Local
Kameny house wins D.C. landmark status
Designation is a first for gay-related site in city
The D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board voted unanimously Thursday to designate the home of veteran gay rights leader Franklin Kameny as an historic landmark — the first time a gay-related site has been approved for landmark status in the nation’s capital.
The Rainbow History Project, a local gay organization, nominated Kameny’s home at 5020 Cathedral Ave., N.W., for the status. The group submitted a detailed application to the board describing Kameny’s use of his house as an office and center for carrying out his widely recognized role as local founder and national pioneer of the modern gay rights movement beginning in the early 1960s.
“Historians consider him a landmark figure in articulating and achieving gay civil rights in federal employment, criminal law, security clearances cases, and in reversing the medical community’s views on homosexuality,” said the Rainbow History Project in its application to the board.
Kameny, 83, still lives in the house. He said he has lived there since 1962, initially as a tenant. He purchased the home in 1984.
“I coined the slogan ‘Gay is Good’ in this house in 1968,” Kameny told the Blade after learning Thursday about the board’s decision. “Today’s action represents official endorsement of that. Gay is good, and that has now become official truth.”
The Rainbow History Project said Kameny’s home “served as a meeting place [and] de facto headquarters of the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., and the planning center for much local and national gay civil rights activism, primarily from 1961 to 1971.”
The Mattachine Society, one of the nation’s first gay organizations, had been in existence in other cities since the early 1950s. Nearly all of the group’s members concealed their names and worked quietly behind the scenes to make gays more socially accepted.
Kameny, who founded the group’s local chapter in 1961, is credited with pushing to transform the organization into a far more aggressive and activist civil rights organization. He coordinated the first gay protest demonstrations at the White House and Pentagon.
Tersh Boasberg, chair of the D.C. Historic Preservation Review Board, said shortly before the board voted on the application that Kameny’s case was “highly unusual” because historic landmark status is rarely, if ever, given to a site associated with a living person.
But he said the Rainbow History Project’s detailed and “scholarly” application, along with endorsements from respected historians and preservationist organizations, provided a convincing case for approving the application.
The D.C. Preservation League signed on as a co-sponsor to the application.
The selection of Kameny’s house also is unusual because its modest, 1950s colonial style was not considered distinctive architecturally. Most homes and buildings selected for historic landmark status in D.C. are chosen, in part, because of their architectural distinction as well as their historic significance.
The designation of the Kameny house as a historic landmark in D.C. qualifies the house to be considered for placement on the federal government’s National Register of Historic Places.
If approved by the National Park Service, the Kameny site would be only the second gay-related site recognized on the national register, according to the Rainbow History Project.
New York City’s Stonewall Inn, the gay bar where a police raid sparked the 1969 Stonewall riots, so far has been the only gay-related site recognized in the National Register of Historic Places, Meinke said.
He said only a “handful” of other gay related sites have been recognized by cities or states as historic landmarks. Among them are Harvey Milk’s camera shop and home in San Francisco, the home of early gay rights leader Henry Gerber in Chicago and the Stonewall Inn.
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
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