Arts & Entertainment
East Coast extravaganzas
Philly’s Pride also this weekend, Baltimore next; others later in June
Baltimore Pride (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The Baltimore Pride Celebration kicks off June 13 with “Twilight on the Terrace,” a cocktail party and fundraiser at Gertrude’s Restaurant at the Baltimore Museum of Art. The festival continues throughout the weekend, including a high heel race on Saturday and a block party on Sunday.
“We’ve expanded our footprint for Pride,” says Kelly Neel, interim executive director of the GLBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland, noting potential for a growing number of attendees.
Unlike previous years, this year’s Pride will feature entertainment and vending booths on both Saturday and Sunday instead of keeping those attractions separate from the parade, an adjustment Neel is looking forward to.
Baltimore Pride, which expects about 10,000 each day of the weekend-long celebration, will likely host a mass wedding this year, making a tradition out of a ceremony first held at last year’s Pride, the first year same-sex marriage was legal in the state.
Decades after the first Pride festivals were celebrated, Neel says there is still a place for them each summer, even as barriers fall for LGBT couples across the country.
“It’s great that there’s more awareness now and people are being more accepting of the LGBT community,” Neel says. “But I think that will just serve to make the parades bigger. Pride is not only a celebration of what’s going on in the now. It’s more a celebration of the past and a history of activism as well as the future.”
The city of brotherly love celebrates Philly Pride this weekend with a parade starting Sunday at noon from Philadelphia’s 13th and Locust streets. At this year’s pride — the first in Pennsylvania since same-sex marriage was legalized last month — the Hon. Dan Anders of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas will conduct marriage ceremonies at Independence Hall. Married couples will receive wristbands to the Pride festival.
The entertainment headliner is the Village People. Other Pride weekend events include a kick-off block party from 6-11 p.m. tonight on 12th Street between Walnut and Spruce, and the annual Dyke March on Saturday in Kahn Park at 3 p.m. For more details, visit phillypride.org.
New York City Pride (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
The weeklong New York City Pride celebration starts June 24 this year, beginning with a family movie night featuring “The Wizard of Oz” at Hudson River Park’s Pier 46.
Other events include the rally on June 27, hosted by “RuPaul’s Drag Race” judge Michelle Visage and featuring performances from season four winner Sharon Needles as well as Betty Who, also set to play D.C. this weekend.
The centerpiece of the city’s Pride weekend is the New York Pride March, which steps off at noon. It begins at 36th St. and Fifth Ave., and ends at Christopher and Greenwich streets. What began as a 500-person “gay power” demonstration in June 1969 after the Stonewall Riots, has since grown into an annual civil rights celebration featuring 50 floats and more than 300 organizations.
This year’s Pride boasts big-name grand marshals: “Orange is the New Black” star Laverne Cox; lead actor in the hit HBO television series “Looking” Jonathan Groff; and Rea Carey, executive director of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force.
Following the parade is Dance on the Pier from 4-10 p.m. on Hudson River Park Pier 26. All proceeds from this year’s dance, featuring a live performance from pop performer Demi Lovato, benefit the city’s official Pride events and LGBT community organizations. For more details on pride celebrations in New York City, visit nycpride.org.
Frederick’s third annual pride festival takes place June 28 from noon-6 p.m. in Carroll Creek Linear Park. Attractions include a pie eating contest, music performances, booths from local businesses, as well as an interfaith service at 11 a.m. the morning of Pride, a new addition this year. For more information, visit thefrederickcenter.org.
Chesapeake Pride festival kicks off later in the summer on Aug. 2 from noon-6 p.m at the Mayo Beach Park in Edgewater, Md. Head to the beach for “fun in the sun and a fabulous drag show,” Chesapeake Pride’s website says. Visit chesapeakepridefestival.org for details and updates.
Chesapeake Pride (Washington Blade file photo by Pete Exis)
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
The Washington Blade will update this article with additional reaction when it becomes available.
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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