Arts & Entertainment
Stonewall Inn’s owners look back while moving forward
LGBTQ landmark continues to evolve 50 years later
Open the front door to the Stonewall Inn today and you’ll find LGBTQ people from every walk of life. Locals and tourists alike gather for reasons as diverse as they are. Some patrons want to see the world-famous Stonewall Inn; others pop in for a cocktail and the rest simply want to hang out in a gay bar.
Among the crowd, you may even spot a famous face. Taylor Swift recently performed at Stonewall Inn; Joe Biden and his wife Jill Biden came by to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots; and Madonna surprised fans with a New Year’s Eve performance at the historic bar in 2019.
Co-owners Kurt Kelly and Stacy Lentz gave birth to this modern-day Stonewall Inn when they purchased it in 2006.
Kelly, who is gay, felt that the Stonewall Inn had lost its connection with the LGBTQ community. He and a group of investors decided to purchase the property and brought investor Lentz, a lesbian community activist, on board as co-owner.
It was the first bar Kelly and Lentz had ever owned but they were ready to return the Stonewall Inn to its LGBTQ roots.
The original Stonewall Inn was a Mafia-owned bar located on 51–53 Christopher Street in the Greenwich Village neighborhood of New York City.
“The Mafia bought up a lot of the gay bars because they saw money involved in there. They saw money in those spaces because gay people would go there and spend a lot of money,” Kelly says.
Police raids were common for gay bars during that time and one such routine raid would make history on June 28, 1969 when bar patrons resisted arrest. The Stonewall Riots sparked a movement one year later when the first-ever Pride march was organized to commemorate the event. The march route stretched from the Stonewall Inn to Central Park.
Shortly after the riots, the Stonewall Inn shut down. Over the years, it was converted into a bagel shop, a deli and a shoe store before reopening as a bar at 51 Christopher Street from 1987 before shuttering in 1989. The 53 Christopher Street location reopened as a bar in 1990 as New Jimmy’s but the name was changed to Stonewall a year later.
Kelly, Lentz and their group of investors purchased the space at 53 Christopher Street making the new Stonewall Inn half the size of the original bar.
Today, the Stonewall Inn is recognized as the catalyst for the modern LGBTQ rights movement. In 2016, President Barack Obama designated the Stonewall National Monument, which includes Stonewall Inn and Christopher Street Park, located across the street from the bar. The Stonewall National Monument became the first national monument marking an LGBTQ designated site.
“I think it was incredible for the entire community, not just the owners of the bar, to have that recognized as telling us the fabric of American LGBTQ history is really important. The Parks Department and the national monument really can do that. We were super, super excited and it was an incredible moment for our entire community,” Lentz says. “It’s just extremely important for the LGBTQ community to have Stonewall, the birthplace, recognized as a national monument. Now it’s as famous as the Statue of Liberty or the Grand Canyon.”
The Stonewall Inn has also become known for its LGBTQ advocacy in recent years.
In 2013, Lentz helped organize 80 non-profits for a rally outside of the Stonewall Inn in support of marriage rights.
After the 2016 Pulse nightclub massacre, the outside of the Stonewall Inn became a memorial for the victims. The outside of the bar has also been the site of protests against the Trump administration.
Lentz decided to make Stonewall’s advocacy work more official in 2017.
She spearheaded the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, a non-profit organization working toward LGBTQ equality in the United States.
“We wanted to focus on places all over the country where equality has been slow to arrive. So a lot of that emphasis is on the 28 states where you can still be fired for being LGBTQ. They like to say you can get married on Friday and fired on a Monday. Legally, they don’t have the same options that we have and those places also have that daily stigma because of the prejudice of the communities around them,” Lentz says.
As World Pride draws near, Kelly and Lentz say they’re prepping for the momentous occasion.
“We’re planning to keep the doors open. We’re the epicenter. We’re at ground zero. We just have to make sure all the beer is there and the liquor is there for everyone to enjoy,” Kelly says.
The 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots has drawn more attention to the iconic bar and Kelly and Lentz hope that people will remember just how instrumental the Stonewall Inn was to the LGBTQ rights movement.
“That’s where Pride began and that’s where Pride lives,” Kelly says.
For Lentz, it’s also a conversation that needs to keep going.
“What happened there in 1969, the brave men and women that started that fight, is not over. We have to honor that and all continue to vow to work and keep going until we have full equality and that’s what we all have to do together,” Lentz says.
For more information on the Stonewall Inn Gives Back Initiative, visit stonewallinitiative.org.
Sports
Trans cyclist’s victory sparks outrage in conservative media
Katheryn Phillips is originally from DC
On the heels of UPenn erasing the record of the first openly transgender NCAA Division I All-American swimmer and the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to tackle bans on trans student-athletes, right wing media is now all hot and bothered about the latest trans woman who won a cycling championship — even though she competed according to the rules.
On Tuesday, 58-year-old Katheryn Phillips finished first in USA Cycling’s Lyons Masters National Championship race for women aged 55-59, with a time of 1:42:10, according to the official results posted by the organization. The record shows her gender as “F” for female.
One second behind Phillips was Julie Peterson, with a time of 1:42:11 — as were three other cyclists: Mary Beth Grier, Andrea Cherniak-Tyson, and Carolyn Maddox.
Peterson, 57, was so outraged, she told Fox News she refused to stand on the podium in second place next to Phillips. Her story was swiftly shared by the New York Post (also owned by Fox’s parent company News Corp.), the Daily Mail, Breitbart, and other conservative media.
Both Peterson and another competitor are accusing USA Cycling of “hiding” that a transgender woman had registered to race.
“It was hidden from us. Katheryn Phillips, KJ’s name, was not on that list. And I checked it up all the way to the point of closure when we couldn’t register online anymore,” Debbie Milne told Fox.
“If I had known, I wouldn’t have spent thousands of dollars in travel and time off work to come and do a race,” Peterson said. Fox welcomed Milne, 56, who finished seventh on Tuesday, to Fox & Friends Thursday morning.
(Video courtesy of Fox News)
Peterson told Fox she did complain to USA Cycling officials prior to the race. Both Milne and Peterson referred to Phillips as a male, and with “he/him” pronouns.
“To be fair to all humans, if we want to say ‘him’ or ‘her,’ he was born a biological male, that is a fact,” Milne said. “And that is the thing that makes it an unfair advantage. Whatever has happened after that is a whole different topic.”
“I said, ‘I don’t want to race against a man,’ and they quickly scolded me and said ‘Oh, you can’t call him a man,’ and I’m like ‘Well, he is a man,’ so I was quickly scolded and corrected that it is a woman and I don’t even know what to say.”
USA Cycling did not respond to the Washington Blade’s emails requesting comment.
Phillips, who goes by Kate and by “KJ,” is a former rugby player with the D.C. Furries, who stated in the comments of a 2024 article published by Zwift Insider that she was the first out trans athlete in the U.S. to compete under the 2004 International Olympic Committee’s guidelines on trans participation.
“When USA Rugby told me about the IOC decision in 2004, I raised my hand to be included. I experience nothing but joy when I play, ride, and race,” Phillips said.
As the Blade has reported, the International Olympic Committee drastically revised those rules in 2021, and in March, Republican lawmakers in D.C. demanded the IOC ban trans female athletes from women’s sporting events altogether.
The Blade also reached out to Phillips for comment but as of press time we have not received a response. She told Zwift Insider in March 2024 she does not let those who disapprove or spread hate impact her performance or her attitude.
“I am unaffected by dissent. I love, I share joy, I am me, and I have been my authentic self for decades,” she said. It’s been reported Phillips came out in 1999, and told Zwift Insider she considers herself a lifelong cyclist.
“I’ve been on a bike for as long as I can remember,” said Phillips. “As kids, my friends and I rode all over town, we were feral kids; no cell phones, no trackers … we just roamed, and nobody got in trouble or hurt bad enough not to ride home … Scrapes/bruises/cuts were not an issue for us. In my teens, I worked for myself as a court/legal messenger, doing all of the work via my bike until I got a car. Raced BMX as a kiddo (when I mowed lawns to cover the race entry fees), I did MTB stuff (non-racing) and Sprint/Olympic Triathlons in my 30’s, and now I’m racing on Zwift, Road/Gravel, and CX in my 50s.”
In the comments section, Phillips made clear she’s not competing to win.
“I don’t do sports for victory, I do it because like many other women, I am an athlete to my core,” she said. “Unlike some, I am not there to WIN, I am there to do my best with the competitors and teammates I have around me trying to do the same…we are in it for the experience. I rejoice in their wins, and a lot of joy is reflected back to me when I have a good day.”
Celebrity News
Nina West’s ‘Sugar in the Tank’ tour comes to Rehoboth Beach
Drag Race’ contestant will be at Clear Space Theater Company on July 6
Nina West, a drag queen known for competing on “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” is currently on her ‘Sugar in the Tank’ tour around U.S. cities.
With previous shows in Key West, Fla., New York, and hometown of Columbus, Ohio, the tour is staying put in Provincetown, Mass., from late July to early September. It will make a stop at Clear Space Theater Company in Rehoboth Beach, Del., as part of a summer cabaret series on July 6.
Andrew Levitt has been performing as Nina West for 25 years, who got her rise from starring in “Drag Race” Season 11, where she placed sixth and won Miss Congeniality, a title awarded to the contestant who is regarded as the kindest and most helpful one of that season.
West has toured “Hairspray” on Broadway as Edna Turnblad, starred in a couple of feature films and published a children’s book titled ‘The You Kind of Kind.’
Levitt said he wrote this show in response to attacks from the government towards the LGBTQ community.
“‘Sugar in the Tank’ is a big old gay fabulous summer musical,” Levitt told the Washington Blade. “The show is a response to the darkness that I think has fallen over a lot of people in the country and it’s hopefully trying to bring a little bit of light and a little bit of joy.”
“Sugar in the Tank” is a Southern euphemism for gay, often holding a negative connotation. Levitt said he wanted to “reclaim and embrace” queerness in times when some people want to take that away.
Levitt said he knew he would be traveling to predominantly queer destinations like Key West and Provincetown for these shows and that was always at the forefront of his mind when writing “Sugar in the Tank.”
This will be Levitt’s first time in Rehoboth Beach. Clear Space Theater is considered Delaware’s second-largest professional non-profit theater and the state’s most prolific producer of professional theater. The space seats just 170 patrons and Levitt said he loves the intimacy of a small venue and that it’s his favorite way to do a show.
“Stages like this size are the perfect size for me because it allows for me to really showcase my talents,” Levitt said.
Levitt founded the Nina West Foundation in 2015 to uplift and sustain the central Ohio LGBTQ community, which has raised more than $3 million for various organizations. He said he makes activism part of the entertainment in his career.
“That’s the nuance of what drag is. We can be ridiculous for fun and we can be serious but it’s all wrapped up into one thing,” Levitt said. “I think that can be the power of it.”
Levitt said West is so much more confident now than when he first started performing as her. He didn’t know where his voice belonged in the community in the past, but because of those who came before him in this art form, he has learned to harness the power of the stage and the power of the wig to be able to tell stories.
“I really love my community. I love queer people. I love who we are and what we represent,” Levitt said. “Knowing our history and knowing that we’ve been through a lot, I’m really thrilled that as a queen, I can use my voice and my platform to help try to better our community, not try to speak for everyone but try to lend voice to people who desperately need it.”
Levitt’s advice to young queer artists is to not give up on yourself, surround yourself with supportive people and allow yourself the opportunity and space to fail, to ask questions, and to not give up.
“Our young people have got to be told they matter,” Levitt said. “Oftentimes, people are told that they don’t matter, that their voice doesn’t matter, that they cannot make a difference and I want to remind every single person who’s doing this that they do matter, they can make a difference, their voice is intrinsic to who we are as a community.”
If Sugar in the Tank was a drink, it would be a Bahama Mama or Sex on the Beach, said Levitt, because they are delicious, juicy, and sugary, just like the show.
“I just want everyone to know that they should come to ‘Sugar in the Tank’ and experience a show that’s built on joy and levity and silliness and fun and come have some fun with me and show me the fabulous love of Rehoboth Beach,” Levitt said. “I can’t wait.”
The Rainbow History Project will host “Pickets, Protests and Parade Exhibit Tour” at 7 p.m. at Freedom Plaza. This event honors the courage, resilience and resistance of D.C.’s gay community. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Go Gay DC will host “LGBTQ Community Social” at 7 p.m. at Hyatt Centric Arlington (1325 Wilson Blvd.). This fun event is ideal for meeting new people and community building. Attendance is free and more details are available on Eventbrite.
Xavier Entertainment DC will host “Cowboy Carter Afterparty” at 10 p.m. at Nellie’s Sports Bar. There will be fireworks, parades, and patriotic fun. For more details, visit Eventbrite.
Mezcal Amaras will host “Sha Boing Boing Showdown” at 6 p.m. at Snappy’s Small Bar (3917 Georgia Ave., N.W.). Get ready to test your hotdog eating abilities. Tickets start at $12.51 and can be purchased on Eventbrite.
Illusions Drag Queen Show will host “Drag Queen Dinner Show” at 7 p.m. at 2323 18th St. N.W. Guests will be treated to the very best celebrity drag impersonations in entertainment. Tickets start at $12.97 and are available on Eventbrite.
Thurst Lounge will host “A Thirsty Cowboy Afterparty” at 5 p.m. DJ Apollo will be performing. For more details, visit Thurst’s website.
9:30 Club will host “Gimme Gimme Disco: A Dance Party Inspired by ABBA” at 9 p.m. The DJ will play plenty of disco hits from the 70s and 80s. Tickets cost $45.30 and can be purchased on Ticketmaster.
Trans cyclist’s victory sparks outrage in conservative media
Activist recalls experience in Tel Aviv after Israel-Iran war began
Congress passes ‘Big, Beautiful Bill’ with massive cuts to health insurance coverage
Nina West’s ‘Sugar in the Tank’ tour comes to Rehoboth Beach
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
Upwards of 100K people march in Budapest Pride
Supreme Court to consider bans on trans athletes in school sports
Celebrate the Fourth of July the gay way!
Silver Spring holds annual Pride In The Plaza
