Arts & Entertainment

Pride calendar

Events galore slated for entire weekend

Published

13 years ago

June 6, 2013

Will Owen

Last year’s Capital Pride. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Friday, June 7

Brightest Young Things and Capital Pride present “Spandex: Official Opening Dance Party tonight at the newly restored, historic Wonder Bread Factory (621 S St., N.W.) at 9 p.m. Admission is 18 and older. Tickets are $20 if purchased ahead of time and $25 if purchased the day of the party. Visit capitalpride.org for details.

CHECK OUT ALL OF OUR PRIDE COVERAGE HERE!

The D.C. Front Runners have their Pride Run 5K tonight from 7-9 p.m. starting at the Congressional Cemetery (1801 E St., S.E.). Hundreds of runners from the area will participate and a portion of the funds raised will benefit an LGBT athlete through the Team D.C. Scholarship program. Visit capitalpride.org or dcfrontrunners.org for more information.

The Jewish Community Center (1529 16^th St., N.W.) hosts Pride Shabbat tonight at 8 p.m. A special Pride oneg will be held after services. For more information, visit capitalpride.org.

Town (2009 8^th St., N.W.) hosts a Pride Party featuring Willam, Detox and Vicky tonight at 10 p.m. The trio will perform in the drag show and then each will sing live individually on the main stage. Admission is $20 and open to guests 18 and over. For details, visit towndc.com.

Cobalt (2009 8^th St., N.W.) hosts Pride Free Vodka tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. DJs Drew G. and Keenan Orr will be spinning. Admission is $12 and free rail vodka will be served from 11-midnight. For details, visit cobaltdc.com.

Velvet Lounge (915 U St., N.W.) presents Comedy on the Table tonight at 7 p.m. The show highlights funny women in the area with both LGBT and straight performers. Admission is $5. For more information, visit capitalpride.org.

The Kimptom Palomar Hotel (2121 P St., N.W.) hosts “A Night Out for Trevor” from 7-9:30 p.m. this evening to benefit Capital Pride and The Trevor Project. The event includes an open bar, food, entertainment and a silent auction. Admission is $75 in advance and $85 the day of. Tickets are available online at thetrevorproject.org. For more details, visit capitalpride.org.

Saturday, June 8: Pride Parade Day

The official Capital Pride Parade is today from 4:30-7:30 p.m., starting at P and 22^nd Streets and ending in Logan Circle. About 100,000 spectators are expected to attend and around 170 organizations will participate. For more information, visit capitalpride.org or the event on Facebook.

Tagg Magazine, LURe and Capital Pride host “F.U.S.E.: The Capital Pride Women’s Main Event” this evening at Phase 1 of Dupont (1415 22^nd St., N.W.). For details, visit capitalpride.org.

The Jewish Community Center (1529 16^th St., N.W.) hosts Pride Shabbat this morning at 10 a.m. A Kiddush luncheon will be held after the service. For more details, visit capitalpride.org.

Town (2009 8^th St., N.W.) hosts a Pride Party featuring Alaska, Jinkx and Roxxxy this evening at 9 p.m. All three performers were finalists on the last season of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” and will perform together at 10. Admission is $20 and limited to guests 21 and over. Visit towndc.com for more information.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BfrSNia5gYU

Phase 1 (525 8^th St., S.E.) hosts “Apocalypto,” a post-Pride Parade dance party, from 7:30 p.m.-3 a.m. tonight. Cover is $5. For details, visit phase1dc.com or the event on Facebook.

Cobalt (2009 8^th St., N.W.) hosts Pride Saturday with DJ Eddie Elias tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. Cover is $5 before 10 and $15 from 10-close. For more information, visit cobaltdc.com.

The Rainbow History Project provides a Historic Gay D.C. Walking Tour this morning from 10-11:30 a.m. The tour starts at the corner of Q and 20^th Streets, across from the Dupont Circle Metro. Visit capitalpride.org for more information.

The British Embassy hosts a British-themed, post-parade Pride party tonight form 6:30-9 p.m. at Brixton (901 U St., N.W.). The event will celebrate the British Embassy’s inaugural participation in Capital Pride this year. For details, visit capitalpride.org.

Sunday, June 9: Pride Festival Day

The official Capital Pride Festival is today along Pennsylvania Ave. between 3^rd and 7^th streets starting at noon. The day will be full of food, entertainment, music, education and celebration. Icona Pop, Cher Lloyd and Emeli Sandé are this year’s headlining performers. For more information, visit the event on Facebook or capitalpride.org.

Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.) hosts the official Capital Pride Closing Party tonight from 9 p.m.-2 a.m. Admission is 18 and older and there is a $5 cover charge benefiting Capital Pride. Visit cobaltdc.comor capitalpride.org for details.

Tropicalia (2001 14^th St., N.W.) hosts a Pride After Hours Party from 4-9:30 a.m. Tickets are $40 at the door and $35 online and all proceeds benefit Capital Pride and Cherry Fund, a local HIV/AIDS service organization. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit cherryfund.com or the event on Facebook.

Capital Pride Parade, gay news, Washington Blade

The 2013 Capital Pride Parade route.

Capital Pride Street Festival, gay news, Washington Blade

2013 Capital Pride Street Festival.

Related Topics:Capital Pride District of Columbia Out & About

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Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

7 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.