key role in launching new programs and projects in the faith and business sectors.
- Corporate Ally of the Year Award ā Signal Financial Federal Credit Union. A long-time member of CAGLCC, Signal Financial has provided āconsistent and valuable supportā for CAGLCCās programs and events, the group says. It has also āworked hardā to help CAGLCC members expand their businesses through loans, mortgages and merchant services.
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/20240629_Shi-Queeta_Lee_at_Arlington_Pride_insert_c_Washington_Blade_by_Michael_Key.jpg)
Activists across Virginia last month held a series of events to mark Pride Month.
Hampton Roads Pride, a volunteer-run organization founded in 1997, held 37 different Pride events throughout the region in June.
Their biggest event, PrideFest, which is part of their larger three day event, Pride Weekend, celebrated its 36th anniversary on June 22. Pride Weekend took place from June 21-23 and began with a block party at NorVa in Norfolk.
PrideFest took place at Town Point Park, and an estimated 30,000 people attended. More than 70 venders participated, while Todrick Hall and Mariah Counts are among those who performed.
Another PrideFest event with a DJ in the afternoon and live music at night took place in Virginia Beach on June 23. Congressman Bobby Scott and U.S. Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) are among those who attended Pride events in Suffolk on June 30.
Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Alexander, along with members of the Norfolk and Virginia Beach City Councils, also attended the Pride events in their respective cities. Jamar Walker, the first openly gay federal judge in Virginia, also took part.
āYou know people all throughout Pride Month, at all of our various events, tell me all kinds of stories about their own experiences and the past of this community … and some of our older folks especially, remember when we couldn’t have this,ā Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.
āIt was a great year,ā he added. “It was a big achievement for us to have unique celebrations in each of our seven communities. Each of these cities is so different from one another, but to be able to create a Pride celebration that’s unique in each of those places was really great, and I think really well received by folks who may not have felt represented previously. We’re always trying to do better, to embrace every aspect of our community, and take a big step forward there this year.ā
State Dels. Adele McClure (D-Arlington County) and Alfonso Lopez (D-Arlington County) are among those who spoke at Arlington Pride that took place at Long Bridge Park on June 29. The Fredericksburg Pride march and festival took place the same day at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg.
Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on June 10 hosted a Pride Month reception in Richmond.
Youngkin in previous years has hosted Pride Month receptions, even though Equality Virginia and other advocacy groups have criticized him for supporting anti-LGBTQ bills.
The Republican governor in March signed a bill that codified marriage equality in Virginia. Youngkin last month vetoed a measure that would have expanded the definition of bullying in the state.
Baltimore
Baltimore street named in honor of trans activist
Iya Dammons is founder of support groups Safe Haven in Baltimore, D.C.
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/07/20240629_Iya_Dammons_at_street_naming_ceremony_in_Baltimore_insert_courtesy_Iya_Dammons.jpg)
Baltimore city officials and LGBTQ activists participated in a ceremony on June 29 officially dedicating the renaming of a street in honor of transgender woman Iya Dammons, who founded and serves as executive director of the LGBTQ services organization Maryland Safe Haven.
A section of Baltimoreās 21st Street at the intersection of North Charles Street, where the Maryland Safe Haven offices are located, has been renamed Iya Dammons Way.
The ceremony took place six years after Dammons founded Maryland Safe Haven in 2018 and one year after she launched a Safe Haven operation in D.C.in 2023 located at 331 H St., N.E.
A statement on its website says Safe Haven provides a wide range of supportive services for LGBTQ people in need, with a special outreach to Black trans women ānavigating survival modeā living.
āThrough compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,ā the statement says. āOur programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,ā it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scottās Office of LGBTQ Affairs Alexis Blackmon, and Dominique Morgan, an official with the national foundation Borealis Philanthropy, which provides financial support for transgender supportive nonprofit organizations, including Safe Haven.
āThis is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,ā a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. āIya Dammons has been a tireless advocate for transgender rights and has worked tirelessly to provide safe spaces and resources for transgender individuals in our city,ā it says. āThis honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.ā
Baltimore
Despite record crowds, Baltimore Prideās LGBTQ critics say organizers dropped the ball
People on social media expressed concern about block party stampede
![](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2024/06/Screenshot-2024-06-29-at-18.01.33.png)
BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | This yearās Baltimore Pride Week attracted 150,000 people ā record attendance that far exceeded initial projections of 100,000.
But some see room for improvement and want organizers to address safety issues and make changes so the annual event that celebrates the LGBTQ population is better run.
The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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