a&e features
Trinity’s tricks of the trade
‘Drag Race’ finalist gears up for ‘War on the Catwalk’ tour
Trinity Taylor (aka Ryan Taylor) says her season was one of the tightest competitions in the history of ‘RuPaul’s Drag Race.’ (Photo courtesy VH1)
Trinity Taylor, one of the finalists from season nine of “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” is on the “War on the Catwalk” tour, which was slated to kick off Thursday in New Haven, Conn. (tickets, dates, etc. here)
The queens come to Washington Sunday night, July 16, at the Warner Theatre. Trinity spoke with the Blade by phone Tuesday from her home in Orlando, Fla.
WASHINGTON BLADE: Where are you right now?
TRINITY TAYLOR: I’m in my bedroom. Are you gonna ask me what I’m wearing next?
BLADE: Sure, why not?
TRINITY: A grungy T-shirt and we’re leaving it there (laughs).
BLADE: Tell us about the tour.
TRINITY: Yeah, well, I was very fortunate that they asked me to host the tour which is kind of nerve wracking because I’ve hosted tons and tons and tons of shows but this is a major tour this season nine tour, so there’s a lot more pressure. So hopefully I do OK. I am, you know, I’ll do what I do best — show my tuck, hopefully make some people laugh and the biggest thing is just entertain because that’s what I am, an entertainer.
BLADE: I thought Trixie was hosting.
TRINITY: We’re both hosting. Maybe certain dates. I don’t know that she’s doing the whole thing.
BLADE: How did you like the format for the “Drag Race” finale this year?
TRINITY: Well obviously I thought it was terrible because I didn’t make the top two (laughs). I’m just kidding. I think it was great for the show. It’s something the show needed because the show was very predictable the past couple of years, you know, the person who wins the most challenges wins. So this was definitely something that was shocking and something different which is good, change is good. I think it got a lot of attention and exposure and that’s good for the show and whatever’s good for the show’s gonna be good for me.
Trinity Taylor (Photo courtesy VH1)
BLADE: Charlie Hides said during the reunion she only got two hours of sleep one night. Is the competition really that intense? Did you sleep well during the run?
TRINITY: So, um, Charlie, I love Charlie, but the reason why Charlie was saying all these excuses was people were putting her on the spot for her terrible lip sync. So she was just grasping at straws. As far as sleep goes, first of all, this is a competition. You’re not signing up to go to a weekend spa. When they say it is “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” it is really a race. You have very little time, the schedule is grueling, the challenges are not easy. … If you’re watching it and you go, “Yeah, I could do that,” well yeah, you maybe could do that if you had the time but when you’re on a time crunch, you don’t have a lot of time and so, you might not do your best. Or you may do phenomenal, but it is a race. So as far as sleep goes, you got plenty of hours to sleep because there was a schedule of when we were done and when we were picked up. But when you had your alone time in the hotel rooms, you did have to make sure you knew your lip sync songs, make sure if you had anything last minute you needed to work on, prepare for, you know, all that’s on your own time. So for her to say she didn’t have enough sleep, that’s really on her.
BLADE: Could you tell she was phoning it in on that lip sync or were you too busy concentrating on your own performance to realize that?
TRINITY: Until I watched it on the episode, I didn’t know what she did. I kind of just zoned out, I was just like, “I’m in the bottom, I’ve got to stay,” and it didn’t matter who I was lip syncing against, I was going to stay, that was my focus. So she wasn’t even there to me, I was just performing.
BLADE: What struck you most watching the show vs. experiencing it in person? Do you see it at all before it airs or you see it with everybody else?
TRINITY: Oh, no that’s the first time we see it. What’s shocking is — I’ll give Alexis as an example. On the show, Alexis didn’t — I liked Alexis, she was not annoying at all, I didn’t see this like person who made excuses and blamed us for not doing well. For some reason it didn’t click in my mind while I was there that she was complaining a lot like that. And then watching the episodes I’m like, “Dang, she really tried to come in for us.” And so seeing it from a different perspective from actually being there, it just registers differently. And also seeing how everything is edited together. Not that they edited stuff that was not true, but just seeing how it all tells a story, it’s very interesting.
BLADE: On “Untucked” there’s often notes for the girls who are leaving in the workroom but it looks like they’re taken in there as soon as they get their makeup off. When do you have time to write notes if you’re — it appears — still out there on the main stage?
TRINITY: Um, what happens, um — I don’t know if I’m allowed to tell you this but I’m gonna tell you anyway — what happens is after they have the person sashay away, that person goes and is sequestered for a short period of time, not long. For us to film the rest of it when she says, “If you can’t love yourself …” and then they play music and we leave. When we leave, we go directly back to the work area, take off our makeup and that’s when we are allowed to do the notes. Then we leave and then the person who’s eliminated is allowed to come back and that’s when they actually pack to leave. But the reason why we get our makeup off is they still have filming to do and they want to get us out of there quickly because we have to be up the next morning.
Trinity Taylor (Photo courtesy VH1)
BLADE: Your boyfriend was so hot in the finale. I was jealous. Are you still together and how are things going?
TRINITY: Um, we broke up that night actually. No, just kidding, we’re still together. He’s still a doll and I am very blest to have him in my life. He’s very supportive.
BLADE: Remind me his name.
TRINITY: His name is Leo. He’s just a great guy.
BLADE: Have fun with that.
TRINITY: Oh trust me, I do.
BLADE: I was enthralled by Valentina at first but later, especially at the reunion, she struck me as really fake nice and she got a lot of flak from the other queens. What’s your take on her?
TRINITY: Well I love Valentina. Me and her are probably the closest from this season out of all the girls. On the show, I hated her. I thought she was a diva. She got a really great edit. There were several girls who got really great edits. Like the producers for some reason just didn’t see what we all see, but like Valentina was a diva brat on the show, she was. Kind of like what you saw in the reunion. Valentina in person though, as you get to know her, she really is a diva. But like it’s just different. Getting to know her and interacting with her in person in everyday life vs. on the show is different. She’s a diva and she has this grandiose aura about her all the time, even as a boy. It’s not fake but I can see how it could come across fake because it came across fake to me on the show but that’s just how she is.
BLADE: On the makeover episode with the crew it showed you back there helping your partner with his tuck. Were you actually taping his dick back or just handing him the tape and telling him what to do? That must have been awkward doing that with a straight guy.
TRINITY: His name is Rizzo. It was not awkward at all for me. Obviously he was, you know, a beautiful man. First of all, he didn’t want to be taped but he knew that was part of my schtick as an entertainer is my tuck and if he’s gonna be my partner, he’s gotta have a fierce tuck too. I told him you’re gonna have to shave everything because if you don’t, you’re gonna hate yourself. So he shaved everything except his ass, he shaved everything in the front. We couldn’t tape him like my tape which is tape to skin, so we put a pair of tiny, tiny, tiny underwear on him and we taped over the underwear because you can’t have tape on hair. That would be a nightmare. I didn’t have my hands on his penis but I was back there to like really, really help him. After he got the tape on, I had some hands on helping him but, you know, I tried to keep it professional as much as I possibly could, taping on top.
BLADE: Who was your favorite celebrity judge?
TRINITY: Oh absolutely Lady Gaga. She just was very genuine. I felt like she was genuinely interested in what we were doing and what we had to say and in “Untucked” she actually came back there and did a one-on-one critique with us and told us bluntly what she thought and I believed everything she said. She’s very wise about her experience in the industry and the advice she gave us was, she just was very genuine and heartfelt. I liked her. A couple of the judges were just there because they were asked to be there but she was actually excited to be there.
BLADE: Is Cheyenne Jackson as hot in person as he looks on TV?
TRINITY: Oh girl, he is a Daddy. I would sit on his face. He is, yes, he is beautiful. And he’s got like this swag about him, like, I don’t know, this smooth, cool guy attitude. And he’s hot, yes.
BLADE: The reunion seemed especially bitchy this year. Why?
TRINITY: By then, we’d seen the show and we got to see what everybody truly said, some of which we hadn’t known before. That’s why a lot of the girls were not as friendly like they were on the show because they got to see the true side of people and they wanted to voice their opinion.
BLADE: How are you and Eureka now? Think you’ll get along OK on the tour or have you spoken to her lately?
TRINITY: I hate her. I think she’s a terrible human being. (laughs) She’s actually a cool girl. I have no qualms with her at all. We’ve actually talked since the show. The thing with Eureka is, I didn’t have any beef with her. I beat her (in a previous pageant). Why would I have a beef with somebody I beat? To me, she was holding onto a grudge because I had beaten her. That’s where the beef came in because she had something against me. As far as like since the show, we have some similar personality traits but also some real differences and I don’t feel like our personalities mesh well for long periods of time like being on a show together for many, many days, that’s where you get a lot of conflict. But I like Eureka. I think she’s very talented, I think she has a lot to offer and I think she’s going to slay season 10. She’s very funny, so I feel like we’re in a good place.
BLADE: What’s the Ruvealed going to be that starts June 29th? Is that just outtakes or do you know?
TRINITY: I think it’s just you get to see clips that weren’t put in the show because of time. Like an extended version of the show. More outtakes, more things you haven’t seen yet, stuff like that.
BLADE: Some years it seemed there was a clear frontrunner like Bianca or Violet. This year it felt to me like you could have made a good case for any of the top four. I know it’s hard to say when you’re in the middle of it, but do you agree?
TRINITY: No, this was to me, and I’m not trying to be biased, I’m a fan of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” even though I’ve been on the show. I watched all the season past as a fan and this season, the cast was probably collectively the strongest cast they’ve ever had, as far all the girls brought it. All the girls have fashion, all the girls brought it in the challenges, so they are a very talented group of girls so that’s why there wasn’t a clear standout winner like when Bianca won or when Bob won or Violet won. There was just more competition. Like you said, there was a valid case for each of the girls in the top four of why they could have won and that makes for better TV, that makes for better competition. I hope that every year from now on, they do that good a job of casting where they actually pick top-notch girls from start to finish. That way, you don’t know who’s going home.
BLADE: The “Drag Race” wiki said at one point you considered transitioning to further your career. Is that true and do you think, like this was something some fans said about Peppermint, is transitioning — not that it’s bad or wrong by any means — but at some point does that become a different thing from the art of female illusion?
TRINITY: OK, so to answer your question, yes that is true. To answer the last part of the question first, being a trans person whether you’re a trans woman or a trans man, that is completely different from being a drag queen, drag king or an entertainer. I have really good friends who never entertained or don’t entertain anymore who are trans. Being trans is who you are on the inside. Being an entertainer or being a drag queen is a hobby or your job or your creative outlet. You can be both, like Peppermint, but being trans is completely different. Now years ago when I was first starting pageants, I contemplated transitioning not because I felt I was trans, but because I felt the pressure from pageants because a lot of really well-known, successful pageant entertainers are trans and I felt that was the route I was gonna have to take if I wanted to be successful. I’m glad I didn’t go down that route because I am not trans and you should never transition for the wrong reasons. You should transition because that is who you are and that’s how you feel on the inside, not because of pressure from a job or wanting to further your career.
Trinity Taylor (Photo courtesy VH1)
a&e features
Pride season has begun
LGBTQ parades, festivals to be held throughout region in coming months
LGBTQ Pride festivals, parades and other events have been scheduled in large cities and small towns throughout the region. Pride events around the world culminate in June, but organizers in some municipalities have elected to hold celebrations in other months.
Pride in the region has already begun with last weekend’s Mr., Miss, and Mx. Capital Pride Pageant held at Penn Social as well as Roanoke Pride Festival held in Elmwood Park in Roanoke, Va.
Below is a list of Pride events coming to the region.
MAY
Capital Trans Pride is scheduled for 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m. on Saturday, May 18 at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Library (901 G St., N.W.). The website for the event advertises workshops, panel discussions, a keynote address, a resource fair and more. transpridewashingtondc.org
Equality Prince William Pride is scheduled for 12-4 p.m. on May 18 at the Harris Pavilion (9201 Center St.) in historic downtown Manassas, Va. equalityprincewilliam.org
D.C. Black Pride holds events throughout the city May 24-27. Highlights include an opening reception, dance parties and a community festival at Fort Dupont Park. The Westin Washington, DC Downtown (999 9th St., N.W.) is the host hotel, with several events scheduled there. dcblackpride.org
NOVA Pride and Safe Space NOVA will hold NOVA Pride Prom from 7-11 p.m. on May 31 at Torpedo Factory Art Center in Alexandria, Va. The event is open to all high school students throughout the region, regardless of identity, from rising ninth grade students to graduating seniors. novapride.org
Capital Pride Honors will be held on May 31. The Capital Pride Alliance has announced on its website that nominations are open for awardees. The Honors celebrates excellence in the LGBTQ community and its allies. capitalpride.org
JUNE
Downtown Sykesville Connection is sponsoring Sykesville Pride Day in downtown Sykesville, Md. on June 1 from 12-4 p.m. downtownsykesville.com
Reston Pride will be held at Lake Anne Plaza in Reston, Va. on June 1 from 12-6 p.m. restonpride.org
Fairfax Pride, hosted by the City of Fairfax and George Mason University, will be held at Old Town Hall (3999 University Drive, Fairfax, Va.) on June 1 from 5-7 p.m. The event will include children’s activities and more. fairfaxva.gov
OEC Pride celebrates Pride with “art, dance, education, and fun” in Old Ellicott City. The OEC Pride Festival is held along Main Street in Ellicott City, Md. on June 1 from 10 a.m.-10 p.m. visitoldellicottcity.com
Annapolis Pride has consistently drawn a giant crowd for a parade and festival in the quaint downtown of the Maryland capital. “The Voice” star L. Rodgers has been announced to headline the 2024 festival. The parade and festival will be held on June 1. annapolispride.org
The Alexandria LGBTQ+ Task Force Alexandria Pride is scheduled to be held at Alexandria City Hall from 3 – 6 p.m. on June 1 in Alexandria, Va. alexandriava.gov
The Portsmouth Pride Fest will be held at Festival Park adjacent to the Atlantic-Union Bank Pavilion in Portsmouth, Va. on June 1 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m. portsmouthprideva.com
The Delaware Pride Festival is a free event scheduled for June 1 at Legislative Hall in Dover, Del. from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.The event is billed as family friendly and open to people of all ages and sexual orientations. delawarepride.org
The City of Rockville is hosting Rockville Pride at Rockville Town Square (131 Gibbs St., Rockville, Md.) from 2-5 p.m. on June 2. The free event features live performances, information booths, and children’s activities. rockvillemd.gov
Equality Loudoun is hosting the ticketed Loudoun Pride Festival from 1-7 p.m. on June 2 at Claude Moore Park in Sterling, Va. The event features three stages, a “#Dragstravaganza,” a kid’s zone, an alcohol pavilion, a food hall and more. Tickets $5. eqloco.com
Culpepper Pride is slated to be held at Mountain Run Winery in Culpepper, Va. from 12-6 p.m. on June 2. The theme this year is “True Colors.” culpeperpride.org
The Southwest Virginia Pride Cookout Community Social is planned for 2 p.m. at the Charles R. Hill Senior Center in Vinton, Va. on June 2. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
Capital Pride kicks off with the RIOT! Opening Party at Echostage starting at 9 p.m. on June 7. Tickets run from $27-$50 and can be purchased on the Capital Pride website. The event is set to feature Sapphire Cristál. capitalpride.org
Pride events continue over the weekend of June 8-9 in the nation’s capital with the Capital Pride Block Party featuring performers and a beverage garden, the massive Capital Pride Parade, Flashback: A totally Radical Tea Dance to be held at the end of the parade route, and the Capital Pride Festival and Concert. Visit capitalpride.org for more information. Other Pride events planned for the weekend in D.C. include a number of parties and the unforgettable (and free) Pride on the Pier & Fireworks Show at the Wharf sponsored by the Washington Blade from 2-10 p.m. prideonthepierdc.com
Pride in the ‘Peake will be held at Summit Pointe (580 Belaire Ave.) in Chesapeake, Va. on June 9 from 12-5 p.m. The family-focused Pride event does not serve alcohol, but will feature community organizations, food trucks and more in a street festival. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
Celebrate with a drag show, dancing and a lot of wine at Two Twisted Posts Winery in Purcellville, Va. for a Pride Party from 2-5 p.m. on June 15. twotwistedposts.com
Baltimore Pride holds one of the largest Pride parades in the region on June 15 in Baltimore. (2418 Saint Paul St.). The parade concludes with a block party and festival. Pride events are scheduled from June 14-16. baltimorepride.org
The fourth annual Catonsville Pride Fest will be held at the Catonsville Presbyterian Church (1400 Frederick Rd.) in Catonsville, Md. on June 15 from 3-6 p.m. The event features a High Heel Race, pony rides, face painting, local cuisine and more. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
The Ghent Business District Palace Shops have announced a Ghent Pride event from 5:30-9:30 p.m. on June 17 at the Palace Shops and Station (301 W 21st Street) in Norfolk, Va. ghentnorfolk.org
An event dedicated to celebrating the elders in the LGBTQ community, Silver Pride is scheduled for June 20 at 5:30-8:30 p.m. Location and more information to be announced soon. capitalpride.org
Visit the Hampton Roads PrideFest and Boat Parade for a truly unique Pride experience along the Elizabeth River. The full day of entertainment, education and celebration will be held on June 22 from 12-7 p.m. at Town Point Park (113 Waterside Dr.) in Norfolk, Va. hamptonroadspride.org
Frederick, Md. will hold its annual Frederick Pride Festival at Carroll Creek Linear Park on June 22 from 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Entertainers include CoCo Montrese of “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” frederickpride.org
The fourth annual Pride at the Beach is scheduled for 2-10 p.m. on June 23 at Neptune’s Park (3001 Atlantic Ave.) in Virginia Beach, Va. The event features entertainment, community vendors, beachside DJ sets, food trucks and offers a “perfect conclusion to an unforgettable Pride weekend.” hamptonroadspride.org
Winchester Pride will hold its Mx. Winchester Pride Pageant at 15 N. Loudoun St. in Winchester, Va. on June 23 at 6 p.m. Tickets are $20 in advance/$25 at the door. winchesterpride.com
The organizers of last year’s inaugural Ocean City Pride with a “parade” along the boardwalk in Ocean City, Md. have announced that they will be organizing a return this year with events from June 28-30. instagram.com
The third annual Arlington Pride Festival will be held at Long Bridge Park at National Landing (475 Long Bridge Dr.) in Arlington, Va. on June 29 from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. arlvapride.com
FXBG Pride is holding its annual community Fredericksburg Pride March on June 29 from 10-11 a.m. at Riverfront Park (705 Sophia St.) in Fredericksburg, Va. Speeches begin at 10 a.m. and the procession starts at 10:30 a.m. For more information, visit the Facebook event page.
Salisbury Pride “90’s Edition” is scheduled for 3 – 7 p.m. on June 29 in Downtown Salisbury, Md. Magnolia Applebottom is listed as the headliner and grand marshal. salisburyprideparade.com
The 2024 Suffolk Pride Festival is scheduled for Bennett’s Creek Park in Suffolk, Va. on June 30 from 12-7 p.m. Visit the Facebook event page for more information.
Expect music, entertainment and drag performances in the picturesque mountain town of Cumberland, Md. at the Cumberland Pride Festival on June 30 from 12-4 p.m. at Canal Place. cumberlandpride.org
Montgomery County’s annual Pride in the Plaza will be held on June 30 from 12-8 p.m. at Veterans Plaza (1 Veterans Place, Silver Spring, Md. liveinyourtruth.org
JULY
The sixth annual Westminster Pride Festival is scheduled for downtown Westminster, Md. on July 13 from 12-6 p.m. westminsterpride.org
Hagerstown Hopes is holding its annual Hagerstown Pride Festival in Doubs Woods Park (1307 Maryland Ave.) in Hagerstown, Md. on July 13 at 11 a.m. Visit the Facebook event page for more information.
The Rehoboth Beach Pride Festival will be held on July 20 from 10 a.m.-2 p.m., with other Sussex Pride events scheduled throughout the weekend of July 18-21. sussexpride.org
Us Giving Us Richmond hosts Black Pride RVA in Richmond, Va. with events on July 19-21. ugrcrva.org
a&e features
Eastern Shore chef named James Beard Finalist
Harley Peet creates inventive food in an inclusive space
In a small Eastern Shore town filled with boutiques, galleries, and the occasional cry of waterfowl from the Chesapeake, Chef Harley Peet is most at home. In his Viennese-inflected, Maryland-sourced fine-dining destination Bas Rouge, Peet draws from his Northern Michigan upbringing, Culinary Institute of America education, and identity as a gay man, for inspiration.
And recently, Peet was named a James Beard Finalist for Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic – the first “Best Chef: Mid-Atlantic” finalist representing the Eastern Shore.
Peet, after graduation from the Culinary Institute of America, took a position as sous chef at Tilghman Island Inn, not far from Bas Rouge. Falling in love with the Eastern Shore, he continued his passion for racing sailboats, boating, gardening, and fishing, and living his somewhat pastoral life as he opened Bas Rouge in 2016 as head chef, a restaurant part of the Bluepoint Hospitality group, which runs more than a dozen concepts in and around Easton, Md.
Coming from a rural area and being gay, Peet knew he had his work cut out for him. He was always aware that the service and hospitality industry “can be down and dirty and rough.”
Now as a leader in the kitchen, he aims to “set a good example, and treat people how I want to be treated. I also want to make sure if you’re at our establishment, I’m the first to stand up and say something.”
The Bas Rouge cuisine, he says, is Contemporary European. “I’m inspired by old-world techniques of countries like Austria, Germany, and France, but I love putting a new spin on classic dishes and finding innovative ways to incorporate the bounty of local Chesapeake ingredients.”
His proudest dish: the humble-yet-elevated Wiener Schnitzel. “It is authentic to what one would expect to find in Vienna, down to the Lingonberries.” From his in-house bakery, Peet dries and grinds the housemade Kaiser-Semmel bread to use as the breadcrumbs.
Peet works to support the LGBTQ community inside and outside of the kitchen. “I love that our Bluepoint Hospitality team has created welcoming spaces where our patrons feel comfortable dining at each of our establishments. Our staff have a genuine respect for one another and work together free of judgment.”
Representing Bluepoint, Peet has participated in events like Chefs for Equality with the Human Rights Campaign, advocating for LGBTQ rights.
At Bas Rouge, Peet brings together his passion for inclusion steeped in a sustainability ethic. He sees environmental stewardship as a way of life. Peet and his husband have lived and worked on their own organic farm for several years. Through research in Europe, he learned about international marine sourcing. Witnessing the impacts of overfishing, Peet considers his own role in promoting eco-friendly practices at Bas Rouge. To that end, he ensures responsible sourcing commitments through his purveyors, relationships that have helped create significant change in how people dine in Easton.
“I have built great relationships in the community and there’s nothing better than one of our long-standing purveyors stopping in with a cooler of fresh fish from the Chesapeake Bay. This goes especially for catching and plating the invasive blue catfish species, which helps control the species’ threat to the local ecosystem.
Through his kitchen exploits, Peet expressed a unique connection to another gay icon in a rural fine-dining restaurant: Patrick O’Connell, of three Michelin starred Inn at Little Washington. In fact, Peet’s husband helped design some of O’Connell’s kitchen spaces. They’ve both been able to navigate treacherous restaurant-industry waters, and have come out triumphant and celebrated. Of O’Connell, Peet says that he “sees [his restaurants] as canvas, all artistry, he sees this as every night is a show.” But at the same time, his “judgment-free space makes him a role model.”
Being in Easton itself is not without challenges. Sourcing is a challenge, having to either fly or ship in ingredients, whereas urban restaurants have the benefit of trucking, he says. The small town “is romantic and charming,” but logistics are difficult – one of the reasons that Peet ensures his team is diverse, building in different viewpoints, and also “making things a hell of a lot more fun.”
Reflecting on challenges and finding (and creating) space on the Eastern Shore, Peet confirmed how important it was to surround himself with people who set a good example, and “if you don’t like the way something is going … move on.”
a&e features
What to expect at the 2024 National Cannabis Festival
Wu-Tang Clan to perform; policy discussions also planned
(Editor’s note: Tickets are still available for the National Cannabis Festival, with prices starting at $55 for one-day general admission on Friday through $190 for a two-day pass with early-entry access. The Washington Blade, one of the event’s sponsors, will host a LGBTQIA+ Lounge and moderate a panel discussion on Saturday with the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.)
With two full days of events and programs along with performances by Wu-Tang Clan, Redman, and Thundercat, the 2024 National Cannabis Festival will be bigger than ever this year.
Leading up to the festivities on Friday and Saturday at Washington, D.C.’s RFK Stadium are plenty of can’t-miss experiences planned for 420 Week, including the National Cannabis Policy Summit and an LGBTQ happy hour hosted by the District’s Black-owned queer bar, Thurst Lounge (both happening on Wednesday).
On Tuesday, the Blade caught up with NCF Founder and Executive Producer Caroline Phillips, principal at The High Street PR & Events, for a discussion about the event’s history and the pivotal political moment for cannabis legalization and drug policy reform both locally and nationally. Phillips also shared her thoughts about the role of LGBTQ activists in these movements and the through-line connecting issues of freedom and bodily autonomy.
After D.C. residents voted to approve Initiative 71 in the fall of 2014, she said, adults were permitted to share cannabis and grow the plant at home, while possession was decriminalized with the hope and expectation that fewer people would be incarcerated.
“When that happened, there was also an influx of really high-priced conferences that promised to connect people to big business opportunities so they could make millions in what they were calling the ‘green rush,'” Phillips said.
“At the time, I was working for Human Rights First,” a nonprofit that was, and is, engaged in “a lot of issues to do with world refugees and immigration in the United States” — so, “it was really interesting to me to see the overlap between drug policy reform and some of these other issues that I was working on,” Phillips said.
“And then it rubbed me a little bit the wrong way to hear about the ‘green rush’ before we’d heard about criminal justice reform around cannabis and before we’d heard about people being let out of jail for cannabis offenses.”
“As my interests grew, I realized that there was really a need for this conversation to happen in a larger way that allowed the larger community, the broader community, to learn about not just cannabis legalization, but to understand how it connects to our criminal justice system, to understand how it can really stimulate and benefit our economy, and to understand how it can become a wellness tool for so many people,” Phillips said.
“On top of all of that, as a minority in the cannabis space, it was important to me that this event and my work in the cannabis industry really amplified how we could create space for Black and Brown people to be stakeholders in this economy in a meaningful way.”
“Since I was already working in event production, I decided to use those skills and apply them to creating a cannabis event,” she said. “And in order to create an event that I thought could really give back to our community with ticket prices low enough for people to actually be able to attend, I thought a large-scale event would be good — and thus was born the cannabis festival.”
D.C. to see more regulated cannabis businesses ‘very soon’
Phillips said she believes decriminalization in D.C. has decreased the number of cannabis-related arrests in the city, but she noted arrests have, nevertheless, continued to disproportionately impact Black and Brown people.
“We’re at a really interesting crossroads for our city and for our cannabis community,” she said. In the eight years since Initiative 71 was passed, “We’ve had our licensed regulated cannabis dispensaries and cultivators who’ve been existing in a very red tape-heavy environment, a very tax heavy environment, and then we have the unregulated cannabis cultivators and cannabis dispensaries in the city” who operate via a “loophole” in the law “that allows the sharing of cannabis between adults who are over the age of 21.”
Many of the purveyors in the latter group, Phillips said, “are looking at trying to get into the legal space; so they’re trying to become regulated businesses in Washington, D.C.”
She noted the city will be “releasing 30 or so licenses in the next couple of weeks, and those stores should be coming online very soon” which will mean “you’ll be seeing a lot more of the regulated stores popping up in neighborhoods and hopefully a lot more opportunity for folks that are interested in leaving the unregulated space to be able to join the regulated marketplace.”
National push for de-scheduling cannabis
Signaling the political momentum for reforming cannabis and criminal justice laws, Wednesday’s Policy Summit will feature U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock (D-Ga.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), and Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), the Senate majority leader.
Also representing Capitol Hill at the Summit will be U.S. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) and U.S. Reps. Earl Blumenauer (D-Ore.) and Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) — who will be receiving the Supernova Women Cannabis Champion Lifetime Achievement Award — along with an aide to U.S. Rep. David Joyce (R-Ohio).
Nationally, Phillips said much of the conversation around cannabis concerns de-scheduling. Even though 40 states and D.C. have legalized the drug for recreational and/or medical use, marijuana has been classified as a Schedule I substance since the Controlled Substances Act was passed in 1971, which means it carries the heftiest restrictions on, and penalties for, its possession, sale, distribution, and cultivation.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services formally requested the drug be reclassified as a Schedule III substance in August, which inaugurated an ongoing review, and in January a group of 12 Senate Democrats sent a letter to the Biden-Harris administration’s Drug Enforcement Administration urging the agency to de-schedule cannabis altogether.
Along with the Summit, Phillips noted that “a large contingent of advocates will be coming to Washington, D.C. this week to host a vigil at the White House and to be at the festival educating people” about these issues. She said NCF is working with the 420 Unity Coalition to push Congress and the Biden-Harris administration to “move straight to de-scheduling cannabis.”
“This would allow folks who have been locked up for cannabis offenses the chance to be released,” she said. “It would also allow medical patients greater access. It would also allow business owners the chance to exist without the specter of the federal government coming in and telling them what they’re doing is wrong and that they’re criminals.”
Phillips added, however, that de-scheduling cannabis will not “suddenly erase” the “generations and generations of systemic racism” in America’s financial institutions, business marketplace, and criminal justice system, nor the consequences that has wrought on Black and Brown communities.
An example of the work that remains, she said, is making sure “that all people are treated fairly by financial institutions so that they can get the funding for their businesses” to, hopefully, create not just another industry, but “really a better industry” that from the outset is focused on “equity” and “access.”
Policy wonks should be sure to visit the festival, too. “We have a really terrific lineup in our policy pavilion,” Phillips said. “A lot of our heavy hitters from our advocacy committee will be presenting programming.”
“On Saturday there is a really strong federal marijuana reform panel that is being led by Maritza Perez Medina from the Drug Policy Alliance,” she said. “So that’s going to be a terrific discussion” that will also feature “representation from the Veterans Cannabis Coalition.”
“We also have a really interesting talk being led by the Law Enforcement Action Partnership about conservatives, cops, and cannabis,” Phillips added.
Cannabis and the LGBTQ community
“I think what’s so interesting about LGBTQIA+ culture and the cannabis community are the parallels that we’ve seen in the movements towards legalization,” Phillips said.
The fight for LGBTQ rights over the years has often involved centering personal stories and personal experiences, she said. “And that really, I think, began to resonate, the more that we talked about it openly in society; the more it was something that we started to see on television; the more it became a topic in youth development and making sure that we’re raising healthy children.”
Likewise, Phillips said, “we’ve seen cannabis become more of a conversation in mainstream culture. We’ve heard the stories of people who’ve had veterans in their families that have used cannabis instead of pharmaceuticals, the friends or family members who’ve had cancer that have turned to CBD or THC so they could sleep, so they could eat so they could get some level of relief.”
Stories about cannabis have also included accounts of folks who were “arrested when they were young” or “the family member who’s still locked up,” she said, just as stories about LGBTQ people have often involved unjust and unnecessary suffering.
Not only are there similarities in the socio-political struggles, Phillips said, but LGBTQ people have played a central role pushing for cannabis legalization and, in fact, in ushering in the movement by “advocating for HIV patients in California to be able to access cannabis’s medicine.”
As a result of the queer community’s involvement, she said, “the foundation of cannabis legalization is truly patient access and criminal justice reform.”
“LGBTQIA+ advocates and cannabis advocates have managed to rein in support of the majority of Americans for the issues that they find important,” Phillips said, even if, unfortunately, other movements for bodily autonomy like those concerning issues of reproductive justice “don’t see that same support.”
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