Arts & Entertainment
These boots were made for walkin’
Whitman-Walker hopes to raise $1 million for AIDS fight Saturday
Last year's AIDS Walk. (Blade photo by Michael Key)
This year’s AIDS Walk Washington’s grand marshals include D.C. Council member Jim Graham and two others who participated in the first walk back in 1986 — Maudie Jones, a retired Army nurse, and Joe Izzo, a psychotherapist and employee of Whitman-Walker Health since 1986. They may not have the star power of, say, Lynda Carter, who served as grand marshal last year, but their ties to the clinic and the Walk run much deeper.
“It’s hard to put it into words,” Izzo says of being named grand marshal this year. “I just feel old.”
Izzo, 63, not only walked the first year, but has walked every year since, inspired and motivated by the people he has lost to AIDS and his partner who was diagnosed with AIDS in 1992 and has been living with the disease.
“By 1987, I had already lost three dozen friends and acquaintances to HIV/AIDS,” Izzo says of why he walked that first year, losing his first friend to AIDS in 1983. “In fact, that … summer … five of my friends died.”
Izzo says that first year felt more like a demonstration than what the Walk feels like today, with people holding signs asking for more government support.
He looks forward to seeing all the people who participate in the Walk and all the support the event attracts, saying it’s inspiring.
One year that stands out in Izzo’s mind in particular is Oct. 6, 2001, less than a month after the 9-11 attacks.
“We had gotten used to having 10,000 plus people … that year we were lucky to have gotten 2,500,” Izzo says. “It was a steely gray day and every plane that went over, you had your heart in your mouth … but it was a very memorable year … the Walk still happened.”
The 25th Annual AIDS Walk is Saturday and will start and end at Freedom Plaza.
The fundraising goal this year is $1 million and they are hoping for 10,000 participants. As of Tuesday afternoon, about $600,000 had been raised.
Registration, the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt display and other activities begin at 7 a.m. A program featuring music, speakers and warm-up exercises will begin at 8:15 a.m. and the fifth annual 5k timed run begins shortly after at 8:30. The AIDS Walk will step off at 9:15 and there will be a post-Walk celebration beginning at 10.
Registration fees range from $25 to $40.
For more information and to register for the walk, visit aidswalkwashington.org.
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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