Local
SMYAL honors Katie O’Malley at Fall Brunch
Event at Mandarin Oriental raised $122,000
Maryland First Lady Katie O’Malley (Washington Blade photo by Jonathan Ellis)
The Sexual Minority Youth Assistance League (SMYAL) on Sunday honored Maryland First Lady Katie O’Malley for her efforts to combat bullying.
“It just breaks my heart when I hear the Tyler Clementi stories or young kids being [picked on] and called horrible things just because of who they are and what they choose to do,” said O’Malley during SMYAL’s annual Fall Brunch at the Mandarin Oriental in Southwest Washington. “It’s very, very troubling, so in Maryland we have been able to pass some pretty strong anti-bullying laws. But as I always tell kids when I go to schools you know you can have laws on the book, but it’s really about our culture.”
O’Malley, who is a judge on the Baltimore City Circuit Court, has appeared in an “It Gets Better” video for the Trevor Project. She has worked with Facebook and Time Warner to promote National Bullying Prevention Month. O’Malley also spoke at the U.S. Department of Education’s third annual Bullying Prevention Summit that took place in D.C. in August.
“You don’t have to be everybody’s friend, but you can look out for each other and you can be kind and we can try to promote that in our culture as best as we can,” she said. “I think it really goes a long way.”
“We’re so hopeful that in just 40-some days we’re going to be able to pass the marriage equality referendum,” she said.
SMYAL has worked with thousands of LGBT and questioning youth in the metropolitan area since a group of local activists founded the organization in 1984 in response to reports that young male D.C. public school students who acted “too effeminate” were incarcerated in St. Elizabeth’s Psychiatric Hospital.
Staffers and clients earlier this year testified in support of the city’s anti-bullying bill that Mayor Vincent Gray signed into law in June. SMYAL members in May joined Cyndi Lauper on Capitol Hill to raise awareness of homelessness among LGBT youth.
Andrew Barnett, the group’s executive director, noted that the new strategic plan that SMYAL adopted in March allows it to identify what he described as key issues facing LGBT youth and how the organization can most effectively respond to them.
“A really big piece of our strategic plan is knowing that there are hundreds, if not thousands of LGBTQ youth across this region, many of whom right now have no safe space. They have no support,” he said. “So a big piece of our strategic plan as we look to SMYAL’s future is to find ways for us to bring our programming to them. Finding ways for us to bring what we do at our youth center on Capitol Hill out into suburban Maryland and into Virginia, where we know there’s a huge, huge unmet need.”
NBC4 news anchor Wendy Rieger (Washington Blade photo by Jonathan Ellis)
NBC4 news anchor Wendy Rieger, who emceed the brunch that raised $122,000 for SMYAL, discussed how her 16-year-old niece recently texted a lesbian friend struggling to come out to her parents information about the organization.
“She said, ‘thank you so much, this is exactly what I’m looking for,’” recalled Rieger. “When you are in need of something, whether you find wildlife on the road and you don’t want this poor creature to suffer or whether a relative tells you this story and you’re thinking there’s someone whose confused out there, you want to be able to call someone. You want to be able to call someone. And that’s what SMYAL does. They’re there.”
SMYAL intern Tatiana Newman, who began attending the Women’s Leadership Institute’s meetings in February, agreed.
“When I found SMYAL I found safety, community and inspiration,” she said. “Being a lesbian in 2012 doesn’t mean I have a particularly easy live, but it’s one of change — change that SMYAL allows me to be a very proactive part of.”
SMYAL board member Cheryl S. Clarke discussed how the organization helped her after her oldest son Michael came out to her at the start of his senior year of college.
“I knew I needed to learn more about his community. I knew I wanted to be supportive of my son. I knew I wanted to educate myself to be in touch with resources that I needed to expand my repertoire,” she said, noting she reached out to current SMYAL Board Vice Chair Mike Schwartz for help. “’I said, Mike I need some help. I want to continue to be the best mother I can, but I want to now understand how to be an African American mother of an African American gay man.”
District of Columbia
Anti-LGBTQ violence prevention efforts highlighted at D.C. community fair
Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs organized May 8 event
Detailed advice on how LGBTQ people can avoid, defend themselves against, and prevent themselves and loved ones from becoming victims of violence, with a focus on domestic and intimate partner violence, was presented at a May 8 LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers Community Fair.
The event, organized by the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, included five workshop sessions and information tables set up by 14 LGBTQ-supportive organizations and D.C. government agencies or agency divisions, including the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s LGBT Liaison Unit and the D.C. LGBTQ+ Community Center.
Also playing a lead role in organizing the event was the D.C. LGBTQIA+ Violence Prevention and Response Team, or VPART, a coalition of D.C. officials and leaders of community-based organizations that work with the Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
The event was held in meeting space in the building where the Office of LGBTQ Affairs is located at 899 N. Capitol St., N.E.
The workshop topics included de-escalation training on healthy relationships, bystander intervention, self-defense training, violence prevention grants, and suicide prevention.
“This will be a public safety and violence prevention event where community partners will educate attendees on various methods of violence intervention and trauma-informed practices,” according to a statement released by the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs prior to the start of the event.
The statement adds, “We will have live demos, interactive games, and workshops focused on strategies for self-defense, protecting vulnerable communities, increasing access to mental health resources, providing tools for recognizing domestic violence/intimate partner violence signs in intimate relationships, and assistance for substance abuse.”
Sonya Joseph, associate director of engagement for the Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the Washington Blade that studies have shown rates of domestic or intimate partner violence are higher in the LGBTQ community than in the community at large.
“Domestic violence and intimate partner violence are two very big prevalent issues in the LGBTQ community,” she said, adding that some of the workshops at the event would be providing “training on healthy relationships and how to recognize and prevent intimate partner violence and the signs of it.”
About 35 to 40 people attended the workshop sessions.
Experts specializing in violence impacting the LGBTQ community have said domestic violence refers to violence among people in domestic relationships that can include spouses but also siblings, parents, cousins, and other relatives. Intimate partner violence, according to the experts, refers to violence perpetuated by a partner in a romantic or dating relationship.
These D.C. based organizations or agencies that participated in the LGBTQIA+ Safety in Numbers event, and which can be contacted for assistance, include:
• Defend Yourself
• DC LGBTQ+ Community Center
• American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
• Joseph’s House
• Us Helping Us, People into Living, Inc.
• MCSR (formerly known as Men Can Stop Rape)
• MPD LGBT Liaison Unit
• Volunteer Legal Advocates
• DC SAFE
• Destination Tomorrow
• D.C. Office of Victims Services and Justice Grants
• Life Enhancement Services
• ONYX Therapy Group
• U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
Rehoboth Beach
Celebrated performer Rose Levine plays Rehoboth on May 15
Freddie’s to host Fire Island legend
Rose Levine is a celebrated entertainer best known for her longstanding performances in Cherry Grove, Fire Island, since 1955 where she has become a beloved fixture of the community’s vibrant arts and nightlife scene. With a career spanning decades, Levine has captivated audiences with her cabaret singing shows full of charisma, classic numbers, humor, and unmistakable stage presence—proving that some stars don’t fade, they simply get better lighting.
Levine is also closely associated with the legendary Fire Island Invasion of the Pines, the annual Fourth of July spectacle in which performers and revelers make their grand (and gloriously over-the-top) entrance by boat from Cherry Grove to Fire Island Pines, now a 50-year tradition. Her role in launching and sustaining this tradition has helped make it one of the most iconic—and entertaining—events of the summer season.
A consummate storyteller, Levine brings audiences along for a glittering ride through entertainment history. Rose will sing her Broadway melodies by Jerry Herman, Irving Berlin, Cy Coleman, Cole Porter, and others. With music direction by Mark Hartman the one-night-only event will celebrate Levine’s legendary life in drag, featuring signature crowd-pleasers and celebrity stories. A friend of Broadway composer Jerry Herman, she shares delicious stories of legends like Ethel Merman and recalls a young Barbra Streisand before she became Barbra Streisand while both performing at the famed singing contests at Greenwich Village’s famed Lion nightclub before her big break at the Bon Soir. Her shows are a mix of music, mischief, and memories of old New York and Fire Island — back when Cherry Grove didn’t even have electricity, but somehow still had better nightlife than most cities today.
Her legendary Fire Island home, Roseland, has hosted its fair share of unforgettable gatherings (and likely a few stories that can’t be printed in a family newspaper), making it a cornerstone of the community’s social scene. Levine splits her time between Manhattan and her summer perch on Fire Island—though audiences across the country are grateful she travels.
In fact, she performs at The Green Room and 54 Below in Manhattan, Cherry Grove in Fire Island, Act 2 and The Palm in Puerto Vallarta, Red Dot Cabaret in Hudson, N.Y., and now Freddie’s in Rehoboth Beach—because retirement, frankly, sounds boring. Her place in the Guinness Book of World Records as the oldest continuously performing drag queen in the world only adds to the legend and gives her bragging rights she fully intends to use.
And now, Rehoboth—consider yourself warned.
Don’t miss Rose Levine live on May 15 at Freddie’s Beach Bar. Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m., with the show at 7 p.m. Come for the cocktails, stay for the stories, and leave wondering how one person can have that many fabulous decades.
Levine’s legacy is defined not only by her remarkable career, but by her ability to connect with audiences across generations—usually while making them laugh, gasp, and occasionally blush. Don’t miss this show.
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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