Local
Local transgender activist arrested on murder charge
Gigi Thomas received Capital Pride award in 2007
Gigi Thomas (Photo courtesy Facebook)
LGBT activists were startled to learn earlier this week that Prince George’s County police on Oct. 16 charged veteran transgender activist Gigi Thomas with first-degree murder for allegedly stabbing to death a 47-year-old man inside her residence in Temple Hills, Md.
A police statement of probable cause filed in court says police were called to the address of 5712 Linda Lane in Temple Hills, where Thomas lived, about 7:50 p.m. on Thursday, Oct. 16. Upon arrival they found Devale Lamont Avery of Fort Washington suffering from multiple stab wounds to the upper body, the statement says. It says Avery was pronounced dead on the scene by emergency firefighters who also responded to the scene.
“Primarily, it appears an argument between the suspect and victim escalated into the fatal stabbing,” a separate police statement says. “Thomas is facing a charge of first-degree murder and is being held on a no bond status at the Department of Corrections,” the statement says.
The statement of probable cause says that after being transported to a police facility for questioning Thomas waived her Miranda rights and admitted “involvement in the murder of Devale Lamont Avery.”
Cyndee Clay, executive director of the D.C. group Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive (HIPS), said Thomas served as a client advocate for the group from 2002 to 2009, when she left to pursue a master’s degree in social work at Howard University. Clay said she attended Thomas’s graduation ceremony at Howard.
Thomas also served on the board of directors for the D.C.-based group Transgender Health Empowerment (THE).
In a 2004 report published by the International Foundation for Gender Educations, D.C. attorney and transgender advocate Lisa Mottet wrote that Thomas and fellow transgender advocate Earline Budd worked with her in carrying out trainings for employees of the city’s homeless shelters on how to best serve homeless transgender people.
Mottet wrote that Thomas in her work at HIPS “helps trans women on a daily basis to stay safe while they are engaging in sex work and helps connect them to services in an effort to help get them off the streets.”
In 2007, Thomas was among the honorees receiving the Capital Trans Pride committee’s Engendered Spirit Award for her contributions to the trans community.
Budd told the Blade she was shocked to learn that Thomas had been arrested on a murder charge, saying Thomas worked most recently as a mental health case manager at a psychiatric facility on Bladensburg Road, N.E.
“She is one of the highly recognized transgender women of D.C,” Budd said.
“We’re all kind of in shock and we’re very concerned,” Clay told the Blade. “This is not something that we would expect at all. Here at HIPS we’re just trying to do whatever we can to support her. She was well loved here.”
Added Clay, “She’s done so much for the community. She cared so greatly for so many people when she was a client advocate here at HIPS and she continued to be a respected colleague.”
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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