District of Columbia
Washington AIDS Partnership to close at end of 2023
After 35 years, officials say ‘celebratory close’ comes after mission accomplished
The D.C.-based Washington AIDS Partnership, which describes itself as a philanthropic and advocacy organization that has provided more than $35 million in funding since its founding in 1988 to local organizations providing AIDS-related programs and services, has announced it will end its operations at the end of this year.
“After much thoughtful consideration, the Washington AIDS Partnership (WAP) is planning an intentional and celebratory close at the end of 2023 after 35 years of service to the D.C. community,” a statement released by the group says.
Channing Wickham, the organization’s longtime executive director, said he and the WAP’s board and staff strongly believe it has accomplished its mission of playing a key role in helping D.C. and surrounding communities become a national leader and role model in the support and care for people with HIV/AIDS and in the lowering the new HIV infections.
“One of the most important things to say and to be very clear about is that HIV is not over,” Wickham told the Washington Blade. “And we’re by no means saying that it is,” he said. “It’s just that our part in this is coming to a close.”
Wickham noted that through its funding, advocacy, and support work, Washington AIDS Partnership helped put in place local programs, including major improvements in the late 1990s and early 2000s of the D.C. Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS office, which evolved into the current HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and Tuberculosis Administration (HAHSTA).
He points out that WAP, through its funding and support programs, also helped nurture and grow local organizations that currently provide the services that will carry on WAP’s mission. Among them, he notes, are organizations that provide HIV/AIDS services for the LGBTQ community, including Whitman-Walker Health, Us Helping Us, and HIPS.
One of WAP’s projects involved training young people through the federally funded AmeriCorps program, Wickham said. At one-point WAP had 12 AmeriCorps members who “worked on the front lines” of HIV/AIDS programs, including as volunteer staff members to local AIDS organizations, according to Wickham.
“Since about 2005, we have been the largest HIV private funder in the region,” he said. “But we were much more. We also were a public policy organization. We were a youth development organization,” he said, through the AmeriCorps program.
“WAP has provided over $35 million in funding to local organizations that focus programming and resources on the communities most affected by the epidemic,” the WAP statement says. “These grants have supported projects that significantly changed the landscape of HIV treatment and prevention in the District,” the statement says.
Megan Davies, Whitman-Walker Health’s Chief Program Officer, said Whitman-Walker has been the recipient of many WAP grants over the past 30 years in support of Whitman-Walker’s AIDS programs, including AIDS prevention efforts.
“Additionally, we have been a Washington AIDS Partnership AmeriCorps site for over 15 years, and it has been an honor working with such incredible individuals,” Davies said. “These young people brought so much energy and innovation to Whitman-Walker Health,” she said. And while there is still much to be done, Davies added, Channing Wickham and WAP “have helped D.C.’s rates of HIV incidence improve dramatically.”
In its early years and through the early 2000s, WAP has been credited with creating a new and highly effective way to provide funding for local, community-based HIV/AIDS organizations. As Wickham describes it, WAP, among other things, became a philanthropic foundation that helped other far larger foundations and individual donors, including private-sector companies, decide how to support efforts to effectively address the HIV epidemic.
Several of the nation’s most prominent philanthropic foundations, including the Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation and the Gannett Foundation, donated millions of dollars directly to Washington AIDS Partnership and entrusted WAP to decide on the big donors’ behalf which local community groups should receive those funds through WAP grants.
“What we had was people at the table making these grant decisions,” Wickham said. “We had foundation representatives who entrusted us with their money. But we also had community leaders,” said Wickham. “We also had people living with HIV. So, we had the experts.”
Added Wickham, “We created a mechanism where together community and philanthropy and people with HIV were all together in a room and could talk through proposals and make the right decisions on where that money should go. We created a place where there was expertise that did not exist in individual foundations.”
Through that process over the years, according to Wickham, many of the individual foundations developed their own expertise on how to select and support local organizations doing HIV/AIDS work. And that, among other things, is part of the reason why WAP feels it has accomplished its work and can close its operations.
“It’s not insignificant to have the Partnership go,” Wickham told the Blade. “But, again, sometimes you have to know when it’s time to say we have succeeded, that we have accomplished our mission.”
Wickham is also quick to dispel rumors that have surfaced that one of the reasons WAP is closing is that he was retiring as executive director. He said he has no plans to retire after WAP closes at the end of the year, noting that he has plans to continue to be active in local and national causes.
“So, I’m not the story here,” he said. “The story is philanthropy came together in 1988 and over 35 years changed the course of the epidemic in our region. And at the right time, we decided that this philanthropic effort should sunset. I think that’s really the message,” Wickham points out.
“And I think that nonprofits should not go on forever, that once you accomplish your mission, then it’s time to say goodbye,” he said.
District of Columbia
SMYAL receives $25,000 award for ‘courageous acts’
D.C. group provides support services for LGBTQ youth
The D.C.-based organization SMYAL, which provides services for LGBTQ youth in the D.C. metro area, including housing for homeless LGBTQ youth, announced on June 30 that it received a $25,000 award for its “courageous acts” in support of the community it serves.
The award was a monetary grant from The Courage Project, which describes itself as a “national initiative investing in acts of courage and compassion that strengthens our communities and democracy.”
A statement on its website says it was launched in May 2025 and is funded and backed by leading national foundations in the U.S.
“At SMYAL, we are deeply grateful to receive support from The Courage Project and are inspired by their bold investment in LGBTQ+ youth at such a critical moment,” SMYAL CEO Erin Whelan said in a statement. “For queer and trans young people, simply showing up as themselves each day requires immense courage, and that courage is strengthened when organizations like The Courage Project stand behind them loudly, proudly, and without hesitation,” Whelan said.
In its statement announcing the award SMYAL says The Courage Project will recognize SMYAL and other awardees and their work on July 3 at the Washington National Cathedral as part of a special interfaith service marking the U.S. 250th anniversary.
“The Courage Project is a bold initiative honoring everyday acts of bravery – the quiet, often unseen acts of heroism that reflect the best of the American spirit and strengthen democracy at the community level,” the project states on its website.
District of Columbia
Longtime Blade staffer Stephen Rutgers steps down after 14 years
Plans to focus on running Crush Dance Bar, other ventures
Longtime Washington Blade employee Stephen Rutgers announced he is stepping down after 14 years to focus on other ventures, including his part ownership of the popular Crush Dance Bar.
Rutgers was hired by the Blade in 2012 to help plan Pride festivities and over the years was promoted to director of sales and marketing. In addition to his broad set of responsibilities, Rutgers planned the annual Pride on the Pier celebration at the Wharf, which has exploded in popularity over the seven years since its launch.
“Watching Pride on the Pier grow from a new community event into one of D.C.’s signature Pride celebrations has been incredibly rewarding,” Rutgers said. “Expanding Pride on the Pier into a two-day festival for WorldPride in 2025 was definitely a career highlight. Seeing thousands of people come together to celebrate our community while supporting the Blade’s mission is something I’ll always be proud of.”
Rutgers described his biggest challenge as navigating the changing media landscape.
“More than ever, we’ve had to remind our community that local journalism matters and that it needs their support,” he said.
He added that he’s most proud of helping to ensure the Washington Blade is positioned to thrive for the next 50 years.
“I was fortunate to be part of the Blade during its 50th anniversary — a milestone that reflects its incredible history and impact,” Rutgers said. “The Blade has been an important voice for the LGBTQ community for more than five decades, and knowing I played a small part in helping its future is most important to me.”
Blade Publisher Brian Pitts praised Rutgers for juggling multiple responsibilities.
“We wish Stephen all the best,” Pitts said. “For the past 14 years, Stephen has been a vital part of the Blade, handling many things — marketing and advertising, sponsorships, and Blade signature events. We will all miss him.”
Blade Editor Kevin Naff thanked Rutgers for his years of service to the community.
“After 14 years, it’s hard to imagine the Blade without Stephen and his boundless energy and creativity,” Naff said. “He’s one of the hardest working and most dedicated people I’ve ever known and he will be missed. But change is the only constant and I know Stephen will move on successfully to new challenges and the Blade will expand on Stephen’s important work.”
As for what’s next for Rutgers, he said he plans to focus on Crush as well as his real estate business.
“I’ve always been someone who likes to stay busy,” Rutgers said. “For the past 12 years, I’ve balanced my work at the Blade and in real estate. Two years ago when I opened Crush, I never realized just how much time and energy it would take. The passing of my father earlier this year also gave me a new perspective. It reminded me that life is short and that it’s important to make time for the people and experiences that matter most. Stepping away from the Blade will allow me to focus on those ventures while also creating more balance in my life. After 14 incredible years, it feels like the right time for a new chapter.”
Naff said that for now Rutgers’s responsibilities will be divided between existing staff along with several new freelance contractors.
“The Washington Blade plays a unique role in our community’s fight for equality,” Rutgers said. “It’s the only LGBTQ news organization with White House credentials, giving it direct access to the people and institutions shaping policies that affect our community. The Blade continues to hold elected officials accountable, report on the issues that matter most to LGBTQ people, and tell the stories that often go uncovered by mainstream media.
“The Blade has been my family for most of my adult life. For 14 years, it has been part of my daily routine, so it’s going to feel very strange waking up and not logging on each morning.”
District of Columbia
Nearly 6,000 turn out for Pride Night Out at the Nationals
Gay Men’s Chorus sings National Anthem
“Just shy of” 6,000 people purchased tickets for the Wednesday, June 24, 21st annual Pride Night Out at the Washington Nationals baseball stadium, which the Nationals said is the longest running LGBTQ Pride event in Major League Baseball, according to a Nationals spokesperson.
The event was organized with the Nationals by Team D.C., the local LGBTQ sports group that organizes similar Pride Nights for other professional D.C. area sports teams.
“It was a good time had by all as the Nationals celebrated the LGBTQ+ community during the Nationals 21st Pride Night Out, presented by Team D.C.” the Nationals said in a statement.
Nationals spokesperson Erica George said the overall game attendance was 27,200.
Similar to recent past years, the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington sung the National Anthem at the start of the game, drawing loud cheers from people throughout the stadium.
The Nationals lost the game to the Philadelphia Phillies by a score of 5-4. Although most of the LGBTQ attendees of the event, held in the right-field mezzanine section of the stadium, were cheering for the Nationals, a sizeable number also cheered for the Phillies.
Miguel Ayala, one of Team D.C.’s lead organizers, said he noticed fans displaying Pride flags and recognized LGBTQ people in all parts of the stadium, indicating significantly more LGBTQ people and their supporters attended the game beyond the close to 6,000 or more who purchased the specific Pride Night Out tickets.
“It was a great excitement last night,” he told the Washington Blade on the day following the event. “I saw a lot of big crowds of our people, I saw everybody I can think of in the community. And it was really great to see the turnout.”
Also, like in previous years, Team D.C. along with the Nationals helped to organize a pre-game show on the large concourse platform area next to the stadium seating area involving a drag show led by local drag performer Shi-Queeta Lee.
“During pregame ceremonies, the Nationals Pride employee resource group was recognized on the field,” the statement released by the Nationals says. “Dr. Demetre Daskalakis, a physician and public health leader who has had a profound impact on the LGBTQ+ community and those living with or vulnerable to HIV, threw out the ceremonial first pitch as the guest of Team D.C.,” the statement says.
It adds that Team D.C.’s scholarship recipient Spencer Doll made the ceremonial call to “Play Ball.”
As if all that were not enough, a Nationals employee who entertains during the Nationals pre-game shows on the field dressed as a giant eagle named “Screech” wearing an eagle’s head mask appeared in the seating area where the Pride Night Out crowd was seated and mingled with the LGBTQ fans, many of whom posed for photos with Screech.
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