Local
Transgender hairstylist continues to give back
Brandi Ahzionae works as apprentice in Maryland salon
Transgender hairstylist apprentice Brandi Ahzionae has been working with Consuella Lopez to pursue her dreams. (Photo courtesy of Brandi Ahzionae)
Brandi Ahzionae of Southeast D.C. was at the official launch of the city’s transgender rights campaign at Mova on 14th Street, N.W., last September when she met Montgomery County hairstylist Consuella Lopez.
Lopez, who appeared in the campaign the D.C. Office of Human Rights created, began speaking with Ahzionae through Facebook and other social media networks.
Consuella Lopez at her Bethesda, Md., studio on June 17. (Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)
Ahzionae, who had just enrolled in Project Empowerment, a D.C. jobs initiative designed to reduce unemployment and poverty rates among trans Washingtonians, declined Lopez’s invitation to model for a calendar she was producing for Casa Ruby, a multicultural LGBT community center in Northwest Washington. Lopez subsequently invited Ahzionae to become her apprentice at Nivál Salon and Spa in Chevy Chase, Md., where she worked at the time.
She accepted the offer.
“She was like, what do you want to do with your life?” Ahzionae told the Washington Blade during a recent interview. “We talked more about that. She was like, great, I can help you do that. She then pulled me to the salon and then started the apprenticeship thing and it’s been great ever sense.”
Ahzionae now works alongside Lopez in the studio she opened inside an old dance studio near Bethesda Row in Bethesda, Md., in May.
Lopez, who is a licensed senior stylist in Maryland, is able to license Ahzionae as an apprentice for two years. Ahzionae will be able to obtain her own license at the end of her two-year apprenticeship in May 2015 if she passes a test.
In the meantime, Ahzionae is attending classes once a week at Aesthetics Institute of Cosmetology in Gaithersburg, Md., that the school’s director offered to her for free.
“We are working together as a team now,” Ahzionae said, adding she has also begun to build her own clientele. “I am her left hand in the salon.”
Lopez, who transitioned in 1992 when she was 18, began working in hair salons as an assistant when she was a child.
She and a friend in 2006 opened a salon and day spa in Georgetown that closed after 19 months. Lopez subsequently began working at Nivál – formerly the Ted Gibson Salon and Hela Spa – in Chevy Chase in 2008.
Lopez – who has worked with Anna Wintour, Patricia Arquette, Tracy Edmonds, Mila Kunis, Mindy Cohen, the Real Housewives of D.C. and other celebrities – told the Blade during an interview at her studio late last month that she feels it is important to provide trans people opportunities that “most girls don’t have.”
Ahzionae became homeless after her mother died when she was 13. She was also incarcerated for what she described as the “result of lifestyle.”
“I don’t want that to happen to anybody,” Lopez told the Blade. “If I were in that situation I would want someone to help me.”
She further stressed she believes in Ahzionae and “she has shown me.”
“She shows up to work, daily, in and out,” Lopez said. “She is working it right and still having clients in between.”
“I think she’s doing really, really well,” Casa Ruby CEO Ruby Corado, who has worked with Lopez since 2011, told the Blade on Tuesday. “I’m so glad that she found Consuella who’s mentoring her.”
As for Ahzionae, she hopes she will be able to continue to give back to her community.
She had written for VenusPlusX, a website co-founded by D.C. activists Alison Gardner and Dan Massey that advocates for sexual freedom.
Ahzione now produces a newsletter called the DMV Trans Circulator that seeks to create what its website describes as a “trans community inside and outside the prison walls in D.C., Md., and Va.” that is “free from imprisonment, police violence, racism and poverty.” She recently received a grant from the Diverse City Fund, which supports groups that work among communities of color.
Ahzione also looks to continue to give back at the salon and the clients with whom she works.
“My job is to make everything OK,” she said. “If I drop the ball, everything goes wrong. There’s a lot of work to be done, but I welcome the challenge and I think I’m tackling it pretty well.”
Ahzione also remains thankful to Lopez for inviting her to work with her.
“People don’t care about trans women trying to make a difference,” she said.” They don’t care and she does.”
Maryland
Annapolis Pride postponed due to weather
Parade and festival will not happen as scheduled, other events to take place
The annual celebration of the Annapolis LGBTQ community has been put on hold due to forecasted severe weather.
The Annapolis Pride parade and festival, both of which were supposed to take place on May 31, have been postponed until a later date.
Annapolis Pride Board Chair Joe Toolan announced the decision this afternoon, citing information given to the Pride board from emergency management agencies and weather forecasting models.
“The safety of our community comes first,” Toolan said. “Based on guidance from the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the 2025 Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival due to the very real threat of severe thunderstorms, lightning, and flooding.
“We are hoping to reschedule for some time this fall,” he added.
The National Weather Service has issued tornado and flood watches for large portions of the Mid-Atlantic area, more specifically in areas of Virginia, D.C., and Maryland — including Anne Arundel County where Annapolis is located.
The tornado watch only lasts until midnight, but the impacts of heavy downpours in the area can already be seen where the parade and festival were set to take place. The festival grounds at Bates Middle School are already experiencing flooding and over-saturation, and a flood watch remains in effect with more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.
“We are all sad and terribly disappointed that we cannot proceed with the parade and festival on Saturday,” Toolan said. “Hundreds of hours have been spent on planning and coordination, and we were expecting tens of thousands of attendees. But at the end of the day, safety concerns outweigh all other concerns.”
Toolan said the Pride board will announce a rescheduled date as soon as it is confirmed.
Even though the Annapolis Pride parade and festival have been postponed, there are a slew of other planned Pride events that will go on as scheduled:
May 30 – Ladies Night – SOLD OUT
6–10 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis
June 1 – Drag Brunch at Leo – SOLD OUT
10 a.m., Leo Annapolis Restaurant, 212 West St.
June 1 – Ecumenical Pride Worship Service
3 p.m., Eastport United Methodist Church, Annapolis
June 3 – Annapolis Pride Beer Launch
4–7 p.m., Forward Brewing, Annapolis
June 5 – Pride on the Pier
6–9 p.m., Bread and Butter Kitchen, Annapolis
June 6 – Big Gay Dance Party
10 p.m.–close, Tsunami Restaurant, 51 West St., Annapolis
June 7 – Pop-Up Market: Benefiting Annapolis Pride
10 a.m.–3 p.m., Annapolis Town Center
Special discounts @Kendra Scott 6/7–6/8
June 14 – Silent Disco
7–11 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis
June 21 – Teen Dance Party
6–9 p.m., Art Farm, Annapolis
For high school freshmen – juniors
*ticketed event
For more information on the postponement of Annapolis Pride, visit https://annapolispride.org/
District of Columbia
Bowser raises Pride flag over Wilson Building
Council members joined mayor to welcome WorldPride to D.C.
Close to 200 people turned out on Thursday, May 29, to watch D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, joined by members of the D.C. Council and officials with the Capital Pride Alliance, raise a large Pride flag on a tall flagpole in front of the John Wilson D.C. City Hall building.
The mayor, who joined others in speaking from a podium on the front steps of the Wilson Building, called the event the city’s official welcoming ceremony for hosting WordPride 2025 DC in the nation’s capital.
World Pride events, which began May 17, continue through June 8.
“Happy WorldPride in the gayest city in America,” Bowser told the crowd to loud cheers and applause.
Joining Bowser were five members of the D.C. Council, including gay Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who was among the Council members who also spoke at the event.
Also speaking were Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, the local LGBTQ group serving as lead organizer of WorldPride 2025, and Capital Pride Alliance Deputy Director June Crenshaw.
“This flag tells a story of love without apology,” Crenshaw said in her remarks at the podium. “Our community has never backed down, and we will not at this time of challenge,” she said.
Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the gathering that the city and especially Bowser and all city officials were proud to host WorldPride at the time of the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in D.C.
Among those attending the event and sitting in a front row seat was longtime D.C. gay activist Deacon Maccubbin, who organized the city’s first Gay Pride Day celebration in 1975. He was joined by his husband, Jim Bennett.
During the ceremony Bowser also presented Capital Pride Alliance officials with a mayoral proclamation proclaiming Thursday, May 29, 2025, as “A Day of Remembrance For Bernie Delia in Washington, D.C.” Delia, a longtime Capital Pride Alliance official and one of the lead organizers of WorldPride 2025, died unexpectedly of natural causes June 21, 2024
The other Council members participating in the event in addition to Parker were Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Matthew Ruman (D-Ward 3), and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6)
The Council members, Capital Pride officials, and LGBTQ community members stood next to Bowser as she raised the large Pride flag on a pole located to the right of the front steps and main entrance of the Wilson Building.
Arts & Entertainment
Shakira cancels WorldPride concert
Welcome event was set for Saturday at Nats Park
Internationally renowned singer Shakira’s WorldPride concert set for Saturday has been canceled, according to two knowledgeable sources who spoke to the Washington Blade.
LiveNation and the Washington Nationals made a formal announcement Friday afternoon.
Shakira’s concert at Boston’s Fenway Park was abruptly canceled on Thursday reportedly due to issues with the safety of the stage.
“Due to circumstances beyond my control, I am sad and heartbroken that I will not be able to be in Washington, D.C., with you tomorrow,” said Shakira in a statement posted on social media. “I hope that I can come back to D.C. as soon as I am able. Meanwhile, please know that I am eternally thankful for your unconditional support.”
“Like Shakira’s fans and our friends and family who have traveled from around the world to join us in D.C. this weekend, we are deeply disappointed that unforeseen circumstances have forced the cancellation of both this week’s concert in Boston and tomorrow’s concert at Nationals Park,” said the Capital Pride Alliance in a statement.
It’s unclear whether the WorldPride Welcome Concert that she was headlining will continue.
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