Local
A successful Baltimore ‘Pride Unleashed’
Politicians join throngs for annual celebration
Baltimore celebrated Pride last weekend. (Washington Blade photo by Chris Jennings)
Thousands enjoyed Pride Unleashed, Baltimore’s LGBTQ celebration in Station North last Saturday and the customary festival in Druid Hill Park on Sunday. Pride is run by the GLBT Community Center of Baltimore and Central Maryland (GLCCB).
The parade and block party took place under cloudy skies. The parade traveled a longer distance than in the past starting from Mount Vernon and ending up in Station North for the first time.
All told, 113 units participated including six drum-beating bands, according to Pride Parade Chair Donald Young. It took three hours to complete the route and was done so without any incidents or demonstrations.
Mindful of recent terrorist attacks, extra police and private security were evident during the events, and city government provided dump trucks to block specific cross streets along the parade route and block party areas to prevent vehicles from deliberately slamming into pedestrians.
Among the elected officials marching were Baltimore Mayor Catherine Pugh, State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, U.S. Rep. John Sarbanes, Baltimore County Executive Kevin Kamenetz, State Sen. Rich Madaleno, and Council member Eric Costello.
Police Commissioner Kevin Davis, who suspended leave for officers on Saturday for added security, also joined in the parade. U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen and Maryland Del. Mary Washington served as parade grand marshals.
“I enjoy seeing politicians supporting us,” said Gianna, a queer graduate student who lives in Baltimore.
Reagan, a transgender man and a law student at University of Maryland, said observing the parade, “This Pride is a lot better organized than last year’s. I like that Pride has expanded to Station North because the community is expanding in that direction.”
The parade judges awarded the following: Best Float – First Royal Drag Family of Maryland; Best Walking Unit – Faith Communities of Baltimore; Best Car – Pride @ T. Rowe Price; Best Marching Band – The Band Marching Unit; and the Mayor’s Award – New Edition Legacy Marching Band.
Popular drag entertainer Shawnna Alexander was presented a lifetime achievement award for her work in Pride.
Prior to the parade, Neal Naff and Don Davis co-hosted a reception for the two grand marshals at Grand Central. About 80 attended the event, including prospective Maryland gubernatorial candidates Rich Madaleno and Kevin Kamenetz, State Delegates Luke Clippinger and Brooke Lierman and Howard County Register of Wills Byron MacFarlane.
“This is an opportunity for Baltimoreans and Marylanders to get together and celebrate,” Van Hollen told the Blade. “But we also must be vigilant of those who want to turn back progress.”
The Sunday festival in Druid Hill Park saw fewer food vendor trucks than previous years, which was a common complaint. Otherwise, good crowds enjoyed the multitude of vendor booths and entertainment.
“We are very proud of the work done at the Center to put out an amazing Pride,” Mimi Demissew, the GLCCB’s co-executive director told the Blade. “We are very thankful to the volunteers who helped make Pride possible.”
Baltimore
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
Leon’s closed in July after its owner’s death
By JULIE SCHARPER and WESLEY CASE | Soon after Jim Becker came out as gay in 1967, he ducked into a Mount Vernon bar called Leon’s.
In the dark, smoky bar, men used pseudonyms for fear of being outed, as homosexual acts were illegal in Maryland. Bartenders, wary of vice squad raids, would blow a whistle if couples leaned in for a kiss.
But to Becker, arriving at Leon’s was a kind of homecoming. He could explore his identity, connect with other gay men and build community in the anxious years before the 1969 Stonewall uprising, a pivotal moment in the LGBTQ rights movement.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Protest Pizza owners say community has expressed support
Gay activist Randy Downs said he and his business and life partner Ricky Bennett are grateful for the support they have received from the Dupont Circle community after they released a video showing a suspect breaking into their recently opened pizza shop and taking money from a cash register shortly before 3 a.m. on Friday, Aug. 21.
The surveillance video shows a man wearing black clothing with his face covered, smashing the glass front door of Protest Pizza, located at 1633 ½ P St., N.W. The video, which Downs and Bennett provided to D.C. police, also shows the suspect climbing over the bar to get to a cash register, which he opened to take out cash.
A D.C. police report obtained by the Washington Blade lists the incident as a Burglary in the Second Degree and says the owners reported “approximately $78 in cash” was taken from the cash register. The report says the incident is not listed as a suspected hate crime.
Downs told the Washington Blade that after he and Bennett reported the break-in and theft on social media, they received an overwhelming showing of support from neighbors and others, including business owners, from across the nation.
“The break-in was upsetting, but it is not what will define Protest Pizza,” Downs said. “What defines us is how quickly people showed up,” he told the Blade. “One person came looking for a cash register; our community saw a gathering place worth protecting. The response reminded us that Protest’s real value was never in the register.”
Downs said he and Bennett, who live around the corner on the section of 17th Street, N.W., near several other bars and restaurants, including the gay bar JRs are located, opened Protest Pizza in November 2025.
“Ricky and I built Protest Pizza as a positive, welcoming, queer owned neighborhood restaurant and bar — a space for protest and joy,” he said.
A D.C. police spokesperson said police offer a reward of up to $1,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction of a suspect responsible for the type of burglary and theft that occurred at Protest Pizza. Police say anyone with information to help solve this type of crime should call the police tipline at 202-727-9099.
District of Columbia
Advocates honored at Engendered Spirit Awards
Annual ceremony held at conclusion of Trans Pride DC
The 2026 SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards ceremony took place at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library in D.C. on Saturday. The ceremony was held at the conclusion of the day-long Trans Pride DC: Encore.
Honorees included D.C. Mayor’s Office of Community Affairs Deputy Director Vida Rangel; the LGBT+ Counseling Collaborative, Inc.; and Connor Keuntje, CLP, CLPC.
Trans Pride DC: Encore was held throughout Saturday with several workshop sessions and a virtual conversation with actress and advocate Dominique Jackson.
The annual Engendered Spirit Awards were renamed the “SaVanna Wanzer Engendered Spirit Awards” in honor of SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride. Wanzer died on April 24 of this year.
Speakers at the ceremony included Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and Bianca Sprague, executive director of D.C. Trans Pride.
“The intent behind this award and honoring members of our communities, organizations, and allies, is to really elevate all of the work that they’re doing to provide resources, tools, learning opportunities and connections: centering trans folks, gender non-conforming, and gender diverse individuals,” Sprague said.
Dolly Parton dies at 80
Monument to LGBTQ Canadians officially unveiled
The fight to save one of Baltimore’s last gay bars
When home becomes a journey: migration, memory, and the African diaspora
Gay-owned pizzeria in Dupont Circle burglarized
Trump-Vance administration’s LGBTQ brain drain: what you need to know
Not all trans people are the same
UPDATE: Impulse Group’s ‘PrEP Pool Party’ cancelled
Calendar: August 21-27
