Arts & Entertainment
Local businesses boycott Yuengling over Trump endorsement
JR’s, Town will no longer sell the beer brand
(Popular gay bars like JR.’s, Number Nine and Town will discontinue the beer brand. Screenshot via YouTube.)
Local gay bars are boycotting Yuengling beer after the owner of the brewery endorsed Donald Trump for president.
On Monday, D.G. Yuengling & Son owner Dick Yuengling escorted Trump’s son, Eric Trump, on a tour of the Yuengling brewery in Pottsville, Pa., during a campaign stop for his father.
“My father’s going to make it a lot easier for business to function. We’re going to do it right here in the U.S.,” Trump said in a news conference.
The great-great grandson of the brewery’s founder thanked Trump during his visit saying, “Our guys are behind your father. We need him in there,” the Reading Eagle reported.
Thank you to Dick Yuengling for an amazing tour of the oldest brewery in the U.S! @Yuengling_Beer #PottsvillePA #MAGA pic.twitter.com/XrGVbbOiI3
— Eric Trump (@EricTrump) October 24, 2016
JR.’s Bar and Grill manager David Perruzza was quick to respond in a video posted to Facebook announcing that JR.’s would discontinue selling the beer.
“His support for Trump is basically support for [Mike] Pence,” Perruzza told the Washington Blade. “I don’t want them getting any support from gay people. It may sound weird, but I don’t want any cent of it going to Trump.”
While Perruzza doesn’t want Yuengling in the bar he says other establishments should be free to approach the situation as they see fit.
“It’s everybody’s own decision. You could have other gay owners that might be voting for Trump and that could be their way of supporting him by not getting rid of Yuengling,” Perruzza says.
Other gay bars and gay-friendly businesses have swiftly followed suit with announcements on social media.
Ziegfeld’s/Secrets manager Jon Parks wrote in a Facebook post that the establishment will no longer serve Yuengling.
“Although the owner never said anything regarding our LGBTQ community his backing Pence more than Trump is an insult to us as a whole. No one has more hate for the LGBTQ community that Mr .Pence,” Parks wrote.
Level One manager Leigh Ann Hendricks posted on Facebook that the restaurant would also not carry the brand.
Number Nine, Town and Trade will no longer be serving Yuengling, owner Ed Bailey told the Washington Blade.
Annie’s Paramount Steakhouse has also sent back its shipment of Yuengling.
Italian restaurant Floriana, Duplex Diner and Stoney’s Bar and Grill have also chosen to stop offering Yuengling to their customers.
For Perruzza, whether the Yuengling boycott could spread further in the District depends on patrons’ responses.
“It’s up to the customers to say something,” Perruzza said.
Sports
Jason Collins dies at 47
First openly gay man to actively play for major sports team battled brain cancer
Jason Collins, the first openly gay man to actively play for a major professional sports team, died on Tuesday after a battle with brain cancer. He was 47.
The California native had briefly played for the Washington Wizards in 2013 before coming out in a Sports Illustrated op-ed.
Collins in 2014 became the first openly gay man to play in a game for a major American professional sports league when he played 11 minutes during a Brooklyn Nets game. He wore jersey number 98 in honor of Matthew Shepard, a gay college student murdered outside of Laramie, Wyo., in 1998.
Collins told the Washington Blade in 2014 that his life was “exponentially better” since he came out. Collins the same year retired from the National Basketball Association after 13 seasons.
Collins married his husband, Brunson Green, in May 2025.
The NBA last September announced Collins had begun treatment for a brain tumor. Collins on Dec. 11, 2025, announced he had Stage 4 glioblastoma.
“We are heartbroken to share that Jason Collins, our beloved husband, son, brother and uncle, has died after a valiant fight with glioblastoma,” said Collins’s family in a statement the NBA released. “Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar. We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said Collins’s “impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA, and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations.”
“He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador,” said Silver. “Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.”
“To call Jason Collins a groundbreaking figure for our community is simply inadequate. We truly lost a giant today,” added Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson in a statement. “He came out as gay — while still playing — at a time when men’s athletes simply did not do that. But as he powerfully demonstrated in his final years in the league and his post-NBA career, stepping forward as he did boldly changed the conversation.”
“He was and will always be a legend for the LGBTQ+ community, and we are heartbroken to hear of his passing at the young age of 47,” she said. “Our hearts go out to his family and loved ones. We will keep fighting on in his honor until the day everyone can be who they are on their terms.”
Glitterati Productions held the “Studio 69” party at Bunker on Friday, May 8.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Arts & Entertainment
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
Pride on the Pier officially launches Pride Week in D.C.
The Washington Blade’s annual Pride on the Pier celebration returns to The Wharf on Saturday, June 13, 2026 from 4-9 p.m., bringing thousands of LGBTQ community members and allies together for an unforgettable waterfront celebration to kick off Pride week in Washington, D.C.
Now in its eighth year, Washington Blade Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Wharf waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment for all ages. The District Pier will offer DJs, dancing, drag, and other entertainment. Alcoholic beverages will be available for purchase for those 21 and older.
“Pride on the Pier has become one of the signature moments of Pride in D.C.,” said Lynne Brown, publisher of the Washington Blade. “There’s nothing like watching our community come together on the waterfront with live music and incredible energy as we kick off Pride week.”
Pride on the Pier is free and open to the public, with VIP tickets available for exclusive pier access to the Dockmaster Building. To purchase VIP tickets visit www.prideonthepierdc.com/vip.
Additional entertainment announcements, sponsor activations, and event details will be released in the coming weeks.
Event Details:
📍 Location: District Pier at The Wharf (101 District Sq SW, Washington, DC)
📅 Dates: Friday, 13, 2026
⏱️ 4-9PM
🎟️ VIP Tickets: www.PrideOnThePierDC.com/VIP
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