Local
Former Whitman-Walker board chair dies at 65
Jannette Williams praised for long leadership role in community
Jannette Williams
Longtime LGBT community advocate Jannette Williams, who served nearly 25 years as a volunteer and adviser for D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health and three years as chair of the Whitman-Walker board, died June 28 at Holy Cross Hospital in Silver Spring, Md. She was 65.
Friends said the cause of death was cancer.
A lifelong D.C. resident, Williams worked for the federal government at the U.S. Postal Service and later at the Department of Justice, where she recently retired after 34 years of government service.
Whitman-Walker spokesperson Shawn Jain said Williams first became a volunteer at what was then called Whitman-Walker Clinic in 1991. She served on the clinic’s board from 1996 to 2010 and served as board chair from 2000 to 2002 and 2006 to 2007.
Jain said she had strong ties to the metro D.C. lesbian community; the Mautner Project for Lesbian Health, which later became a program of Whitman-Walker; Whitman-Walker’s Lesbian Resource Center and its Lesbian Services Program.
From 1994 to 1996 she served as president of Whitman-Walker’s Black Lesbian Support Group.
Among her other community involvements, Williams was a longtime supporter and volunteer for D.C.’s annual Black LGBT Pride festival and related events as well as Whitman-Walker’s annual AIDS Walk fundraising drive.
Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker’s executive director, said Williams was instrumental in recruiting him to his leadership post at Whitman-Walker at a time when she served on the board as the LGBT community health organization was undergoing changes.
“She taught me the most important single lesson that I’ve learned during my time here, which is people from the LGBT community come to Whitman-Walker not just for services but they really come here for dignity, respect and love,” Blanchon said.
“And it’s the most powerful lesson I’ve ever learned, and I’ll never forget it,” he said.
Blanchon said Williams’ leadership role as board chair during and immediately after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks was especially helpful in guiding Whitman-Walker through a period when fundraising efforts for non-profit organizations were adversely impacted.
“She was impactful on people’s lives because she did it relationship to relationship,” Blanchon said. “She really did help individuals navigate – whether they were coming out, whether they needed care, whether they needed peer support, whatever they needed; she did it in the community at the grassroots level. And she did it one person at a time,” he said.
She was predeceased by her parents, James and Creola Williams, her brother James E. Williams Jr. and her twin sister Annette Johnson, according to information provided by family members.
Williams is survived by her son, Robert L. Williams, daughter Dedria Williams, granddaughters Sierra Smoot and Shanelle Scofield; her sisters Dianna H. Walker and Patricia W. Jones; and her cat Sugar. She was the beloved aunt to six nieces and nephews and great-aunt to nine nieces and a nephew.
A viewing is scheduled to be held Friday, July 3, at 10 a.m. at Metropolitan Community Church, 474 Ridge Rd., N.W., in D.C. A service in celebration of her life is scheduled to follow the viewing at 11 a.m.
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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