Former U.S. Sen. Alan Simpson of Wyoming, a Republican who long championed LGBTQ rights, died on Friday at age 93.

After serving in the Senate from 1979 to 1997, including a stint as the GOP whip from 1985 to 1995, Simpson continued to maintain an active role in American politics for decades. Much of his work on behalf of LGBTQ issues came through his appointment as honorary chair of the Republican Unity Coalition, gay-straight alliance group within the party, starting in 2001.

The former lawmaker spoke with the Washington Blade’s Lou Chibbaro Jr. for an interview in 2013 about how he was able to reconcile his work in Republican politics with his support for expanding rights and protections for LGBTQ people.

“All I know is we have made great strides for gays and lesbians and transvestites,” he said when asked if he thought Congress would soon approve the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, or ENDA, a bill calling for banning job discrimination against LGBT people.

The legislation did not ultimately pass, but at the time Simpson said he was hopeful the effort would overcome obstruction from some corners of the Republican conference because “other people know these people and they love them.”

“And I’m very pleased,” the former senator added. “Anyone who is on the side of justice and freedom and caring about fellow human beings is pleased about what’s going on.”

Simpson explained that his approach to LGBTQ rights was informed by his commitment to fairness and equality for everyone, telling the Blade that he shares these convictions with his wife of (then) 59 years, Ann Schroll Simpson, who survives him.

The couple had come to know gay people over the years, he said. “I had a gay cousin who was a war hero in World War II — a wonderful man.”

Asked whether he has received flak from some fellow Republicans and others over his support for LGBT rights and same-sex marriage, Simpson said, “Everything I’ve done has had flak. I’m 82 now and I’ve effectively pissed off everyone in America. So yeah, but I just say we’re all God’s children. We’re all human beings.”

After leaving the Senate, Simpson’s advocacy for LGBTQ people included helping to convince former President Gerald Ford to join a gay rights organization, a first for a U.S. president; signing on to amicus briefs filed with the U.S. Supreme Court in support cases that that led to the overturning of state sodomy laws and established marriage equality as the law of the land; supporting the movement to overturn the discriminatory “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” law; writing to the late former Rev. Fred Phelps in objection to his protests of gay events, including funerals of gay people; and supporting creative works about the anti-gay advocacy of the late former U.S. Sen. Joseph McCarthy and the hate crime against murdered gay college student Matthew Shepard.

An obituary published Friday in The New York Times notes Simpson’s work on behalf of immigration reform and reproductive rights including abortion in addition to his stances on LGBTQ issues including his longtime support for same-sex marriage.

Simpson in 2017 published an opinion piece in the paper objecting to efforts by “fringe-right groups and raging extremists” to convince President Donald Trump to sign an executive order “that would allow discrimination against gays, women and religious minorities.”

In 2022, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by then-President Joe Biden.

The Capital Pride Alliance announced last week that Doechii will perform at the closing concert for WorldPride weekend.

Doechii, born Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, is a 26-year-old rapper and singer from Tampa, Fla. Since her emergence on the music scene in 2023, she has had five songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Beginning with “What It Is (Block Boy),” she has quickly risen into the upper ranks of the rap and music industries.

The Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes Washington’s official Pride events and is overseeing the upcoming WorldPride celebration in June, announced on Instagram that the “Alligator Bites Never Heal” performer will headline WorldPride’s free Street Festival & Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8.

This announcement comes just over a month after the self-proclaimed “Swamp Princess” won her first Grammy for Best Rap Album. Her win marks only the third time in history that a woman has won the award—following Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. She also became only the second rapper to be named Billboard’s Woman of the Year earlier this year.

Doechii is bisexual and has spoken about the challenges of being a Black queer woman in the music industry.

“I’m a Black woman from the South, so it’s different,” Doechii told Pink News in an interview last year. “There’s a lot of racism and homophobia, so it’s hard, it’s very, very hard. Even though I was aware, I didn’t feel as comfortable until I started surrounding myself with more gay friends.”

Doechii’s bold, genre-blending style and unapologetic presence have made her a favorite among LGBTQ fans, who have embraced her music as anthems of self-expression and resilience.

Despite being fairly new to the mainstream music game, Doechii is no stranger to Washington. In June 2024, Doechii performed a special set at D.C.’s gay bar Trade as part of her SWAMP BALL TOUR. That night, a line of fans stretched down 14th Street and around the corner, eager to see the rising star in an intimate setting.

For more information about WorldPride concerts, events, and celebrations, visit worldpridedc.org.

A D.C. man pleaded guilty on March 14 in federal court to conspiracy related charges that he distributed large amounts of fentanyl and cocaine in the D.C. metropolitan area, including the sale of fentanyl that resulted in the December 2023 deaths of two D.C. gay men.

A statement released by the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia says Jevaughn “Ledo” Mark, 33, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, and unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon.

He is scheduled to be sentenced June 13 by U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan.

The March 14 statement released by the U.S. Attorney’s Office says Mark was initially charged in an indictment with eight counts of unlawful distribution of fentanyl, cocaine, and heroin, and distributing 40 grams or more of fentanyl between January and March of 2024.

“On June 13, 2024, Jevaughn Mark was charged in a second superseding indictment in connection with distributing fentanyl and cocaine on December 26, 2023, that resulted in the deaths of two men, Brandon Roman and Robert Barletta, at their home in Northwest Washington,” the statement says.

“Pursuant to the plea agreement, Mark admitted to causing the death of both individuals by selling ‘ketamine’ (which was actually fentanyl) to one victim who shared the drugs with the other victim,” the U.S. Attorney’s statement says. “Both men were found unresponsive the day after Mark sold them the ‘ketamine,’” according to the statement.

Roman, 38, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Barletta, 28, a historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner, were found unconscious when police and emergency medical personnel responded to a 911 call and arrived at Barletta’s home on Dec. 27, 2023, according to police and fire department reports.  

The reports show Roman was declared deceased at the scene and Barletta was taken to the Washington Hospital Center, where he died on Dec. 29, 2023.

Both men were patrons at D.C. gay bars and their passing prompted many in the LGBTQ community to call for stepped up prevention services related to drug overdose cases.

At the time Mark was indicted on drug distribution charges in June 2024, prosecutors said undercover D.C. police and U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration agents posing as drug buyers approached Mark during their investigation to purchase Ketamine, which is known on the street as Special K, the U.S. Attorney’s office said in an earlier statement.

“In each instance, the DEA/MPD agents requested to buy ‘Special K’ or Ketamine from Jevaughn Mark,” the earlier statement says. “In every instance, Jevaughn Mark supplied a mixture of fentanyl and other substances, including heroin, but not ketamine,” it says.

That report of Mark’s distribution of fentanyl rather than the requested drug of ketamine prompted an official with the D.C.-based group HIPS, which provides services to drug users and sex workers, to call the deaths of Roman and Barletta a “poisoning” rather than an “overdose.”

Court records show Mark has been held without bond since the time of his indictment and arrest in June 2024.