Arts & Entertainment
National Cannabis Festival returns for 4/20 weekend
Annual concert/summit offers LGBT-inclusive education, music and more
Last year’s National Cannabis Festival in Washington. (Photo courtesy NCF)
National Cannabis Festival
Saturday, April 21
Noon-8 p.m.
RFK Stadium
2400 E Capitol St., S.E.
$42-90
The National Cannabis Festival plans to bring music, education and good vibes to RFK Stadium with plenty of LGBT support.
The festival was the brainchild of Caroline Phillips who envisioned a cannabis event that was more affordable than the typical cannabis trade show. Phillips also wanted a space for people to learn about advocacy groups that have worked toward the legalization of cannabis nationwide for decades. In 2015, the inaugural National Cannabis Festival, founded and executive produced by Phillips, welcomed an estimated 5,000 attendees for its all-day event that included a concert from De La Soul.
This year marks the festival’s third annual event, which is expected to bring in an estimated 10,000 attendees for music, games, contests, food and education sessions.
Legendary hip hop group Cypress Hill will headline the all-day concert, which will include performances from reggae artist See-I and newcomer Beau Young Prince. Local artists will also take the stage including go-go band Backyard Band, DJ Ayes Cold, indie-soul band Oh He Dead, Names and Marlee. Samy K and Reesa Renee will host the concert.
For attendees more interested in policy, the festival also hosts the National Cannabis Policy Summit on Friday, April 20 at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.). There will be speakers and panels such as “All the Buzz: How Does Media Portrayal Impact the Future of Cannabis?,” “The Exit Drug: Can Medical Cannabis End the Narcotics Epidemic?” and more. Registration is free.
Laila Makled was running the D.C. chapter of Women Grow, a women’s business cannabis networking organization, when she was introduced to Phillips. Interested in further pursuing a career in cannabis advocacy, Makled came on board as co-chair of the National Cannabis Festival Advocacy Committee. Makled says that throughout the festival there will be speeches from activists and leaders including Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-District of Columbia), D.C. Council member At-Large Robert C. White Jr., Maryland Del. David Moon and Congresswoman Tulsi Gabbard (D-Hawaii).
For Makled, mixing education throughout the concert is an ideal way to let attendees have fun but still learn cannabis policy.
“We want those people who are just coming to chill, smoke and listen to music to come in and see that we have an education pavilion where we’re having policy talks all day. We have an advocacy pavilion where they can go talk to the advocacy groups, sign up for email lists and get involved on a local level,” Makled says. “With all of those things they really have no choice but to walk out with a little extra knowledge than they had before. It’s ingrained into the festival.”
The Weedmaps Educational Pavilion will give some of that knowledge with lessons on cannabis legalization and the cannabis industry. Guests can also peruse the Bulb Wellness Pavilion where they can speak with medical professionals, holistic medicine practitioners, yoga instructors, dispensary owners and more.
When attendees aren’t learning about cannabis health, policy or listening to music, they can wander through the Exhibitor Fair, which features more than 70 exhibitors from around the United states. The D.C. Glass Gallery General Admission Lounge will have high-end pipes, accessories and activities throughout the day.
Guests can stop by the Hempworx Munchine Zone for snacks, beverages and free water. Other on-site activities will include lawn games, a photo booth and game zone.
The LGBT community will be well represented at the festival with LGBT-identifying speakers and LGBT-friendly vendors.
Statistically, the LGBT community has been more accepting of cannabis usage than heterosexuals. According to a 2014 study conducted by the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 30 percent of LGBT Coloradans had consumed cannabis in the past month compared to 12.9 percent of heterosexuals. And 64.4 percent of LGBT respondents surveyed also said that they had consumed cannabis in their lifetime compared to 48.7 percent of straight respondents.
A study conducted by the General Social Survey also reports that in 2016, 80 percent of LGBT Americans supported the legalization of cannabis compared to 58 percent of heterosexuals.
Makled, who identifies as queer, says that for her the LGBT community and the cannabis community share a common stigma by society.
“I think there’s a natural connection between the cannabis movement and the LGBTQ movement. I had come out at a very young age,” Makled says. “I was 16. I realized I wanted to pursue a career in advocacy and business within cannabis. It was a whole other coming-out process. Because both the cultures have been living on the fringe of society and have been forced to celebrate behind closed doors. Not only are you having to come out saying, ‘I’m gay’ but also coming out saying, ‘I support consuming and legalizing cannabis and criminal justice reform.’”
LGBT participants this year include D.C. Vote’s Barbara Hemlick; Get Hemp Butter’s Kyla Hill; Marijuana Policy Project’s Kate Bell; Hemp Kettle Tea Company, a queer-owned indy tea company; Jenn Michelle Pedini from Virginia NORML; and Drug Policy Alliance’s Queen Adesuyi.
Makled hopes that more widespread cannabis legalization and criminal reform will lead to people becoming more open about cannabis usage.
“I think like any group of people or culture there’s a need and desire to celebrate that culture. That’s exactly what the National Cannabis Festival is. It’s the perfect intersection of culture, advocacy, arts and music. More people would come out of the green closet, which people compare coming out of the LGBTQ closest, to coming out of the cannabis closest. The more people are comfortable, the more people realize the medicinal and social benefits of cannabis, the more people will start to come out,” Makled says.
Sports
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
New regulation to be in effect at 2028 summer games in Los Angeles
The International Olympic Committee on Thursday announced it will not allow transgender women from competing in female events at the Olympics.
“For all disciplines on the Sports Program of an IOC event, including individual and team sports, eligibility for any Female Category is limited to biological females,” reads the new policy.
The policy states “eligibility for the Female Category is to be determined in the first instance by SRY Gene screening to detect the absence or presence of the SRY Gene.”
“On the basis of the scientific evidence, the IOC considers that the SRY (sex-determining Region Y) Gene is fixed throughout life and represents highly accurate evidence that an athlete has experienced or will experience male sex development,” it reads. “Furthermore, the IOC considers that SRY Gene screening via saliva, cheek swab or blood sample is unintrusive compared to other possible methods. Athletes who screen negative for the SRY gene permanently satisfy this policy’s eligibility criteria for competition in the Female Category.”
The policy states the test “will be a once-in-a-lifetime test” unless “there is reason to believe a negative reading is in error.”
The new regulation will be in place for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
“I understand that this a very sensitive topic,” said IOC President Kirsty Coventry on Thursday in a video. “As a former athlete, I passionately believe in the rights of all Olympians to take part in fair competition.”
“The policy that we have announced is based on science and it has been led by medical experts with the best interests of athletes at its heart. The scientific evidence is very clear: male chromosomes give performance advances in sport that rely on strength, power, or endurance,” she added. “At the Olympic Games, even the smallest margins can be the difference between victory and defeat. So, it is absolutely clear that it would not be fair for biological males to compete in the female category. In addition, in some sports it would simply not be safe.”
(Video courtesy of the IOC)
Laurel Hubbard, a weightlifter from New Zealand, in 2021 became the first trans woman to compete at the Olympics.
Imane Khelif, an Algerian boxer, won a gold medal at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris. Khelif later sued JK Rowling and Elon Musk for cyberstalking after they questioned her gender identity.
Ellis Lundholm, a mogul skier from Sweden, this year became the first openly trans athlete to compete in any Winter Olympics when he participated in Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy.
President Donald Trump in February 2025 issued an executive order that bans trans women and girls from female sports teams in the U.S.
The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee last July banned trans women from competing in female sporting events. Republican lawmakers have demanded the IOC ban trans athletes from women’s athletic competitions.
“I’m grateful the Olympics finally embraced the common sense policy that women’s sports are for women, not for men,” said U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) on X.
An IOC spokesperson on Thursday referred the Washington Blade to the press release that announced the new policy.
a&e features
Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people
Meet the Legends and Illuminators lighting new paths
The Torchbearers Awards are more than recognition—they are a continuation of legacy. They honor the quiet architects of progress in our community: those who organize, advocate, build, and protect, often without fanfare but always with purpose. Rooted in a belief in intentional recognition, this honor names those who carry our movements forward—those who make room for others, who remind us that change is both generational and generative. In a time marked by uncertainty and challenge, these leaders push forward with courage, clarity, and an unwavering commitment to expanding opportunity and equity.
This year’s honorees reflect the full breadth of our community, spanning generations, backgrounds, identities, and industries. From Legends, with decades of leadership and having created pathways for others, to Illuminators, who are lighting new paths with creativity and innovation, each Torchbearer represents the power of intergenerational leadership and the strength found in our diversity. They are organizers, advocates, artists, policy leaders, healers, and changemakers whose lived experiences shape a shared vision for equity and liberation.
This award is our love letter to queer and trans women and nonbinary people who carry the flame when it would be easier to let it dim. To those who consistently show up, who use their voice and visibility and stand firm, often without recognition, so that others may live more freely and fully. The Torchbearers Awards celebrates not just what has been done, but the enduring spirit, responsibility, and collective care that ensure the work continues, and that the flame is always passed forward.
Co-Creators of the Torchbearers Awards: Shannon Alston, June Crenshaw, Heidi Ellis
Torchbearers Awards Advisory Board: Aditi Hardikar, Lesley Bryant, Jasmine Wilson-Bryant, Stephen Rutgers
ILLUMINATOR AWARDEES
- Representative Sharice Davids (she/her), (D, KS-03)
— U.S. House of Representatives - Greisa Martinez Rosas (she/her/ella)
— Executive Director, United We Dream - Paola Ramos (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Meagan A. Fitzgerald (she/her)
— Journalist & Correspondent - Jessica L. Lewis (she/her)
— Founder / Producer, Play Play DC - Savannah Wade (she/her)
— Founder, OAR Agency - Suhad Babaa (she/her)
— Filmmaker/ Former Executive Director of Just Vision - Ashlee Davis (she/her)
— Global Head of Inclusive Outcomes, Ancestry - Jazmine Hughes (she/her)
— Journalist and Former Editor at New York Times Magazine - Queen Adesuyi (she/they)
— Policy Advisor & Organizer, ReFrame Health & Justice - Michele Rayner, Esq. (she/her)
— Civil Rights Attorney, State Representative (Florida House of Representatives) - Gaby Vincent (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Jenny Nguyen (she/her)
— Founder & Owner, The Sports Bra - Denice Frohman (she/her)
— Independent Artist, Poet / Performer - Vida Rangel (she/her)
— Founder, Our Trans Capital - Roxanne Anderson (they/them)
— Executive Director, Our Space - Ann Marie Gothard (she/her)
— Co-Founder & President, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Diana Rodriques (she/her)
— Co-Founder & CEO, Pride Live (Stonewall National Monument Visitor Center) - Wendi Cooper (she/her)
— Founder / Executive Director, Transcending Women - Toya Matthews (she/her)
— City of San Antonio, Texas - Mayor Gina Ortiz Jones (she/her)
— Sports/Cultural Commentator and Community Leader - Charity Blackwell (she/her)
— Poet, LGBTQ Advocate & Community Leader - Wilhelmina Indermaur (she/her)
— Director of Communications, Tyler Clementi Foundation - Em Chadwick (she/her)
— CMO, For Them & Autostraddle - Kylo Freeman (they/he)
— CEO, For Them & Autostraddle
LEGEND AWARDEES
- Sheila Alexander-Reid (she/her)
— Executive Director, PHL Diversity, Philadelphia Convention & Visitors Bureau - Cassandra Cantave Burton (she/her)
— Interim Director of Thought Leadership & Senior Research Advisor, AARP - leigh h. mosley (she/her)
— Photographer / Educator, PhotoFlo Photography - Jenn M. Jackson, PhD (they/them)
— Assistant Professor of Political Science; Author & Columnist, Syracuse University - Jordyn White (she/her)
— COO, Washington Prodigy / VP of Leadership Development & Research, HRC Foundation - AJ Hikes (they/them)
— Deputy Executive Director, ACLU - RaeShanda Lias (she/her)
— Digital Creator, RL Lockhart - Donna Payne-Hardy (she/her)
— Educator, EEO Specialist, Former Leader at the Human Rights Campaign - Courtney R. Snowden (she/her)
— Principal, Blueprint Strategy Group - Gaye Adegbalola (she/her)
— Musician & Activist, Musician / Inductee of the Blues Hall of Fame - Cheryl A. Head (she/her)
— Independent Author, Novelist (Crime Fiction) - Letitia Gomez (she/her)
— The American LGBTQ+ Museum, Formerly of Voto Latino - Lynne Brown (she/her)
— Publisher, Washington Blade - Shay Franco-Clausen (She/Her/Ella/Queen)
— Political Strategist and Organizer - Melissa L. Bradley (she/her)
— Founder & Managing Partner, New Majority Ventures - Meghann Burke (she/her)
— Executive Director, NWSL Players Association - Victoria Kirby York, MPA (she/they)
— Director of Public Policy & Programs, National Black Justice Coalition - Joli Angel Robinson (she/her)
— CEO, Center on Halsted - Jeannine Frisby LaRue (she/her)
— CEO, Moxie Strategies - Alice Wu (she/her)
— Film Director (Saving Face, The Half of It) / Screenwriter - Storme Webber (she/her)
— Interdisciplinary Artist / Educator, University of Washington - Kim Stone
— CEO of the Washington Spirit, Washington Spirit - Mickalene Thomas
— American Visual Artist, Mickalene Thomas Studio - Erika Lorshbough (any/they/she)
— Executive Director, interACT - J. Gia Loving (she/ella)
— Co-Executive Director, GSA Network
Celebrity News
D.C. goes gaga for Gaga
Bisexual icon brought ‘The Mayhem Ball’ tour to Washington this week
Lady Gaga this week took D.C. by storm.
The bisexual icon and LGBTQ rights champion brought “The Mayhem Ball” tour to Capital One Arena on Monday and Tuesday.
“Abracadabra,” “Paparazzi,” “Applause,” and “Bad Romance” are among the songs Lady Gaga performed during the 2 1/2-hour long concert. Lady Gaga also celebrated her many queer fans.
“You are precious to us,” she said on Tuesday night before she performed “Born This Way.”
‘No Kings’ protests set for D.C.
Border to border: modern slavery and human trafficking in refugee movements across East Africa
New IOC policy bans trans women from Olympics
Introducing the Torchbearers Awards honoring queer, trans women and nonbinary people
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