Local
Eastern Shore inn to host Jan. 1 same-sex weddings
Owners of the Black Walnut Point Inn on Tilghman Island are among those to marry on New Year’s Day.
Tracy Staples and Bob Zuber, co-owners of the Black Walnut Point Inn in Tilghman Island, Md., are among the couples who will get married at the Eastern Shore resort on Jan. 1. (Photo courtesy of Tracy Staples and Bob Zuber)
Bob Zuber and Tracy Staples, who have owned the Black Walnut Point Inn on Tilghman Island for two and a half years, told the Washington Blade on Monday eight couples have booked Jan. 1 weddings on the property. Zuber said there’s a “whole bunch of other couples that are thinking about it, talking about it.”
Two If By Sea Café will host a pre-wedding brunch before the couples exchange vows at the Black Walnut Point Inn. The gay-owned Tilghman Island Inn will host a post-wedding reception, dinner and cake cutting for the couples.
Zuber and Staples, who have been together for six years and had registered to get married in D.C., will tie the knot on Jan. 1. They are the second same-sex couple to obtain a marriage license in Talbot County after clerks began issuing them to gays and lesbians on Dec. 6.
“We knew we were coming out here,” Zuber said. “We wanted to wait until Maryland did it and then wanted to be the first ones to get married here.”
Zuber said two lesbian couples are scheduled to get married at the inn in March. He and Staples have received additional inquiries from across the country.
“The whole entire island community is behind this,” Staples said. “They’re not against us. No one is saying ‘No, you can’t come down here.’ or ‘No, we’re not going to participate in same-sex [marriage.]’ The entire island is like, ‘Oh great, when is this going to happen? What can we do to help?’”
Attorney General Doug Gansler wrote on Nov. 29 that same-sex couples could begin to legally marry in Maryland on Jan. 1 – several are planning to tie the knot just after midnight on New Year’s Day. These include a group of same-sex couples in Cumberland and Ellicott City residents Dale Knight and Jeff Arney who discussed their wedding plans with the Blade last week.
“We try to create a gay-friendly place on Tilghman Island,” David McCallum, owner of the Tilghman Island Inn, said. “We all cooperate on the island to create an atmosphere and to give people choices. It’s certainly something I think has been a long-time coming and I think it’s pretty exciting that Maryland actually affirmed this in referendum. I expected eventually that it was going to have to be a Supreme Court ruling, but it’s sort of nice to know that the world has changed this much.”
An Annapolis tour company earlier this month announced it will no longer take part in weddings because of the same-sex wedding law, but Staples said Tilghman Island residents and businesses continue to welcome nuptials for gays and lesbians in Maryland.
“When we got wind of that, the entire island was like wow, that’s really interesting,” he said. “Why go where you’re tolerated. Come here where you’re celebrated.”
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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