Arts & Entertainment
Katy Perry ‘wasn’t allowed to interact with gay people’ as a child
the pop star admits ‘My education started in my 20s’
(Screenshot via Twitter.)
Katy Perry opened up about her conservative, Christian upbringing in a recent interview with Vogue.
Perry, 32, grew up with evangelical Pentecostal pastors as parents. She admits her family would picket Madonna and Marilyn Manson concerts and watch Bill O’Reilly. They also didn’t celebrate Halloween.
“Education was not the first priority. My education started in my 20s, and there is so much to learn still,” Perry told Vogue.
The pop star continued that she wasn’t “allowed to interact with gay people” and that, “there is some generational racism” in her family.
“But I came out of the womb asking questions, curious from day one, and I am really grateful for that: My curiosity has led me here. Anything I don’t understand, I will just ask questions about,” Perry says.
Perry broke onto the music scene with her 2008 single “I Kissed a Girl” and revealed during the Human Rights Campaign Gala last month that’s not all the experience she has.
“For instance, I kissed a girl and I liked it. Truth be told, I did more than that. How was I going to reconcile that with a gospel-singing girl raised in youth groups that were pro-conversion camps? What I did know is that I was curious and even then I knew sexuality wasn’t as black and white as this dress,” Perry said while accepting the National Equality Award.
The Capital Pride Alliance presented the 2026 Capital Pride Honors at “The Audacity Brunch: In Full Fuchsia” at the Four Seasons Hotel Washington, D.C. on Sunday, June 7.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)
Out & About
Congressional Cemetery hosts Gays & Graves
Daylong Pride celebration blends history, remembrance, art and community
Historic Congressional Cemetery will host the second annual “Gays & Graves: A Big Gay Festival” on Sunday, June 14 at 11 a.m.
The event will feature pioneering activist Randy Wicker, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, and new public art installations and programs celebrating LGBTQ+ history. Gays & Graves is an official partner event of Capital Pride 2026.
This event is a daylong Pride celebration blending history, remembrance, art and community. Visitors can shop from LGBTQ+ and allied artists and makers, experience performances and interactive installations, and engage with programs exploring LGBTQ+ history and lived experience.
For more details, visit the cemetery’s website.
Baltimore Pride is underway, taking place from June 8-14.
The Pride Parade will be on Saturday, June 13 at 12 p.m. at Charles Street & North Avenue, followed by the Pride Block Party at 1 p.m. at Druid Hill Park. And then the Pride Festival will be held on Sunday, June 14 at 12 p.m. at Druid Hill Park.
There will be an array of additional events including: a fashion show, a “Suits and Sneakers” reception and a 5k race, among many other events.
For more details, visit Baltimore Pride’s website.
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Congressional Cemetery hosts Gays & Graves
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Queen Jean is Tony’s first transgender winner
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