District of Columbia
LGBTQ performers join Kennedy Center boycott following Trump takeover
Opposition grows after cancellation of Gay Men’s Chorus show
A growing number of LGBTQ musicians and performers such as choral singers and orchestra players have joined other performing artists in refusing to perform at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts since its takeover last month by President Donald Trump.
According to local gay musician Stephen Key, who for many years has worked as a contract oboe player at the Kennedy Center, as many as a dozen or more gay and lesbian musicians perform at the Kennedy Center. He said some have resigned their jobs or, like him, are refusing to perform as self-employed musicians at the Kennedy Center.
“I decided after the second cancellation to turn down work,” Key told the Washington Blade. “There are more famous musicians than me who have done the same,” he added. “But I just couldn’t do it anymore. It was after the Gay Men’s Chorus cancellation occurred.”
Key was referring to the decision by the National Symphony Orchestra, which is under the direction of the Kennedy Center, to “postpone” the performance of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, which was scheduled to perform with the orchestra on May 21.
In a statement released to the Blade in February, a National Symphony Orchestra spokesperson said the decision to postpone, which soon after became a cancellation, took place in January before President Trump’s sweeping leadership changes at the Kennedy Center.
The spokesperson, Jean Davidson, said the decision related to the Gay Men’s Chorus was due to “financial and scheduling factors.”
The ultimate cancellation of the Gay Men’s Chorus performance came shortly after Kennedy Center officials cancelled a planned WorldPride related performance of the San Francisco based International Pride Orchestra, and the highly acclaimed children’s musical “Finn.” The officials cited financial reasons for the Finn cancellation and did not publicly say why the international chorus was cancelled.
In a Feb. 14 article, Playbill magazine reported that the creators and composers of “Finn” released a statement denouncing the cancellation as an expression of bias against a theme of “love and acceptance” that could be “read as a metaphor for the LGBTQ+ experience.”
Key said LGBTQ and LGBTQ supportive musicians and others who have worked at the Kennedy Center question the claim that scheduling and financial issues were the actual reason for the postponement and cancellation of the Gay Men’s Chorus performance as well as for the performances of “Finn” and the International Pride Orchestra.
He said musicians and others familiar with the National Symphony fear the real reason is National Symphony officials were concerned that supporting an LGBTQ related performance would result in unfavorable consequences from the Trump administration and the Kennedy Center’s Trump appointed leaders, including the possible loss of their nonprofit tax status from the IRS.
Observers have also pointed out that a statement by Trump that drag performers would no longer be allowed to perform at the Kennedy Center could have played a role in the decision to cancel the Gay Men’s Chorus appearance because drag performers have participated in some of the Gay Men’s Chorus shows.
A bias by the Kennedy Center’s current leadership against LGBTQ performances may also be linked to the Trump administration’s ban on diversity, equity, and inclusion, or “DEI” programs and public displays, some observers have said.
Earlier in February President Trump appointed himself as chair of the board of the Kennedy Center after ousting longtime chair David M. Rubenstein. He then replaced most of the other board members with his supporters and named gay former diplomat and longtime Trump supporter Richard Grenell as the Kennedy Center’s interim executive director.
Among the organizations that have joined the Kennedy Center boycott by cancelling an appearance there is the hit Broadway play “Hamilton.” Also announcing their cancellation of Kennedy Center appearances were actress and comedian Issa Rae, rock band Low Cut Connie, and singer-musician Rhiannon Giddens.
Key said that while he has been an oboe player at the Kennedy Center with the National Symphony Orchestra and the Kennedy Center’s opera orchestra, he also has and continues to play with local orchestras and choral groups not affiliated with the Kennedy Center. He said he also serves as Adjunct Associate Professor of Oboe at Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University in Winchester, Va.
So, his decision to boycott the Kennedy Center as a musician, unlike other LGBTQ and allied musicians, will not end his career as a musician he points out.
“The sad part is that the National Symphony, the opera orchestra – these are groups that I’ve played with, and I have friends in all of these groups,” Key said. “They’re kind of innocent bystanders in a sense because they don’t have other jobs. I can walk away from my job there and I’ll be fine,” he said.
“There are plenty of queer people in both of those ensembles and while a lot of people are boycotting the orchestras, they are still having to show up to work every day because that’s their day job.” He added, “So, there’s kind of an awkward situation that’s been made as a result of all of this.”
In a related development, 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 Trump-appointed Kennedy Center board of trustees. The March for Drag began with a rally at Washington Circle near George Washington University.
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.
Frank Kameny’s legacy lives on
Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill
Medical groups file lawsuit over Trump deletion of health information
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s bill to criminalize gender affirming care advances
Delaware considers enshrining same-sex marriage into state Constitution
Pete Buttigieg, eyeing a presidential run, holds Iowa town hall
Calendar: May 16-22
Documentary about Blade reporter to premiere this month
Mike Millan prepares to co-host Helen Hayes Awards
