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Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Festival returns to Havre de Grace

‘There are thriving queer communities in rural areas’

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(Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Concord Point Park in Havre de Grace, Md., will transform into the site of the 6th annual Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Festival on Saturday, Oct. 5. The free, family-friendly festival will run from 2-6 p.m. and feature live music, drag performances, and vendors. 

About 3,500 people are expected to attend the festival, which is organized by the Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Foundation and will be held at the Chesapeake waterfront. More than 120 artists, vendors, and community organizations will have booths, and a kids’ area will offer activities such as face painting, magician performances, and storytelling. 

Along with drag performances, musical acts will perform throughout the day, spanning genres such as R&B, punk, and queer country. The foundation’s president, Kurt Doan, highlighted Ryan Cassata as a key headliner.  

“Ryan is a trans activist but also makes really vibrant music, so I’m excited to bring that kind of music to Harford County,” Doan said.

Festival goers will be able to choose from a variety of food options, including empanadas, Thai food, burgers, French-style desserts and ice cream. This year, the foundation is extending activities beyond the festival hours, including an after party and happy hour at one of the local breweries, and Sunday yoga session.  

“We’ve got lots of really super supportive queer-friendly businesses in Havre De Grace that are going to be offering different things,” Doan said. 

The inaugural Upper Chesapeake Bay Pride Festival was held in 2019 to celebrate the local LGBTQ community in the rural Harford and Cecil counties. Since then, the foundation has grown in its scope: In addition to hosting the annual festival, it provides scholarships to local colleges and hosts monthly social activities. 

Doan emphasized the role the foundation plays in supporting the rural queer community, noting its impact in creating belonging and visibility.

“I think people can very easily forget that queer people also live in rural areas, and when we talk about being queer in Maryland, it’s often about what’s going on in the outskirts of D.C. or in Baltimore or in Annapolis. But there are thriving queer communities in rural areas, we just don’t often have brick and mortar spots where we can gather,” he said. “I think it’s super important to have an organization like this.”

To support the festival or learn how to become an exhibitor, volunteer, or performer, visit ucbpride.com/2024-pride-festival/.

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Maryland

Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill

Md. law named after Carlton Smith

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Maryland Gov. Wes Moore speaks at the 2024 Democratic National Convention in Milwaukee. A bill that he signed on May 20, 2025, will decriminalize HIV in Maryland. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore on Tuesday signed a bill that decriminalizes HIV in the state.

State Dels. Kris Fair (D-Frederick County) and Luke Clippinger (D-Baltimore City) are among the lawmakers who sponsored House Bill 39 or the Carlton R. Smith Act, which is named after the long-time activist known as the “mayor” of Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood who died in May 2024.

Smith was a member of the Coalition to Decriminalize HIV in Maryland that advocated for the bill. FreeState Justice, a statewide LGBTQ rights group, was also part of the coalition.

“At FreeState Justice, we are proud to stand with advocates, health experts, and lawmakers who worked diligently to advance this bill. The bipartisan support for the Carlton R. Smith Act is a testament to the power of education, research, and courageous leadership,” said FreeState Justice Executive Director Phillip Westry in a statement. “It sends a clear message: Maryland is committed to evidence-based policymaking and to ending the criminalization of people living with HIV. We honor the memory of Carlton R. Smith by continuing the work of building a more just, inclusive, and informed society.”

Maryland is the fifth state to decriminalize HIV.

North Dakota Gov. Kelly Armstrong, a Republican, in March signed a bill that decriminalized HIV in his state.

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Maryland

A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

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Tavish Forsyth, a queer artist and educator, posted a nude video on YouTube in protest of the Trump administration’s takeover of the Kennedy Center earlier this year. (Photo by Jessica Gallagher for the Baltimore Banner)

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.

So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.

“F—— Donald Trump and f—— the Kennedy Center,” a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Opera’s Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nation’s leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.

The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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Maryland

Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands

Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation

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(Bigstock photo)

By LIZ BOWIE | Deciding not to pick a fight with the Trump administration, Maryland school leaders plan to sign a letter to the U.S. Department of Education that says their school districts are complying with all civil rights laws.

The two-paragraph letter could deflect a confrontation over whether the state’s public schools run diversity, equity, and inclusion programs that the Trump administration has called illegal. The Baltimore Banner reviewed the letter, which was shared by a school administrator who declined to be identified because the letter has not yet been sent.

Maryland school leaders are taking a more conciliatory approach than those in some other states. Education leaders in Minnesota, New YorkColoradoOregon, Vermont, and Wisconsin said they will not comply with the federal education department’s order, the demands of which, they say, are based on a warped interpretation of civil rights law.

The rest of this article can be found on the Baltimore Banner’s website.

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