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Four D.C. gays named as presidential electors
Two gay Republicans and two gay Libertarians have been named by their parties to serve as presidential electors in D.C. under the Electoral College system
Two gay Republicans and two gay Libertarians have been named by their parties to serve as presidential electors in D.C. under the Electoral College system. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Two gay Republicans and two gay Libertarian Party members have been named by their respective parties to serve as presidential electors in the District of Columbia under the Electoral College system established by the U.S. Constitution.
The D.C. Republican Committee named its chairman, gay Republican activist Robert Kabel, and one of its members, gay Republican Jose Cunningham, as two of D.C.’s three electors pledged to vote for GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
The D.C. Libertarian Party named gay Libertarian activist Bruce Majors and gay conservative advocate Christopher Barron as two of the city’s three electors pledged to vote for Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, the former governor of New Mexico.
Majors is also running as a Libertarian Party candidate against Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) in the Nov. 6 election. Barron is co-founder and a current board member of the gay conservative group GOProud, which has endorsed Romney for president.
Kabel, a former board chair of Log Cabin Republicans, a national gay Republican group, said the Romney campaign vetted and approved his and Cunningham’s appointment as Romney electors.
Kabel served as a Romney delegate and Cunningham served as a Romney alternate delegate at the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., last month.
The D.C. Democratic Party selected its own three electors to vote in the Electoral College in December on behalf of President Obama, who is considered the odds on favorite to win the popular vote in D.C. The D.C. Democratic Party named City Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7), attorney and longtime Democratic Party activist Don Dinan, and former City Council member William Lightfoot (D-At-Large) to serve as Obama electors.
Under the electoral college system, as practiced in most states and D.C., the presidential candidate winning the popular vote in a state or D.C. is entitled to the send the electors selected by his party on his behalf to the U.S. Capital to cast their vote for president. The Electoral College traditionally has voted on the Monday following the second Wednesday of December in a presidential election year.
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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)
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