District of Columbia
Capital Pride reveals 2023 Pride theme
This year will focus on ‘peace, love, revolution’

Over 300 people turned out Thursday night, March 16, for the annual D.C. Capital Pride Reveal celebration, which organizers say served as the official kick-off of the LGBTQ Pride events for 2023 in the nationās capital.
Among other plans for the 2023 Pride events, including the annual Pride parade and festival, organizers announced this yearās theme for the Pride festivities will be āpeace, love, revolution.ā
The event took place in one of the large ballrooms at D.C.ās Kimpton Hotel Monaco at 700 F St., N.W.
Officials with Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.ās annual Pride events, also announced at the Reveal celebration that the 2023 Pride events will set the stage for 2025, when D.C. will serve as the host city for World Pride 2025.
World Pride is an international LGBTQ event that takes place over a period of several days that usually draws a million or more visitors from countries throughout the world to the host city.
Organizers of the World Pride celebration announced last year that they had accepted D.C.ās bid to host World Pride 2025. The bid was prepared by the Capital Pride Alliance and D.C. government officials, including officials from the office of Mayor Muriel Bowser and the cityās convention and visitorās bureau.
āWe are thrilled to introduce our theme for Capital Pride 2023 as we gear up to welcome the world to D.C. in 2025, which is also the 50th anniversary of Pride in D.C.,ā said Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos in a statement released on Friday. āThis yearās theme kicks off a three-year campaign leading into the message that we want to share with the world in 2025,ā Bos said.
In the statement it released on Friday, Capital Pride explained its rationale for selecting its theme, saying it was based in part on the LGBTQ rights movementās history.
āSocial justice issues, including those involving the LGBTQ+ community, were shaped by moments that turned into movements beginning in the 1950s and in the years that followed,ā the statement says. “These movements created a REVOLUTION of change that sparked the beginning of newfound freedoms,ā it says.
āThe fight for these liberties instilled a sense of Pride in members of the LGBTQ+ community in the decades since,ā the statement continues. āPEACE and LOVE motivated many of these pioneers to be brave and inspired others to fight for human rights for years to come,ā it says.
The statement points out that “recent challenges” have arisen in state legislatures and in Congress that have once again placed the LGBTQ community āunder fire from those who would deny us our basic civil rights.ā It says these challenges will require a continuation of the fight for freedom āthrough direct action in the streets and the halls of government.ā
Among those who spoke at the Reveal event, in addition to Bos, were Capital Pride Board President Ashley Smith, and Capital Prideās public affairs director, Marquia Parnell.
Also speaking was Japer Bowles, director of the D.C. Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, who told the gathering that the city government, especially Bowser, will be working diligently to provide full city support for WorldPride 2025.
D.C. drag performer Shi-Queeta-Lee drew loud applause from the crowd that filled the hotel ballroom for a drag performance after the speakers addressed the crowd.
āWeāre going to be focused on peace, love, and revolution over the course of this next year,” Smith told the Washington Blade at the conclusion of the Reveal event. āWeāre super excited about it because this is a part of the movement that adds to the historical pieces as we approach 2025 and World Pride in 2025,ā he said.
In its statement released on Friday, the Capital Pride Alliance announced the 2023 Capital Pride Parade will take place June 10, and will travel the same route as last yearās D.C. Pride Parade. A Pride block party will also take place this year in a two-block section of 17th Street, N.W., near Dupont Circle in the same location as last year, the Capital Pride announcement says.
And it says the annual Capital Pride Festival and concert will take place on June 11, also at the same location as last year ā along a stretch of Pennsylvania Ave., N.W., with the U.S. Capitol as a backdrop.
āThrough the events of Capital Pride and its many partnerships, last year Capital Pride Alliance was able to raise over $200,000 for the Pride 365 Fund,ā according to the Capital Pride statement.
āThe success of last year allowed CPA to invest and partner with the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community to establish a new LGBTQ+ community center for Washington, D.C., and continue the support of partner organizations that organize events such as DC Black Pride, Trans Pride, Youth Pride, Silver Pride, Latinx Pride and Asian and Pacific Islander Pride,ā the statement says.
Further details of plans for Capital Pride 2023 can be access at www.CapitalPride.org.
District of Columbia
Whitman-Walker announces leadership change
CEO Ryan Moran to become Deputy Secretary of Health in Maryland

Dr. Ryan Moran, who has served since 2021 as CEO of the Whitman-Walker Health System, an arm of D.C.ās longtime LGBTQ and HIV health services provider Whitman-Walker Health, will be leaving his position next month after being named as Deputy Secretary of Health and Healthcare Finance and Medicaid Director for the State of Maryland.
According to a March 21 statement released by Whitman-Walker, Moran will begin his new job as a member of the Maryland Department of Healthās senior leadership team effective April 12.
The statement says Cindy Lewin, an official with nonprofit organizations for more than 25 years and who previously served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at the AARP, will serve as interim CEO at Whitman-Walker Health System beginning April 10.
Around that time, the statement says, Whitman-Walker will begin a nationwide executive search āto secure a permanent CEOā for the top position at Whitman-Walker Health System.
The statement points out that Naseema Shafi will continue in her role as CEO of Whitman-Walker Health, the other component of Whitman-Walker that directly provides and oversees medical and health care services to patients and clients, including those from the LGBTQ community.
Whitman-Walker Health System, among other things, advances the mission of Whitman-Walker through expanding its financial and fundraising capacity through the Whitman-Walker Foundation, the Whitman-Walker Institute, and the Whitman-Walker Health System Real Property Holdings, the statement says.
āWhitman-Walker Health System is grateful for Ryanās visionary leadership, which has advantageously positioned us for our once in a generation expansion of research and health services with our move to the Saint Elizabeth campus this year,ā said Dr. Ann Bonham, the Whitman-Walker Health System Board Chair.
āWhile the organization will miss Ryan, his enthusiasm and passion for the work and his commitment to the mission of Whitman-Walker, I am sure he will be a transformative leader in his new role,ā Bonham said.
āI am deeply grateful to Whitman-Walker for the opportunity to steward our mission-driven organization as a regional and national leader in LGBTQ+ care, advocacy, research, and education,ā Moran said in the statement.
āI am honored to have contributed to this organizationās rich history, and I am proud of the work Naseema Shafi and I have accomplished together and of the exceptional board senior leadership team, and staff for their collaboration in building a strong foundation for Whitman-Walkerās future success,ā he said.
The statement announcing the Whitman-Walker leadership change notes that Moran played an important role in continuing the organizationās previously started plans for opening its new Max Robinson Center at the cityās St. Elizabethās campus in Southeast D.C. According to the statement, the new center will provide services and programs to more than 15,000 people each year, a 300 percent increase from the existing Max Robinson Center located in Anacostia.
District of Columbia
Trans people lost to drug overdose remembered at D.C. tribute
Citywide āCelebration of Lifeā held at Metropolitan Community Church

About 50 people turned out on Saturday, March 18, at D.C.ās Metropolitan Community Church for a Citywide Memorial Celebration of Life for at least seven local transgender people who lost their lives from a drug overdose within the past two months.
āWe lifted up the lives of those who recently and before passed amongst the transgender community,ā said longtime D.C. transgender advocate Earline Budd, the lead organizer of the event.
āThe goal was to send a clear message to D.C. officials that we will not sit by silently while members of the LGBTQ community are dying as a result of the OVERDOSE epidemic here in D.C. and around the country,ā Budd said in a Facebook post.
Budd told the Washington Blade this week that she and others involved in organizing the memorial celebration are planning a series of conversations with city officials and LGBTQ community stakeholders to push for strengthening the cityās overdose prevention and response programs targeting LGBTQ people at risk for a drug overdose.
Among those participating in the March 18 celebration of life event were Rev. Elder Akosua McCray of Unity Fellowship Church of D.C.; Rev. D. Amina B. Butts of New Hope Baptist United Church of Christ of D.C.; and Rev. Cathy Alexander of D.C.ās Metropolitan Community Church.
Among those who spoke at the event was Tyler Edge, the associate director of D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
The trans people who recently lost their lives to a drug overdose and whose names were listed in the program book handed out at the memorial tribute include Diva Chole Mason, Kenneth Isaac āCandy,ā Terri Holland, Lourica Potts, Cee Cee Creek, Tyneisha Phillips, and Danielle Pinkney.
Budd said among the plans by her and community supporters to address the overdose problem faced by some in the LGBTQ community include arranging for a more targeted approach to distribute and make accessible the lifesaving medication Narcan, which reverses an opioid overdose if administered quickly through a nasal spray device.
She said the plan also calls for pushing for a wider distribution of test kits for determining whether the deadly substance fentanyl, the cause of most drug overdose deaths, is present in recreational drugs such as cocaine, MDMA, and crystal meth.
āThatās what our goal is, and we may end up saving some lives,ā Budd said.
District of Columbia
D.C. government to hold āLGBTQIA+ Emergency Trainingā event
Leaders, staff of nonprofits invited to learn how to assess threats of violence

D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowserās Office of LGBTQ Affairs and the cityās Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency are inviting āall LGBTQIA+ non-profit leaders, management and event production staffā to attend a first-of-its-kind LGBTQ community Emergency Preparedness Event scheduled for April 5.
The event, officially called an LGBTQIA+ Emergency Preparedness Training, will be held at the headquarters of the D.C. Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency at 1015 Half St., S.E.
āNon-profit partners will receive a special briefing on potential crime trends and threats,ā an announcement of the event issued by the mayorās office says. āThe Preparedness Training will teach partners how to assess behavioral threats, manage risk factors such as warning signs of violence,ā the announcement continues.
āPartners will also hear more information about how to apply for non-profit security grant programs to support physical security enhancements,ā according to the announcement.
Japer Bowles, director of the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs, sent an email invitation on Tuesday, March 21, to various LGBTQ community leaders to attend the event. In his email message Bowles told of why an emergency preparedness training may be needed.
āWe are a strong and diverse LGBTQIA+ community, even though we are increasingly under threat of violence for being who we are, for loving who we love, and for creating spaces for our community to do the same,ā Bowles wrote. āI commend you all; we must continue to support each other and share resources!ā
The training session announced by Bowles and the mayorās office was scheduled to take place about four months after D.C. police announced they were stepping up police patrols around LGBTQ events and establishments, including gay bars, following the Nov. 19 shooting incident at a Colorado Springs gay nightclub called Club Q.
A 22-year-old lone gunman later identified as Anderson Lee Aldrich is charged with firing a rifle inside the club, killing five people, and injuring at least 25 others. One of the patrons of the club is credited with tackling Anderson and grabbing the barrel of the rifle and removing it from Aldrichās grip as horrified patrons attempted to flee from the club.
The incident, which prosecutors have listed as a hate crime, raised concern among LGBTQ clubs across the country and prompted some, including nightlife businesses in D.C., both gay and straight, to arrange for security and active shooter training sessions for their managers and employees.
āNightlife hospitality establishments understand the importance of being constantly vigilant about, and prepared for, any and all incidents that could occur whenever people are gathered,ā said Mark Lee, the former coordinator of the D.C. Nightlife Council, a group representing bars, restaurants, nightclubs, and entertainment establishments.
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