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BY JOHN-JOHN WILLIAMS IV | Bailey Anne’s mom was apprehensive when she told her she was going to compete for the Miss Maryland USA pageant.

Her mom thought her transgender daughter might be harassed and ridiculed, and worried about her safety.

“I told her that the world is changing,” recalled Bailey Anne, who doesn’t use her last name because her identity has unfortunately also come with threats from people who don’t agree with it.

And so she competed this year and became the state’s first trans woman titleholder. She was also Maryland’s first Asian American winner and the oldest contestant to represent the state in the Miss USA pageant.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

A  local auctioneer company has announced a large collection of artwork and other eclectic property from the estate of D.C. LGBTQ rights advocate Bernie Delia will be available for purchase in an auction scheduled for Sept. 12 in Chevy Chase, Md.

Delia, who was a founding member of the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes most of D.C.’s LGBTQ Pride events, and who served as co-chair of World Pride 2025, which D.C. will be hosting in 2025, died unexpectedly of natural causes on June 21.

Sloans & Kenyon Auctioneers and Appraisers says in its announcement that the items to be offered through the auction include “a large and eclectic assortment of fine art and sculpture, silver, English and Continental porcelain and other decorative arts, political memorabilia and entertainment ephemera, and various other antique and vintage items.”

The announcement says the items for sale in the Sept. 12 Estate Catalogue Auction will be on display at the Sloans & Kenyon gallery from Saturday, Sept. 7 through Wednesday, Sept. 11. The gallery where the items will be available for viewing and where the auction will be held on Sept. 12 is located at 5550 Friendship Blvd., Suite T60, in Chevy Chase, Md.

“The September auction includes over 200 lots from Bernie’s vast collection and is the first of several auctions of property from his estate,” the announcement says. “Absentee, telephone and internet bids will be accepted for the September 12 Eastgate Catalogue Auction,” it says.

Dignity Washington, the LGBTQ Catholic organization for which Delia served as president, is holding a memorial service for Delia on Saturday, Sept. 28, at 1:30 p.m. at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church near Dupont Circle, according to Dignity member David Lamdin.