Local
D.C. Office of Human Rights director steps down
Mayor Vincent Gray announced Gustavo Velasquez to become head of Latino advocacy group
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray on Thursday announced Office of Human Rights Director Gustavo Velasquez’s resignation. (Washington Blade photo by Damien Salas)
Gray said in a statement that attorney Monica Palacio, director of the OHR’s Language Access Program, which helps city agencies provide translation services for people who speak languages other than English, will become interim director of the OHR beginning Nov. 3.
An OHR spokesperson told the Blade that Gray plans to submit Palacio’s nomination to become permanent director of the OHR to the City Council, which must confirm the nomination.
“Monica Palacio has spent her career advocating for civil and human rights, and she will undoubtedly use that experience and her legal background to ensure that OHR continues to fulfill its mission to address and prevent discrimination in the District,” Gray said in his statement.
The OHR, among other things, is charged with enforcing the city’s comprehensive Human Rights Act, which bans discrimination based on a wide of categories, including sexual orientation and gender identity as well as race, religion, gender, and ethnicity.
It’s portfolio expanded last year to include enforcement of an anti-bullying law passed by the D.C. Council and signed by Gray that LGBT rights advocates had long called on the Council to pass. Gray assigned Velasquez to take the lead in working with a special commission the mayor appointed to draft regulations to implement the law.
“The District has been extremely fortunate to have Director Velasquez at the helm of OHR for nearly seven years,” Gray said. “Under his leadership, the agency has dramatically reduced the length of time it takes to investigate complaints of discrimination, and he has pushed OHR toward a more proactive role in preventing discrimination before it occurs. Because of his work, we are a more just and welcoming District.”
Prior to her two-and-a-half year tenure at OHR, Palacio served as a member of the Commission on Human Rights, which adjudicates discrimination cases it receives from the OHR. Before that, she worked as senior consultant for the Management Assistance Group, which provides assistance to social justice organizations, and served as director of training and technical assistance for the National Crime Prevention Council, according to information released by the mayor’s office.
Elliot Imse, an OHR spokesperson who’s gay, called Palacio a strong and committed LGBT community ally who has worked on LGBT related issues in the past.
According to Imse, she was “instrumental” in the formation of a gay-straight alliance group at a local high school and has conducted several youth leadership development training sessions for the local LGBT youth services and advocacy group SMYAL.
The announcement from the mayor’s office says Velasquez will become executive director of the Latino Economic Development Center. The center’s website says the organization’s mission is to “drive the economic and social advancement of low to moderate income Latinos and other D.C. area residents by equipping them with the skills and tool to achieve financial independence and become leaders in their communities.”
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
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.
“You 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,” Hampton Roads Pride President Jeff Ryder told the Washington Blade on Monday during a telephone interview.
“It was a great year,” 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.”
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.
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 Baltimore’s 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 “navigating survival mode” living.
“Through compassionate harm reduction and upward mobility services, advocacy support, and community engagement, we foster a respectful, non-judgmental environment that empowers individual agency,” the statement says. “Our programs encompass community outreach, a drop-in center providing HIV testing, harm reduction, PrEP, medical linkage, case management, and assistance in accessing housing services,” it says.
Among those participating in the street renaming ceremony were Baltimore City Council member Zeke Cohen, interim director of Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott’s 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.
“This is a significant achievement and historic moment for our city,” a statement by Maryland Safe Haven announcing the ceremony says. “Iya 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,” it says. “This honor is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see her contributions recognized in such a meaningful way.”
Baltimore
Despite record crowds, Baltimore Pride’s LGBTQ critics say organizers dropped the ball
People on social media expressed concern about block party stampede
BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | This year’s Baltimore Pride Week attracted 150,000 people — 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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