Gay icon and film legend Harvey Fierstein, 72, announced in an Instagram post on Tuesday that he was banned from the Kennedy Center as a result of President Donald Trump’s sweeping anti-LGBTQ measures in the performing space. 

Fierstein, who is a longtime fixture of queer storytelling both on screen and on stage, took to social media to criticize Trump for his recent decisions to take control of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts and to hide — if not erase — LGBTQ art, and sounds the alarm for the future of the United States. 

In the picture posted on Instagram, Fierstein alongside LGBTQ rights activist Marsha P. Johnson is walking in the Christopher Street Liberation Day parade in 1979, with the caption beginning with “I have been banned from THE KENNEDY CENTER.”

The multiple Tony Award-winning artist, who may be best known for “Torch Song Trilogy,” “La Cage aux Folles,” and “Kinky Boots,” to name a few, went on to explain his thoughts on Trump’s very public takeover of the national cultural center.

“A few folks have written to ask how I feel about Trump’s takeover of The Kennedy Center. How do you think I feel? The shows I’ve written are now banned from being performed in our premier American theater. Those shows, most of which have been performed there in the past, include, KINKY BOOTS. LA CAGE AUX FOLLES, TORCH SONG TRILOGY, HAIRSPRAY, SAFE SEX, CASA VALENTINA, SPOOKHOUSE, A CATERED AFFAIR, THE SISSY DUCKLING, BELLA BELLA and more.”

“I have been in the struggle for our civil rights for more than 50 years only to watch them snatched away by a man who actually couldn’t care less,” the post continued. “He does this stuff only to placate the religious right so they’ll look the other way as he savages our political system for his own glorification. He attacks free speech. He attacks the free press. He attacks America’s allies. His only allegiance is to himself – the golden calf.”

Fierstein then issued a warning for Americans, remarking that removing works that don’t align with Trump’s personal agenda represents a slippery slope that can lead to the erosion of democracy and emergence into fascism.  

“My fellow Americans I warn you – this is NOT how it begins. This is how freedom ENDS!”

He finished the post with a call to action for Americans to recognize and confront Trump’s injustice. 

“Trump may have declared ‘woke’ as dead in America. We must prove him wrong. WAKE THE HELL UP!!!!!”

The post seemingly also pushes back on the Trump administration’s choice to remove any mention of transgender people from the Stonewall National Monument’s website by including Marsha P. Johnson in his post. 

Since its upload on Tuesday, the post has gained more than 14,000 likes and 300 comments supporting Fierstein.  

Trump’s reported banning of Fierstein from the Kennedy Center comes amid the president’s drastic overhaul of the cultural venue after calling out “woke” programming on its stages, including a drag show. His actions signal a broader effort to reshape the nation’s artistic landscape to align with his administration’s ideology.

The Kennedy Center couldn’t immediately be reached to confirm Fierstein’s claims. This post will be updated.

A lawsuit filed in April 2024 by Town 2.0, the company that planned to reopen the popular LGBTQ nightclub Town in a former church on North Capitol Street that accused its landlord of failing to renovate the building as required by a lease agreement was dismissed in a little-noticed development on Sept. 6, 2024.

A document filed in D.C. Superior Court, where the lawsuit was filed against Jemal’s Sanctuary LLC, the company that owns the church building, shows that a “Stipulation of Dismissal With Prejudice” was jointly filed by the attorneys representing the two parties in the lawsuit and approved by the judge.

Jemal’s Sanctuary is a subsidiary of the Douglas Development Corporation, one of the city’s largest real estate development firms. 

An attorney familiar with civil litigation who spoke to the Washington Blade on condition of not being identified said a stipulation of dismissal indicates the two parties reached a settlement to terminate the lawsuit on conditions that are always confidential and not included in court records.

The attorney who spoke with the Blade said the term “with prejudice” means the lawsuit cannot be re-filed again by either of the two parties.

The public court records for this case do not include any information about a settlement or the terms of such a settlement. However, the one-sentence Stipulation Of Dismissal With Prejudice addresses the issue of payment of legal fees.

“Pursuant to Rule 41(a) of the District of Columbia Superior Court Civil Rules, Plaintiff Town 2.0 LLC and Defendant Jemal’s Sanctuary LLC, by and through their undersigned counsel, hereby stipulate that the lawsuit be dismissed in its entirety, with prejudice, as to any and all claims and counterclaims asserted therein, with each party to bear its own fees and costs, including attorneys’ fees.”

The Town 2.0 lawsuit called for the termination of the lease and at least $450,000 in damages on grounds that Jemal’s Sanctuary violated the terms of the lease by failing to complete renovation work on the building that was required to be completed by a Sept. 1, 2020 “delivery date.”

In response to the lawsuit, attorneys for Jemal’s Sanctuary filed court papers denying the company violated the terms of the lease and later filed a countersuit charging Town 2.0 with violating its requirements under the lease, which the countersuit claimed included doing its own required part of the renovation work in the building, which is more than 100 years old.

Court records show Judge Maurice A. Ross, who presided over the case, dismissed the countersuit at the request of Town 2.0 on Aug. 20, 2024, on grounds that it was filed past the deadline of a three-year statute of limitations for filing such a claim.

Neither the owners of Town 2.0, their attorney, nor the attorney representing Jemal’s Sanctuary responded to a request by the Washington Blade for comment on the mutual dismissal of the lawsuit.

Town 2.0 co-owner John Guggenmos, who also owns with his two business partners the D.C. gay bars Trade and Number Nine, did not respond to a question asking if he and his partners plan to open Town 2.0 at another location.

What was initially known as Town Danceboutique operated from 2007 to 2018 in a large, converted warehouse building on 8th Street, N.W., just off Florida Avenue. It was forced to close when the building’s owner sold it to a developer who built a residential building in its place.

It was the last of the city’s large LGBTQ dance hall nightclubs that once drew large crowds, included live entertainment, and often hosted fundraising events for LGBTQ community organizations and causes.  

The Capital Pride Alliance announced last week that Doechii will perform at the closing concert for WorldPride weekend.

Doechii, born Jaylah Ji’mya Hickmon, is a 26-year-old rapper and singer from Tampa, Fla. Since her emergence on the music scene in 2023, she has had five songs chart on the Billboard Hot 100. Beginning with “What It Is (Block Boy),” she has quickly risen into the upper ranks of the rap and music industries.

The Capital Pride Alliance, the nonprofit that organizes Washington’s official Pride events and is overseeing the upcoming WorldPride celebration in June, announced on Instagram that the “Alligator Bites Never Heal” performer will headline WorldPride’s free Street Festival & Closing Concert on Sunday, June 8.

This announcement comes just over a month after the self-proclaimed “Swamp Princess” won her first Grammy for Best Rap Album. Her win marks only the third time in history that a woman has won the award—following Lauryn Hill and Cardi B. She also became only the second rapper to be named Billboard’s Woman of the Year earlier this year.

Doechii is bisexual and has spoken about the challenges of being a Black queer woman in the music industry.

“I’m a Black woman from the South, so it’s different,” Doechii told Pink News in an interview last year. “There’s a lot of racism and homophobia, so it’s hard, it’s very, very hard. Even though I was aware, I didn’t feel as comfortable until I started surrounding myself with more gay friends.”

Doechii’s bold, genre-blending style and unapologetic presence have made her a favorite among LGBTQ fans, who have embraced her music as anthems of self-expression and resilience.

Despite being fairly new to the mainstream music game, Doechii is no stranger to Washington. In June 2024, Doechii performed a special set at D.C.’s gay bar Trade as part of her SWAMP BALL TOUR. That night, a line of fans stretched down 14th Street and around the corner, eager to see the rising star in an intimate setting.

For more information about WorldPride concerts, events, and celebrations, visit worldpridedc.org.