Local
Financial manager, Blade film critic Brian Carney dies at 58
A passion for both words and numbers
Brian T. Carney, a financial manager and fundraiser for nonprofit organizations in the Washington, D.C. area and other states who served for the past nine years as the film and television critic for the Washington Blade, died on Jan. 28 from complications associated with congestive heart failure and advanced kidney disease. He was 58.
Known for his talent and skills in financial management and writing, Carney has told friends and associates that he had a passion for using both words and numbers.
Among the nonprofit organizations he worked with in financial management include the D.C.-based AIDS United and National LGBTQ Task Force, the Pittsburgh-based Kuntu Repertory Theatre, and the Cincinnati-based Educational Theatre Association.
In his role as the Blade’s film and TV critic Carney wrote reviews, previews and interviews about movie releases and regional film festivals. His reviews often focused on films and TV shows with LGBTQ subjects and characters. In one of his last reviews for the Blade in September before he became too ill to continue writing, Carney provided an interesting glimpse of the fall of 2020 film releases, including films with an LGBTQ theme.
“Brian was a beloved member of the Washington Blade family,” said Blade editor Kevin Naff. “He was a total pro, and his insightful columns of film criticism elevated our arts coverage and will live forever in our archive. All of us at the Blade will miss his sense of humor and passion for the arts and for writing.”
Carney’s husband, Brian Long, said Carney was born and raised in Monroe, Conn. A write-up about Carney that Long provided to the Blade and Carney’s LinkedIn page show he earned his bachelor’s degree at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in urban studies and management. He received a master’s degree in fine arts with a field of study in theater and playwriting at Southern Illinois University, his LinkedIn page says.
Prior to writing for the Blade, Carney worked for 10 months as senior manager of compliance and grants management at AIDS United, the D.C. group that advocates for people with HIV and AIDS. His LinkedIn page says he worked from 2011 to 2014 as program coordinator at the World Resources Institute, a D.C.-based global research organization that works on environmental, climate, and natural resources issues in the U.S. and 60 countries.
Other nonprofit groups he worked for as a financial manager and fundraiser in other states, his LinkedIn page says, were the International Baccalaureate Organization and the Advocacy Institute. Among the volunteer work he performed in recent and past years included serving on the Steering Committee for the LGBT Alumni Association at the University of Pennsylvania; as the founding artistic director for of the theater group Lavender Productions; and as a member of GALECA, the Society of LGBTQ Entertainment Critics.
Long said he and Carney, who lived in Wheaton, Md., for the past seven and a half years, had been a couple since 2007 and were married in 2014. He said the two first met when they lived in Pittsburgh and that Carney lived and worked in Pennsylvania, Michigan, and New York City before moving to the D.C. area.
“I am grateful that we got to do so many awesome things together,” said Long. “We got to see a lot of theater and movies,” he said.
“With Brian’s family and friends spread out all over, along with the challenges of COVID-19, there will be no memorial services,” Long told the Blade. “A lifelong mentor and teacher, he had his body donated so that he could help medical students,” Long said. “His cremains will reside with his mother in Alabama.”
Carney is survived by his husband, Brian Long and their three cats, Ava, Zephyr, and Jack. He is also survived by his mother, Barbara Carney; his sister, Susan Baxter; his nephew, Joey Baxter of Leeds, Ala.; his mother-in-law, Carol Long, of Greensburg, Pa..; and by the Madsen-Hoskin family of Harrisburg, Pa.
Long said memorial donations in Carney’s name can be made to the Visiting Nurses Association of Indiana County, Pa.., which provided care for Carney when he first became ill with diabetes while living in Pennsylvania via https://vnaindiana.org.
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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