Arts & Entertainment

Preview of coming attractions

D.C.’s major LGBT events and festivals for March, April and May

Published

13 years ago

March 7, 2014

Joey DiGuglielmo

Cherry, Cherry Fund, gay news, nightlife, Washington Blade

Cherry Main Event (Washington Blade file photo by Pete Exis)

The “Turnabout Show” — where the guys become girls and the girls become guys — is at 11 p.m. Monday night at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.). The event has a Facebook page.

The Miss Gaye Universe D.C. Pageant is at Town on March 15. Admission is $15 for Academy members and $20 for guests. Doors open at 3 p.m.; pageant starts at 4. Details at thewashingtonacademy.com.

The Mayor’s Office of GLBT Affairs have an awards event in honor of Women’s History Month on March 21 at 6:30 p.m. at Fannie Mae (3900 Wisconsin, Ave., N.W.). RSVPs and photo IDs are required to attend. RSVP by e-mailing your full name to [email protected].

The “Split This Rock Poetry Festival: Poems of Provocation & Witness” is March 27-30 and will feature workshops, panels and readings held at various spots in the Farragut Square neighborhood. Several LGBT participants are on the slate. Visit splitthisrock.org for details.

The fifth annual Charm City Fetish Fair, billed as Baltimore’s “premiere fetish event,” is April 4-6. Visit charmcityfetishfair.com for details.

Cherry is the same weekend in Washington at various gay clubs in the city. Visit cherryfund.org for details.

The Rehoboth Women’s Fest 2014 is April 10-13 in Rehoboth Beach, Del. Visit camprehoboth.com for details.

Miss Gay Maryland America is April 25-27 at the Hippo (One W. Eager St., Baltimore). Visit missgaymaryland.com for details.

Capital Queer Prom is doing things a bit different this year. A “TAGGfest & Masquerade Gala” is scheduled for April 26 at Almas Shriners (1315 K St. N.W.) as a benefit for the Wanda Alston House. Find the group on Facebook or visit taggfest.com for details.

The Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce has its LGBT Business Excellence Awards dinner and gala April 25 at the Mayflower Renaissance Washington (1127 Connecticut Ave., N.W.). Visit caglcc.org for information, tickets and details on other Chamber events.

Youth Pride is April 27 from noon-5 p.m. in Dupont Circle. Visit youthpridedc.org for details.

Gay Day at the Zoo is May 3. Visit the group’s Facebook page for more information.

The American Military Partner Association has its inaugural national gala on May 17 (Armed Forces Day) at the Liaison Hotel on Capitol Hill. Visit militarypartners.org/gala for tickets and details.

The Academy of Washington has its 52^nd annual Golden Boy Awards at Town on May 17 at 4 p.m. (doors open at 3). Admission is $15 for Academy members and $20 for guests. Visit thewashingtonacademy.com for details.

Lesbian Angie Harvey is in D.C. the same day for a “retreat tour” called Work2Work that will cover issues such as self esteem, letting go, relationships and purposeful living. It’s free. E-mail [email protected] for details.

D.C. Black Pride Weekend is May 23-25 at various locations. Visit dcblackpride.org for details.

Omega Entertainment and Daryl Wilson Promotions have their “Wet Dream Weekend 2014” May 22-26 and promise five days, 10 events and “one hell of a party.” Details at omegapartydc.com.

June, of course, brings Pride season. Get a sneak peek at this year’s events at capitalpride.org.

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Online Culture

Clavicular charged in alleged rape of teenage influencer

Online personality’s real name is Braden Peters

Published

17 hours ago

September 23, 2026

Joe Reberkenny

Braden Peters a.k.a. "Clavicular" (Screen capture via NBC News/YouTube)

Online personality Clavicular, whose real name is Braden Peters, has been accused of rape.

According to NBC, Aleksandra Vasilevna Mendoza, an 18-year-old influencer known online as Alorah or Alorah Ziva, accused Peters of sexual assault, and the case is making its way through the court system.

The alleged incident occurred on May 23, 2025, when Mendoza was 17.

According to a criminal complaint from the Chatham (Mass.) Police Department, Peters called her an Uber to his family’s home. Once there, he allegedly got her drunk on vodka while they livestreamed on Twitch and then raped her. His mother and grandmother were allegedly in the house.

The documents allege Clavicular committed rape, drugging a person for sexual intercourse, and procuring and providing liquor to a person under 21.

According to court documents acquired by NPR, Mendoza began communicating with Peters on Instagram, where he paid her to appear on his livestreams to help her “make her name known on social media.”

According to those documents, Peters arranged for the minor to come to Cape Cod home to participate in a videostream for his 437,000 followers on Kick, 1.2 million followers on TikTok, and more than 1 million followers on Instagram.

At his home, Peters allegedly instructed Mendoza to say she was 18 on his videostream and to claim the alcohol on camera was water instead of vodka. Mendoza said she felt peer-pressured to drink the spirit and that she became noticeably intoxicated after a couple of drinks.

The allegations go on to state that after stopping the stream, Peters and Mendoza kissed on a couch and then had sex in his bed without her consent. Mendoza said she did not receive a sexual assault forensic exam after the incident. NPR does not name alleged victims of sexual assault.

The charges come months after Mendoza sued Peters in Miami, accusing him of sexual battery in connection with the events of May 2025. The civil lawsuit also separately alleges that he injected her face with a non-FDA-approved fat-dissolving substance during a November livestream in Florida.

Peters is known for his “looksmaxxing” concept of vanity, which is at the core of his online presence. The “looksmaxxing” culture he has helped cultivate combines elements of incel culture and heterosexuality, with the stated goal of attracting the opposite sex. He has gone as far as to say he has undergone “bonesmashing,” or hitting his own face with a hammer; taken anabolic steroids to more rapidly grow muscle; and used crystal meth as an appetite suppressant.

At the same time, looksmaxxing has been described as having elements of homoeroticism, with “looksmaxxers” appearing more concerned with impressing other men than women. Peters has multiple times pointed to openly gay actor Matt Bomer as the gold standard for male facial aesthetics.

Peters’s arraignment is scheduled for Oct. 14.