District of Columbia
Dancing protesters denounce Trump’s Kennedy Center takeover
‘This is an attack, not only on free speech, but on artists’
Waiting in the windy cold of a 45-degree February day in Washington, Tara Hoot stood in Washington Circle wearing a canary yellow dress, heels, and a rainbow feather boa. Hoot was waiting, along with about 100 others, although most of them were wearing layers of clothes, for a protest to begin.
“I am here because, well, I’m angry at the situation we find ourselves in,” Hoot told the Blade amid a growing crowd of pro-drag and pro-LGBTQ protesters who gathered behind her. “I’m just so annoyed that this sitting president is attacking a marginalized population. It’s a distraction for the country when everything’s falling apart. The cost of eggs is up there, and inflation is rising, and he’s here attacking a marginalized population in D.C.? It’s like, go do your job, right? It’s immoral what he’s doing, and it’s weak to attack the marginalized population. He’s just showing his own weakness.”
Last week President Trump promised followers that he would remove anyone that “do not share our vision for a Golden Age in Arts and Culture,” specifically targeting drag performers at the Kennedy Center. On Wednesday he made that goal a reality by removing the 18 Democratic members on the formerly bipartisan Kennedy Center board, replacing them with Trump loyalists.
This raised questions of the legality of removing the board, and his seeming attempt to silence First Amendment rights. As a result, the Kennedy Center issued a statement following Trump’s post.
“Per the Center’s governance established by Congress in 1958, the chair of the board of trustees is appointed by the Center’s board members,” the statement read. “There is nothing in the Center’s statute that would prevent a new administration from replacing board members; however, this would be the first time such action has been taken with the Kennedy Center’s board.”
Of the newly appointed board members, all have stood behind the twice impeached president as he continues to slash the federal government. These loyalists include Richard Grenell, a gay man who served as Trump’s ambassador to Germany in his first term; Usha Vance, the second lady of the United States; Susie Wiles, the White House chief of staff; and Patricia Duggan, a philanthropist and top GOP donor.
The newly appointed board then elected Trump as chair.
When asked what Hoot, a local drag icon who has performed at the Kennedy Center, would say to the current board, she was quick with an answer.
“Well darling, they missed their chance!” Hoot said. “I was running for board president of the Kennedy Center, the people’s princess, I would say. Art is gorgeous and diverse and beautiful, and it’s a way that we all tell our stories. The board needs to keep the heart of the Kennedy Center in mind, no matter who their board chair is. They actually need to have a spine and push back when these ideas that art has to be one thing or another, the board needs to push back and keep the Kennedy Center a people’s place for art.”
Brooke N Hymen, a self-described “professional crossdresser” and trans person explained that to them, the changes in public attitude is more than a silencing of free speech, but an erasure of trans people.
“I find that attacks on drag are not just an attack on my heart, my livelihood, but also a veiled attack on trans people,” Hymen said. “They want to code trans people and what they do in their daily expression as drag as a way to ban trans people. So if we don’t stand up against these attacks on drag, trans people are the first people that will be harmed.”
Hymen went on to say there are clear and simple ways that the board could offset these actions that directly and negatively impact the LGBTQ community.
“More drag programming, more queer artists, more queer musicians, and more queer casts,” they said. “Tara Hoot was running for board of the Kennedy Center. I don’t know how possible that is under Trump, but I think that it’s a lovely sentiment and something that we should all push for.”
Putting Hoot back in the Kennedy Center was also on the mind of other participants of the protest dance party. John Borstel, a former arts administrator, also said that appointing someone like Hoot to the board would be beneficial—if only to ensure that someone would speak out at the Kennedy Center.
“Get out and let the bipartisan board back in,” Borstel said. “Get out and get people who know the arts back in. Let Tara Hoot in here! The drag queen who’s performed at the Kennedy Center. She’s been outspoken about this. She’s gone on record where the Biden appointed and ousted board members won’t even make a public statement about what happened. They’re afraid for themselves. We’ve got drag queens speaking out. The bureaucrats won’t speak up.”
His sentiment regarding the lack of response from former Kennedy Center officials was echoed in his grievances with other established members of the arts community who didn’t show up at the protest. It did make him proud in a unique way though.
“I have never been prouder than I am tonight, to be a gay man, to be queer, because it’s the queers who have come out to protest it — but it’s affecting everybody,” Borstel said. “He’s going to cut it all down. Everybody should be out here. I worked in the arts sector for over 30 years here. Where are those folks? But the queers are here. And they’re dancing!”
Bennett Shoop, one of the protest organizers with the Claudia Jones School for Political Education, told the crowd at Washington Circle—just before their march down New Hampshire Avenue to the front of the Kennedy Center—that drag is deeply intertwined with Washington’s history and that ignoring it means erasing that history.
“Drag is really important to D.C. and it’s important to D.C. history,” Shoop said to the diverse and growing crowd of people listening. “William Dorsey Swann was the first drag queen in the United States, an enslaved person who called themselves “the queen of drag,” who threw drag balls right here in this city. Drag is a D.C. institution, one that Trump has decided is going to be one of his top targets for his fascist administration. But it’s not just about drag performers at the Kennedy Center. This administration wants to remove all kinds of gender non-conformity and LGBTQ people at large from public life, just like the Nazis did at the Hirschfeld Institute when they burned all of those books.”
“This is D.C.,” he continued as the crowd cheered him on. “D.C. is the queerest city per capita in the United States. We may not have representation in the federal government, but we do have a fighting spirit…He could pass all the executive orders and do all of the fascist takeovers that he wants, but queer and trans people will still be here. You know, we will still dance, and that dance will long outlive them.”
One of those members of the LGBTQ community who resisted oppression through dance and protest, Shoop explained as he concluded his speech, could be credited with sparking the modern gay rights movement.
“Let us never forget that it was none other than drag king Stormé DeLarverie who inspired the Stonewall uprising that led to the gay liberation revolution of the ‘70s. Drag was a part of our revolution then, and it must be a part of our revolution now. I just want to end with a quote from the namesake of our school, Claudia Jones, who once said ‘that a people’s art is the genesis of their freedom.’ So like our predecessors, let this be the genesis of ours.”
Following speeches by the other organizing groups, the group of 200 or so walked in the middle of the road toward the Kennedy Center singing and occasionally stopping to dance. Onlookers from apartments along the road opened windows waving at the group, occasionally screaming words of support from stories up.
One of those marching in protest was Jennifer Ives of Germantown, Md. She was bundled up in a coat and hat while holding a sign, dancing along the protest route.
“I’m here because I want to support the trans and gay communities,” Ives told the Blade. “I believe that soldiers should get their hormone treatment, their therapy, their pills. I believe that Trump should get out of the Kennedy Center. I believe that right now, there’s an assault on the trans community, and we just can’t stand for it. So we gotta protest, and we gotta dance.”
Another participant, dressed in full drag—from voluminous black and red hair to a sparkly, tinsel-covered suit and thick white heels—emphasized that no matter what executive orders are signed or what bans pass through state legislatures, LGBTQ people have always been here and always will be.
“The main reason is to show that even though these actions have been taken, and though they want to strip us of our power, that we’re still here,” said drag performer Rhiannon LLC. “I think an important thing that stuck with me after the election, even though we lost, Kamala Harris, her main message was, we’re not going back. And if we let that message die, then we kind of go along with it. So to be here and to be out, it’s awesome.”
They continued, saying that if they had the ability to say one thing to the Kennedy Center board, it would be two words: “Have integrity. Although Trump may be there for the next four years, you are there after. These actions will follow you, and your job right now is to support the arts. So support the arts.”
One of the last speeches of the night was delivered directly in front of the Kennedy Center, its marble walls and gold columns providing a final backdrop for the protest. Pussy Noir, another local drag legend, was handed a mic to wrap up the night.
“This is an intense time for all of us,” said Noir, who currently has a residency with the Kennedy Center REACH program and performs in drag across the city. “I don’t know if you know this about me, but I’m the main drag queen that brought drag to the Kennedy Center, and with many other drag queens in this city, helped establish it as a real art form.”
Noir took a moment to look out at the crowd, their faces illuminated by the glow of the Kennedy Center, before finishing with a message of resilience and solidarity for all drag artists — those currently protesting in front of the Kennedy Center and those performing in hole-in-the-wall gay bars across the country.
“So no matter what anyone says, If you are a drag performer, you are an artist. If you support drag, you are supporting artists. Right now this is an attack, not only on free speech, but on artists, on small business owners, and I think that’s something that everyone in this country can understand. We must be supportive of each other and kind to each other. More than anything, that is the only way that we can fight this.”
District of Columbia
LGBT exhibition at D.C.’s Capital Jewish Museum opens May 16
‘LGBT Jews in the Federal City’ arrives for WorldPride and beyond
The D.C. Lillian and Albert Small Capital Jewish Museum is opening a special exhibition called “LGBT Jews in the Federal City” on Friday, May 16, that will remain at the museum at 575 3rd St., N.W. until Jan. 4, 2026.
Museum officials have said they are pleased that the LGBT exhibition will be open concurrently with WorldPride 2025 D.C., which takes place May 17-June 8. The exhibition also takes place during Jewish American Heritage Month in May and during LGBTQ Pride Month in June, the museum points out in a statement.
“This landmark exhibition explores a turbulent century of celebration, activism, and change in the nation’s capital led by D.C.’s LGBTQ+ Jewish community,” the museum statement says. “This is a local story with national resonance, turning the spotlight on Washington, D.C. to show the city’s vast impact on LGBTQ+ history and culture in the United States.”
LGBT Jews in the Federal City includes “more than 100 artifacts and photographs representing the DMV region’s Jewish LGBTQ+ celebrations, spaces, struggles, joys, and personal stories,” the stamen points out.
A pre-opening tour of the exhibition provided for the Washington Blade shows that among the displays are first-ever shown materials from Bet Mishpachah, D.C.’s LGBTQ supportive synagogue, which is the nation’s fourth-oldest LGBTQ friendly synagogue.
Also included is a prominent display about Barrett Brick, a longtime D.C. LGBT rights advocate and Jewish community leader who served as a board member and president of Bet Mishpachah in the 1980s and as executive director of the World Congress of Gay and Lesbian Jewish organizations from 1987 to 1992. Brick passed away following a 10-year battle with cancer in 2013.
Another display in the museum’s several rooms accommodating the exhibition includes the ability to listen to audio clips of local LGBTQ community members sharing in their own voices their oral histories provided by D.C.’s Rainbow History Project.
Other displays include campaign posters and photos of prominent gay rights icon Frank Kameny, who led efforts to end discrimination against LGBTQ people from the federal government; and a panel from the AIDS Memorial Quilt that includes the name of a prominent Jewish Washingtonian who died during the AIDS epidemic.
“Through prompts, questions, and thoughtful design throughout the exhibition, visitors will be encouraged to ponder new ways to understand Jewish teachings and values as they relate to gender and sexuality,” the museum’s statement says.
“After leaving the exhibition, visitors can contribute to the Museum’s collecting and storytelling by sharing photographs, personal archives, or by recording stories,” it says.
The museum is open for visitors to see the LGBT exhibition and other museum exhibits 10 a.m. through 5 p.m. Wednesdays through Sundays. Admission to LGBT Jews in the Federal City is $12.
District of Columbia
Rainbow History Project WorldPride exhibition to open May 18
‘Pickets, Protests and Parades’ to be on display at Freedom Plaza
D.C.’s Rainbow History Project is scheduled to open its WorldPride 2025 exhibition called “Pickets, Protests, and Parades: The History of Gay Pride in Washington” on Sunday, May 18, in Freedom Plaza.
Located on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. between 13th and 14th streets less than three blocks from the White House, the exhibition will be open to the public free of charge for 24 hours through July 6.
The exhibition “will chronicle the local LGBTQ+ Pride movement and how the pickets and protests of the 1960s led to the vibrant celebrations of the 2020s,” a statement released by Rainbow History Project says.
The statement notes that the exhibition’s displays will include photos and information about a 1965 protest in front of the White House by 10 gay men and lesbians carrying picket signs in what is believed to be one of the city’s and possibly the nation’s first public demonstrations in support of the then homosexual community.
“The exhibition disrupts the popularly held belief that the LGBTQ+ rights movement began with the Stonewall Riots in 1969 in New York,” the statement points out. It says the 1965 gay protest outside the White House, which took place four years before Stonewall, represents “the start of D.C.’s rich queer history.”
“Covering 1965 to the present, the exhibition explores the history of Pride in D.C. in 10 distinct thematic eras,” according to the statement. “Large hero images around the perimeter will draw people into the exhibit to explore a timeline wall with historic quotes from Pride’s organizers. Each of the 10 eras are detailed in thematic cubes rich with history and visuals.”
The statement says Rainbow History Project is seeking community members to serve as Exhibit Monitors to assist in operating the display in four shifts each day and night to be compensated from between $80 and $100 per shift depending on the time of the shift.
Information about applying to become an exhibit monitor can be accessed at Rainbow History’s website.
District of Columbia
Jeanine Pirro has mixed record on LGBTQ rights in N.Y.
Trump pick for interim U.S. Attorney for D.C. under fire
Jeanine Pirro, the controversial Fox News host and commentator appointed by President Donald Trump on May 8 to become interim United States Attorney for the District of Columbia has a little-noticed record of partial support for gay rights while mostly opposing transgender rights.
She expressed support for gay rights during her tenure as a prosecutor and candidate for public office in New York State beginning in 2000, media reports show.
According to news media reports at that time in New York, Pirro actively supported the approval by the New York State Legislature of a hate crimes law that included sexual orientation as a protected class in 2000. Press reports show she also spoke out in support for anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people during her unsuccessful election campaign for State Attorney General in 2006.
Although she supported civil unions rather than legal marriage for same-sex couples, Pirro spoke out strongly against a proposed federal constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage, press reports show. However, media reports also show she supported the federal Defense of Marriage Act passed by Congress, which defined marriage as a union between a man and a woman.
Reports show that in 2006 she acknowledged participating in both a Pride parade and a fundraising event organized by Log Cabin Republicans, the LGBTQ GOP group.
Other media reports show that Pirro called on the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) to ban transgender women from competing in women’s sports
“Women are being condemned, disavowed, and erased by allowing transgender women to compete with biological women in sports,” she stated on one of her Fox News talk shows. “This is the ultimate elimination and subjugation of women in our society,” she stated on that show.
In his decision to appoint Pirro as Acting U.S. Attorney for D.C., which by law is a temporary position, Trump has not said whether he plans to nominate Pirro for the permanent D.C. U.S. Attorney position.
Trump’s decision to name Pirro as acting U.S. Attorney came after congressional Democrats as well as some Republicans made it clear they would not support Ed Martin, Trump’s earlier appointment as acting D.C. U.S. Attorney for the permanent U.S. Attorney position.
The Washington Post reports that congressional Democrats have raised strong concerns about Pirro’s ability to serve as D.C.’s U.S. Attorney based, among other things, on her controversial statements as a Fox News talk show host.
The Post reports that she was among the Republicans who disputed the 2020 presidential election results, noting she was named as one of the Fox News commentator defendants in a defamation lawsuit filed by a company producing voting machines that accused Pirro and others with making false statements that faulty voting machines played a role in Trump receiving fewer votes than he actually received when he lost to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Congressional Democrats are also raising questions about whether Pirro has sufficient experience to serve as U.S. Attorney based on her past role as three-term Westchester County, N.Y. District Attorney, the Post reports. The Democrats reportedly are claiming Pirro lacks experience as a prosecutor in federal cases, which the D.C. U.S. Attorney prosecutes as well as local D.C. cases.
Trump, in a social media post, called Pirro a “powerful crusader for victims of crime.” Several prominent Republican U.S. senators also expressed strong support for Pirro’s appointment.
“Jeanine Pirro has had a long and storied career as a prosecutor, and she is a great choice by [Trump] to serve as U.S. Attorney for D.C.,” the Post quoted Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.) as saying.
Pirro served as a judge in Westchester County, which is a suburb of New York City, before being elected as the county’s district attorney in 1993. She held that position until 2005, when she announced her GOP candidacy for New York’s U.S. Senate seat held then by Democrat Hillary Clinton, which was up for election in 2006.
The Post and other media outlets report conservative Republican leaders pressured Pirro to drop out of the U.S. Senate race on grounds that her moderate positions on a number of issues, including her support for a woman’s right to choose an abortion, would alienate conservative voters.
After withdrawing her candidacy for the Senate, Pirro became a candidate for the New York State Attorney General’s position.
She won the GOP nomination for that position and emerged, according to political observers, as a true “moderate” Republican on issues including her support for LGBTQ rights protections in employment and LGBTQ-inclusive hate crimes laws. In November 2006 Pirro lost the election to Democrat Andrew Cuomo.
Among the issues that hurt her campaign, media reports show, was her former husband’s conviction in 2000 on federal conspiracy and tax evasion charges following his tenure as Trump’s real estate attorney.
He was sentenced to 29 years in prison but served just 11 years before Trump pardoned him at the end of the last year of Trump’s first term as president. According to media reports, Jeanine Pirro lobbied Trump to pardon her ex-husband.
Wikipedia reports that in 2013 Pirro interviewed on her talk show William Owens, an official with the anti-LGBTQ National Organization for Marriage, which opposed same-sex marriage. But the Wikipedia write-up doesn’t say whether Pirro expressed her own views on that subject during the interview.
However, Wikipedia reports that in 2021 Pirro attended Log Cabin Republicans’ Spirit of Lincoln Gala, the group’s largest annual fundraising event.
Andrew Minik, president of Log Cabin Republicans of D.C., said the LGBTQ GOP group strongly supports President Trump’s decision to appoint Pirro as interim U.S. Attorney for D.C.
“Judge Pirro is a longtime friend and ally of Log Cabin Republicans, a fierce advocate for law enforcement officers, and defender of the rule of law,” Minik told the Blade in a statement. “Her appointment marks a turning point in restoring order and ending the culture of leniency that has put D.C. residents at risk,” he said.
The Human Rights Campaign, the nation’s largest national LGBTQ advocacy organization, considers Pirro’s appointment “a slap in the face of justice,” according to Brandon Wolf, the group’s national press secretary.
“Given her insulting comments about transgender people, the people of D.C. cannot count on Pirro to protect the rights of all of our residents and visitors,” Wolf said in a statement to the Blade.
“As U.S. Attorney, she would be responsible for prosecuting hate crimes and civil rights violations but based on her time as a Fox News talking head, she can be expected to advance the administration’s anti-LGBTQ+ agenda, including non-enforcement of critical civil rights protections,” Wolf said.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Delaware considers enshrining same-sex marriage into state Constitution
Returning to Alcatraz: Memory through a queer lens
PHOTOS: Equality Prince William Pride
Chilean lawmakers back report that calls for suspension of program for trans children
Ashley Biden to speak at Blade’s Summer Kickoff Party in Rehoboth Beach
Pete Buttigieg, eyeing a presidential run, holds Iowa town hall
Calendar: May 16-22
Documentary about Blade reporter to premiere this month
