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6,000 to attend LGBT Workplace Summit at National Harbor

Officials with hundreds of Fortune 1,000 companies expected to participate

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Workplace Summit, gay news, Washington Blade
The annual LGBT Workplace Summit is set to take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor from Oct. 14-17. (Photo by MamaGeek via Wikimedia Commons)

More than 6,000 people were expected to turn out Oct. 14-17 at the National Harbor in Fort Washington, Md., for what organizers say is the world’s largest conference to address issues related to LGBT people in the workplace at large and small companies and government agencies.

The San Francisco-based Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, which organizes the annual Workplace Summit, says as many as 70 percent of Fortune 1,000 companies from the U.S. and abroad were expected to send representatives to the Summit.

The event, often referred to as an LGBT workplace summit, is set to take place at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center at National Harbor located across the Potomac River from D.C.

ā€œThis turnout – and the intensive corporate sponsorship of the conference – demonstrates that large companies understand that they need to develop workplace cultures where LGBTQ employees fully belong and can thrive,ā€ Out & Equal said in a statement.

The statement says that in addition to the large number of companies expected to participate in the event, prominent U.S. government agencies would also take part. Among them, the statement says, are the CIA, FBI, National Security Agency (NSA), and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, each of which signed on as sponsors of the conference.

On its website, Out & Equal Workplace Advocates describes itself as ā€œthe world’s premier nonprofit organization dedicated to achieving lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer workplace equality.ā€

The summit takes place six days after the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments for three pivotal LGBT rights cases in which the plaintiffs called on the high court to interpret the U.S. Civil Rights Act of 1964 to protect LGBT people against discrimination.

ā€œOut & Equal helped bring together 206 major businesses on an amicus brief in support of the petitioners in these cases,ā€ the statement says, referring to the businesses’ support for the argument that existing civil rights law protects LGBT people from employment discrimination.

The titles of some of the numerous workshops scheduled to take place at the summit include, Transmen and Transmasculine Employees: Having Your Voices Heard; Measuring Success: LGBTQ Diversity and Inclusion in the Workplace; Leading from the Bottom Up as Young, Queer Professionals; Battle for Diversity: Why You Don’t Have (Enough) LGBTQ+ Talent; and Queer Culture Project: Six LGBTQ Trends & Why They Matter.

ā€œThere are people in positions of power who want to drive LGBTQ people back into the closet,ā€ said Erin Uritus, Out & Equal’s Chief Executive Officer.

ā€œThere are people who say that transgender Americans shouldn’t serve in the military,ā€ she said. ā€œThose views aren’t just narrow-minded, they are non-starters for businesses who want to recruit and retain top talent,ā€ she continued in a statement.

Additional information about the Workplace Summit can be found at outandequal.org.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

ā€œF—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,ā€ a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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District of Columbia

Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw

School teacher, D.C. resident praised for ā€˜warmth, humor, kindness’

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Patrick Shaw (Photo via GoFundMe)

Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.

Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shaw’s friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.

ā€œPatrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,ā€ Martinez said. ā€œHe was a truly special soul – funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.ā€

In an Instagram posting, Shaw’s colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.’s Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.

ā€œPatrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,ā€ his colleagues said in their posting. ā€œHis daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.ā€

The posted message adds, ā€œPatrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.ā€

The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon. 

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District of Columbia

D.C. police seek help in identifying suspect in anti-gay threats case

Victim threatened with assault, called ā€˜faggot’ as he left Capitals game

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D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera.

D.C. police are seeking help from the public in identifying a male suspect whose image was captured by a video surveillance camera after he allegedly shouted anti-gay slurs and threatened to assault a man at 6th and H Streets, N.W. on March 20 at about 9:54 p.m.

A police report says the victim told police the incident took place shortly after he exited the nearby Capital One Arena where he had attended a Washington Capitals hockey game.

The police report says the incident began when the victim saw the suspect yell a racist slur at a person behind the victim and started to berate a valet operator.

ā€œSuspect 1 then turned his attention to Victim 1 and called him a ā€˜faggot’ among other homophobic slurs,ā€ the report says. It says the victim then used his phone to record the suspect, prompting the suspect to walk away before returning and ā€œsnatchingā€ the phone from the victim’s hand.

ā€œSuspect 1 walked several feet as Victim 1 followed, requesting his phone back,ā€ the report continues. ā€œSuspect 1 stopped and turned to Victim 1 and while yelling other obscenities exclaimed ā€˜if you keep recording, I’m going to kick your ass.ā€™ā€ The report concludes by saying the victim was able to recover his phone.

It lists the incident as a ā€œThreats To Do Bodily Harmā€ offense that is a suspected hate crime.

ā€œAnyone who can identify this suspect or has knowledge of this incident should take no action but call police at 202-727-9099, or text your tip to the Department’s TEXT TIP LINE at 50411,ā€ according to a separate police statement released April 23.

The statement says police currently offer an award of up to $1,000 to anyone who can provide information that leads to an arrest and indictment of the person or persons responsible for a crime committed in D.C.

D.C. police spokesperson Tom Lynch said the case has been under investigation since the incident occurred on March 20. He said the video image of the suspect, most likely obtained from a security camera from a nearby business, was released to the public as soon as it was obtained and processed through the investigation.

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