Month: August 2019

Saying Goodbye to the DC Center for the LGBT Community

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Dear Friends

In 1999, the Cherry Fund and Whitman Walker Clinic formed an Ad Hoc Committee to create an LGBT Community Center in the District. That vision became a reality when the DC Center for the LGBT Community was incorporated in 2004 with signatories Patrick Menasco, Jeff Englar, Larry Stansbury, and Ed Craft.  

As we celebrate our 15th Anniversary this year, I hope we all take time to celebrate the many visionary board members, staff, volunteers, and community partners who have brought us to this point, including our past board chairs Michael Sessa and Michael Fowler, and our current board co-chairs Rehana Mohammed and Jonathan Gilad.

2019 also marks my 11th and final year at the DC Center.   September 30th will be my last day serving as Executive Director of this remarkable organization.  While I look forward to the opportunities in my future, the DC Center will always hold a very special place in my heart.

I will spend my remaining time here assuring a smooth and strategic transition.   2020 will be a year of growth for the DC Center with a significant increase in grant funding. This includes a groundbreaking grant from DC Department of Aging and Community Living (DACL).   This grant, which will help us better serve older LGBTQ adults, is the first grant ever given by DACL to an LGBT organization.

I am grateful to be able to leave the DC Center in the hands of very capable board members and staff,   It is the right time to make way for new leadership, ideas, and vision.   I look forward to seeing where we go from here.

Please make plans to join me at the DC Center Fall Reception on Friday September 13th at the Warner Building celebrate our 15th Anniversary.   Purchase your tickets now at: thedccenter.org/events/fifteen

Best Regards,

David Mariner

HRC Endorses Sarah McBride

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Sarah McBride

Today, HRC endorsed history-maker Sarah McBride in her bid for the Delaware State Senate. 

If elected, McBride will become the first openly transgender person to serve in a State Senate anywhere in the United States. McBride created history most recently in 2016 as the first openly transgender person to speak at a major national party convention when she addressed the 2016 Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia. 

“From the Delaware General Assembly to the halls of the White House and Congress, Sarah McBride has demonstrated her ability to bring about change,” said HRC President Alphonso David. “At a time when equality is under attack at the federal level, it has never been more important for states like Delaware to show the nation what is possible when we reject the politics of division and embrace the politics of progress. We’re proud to endorse Sarah’s historic candidacy, and cannot wait to call her Senator McBride.”

Sarah McBride has spent her life fighting for dignity and a fair shot for everyone. In 2013, McBride led the successful effort to pass a landmark non-discrimination bill in Delaware. Since then, she’s helped inspire our nation with her own personal story and her historic work both in Delaware and around the country.

As a leading voice in the fight for LGBTQ equality, McBride was instrumental ushering in historic progress under the Obama administration and in the recent passage of the Equality Act in the U.S. House of Representatives, the first time in American history a chamber of Congress passed a comprehensive LGBTQ civil rights bill. McBride has been a vocal advocate against gender-based violence, for voting rights, for common-sense gun safety measures, for comprehensive health care and for economic opportunity for all.

Sarah has served as National Press Secretary for the Human Rights Campaign since 2016 and a member of the Board of Directors of Equality Delaware since 2013. Prior to joining HRC, McBride served as the Campaigns and Communications Manager for LGBT Research and Communications Project at the Center for American Progress (CAP). McBride has also worked for Governor Jack Markell (D-DE) and former Attorney General Beau Biden (D-DE). McBride was the first out transgender woman to intern at the White House, and graduated from American University. During her time at American University, she served as student body president and made national headlines when she came out as transgender in the student newspaper.

DesiQ Diaspora Call For Proposals

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Desi Queer Diaspora Call for Proposals

NQAPIA is currently accepting proposals for Desi Queer Diaspora (DQD) 2020, to be held in Austin, Texas from May 15-17, 2020. Proposals will be accepted from August 12, 2019 until December 1st, 2019 at 11:59pm EST. Late proposals may be considered at the discretion of the DQD planning committee.

The term proposals references everything from discussion circles, movie showings, workshops, presentations, classes, panels  and much more. Proposals may address a wide variety of topics, and we welcome proposals from anyone who identifies as queer and/or tgnc and traces their family ancestry to South Asia and the diaspora. As you develop your proposal, please keep in mind that sessions will be 90 minutes.

Proposals will be reviewed by a team of DQD steering committee members and members of the conference proposal review committee. As we review proposals, we are committed to developing a conference schedule that covers a wide variety of interest to the community, as reflected in our community survey as well as session presenters that are representative of our community across class, caste, country of origin, religion, gender identity, gender expression, sex characteristics, and sexual orientation. NQAPIA also plan to organize specific panels to represent and reflect on the diversity of our community.

NQAPIA will let you know whether your proposal was accepted (or not) by February 1st, 2020. We will be accepting 27 workshops total. We ask that you accept the offer to present at the conference by February 15th, 2020. If you present at the conference, we will offer free registration. Note that for each session, there is a maximum of two presenters. If your proposal is not initially accepted, you may be placed on a waitlist and eventually be asked to present if other presenters drop out.

Find out more at: desiqdiaspora.org