Local
Center has busy calendar
New development coordinator also planning Pride
Paul Liller has big plans for the Baltimore Center. (Photo by Steve Charing)
Paul Liller, the 2015 Pride coordinator, and now the new development coordinator for the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB), is quite busy.
“We have an ambitious schedule for 2015, and it’s my job to help make it successful,” he says. Liller’s new responsibilities include all aspects of Pride, GLCCB fundraising, donor interactions, all events, grants implementation, outreach and much more.
Liller says that after considerable effort and negotiations, Pride will return to the Eager Street and Charles Street locale on July 25 where it had been a popular two-day celebration and a vital source of revenue for the GLCCB throughout its history. The more laid-back Sunday Druid Hill Park event is scheduled for July 26.
Liller, 32, is enthusiastic, confident and driven to make Pride, as well as the Center’s other programs, a success. Liller and the GLCCB have set out an ambitious agenda that in itself would be daunting even without his being the maestro for Pride.
Those other events on the docket include:
From April 13-17, the Center will host an open house week at the Waxter Center, 1000 Cathedral St., so that community members can see where the GLCCB is headquartered. On April 17, there will be a kickoff party for youth programs and a media rollout to explain the Center’s new responsibility in communicating about Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis, or PrEP.
There will be a casino night at Grand Central on April 18 to benefit Pride. On May 2, the Voice of Pride will take place at Steampunk Alley. The Hunks in Trunks fundraiser will occur on May 13. And for history buffs, the LGBT Archives Exhibit opening reception is scheduled for May 15.
Following Pride, the GLCCB will celebrate LGBT History Month with Oktoberfest the first week, Black Pride, Hearts and Ears, and Chase Brexton will be joining the GLCCB for events the remainder of the month. And on Halloween, the Center will hold its “Outrageous” gala.
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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