Arts & Entertainment
‘Pride in the 202’ is coming with the 2024 Pride Pils can
DC Brau reveals design of its 7th Annual Pride Pils Can and announces upcoming Pride Pils Launch Party, Hosted by Right Proper Brewing Company
DC Brau, D.C.’s original craft brewery, reveals the design of its 7th annual Pride Pils can and announces the celebratory Pride Pils launch event. In support of The Blade Foundation and SMYAL, DC Brau partnered with Right Proper Brewing Company and Red Bear Brewing Co. and local artist Chord Bezerra of District Co-Op to design this year’s can.
“Right Proper is delighted to be included in the planning and promotion of DC’s official Pride Beer. Being given the opportunity to support LGBTQ youth in Washington, DC is a gift” said Thor Cheston. The can design will be showcased at Right Proper Brewing Company (624 T St., N.W.) in Shaw on Wednesday, May 29, from 5-8 p.m. Guests will be the first to enjoy the newly minted 2024 Pride Pils can. The event is free but guests can RSVP HERE.
The art, designed by Bezerra, was created to show pride in the 202. D.C. Pride started in 1975 as a small LGBTQ block party. This one-day event grew into a major festival, reflecting the community’s fight for visibility and equality. Today, Capital Pride stands as a vibrant testament to the LGBTQ rights movement in the nation’s capital. In addition to the design being featured on DC Brau’s 2024 Pride Pils can, supporters can purchase ‘Hail To The Queen’ merchandise, including T-shirts, sweatshirts, stickers, and more from District Co-Op.
Since launching Pride Pils in 2017, DC Brau has donated more than $55,000 to The Blade Foundation and SMYAL, selling more than 97,500 Pride Pils cans.
About DC Brau: DC Brau Brewery was founded in 2011 and is Washington D.C.’s leading craft brewery, producing a variety of high-quality beers that are distributed locally and throughout the Mid-Atlantic region. DC Brau’s commitment to quality and innovation has earned it numerous accolades, including multiple gold medals at domestic and international beer festivals. For additional information, please visit www.dcbrau.com.
About Red Bear Brewing: Red Bear Brewing Co is an LGBT owned West Coast style brew pub located in the NoMa neighborhood of Washington DC. Red Bear strives to promote diversity to the craft brewing community across the board with our inclusive taproom, company culture and delicious beer, beverage and food offerings. www.redbear.beer.
About Right Proper Brewing Co: For more information visit www.rightproperbrewing.com
About The Washington Blade: The Washington Blade was founded in 1969 and is known as the “newspaper of record” for the LGBTQ community both locally and nationally. For more information, visit washingtonblade.com and follow on Facebook (@WashingtonBlade) & Twitter/Instagram (@WashBlade).
About District CoOp: District CoOp is a collection of artists celebrating design, diversity and the culture of D.C. We’re all about supporting and empowering local artists and creating a brand for the people by the people. All designs are available in both men’s and women’s and as a tank or crew. Follow us on Instagram (@District_CoOp) or Facebook (@DistrictCoOp).
About SMYAL: SMYAL (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders) supports and empowers lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning (LGBTQ) youth in the Washington, DC, metropolitan region. Through youth leadership, SMYAL creates opportunities for LGBTQ youth to build self-confidence, develop critical life skills, and engage their peers and community through service and advocacy. Committed to social change, SMYAL builds, sustains, and advocates for programs, policies, and services that LGBTQ youth need as they grow into adulthood. To learn more, visit SMYAL.org
Whitman-Walker Health held the 38th annual Walk and 5K to End HIV at Anacostia Park on Saturday, Dec. 7. Hundreds participated in the charity fundraiser, despite temperatures below freezing. According to organizers, nearly $450,000 was raised for HIV/AIDS treatment and research.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performed “The Holiday Show” at Lincoln Theatre on Saturday. Future performances of the show are scheduled for Dec. 14-15. For tickets and showtimes, visit gmcw.org.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
Books
Mother wages fight for trans daughter in new book
‘Beautiful Woman’ seethes with resentment, rattles bars of injustice
‘One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman’
By Abi Maxwell
c.2024, Knopf
$28/307 pages
“How many times have I told you that…?”
How many times have you heard that? Probably so often that, well, you stopped listening. From your mother, when you were very small. From your teachers in school. From your supervisor, significant other, or best friend. As in the new memoir “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman” by Abi Maxwell, it came from a daughter.
When she was pregnant, Abi Maxwell took long walks in the New Hampshire woods near her home, rubbing her belly and talking to her unborn baby. She was sure she was going to have a girl but when the sonogram technician said otherwise, that was OK. Maxwell and her husband would have a son.
But almost from birth, their child was angry, fierce, and unhappy. Just getting dressed each morning was a trial. Going outside was often impossible. Autism was a possible diagnosis but more importantly, Maxwell wasn’t listening, and she admits it with some shame.
Her child had been saying, in so many ways, that she was a girl.
Once Maxwell realized it and acted accordingly, her daughter changed almost overnight, from an angry child to a calm one – though she still, understandably, had outbursts from the bullying behavior of her peers and some adults at school. Nearly every day, Greta (her new name) said she was teased, called by her former name, and told that she was a boy.
Maxwell had fought for special education for Greta, once autism was confirmed. Now she fought for Greta’s rights at school, and sometimes within her own family. The ACLU got involved. State laws were broken. Maxwell reminded anyone who’d listen that the suicide rate for trans kids was frighteningly high. Few in her town seemed to care.
Throughout her life, Maxwell had been in many other states and lived in other cities. New Hampshire used to feel as comforting as a warm blanket but suddenly, she knew they had to get away from it. Her “town that would not protect us.”
When you hold “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” you’ve got more than a memoir in your hands. You’ve also got a white-hot story that seethes with anger and rightful resentment, that wails for a hurt child, and rattles the bars of injustice. And yet, it coos over love of place, but in a confused manner, as if these things don’t belong together.
Author Abi Maxwell is honest with readers, taking full responsibility for not listening to what her preschooler was saying-not-saying, and she lets you see her emotions and her worst points. In the midst of her community-wide fight, she reveals how the discrimination Greta endured affected Maxwell’s marriage and her health – all of which give a reader the sense that they’re not being sold a tall tale. Read this book, and outrage becomes familiar enough that it’s yours, too. Read “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” and share it. This is a book you’ll tell others about.
The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.
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