Local
Gay & Lesbian Chamber honors locals
22nd Annual event will honor six local business leaders on April 20
The Capital Area Gay and Lesbian Chamber of Commerce (CAGLCC) will honor six local business and community leaders on April 20 at its annual awards gala at the Liaison Capitol Hill Hotel, where it will also celebrate its 22nd anniversary, the group said in a statement.
“Each year the Chamber recognizes outstanding individuals and organizations that have contributed to the economic, social and cultural fabric of the LGBT community in the metro D.C. area,” the statement says. “Awardees display exemplary business success and have been strong leaders within the LGBT community based on philanthropy, advocacy and awareness.”
Recipients of this year’s awards include:
- Excellence in Business Award — Chef Art Smith: Known as a celebrity chef, Smith served as personal chef to Oprah Winfrey for 10 years. He regularly appears on popular TV shows, authored three award-winning cookbooks, founded a non-profit group that teaches children about tolerance, and oversees the operation of several restaurants, including the D.C. restaurant Art and Soul.
- Business Leadership Award — D.C. Allen, owner of the Crew Club, a gay-oriented gym and spa located in D.C.’s Logan Circle area on 14th Street, N.W. In opening the Crew Club in 1995 Allen has been credited with helping to revitalize the 14th Street corridor as a thriving neighborhood and business area. He has made the Crew Club available for on-site testing for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases; funded a $40,000 advertising campaign in local LGBT media to promote awareness of a resurgence of syphilis, which has been credited with reducing the rate of syphilis infections among gay men in D.C. He has also supported the DC LGBT Community Center’s Took Kit safer sex campaign.
- Emerging Entrepreneur Award — JD Warford DVM and Jessica Serensits-DC MetroVet: Warford and Serensits are business partners and spouses who operate a veterinary medicine business that specializes in veterinary house calls. They service more than 130 patients in D.C. and Maryland, with a large majority of their clients in the LGBT community. The two serve as volunteers with feral cat organizations, have plans for seminars for dog and cat owners and for helping the local group Pride of Pets.
- Volunteer of the Year Award — June Crenshaw: An IT project manager for Coventry Health Care company, Crenshaw has been a volunteer at Whitman-Walker Health since the 1980s. She serves on the Whitman-Walker board and is a former board chair. She has served as board co-chair for Rainbow Response Coalition, a local group that addresses domestic violence in the LGBT community. She has also helped victims and survivors of domestic violence, rape and child abuse as a volunteer for more than six years with the local group Heartly House.
- Community Advocacy Award — Joe Solmonese. For the past seven years Solmonese has served as president of the Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest LGBT civil rights group. CAGLCC says that in addition to overseeing legislative and political efforts to advance LGBT rights on the national and state level, Solmonese played a key role in launching new programs and projects in the faith and business sectors.
- Corporate Ally of the Year Award — Signal Financial Federal Credit Union. A long-time member of CAGLCC, Signal Financial has provided “consistent and valuable support” for CAGLCC’s programs and events, the group says. It has also “worked hard” to help CAGLCC members expand their businesses through loans, mortgages and merchant services.
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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