Local
Baltimore PFLAG to host discussion with author
‘In Our Midst’ is the story of two gay sons in a mid-Western community
(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
The Baltimore County chapter of PFLAG will present author Martha Johnson on March 26. She has written the novel “In Our Midst,” a story of two gay sons of a mid-Western community. This book is in the second round of the Amazon Breakthrough Novel award competition, which had 10,000 entries. Johnson, a former director of the General Services Administration, will discuss the novel.
It is 1990, and Stanton, Ind., is a typical town with church youth groups, a bustling diner, a summer Wood Carving Festival and a busy mayor who also runs the mortuary. But, this is not to be confused with a Norman Rockwell setting. The Gulf War is breaking out, Ryan White’s family lives nearby and AIDS is sweeping the nation.
Despite all that, Stanton does not appear to have any gay or lesbian people, or so it seems to Victor Beck, who worries about himself because he is attracted to boys. He distracts himself with his photography and tries to push aside his mother’s interest in his social life. As high school life unfolds, Victor gets acquainted with a new girl in town and begins to wonder if he has it wrong. Could he like Bridget in “that way”?
For her part, Bridget is learning her way around Stanton, having just moved from Chicago with her mom and sister. She is mourning her father who died of cancer and has strong ideas about loyalty and compassion for friends, which are soon to be tested.
Meanwhile, a second and earlier story unfolds of a Korean War soldier, Vaughn Evanston, who died the day he returned home to Stanton. His grieving parents learn that he had a gay lover and their decisions about how to respond to that knowledge fuel the cycles of secrecy, love, grief and memories that propel the story forward.
The stories of Victor and Vaughn become entwined and the good people of Stanton have to wrestle with their history, their prejudices and their commitment to the health and welfare of their children.
“In Our Midst” is general interest fiction that exposes homophobia in our society. The book involves an ensemble cast of sympathetic characters who are recognizable to us all.
According to Bloomberg Businessweek, “Johnson is not gay. Nor is she the parent of gay children. So where’d the idea come from? Years of serving in her Presbyterian church, watching it struggle with the issue of gay ordination in the 1990s, and realizing that sexuality just isn’t a big deal.”
The meeting will begin at 7 p.m. and takes place at the Towson Unitarian Universalist Church, 1710 Dulaney Valley Rd., Lutherville.
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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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