Comings & Goings

Leisey said there is no competition or animosity between the two organizations, as did Mariner in a 2022 interview with the Blade.

“I enjoyed my time at CAMP Rehoboth,” he said. “I certainly hope there’s opportunities for us to collaborate.”

Leisey steps into her role as executive director of CAMP Rehoboth at a time when culture wars rage and many conservative politicians have set their sights on rolling back transgender rights. The wars have largely passed by solid-blue Delaware – the American Civil Liberties Union anti-trans bill tracker does not list any bills in Delaware.

Leisey, who is a cisgender woman, has been on a journey of her own about transgender issues. She founded the Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Faculty Staff Association in 2009, which was later renamed the LGBTQ+ Faculty Association.

“You know, 30 years ago, there wasn’t much information,” she said. “And so reading, experiencing, talking with people going to workshops, conferences, has all been part of my personal journey as it relates to trans folks.”

Leisey leaves the University of Maryland Baltimore County as it continues to rebound from the coronavirus pandemic, with both the lowest number of full-time undergraduate students since at least 2013 and a booming full-time graduate student population, the highest by far since at least 2013. The university defied predictions of slow enrollment growth along with other universities in the University of Maryland University System.

She says experience in administration at UMBC, working with not only students, but parents, family, staff, and faculty and her Ph.D. in human development lends itself well to her new job.

Equality Chamber names acting president

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

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: comingsandgoings@washblade.com footprint is by providing an abundance of new dense housing in neighborhoods across the country.”

“I worked shoulder to shoulder with lots of diversity around age, to provide a campus environment that was such that students could do well academically and get their degree,” she said. “What I’m taking away that I’m bringing to CAMP is, we’ve got to spend time with our youth, and we’ve got to spend time understanding what their needs and their desires are, especially as it relates to our programs and services.”

Murray Archibald and Steve Elkins founded CAMP Rehoboth after heterosexual residents pushed back against the increasing prominence of gay and lesbian people in Rehoboth and the two started the organization after the Rehoboth Homeowner Association loudly opposed the vibe the queer community had created, pointing to noise, traffic, and parking as problems, CAMP Rehoboth writes in its history. The city soon voted to ban bars not connected to restaurants, spelling the end for bars including disco bar the Strand.

So the two founded CAMP Rehoboth — an acronym for “Creating A More Positive” Rehoboth — and conducted trainings, met with local leaders, and others to support the burgeoning queer population.

Leisey says she wants to tap into the entire Rehoboth community now.

“The artists, the musicians, the intellects, the poets, the scientists, I mean, retiring into this community in Rehoboth has been really eye opening, and seeing the human capital and resources here, and that folks realized this in spite of the oppression and the stress of being queer, LGBTQ, in sometimes in some careers that were not very friendly,” she said. “And so the human spirit in this area is pretty amazing. And this is what I love about CAMP.”

JOE SANGIRARDI

Congratulations to Joe Sangirardi on his new position as development director, California YIMBY. The mission of the organization is to make California an affordable place to live, work, and raise a family. On accepting the job, he said, “Housing policy is climate policy. The single greatest indicator of individual Americans’ carbon footprint is how dense of a neighborhood they live in. And that means that the single greatest way we can help individuals reduce their carbon

Until recently Sangirardi worked as deputy director for Development, Leadership Giving, with the Human Rights Campaign. Prior to that he was director of development, LGBTQ Victory Fund & Institute. He has worked with the University of Oklahoma, President’s Associates, as assistant director, LGBTQ Development.

Congratulations also to Aqua Bar and Grill in Rehoboth Beach for hosting a successful lifeguard happy hour to honor and raise funds for the beach patrol.

Congratulations also to Joshua O. Hill who has been named acting president of the Equality Chamber of Commerce of Metro, DC. The Equality Chamber is the local chapter of the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce.

On his appointment Hill said, “I am honored to have been elected by the board to the role of acting president for the remainder of the calendar year, and look forward to leading this incredible organization.” Hill was elected after the resignation of the previous president, Riah Gonzales-King who also resigned from the board. The board thanked her for a legacy of commitment to the organization.