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Whitman-Walker, Us Helping Us awarded ‘Obamacare’ grants
‘We are excited to create these partnerships with trusted organizations that have deep roots in the communities that make up the District of Columbia’
Whitman-Walker Health and Us Helping Us were among D.C. community organizations to receive city grants under the federal Obamacare program. (Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key)
Whitman-Walker Health and Us Helping Us, which provide health services to the LGBT community and people with HIV/AIDS, were among 35 D.C. community organizations to receive city grants this week to help people enroll in health insurance plans under the federal Obamacare program.
The D.C. Health Benefit Exchange Authority created by Mayor Vincent Gray and the City Council to implement the federal Affordable Care Act insurance program, known as Obamacare, awarded a combined total of $6.4 million to the 35 groups.
Whitman-Walker received $380,000, the second largest of the 35 grants. Us Helping Us received $85,000 in grant funds.
“We are excited to create these partnerships with trusted organizations that have deep roots in the communities that make up the District of Columbia,” said Diane C. Lewis, Executive Board chair of the Health Benefit Exchange Authority.
“The new health law offers essential benefits that will improve the health and security of the residents of our city,” Lewis said in a statement. “It is critically important that we have trained experts available to help ensure those benefits reach the people who need them.”
A statement released on Tuesday by the Health Benefit Exchange Authority says the grants, among other things, will support “rigorous training” of more than 150 people to enable them to become experts in helping D.C. residents and small businesses understand the complexities of the insurance exchange program and how to select an insurance plan best suited for them.
The insurance plans will become available on Oct. 1 through a website established by the authority called D.C. Health Link, the statement says. Insurance policies chosen under the program will take effect on Jan. 1, 2014, according to the statement.
“[T]he D.C. Health Link will soon offer insurance options to uninsured D.C. residents, many of whom are LGBT community members,” said Don Blanchon, Whitman-Walker’s executive director. “Now, with these grant funds, WWH will hire 3-4 additional employees to help these community members navigate their insurance options and choices,” he said.
“This grant will allow WWH not only to help current patients without insurance but also reach out to the broader LGBT community across the city,” Blanchon said.
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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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