Arts & Entertainment
‘Gay is Good’ Pride Pils Can Celebrates Frank Kameny’s 100th Birthday for WorldPride in D.C.
In celebration of WorldPride 2025 coming to the nation’s capital, Red Bear Brewing Co. is proud to unveil the 8th edition of its beloved Pride Pils can — themed “Gay is Good” — honoring LGBTQ+ civil rights icon Frank Kameny on what would be his 100th birthday.
The 2025 design bursts with pop-art color and protest-inspired energy, featuring a bold illustration of Kameny holding a sign declaring “GAY IS GOOD,” a phrase he coined in the 1960s to inspire queer pride and challenge societal prejudice. The background is filled with rally signs and silhouettes of activists, representing decades of LGBTQ+ resistance and progress.
“Frank Kameny was a trailblazer who helped ignite the modern LGBTQ+ rights movement,” said Red Bear co-founder Bryan Van Den Oever. “We’re honored to celebrate his life and legacy during this historic World Pride year in D.C.”
This year’s Pride Pils release marks a continued partnership between Red Bear Brewing Co., DC Brau, and LGBTQ+ community partners including The Washington Blade, SMYAL, and District CoOp. The Pride Pils campaign originally launched by DC Brau and the Washington Blade has raised more than $55,000 for local LGBTQ+ causes. Now, Red Bear proudly carries the torch, donating 100% of profits from Pride Pils sales to SMYAL and LGBTQ+ nonprofit efforts.
Frank Kameny, a pioneer in LGBTQ+ activism, was fired from his federal job in 1957 for being gay. Refusing to stay silent, he co-founded the Mattachine Society of Washington, D.C., led some of the first gay rights protests in front of the White House, and fought to remove homosexuality from the American Psychiatric Association’s list of mental disorders. His unrelenting advocacy laid the groundwork for generations of progress.
With D.C. preparing to host hundreds of thousands of visitors for WorldPride 2025, this year’s Pride Pils can stands as a toast to the power of protest, visibility, and queer joy.
The limited-edition Pride Pils will be available starting May 2025 at bars, restaurants, and retailers across the DMV.
Join the celebration at the Pride Pils Launch Party, happening on Frank Kameny’s 100th birthday — May 21st, 6–8 PM at Crush (2007 14th St NW), D.C.’s newest LGBTQ+ bar.
Pride Pils merchandise is available now from District CoOp HERE.

The 2026 World Pride March was held on Saturday, Aug. 8 in Amsterdam. Tens of thousands of participants marched from Martin Luther Kingpark to the grounds of the Pride Village at Museumplein.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)








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The weekly drag show “Daddy Issues” was held at Kiki on Wednesday, Aug. 5. Performers included Evry Pleasure, Indiana Bones and Tiara Missou-Sidora.
(Washington Blade photos by Landon Shackelford)









Books
Something’s off about Dad. When is it time to step in?
‘When Memory Fades’ can help when families face dementia
‘When Memory Fades’
By Nathaniel Chin, MD
c.2026, St. Martin’s Essentials
$30/422 pages
Mom called you in a panic the other day.
She’d lost her keys and by the time you arrived to help, she’d found them. In the refrigerator.
These kinds of things keep happening, not often but often enough, and you don’t know quite what to worry about. But in the new book “When Memory Fades” by Nathaniel Chin, MD, you’ll learn about the journey ahead, for both of you.
You can’t remember why you walked into a room. You got lost last week, going to the bank. Popular wisdom says that things like that are normal as we age, but Chin says that’s not true – although the answer may not be a worst-case scenario, either. Yes, memory problems could just be signs of stress, dehydration, or lack of sleep – or is it time to see a doctor?
Chin says maybe, yes.
He was working his way through medical residency when his father, a geriatrician in Madison, Wisc., was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. Chin, now a geriatrician, was blindsided, but that diagnosis also changed his life.
Here, he writes about the brain, and how Alzheimer’s and dementia are diagnosed, explaining that dementia has many faces and, depending on a doctor’s evaluation, memory problems might be slowed or improved. He shares his father’s illness with readers, but he also writes about his mother, a steadfast, steady caretaker.
Her story reminds reader-guardians to care for themselves, too.
Know how to talk the talk, so that you can have “a more productive” conversation with your doctor. Understand that there’s nothing “normal” about dementia or Alzheimer’s. Know the statistics – African Americans are affected with dementia twice as much as whites – and know how to lower your risks. Learn here what questions to ask, how to break the news to everyone, and any legal matters that will be important soon. And know how to tend to you.
Says Chin, “The best action you can take is to educate yourself… The more you understand, the better equipped you are to make sound judgments.”
Something’s off about Dad, just a lot of little things that don’t add up. When is it time to step in? “When Memory Fades” can help you decide.
Wise, wide-spread, comprehensive, and compassionately helpful, this is a book you can read and then take it to the doctor with your loved one. It’s a book that makes sense when nothing else does, and its biggest feature is that it smoothly transitions from easy-to-grasp science and charts, to gentle coaching for caregivers. Author Nathaniel Chin, MD writes with storytelling, humility, grace, and experience from both sides of the Alzheimer’s/dementia issue, and his words are reassuring but also urgent. Learn, but don’t wait, he says. Know how to safeguard yourself. See your doctor, and don’t fear testing. Watch for signs of depression. And never, ever stop asking for help.
Read those last seven words, and find “When Memory Fades” now. It’s a book to have on your shelf, whether you’re 45 or 95 because, as you’ll see, dementia happens and knowledge is key.
