District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker launches yearlong commemoration of 50th anniversary
Special events, new facility to highlight founding as LGBTQ health clinic
Whitman-Walker, which describes itself in a newly released statement as a “leader in LGBTQ health, research, education, and policy with special expertise in HIV care,” announced it would kick off its 50th year this month through the launch of “a year-long campaign through special events and initiatives.”
The Jan. 20 statement says the special events and initiatives will “highlight the organization’s vast achievement over the past five decades responding to community needs including LGBTQ healthcare, HIV prevention and treatment and research designed to impact the lives of those they serve.”
Among the events set to take place, the statement notes, is the planned opening this fall of Whitman-Walker’s new health care and research facility on the campus of the city’s Saint Elizabeth’s East development in Southeast Washington.
The statement says the new 118,000-square-foot facility will be called the Max Robinson Center after Whitman-Walker’s existing Max Robinson Center healthcare facility in Anacostia. The new project will allow the organization to serve an additional 10,000 patients per year when it opens later this year, the statement says, adding that LGBTQ health and HIV care will be among the services provided.
“Beginning in 1973 and named in 1978 after poet Walt Whitman (a former D.C. resident) and Dr. Mary Edwards Walker, a noted Civil-War era physician in D.C. and women’s rights activist, Whitman-Walker was founded as an affirming and safe space for the gay and lesbian community,” the statement says.
It says the organization was one of the first responders to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in D.C. in the 1980s and later expanded its mission to become “a leader in HIV/AIDS education, prevention, diagnosis and treatment.”
In the years since the start of the AIDS epidemic Whitman-Walker has also expanded its mission to include legal services and overall medical and dental services for the LGBTQ community and the broader community, to include heterosexual African-American men and women, Latinx, residents in the D.C. metro area as well as immigrants from all parts of the world, according to information on the Whitman-Walker website.
“We are so deeply honored to lead this organization at this pivotal time,” said Naseema Shafi, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health, and Ryan Moran, CEO of Whitman-Walker Health System, in a joint statement. “Marking the legacy of 50-years’ worth of volunteerism, care and service to community while also looking ahead to our future with the opening of the new Max Robinson Center is thrilling,” the two said. “We’re looking forward to celebrating with community this year and preparing for the next 50 years.”
The statement notes that in 50 years of growth and evolution, Whitman-Walker currently consists of “a collective of 501(c)(3) organizations centered around delivering care to community.” It notes that CEO Shafi heads the entity called Whitman-Walker Health that focuses on healthcare and Moran leads Whitman-Walker System, which oversees Whitman-Walker Foundation, Whitman-Walker Institute, and Whitman-Walker Real Property Holdings.
A full description of Whitman-Walker’s history and list of upcoming events and initiatives for its 50th anniversary year can be accessed at whitmanwalkerimpact.org.
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats set to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mayor Bowser expected to attend March 20 event
D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, members of the D.C. Council, and local and national Democratic Party officials are expected to join more than 150 LGBTQ advocates and supporters on March 20 for the 50th anniversary celebration of the city’s Capital Stonewall Democrats.
A statement released by the organization says the event is scheduled to be held at the Pepco Edison Place Gallery building at 702 8th St., N.W. in D.C.
“The evening will honor the people who built Capital Stonewall Democrats across five decades – activists who fought for rights when the odds were against them, public servants who opened doors and refused to let them close, and a new generation of leaders ready to carry the work forward,” the statement says.
Founded in 1976 as the Gertrude Stein Democratic Club, the organization’s members voted in 2021 to change its name to the Capital Stonewall Democrats.
Among those planning to attend the anniversary event is longtime D.C. gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler, 84, who is one of the two co-founders of the then-Gertrude Stein Democratic Club. Kuntzler told the Washington Blade that he and co-founder Richard Maulsby were joined by about a dozen others in the living room of his Southwest D.C. home at the group’s founding meeting in January 1976.
He said that among the reasons for forming a local LGBTQ Democratic group at the time was to arrange for a then “gay” presence at the 1976 Democratic National Convention, at which Jimmy Carter won the Democratic nomination for U.S. president and later won election as president.
Maulsby, who served as the Stein Club president for its first three years and who now lives in Sarasota, Fla., said he would not be attending the March 20 anniversary event, but he fully supports the organization’s continuing work as an LGBTQ organization associated with the Democratic Party.
Steven McCarty, Capital Stonewall Democrats’ current president, said in the statement that the anniversary celebration will highlight the organization’s work since the time of its founding.
“Capital Stonewall Democrats has been fighting for LGBTQ+ political power in this city for 50 years, electing people, training organizers, holding this community together through some really hard moments,” he said. “And right now, with everything going on, that work has never mattered more. This gala is the first moment of our next chapter, and I want the community to be a part of it.”
The statement says among the special guests attending the event will be Democratic National Committee Vice Chair Malcolm Kenyatta, who became the first openly gay LGBTQ person of color to win election to the Pennsylvania General Assembly in 2018.
Other guests of honor, according to the statement, include Mayor Bowser; D.C. Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5, the Council’s only gay member; D.C. Council member Anita Bonds (D-At-Large); Earl Fowlkes, founder of the International Federation of Black Prides; Vita Rangel, a transgender woman who serves as Deputy Director of the D.C. Mayor’s Office of Talent and Appointments; Heidi Ellis, director of the D.C. LGBTQ Budget Coalition; Rayceen Pendarvis, longtime D.C. LGBTQ civic activist; and Phillip Pannell, longtime D.C. LGBTQ Democratic activist and Ward 8 civic activist.
Information about ticket availability for the Capital Stonewall Democrats anniversary gala can be accessed here: capitalstonewalldemocrats.com/50th
District of Columbia
Owner of D.C. gay bar Green Lantern John Colameco dies at 79
Beloved businessman preferred to stay ‘behind the scenes’
John Colameco, owner of the popular D.C. gay bar Green Lantern, has died, according to a March 7 announcement posted on the bar’s website and Instagram account. The announcement didn’t provide a date of his passing or a cause of death.
Green Lantern manager Howard Hicks said Colameco was 79 at the time of his passing.
“It is with great sadness that Green Lantern announces the death of our beloved owner, John Colameco,” the announcement says. “Most of our patrons might have heard John’s name, but might not have known his face,” it says.
“He was a ‘behind-the-scenes’ kind of guy who avoided the limelight,” the announcement continues. “He preferred to stay in the back of the house with staff and team ensuring everything was running smoothly so that everyone out front was having a good time.”
The announcement adds, “As a veteran and businessman, John wasn’t a member of the LGBTQ + community, but he was one of the best damn allies our community has ever had.”
It says he “long provided spaces for the queer community to come together” since the 1990s when he owned and operated a popular restaurant on 17th Street, N.W. called Peppers.
According to the announcement, Colameco and his then business partner Greg Zehnacker opened the Green Lantern in 2001 in an alley off of 14th Street, N.W., between Thomas Circle and L Street, N.W.
The announcement points out that the Green Lantern first opened in the same location in the early 1990s before it later closed when the original owners decided to purchase and open other bars, one of which was the gay bar Fireplace near Dupont Circle. Colameco and Zehnacker were able to reopen the bar with the Green Lantern name.
“When Greg died unexpectedly in February 2014, John remained steadfastly committed to carrying on their vision and ensuring that Green Lantern remained part of the fabric of D.C.’s queer community,” the announcement says.
“Over the years, through Green Lantern, John has provided support to many community organizations, most notably Stonewall Sports, the Gay Men’s chorus of Washington, and ONYX Mid-Atlantic with Green Lantern serving as a gathering hub for their activities,” it states.
The announcement adds that Colameco’s family was planning a memorial for him in his hometown of Philadelphia.
“His Green Lantern family will celebrate his life by operating the bar as usual and we encourage you to stop by and join us,” it says. “Community coming together and having a good time – it’s exactly what John would want.”
District of Columbia
D.C. Black Pride theme, performers announced at ‘Speakeasy’
Durand Bernarr to headline 2026 programming
The Center for Black Equity held its 2026 DC Black Pride Theme Reveal event at Union Stage on Monday. The evening, a “Speakeasy Happy Hour,” was hosted by Anthony Oakes and featured performances by Lolita Leopard and Keith Angelo. The Center for Black Equity organizes DC Black Pride.
Kenya Hutton, Center for Black Equity president and CEO, spoke following the performances by Leopard and Angelo. Hutton announced this year’s theme for DC Black Pride: “New Black Renaissance.”
Performers for 2026 DC Black Pride were announced to be Bang Garcon, Be Steadwell, Jay Columbus, Bennu Byrd, Rue Pratt and Akeem Woods.
Singer-songwriter Durand Bernarr was announced as the headliner for the 2026 festivities. Bernerr gave brief remarks through a video played on the screen at the stage.
DC Black Pride is scheduled for May 22-25. For more information on DC Black Pride, visit dcblackpride.org.
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