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Kamala Harris addresses high-dollar LGBTQ donors at D.C. fundraiser

Jackson confirmation promoted as key victory

Published

3 years ago

April 13, 2022

Kamala Harris promoted the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson at a D.C. fundraiser.

Vice President Kamala Harris headlined a D.C-based fundraiser for high-dollar LGBTQ Democratic donors on Wednesday night, promoting the confirmation of Ketanji Brown Jackson to the U.S. Supreme Court as a key victory.

“I was proud for a number of reasons,” Harris said. “Probably the obvious reason, in terms of what this means in terms of the history that continues to be made — one could say, parenthetically, ‘Sadly, we’re still making firsts,’ but we are doing it. And I was proud to be there for that reason.”

As Harris pointed out at the event, she presided last week over the vote on Jackson in the Senate, making the first Black woman to serve as vice president a key player in the confirmation of the first Black woman justice to the Supreme Court.

Among the prominent LGBTQ donors present at the private home for the fundraiser was Claire Lucas, a lesbian and deputy finance chair for the Democratic National Committee. The DNC counted 86 people present at the event and Lucas told the crowd the DNC “blew past” its fundraising goal by 50 percent, according to a White House pool report.

Harris didn’t explicitly mention any LGBTQ issues in her remarks, despite concerns over the advancement in state legislatures over measures targeting the LGBTQ community, including bills prohibiting transgender girls from participating in sports and the Florida “Don’t Say Gay” law. Topics Harris touched on included her lead role in the Cabinet meeting at the White House earlier that day as well as climate change, infrastructure, and workers’ rights.

Amid expectations Democrats are in store for a drubbing in the mid-term elections as inflation continues to soar and Americans widely believe the war in Ukraine will get worse, Harris urged the crowd to keep their chin up heading into November.

“Elections matter,” Harris said. “Because the accomplishments we have been able to achieve so far, I am certain would not have occurred had it not been for all the work that you all did to turn out the largest numbers of voters we’ve seen.”

Related Topics:election 2022 Kamala Harris Ketanji Brown Jackson

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PHOTOS: WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert

Doechii, Khalid among performers

Published

5 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Michael Key

Doechii performs at the WorldPride Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

WorldPride 2025 concluded with the WorldPride Street Festival and Closing Concert held along Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. on Sunday, June 8. Performers on the main stage included Doechii, Khalid, Courtney Act, Parker Matthews, 2AM Ricky, Suzie Toot, MkX and Brooke Eden.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

Baltimore

Baltimore Trans Pride to take place Saturday

Baltimore Safe Haven hosts annual event

Published

8 hours ago

June 11, 2025

Daniela White

Baltimore Trans Pride in 2022. Baltimore Safe Haven's annual event will take place on Saturday. (Washington Blade photo by Linus Berggren)

Celebrating the transgender community, Baltimore Safe Haven, an organization committed to empowering LGBTQ individuals in Baltimore City, plans to host their fourth annual Baltimore Trans Pride on Saturday.

Instead of the usual parade and march, this year’s Trans Pride will be a block party on Charles Street and between 21st and 22nd Streets. The event will start at 1 p.m. with a ribbon-cutting ceremony and last until 10 p.m.

Community members can go on guided tours, enjoy refreshments by local vendors, listen to presenters, and watch performances by special guests.

Sukihana, the event’s headliner, plans to take to the stage to entertain the crowd, along with a variety of local performers, according to Melissa Deveraux, Baltimore Safe Haven’s executive assistant to Executive Director Iya Dammons.

“Some (are) prominently known, some (are) just making a name for themselves,” Deveraux said. Iya is always making sure that community talent is showcased at all of our functions.”

In company with Pride on Saturday, Baltimore Safe Haven will be opening its new building on Friday from 1-4 p.m.

“That is sort of going to be the prelude to pride,” Lau said. “Thanks to Sen. Mary Washington and the Weinberg Foundation, we were able to purchase the building outright, and it’s going to be a community hub of administrative buildings and 12-bedroom apartments.”

Renee Lau, administrative assistant for special projects coordinator for Baltimore Safe Haven, said the planning process for Baltimore Trans Pride began in January, and putting it all together was a collaboration of multiple city agencies and organizations.

“Safe Haven is an LGBT community organization, but we service the entire community, and that’s the message we try to spread,” Lau said. “We’re not just here for the LGBT community. We’re here to spread goodwill and offer harm reduction and housing to the entire community.”

Lau said the organization’s biggest goal for the event is to gain exposure.

“(We want) to let and let people know who we are and what our community is about,” she said. “Right now, because of what’s happening in DC, there’s a lot of bad untruths going on, and the total thing is bringing out the truth.”

Deveraux said having a place of inclusivity, acceptance, and togetherness is important in today’s political climate and the current administration.

“This event will have people seeing the strength and resilience of the transgender community, showing that no matter what we are going through, we still show up,” Deveraux said. “We are here, we will not be erased.”