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Cesar Augusto Caceres, respected D.C. doctor, dies

Honduras native treated patients with HIV at Dupont Circle practice

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Cesar Augusto Cacares, gay news, Washington Blade
Cesar Augusto Caceres (Photo courtesy of Jacqueline W. Schick)

Cesar Augusto Caceres, MD, peacefully passed away Feb. 9, 2020, at his home in Washington, D.C.

Born April 9, 1927, in Puerto Cortés, Honduras, Dr. Caceres was the only child of Julian R. Caceres, former Ambassador to the United States from Honduras, and Mrs. Mariana C. Caceres. His partner of 48 years, W. Raymond Mize, Jr., MD, pre-deceased Dr. Caceres in September 2004, as did his companion Stanley J. Kuliczkowski in July 2015. Dr. Caceres is survived by his cousins Mrs. Gloria Caceres, Dr. J. Desiree Pineda, Mrs. Carmen Alfaro Morawski and Mrs. Ana Maria Alfaro.

In 1953, Dr. Caceres obtained his medical degrees from Georgetown University. He obtained additional training in internal medicine at Tufts and Boston Universities in Boston, Massachusetts. He received cardiology and research training from George Washington University.

Dr. Caceres worked for the Public Health Service where he won two Superior Service Awards for developing the country’s first functional computer-electrocardiographic interpretive system. Later he joined George Washington University where he was professor of clinical engineering. Dr. Caceres has edited and co-authored nine textbooks dealing with various aspects of technology, medicine, and health care.  

In 1970, Dr. Caceres opened his private practice in Dupont Circle integrating computer technology into the day-to-day real world of medical practice. Beginning in the 1980s Dr. Caceres developed for use in his practice The System Integrated Record, S.I.R. By the early 1980s, like other physicians in D.C., Dr. Caceres began seeing patients with HIV and was committed to the care of patients with the goal of improving health and quality of life until his retirement in 2014. In October 1985, in an op-ed article on HIV in the Wall Street Journal and a letter to the editor in the Journal of the American Medical, Dr. Caceres pointed out that the methodology used by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to report the causes of HIV transmission understated the national figures of those who had become infected as a result of recreational drug use. As a result of these publications, the CDC changed its methodology for HIV reporting. In his practice, Dr. Caceres authored many unique patient education pieces on HIV, opportunistic infections, and safer sex to better educate his patients.

Dr. Caceres founded the Institute for Technology in Health Care, a non-profit which seeks to support projects designed to identify, investigate, and apply new and existing technologies to the solution of health care problems. Services will be held at St. Matthew’s Cathedral, 1725 Rhode Island Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, at 10:30 a.m. Memorial contributions may be made to the Institute for Technology in Health Care, 1759 Q St., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20009.

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Delaware

Milton Pride Fest to take place Saturday

This year’s theme is ‘Small Town, Big Heart’

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Milton, Del., will host its Pride Fest this Saturday with the theme “Small Town, Big Heart.” The town’s population of just over 3,000 is in its sixth year hosting Pride. 

The event is hosted by Sussex Pride and Milton Theatre and will take place from 4-8 p.m. in the area surrounding the theater. Admission is pay-what-you-can and proceeds will support the Milton Theatre’s education wing campaign, an initiative dedicated to expanding arts education and creating spaces for the next generation of performers and artists. 

The musical act schedule includes Goldstar at 4 p.m., Magnolia Applebottom and Friends at 5:30 p.m., and Mama’s Blacksheep at 6:45 p.m. There will be vendors, food trucks, and a Kids Fest with an inflatable obstacle course. 

“In our little corner of the world, LOVE leads the way! Milton Pride 2025 is a celebration for EVERYONE — neighbors, families, allies, and friends — because acceptance, kindness, and community belong to us all,” Milton Theatre’s website reads. “Whether you’re here to cheer, learn, or simply feel the joy … you’re welcome exactly as you are. Let’s come together and celebrate Milton, a SMALL TOWN … with a BIG HEART!”

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District of Columbia

Drive with Pride in D.C.

A new Pride-themed license plate is now available in the District, with proceeds directly benefiting local LGBTQ organizations.

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A sample of the license plate with the "Progressive" Pride flag. (Screenshot from the DCDMV website)

Just in time for Pride month, the D.C. Department of Motor Vehicles has partnered with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs to create a special “Pride Lives Here” license plate.

The plate, which was initially unveiled in February, has a one-time $25 application fee and a $20 annual display fee. Both fees will go directly to the Office of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning Affairs Fund.

The MOLGBTQA Fund provides $1,000,000 annually to 25,000 residents through its grant program, funding a slew of LGBTQ organizations in the DMV area — including Capital Pride Alliance, Whitman-Walker, the D.C. Center for the LGBTQ Community, and the Washington Blade Foundation.

The license plate features an inclusive rainbow flag wrapping around the license numbers, with silver stars in the background — a tribute to both D.C.’s robust queer community and the resilience the LGBTQ community has shown.

The “Pride Lives Here” plate is one of only 13 specialty plates offered in the District, and the only one whose fees go directly to the LGBTQ community.

To apply for a Pride plate, visit the DC DMV’s website at https://dmv.dc.gov/

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Delaware

Delawareans march in D.C. WorldPride parade

CAMP Rehoboth contingent among marchers

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(Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The nation’s capital welcomed WorldPride this past weekend, a massive celebration that usually takes place in a different city every two years. 

The Saturday parade attracted hundreds of thousands of people from around the world and the country. The state of Delaware, a few hours drive from D.C., saw participants in the parade, with CAMP Rehoboth, an LGBTQ community center in Rehoboth Beach, hosting a bus day trip. 

Hope Vella sits on the board of directors and marched with CAMP Rehoboth. Vella said that although the parade took a long time to start and the temperature was hot, she was “on a cloud” from being there. 

“It didn’t matter to me how long it took to start. With the current changes that are in place regarding diversity and inclusion, I wanted my face there,” Vella said. “My life is an intersection. I am a Black woman. I am a lesbian, and I have a disability. All of these things are trying to be erased … I didn’t care how long it took. I didn’t care how far it was going to be. I was going to finish that parade. I didn’t care how hot it was.”

The nearly two mile parade route didn’t feel as long because everyone was so happy interacting with the crowd, Vella said. The group gave out beads, buttons, and pins to parade watchers. 

“The World Pride celebration gave me hope because so many people came out. And the joy and the love that was between us … That gave me hope,” Vella said. 

Vella said that people with disabilities are often overlooked. More than one in four Americans have disabilities, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Vella said it was important for her “to be out there and to be seen in my wholeness as a Black woman, as a lesbian, as a woman with a disability and to not be hiding. I want our society to understand that we exist in LGBTQ+ spaces also.”

Retired Maj. Gen. Tammy Smith is involved with CAMP Rehoboth and marched with a coalition of LGBTQ military members. Smith said they were walking to give transgender military members visibility and to remind people why they are serving. 

“When we are not visible, what is allowed to take our place is stereotypes,” Smith said. “And so without visibility, people think all veterans are conservative and perhaps not open to full equality. Without visibility, they might think a small state with a farming background may be a place that’s unwelcoming, but when you actually meet the people who are from those places, it sets aside those stereotypes and the real authenticity is allowed to come forward.”

During the parade, Smith said she saw trans military members in the parade make eye contact or fist bump with transgender people in the crowd. 

“They were seen. Both sides were seen during that parade and I just felt privileged to be able to witness that,” Smith said. 

Smith said Delaware is a state that is about freedom and equality and is the first state for a reason. The LGBTQ community is engrained as part of life in the Rehoboth and Lewes areas. 

“What pride means to me is that we must always be doing what is necessary to maintain our dignity as a community,” Smith said. “We can’t let what people with negative messaging might be tossing our way impact us and the celebration of Pride. I don’t see it as being self-promoting. I see it as an act of dignity and strength.”

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