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D.C. officials mark National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day
Gray and others spoke at a press conference in Freedom Plaza
D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Mayor Vincent Gray stressed Thursday during a press conference at Freedom Plaza to mark National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day that testing positive for the virus no longer amounts to “a death sentence.”
“If you get into treatment and stay in treatment, you can live as long a life as anybody else,” he said.
First held by the National Association of People with AIDS in 2008, National Gay Men’s HIV/AIDS Awareness Day seeks to raise awareness of the epidemic’s impact on men who have sex with men. NAPWA President Frank Oldham, Jr., who has lived with HIV since the late 1980s, noted that the epidemic has killed 280,000 gay men since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the first cases of what became known as AIDS in 1981.
“We’re here today because 280,000 gay men — white gay men, black gay men, Latino gay men, Asian and Pacific Islander gay men have lost their lives to AIDS since the beginning of the epidemic,” he said. “We honor them and we’re here to save the gay men who are living today from destruction by HIV and AIDS.”
Although Department of Health statistics indicate that new HIV diagnoses dropped 36 percent among white Washingtonians and 24 percent among black men in D.C. between 2006 and 2010, 2.7 percent of city residents were still living with the virus at the end of 2010. DOH interim director Dr. Saul Levin noted that between 14 and 20 percent of gay and bisexual men — and an estimated 30 percent of black MSM — in the nation’s capital live with HIV. He further pointed out that a third of all new HIV/AIDS cases were transmitted through MSM.
“Like the mayor, NAPWA has been a voice and a conscience of both the District and the nation in ensuring HIV’s discussed, prevention programs and treatment being the goal we must achieve and continue to achieve,” said Levin. “I’ve seen many of my friends in the gay community grapple with the epidemic since the 1980s. We need to make sure that now when we have these great medications that make it a chronic disease, that we do not see new people coming in and getting HIV/AIDS. And if they do, we need to get them into treatment as soon as possible.”
Doctor Gregory Pappas of the DOH’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, Sexually Transmitted Disease and Tuberculosis Administration joined Jeffrey Richardson, director of the Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs; Venton Jones of the National Black Gay Men’s Advocacy Coalition; David Mariner, executive director of the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community and other HIV/AIDS service providers and activists at the press conference.
“We recognize that when one discovers that they’ve tested positive, it’s no longer a death sentence, but far too many people have become cavalier about it,” said former Mayor Sharon Pratt Kelly. “And so what is the purpose of today? To remind everybody that we can still move forward, but we can do it with the two T’s: testing and treatment. Well you’ve got to test, and then you’ve got to treat. We’ve got to encourage people to recognize that this is something that impacts all of us and all of us therefore need to test and treat. And eventually it won’t be the two T’s; it will be the one C for the cure.”
President of the National Association of People with AIDS Frank Oldham, Jr. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
World Pride 2025
D.C. liquor board extends drinking hours for WorldPride
Gay bars, other liquor-serving establishments can stay open 24 hours
D.C.’s Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Board, which regulates liquor sales for the city’s bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and other establishments licensed to serve alcoholic beverages, has approved extended hours for alcohol service and sales during the days when most WorldPride events will be held in the nation’s capital.
In a May 2 announcement, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration, which works with the board, said the extended liquor serving and sales hours for WorldPride will take place beginning Friday, May 30, through 4 a.m. Monday, June 9.
Although the official schedule for WorldPride events shows the events will take place May 17-June 8, most of the large events, including a two-day Pride street festival, parade, and concert, were expected to take place between May 30 and June 8.
According to the ABCA announcement and an ABCA spokesperson, liquor servicing establishments with the appropriate license can stay open for 24 hours and serve alcoholic beverages from 6 a.m. through the day and evening until 4 a.m., with no liquor sales allowed from 4 a.m. to 6 a.m. during the May 30-June 9 period.
The ABCA announcement says liquor serving establishments must apply for the extended hours option and pay a $100 registration fee by a deadline on May 27.
Sources familiar with the liquor board have said the board has for many years approved the extension of liquor serving and sales hours for important events and for certain holidays such as New Year’s Eve.
At the time it approved the extended hours for WorldPride the liquor board also approved extended hours during the time when games for a World Cup soccer tournament will be held in the city on June 18, June 22, and June 26.
It couldn’t immediately be determined how many of D.C.’s 22 LGBTQ bars plan to apply for the extended drinking hours. David Perruzza, owner of the Adams Morgan gay bar Pitchers and its adjoining lesbian bar A League of Her Own, said he will apply for the 4 a.m. extended hours option but he does not intend to keep the two bars open for the full 23 hours.
Under the city’s current alcoholic beverage regulations, licensed liquor serving establishments may serve alcoholic beverages until 2 a.m. on weekdays and 3 a.m. on weekends.
World Pride 2025
Episcopal bishop to speak at WorldPride human rights conference
Trump demanded apology from Mariann Edgar Budde over post-Inauguration sermon
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde is among those who are scheduled to speak at the WorldPride 2025 Human Rights Conference that will take place from June 4-6.
Budde, who is the bishop of the Diocese of Washington, in January urged President Donald Trump “to have mercy” on LGBTQ people, immigrants, and others “who are scared right now” during a post-Inauguration service that he and Vice President JD Vance attended at the Washington National Cathedral. Trump criticized Budde’s comments and demanded an apology.
The Right Rev. Mariann Edgar Budde speaks at the Washington National Cathedral on Jan. 21, 2025. (PBS NewsHour clip)
A press release the Washington Blade received notes Icelandic Industries Minister Hanna Katrín Friðriksson, UK Black Pride founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah, and Bob the Drag Queen are among those who are also expected to participate in the conference.
The conference will take place at the JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and registration is open here.
World Pride 2025
Pabllo Vittar to perform at WorldPride
Brazilian drag queen, singer, joined Madonna on stage in 2024 Rio concert
A Brazilian drag queen and singer who performed with Madonna at her 2024 concert on Rio de Janeiro’s Copacabana Beach will perform at WorldPride.
The Capital Pride Alliance on Thursday announced Pabllo Vittar will perform on the Main Stage of the main party that will take place on June 7 at DCBX (1235 W St., N.E.) in Northeast D.C.
Vittar and Anitta, a Brazilian pop star who is bisexual, on May 4, 2024, joined Madonna on stage at her free concert, which was the last one of her Celebration Tour. Authorities estimated 1.6 million people attended.
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