Connect with us

Arts & Entertainment

12 LGBTQ events this week

Parties, panels and parades to celebrate Pride

Published

4 years ago

on

(Washington Blade photos by Molly Byrom and Michael Key)

It is time for the Capital Pride Parade, Capital Pride Festival and several parties in and around D.C. For information on Capital Pride official events, click here. For information on Latinx Pride events, click here. For information about Pride parties on Saturday, click here. Below are our picks for some of the most fun and creative things to do this week in D.C. that are of special interest to the LGBTQ community.

JR’S Monday Night Showtunes: Pride Edition

Citrine will perform for Monday Night Showtunes: Pride Edition at 10:30 on Monday. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Monday, June 6
8 p.m. – midnight
JR.’s Bar
1519 17th Street, N.W.
Facebook

Join Citrine for a Pride Edition night of showtunes with music by Landon Cox.

FTSC Summer of Freedom Opening Party

Federal Triangles Soccer Club Summer of Freedom. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Tuesday, June 7
6-9 p.m.
Kiki (second floor)
915 U Street, N.W.
Facebook

The Summer of Freedom league play for the Federal Triangles Soccer Club begins with an opening party at Kiki on Tuesday.

RENT Singalong celebrating Capital Pride

Wednesday, June 8
8 p.m.
Shaw’s Tavern
520 Florida Avenue, N.W.
Facebook

Celebrate Capital Pride with a RENT musical singalong at Shaw’s Tavern on Wednesday. Song sheets are available if needed.

Live at the Library: “Secret City” discussion with James Kirchick

(Book cover image via Amazon)

Thursday, June 9
7 p.m.
Library of Congress
Thomas Jefferson Building
Coolidge Auditorium
101 Independence Avenue, S.E.

Join the Library in Celebrating Pride Month with a discussion from journalist James Kirchick on his new book, “Secret City: The Hidden History of Gay Washington,” and Washington Post writer Jonathan Capehart at 7 p.m. in the Coolidge Auditorium. Visitors can also explore Library collection items that Kirchick consulted in researching his book.

D.C. Dyke March

2019 Dyke March. (Washington Blade file photo by Molly Byrom)

Friday, June 10
6 p.m.
Franklin Square
1332 I Street, N.W.
Facebook

The D.C. Dyke March returns this year. Activists will march for “body liberation and saying Hands Off Our Bodies!”

Drag Underground

Shi-Queeta Lee performs at Dupont Underground. (Blade photo by Michael Key)

Friday, June 10
8:30 p.m.
Dupont Underground
19 Dupont Circle N.W.
Eventbrite

Drag is back at Dupont Underground every Friday in June. Performers that evening include Shi-Queeta Lee, Logan Stone, Crimsyn and Pico Rico!

Futures Cypher: Pride 2050

Friday, June 10
6:30 p.m.
Smithsonian Arts + Industries Building
900 Jefferson Drive, S.W.
Eventbrite

The Arts + Industries Building of the Smithsonian Institution hosts an interactive discussion and performance art exchange about the future of Pride.

6:30-7:30 p.m. Interactive panel featuring: editor and co-owner of the Washington Blade, Kevin Naff; founder of The Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Elle Moxley; interdisciplinary spoken word artist and filmmaker, The Dainty Funk; and intimate performances by queer pop performer, Be Steadwell.

7:30-8:30 p.m. Immersive DJ + rhythm experience featuring DJ Alex Love and Twink Drumz

8:30-9:15 p.m. Performance by The CooLots

9:30 p.m. Closing performance

Capital Pride Weekend Drag Brunch

(Image courtesy of The Hamilton)

Saturday, June 11
Two shows: 10 a.m. and 12:30 p.m.
The Hamilton Live
600 14th Street, N.W.
18+
$63.40
Tickets

The Hamilton Live is partnering with Tito’s and Ommegang Brewery for an all-you-can-eat drag brunch experience. Tickets include a brunch buffet and your choice of a Tito’s Bloody Mary, Ommegang beer, or a soft drink. Tito’s will donate $1 of every cocktail sale to the Capital Pride Alliance. Ommegang will donate $1 of every beer sold to the Cyndi Lauper Foundation.

Pride on the Pier & Fireworks Show

Pride on the Pier (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Saturday, June 11
2-9 p.m.; Fireworks at 9p.m.
The Wharf
101 District Square, S.W.
Free & Open to the Public. VIP Tickets Available.
VIP Tickets

The Washington Blade, in partnership with LURe DC and The Wharf, is excited to announce the 3rd annual Pride on the Pier and Fireworks. Pride on the Pier extends the city’s annual celebration of LGBTQ visibility to the bustling Southwest waterfront with an exciting array of activities and entertainment. The event will include the annual Pride on the Pier Fireworks Show presented by the Leonard-Litz Foundation at 9 p.m.

Mosaic Pride Parade

Saturday, June 11
6-7:30 p.m.
Mosaic
2910 District Avenue
Fairfax, Va.
Facebook

Are you in Fairfax and don’t feel like braving the crowds into D.C.? The inaugural Mosaic Pride Parade will begin at 6:00 pm in front of Praline Bakery and will end at Mom & Pop. Hang around for a post-parade celebration on Strawberry Lane with drag queens, a performance by Kazaxe, pretzels, and more!

Lights On, Barks Out! Pride Brunch & Tea Dance

Sunday, June 12
11 a.m.
Astro Beer Hall
1306 G Street, N.W.
$10
Facebook

Join Doming0, Bootsy Omega, Sirene Noir Sidora Jackson, Chata Uchis, Velassa Rapta and Sahava Novaj for a Pride Drag Brunch at Astro Beer Hall on Sunday.

Yes Homo! Pride Edition

Sunday, June 12
12:30-3:30 p.m.
St. Vincent Wine
3212 Georgia Avenue, N.W.
$10
Facebook | Eventbrite

Watch a hilarious lineup of queer comics and enjoy a Pride brunch at St. Vincent Wine on Sunday.

Related Topics:
Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Photos

PHOTOS: Vitamin C at JR.’s

Live drag show follows ‘Drag Race All Stars’ viewing party

Published

7 hours ago

on

July 19, 2026

By

Brooke N Hymen performs at JR.'s at the Vitamin C drag show on Friday. (Washington Blade photo by Landon Shackelford)

JR.’s Bar held a “RuPaul’s Drag Race: All Stars” watch party followed by a live drag show on Friday, July 17. The Vitamin C weekly drag show was hosted by Citrine with performers Brooke N Hyman and Rosie Beret.

(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)

Continue Reading

Photos

PHOTOS: Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival

LGBTQ celebration held at convention center

Published

10 hours ago

on

July 19, 2026

By

A scene from the 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival. (Washington Blade photo by Daniel Truitt)

The 2026 Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival was held at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center on Saturday, July 18.

(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)

Continue Reading

Books

Liza’s book a tale that’s better than most celebrity memoirs

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!’ dishes on marriages, heartbreak

Published

11 hours ago

on

July 19, 2026

By

(Book cover image courtesy of Grand Central)

‘Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir’
By Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein
c.2026, Grand Central
$36/ 421 pages

Twenty feet In front of you, and you can’t see a thing.

Even the closest faces are in shadow – lit, but not quite enough for you to see for sure what the people there are thinking. Still, you can hear them, their gasps, their laughter, and applause. Such is life, on-stage. Now read “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This! My Memoir” by Liza Minnelli, as told to Michael Feinstein, and read about it beyond the spotlight.

Almost from the moment she was born, Liza Minnelli was famous.

It was inevitable: her mother was Judy Garland. Her father was director Vincente Minnelli. Her godparents were Hollywood glitterati, her neighbors were famous, her playmates would be famous someday, too.

But her life wasn’t all starlight and happiness.

She made her stage debut as a toddler. She became her “mother’s caretaker” at age 13.

At 16, she had a growing career of her own – one that her mother tried to stop. But, she says, “In her own way, Mama was wonderful to me. Try understanding – she was my mother, not a movie star…. I knew her as the person who loved me and always would.”

At 19, Minnelli was working, happy, and madly in love with the man who’d become her first husband, and life was wonderful – until she came home one day to find him in their bed with another man. Before they were divorced, she lost her beloved mother, and became “engaged” to two other men simultaneously, neither of which made it to the altar with her.

She married her second husband, the son of one of her mother’s former co-stars, in 1974 but her love affairs and addictions led to a second divorce.

Her third husband was a stage manager.

She doesn’t have much good to say about her fourth, and last, husband.

Overall, she says, “You gotta play the comedy for all it’s worth and leave ‘em laughing. Even when your heart is breaking.”

Are you expecting bluntness, sass, or attitude here? Good, because that’s what you get inside “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” It’s strong on honesty and don’t-give-a-flip. It’s wonderfully edited, so it moves fast. It’s eye-opening and funny and a pleasant surprise for a first, and only (so far), memoir.

Even better, author Liza Minnelli (with best friend, Michael Feinstein) is really quite candid and nicely gossipy, starting from the beginning. There are some Hollywood folks, in fact, who are feeling edgy because of what’s inside this book and the secrets spilled. Minnelli and Feinstein seemed to have fun telling her story, and they comfortably lure readers in.

That’s not to say that it’s all a cabaret. Minnelli tells about her addictions and recoveries, her marriages and why she wed two gay men, and the losses she endured, including miscarriages, deaths, and broken relationships. The bad balances well with the good for a tale that’s several notches above most celebrity memoirs. “Kids, Wait Till You Hear This!” is, in fact, a real joy to read, a genuine bright spot.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

Continue Reading

Popular