Desi Deschaine, activist and Council staffer, dies

We regret having to pass along the confirmation by Washington City Paper that our friend Desi Deschaine, 29 (shown here in a 2008 photo with presidential candidate Hillary Clinton), a member of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and communications director for D.C. Council member Jack Evans, has died by drowning in Baltimore. He had gone boating on Sunday with friends in Baltimore Harbor and the Chesapeake Bay, and had not been seen since leaving the boat Sunday night.

Desi was an energetic and cheerful presence at Stein Club meetings as well as a helpful Council staffer. We fondly remember his brief involvement in GLAA years ago when he was exploring the D.C. political scene. We are saddened at his untimely death, and our thoughts and prayers are with his family, friends, and coworkers in their grief.