Arts & Entertainment

D.C. arts briefs: Sept. 14

Phasefest kicks off Thursday, Charlottesville has first-ever Pride and more

Published

14 years ago

September 13, 2012

Ayanna Alexander

Charlottesville to have first Pride festival

The first-ever Charlottesville Pride Festival will be held Saturday from 2 to 6 p.m. at Lee Park.

A new group, Cville Pride, has formed to organize the event. President Amy Sarah Marshall says it started small with just one vendor and two organizations, though things have taken off quickly.

Organizers now have more than 50 sponsors and vendors, along with about 600 attendees planning to come via the organization’s Facebook page.

Organizers plan a bounty of events for the day including poetry, music and drag performances and also food and kids’ activities. For more information, find the Cville group on Facebook. Lee Park is located one block north of the Downtown Mall, between Jefferson Street, First Street N.E., Market Street and Second Street N.E.

Mikey Torres of Glitterlust. The band performs next week at Phasefest. (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Phasefest kicks off Thursday

Phasefest kicks off Thursday at Phase One (525 8th St. SE Washington). Tickets are at $15 at the door. It runs through the weekend.

Look for indie bands like Bitch, Athen Boys Choir, Angie Head, People at Parties, Mitten, Hunter Valentine, D.C. band Glitterlust, Vanity Theft and many others. Weekend passes are $55. Tickets for individual nights are $15 Thursday, $20 for Sept. 22 and $25 for Sept. 22 and are available only at the door. Visit phasefest.com for details.

Center Hosts GenderQueer group

The GenderQueer D.C. Discussion Group will hold its monthly meeting at the D.C. Center (1318 U Street, NW) Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Every third Tuesday of each month, this support group meets to discuss its personal experiences with identifying and living outside the gender binary. They connect with those who are bigender, agender and others.

For more information, visit dccenter.org.

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Baltimore arts briefs: Sept. 14

FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM

Photos

PHOTOS: Fredericksburg Pride March and Festival

LGBTQ celebration held in historic Virginia town

Published

5 hours ago

June 29, 2026

Michael Key

A scene from the 2026 Fredericksburg Pride March. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The sixth annual Fredericksburg Pride March was held in downtown Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 27. Stafford County Board of Supervisors Chair Deuntay Diggs led the march alongside Fredericksburg City Council Member Jannan W. Holmes. The Fredericksburg Pride Festival took place at Riverfront Park after the march. Bree Fram was the featured speaker.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Egypt

Iran, Egypt play in World Cup ‘Pride Match’

FIFA allowed Pride flags inside Seattle stadium

Published

1 day ago

June 28, 2026

Michael K. Lavers

(Screen capture via KOMO News/YouTube)

Iran and Egypt on Friday faced off during the World Cup’s “Pride Match” in Seattle.

Iran is among the handful of countries in which consensual same-sex sexual relations remain punishable by death. Discrimination and persecution based on sexual orientation and gender identity is commonplace in Egypt.

Friday’s match coincided with Pride weekend in Seattle. The Egyptian Football Association and the Football Federation Islamic Republic of Iran both objected to playing in the “Pride Match.”

Egypt and Iran tied 1-1.

FIFA, for its part, allowed Pride flags inside the stadium during the match.

“The FIFA World Cup 2026 is an inclusive event that welcomes people from all backgrounds,” a FIFA spokesperson told the Washington Blade in a statement. “Fans of all sexual orientations and gender identities are welcome at matches and events. General statements of human rights, including rainbow flags and other flags representing sexual orientation and gender identity, are permitted under the FIFA World Cup 2026™ Stadium Code of Conduct and may be displayed inside stadiums provided they are used in a manner consistent with the code.”

Human Rights Watch welcomed FIFA’s decision to allow Pride flags inside the stadium. Outright International, a global LGBTQ and intersex rights group, distributed Pride flags in Seattle on Friday, which was Pride Match Day.

“Visibility matters,” said Outright International Executive Director Maria Sjödin. “Pride is now being celebrated in more than 100 countries, including this weekend in Seattle. For many LGBTIQ people, seeing a Pride flag in public is a reminder that they are not alone, and that their rights and dignity are recognized.”

FIFA President Gianni Infantino earlier this year told Die Weltwoche, a Swiss magazine, that “there will be no ‘Pride Match’ at the (FIFA) World Cup.”

“There will be a FIFA World Cup match in Seattle, and on the same day, events organized by external organizations will be taking place in the city,” said Infantino. “But that has nothing to do with the match itself.”

Peter Tatchell, a long-time LGBTQ activist from the U.K. who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, was among those who traveled to Seattle for Friday’s match. Tatchell accused FIFA of not vetting World Cup teams — specifically Iran, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Ghana, Senegal, Qatar, Tunisia, Morocco, Iraq, Uzbekistan, and Algeria — over whether they would allow gay players.

“FIFA is protecting LGBT+ visibility in the stands while failing to protect LGBT+ players on the pitch,” said Tatchell.