Local
Gay student loses bid for Georgetown class president
Rosenberger finishes last in 5-candidate race
Tim Rosenberger finished last in a five-candidate race for Georgetown University class president. (Photo courtesy Rosenberger)
Tim Rosenberger, an out gay student who serves as secretary of Georgetown University’s LGBT campus group, GU Pride, lost his race for student president at Georgetown on Feb. 19, finishing last in a five-candidate race.
According to Georgetown’s student newspaper, The Hoya, the winning candidate, Joe Luther, and his vice presidential running mate, Connor Rohan, ran an unprecedented satirical campaign that mocked the Georgetown Student Government Association as being unresponsive to the needs of the students.
Rosenberger told the Blade he saw no signs of anti-gay sentiment in the campaign or in the unorthodox statements and positions taken by Luther, who received 1,080 votes or 30 percent of the first round vote in an instant runoff voting system, according to figures reported by The Hoya.
The Luther-Rohan ticket received a final vote count of 1,693 votes, or 54 percent, after three additional rounds of adjusted counting as part of the runoff.
Rosenberger, a junior majoring in English, and his vice presidential running mate, Reno Verghese, who’s straight, received 154 votes, or 4.3 percent, of the vote in the first round before being eliminated from contention.
“The two guys that won are good guys,” Rosenberger said. “I didn’t see that coming, but I’m not unhappy about it,” he said. “Actually, out of all the tickets they may be the second best qualified to do good things for the gay community at Georgetown.”
The Hoya published a large photo of Luther and Rohan kissing each other on the lips at their election night celebration. Rosenberger said the two, who are straight, apparently did that as part of the satirical gestures they made during their campaign, which appears to have struck a chord of dissatisfaction among the student body over the existing student government.
In addition to his involvement in GU Pride, Rosenberger has been active in the D.C. Federation of College Republicans.
Last month, a conservative online Catholic publication called Pewsitter published an article attacking Rosenberger as a “militant homosexual activist/Catholic/Republican.” The article quoted an anonymous Georgetown student urging fellow students to support candidate Abby McNaughton, whom the student described as a “faithful Catholic” better qualified to carry out Georgetown’s tradition as a Jesuit school.
McNaughton denounced the article, saying she was never contacted by the publication and believed it unfairly criticized Rosenberger. McNaughton finished second in the race for student president.
Asked if he thought he might have lost support among some students because of his sexual orientation, Rosenberger said, “Not particularly.” He added that the votes he did receive came largely from fellow gay students.
“The gay community at Georgetown really rallied around me and helped staff this campaign and we wouldn’t have had a campaign without them,” he said.
Two years ago, out gay student Nate Tisa won election as class president, becoming the first open gay to win the class president post at Georgetown and one of the first out gays to win such an election at a major Catholic college in the U.S.
Photos
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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)
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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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