Local
PFLAG chapter celebrates accomplishments
Group helped launch Gender Conference East in November
At the annual holiday party on Dec. 12 in which The New Wave Singers performed, the Columbia/Howard County chapter of PFLAG announced a number of accomplishments from 2016.
Among the feats was the chapter’s collaboration with other organizations in launching the 3rd annual Gender East Conference in November. The mission of Gender Conference East is to provide a safe and supportive space dedicated to the needs of children and youth across the gender spectrum, as well as their families and the professionals working with them.
This year’s conference took place in Newark, N.J., where 850 people including 150 youth attended.
During the course of the year, the chapter formed partnerships with the county’s public school system and police department as well as affirming health professionals.
Through training sessions throughout the state, PFLAG worked to provide safe spaces for transgender and gender nonconforming students. These sessions reached over 700 individuals. In addition, chapter representatives had consulted with various transgender students, parents, and school officials, counselors and faculty.
Other trainings included schools across Maryland, Boys and Girls Clubs of Harford and Cecil counties, MD Recreation and parks Association, Harford County Mental Health Association, and the Maryland Community Action partnership Conference.
As a result of PFLAG’s collaboration with the Howard County Public School System, the chapter is represented on the Howard County Social Studies Advisory Committee. It will participate in the school system’s History Day on March 18, 2017, to present a plaque and a savings bond to the student winner of “Take a Stand” on an LGBTQ topic.
PFLAG held 92 support meetings with parents and caregivers of LGBT children; Rainbow Youth & Allies; Transgender adults, and play group for gender expansive and trans children. All told, approximately 600 families were served by these efforts.
As a means to advocate for LGBTQ equality in the county, chapter members serve on County Executive Allan H. Kittleman’s LGBT Roundtable that meets quarterly. Kittleman presented the chapter with a Certificate of Recognition for LGBT Pride Month in June during the chapter’s “Queens and Cocktails” fundraising gala.
Also in June, the chapter received an award from the Howard County Human Rights Commission for its contributions made over the past 20 years to protect the human rights of LGBTQ people and families in the county.
“I am honored to be a part of PFLAG Columbia-Howard County and so proud that our accomplishments fulfill our mission of support, education and advocacy for the LGBTQ community,” Susan Garner, the chapter’s president, told the Blade.
Photos
PHOTOS: Helen Hayes Awards
Gay Men’s Chorus, local drag artists have featured performance at ceremony
The 41st Helen Hayes Awards were held at The Anthem on Monday, May 19. Felicia Curry and Mike Millan served as the hosts.
A performance featuring members of the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington and local drag artists was held at the end of the first act of the program to celebrate WorldPride 2025.
The annual awards ceremony honors achievement in D.C.-area theater productions and is produced by Theatre Washington.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
District of Columbia
Laverne Cox, Reneé Rapp, Deacon Maccubbin named WorldPride grand marshals
Three LGBTQ icons to lead parade
WorldPride organizers announced Thursday that actress and trans activist Laverne Cox, powerhouse performer Reneé Rapp, and LGBTQ trailblazer Deacon Maccubbin will serve as grand marshals for this year’s WorldPride parade.
The Capital Pride Alliance, which is organizing WorldPride 2025 in Washington, D.C., revealed the honorees in a press release, noting that each has made a unique contribution to the fabric of the LGBTQ community.
Cox made history in 2014 as the first openly transgender person nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award in an acting category for her role in Netflix’s “Orange Is the New Black.” She went on to win a Daytime Emmy in 2015 for her documentary “Laverne Cox Presents: The T Word,” which followed seven young trans people as they navigated coming out.
Rapp, a singer and actress who identifies as a lesbian, rose to prominence as Regina George in the Broadway musical “Mean Girls.” She reprised the role in the 2024 film adaptation and also stars in Max’s “The Sex Lives of College Girls,” portraying a character coming to terms with her sexuality. Rapp has released an EP, “Everything to Everyone,” and an album, “Snow Angel.” She announced her sophomore album, “Bite Me,” on May 21 and is slated to perform at the WorldPride Music Festival at the RFK Festival Grounds.
Deacon Maccubbin, widely regarded as a cornerstone of Washington’s LGBTQ+ history, helped organize D.C.’s first Gay Pride Party in 1975. The event took place outside Lambda Rising, one of the first LGBTQ bookstores in the nation, which Maccubbin founded. For his decades of advocacy and activism, he is often referred to as “the patriarch of D.C. Pride.”
“I am so honored to serve as one of the grand marshals for WorldPride this year. This has been one of the most difficult times in recent history for queer and trans people globally,” Cox said. “But in the face of all the rhetorical, legislative and physical attacks, we continue to have the courage to embrace who we truly are, to celebrate our beauty, resilience and bravery as a community. We refuse to allow fear to keep us from ourselves and each other. We remain out loud and proud.”
“Pride is everything. It is protection, it is visibility, it is intersectional. But most importantly, it is a celebration of existence and protest,” Rapp said.
The three will march down 14th Street for the WorldPride Parade in Washington on June 7.
2025 D.C. Trans Pride was held at Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library on Saturday, May 17. The day was filled with panel discussions, art, social events, speakers, a resource fair and the Engendered Spirit Awards. Awardees included Lyra McMillan, Pip Baitinger, Steph Niaupari and Hayden Gise. The keynote address was delivered by athlete and advocate Schuyler Bailar.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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