Local
BHT Foundation ‘dissolving’ after 43 years
Four gay motorcycle clubs created group in 1978
The BHT Foundation, an LGBTQ group formerly known as Brother Help Thyself that has raised more than $3.5 million for more than 200 nonprofit LGBTQ organizations in the D.C. and Baltimore area since its founding in 1978, announced on Friday that its board of directors has decided to dissolve the organization.
“It is with great sadness that, after 43 years of Building Helping Transforming our surrounding communities, the board of directors of the BHT Foundation has decided to dissolve the organization,” the board said in an email sent to LGBTQ organizations and activists on Friday.
“This decision was not reached lightly,” the board’s statement says. “When Brother, Help Thyself was founded in 1978 by four gay motorcycle clubs, it was one of the first organizations in the U.S. to provide funding for LGBTQ/SGL health, culture and social services. Throughout the AIDS crisis, BHT helped to leverage critical funding, at a time when it was severely lacking in other areas,” the statement says.
“Today we have come to the determination that it is no longer needed in the same way,” the statement continues. “There is no doubt that BHT will be missed. However, the board of directors has every confidence that the many nonprofit and community organizations serving LGBTQ/SGL communities of the Baltimore/D.C. region and beyond are today in a much better place to acquire resources, thanks to the over four decades of work by the clubs and members of BHT,” says the statement.
It adds that the board is currently in the process of determining a final distribution of its assets to nonprofit and charitable organizations in the D.C. and Baltimore regions.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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