Local
Nats commentator apologizes for ‘sissy’ remark
D.C. sports groups say team supports LGBT community
A commentator for the Washington Nationals baseball team apologized on Wednesday for using the word “sissy” during a June 5 televised broadcast of a Nationals game against the Arizona Diamondbacks in Phoenix.
In an interview with the Washington Blade, Ray Knight, a former Major League Baseball player who serves as a commentator accompanying the Nationals’ regular announcer, said he meant no harm to anyone when he used the word. He said he didn’t realize it is sometimes used as a derogatory code word for gay men.
“I never thought one time that that would be a word that would be used to connote that,” he said, adding that he meant it as an expression calling for a baseball player to “come on, toughen up.”
“But absolutely, I get it,” he said. “Now I get it.”
In his comments during the June 5 broadcast, Knight used the term in a discussion about batters being hit by balls thrown by pitchers.
“So you don’t go up there playing the game like a sissy,” he said. “And I’m at the far end of it, I promise you. But I just don’t like all this baloney about the aggressiveness that’s been taken away.”
He was referring to a baseball rule allowing umpires to eject a pitcher from a game if the umpire believes the pitcher intentionally hits a batter with the ball.
Just prior to using the term sissy, Knight told TV viewers that he never likes to see a batter hit or injured by pitched balls. But he said the practice by pitchers of throwing “inside pitches” that come close to hitting a batter is a longstanding tradition in baseball.
Knight serves as the co-host of the Nationals’ pre-game and post-game TV shows. He was a major league player for 13 years for several teams, including the Baltimore Orioles and New York Mets and was selected twice as an All-Star player. He served as a coach and manager for the Cincinnati Reds.
His apology came one week before more than 3,000 LGBT baseball fans are expected to turn out for the annual Night Out at the Nationals game on June 21 at Washington Nationals Stadium in D.C.
Brent Minor, an official with Team D.C., the LGBT sports group that organizes the annual Night Out event at Nationals Stadium, said the Nationals have been “very supportive” of the LGBT community and have made Team D.C. and gay Nationals fans feel welcome. He noted that the Nationals had a booth at D.C.’s Capital Pride festival last Sunday and they regularly support other LGBT- and AIDS-related events and causes.
Alexandra Schauffler, a spokesperson for the Nationals, said the team had no comment on Knight’s use of the word “sissy.”
But the Nationals vice president for communications and brand development, Lara Potter, issued a statement to the Blade listing the Nationals’ recent actions in support of various LGBT-related events and causes in D.C., including next week’s Night Out with the Nationals event.
“[T]he Nationals are proud supporters of the LGBT community and have been since the team came back to D.C. in 2005,” she said.
Among other things, Potter noted that the Nationals will show on its video screen during the Night Out game a public service video from the It Gets Better Project, which seeks to curtail LGBT teen suicide.
She did not say whether the Nationals would join the San Francisco Giants, Boston Red Sox and Chicago Cubs in sponsoring ongoing promotional campaigns for the It Gets Better Project.
Knight’s apology also came after he learned through the Blade that Eliza Byard, executive director of the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national group that advocates against LGBT teen bullying in the nation’s schools, expressed concern over his sissy remark.
“He could have had all the opinions he had and if you take away the sissy part I don’t see it as a problem,” said Byard, who describes herself as a longtime baseball fan.
Byard said the world “sissy” is often used as a code word for gay men or a derogatory term for women, and the term is offensive to both women and LGBT people.
“What Ray Knight did was give us a case study in how sexism and homophobia live in athletics,” she said.
“It has to be called out. It needs dialogue,” she said. “It may surprise Ray Knight to know that there are baseball fans out there that don’t have a problem with pitches that are high and tight but really, really don’t like it when he talks about it in terms that are denigrating to women and gay people.”
After being told of Byard’s concerns, Knight said he regrets using the word during his television commentary.
“I never thought about it that way, never took it in that connotation,” he said. “Certainly, never in a million years would I ever say anything that would offend someone. And if you knew me you would know that.”
Byard was relieved to hear of Knight’s apology.
“I appreciate that Ray took the time to learn about a word that is thrown around carelessly on playgrounds across the country to demean others,” Byard said. “I’m glad to hear that he will no longer use the word now that he understands its origins and impact,” she said.
“Good for him. I hope others will follow his lead and think carefully about the words they use in order to make their points forcefully but respectfully. Disrespect for others has no place in baseball or any other sport. Pitching inside, on the other hand, is still OK.”
Knight said he has followed in the news the issue of anti-LGBT bullying and supports efforts being waged by groups like GLSEN to discourage bullying in schools and elsewhere.
But when told that GLSEN and D.C.’s Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL), among other groups, have reported that the term sissy is often used in bullying episodes against LGBT teens, Knight said he was not aware of that.
Michael Solem, the lead organizer of G-Nats, an LGBT Nationals fan club, said he didn’t think Knight’s “sissy” remark was intended to be malicious.
“People can make poor choices of words, especially in live broadcasts,” Solem said. “I think Knight was simply implying baseball players shouldn’t be ‘wimps’ or ‘crybabies’ when it comes to getting hit.”
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride set for Memorial Day Weekend
Dozens of events to reflect theme of ‘New Black Renaissance’
D.C.’s annual LGBTQ Black Pride celebration is scheduled to take place May 22-25 as it has since its founding 35 years ago on Memorial Day Weekend with several dozen events in locations across the city.
Like recent years, most of the official events are scheduled to take place at the Westin D.C. Downtown Hotel, including the Opening Reception on Friday, May 22, when Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was scheduled to be among the performers.
“This high-energy reception brings together community leaders, creatives, tastemakers, and visitors from across the globe for a night rooted in connection, joy, and celebration,” according to a statement on the Black Pride website.
Also, like past years, the second day of official Black Pride events set for Saturday, May 23, will include a dozen workshop sessions on a wide range of issues and topics. The workshop sessions will take place at the Westin Hotel.
On that same day, Black Trans Pride is scheduled to take place at the hotel from 1- 6 p.m., according to the official schedule of events.
“The goal is and always has been to make sure we have events for everybody, regardless of their financial situation, regardless of their agenda,” said Kenya Hutton, president and CEO of the Center For Black Equity, the D.C. LGBTQ group that organizes D.C. Black Pride.
Hutton said this year for the first time there will be a D.C. Black Pride Fun Run. The Black Pride website says the 5k run will take place Saturday, May 23, from 8 a.m.-12 p.m. starting at the Frederick Douglass Bride near the D.C. Navy Yard.
He said another first will be a film screening of the documentary film “Not Your Average Girl,” about the life of trans woman, author, and advocate Hope Giselle, scheduled for May 22 at the nearby Eaton Hotel.
Also, like in past years, this year’s Black Pride will feature a Rainbow Row organization and vendor expo at the Westin from 5-9 p.m. Friday and 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday that includes information tables set up by organizations and vendors.
The annual Pride In The Park event will take place Monday, May 25, from 12-7 p.m. at Fort Dupont Park located at 3600 F St., S.E. And the seventh annual “Brunch & Babes” drag event was scheduled for Sunday, May 24, at Hook Hall nightclub at 3400 Georgia Ave., N.W.
Among the other events taking place at other locations is a Sunday, May 24 “G-Spot Day Party” organized by local gay activist Geno Dunnington to be held at Bravo Bravo nightclub at 1001 Connecticut Ave., N.W. from 3-9 p.m. Dunnington told the Washington Blade the event will include the playing of house music, which he says played a role in local D.C. Black LGBTQ culture and in the first Black Pride celebration in 1991. The Black Pride website includes a write up of how that came about.
“From 1976 until1990, the ClubHouse in Washington, D.C. was a remarkable nightclub founded by Black members of D.C.’s LGBTQ community, widely known for its signature event – the Children’s Hour,” the write-up says. “This event was a true celebration and took place annually during Memorial Day weekend,” it says.
“When the ClubHouse closed in 1990, many feared the Memorial Day tradition would be lost,” the write-up continues. “However, three men – Welmore Cook, Theodore Kirkland, and Ernest Hopkins – envisioned creating an event that would continue the tradition of the Children’s Hour while also bringing awareness to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in their community.”
The write-up adds, “Their vision and hard work gave life to the first Black Gay and Lesbian Pride event on May 25, 1991, on the grounds of Banneker Field,” which is located near Howard University. “This first event drew 800 people, who were centered around the theme of ‘Let’s All Come Together.’”
It says organizers expanded the scope of the Black Pride events over the next several years as it evolved and prompted Black Pride events in other cities and the formation of the International Federation of Black Prides, which later became the Center for Black Equity.
“D.C. Black Pride was the catalyst for what is now regarded as the Black Pride Movement,” the writeup says. “Since its birth, more than 50 other Black Pride celebrations now take place throughout the world, many using D.C. Black Pride as its model.”
It adds, “Today, more than 500,000 members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community of African descent and their allies come to Washington, D.C. on Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the beauty of a shared community and raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS in the name and spirit of Black Pride.”
Hutton said D.C. Black Pride has grown to a point where organizers cannot keep track of all the unofficial events taking place.
“There are a number of events that are not even on our website,” he said. “They’re parties. People are having cookouts. There are all kinds of things that are happening over the weekend, that are official listed events, partner events, and non-partner events.”
As she has in recent past years, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser this year issued an official mayoral proclamation declaring May 22-25, 2026 as “DC BLACK PRIDE WEEKEND.”
A list of the official 2026 D.C. Black Pride and partner events and their locations can be accessed at dcblackpride.org.
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 [email protected].
The Comings & Goings column also invites LGBTQ college students to share their successes with us. If you have been elected to a student government position, gotten an exciting internship, or are graduating and beginning your career with a great job, let us know so we can share your success.
Congratulations to Jamie Leeds, chef extraordinaire, and owner of Hank’s Oyster Bars, as she ventures into some new areas. Leeds is an award-winning Washington, D.C.–area chef, restaurateur, and entrepreneur with more than three decades of experience shaping the region’s dining scene.
Her first new venture is a restaurant opening in Alexandria this week. It will be called Hank’s Pasta Bar, bringing a personalized twist to classic Italian dining with a hiddenrestaurant-inside-a-restaurant in Old Town, Alexandria. The new trattoria is above Hank’s Oyster Bar, and will feature a build-your-own menu, marking a new direction for Leeds in partnership with chef Darren Norris. Norris brings more than three decades of experience to Hank’s Pasta Bar, with a foundation grounded in Italian cooking. The grand opening was scheduled for May 14. The elevated casual eatery blends an inventive chef-driven menu with an easy-going, sit-down dining experience that puts guests in charge. Hank’s Pasta Bar bridges the gap between elevated fast casual, like Norris’s Shibuya, and full-service dining, like Leeds’s Hank’s Oyster Bar. Diners order electronically at the table, but unlike fast casuals, food and beverages are delivered on plate ware, and a server is on site at all times.
The restaurant-inside-a-restaurant, welcomes guests to dine in with a full bar, including Italian wines and craft cocktails, maintaining its focus on traditional Italian fare with contemporary touches, including a build-your-own pasta bowl experience starting at $16. Create your own pasta bowl from seven artisanal pastas (including gluten-free), nine made-in-house sauces, proteins, vegetables, and toppings. Leeds said, “It’s the kind of place you’d find down a side street in a Tuscan hill town, after being tipped off by a friend who says, ‘trust me.’ If you know, you know.”
The restaurant will continue Hank’s community partnerships, including with Real Food for Kids, supporting programs that improve school food and nutrition equity.
In addition to this you should try Jaimie’s other new venture. Back Door Taco at Hank’s in Dupont Circle. You walk down the alley from 17th Street to the back door of Hank’s, and enter a small patio to partake of great tacos and interesting cocktails.
District of Columbia
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
Whitman-Walker joins nationwide recognition of efforts to develop vaccine
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, will join health care advocates from across the country to support efforts to develop an HIV vaccine on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18.
“HIV Awareness Day, observed annually on May 18, was established to recognize and thank the volunteers, scientists, health professionals, and community members working toward a safe and effective prevention HIV vaccine,” Whitman-Walker said in a statement.
“Led by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the day is also an opportunity to educate communities about the critical importance of preventive HIV vaccine research,” the statement says.
It adds, “The reality is that any new vaccine discovery must be built community by community, institution by institution, and then it must reach everyone – especially the communities who have carried the heaviest burden of this epidemic.”
On its own website, the National Institutes of Health says HIV Vaccine Awareness Day also highlights its longstanding efforts, coordinated by its Office of AIDS Research, to support researchers’ efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.
“Researchers are making promising headway in efforts to develop a safe, effective HIV vaccine,” it says in a statement on its website.
A Whitman-Walker spokesperson said Whitman-Walker was not holding a specific event to observe HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, but it will recognize the day as a way of encouragement for its ongoing work to address the AIDS epidemic and support for vaccine research.
“Today, no one has to die from HIV,” said Whitman-Walker’s Health System division’s CEO, Dr. Heather Aaron in the Whitman-Walker statement. “We have the treatments, the technology, and the research to change outcomes, and yet people in our community are still dying from HIV//AIDS,” she said in the statement.
“That is unacceptable, and it is exactly why our work continues,” she added. “Here in D.C. with more focus on Southeast D.C., the Whitman-Walker Health System remains committed to making a difference through cutting-edge research, policy advocacy, and philanthropy, because fair access to life-saving treatment is not a privilege. It is a right.”
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Anti-LGBTQ commentator Tyler O’Neil to testify in Southern Poverty Law Center probe
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HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
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Calendar: May 15-21
