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Comings & Goings
Victory Fund, HRC name two top new leaders
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The ‘Comings & Goings’ column chronicles important life changes of Blade readers.
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].
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Ruben Gonzales
Ruben J. Gonzales is now vice president of leadership initiatives at the Gay and Lesbian Victory Fund and Institute. The Institute is dedicated to advancing LGBT equality by identifying, recruiting, training and supporting openly LGBT public officials as well as building a pipeline of LGBT leaders. Ruben oversees the organizationās international and domestic programs, including its congressional internship and fellowship programs, Presidential Appointments Project and candidate and campaign trainings. He will also focus on growing support for these programs from private foundations and corporations to expand the number of LGBT leaders reached. Ā Ā
Prior to joining Victory this year, Ruben led all fundraising efforts at the Congressional Hispanic Caucus Institute. Ruben also previously served as the chief development officer at the United Cerebral Palsy, deputy vice president for resource development at the National Council of La Raza, director of development at the Urban Assembly, a school management organization based in New York City, and with the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation as director of volunteer management. Ruben is also recognized as an expert on the role of Latinos in philanthropy and has been invited by the Association of Fundraising Professionals to present on this topic.
In 2013, Ruben was named by āAdvocateā magazine as one of its Top 40 Under 40 for his leadership on behalf of LGBT Latinos. Ruben also serves on the board of directors of the Latin American Youth Center, which is headquartered in Columbia Heights. Ruben holds a bachelorās degree in political science from Santa Clara University. He is married to Joaquin Tamayo.
The Human Rights Campaign has named Jay Brown as the organizationās new communications director. HRC said, āBrown will serve as an organizational spokesperson and lead a team responsible for advocating for LGBT equality in the media as well as supporting and amplifying HRC programs.ā
![Jay Brown](https://www.washingtonblade.com/content/files/2016/04/Jay_Brown_insert_courtesy_Brown.jpg)
Jay Brown
Brown currently serves as HRCās director of research and public education, āwhere he has helped shape the organizationās approach to generating research and educational campaigns aimed at enhancing the lives of LGBT people,ā according to a statement. In his new role he will work closely with senior vice president of communications and marketing Olivia Alair Dalton. According to Dalton, āJay is an incredibly talented communicator who has also led an impressive career as an advocate. He has spent a decade working to ensure equality for LGBT people at every intersection of their identities and lives. There is no one better equipped to lead our talented communications team and ensure we are ready to meet the challenges ahead in the fight for full equality.ā
Brown said, āI couldnāt be more excited to join the communications team at such a pivotal time in the movement for LGBT equality. We still have so many stories left to tell about who we are, and the obstacles that still stand in front of so many LGBT people, in the United States and around the world.ā
Brown worked at HRC from 2000 to 2006 where he managed communication strategies around the defeat of the Federal Marriage Amendment, advancing understanding of transgender people, and building support for hate crimes prevention legislation and the repeal of āDonāt Ask, Donāt Tell,ā among other issues.
According to the HRC website, āprior to working with HRC Jay held director positions at Reading Is Fundamental and Carnegie Mellon University, focusing on integrated marketing and online communications. Jay is an out trans man and lives in Maryland with his spouse, Kendra, and their two children.ā
Virginia
Man went on āhomophobic rantā inside Va. pub that displayed Pride flags
Suspect arrested on charges of public intoxication, assaulting police officer
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The Hawk & Griffin British Pub located in Vienna, Va., posted a message on Facebook last week saying a man was arrested after going on a āhomophobic rantā inside the pub on June 28 when he saw that LGBTQ Pride flags were displayed at the pub for Pride month.
āLast night we had an incident here at the pub when a man came off the street to accost patrons in our beer garden because of our flags displayed for pride month,ā the Hawk & Griffin Facebook posting says. āHe then spit on our windows and came inside to confront our staff and patrons with homophobic rants,ā the posting continues.
āOur manager and staff handled the situation very professionally and police were called to investigate and later arrested a man a couple of blocks away,ā the message says. āWe want to thank the Vienna Police Department for their quick response. We are and will continue to be community focused and we will never stop working to create and maintain a place of inclusion and tolerance,ā the statement concludes.
Vienna police charged Justin Wayne Hendricks, of no known address, with misdemeanor counts of being ādrunk in publicā and providing false identification to a police officer and with a felony count of assault on a police officer. A police spokesperson said Hendricks was also found to be in violation of an outstanding arrest warrant from Alexandria, Va., related to a prior charge of failing to register as a sex offender.
The spokesperson, Juan Vazquez, said Hendricks is currently being held without bond at the Fairfax County Adult Detention Center. Online records for the Fairfax County General District Court show that Hendricks is scheduled to appear at a preliminary hearing on Oct. 9.
āOn Friday, June 28, around 9:28 p.m. the Vienna Police Department responded to reports of an intoxicated individual threatening customers of the Hawk & Griffin,ā a Vienna police statement says. āUpon the arrival of the officers the individual had already left the premises but was promptly located at an address nearby,ā according to the statement.
The statement adds that Hendricks was subsequently charged with being drunk in public, providing false information about his identity to police, and assault on a police officer along with being served with the outstanding warrant related to the prior charge in Alexandria of failing to register as a sex offender.
Details of the prior sex offender charge couldnāt immediately be obtained from online court records. However, the online records show that Hendricks has at least a dozen or more prior arrests between 2014 and 2023 on charges including public intoxication, trespassing, and failing to register as a sex offender.
Police spokesperson Vazquez said it would be up to prosecutors with the office of the Fairfax County Commonwealthās Attorney to determine if a subsequent hate crime related charge would be filed in the case.
Virginia
Parades, community events held to mark Pride Month in Va.
Upwards of 30,000 people attended PrideFest in Norfolk on June 22
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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.
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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
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