News
07-23-23 ~ Summer Social
LULAC Lambda DC members participated in the annual DC & Virginia LULAC Picnic, which brings members of area councils together for an afternoon of food and fellowship. This year’s event took place at the Bon Air Park located in Alexandria, Virginia.
07-19-23 ~ Scholarship
An aspiring language justice organizer Xemiyulu Tapepechul (top right) and rising social justice and labor advocate Sharit Cardenas Lopez (middle right) have been selected by LULAC Lambda DC for its 2023 annual scholarships based on their academic merit and extracurricular work in the community.
“For a sixth year in a row, LULAC Lambda DC will provide scholarships to outstanding scholars who come from our LGBTQ+ Latinx community. Our scholarship program will help these scholars achieve their academic goals and reduce their student debt,” said Javier Aquino, LULAC Lambda president.As a policy analyst at one of the largest labor unions in the US, Sharit has a dream of creating a world where BIPOC and LGBTQI+ people and workers are at the center of all social systems and where underserved and marginalized communities have full access to quality education, housing, healthcare, employment and workforce development. Sharit feels this bright future begins in the labor movement and is working to enhance labor's ability to create paths for workers to have limitless opportunities. Sharit plans on using their $2500 scholarship to complete a Master of Arts in Ethics, Peace and Human Rights at American University.
Xemiyulu will use her $2500 scholarship to pay for tuition at Northern Virginia Community College where she is pursuing an associate degree in American Sign Language, Deaf Culture and ASL-English Interpretation.
"My experience with language justice in Spanish and Nawat languages has reinforced my passion for communication and advocacy. I'm inspired everyday by my desire to succeed and enhance the lives of others. I'm determined to develop into a devoted and sympathetic ASL interpreter that not only helps trans people communicate, but also fights for the needs and rights of Deaf Trans and LGBTQIA+ people. I want to build a more tolerant and inclusive society where people from all backgrounds can prosper and pursue their aspirations without boundaries," Xemiyulu said.
LULAC Lambda DC is one of 1,000 chapters across the U.S. affiliated with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation’s largest and oldest Latinx volunteer-based civil rights organization. Since increasing access to education is core to its mission, LULAC encourages local chapters like LULAC Lambda DC to sponsor scholarships.
06-11-23 ~ Advocacy
LULAC Lambda DC once again hosted a voter registration table at DC’s annual Capital Pride Festival in and partnered with Headcount, a national voter registration organization, to register 200+ new voters and update current voter’s addresses.
05-23-23 ~ Mentoring
LULAC Lambda DC completed its spring high school mentoring program at the Columbia Heights Education Campus with guest speaker, LGBTQ Latino and CBS News Reporter Rafael Sanchez Cruz who spoke about the importance of checking sources on news articles, vetting information from social media and careers in English and Spanish language media.
04-22-23 ~ Environment
LULAC LULAC Lambda DC spent April 22. 2023 Earth Day cleaning up Rock Creek Park in Northwest DC for three hours. LULAC Lambda has participated in Earth Day environmental clean-ups since it was formed. The group also volunteers during the fall to clean up the banks of the Potomac River.
04-01-23 ~ State Convention
LULAC Lambda DC attended the DC LULAC State Convention held at National LULAC Headquarters.
During the awards ceremony, LULAC Lambda DC was awarded LULAC’s “Council of the Year" and “Program of the Year” for its June 2022 LGBTQ Pride and Immigrant Heritage Month Event, which attracted dozens of members to DC LULAC Councils. LULAC Lambda DC members honored included Michael Ramirez for “Member of the Year” and both Elvis Montenegro and Stephanie Medina for “New Member of the Year.” Newly elected DC LULAC State Director Gilda Goldental appointed LULAC Lambda members Elvis Montenegro as State Secretary and Zoey McShane as State Chaplain. A dozen LULAC Lambda DC members attended the convention, which attracted the largest attendance on record—52 members and guests. The event featured keynote speaker DC Attorney General Brian Schwalb.
03-09-23 ~ LULAC National Awards
On March 9, members of LULAC Lambda DC attended the 26th Annual LULAC National Awards Gala in at DC’s Omni Shoreham Hotel.
The black-tie dinner highlighted critical legislative issues affecting Hispanic Americans and honored community heroes and distinguished elected officials who made their mark in 2022. A highlight of the evening was the honoring of U.S. Army Veteran Richard Fierro, one of two patrons praised by authorities for disarming the shooter at Club Q after five people were killed and 17 others were left wounded. Many credit Fierro’s bravery for saving. His daughter's boyfriend, Raymond Green Vance, was among those killed. LULAC recognized Fierro that night with its presidential medal for his courageous actions.March 2023 ~ Meet Ana C. Reyes
DC's New LGBTQ+ Hispanic Judge
Washington, D.C.'s freshly sworn-in Judge Ana C. Reyes began one of her first hearings from the bench with a short sigh before warning a plaintiff's attorney that they were in for an unpleasant afternoon. She had concerns about the attorney's court filings but said she was willing to discuss them and then put the issues behind them as the case moved forward. The filings, Judge Reyes continued, seemed to be missing some important facts about the case, which had been assigned to her the day after her swearing-in ceremony — about two weeks before the hearing.02-15-23 ~ Officer Elections
LULAC Lambda DC held elections for its 2023-24 officers and congratulations its new leadership (pictured left to right): Chaplain Zoey McShane, Sergeant at Arms DeShawn Cook, Treasurer Erik Rodriquez, President Javier Aquino, Secretary Jonathan Ayala, and Vice President Stephanie Medina. Meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month. For location and time, email lulaclambda@gmail.com.
01-18-23~ Membership Drive Begins
LULAC Lambda DC members kicked off a membership drive in January 2023. Entering its ninth year, LULAC Lambda DC remains DC’s largest LULAC council and has recruited 33 members.
Meetings are held every third Wednesday of the month. For location and time, email lulaclambda@gmail.com.
012-03-22 ~ Annual Tamalada
LULAC Lambda DC held its annual “Tamalada” where 30+ people shared good food, fellowship and fun. A Tamalera provided her recipe on how to make Salvadoran tamales and coached two tamale-making lessons. The council played Loteria after feasting on cooked tamales, beans and rice. Awards were handed out that evening, honoring council members: Member of the Year Michael Ramirez, Board Member of the Year Erik Rodriquez and New Member of the Year Elvis Montengero. A Lifetime Achievement Award was given to Jesse Garcia, longtime member and cofounder of LULAC Lambda DC.
Nov. 10-12, 2022 ~ Unity Summit
LULAC Lambda DC hosted its 2022 LULAC LGBTQ+ Unity Summit
LGBTQ+ LULAC members from DC, Virginia, Maryland, New York, Puerto Rico, California, Iowa, Ohio and Texas attended the three-day event which kicked off with a Friday mixer at Uproar Lounge. A daylong summit was held Saturday at the downtown MLK Library featuring speakers from the National LGBTQ Taskforce, National Center for Transgender Equality, Lambda Legal, the Human Rights Campaign, the National Institutes of Health, AIDS Healthcare Foundation, the National Education Association, and the Translatin@ Coalition. Keynote speaker Dr. Tanya Katerí Hernández spoke about anti-Blackness in the Latino community and discussed her book Racial Innocence: On Latino Anti-Black Bias and the Struggle for Equality. On Sunday, LGBTQ LULAC council leaders were invited to a leadership meeting at the LULAC National Headquarters to plan the next summit.
Summer 2022:
LULAC Lambda DC Awards Scholarships to
3 DC Area LGBTQ+ Latinx Students
A future public policy maker and lawyer, a future theologian and minister, and a future public interest/public defender attorney have been selected by LULAC Lambda for its 2022 annual scholarships. The LGBTQ+ Latinx organization selected D.C. residents Tania Cabrera (top ), Zoey McShane (middle R) and Juan Carlos Mora (bottom R), based on their academic merit and work in the community.
“For a fifth year in a row, LULAC Lambda will provide scholarships to outstanding scholars who come from our LGBTQ+ Latinx community. Our scholarship program will help these scholars achieve their academic goals and reduce their student debt,” said Javier Aquino, LULAC Lambda president. “We want to thank the Brother Help Thyself (BHT) Foundation and LULAC Lambda supporters who have kept this scholarship alive.”
Thanks to the generosity of the BHT Foundation, LULAC Lambda was able to award funds during a year when fundraising and events continue to be impacted by the pandemic.
“The pandemic put an even heavier burden on my parent’s ability to provide financial assistant. The scholarship provided by LULAC Lambda will greatly supplement my cost-of-living budget and help with other expenses. I’m grateful to have received the support from an organization that is also committed to social justice,” said Cabrera, who is attending George Washington University, studying public policy with a focus on immigration policy and a goal of becoming an immigration attorney. She received $1,000.
McShane received $2,000 for her master’s work at Wesley Theological Seminary in Washington, D.C. “I will utilize the funds awarded by this scholarship to offset the registration fees and other tuition expenses. I’m continuing to work part-time and doing my best to not take on any additional expenses,” said McShane.
With a vocation to public service, Mora is continuing his master’s work in Public Policy, at George Washington University. He plans to use his $2,000 scholarship award toward expenses incurred completing his graduate thesis research. “This award will assist funding my policy research of public defender offices, county court houses and filing Freedom of Information Act requests.”
LULAC Lambda is one of 1,000 chapters across the U.S. affiliated with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC), the nation’s largest and oldest Latinx volunteer-based civil rights organization. One of the goals of LULAC is to increase access to education, so it encourages local chapters like LULAC Lambda to sponsor scholarships.