Local
Melissa Etheridge raising money for Md. lawmaker
To host Aug. 9 benefit for lesbian delegate Mizeur
Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur and singer Melissa Etheridge struck up a friendship during the 2008 presidential election. (Washington Blade photo Michael Key)
Lesbian singer Melissa Etheridge is scheduled to host a fundraising reception for Maryland Del. Heather Mizeur (D) on Aug. 9 in Baltimore.
Mizeur is a lesbian running for re-election to the House of Delegates, where she has represented Takoma Park and Silver Spring since 2007.
Etheridge, who will be in Baltimore for a concert at Pier Six Pavilion on Aug. 9, will host a pre-concert meet-and-greet at 7 p.m. for Mizeur supporters. Tickets are $1,000 and mostly sold out, according to Mizeur, who added that donors interested in attending should contact her campaign directly. Attendance is being capped at “no more than 20,” she said.
For those who can’t afford the $1,000 price tag, the campaign is offering a chance to win a ticket in an online raffle. To enter, visit secure.actblue.com/page/melissaformizeur and make a $5 donation. One winner will be chosen to attend the reception and concert.
Mizeur met Etheridge during the 2008 presidential campaign, when Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton were wooing the votes of Democratic superdelegates during the primary, including Mizeur. Etheridge called Mizeur on behalf of Obama’s campaign.
“We hit it off on the phone, because of our shared love of politics,” Mizeur said. “She’s a mid-Westerner and we have the same values and got on really well.” The two met that June at a concert and have become friends. Etheridge stayed with Mizeur and her partner during Obama’s inauguration.
Mizeur, reacting to last month’s news that Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley plans to introduce a marriage equality bill during the 2012 legislative session, said the announcement provides a “significant boost for our efforts.”
“We really do believe his sponsorship of the bill is the shot of momentum we need to win support for the bill this session,” she said. “There’s no bigger megaphone in the capital than the governor’s office.”
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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)
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
