Local
Frumin, Bonds, Brown score highest GLAA ratings
Mara loses points for views on school vouchers
Interim D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large) (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
D.C. Council candidate Matthew Frumin, a Democrat, local attorney and Ward 3 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner, received a +7 rating from the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance Tuesday night, coming in ahead of his six competitors in the GLAA ratings.
Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large), who was appointed interim Council member until the special election is held on April 23, came in second with a +6.5 rating. Bonds is chair of the D.C. Democratic State Committee, which elected her to the interim Council post.
Former Council member Michael Brown, who’s running as a Democrat, came in third with a +6 rating.
“They were the highest-rated candidates in this race, but Perry Redd, Elissa Silverman, and Patrick Mara had scores that followed closely behind,” GLAA said in a statement referring to four of the other five candidates.
GLAA is a non-partisan LGBT advocacy group that’s been rating candidates on LGBT issues since the 1970s. It rates candidates on a scale of -10, the worst possible rating, to +10, the highest possible score. The group bases its ratings on candidates’ responses to a detailed questionnaire covering a wide range of mostly LGBT issues and their record on LGBT-related matters.
Redd, a Statehood Green Party candidate and advocate for ex-offenders, received a +5.5; Silverman, a Democrat, former Washington Post and City Paper reporter and budget analyst for the Fiscal Policy Institute, also received a +5.5. Mara, a Republican who serves as the Ward 1 member of the D.C. school board, received a +5. Attorney and Democratic contender Paul Zuckerberg, who has led efforts to legalize marijuana, came in last in the GLAA ratings with a +2.
“No candidate received a negative rating,” GLAA said in its statement accompanying the ratings, a development the group has said shows that most candidates running for public office in the city have been supportive on LGBT issues.
All seven candidates, including Zuckerberg, stated in their questionnaire responses that they support LGBT equality across the board, including the city’s same-sex marriage law. Each said they also support LGBT-backed legislation pending before the Council.
GLAA said in its statement that Zuckerberg and Mara lost points for not providing substantive answers to the questions, even though the two agreed with GLAA on most of the issues. Under the group’s rating system, a “yes” answer agreeing with a GLAA position earns a candidate just two points out of a possible 10 points. Candidates can gain or lose an additional four points based on the substance of their answers, which shows their level of understanding of the issues, according to GLAA.
Mara, who’s considered one of two frontrunners in the race, along with Brown, lost points – as he has in the past – by not supporting GLAA’s position that private religious operated schools should not receive city or federally funded vouchers. GLAA says it holds this position because private religious schools are exempt from the city’s Human Rights Act and are free to discriminate against students based on their sexual orientation or gender identity. The group says government funds shouldn’t be going to such schools.
Mara also lost points for his response to a question that asks whether the candidates favor legislation to eliminate legal standing for small ad hoc groups of citizens as well as civic associations to file a protest, or legal challenge, to liquor license applications. The question asked whether legal standing on those matters should be left to Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, whose members are elected.
“I do not support limiting peaceful protests or the right of citizen associations to engage in the political process,” Mara said in his response. “However, giving legal standing to one group and not another is a dangerous precedent,” he said.
Mara’s response appears to go against the positions of local business groups and nightlife advocates, who have complained that unelected civic and ad-hoc groups of as few as five people have blocked approval of licenses for restaurants and bars, even when the majority of nearby residents support the businesses.
Frumin, Bonds, and Silverman answered “yes” to the question, saying they support leaving the ANCs with the legal standing to challenge licenses when concerns about them are raised. Brown and Redd didn’t use the word yes, but said they support giving the ANC’s authority to file challenges to liquor license applications. Zuckerberg’s response was non-committal, saying he respects the work and dedication of both ANCs and “citizens that have a strong interest in liquor licensing issues.”
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)
a&e features
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
Washington Blade’s unique archives chronicle highs, lows of our movement
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of LGBTQ Pride in Washington, D.C., the Washington Blade team combed our archives and put together a glossy magazine showcasing five decades of celebrations in the city. Below is a sampling of images from the magazine but be sure to find a print copy starting this week.
The magazine is being distributed now and is complimentary. You can find copies at LGBTQ bars and restaurants across the city. Or visit the Blade booth at the Pride festival on June 7 and 8 where we will distribute copies.
Thank you to our advertisers and sponsors, whose support has enabled us to distribute the magazine free of charge. And thanks to our dedicated team at the Blade, especially Photo Editor Michael Key, who spent many hours searching the archives for the best images, many of which are unique to the Blade and cannot be found elsewhere. And thanks to our dynamic production team of Meaghan Juba, who designed the magazine, and Phil Rockstroh who managed the process. Stephen Rutgers and Brian Pitts handled sales and marketing and staff writers Lou Chibbaro Jr., Christopher Kane, Michael K. Lavers, Joe Reberkenny along with freelancer and former Blade staffer Joey DiGuglielmo wrote the essays.
The magazine represents more than 50 years of hard work by countless reporters, editors, advertising sales reps, photographers, and other media professionals who have brought you the Washington Blade since 1969.
We hope you enjoy the magazine and keep it as a reminder of all the many ups and downs our local LGBTQ community has experienced over the past 50 years.
I hope you will consider supporting our vital mission by becoming a Blade member today. At a time when reliable, accurate LGBTQ news is more essential than ever, your contribution helps make it possible. With a monthly gift starting at just $7, you’ll ensure that the Blade remains a trusted, free resource for the community — now and for years to come. Click here to help fund LGBTQ journalism.
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