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Lead entertainers cancel appearances at Capital Pride, Black Pride

Various reasons cited

Published

15 years ago

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The lead entertainers scheduled to perform at D.C.’s Capital Pride and Black Pride festivals abruptly cancelled their appearances this week, prompting organizers to scramble to rearrange their programs.

D.C. born and nationally recognized rapper Wale informed Black Pride organizers by e-mail earlier this week that he backed out of his May 30 appearance at the D.C. Convention Center for the Black Pride annual festival because he was uncomfortable performing at a gay event.

Shortly thereafter, singer and actress Mya, who was scheduled to perform June 13 at the Capital Pride festival, disclosed that complications associated with recent foot surgery would prevent her from appearing at that event.

“While we are sad to learn that Mya will be unable to entertain at Capital Pride due to medical reasons, we wish her a speedy recovery,” said Dyana Mason, Capital Pride’s executive director.

“The 35th anniversary of Capital Pride has lots of fantastic entertainment planned for the main stage of the festival, including Inaya Day, Kirsten Price, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, the D.C. Cowboys and many more,” she said.

Earl Fowlkes, a board member and spokesperson for Black Pride, said organizers were able to book nationally known rhythm and blues singer J. Holiday as a replacement for Wale. Holiday, 25 and a D.C. native, is best known for his 2007 hit song “Bed,” which rose to the No. 1 hit on the Billboard Hot 100 ratings, according to Billboard Magazine.

Wale, 25, became a nationally recognized rapper in 2006, when his song “Dig Dug (Shake It)” caught the eye of a record company producer who arranged for a wider distribution of his music. Among other things, he has performed on MTV and appeared recently on the David Letterman Show.

Fowlkes said Black Pride organizers were startled this week when they received two e-mails from Wale’s agent, one saying the rapper had to cancel due to “family obligations,” and the second saying he didn’t know Black Pride was a gay-related event when he agreed to appear.

“We were clear about what kind of event this is,” Fowlkes told the Blade. “After doing this for 20 years, we certainly don’t want to put ourselves and the artist in an uncomfortable situation by not telling them what we are.

“We’re Black Gay Pride, and the people coming out there are members of our community,” he said. “We made that very clear.”

Fowlkes said Black Pride officials believe homophobia was the underlying reason that Wale cancelled his appearance. He said Wale’s agent has refunded an advance fee that Black Pride made to book the rapper, but noted the group is considering taking legal action for what Fowlkes described as a breach of contract.

“What was important to us on our 20th year is we really wanted to break some new ground,” Fowlkes said. “And one of the things we wanted was a male back artist. We always had female artists and we’ve never really had a male black heterosexual identified artist.”

He said organizers carefully vetted Wale, whose music is popular within the black LGBT community, for any signs of anti-gay themes in his lyrics and statements, and none were found.

Jeffrey Richardson, president of the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club and one of the local black LGBT leaders scheduled to be honored at this year’s Black Pride events, called Wale’s cancellation a sign that the LGBT community still has a long way to go to overcome prejudice.

“This is pure homophobia on his part,” Richardson said. “This reflects the feelings of the broader community. For a lot of folks, the biggest fear is of being labeled as gay. It’s a stigma we still have a lot of work to do to overcome.”

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Virginia

Walkinshaw wins Democratic primary in Va. 11th Congressional District

Special election winner will succeed Gerry Connolly

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20 hours ago

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July 1, 2025

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James Walkinshaw(Photo public domain)

On Saturday, Fairfax County Supervisor James Walkinshaw won the Democratic primary for the special election that will determine who will represent Virginia’s 11th Congressional District.

The special election is being held following the death of the late Congressman Gerry Connolly, who represented the district from 2008 until 2024, when he announced his retirement, and subsequently passed away from cancer in May.

Walkinshaw is not unknown to Virginia’s 11th District — he has served on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors since 2020 and had served as Connolly’s chief of staff from 2009 to 2019. Before he passed away, Connolly had endorsed Walkinshaw to take his place, claiming that choosing Walkinshaw to be his chief of staff was “one of the best decisions I ever made.”

The Democratic nominee has run his campaign on mitigating Trump’s “dangerous” agenda of dismantling the federal bureaucracy, which in the district is a major issue as many of the district’s residents are federal employees and contractors.

“I’m honored and humbled to have earned the Democratic nomination for the district I’ve spent my career serving,” Walkinshaw said on X. “This victory was powered by neighbors, volunteers, and supporters who believe in protecting our democracy, defending our freedoms, and delivering for working families.”

In addition to protecting federal workers, Walkinshaw has a long list of progressive priorities — some of which include creating affordable housing, reducing gun violence, expanding immigrant protections, and “advancing equality for all” by adding sexual orientation and gender identity to the Fair Housing Act.

Various democratic PACs contributed more than $2 million to Walkinshaw’s ad campaigns, much of which touted his connection to Connolly.

Walkinshaw will face Republican Stewart Whitson in the special election in September, where he is the likely favorite to win.

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Maryland

LGBTQ suicide prevention hotline option is going away. Here’s where else to go in Md.

Changes will take effect July 17

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1 day ago

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July 1, 2025

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(Bigstock photo by Mihailo K)

By ANNA RUBENSTEIN | The national suicide prevention hotline will no longer offer specialized support to LGBTQ people, starting July 17, the Trump administration announced last week.

Dialing the hotline at 988 will still be available for crisis support. But callers will no longer be able to reach specific LGBTQ services by pressing Option 3. The change worries advocates because their data shows the LGBTQ community has a disproportionally high suicide rate.

Even after the option ends, here’s how to receive tailored support if you’re in Maryland.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Maryland

Silver Spring holds annual Pride In The Plaza

‘Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience’

Published

2 days ago

on

June 30, 2025

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A scene from Pride in the Plaza in Silver Spring, Md. on Sunday. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Silver Spring’s annual Pride in the Plaza event took place on Sunday to celebrate the LGBTQ community and emphasize inclusion and resilience.

“Today means inclusion. It means to build resilience, love,” Robyn Woods, program and outreach director for Live In Your Truth, which organized the event, said. “I mean, just being surrounded by the community and so many great entrepreneurs, business owners, and just being a part of this whole rainbow coalition that we call the LGBTQIA to be about.”

With the event being her first time organizing for Live In Your Truth, Woods said she felt emotional to see the support and love at the event.

“Some people (are) bringing out their children, their babies, their grandparents,” Woods said. “It’s a lot more allies here than anything else. That type of support to me means so much more than just support from my community; just outside support, inside support, so much support around it, so much love. Everyone’s smiling outside, helping each other.” 

Attendees of the event were able to head over to the Family Fun Zone, an air-conditioned Pride Cool Down Lounge, or watch live drag performances in the main stage area. 

Along with entertainment and a shaved-ice stand, rows of information tables stood along the plaza, including FreeState Justice, the Washington Spirit, Trans Maryland, Moco Pride Center, and the Heartwood Program, an organization that offers support, therapy, education, and resources to the LGBTQ community. 

“I want people to know about our services, and I love what we have to offer,” Jessica Simon, psychotherapist for Heartwood Program’s Gender Wellness Clinic, said. “I (also) want to be part of a celebration with the community, and so it feels good to be here with other people who have something they want to give to the community.”

She added that within today’s political climate, to which she called an “antidote to shame,” it’s important to be celebrating Pride. 

“There’s a lot of demonization of LGBTQI people,” Siena Iacuvazzi, facilitator for Maryland Trans Unity, said. “(Pride) is part of the healing process.” 

Iacuvazzi said she was taught to be ashamed of who she was growing up, but being a part of a community helped her flourish in the future. 

“I was taught how to hate myself. I was taught that I was an abomination to God,” she said. “But being a community is like understanding that there are people who have experienced the same thing, and they’re flourishing. They’re flourishing because they’re willing to stand up for themselves as human beings and discover themselves and understand what’s true for themselves.”

She added that Pride allows for a mutual understanding to take place. 

“It’s more of a sense of belonging … and just taking that home and understanding you’re not alone,” Iacuvazzi said. “We’re each taking our own journey — we’re not putting that on each other. It’s just walking away with a sense of belonging and humanity.”

Similar to Iacuvazzi, Woods said she hopes attendees’ biggest takeaways would be family, fun, resilience, and pride. 

“Being proud of yourself, being happy for who you are, and representation and how much it matters,” she continued. “And I think all these young people that are walking around here get to see versions of themselves, but older. They get to see so many different lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual people that are successful, that are showing love, that care, and it’s not how we’re portrayed in the media. It’s lovely to see it out here. (It’s) like we’re one big old, happy family.”

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