Local
D.C. 2024 Olympics bid lacks LGBT board member
Local gay sports activists back bid despite omission
2012 Summer Olympics Parade of Nations. (Photo by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport; courtesy Wikimedia Commons)
A campaign launched by a newly formed organization of prominent business and civic leaders to advocate for holding the 2024 Olympics in the Washington, D.C. metro area enjoys the support of the local LGBT sports community, according to longtime LGBT sports activists Brent Minor and Vince Micone.
“We are all for the Olympics in D.C.,” said Minor, executive director of Team D.C., an umbrella coalition of LGBT sports groups and teams in the D.C. area.
But gay activist and blogger Michael Rogers has expressed concern that no out LGBT person was selected to serve on the 19-member board of Washington2024, the group that’s preparing an Olympic bid for the D.C. area before the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Rogers said he opposes having the Olympics here on grounds that it would be a “financial disaster.” However, he said having an LGBT member on the Washington2024 board would better showcase the group’s claim on its newly launched website that it represents the full diversity of the people of the D.C. area.
Penny Lee, Washington2024’s communications director, told the Washington Blade on Tuesday that the composition of the group’s board is still evolving and more people would be named to the board in the coming weeks and months.
“We’re continuing to find ways in which to engage all communities and be as diverse as absolutely possible,” she said.
Minor and Micone, who played a lead role in D.C.’s unsuccessful bid for the 2014 Gay Games, said they know some of the Washington2024 board members and supporters and believe the organization will be fully supportive of the LGBT community.
Among the board members are former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, a longtime LGBT rights supporter; and Paul Tagliabue, former commissioner of the National Football League and chair of the Georgetown University board. Tagliabue contributed $1 million in 2011 for an LGBT student life program at Georgetown and contributed $100,000 for the referendum campaign supporting Maryland’s same-sex marriage law in 2012.
Minor noted that Bob Sweeny, the former director of the Greater Washington Sports Authority and a lead adviser for Washington2024, was a strong supporter of the effort to bring the Gay Games to D.C. Minor and Micone called Sweeny a strong LGBT community ally who would push for LGBT inclusion in an Olympics bid.
“I don’t interpret the board’s makeup as a slight,” Minor said. “I’m certain that if the time comes that D.C. wins the Olympic bid they will be fully inclusive of the LGBT community.”
Micone echoed Minor’s sentiment, saying he too is certain that the Washington2024 organization will work closely with LGBT sports activists in its effort to secure D.C.’s selection by the U.S. Olympic Committee.
Under longstanding procedures for selecting an Olympic Games host in the U.S., the U.S. Olympic Committee solicits bids from interested U.S. cities. In the current process, the committee has narrowed its selection to four cities or regions – the D.C. metro region, Boston, Los Angeles and San Francisco. A selection of one of those cities is expected to be made sometime next year.
Whichever city is selected by the U.S. Olympic Committee would then compete with cities in other countries, with the International Olympic Committee making a final selection at a later date.
Jay Fissette, chair of the Arlington County Board who’s gay, has also spoken out in favor of bringing the 2024 Olympics to the D.C. metro area.
“We agree with Washington2024 that this is an historic opportunity for our region to be part of the Olympic movement,” Fissette told Channel 4 News.
Delaware
Historic New Castle to host Pride Market this weekend
Delaware town offers event with more than 55 vendors
The town of New Castle, Del., will host a Pride Market on Sunday, the first day of Pride month.
The event is hosted by the Delaware Sexuality and Gender Collective and features more than 55 LGBTQ-aligned businesses and resources, including Planned Parenthood of Delaware, the ACLU of Delaware, Orgullo Delaware, and New Castle Public Library. The event runs from 12-5 p.m. at 3rd Street and Delaware Street on The Green, an open space and market square.
The inaugural Pride Market in November 2024 was the first market in the town’s history dedicated to the LGBTQ community. The Pride Market is “designed to be an affirming space for LGBTQ businesses and individuals to join together as a community,” according to the Facebook page.
New Castle was founded in the 1650s by Dutch settlers with weekly markets on The Green beginning in 1655. The area features historically significant buildings like the 1732 Court House, the 1799 New Castle Academy, and an 1809 U.S. arsenal. Delaware Pride is scheduled for June 7 in Dover.
Maryland
Annapolis Pride postponed due to weather
Parade and festival will not happen as scheduled, other events to take place
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/
District of Columbia
Bowser raises Pride flag over Wilson Building
Council members joined mayor to welcome WorldPride to D.C.
Close to 200 people turned out on Thursday, May 29, to watch D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser, joined by members of the D.C. Council and officials with the Capital Pride Alliance, raise a large Pride flag on a tall flagpole in front of the John Wilson D.C. City Hall building.
The mayor, who joined others in speaking from a podium on the front steps of the Wilson Building, called the event the city’s official welcoming ceremony for hosting WordPride 2025 DC in the nation’s capital.
World Pride events, which began May 17, continue through June 8.
“Happy WorldPride in the gayest city in America,” Bowser told the crowd to loud cheers and applause.
Joining Bowser were five members of the D.C. Council, including gay Council member Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), who was among the Council members who also spoke at the event.
Also speaking were Ryan Bos, executive director of Capital Pride Alliance, the local LGBTQ group serving as lead organizer of WorldPride 2025, and Capital Pride Alliance Deputy Director June Crenshaw.
“This flag tells a story of love without apology,” Crenshaw said in her remarks at the podium. “Our community has never backed down, and we will not at this time of challenge,” she said.
Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs, told the gathering that the city and especially Bowser and all city officials were proud to host WorldPride at the time of the 50th anniversary of Pride celebrations in D.C.
Among those attending the event and sitting in a front row seat was longtime D.C. gay activist Deacon Maccubbin, who organized the city’s first Gay Pride Day celebration in 1975. He was joined by his husband, Jim Bennett.
During the ceremony Bowser also presented Capital Pride Alliance officials with a mayoral proclamation proclaiming Thursday, May 29, 2025, as “A Day of Remembrance For Bernie Delia in Washington, D.C.” Delia, a longtime Capital Pride Alliance official and one of the lead organizers of WorldPride 2025, died unexpectedly of natural causes June 21, 2024
The other Council members participating in the event in addition to Parker were Brianne Nadeau (D-Ward 1), Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2), Matthew Ruman (D-Ward 3), and Charles Allen (D-Ward 6)
The Council members, Capital Pride officials, and LGBTQ community members stood next to Bowser as she raised the large Pride flag on a pole located to the right of the front steps and main entrance of the Wilson Building.
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