Local
GLCCB launches substance abuse program
Large expansion of services for LGBT Marylanders
Matt Thorn at the GLCCB (Washington Blade photo by Kevin Majoros)
The Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Maryland (GLCCB) will begin substance use disorder recovery services through a pilot program of the Maryland Recovery Net’s Access to Recovery (ATR) initiative. The GLCCB/Access to Recovery initiative will serve as the largest expansion of recovery services for Maryland’s LGBT community.
“We’re excited to partner with Maryland RecoveryNet on this critical and important initiative,” said Matt Thorn, executive director of the GLCCB. “Recovery from addiction comes with many challenges particularly for those impacted in the LGBT community, who often face discrimination and homophobia when seeking the treatment they need.”
Access to Recovery is a presidential initiative that provides vouchers to individuals to purchase services and support linked to their recovery from substance use disorders. ATR emphasizes client choice and increases the array of available community services including securing supportive housing, counseling, job training, care coordination, and transportation to and from treatment and recovery support services. The GLCCB will work with enrollees to help them access ATR services they have requested and get connected to additional services that will support their recovery.
Maryland’s Access to Recovery initiative began in February 2011 when a four-year, $13 million Access to Recovery III grant was awarded to the Maryland Alcohol and Drug Abuse Administration (ADAA), the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DHMH). The grant from the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration is expected to annually serve up to 2,500 adults who are returning to their home communities after completing residential addiction treatment.
Care coordinators will begin providing services and accepting enrollments on Dec. 9, and will be available from 2–7 p.m. every Monday, Tuesday and Thursday. For more information on available services, please contact Matt Thorn at 410-777-8145 or [email protected].
Photos
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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