News
Area sports teams adopt gay-inclusive policies
DC United player Dwayne De Rosario appears in anti-discrimination campaign

Nationals Stadium on opening day (Photo by Michael Myers via Wikimedia Commons)
Local professional sports teams continue to make strides towards protecting their gay employees from discrimination and harassment in the workplace.
A spokesperson for the Washington Nationals noted to the Washington Blade the team’s policies and procedures “are designed to support the provisions” of the D.C. Human Rights Act that ban discrimination based on more than a dozen factors that include sexual orientation and gender identity and expression. The Baltimore Orioles have a zero-tolerance policy for anti-gay harassment and discrimination as outlined in Major League Baseball’s Workplace Code of Conduct.
“Harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation are against MLB’s values and will not be tolerated anywhere in the major or minor leagues,” the policy reads.
FIND MORE OF THE WASHINGTON BLADE SPORTS ISSUE HERE.
The Baltimore Ravens have also adopted a policy that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity and expression.
The franchise repeatedly defended then-linebacker Brendon Ayanbadejo’s advocacy for marriage rights for same-sex couples after state Del. Emmett Burns (D-Baltimore County) urged Ravens owner Steve Bisciotti that Ayanbadejo “should concentrate on football and steer clear of dividing the fan base” after he learned he had donated two Ravens tickets as part of a Marylanders for Marriage Equality fundraiser.
“Brendon is permitted to express his viewpoints,” team spokesperson Patrick Gleason told the Blade before the Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers in this year’s Super Bowl. “The Ravens have always supported his right to free speech.”
The Washington Wizards did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment, but the collective bargaining agreement the NBA reached in 2011 includes sexual orientation in its anti-discrimination policies. The league also has those protections in place for its employees.
Both NBA Commissioner David Stern and Wizards President Ernie Grunfeld applauded Jason Collins after he came out as gay in an op-ed published to Sports Illustrated’s website in April.
“We are extremely proud of Jason and support his decision to live his life proudly and openly,” Grunfeld said. “He’s been a leader on and off the court and an outstanding teammate throughout his NBA career. Those qualities will continue to serve him both as a player and as a positive role model for others of all sexual orientations.”
The Washington Capitals did not respond to the Blade’s request for comment, but the National Hockey League’s anti-discrimination policy has included sexual orientation since 2005. The National Football League’s handbook states harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation “are contrary to our values.”
National Center for Lesbian Rights Sports Director Helen Carroll told the Blade that more fans are asking professional sports teams to adopt LGBT-inclusive policies.
She said she feels Ayanbadejo, Chris Kluwe of the Oakland Raiders and other athletes who back marriage rights for same-sex couples have contributed to this increased support. Carroll added societal shifts in support of LGBT rights are also a factor.
“It has put everything front and center in a brand new light,” she said.
Teams host LGBT fan nights, support anti-discrimination campaigns

Last year’s Night Out at the Nationals was sponsored by Team D.C. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
Team D.C. organizes LGBT fan nights that take place during Wizards, Nationals and Washington Mystic games and Washington Kastles matches. Ayanbadejo and the Orioles each made a video for the “It Gets Better” project against bullying.
The San Francisco Giants, the Chicago Cubs, the Boston Red Sox and Seattle’s four professional sports teams are among those that have also made their own “It Gets Better” video.
Dwayne De Rosario of DC United, Landon Donovan of the Los Angeles Galaxy and Kyle Beckerman of Real Salt Lake appear in a gay-inclusive anti-discrimination campaign that Major League Soccer launched last year. AS Roma in July backed the “Don’t Cross the Line” initiative that also seeks to combat racism in professional soccer before they played against each other during the MLS All-Star Game that took place in Kansas City, Kan., on July 31.
“The response has been really well received from the soccer community,” de Rosario told the Blade during a recent interview. “A lot of people are on board and want to see certain things that are involved in sports out of sports.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aHmTvpmLFKA
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.
The Vatican
Executive director of LGBTQ Catholic group to travel to Rome for conclave
Marianne Duddy-Burke met Pope Francis in 2023

The executive director of a group that represents LGBTQ Catholics will travel to Rome next week for the papal conclave that starts on May 7.
DignityUSA Executive Director Marianne Duddy-Burke on Thursday told the Washington Blade she will arrive in Rome on May 6. Duddy-Burke said she plans to spend time in St. Peter’s Square “and have conversations with people.”
“I will wear Dignity insignia, have rainbow flags,” she said.
Pope Francis died on April 21. His funeral took place five days later.
The Vatican’s tone on LGBTQ and intersex issues softened under the Argentine-born pope’s papacy, even though church teachings on homosexuality did not change.
Francis, among other things, described laws that criminalize consensual same-sex sexual relations as “unjust” and supported civil unions for gays and lesbians. Transgender people were among those who greeted Francis’s coffin at Rome’s St. Mary Major Basilica before his burial on April 26.
Duddy-Burke and two others from the Global Network of Rainbow Catholics met with Francis in October 2023 during a meeting that focused on the Catholic Church’s future. Duddy-Burke noted Francis “invited” her and her colleagues as his “special guests for the audience and then had a conversation with him afterwards.”
“For me the sort of visibility that he (Francis) brought to our community and to our concerns feels irreversible,” said Duddy-Burke. “He empowered so many people and so many new ministries.”
Cardinal Fridolin Ambongo Besungu — the archbishop of Kinshasa in Congo who has described homosexuality as an “abomination” — is among the cardinals who are reportedly in the running to succeed Francis.
“I really don’t know,” said Duddy-Burke when the Blade asked her who the next pope will be. “Of course, I am hoping and praying hard that it will be someone who will continue to lead the church on responsiveness of human need and greater inclusivity.”
“What happens in that room is such a mystery,” she added.
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.
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