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Comings & Goings
Cormier Maggiano named to D.C. Commission on Arts and Humanities
The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at [email protected].
Congratulations to Chase Cormier Maggiano on his appointment to the D.C. Commission on the Arts and Humanities. He is an arts leader with a diverse background in nonprofit management, entrepreneurship, and music. He is board chair of the non-profit Sound Impact, and is an expert luthier. As a luthier specializing in the repair and restoration of fine bows of the violin family, Cormier Maggiano serves professional musicians at the highest level through his company, Washington Fine Bows. He has previously served as Manager of Sales Operations and Marketing, Potter Violins.
Cormier Maggiano has extensive experience in nonprofit arts management. He was Executive Director of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., and The Washington Chorus, where he oversaw the strategic and operational aspects of these award-winning organizations. He has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights, gender parity, criminal justice victims, and racial equity. As Board Chair of Sound Impact and Advisory Board Member of Coalition for African Americans in the Performing Arts, he is dedicated to shaping the social and artistic fabric of the community. He produced the first-ever LGBTQ rights concert tour in Cuba and a subsequent concert tour in Ukraine. He also founded BravoScore, a startup aimed at revolutionizing the search for performing arts events and connecting local artists with audiences in a personalized and inclusive manner.
Congratulations also to Christiane Cordero, Daric L. Cottingham, Hannah Schoenbaum, Salgu Wissmath, and Sarah Youngblood Gregory, recipients of the 2023 Curve Award for Emerging Journalists. The awards were announced by NLGJA: The Association for LGBTQ+ Journalists and The Curve Foundation.
The award, sponsored by the Curve Foundation, provides financial support to emerging journalists whose work fosters fair and accurate coverage and elevates the voices of LGBTQ women, trans, and nonbinary people. NLGJA Executive Director Adam Pawlus said, “We are immensely proud to honor these exceptional recipients who are shaping the future of LGBTQ+ journalism. As we celebrate their achievements, we also look forward to the continued impact they will undoubtedly bring to the field, inspiring an emerging generation of journalists to fearlessly tell the stories that matter most.” The Curve Award for Emerging Journalists includes a $5,000 cash award and access to unique professional development opportunities.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
House passes reconciliation with gender-affirming care funding ban
PHOTOS: D.C. Trans Pride
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WorldPride events round-up
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