Connect with us

Maryland

Annapolis Pride postponed due to weather

Parade and festival will not happen as scheduled, other events to take place

Published

on

Annapolis Pride postponed. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)

The annual celebration of the Annapolis LGBTQ community has been put on hold due to forecasted severe weather.

The Annapolis Pride parade and festival, both of which were supposed to take place on May 31, have been postponed until a later date.

Annapolis Pride Board Chair Joe Toolan announced the decision this afternoon, citing information given to the Pride board from emergency management agencies and weather forecasting models.

“The safety of our community comes first,” Toolan said. “Based on guidance from the Annapolis Office of Emergency Management and the National Weather Service, we’ve made the difficult decision to postpone the 2025 Annapolis Pride Parade and Festival due to the very real threat of severe thunderstorms, lightning, and flooding.

“We are hoping to reschedule for some time this fall,” he added.

The National Weather Service has issued tornado and flood watches for large portions of the Mid-Atlantic area, more specifically in areas of Virginia, D.C., and Maryland — including Anne Arundel County where Annapolis is located.

The tornado watch only lasts until midnight, but the impacts of heavy downpours in the area can already be seen where the parade and festival were set to take place. The festival grounds at Bates Middle School are already experiencing flooding and over-saturation, and a flood watch remains in effect with more rain forecast for tonight and tomorrow.

“We are all sad and terribly disappointed that we cannot proceed with the parade and festival on Saturday,” Toolan said. “Hundreds of hours have been spent on planning and coordination, and we were expecting tens of thousands of attendees. But at the end of the day, safety concerns outweigh all other concerns.”

Toolan said the Pride board will announce a rescheduled date as soon as it is confirmed.

Even though the Annapolis Pride parade and festival have been postponed, there are a slew of other planned Pride events that will go on as scheduled:

May 30 – Ladies Night – SOLD OUT
6–10 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis

June 1 – Drag Brunch at Leo – SOLD OUT
10 a.m., Leo Annapolis Restaurant, 212 West St.

June 1 – Ecumenical Pride Worship Service
3 p.m., Eastport United Methodist Church, Annapolis

June 3 – Annapolis Pride Beer Launch
4–7 p.m., Forward Brewing, Annapolis

June 5 – Pride on the Pier
6–9 p.m., Bread and Butter Kitchen, Annapolis

June 6 – Big Gay Dance Party
10 p.m.–close, Tsunami Restaurant, 51 West St., Annapolis

June 7 – Pop-Up Market: Benefiting Annapolis Pride
10 a.m.–3 p.m., Annapolis Town Center
Special discounts @Kendra Scott 6/7–6/8

June 14 – Silent Disco
7–11 p.m., Eastport Democratic Club, Annapolis

June 21 – Teen Dance Party
6–9 p.m., Art Farm, Annapolis
For high school freshmen – juniors

*ticketed event

For more information on the postponement of Annapolis Pride, visit https://annapolispride.org/

Advertisement
FUND LGBTQ JOURNALISM
SIGN UP FOR E-BLAST

Maryland

Wes Moore signs HIV decriminalization bill

Md. law named after Carlton Smith

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Maryland

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

Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

Published

on

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.

Continue Reading

Maryland

Md. schools plan to comply with federal DEI demands

Superintendents opt for cooperation over confrontation

Published

on

(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.

Continue Reading

Popular