Local
Lesbian activist Moregan Zale dies at 73
Former D.C. resident worked as clothing designer
Moregan Q. Zale, on left.
Veteran lesbian activist Moregan Q. Zale, a former D.C. area resident whose career included work as a clothing designer, seamstress, upholsterer, sewing teacher and amateur stand-up comic, died April 16, 2017 at a hospice in Danbury, Conn.
P.J. Schimmel, her partner and wife of 36 years, said she had been suffering from cancer and other ailments.
The couple lived in Arlington, Va., for more than 20 years, where Zale operated an antiques and upholstery business in Virginia before they moved to the Norwalk, Conn., area in 1993, where they remained until the time of Zale’s death in April.
Zale’s involvement in the LGBT rights movement dates back to 1970, according to Schimmel, when she marched in the first Christopher Street Liberation Day march in New York City that commemorated the first anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.
“Moregan continually worked for gay rights and women’s liberation,” Schimmel said, becoming an activist for marriage equality long before the U.S. Supreme Court ruling making same-sex marriage the law of the land.
Schimmel said she and Zale liked to boast that they were “married” three times before same-sex nuptials became legal in the U.S. The first was in 1987 in D.C. as part of a mass demonstration of 3,000 gay or lesbian couples taking marriage vows on the weekend of a national gay rights march on Washington.
In 2001 the two traveled to Vermont for a civil union, which the state had recently legalized, Schimmel said. Then finally in 2003 they traveled to Canada to be legally married being able to do so in Connecticut.
Zale was born in Brooklyn, N.Y. in 1943, where she went to public schools and attended Brooklyn College. A short time later she became one of the first women to go to an upholstery trade school in New York City, Schimmel said.
“As a young girl, her grandmother taught her the basics of sewing,” Schimmel noted. “In the ‘60s and ‘70s she designed and made custom clothing for lesbians and organized a lesbian fashion show at her Manhattan loft, which was featured in DYKE magazine, according to Schimmel.
At the age of 62 she went back to college to study early childhood education and “reinvented herself” with a new business called Sew Create & Celebrate, teaching sewing to kids and adults, Schimmel recounts in a write-up on her wife’s varied career.
“She taught thousands to sew, both at her studio and at after school programs, Girl Scouts, and kids birthday parties,” said Schimmel.
Along the way in her wide range of activities Zale lived and worked out of a houseboat moored in a harbor in San Diego; moved in with friends on an 1,800 acre farm in the Blue Ridge Mountains in Virginia, where they created a “lesbian community” in four rented farmhouses.
It was at the farmhouse in Virginia where Zale and Schimmel met and fell in love, Schimmel recalled.
In keeping with her avocation as sometimes stand-up comic Zale in the last months of her life wrote a “Cross-Over Comedy, telling what was funny about being told she had a terminal illness,” Schimmel said. “We read some of it at her ‘After-Party’ celebrating her life,” Schimmel says in her write-up.
“Along with sharing our life together, Moregan’s passion was creativity,” Schimmel said. “She loved people, but wore her heart on her sleeve and would sometimes get mad at the world. She had a great joie de vivre and enthusiasm and will be missed by many.”
Zale is survived by Schimmel, her son and a grandson.
Moregan Q. Zale
District of Columbia
Brian Footer suspends campaign for Ward 1 D.C. Council seat
Race’s third LGBTQ candidate cites family reasons for ‘stepping back’
Gay Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Brian Footer, who was one of three out LGBTQ candidates running for the open Ward 1 D.C. Council seat in the city’s June 16, 2026, Democratic primary, announced on Dec. 17 he has decided to “suspend” his campaign to focus on his family.
“After deep reflection and honest conversations with my family, I have decided to suspend my campaign for the D.C. Council,” he said in a statement. “This moment in my life requires me to be present with the people I love most and honor the responsibilities I carry both at home and in the community,” he states. “This was not an easy decision, but it is the right one for me and my family at this time.”
Footer, a longtime Ward 1 community activist and LGBTQ rights advocate, announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat in July, one month before bisexual Ward 1 community activist Aparna Raj announced her candidacy for the Council seat on Aug. 12.
Gay Ward 1 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner Miguel Trindade Deramo announced his candidacy for the Ward 1 Council seat on Nov. 18, becoming the third out LGBTQ candidate in what appeared to be an unprecedented development for a race for a single D.C. Council seat.
At least three other candidates who are not LGBTQ are running for the Ward 1 Council seat. They include Ward 1 ANC member Rashida Brown, longtime Ward 1 community activist Terry Lynch, and Jackie Reyes-Yanes, the former director of the Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs.
In his statement announcing the suspension of his candidacy, Footer said he would continue to be involved in community affairs and advocate for the issues he discussed during his campaign.
“I want to be clear: I am stepping back from the race, not the work,” he says in his statement. “Public service has always been my calling. I will continue advocating for affordability, for safer streets, for stability for small businesses, and for a government that responds to people with urgency and respect,” he wrote. “And I will continue showing up as a partner in the work of building a stronger Ward 1.”
Footer concluded by thanking and praising his campaign supporters and calling his campaign suspension a “transition,” suggesting he is not likely to resume his candidacy.
His campaign press spokesperson did not immediately respond to a question from the Washington Blade asking if Footer might later resume his campaign or if his latest action was in effect an end to his candidacy.
“To everyone who knocked on doors, hosted conversations, donated, shared encouragement, and believed in this campaign, thank you,” he says in his statement. “I am deeply grateful for every person who helped this campaign take root,” he added. “This isn’t an ending, it’s a transition. And I’m excited for the work ahead, both in Ward 1 and at home with my family.”
Longtime gay D.C. Democratic Party activist Peter Rosenstein said in a statement to the Blade, “I respect Brian Footer’s decision to end his campaign for Council. It is not easy to run a campaign in D.C. and there are many others running in Ward 1.” He added, “While not living in Ward 1, I thank Brian for all he has done and clearly will continue to do for the people in the ward.”
Local
LGBTQ, LGBTQ-friendly congregations to hold holiday services
Bet Mishpachah’s Hanukkah service to take place on Friday
LGBTQ and LGBTQ-friendly congregations in D.C. will hold services and other events throughout the holiday season.
Bet Mishpachah on Friday will hold its Sparks in the Dark Happy Hour at Spark Social on 14th Street from 5:30-7:30 p.m. It’s Chanuka Shabbat Service will begin at the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center (1529 16th St., N.W.) at 8 p.m.
Hanukkah began on Sunday and will end on Dec. 22.
Two gunmen on Sunday killed 15 people and injured more than two dozen others when they opened fire at a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Jake Singer-Beilin, Bet Mishpachah’s chief rabbi, in a Facebook post mourned the victims.
“We grieve for the victims and send heartfelt prayers of healing for those who were wounded,” he wrote.
“This Chanuka, our lights will shine brightly in the darkness, but our hearts will be heavy with mourning for those who were murdered on Bondi Beach while observing what should have been a joyous day,” added Singer-Beilin. “We will still celebrate our Festival of Lights and we will commit ourselves to illuminating and repairing our broken world. Let us channel the bravery of the Maccabees who found hope where there seemed to be none, and who fought to create a better future. We must do the same.”
LGBTQ Catholic group to hold annual Christmas Day Mass
Dignity Washington’s Christmas Day Mass will take place at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1820 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Dec. 25 from 6-7 p.m. Parishioners can attend in person or watch it online via Facebook.
The Metropolitan Community Church of Washington D.C.’s Christmas Eve service will take place at the church (474 Ridge St., N.W., on Dec. 24 at 6 p.m.
St. Thomas Episcopal Church (1517 18th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist from 5-6 p.m. A Christmas Eve dinner will take place in the Parish Hall from 6-8:30 p.m. The church’s Christmas Eve Festival Eucharist will occur on Dec. 25 from 10-11 a.m.
Washington National Cathedral throughout the holiday season has a number of services and events scheduled. These include the virtual Gospel Christmas Service on Dec. 21 from 6-7:30 p.m., the Family Christmas Service on Dec. 23 from 11 a.m. to noon, the Christmas Eve Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 24 from 10-11:45 p.m., and the Christmas Day Festival Holy Eucharist on Dec. 25 from 11:15 a.m. to 12:45 p.m.
The Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St., N.W.) in Dupont Circle will hold its Christmas Eve Family Service on Dec. 24 at 4:30 p.m. Its Carols and Candlelight Service will take place at 8 p.m.
Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum to celebrate Kwanzaa
The Smithsonian Anacostia Community Museum (1901 Fort Place S.E.) in Anacostia will mark the first day of Kwanzaa on Dec. 26 with storytelling and drumming with Mama Ayo and Baba Ras D from noon to 2 p.m. The museum will hold a series of other events through the 6-day celebration of African American culture that ends on Jan. 1.
The Creative Suitland Arts Center (4719 Silver Hill Road) in Suitland, Md., on Friday will hold their Almost Kwanzaa: A Creative Kind of Holiday event from 6-8:30 p.m.
Maryland
Joseline Peña-Melnyk elected Md. House speaker
Family immigrated to New York City from the Dominican Republic
By PAMELA WOOD | Moments after being elected speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates Tuesday, state Del. Joseline Peña-Melnyk stood before the chamber and contemplated her unlikely journey to that moment.
Born in the Dominican Republic, the Peña family lived in a small wooden house with a leaky tin roof and no indoor plumbing. Some days, she said, there was no food to eat.
When she was 8 years old, the family immigrated to New York City, where Peña-Melnyk was dubbed “abogadito” or “little lawyer” for helping her mother and others by translating at social services offices.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
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