Local
O’Malley, Busch to co-host marriage equality fundraiser
First time Md. Speaker has raised money for same-sex marriage
Maryland House of Delegates Majority Leader Kumar Barve and Maryland House Speaker Michael Busch (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley and House Speaker Michael Busch (D-Anne Arundel County) are scheduled to co-host an Ocean City fundraiser for the campaign to defend the state’s same-sex marriage law next week.
The Washington Post reported that the Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser will take place on Tuesday, June 26 during the Maryland Municipal League’s convention. O’Malley spokesperson Raquel Guillory confirmed to the Blade that the governor will co-host the event.
“He sponsored legislation that passed and as we move toward the election, we need to raise funds to help ensure it is successful,” she said.
The Ocean City gathering is scheduled to take place less than two weeks after Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin, state Del. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City) and more than 170 others attended a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser in Baltimore. President Barack Obama on June 13 urged Maryland voters to support their state’s same-sex marriage law during a campaign event in the Charm City.
A Public Policy Polling survey in May found that 57 percent of Marylanders would support nuptials for gays and lesbians in the likely referendum. The same poll found that 55 percent of the state’s black voters back marriage rights for gays and lesbians, but the Maryland Marriage Alliance last month submitted more than double the 55,736 signatures needed to prompt a vote on the same-sex marriage law that O’Malley signed in March.
The Ocean City event will mark the first time that Busch, who had previously backed civil unions for gays and lesbians before he publicly endorsed nuptials for same-sex couples, will host a fundraiser in support of marriage equality.
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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
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