Local
D.C. bucks nat’l trend with decline in syphilis cases
Infections drop 14 percent in city
Electron micrograph of Treponema pallidum. Treponema pallidum is the causative agent of syphilis. (Public domain image by the CDC)
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data show a 15 percent increase in the number of nationwide syphilis infections from 2013 to 2014. And a newly released CDC study shows syphilis is “taking a particularly severe toll on gay, bisexual, and other men who have sex with men (MSM), especially in the South.”
But in D.C., the number of reported syphilis cases has declined by 49 percent between 2011 and 2015, with nearly all of those cases coming from men who have sex with men, according to Michael Kharfen, director of the D.C. Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD and Tuberculosis Administration.
Kharfen said in the period from 2013 to 2014, which is the period the CDC conducted its study of syphilis cases among MSM, syphilis cases in D.C. dropped by 14 percent. He again said most of those cases were from men who have sex with men.
The CDC study doesn’t include MSM syphilis data for D.C. and six states. CDC officials said D.C. and the six states didn’t provide the gender of the partner of the person diagnosed with syphilis for 70 percent or more of the male syphilis cases, a threshold CDC established for calculating its “MSM” cases.
Kharfen said the CDC study came at a time when D.C. changed its data measuring system which resulted in computer “glitches” that prevented the city from providing “that kind of complete data that they would have been able to use as part of that study.”
Nevertheless, he said the D.C. data show unmistakably that the city had a significant decline in syphilis cases among men who have sex with men.
The CDC study, which calculated the number of MSM syphilis case per 100,000 people in a given state, shows that Virginia had 210.4 cases per 100,000 among MSM. The study shows that Maryland had 325.1 cases per 100,000.
By comparison, North Carolina had the highest rate – 748.3 case per 100,000 followed by Mississippi, 658.9 cases per 100,000; Louisiana, 601.8 cases per 100,000; and South Carolina, 536.9 cases per 100,000.
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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