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Demolition forces move of Pride block party

New location secured behind Hippo

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Baltimore Pride block party, gay news, Washington Blade
Baltimore Pride block party, gay news, Washington Blade

The last Baltimore Pride block party was held in 2013. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Just as locals thought the 2015 Baltimore Pride block party was returning to its familiar Eager and Charles streets locale after a one-year absence, a scheduling snafu by the City of Baltimore threw a wrench into those plans. Officials issued a permit to perform demolition and repaving of the parking lot (adjacent to Club Hippo and Grand Central Station nightclub) that has traditionally been used to host Pride vendors during the block party.

Additionally, the building on the north side of the parking lot (1010 N. Charles St.) has been demolished. Pride coordinator Paul Liller said he was notified of the parking lot construction in early June. News of the construction permit came months after Baltimore Pride submitted its permit to use the space. This can be seen as an oversight by the city, says Liller, which essentially issued two permits for the same space during the same period of time.

After meeting with city officials, the fire department and the permit office in mid-June, it was discovered that the construction would not be completed in advance of the block party on July 25, and an alternate location needed to be secured. Baltimore Pride secured the parking lot at the corner of Cathedral and Brexton streets, traditionally dubbed “the lesbian lot” as well as an adjoining parking lot on Charles Street, in front of Mt. Vernon Stable. Those lots are connected by a path.

Alcohol will be served in the space. Anyone who wishes to drink in the space will need to purchase a wristband. Bands will be available for sale on site, at the Hippo, and through a pre-sale at the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB) in the week leading up to Pride. Vendors have been notified of the new footprint. A detailed map will be released in advance of the block party.

Baltimore Pride, a function of the GLCCB, is celebrating its 40th anniversary this year. After receiving community feedback that criticized its move to a two-day event in the Mount Royal area in 2014, GLCCB officials decided to return to the Mount Vernon area in 2015.

“The discovery of a construction permit being issued after we submitted our own permit was upsetting, but I’m confident that the new space, which is mere feet away from our traditional footprint, will still deliver all the fun and excitement that Baltimore Pride revelers have come to expect,” Liller, who is also GLCCB deputy director, told the Blade.

The annual parade and block party will occur on July 25 with the Sunday festival to return to Druid Hill Park on July 26. The parade, which traditionally took place along Charles Street, will march along Cathedral Street instead — another change.

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Comings & Goings

Hank’s Oyster Bar celebrates 20th anniversary

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Jamie Leeds

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected]

Congratulations to Jamie Leeds, chef extraordinaire, on celebrating the 20th anniversary of Hank’s Oyster Bar in Dupont Circle. Leeds said, “I am feeling grateful that Hanks has been in such a supportive and friendly neighborhood for 20 years.”

Leeds is a pioneering and tenacious entrepreneur who has spent her career foster­ing community, mentoring other female business owners and culinary professionals, and supporting sustainable practices across her restaurants and the seafood industry at large.

 She has 40 years of experience, from kitchens in Europe, to the D.C.-Maryland-Virginia-ar­ea. A self-taught chef, she began her career in New York in the early 1980s at Danny Meyer’s famed Union Square Cafe, working her way up from potato peeler to sous chef. With Meyer’s encouragement, she moved to France in 1991, where she spent a year honing her skills before returning stateside to work for Rich Melman, of Lettuce Entertain You Enterprises, in Chicago. 

From the moment she appeared on the D.C. culinary scene, Leeds garnered positive reviews and accolades, earning nominations in 2003 as a “Rising Culinary Star” in the Restau­rant Association of Metropolitan Washington’s Capital Restaurant & Hospitality Awards, and a “Rising Star Chef” by Starchefs’ local awards program. 

I met Leeds in early 2005 as she was trying to open Hank’s in D.C.’s Dupont Circle, serving what she coined “urban beach food.” The restaurant was named for her father, whom she credits as her inspiration for becoming a chef. It debuted to wide acclaim. A few of us joined with Jamie to fight some local neighborhood residents who were trying to stop her opening for a host of invalid reasons. Thankfully, they lost, and the neighborhood, and people of D.C., won. Now celebrated for its range of proprietary oysters and other locally sourced seafood, Hank’s Oyster Bar continues to draw recognition as a D.C. institution and industry stalwart, recently winning “Best Raw Bar” in Washingtonian’s Best of Washington Readers’ Poll 2019, “Best Bloody Mary” and “Best Chef-Jamie Leeds” (a second consecutive win) from Washington Blade’s Best of Gay D.C. in 2019, 2020, and 2021 among numerous other accolades. Leeds now has a Hank’s Oyster Bar in Old Town Alexandria, Va., and her largest location, Hank’s on the Wharf, which opened in October 2017.

In June of 2021 she was recognized by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce for inspiring LGBTQ+ entrepreneurs in the DMV area, and her approach to sustainable and inclusive business practices. A resident of North Chevy Chase, Md., when she’s not busy at the helm of her burgeoning restaurant empire, she enjoys spending time with her wife, Tina, and two children, Hayden and Hazel.

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Rehoboth Beach

Ashley Biden to speak at Blade’s Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach

May 16 event to honor Beau Biden, feature speech from Gov. Matt Meyer

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Former first lady Jill Biden and daughter, Ashley Biden, attend the White House Pride celebration on June 26, 2024. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Washington Blade’s 18th annual Summer Kickoff Party is scheduled for today in Rehoboth Beach, Del.

Ashley Biden, daughter of President Joe Biden, has joined the list of speakers, the Blade announced on Friday. She will accept an award on behalf of her brother Beau Biden for his LGBTQ advocacy work as Delaware attorney general. 

Delaware Gov. Matt Meyer has also joined the list of speakers. 

The event, held at the Blue Moon (35 Rehoboth Ave.) from 5-7 p.m., is a fundraiser for the Blade Foundation’s Steve Elkins Memorial Fellowship in Journalism, which funds a summer position reporting on LGBTQ news in Delaware. This year’s recipient will be introduced at the event.

The event will also feature remarks from state Sen. Russ Huxtable, who recently introduced a state constitutional amendment to codify the right of same-sex couples to marry. CAMP Rehoboth Executive Director Kim Leisey and Blade editor Kevin Naff will also speak. The event is generously sponsored by Realtor Justin Noble, The Avenue Inn & Spa, and Blue Moon.

A suggested donation of $20 is partially tax deductible and includes drink tickets and light appetizers. Tickets are available in advance at bladefoundation.org/rehoboth or at the door. 

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District of Columbia

LGBT exhibition at D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum opens May 16

‘LGBT Jews in the Federal City’ arrives for WorldPride and beyond

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Bet Mishpachah members march at the Second National March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights, October 11, 1987. (Photo courtesy of Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum Collection. Gift of Bet Mishpachah with thanks to Joel Wind & Al Munzer)

The D.C. Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum is opening a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on Friday, May 16, that will remain at the museum at 575 3rd St., N.W. until Jan. 4, 2026.

Museum officials have said they are pleased that the LGBT exhibition will be open concurrently with WorldPride 2025 D.C., which takes place May 17-June 8. The exhibition also takes place during Jewish American Heritage Month in May and during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, the museum points out in a statement.

“This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebration, activism, and change in the nation’s capital led by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum statement says. “This is a local story with national resonance, turning the spotlight on Washington, D.C. to show the city’s vast impact on LGBTQ+ history and culture in the United States.”

LGBT Jews in the Federal City includes “more than 100 artifacts and photographs representing the DMV region’s Jewish LGBTQ+ celebrations, spaces, struggles, joys, and personal stories,” the stamen points out.

A pre-opening tour of the exhibition provided for the Washington Blade shows that among the displays are first-ever shown materials from Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, which is the nation’s fourth-oldest LGBTQ friendly synagogue.

Also included is a prominent display about Barrett Brick, a longtime D.C. LGBT rights advocate and Jewish community leader who served as a board member and president of Bet Mishpachah in the 1980s and as executive director of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish organizations from 1987 to 1992. Brick passed away following a 10-year battle with cancer in 2013.

Another display in the museum’s several rooms accommodating the exhibition includes the ability to listen to audio clips of local LGBTQ community members sharing in their own voices their oral histories provided by D.C.’s Rainbow History Project.

Other displays include campaign posters and photos of prominent gay rights icon Frank Kameny, who led efforts to end discrimination against LGBTQ people from the federal government; and a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt that includes the name of a prominent Jewish Washingtonian who died during the AIDS epidemic.

“Through prompts, questions, and thoughtful design throughout the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to ponder new ways to understand Jewish teachings and values as they relate to gender and sexuality,” the museum’s statement says.

“After leaving the exhibition, visitors can contribute to the Museum’s collecting and storytelling by sharing photographs, personal archives, or by recording stories,” it says.

The museum is open for visitors to see the LGBT exhibition and other museum exhibits 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission to LGBT Jews in the Federal City is $12. 

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