District of Columbia
Drag artists lead protest march to Kennedy Center
Queens and kings denounce Trump administration policies

Local drag artists and their supporters gathered for a march from Washington Circle to the Kennedy Center on Saturday to protest the Trump-Vance administration’s anti-transgender policies and the decisions made by the President Donald Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board of trustees.
The March for Drag began with a rally at Washington Circle near George Washington University.
One of the organizers of the March for Drag was drag king Lord Henry. The local performer addressed the gathered activists at Washington Circle.
“We demand that the Kennedy Center Board reinstate queer programming, including but not limited to drag-oriented workshops and shows and any other equity and DEI initiatives at the Kennedy Center,” Lord Henry said. “We want to force Congress to drop the multiple attempts at criminalizing gender non-conformity, including Trump’s executive order conflating sex and gender and the attack on drag artists through budget amendments, denying funds to organizations supporting and protecting this queer art form.”
“We care deeply about D.C. home rule,” Lord Henry concluded. “If home rule goes away, drag goes away in D.C.”
Other speakers at the event included the drag performers Crystal Edge, Indiana Bones, Cake Pop!, Tara Hoot, Mari Con Carne, Blaq Dinamyte, Mx.Noir, and Ricky Rosé.
“Drag is not just an invaluable form of self expression, but is a means of self discovery,” drag artist Brooke N Hymen told the crowd. “And not only are our livelihoods and artistry as drag artists under attack by the current administration, but the very existence of trans people as well.”
Brooke N Hymen, who identified himself as a trans man to the gathered protesters, continued discussing the effect of Trump’s policies on trans people.
“Beyond the executive orders meant to erase trans people from public life, Trump and his cronies want to define living in a trans body and expressing yourself in a way that aligns with your gender identity as ‘doing drag,'” Brooke N Hymen continued. “So, by attacking drag and attempts to outlaw drag on local and national levels, Trump is simultaneously attempting to outlaw trans people’s very existence.”

Sister Sybil of the D.C. Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence was slated to give a non-religious benediction before the march.
“This evening as we walk down the streets of our capital city, we are walking in the footsteps of our queer ancestors who fought tooth and nail for every right that we have ever attained,” Sister Sybil said.
“And now, one of our oldest and most sacred art forms, the art of drag, is again under attack,” Sister Sybil continued. “Our queer culture is now on the chopping block. And the only political party with any positioning to do anything about it has abandoned us: The Democratic Party.”
“But we have been here before,” Sister Sybil said. “Our culture and our community has never known a time without governmental targeting and neglect based on who we love, how we look, artistic expression, or even who we know ourselves to be, regardless of our birth certificate.”
“We must reclaim our community wisdom,” Sister Sybil told the crowd. “Our queer ancestors gave us tools to protest the indignities of heteronormative oppression. They gave us art, dance, disco, ballroom. They gave us drag as we know it. Most importantly, they gave us a love for our queer culture and a pride for being who we are. They loved and supported each other. They acted up. They organized, marched, lobbied, and tonight, after we are done marching, we must continue to do those things.”

Drag artist Mari Con Carne spoke at the rally in Washington Circle before the march. The local performer said, “As our queer ancestors have shouted out before, our community has always been here, we have always been queer, but they have yet to get used to it.”
“It is time we stop asking for their approval for our existence and it’s time we stop looking at ourselves as something to get used to,” Mari Con Carne continued.
“Our ancestors have always had to fight against a government that actively tries to erase us,” Mari Con Carne said to the gathered activists. “Think of the Stonewall riots, the AIDS epidemic protests and the queer liberation movement. Now it’s time to look up to them and see the fight for queer acknowledgment and acceptance only stopped because we wanted the system to get used to us.”
“It is now time for us to take our queer power and fight back,” Mari Con Carne concluded. “It is now time to defend our trans siblings and is now time that we stop wanting to get used to and begin fighting for acknowledgment and acceptance.”
The activists then marched down New Hampshire Avenue, N.W., chanting slogans and waving flags along the way. There was no police escort or presence in the march, yet activists were met with a small line of Kennedy Center security officers when they arrived near the front of the building.
The crowd stopped on the access road in front of the Kennedy Center and a second set of speeches began. A number of busses and cars attempting to access the venue were temporarily inconvenienced.

Cake Pop!, a well-known local drag performer and DJ, addressed the crowd gathered in front of the Center.
“The reprehensible leadership of Donald Trump and his supporters isn’t just about politics anymore,” Cake Pop! said. “It’s a full-on assault on free speech, on art and on self-expression. The takeover of the Kennedy Center is not just a political move, it’s a direct attack on every single artist, on queerness itself, and on anyone who dares to exist outside of his narrow, hateful vision of America.”
“We are living proof that no matter how much they try to erase us, silence us or shame us, we are still here,” Cake Pop! continued. “We are still fighting and we will not back down, because drag is a protest. Drag is resilience and drag is the very embodiment of joy in the face of oppression.”

Blaq Dinamyte, a drag king performer and president of the activist organization Qommittee, spoke in front of the Kennedy Center when addressing the gathered activists.
“What’s happening isn’t new,” Blaq Dinamyte said. “Throughout history, we’ve seen this before. The Nazi’s ban what they label as ‘degenerate art’ anything that didn’t fit their narrow vision of culture: Art that showed freedom, showed difference, complexity, all banned. Now it’s us.”
“When the government bans art from our national stage, they are not just attacking performers: They are attacking ideas,” Blaq Dinamyte continued. “They target drag because we are liberation. Our art makes a world where you can be who you are: Whoever that is. We are a threat to governments that would want to control how we live and express ourselves. Drag performers have always been at the front lines. Here in D.C., we’re seeing this play out on federal property. These bans hit our communities first, but they never stop with us.”
Following the march and rally, participants were invited to a dance party at the LGBTQ establishment As You Are.
“NO MORE DRAG SHOWS, OR OTHER ANTI-AMERICAN PROPAGANDA — ONLY THE BEST,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Feb. 10 as part of an announcement of his appointment of Richard Grenell to serve as the interim executive director of the Kennedy Center.
Trump then announced on Feb. 12 on Truth Social that he had been “unanimously voted” Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Kennedy Center.
The Kennedy Center cancelled a performance of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington that was to be held in May.
See photos from the March for Drag here.
District of Columbia
Activists protest outside Hungarian Embassy in DC
Budapest Pride scheduled to take place Saturday, despite ban

More than two dozen activists gathered in front of the Hungarian Embassy in D.C. on Friday to protest the country’s ban on Budapest Pride and other LGBTQ-specific events.
Amnesty International USA Executive Director Paul O’Brien read a letter that Dávid Vig, executive director of Amnesty International Hungary, wrote.
“For 30 years Budapest Pride has been a celebration of hope, courage, and love,” said Vig in the letter that O’Brien read. “Each march through the streets of Budapest has been a powerful testament to the resilience of those who dare to demand equality, but a new law threatens to erase Pride and silence everyone who demands equal rights for LGBTI people.”
“The Hungarian government’s relentless campaign against LGBTI rights represents a worrying trend that can spread normalizing division and hatred,” added Vig. “Thank you for standing with us when we refuse to be intimidated.”
Council for Global Equality Chair Mark Bromley and two of his colleagues — Stephen Leonelli and Keifer Buckingham — also spoke. Health GAP Executive Director Asia Russell and Chloe Schwenke, a political appointee in the Obama-Biden administration who worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, and Planned Parenthood staffers are among those who attended the protest.
(Washington Blade video by Michael K. Lavers)
Hungarian lawmakers in March passed a bill that bans Pride events and allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to identify those who participate in them. MPs in April amended the Hungarian constitution to ban public LGBTQ events.
Budapest Pride is scheduled to take place on Saturday, despite the ban. Hundreds of European lawmakers are expected to participate.
“Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love,” said David Pressman, the gay former U.S. Ambassador to Hungary, on Friday on social media.
Sending strength to the patriotic Hungarians marching tomorrow to advance human dignity and fundamental rights in a country they love. Szabadság és szerelem. My past remarks on Budapest Pride: https://t.co/y1QhA9QouA
— David Pressman (@AmbPressman) June 27, 2025
District of Columbia
Man sentenced to 15 years in prison for drug deal that killed two DC gay men
Prosecutors asked for 210 month sentence

On Thursday Jevaughn Mark, 33, of D.C., was sentenced to 180 months in federal prison for running what prosecutors called a “prolific drug delivery service” that led to the fentanyl overdose deaths of two men in D.C.’s gay community.
The 15-year sentence comes three months after Mark, aka “Ledo,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute 40 grams or more of fentanyl and 500 grams or more of cocaine, as well as unlawful possession of a firearm by a felon. As part of the plea deal, Mark accepted responsibility for causing the deaths of Brandon Román and Robert “Robbie” Barletta. U.S. District Court Judge Tanya S. Chutkan also ordered five years of supervised release following his prison term.
Prosecutors from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia argued that Mark knowingly sold fentanyl and was at least partially responsible for the men’s deaths. The office had asked the court for a 210-month sentence.
On Dec. 27, 2023, Román, 38, and Barletta, 28, were found unconscious in their Northwest Washington home after a 911 call brought police and emergency responders to the scene. A police investigation later revealed that Román had purchased what he believed was ketamine from Mark. DEA testing of the remaining drugs found no ketamine — only fentanyl, xylazine, and caffeine.
Friends and family members wore rainbow ribbons in solidarity with Román, a prominent D.C. attorney and LGBTQ rights advocate, and Barletta, a historic preservation expert and home renovation business owner — both of whom were active members of Washington’s gay community.
“There is no good outcome here,” Chutkan said from the bench before issuing the sentence. “These people didn’t deserve to die.”
While noting Mark’s “long record,” Chutkan opted for a sentence shorter than what the government had requested, citing what she believed to be genuine remorse.
“I believe Mr. Mark when he wishes he could take it back,” she said.
Following the sentencing, the Washington Blade spoke with Jeanine Pirro, the recently appointed U.S. Attorney for D.C., who echoed the judge’s compassion, but stood by her office’s push for a longer sentence.
“We had asked for more time,” Pirro said. “He’s a felon in possession, and there’s the fentanyl. But he’s got a prior record. There are various other crimes. This guy’s been operating with impunity.”
“My job is to make sure we recognize both Brandon and Robbie with dignity,” she added. “They are two very special human beings who should not have died — and they died as a result of not only someone else’s criminal behavior, but someone else’s reckless behavior in ignoring what he should not have ignored.”
DEA Special Agent in Charge Ibrar Mian emphasized the broader dangers of the drug trade in a written statement.
“The drug market is characterized by the illegal availability of polydrug mixtures, many of which have lethal amounts of fentanyl,” Mian said. “Criminals like Mr. Mark pose a deadly threat by selling drugs with fentanyl, which users unknowingly consume, often leading to their deaths. Illegal drug distribution affects the very foundations of our families and communities, so every time we take criminals like Mr. Mark off the streets, lives are saved.”
Mian also credited the DEA teams, USAO-DC litigators, and local and state partners for their work in investigating and removing “illegal drugs from this individual who was involved in violent activities.”
Asked whether she had a message for the LGBTQ community — statistically more vulnerable to substance use disorders than the general population — Pirro was direct about her commitment to equal justice.
“The only thing I can say to the LGBT community is that there is a level playing field here,” Pirro said. “Everybody gets the same justice. You have a problem, you have an issue, you come to me. I have a long history of fighting for equal rights for everyone. Everyone deserves dignity, everyone deserves protection, and everyone deserves justice — and you’re gonna get that from me.”
District of Columbia
GLAA issues ratings in Ward 8 D.C. Council special election
Declines to rate ousted Council member Trayon White who’s seeking re-election

GLAA D.C., formerly known as the Gay & Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, announced on June 22 its ratings for three of the four candidates running in the city’s July 15 Ward 8 D.C. Council special election, saying each of the three have records of support for the LGBTQ community.
The election was called earlier this year when the Ward 8 seat became vacant after the Council voted unanimously to expel Ward 8 Council member Trayon White (D) following his arrest by the FBI on a federal bribery charge in August 2024.
White, who has denied any wrongdoing and was released while awaiting his trial scheduled for January 2026, is one of the four candidates running in the special election to regain his seat on the Council. Under D.C. law, he can legally run for office and serve again on the Council if he wins up until the time he is convicted of the criminal offense he is charged with.
While not mentioning White by name, in a statement accompanying its candidate ratings GLAA said it has a policy of not rating any candidates expelled or who resign from an elected position for ethics violations, including “malfeasance.”
The three candidates it rated – Sheila Bunn, Mike Austin, and Salim Adofo – are longtime Ward 8 community advocates who have been involved in local government affairs for many years and, according to LGBTQ activists who know them, have been supportive of LGBTQ rights. All three are running as Democrats.
White also has a record of supporting LGBTQ issues while serving on the Council since 2017.
GLAA rates candidates on a scale of -10, the lowest possible rating, to +10, its highest rating. Since it began candidate ratings in the 1970s it has based the ratings mostly on LGBTQ-related issues.
But in recent years, it has shifted gears to base the ratings mostly on non-LGBTQ specific issues, saying those issues — such as housing, healthcare, and a call for decriminalizing sex work — impact the LGBTQ community as well as all D.C. residents.
The following are the GLAA D.C. ratings for the three Ward 8 candidates it rated:
Sheila Bunn – 7.5
Mike Austin – 6.5
Salim Adofo – 4.5
Bunn is a former staff member for D.C. Congressional Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and has worked for former D.C. Mayor and later D.C. Council member Vincent Gray (D-Ward 7), a longtime strong supporter of the LGBTQ community.
Austin, an attorney, is a former chair of one of the Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissions, served as chief of staff in the office of the D.C. Deputy Mayor for Economic Development, and worked on the staff of former Ward 7 Council member LaRuby May (D).
Adofo has served as a Ward 8 Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner since 2018 and chair of his ANC since 2021. His campaign biographical information shows he has been an advocate for affordable housing, improved health care and lower health costs in Ward 8. He is the only one of the Ward 8 special election candidates on the July 15 ballot to express support for LGBTQ rights on his campaign website.
“At the heart of our platform is a steadfast commitment to uplifting LGBTQ+ communities, ensuring that policy is shaped not just for them, but with them,” a statement on his website says.
As of early this week, White did not have a campaign website. He has won re-election for the Ward 8 Council seat in every election since 2017, including the November 2024 election following his August 2024 arrest.
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political group, which for many years has endorsed candidates running for public office in D.C., decided not to make an endorsement in the Ward 8 special election, according to the group’s president, Howard Garrett.
“We thought that this is best because this is a special election and in these unfamiliar times, we decided not to take a stand,” Garrett told the Washington Blade. But he said his group partnered with the Ward 8 Democrats organization in holding a candidate forum in which the Ward 8 candidates were asked questions “that related to our community.”
Longtime Ward 8 gay Democratic activist Phil Pannell, who is supporting Adofo, said he strongly feels GLAA’s 4.5 rating for Adofo does not reflect Adofo’s strong support for the LGBTQ community.
Fellow Ward 8 gay Democratic activist David Meadows said he is supporting Bunn, who he says also has a strong record of support for the LGBTQ community.
The Blade earlier this week asked each of the four Ward 8 candidates’ campaigns to provide a statement by the candidates explaining their position on LGBTQ issues. As of the end of the business day on June 24, the candidates had not yet responded. The Blade will report on those responses when they are received.
The GLAA ratings and the group’s statement describing the responses to its questionnaire that each of the three candidates it rated submitted can be accessed here:
The websites of the three candidates who have campaign websites, which provide full details of their positions and background, can be accessed here:
Sheila Bunn
Mike Austin
Salim Adofo
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