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Barry Smythers-Wieczorek dies at 34
Memorial set for Wednesday for beloved hairstylist
Barry Smythers-Wieczorek, left, with husband Tom Wieczorek. (Photo courtesy Facebook)
Barry Smythers-Wieczorek, 34, a D.C. hairstylist, sports enthusiast and advocate for AIDS-related causes, died May 21 in Washington. Friends said he took his own life.
“It is with a heavy heart that we announce that on Saturday afternoon our beloved friend and family member Barry Smythers sent himself home to heaven,” a message posted by friends on a Facebook page says.
Father Rich Vitale, a priest at D.C.’s Church Of The Holy City and longtime friend of Smythers-Wieczorek, called Smythers-Wieczorek a warm and caring person who “touched the lives of every single person he met.”
Vitale said in addition to his role as a popular hairstylist at the Logan 14 Aveda Salon and Spa on 14th Street, N.W., Smythers-Wieczorek was an avid participant in the city’s gay sports scene, especially the Stonewall Kickball Club.
He said Smythers-Wieczorek also was active with the AIDS LifeCycle bicycle riding events, which raise money for AIDS-related causes.
According to Vitale, Smythers-Wieczorek was born and raised in La Plata, Md. Smythers-Wieczorek’s Facebook page says he graduated from Henry E. Lackey High School in Indian Head, Md.
On Facebook, Smythers-Wieczorek wrote that an important milestone in his life happened in 2007, when he met Thomas Wieczorek, to whom he became engaged in 2009 and married in 2011.
Molly Ryan, manager of the Logan 14 Aveda Salon and Spa, said Smythers-Wieczorek attended the Graham Webb International Academy of Hair in Arlington, Va., and became a licensed hair stylist in 2007 or 2008. She said he worked at other D.C. hair salons before joining the staff of Logan 14 in 2015.
“He just truly was someone to light up any room he walked into,” Ryan said. “He was just so generous and thoughtful with everybody,” she said. “His clients had such an amazing relationship with him. He was passionate about his craft. He was inspirational and a leader to others within our salon.”
Ryan said Smythers-Wieczorek was also highly committed to social justice and public health causes, including fundraising for AIDS prevention efforts, public education and research.
“He definitely brought that passion to his co-workers and he got everybody involved with fundraising,” she said.
“He was just pure joy and love and just a wonderful, wonderful person,” Vitale said. “He will be missed terribly because he was just so loved.”
A celebration of life/memorial service for Smythers-Wieczorek is scheduled to take place on Wednesday, May 25, at Church Of The Holy City at 1611 16th St., N.W., beginning at 4 p.m. A funeral Mass will be held at the church at 6 p.m. immediately following the memorial service.
WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.
Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.
Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.
Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.
“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”
In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.
“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”
Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.
“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”
Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.
“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”
Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.
“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”
The 2025 WorldPride Parade was held in Washington, D.C. on Saturday, June 7. Laverne Cox and Renée Rapp were the grand marshals.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key and Robert Rapanut)
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