Local

AIDS 2012: HIV/AIDS activists heckle Gray at Global Village

Housing Works protesters criticized Gray’s response to D.C. epidemic

Published

14 years ago

July 23, 2012

Michael K. Lavers

Protesters disrupt Mayor Vincent Gray’s Global Village speech (Blade photo by Michael Key)

More than a dozen HIV/AIDS activists on Monday heckled Mayor Vincent Gray as he spoke at the International AIDS Conference’s Global Village.

Housing Works members chanted “numbers don’t lie, politicians do” and other slogans as he took the stage inside the Walter E. Washington Convention Center. They repeatedly accused Gray of not doing enough to combat the city’s HIV/AIDS epidemic as he tried to speak.

“We have the leadership of our health department here and we will be happy to talk with you all about and share with you the plan we have,” said Gray, who specifically pointed out Dr. Gregory Pappas of the Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease and Tuberculosis Administration to the protesters. “We will be happy to discuss that with you. We’ll share documents with you.”

The mayor noted that no baby has been born with HIV in D.C. since 2009. Gray also referenced the campaign that city officials unveiled last month that encourages testing among D.C.’s 30,000 employees — he gets tested annually and publicly announces the results.

“I am personally committed finding a cure to this disease,” said Gray. “We know that treatment is prevention.”

The DOH’s latest epidemiological report indicates that 2.7 percent of D.C. residents were living with HIV at the end of 2010. New diagnoses dropped 36 percent among white Washingtonians and 24 percent among the city’s black residents between 2006 and 2010.

Gray reiterated during his speech at the AIDS Memorial Quilt’s opening ceremony on the National Mall on Sunday that the city has distributed more than five million male and female condoms in 2011. He has also credited D.C.’s needle exchange program for the 72 percent drop in HIV rates among intravenous drug users between 2007 and 2010.

“Housing was not on that list,” said Keith Holder of Southeast Washington, who has been HIV-positive since 1985. He told the Blade that he has been on a waiting list for housing for those with the virus since 2001. “Without housing, you’re not going to survive.”

Pappas noted that most of the 1,000 people with HIV who have requested housing support from the city currently live with family and friends. Gray has established an interagency task force to address the issue, but Pappas acknowledged to the Blade that housing for Washingtonians with HIV remains a major problem.

“Most large American cities experience serious housing problems and D.C. is working with HUD (the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development) to seek funding,” he said.

In addition to housing for people with HIV, D.C. resident Larry Bryant questioned the city’s overall response to the epidemic. He acknowledged the city’s increased testing rates and improved data collection. Bryant stressed, however, that he feels the Gray administration has not done enough to tackle socio-economic and other underlying issues that further contribute to the epidemic’s impact among disproportionately affected communities.

“We’re not looking at prevention in a more comprehensive way,” said Bryant, who has lived with HIV for more than 20 years. “We’re not looking at socio-economic factors that contribute to the epidemic and the most recent surveillance numbers prove that fact both among women, poor women, people of color and heterosexual couples as well.”

Up Next

Gay couple attacked in possible hate crime

Don't Miss

Fast Five Fix: July 23

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Baltimore

Popular Mount Vernon gay bar Leon’s to temporarily close after owner’s death

Ron Singer passed away on July 7

Published

1 day ago

July 17, 2026

Baltimore Banner

Leon’s Backroom Bar in Mount Vernon. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

By WESLEY CASE | Leon’s Backroom, Baltimore’s oldest gay bar, temporarily shut down after service on Wednesday night, according to a post on the business’s Instagram page.

The announcement comes a little more than a week after the death of the Mount Vernon bar’s owner, Ron Singer, who died at 66 on July 7.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

Local

Comings & Goings

New garden center offers array of products in Rehoboth

Published

2 days ago

July 17, 2026

Peter Rosenstein

Bay Laurel Home & Garden is located just outside Rehoboth on Route 1.

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].

Congratulations to Stuart Ortel and Scott Marker, and Dave Lyons and Rick Hardy, on the recent opening of their garden center on Route 1 in Rehoboth Beach, in the former Farmer Girl site. It is called Bay Laurel Home and Garden and debuted earlier this year. The four owners are all well known to the denizens of Rehoboth Beach.

Stuart and Scott have been active members of the Rehoboth Beach community since 1999. Stuart is a landscape architect, and has established relationships with many local folks in the building and landscape industry. When this opportunity for Bay Laurel Home & Garden presented itself, and they had the perfect team of people in place, he and Scott were committed to making it a reality. So, when Scott and Stuart introduced this opportunity to create a new garden center to Dave and Rick, they embraced the chance to cultivate a business where beautiful plants, inspiring home and garden products, and outstanding customer service come together. Dave and Rick knew about owning a business in Rehoboth as they previously owned Coho’s Market, where they discovered firsthand the value of serving their community, and the rewards of running a locally owned business.

The garden center launched with a refreshed brand identity, updated merchandising, and expanded product lines, all designed to create an inspiring and welcoming environment for your home. Bay Laurel Home & Garden offers a beautifully appointed garden center and curated home and gift shop.

The new center features a full nursery with annuals, perennials, shrubs, trees, and seasonal selections; a garden center offering pottery, fountains, and garden ornamentation, and essential tools and garden supplies. It has a garden shop featuring unique indoor/outdoor furnishings and accessories, and a gift shop featuring botanical and coastal style items for home and entertaining.

Rehoboth Beach

Celebrate Pride in Rehoboth Beach this weekend

‘A vital space for community, healing, and connection’

Published

4 days ago

July 15, 2026

Thomas Weaverling

Rehoboth’s Pride festivities kick off Friday. (Washington Blade file photo by Daniel Truitt)

Pride in Rehoboth Beach is kicking off this week on Friday, July 17, with events happening throughout the weekend.

“Rehoboth Beach Pride is more than a festival — it is a vital space for community, healing, and connection,” said David Mariner, director of Sussex Pride, which organizes many of the events.

The weekend will begin with the Grand Opening & Community Preview from 1-4 p.m. on Friday, July 17, celebrating the opening of Novus Medical Services and the new Sussex Pride Community Center.

This will be followed by an Interfaith Pride Service at 6 p.m. at the Metropolitan Community Church Rehoboth to gather for healing and the affirmation of queer spirituality with Rev. Carla Christopher, chair of Sussex Pride Faith.

Members of the community are then invited to head over to join the Rehoboth Beach Bears at the Pines to have dinner, mingle, and give back to local initiatives.

End the first night of Pride in Rehoboth at Diego’s Bar & Nightclub with music by DJ Joey P from 9 p.m.-1 a.m.

Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival will take place on Saturday, July 18, 2026, from 9 a.m.- 3 p.m. inside the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center. A full list of events is available at rehobothbeachpride.org.

Roxy Overbrooke will host on the main stage as live performances take place throughout the day, featuring music from DJ MK and Tribe 9 Entertainment.

The festival will include educational workshops, community meetups, and a raffle dedicated to raising funds for unhoused LGBTQ+ youth across Delaware.

Feature workshops include panels discussing topics such as unhoused LGBTQ+ youth in Delaware, the needs of trans and non-binary youth, as well as the increase in HIV and syphilis diagnoses amid federal budget cuts, in a panel moderated by Blade Editor Kevin Naff.

Saturday night will also feature an evening comedy and entertainment show at the Convention Center presented by the Gay Women of Rehoboth. Performers will include comedians Suzanne Westen h oefer and Karen Mills as well as musician Kristen Merlin. Tickets are available at gaywomenofrehoboth.org.

The Rehoboth Beach Pride Ride will take place at 10 a.m. on Sunday, July 19, hosted by the Dykes on Bikes Rehoboth Beach Women’s Motorcycle Club, starting at Lefty’s.

Goolee’s Drag Brunch will also take place on Sunday from 12-2 p.m at Goolee’s Grille. This is a family-friendly event hosted by Regina Cox and Ruby, featuring Aurora Sterling, Michelle Leigh Sterling, Scarlet St. Cartier, and Joanna Blue. Tickets can be purchased online.

Pride in Rehoboth will conclude at 2 p.m. with the official Rehoboth Beach Pride Closing Party at Aqua Bar & Grill, celebrating the venue’s landmark 20th anniversary with DJ Biff until 7 p.m.

Due to an influx of visitors for the summer season, those coming from out-of-town are encouraged to use the Park & Ride.