Local
Chase Brexton to host town hall on trans health
Topics include medical services, insurance issues
Chase Brexton Health Services, 1111 N. Charles St. in Baltimore. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Chase Brexton Health Care will hold a town hall on Nov. 17 at 6:30 p.m. to provide the latest information on transgender health care, including details regarding policy, coverage and open enrollment. The event, which will bring together Chase Brexton providers, members of the organization’s LGBT Health Resource Center, and representatives from FreeState Legal Project, will take place in the sixth floor employee lounge of the Chase Brexton Mt. Vernon Center, 1111 N. Charles St. in Baltimore.
Attendees will learn about new developments in trans health coverage and medical services. But the town hall will also provide organizers with an important opportunity to hear from members of the community attempting to access care.
“Law, policy and insurance coverage are changing rapidly and access to transition-related care is increasing,” said Beth Brolund, a staff therapist and case manager at Chase Brexton. “We’ve been working to help trans individuals navigate a complicated system and the problems that we know about. We need to hear from the community to get a better picture of what experiences people are having, what the needs are and how we can be of the most help.”
Among those joining the town hall will be Dr. Rachel Bluebond-Langner, an assistant professor of plastic and reconstructive surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, who will discuss her transgender surgery services’ recent experiences with health insurance issues.
“Trans individuals often feel lost when trying to complete their transition safely in the medical world,” explained Chase Brexton provider Jill Crank, CRNP. “We would like to provide a forum to discuss what Chase Brexton offers in terms of primary and trans-related care, as well as highlight the promising changes (and challenges) in working with insurance companies to cover these services.”
Crank added, “Our ultimate goal is to become the place of choice for trans individuals seeking any type of healthcare, and we want them to know they are not alone in the fight for trans health equality.”
Though there have been advancements in LGBT legal rights, many obstacles still remain, particularly in securing access to health care.
“With open enrollment season upon us for plans in the Maryland Health Connection and many other private health insurance plans, it couldn’t be more timely to share information about what plans cover transition-related care and what obstacles still remain,” said Jer Welter, deputy director and managing attorney at FreeState Legal.
The town hall is the first in a series of meetings planned to discuss many aspects of trans health and address community needs.
“In the rapidly changing landscape of transgender health care and coverage, we all still believe that this is an issue of social justice,” Nate Sweeney, executive director of the LGBT Health Resource Center, pointed out. “Transgender individuals should not have to jump through extra hoops to get their health care needs met. This team of the FreeState Legal Project, Chase Brexton, and the LGBT Health Resource Center are glad to be working on this project together to try and address this injustice.”
Corey Lacey contributed to this report.
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)
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
Men convicted of murdering two men in NYC gay bar drugging scheme sentenced
Looking back at 50 years of Pride in D.C
WorldPride events round-up
Pope Leo XIV: Family based on ‘stable union between a man and a woman’
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
