Local
Rapper Wale appears at Black Pride, apologizes
Booking agent fired for ‘miscommunication’
In an unexpected turn of events, rapper Wale appeared for a brief performance at Sunday’s D.C. Black Pride festival and apologized for an earlier decision to cancel his scheduled booking as the event’s lead entertainer.
The nationally recognized rapper and D.C. native told Black Pride organizers through a spokesperson May 28 that his decision to cancel his appearance for Sunday’s festival at the Washington Convention Center was due to a “miscommunication” on the part of one of his agents.
“The one thing I stand for is hip-hop music, and hip-hop music knows no race, no color, no age, no gender, no sexual orientation — none of that,” he told a cheering crowd after arriving on the festival stage.
“So the most important thing about it is the music, and it makes the people happy. That’s why we’re here.
“But I will say sometimes in this business you’re aligned with people who don’t understand that and don’t necessarily have the same beliefs as you do. And I apologize for not having my best foot forward … and I’m going to do better, as we all do.
“Every day we’ve got to do better. So I apologize on behalf of my team for not being the way they are supposed to be. Now with that said, can we have some fun right now?”
In response, people in the audience shouted, “Yea!”
Wale’s appearance was followed by J. Holiday, an R&B singer who was booked after Wale’s announcement that he had cancelled his appearance at Black Pride.
Holiday said he was pleased to be performing at the event and welcomed his fans from the LGBT community.
Earlier in the day, other local entertainers performed at the festival as several dozen local and national LGBT organizations and various commercial vendors interacted with attendees in booths set up in the convention center’s large exhibit hall, where the festival was held.
Among those attending the event was D.C. City Council Chairman Vincent Gray (D-At Large), who is challenging Mayor Adrian Fenty in the September Democratic primary. Fenty did not attend the event, but his Office of LGBT Affairs set up a festival booth.
Other officials to attend were Council members Kwame Brown (D-At Large), who is running for Gray’s Council chairman seat, and Harry Thomas (D-Ward 5). Council members Phil Mendelson (D-At Large), David Catania (I-At Large), and Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) attended a separate reception May 28 kicking off Black Pride weekend.
Longtime participants in the event noted that attendance was down this year compared to previous Black Pride festivals.
Earl Fowlkes, a board member and spokesperson for Black Pride, said the drop in attendance might have been due to the economic downturn, which likely made it harder for people to attend from throughout the mid-Atlantic region. Out-of-town participants have long made up a large percentage of D.C. Black Pride’s crowds.
Fowlkes, who is president of the International Association of Black Prides, said the recent trend of holding Black Pride festivals in other cities, including Atlanta, also was a factor in the lower attendance at D.C.’s event. D.C. was the first U.S. city to hold a Black Pride celebration.
Wale had initially been billed as the lead entertainer at the 20th annual D.C. Black Pride Legacy Festival & Wellness Expo.
But Fowlkes said event organizers were startled last month when they received two e-mails from Wale’s agent, one saying the rapper had to cancel due to “family obligations,” and another saying he didn’t know Black Pride was a gay-related event when he agreed to appear.
According to Fowlkes, Black Pride organizers made it clear from the start that Black Pride is an LGBT event and most of the attendees would be LGBT people.
“Black Pride now believes that as a result of failed communications between the booking agent and the artist, Wale was booked for an event after notifying management that he would be taking a few weeks off to focus on family issues,” says a statement Black Pride organizers released May 28.
“D.C. Black Pride regrets that these communications (or lack thereof) resulted in the community perception that the artist did not appreciate nor want to perform for his gay and lesbian fans,” says the statement. “The principal agent responsible for the miscommunication has been terminated.”
Upon learning that Wale had cancelled his appearance at Black Pride, organizers arranged for Holiday to replace Wale as the headliner performer. Holiday took to Black Pride’s stage after Wale delivered his remarks to the crowd and performed two songs.
As planned after the mix-up surrounding Wale’s appearance, Holiday gave a full performance as the day’s lead entertainer, including some of his songs that rose to the top of the Billboard Top 100 Chart.
Wale became a nationally recognized rapper in 2006, when his song “Dig Dug (Shake It)” led to his record company contracts and appearances on MTV.
“It was very apparent that Wale was sincere about wanting to clear up any misconceptions that he was homophobic,” said Jimma Elliott-Stevens, a D.C. Black Pride board member and attorney who represented Black Pride in its negotiations with Wale’s representatives.
“This experience was very important for the LGBT community as it showed that we will not be invisible within and outside the black community,” said Fowlkes.
Virginia
Va. activists preparing campaign in support of repealing marriage amendment
Referendum about ‘dignity and equal protection under the law’
Virginia voters in November will vote on whether to repeal their state’s constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between a man and a woman.
Democratic Gov. Abigail Spanberger on Feb. 6 signed House Bill 612 into law. It facilitates a referendum for voters to approve the repeal of the 2006 Marshall-Newman Amendment. Although the U.S. Supreme Court’s Obergefell ruling extended marriage rights to same-sex couples across the country in 2014, codifying marriage equality in Virginia’s constitution would protect it in the state in case the decision is overturned.
Maryland voters in 2012 approved Question 6, which upheld the state’s marriage equality law, by a 52-48 percent margin. Same-sex marriage became legal in Maryland on Jan. 1, 2013.
LGBTQ advocacy groups and organizations that oppose marriage equality mounted political campaigns ahead of the referendum.
Equality Virginia has been involved in advancing LGBTQ rights in Virginia since 1989.
Equality Virginia is working under its 501c3 designation in conjunction with Equality Virginia Advocates, which operates under a 501c4 designation, to plan campaigns in support of repealing the Marshall-Newman Amendment.
The two main campaigns on which Equality Virginia will be focused are education and voter mobilization. Reed Williams, the group’s director of digital engagement and narrative, spoke with the Washington Blade about Equality Virginia’s plans ahead of the referendum.
Williams said an organization for a “statewide public education campaign” is currently underway. Williams told the Blade its goal will be “to ensure voters understand what this amendment does and why updating Virginia’s constitution matters for families across the commonwealth.”
The organization is also working on a “robust media and voter mobilization campaign to identify and turn out voters” to repeal Marshall-Newman Amendment. Equality Virginia plans to work with the community members to guarantee voters are getting clear and accurate information regarding the meaning of this vote and its effect on the Virginia LGBTQ community.
“We believe Virginia voters are ready to bring our constitution in line with both the law and the values of fairness and freedom that define our commonwealth,” said Equality Virginia Executive Director Narissa Rahaman. “This referendum is about ensuring loving, committed couples and their families are treated with dignity and equal protection under the law.”
The Human Rights Campaign has also worked closely with Equality Virginia.
“It’s time to get rid of outdated, unconstitutional language and ensure that same sex couples are protected in Virginia,” HRC President Kelley Robinson told the Blade in a statement.
District of Columbia
D.C. police arrest man for burglary at gay bar Spark Social House
Suspect ID’d from images captured by Spark Social House security cameras
D.C. police on Feb. 18 arrested a 63-year-old man “of no fixed address” for allegedly stealing cash from the registers at the gay bar Spark Social House after unlawfully entering the bar at 2009 14th St., N.W., around 12:04 a.m. after it had closed for business, according to a police incident report.
“Later that day officers canvassing for the suspect located him nearby,” a separate police statement says. “63-year-old Tony Jones of no fixed address was arrested and charged with Burglary II,” the statement says.
The police incident report states that the bar’s owner, Nick Tsusaki, told police investigators that the bar’s security cameras captured the image of a man who has frequently visited the bar and was believed to be homeless.
“Once inside, the defendant was observed via the establishment’s security cameras opening the cash register, removing U.S. currency, and placing the currency into the left front pocket of his jacket,” the report says.
Tsusaki told the Washington Blade that he and Spark’s employees have allowed Jones to enter the bar many times since it opened last year to use the bathroom in a gesture of compassion knowing he was homeless. Tsusaki said he is not aware of Jones ever having purchased anything during his visits.
According to Tsusaki, Spark closed for business at around 10:30 p.m. on the night of the incident at which time an employee did not properly lock the front entrance door. He said no employees or customers were present when the security cameras show Jones entering Spark through the front door around 12:04 a.m.
Tsusaki said the security camera images show Jones had been inside Spark for about three hours on the night of the burglary and show him taking cash out of two cash registers. He took a total of $300, Tsusaki said.
When Tsusaki and Spark employees arrived at the bar later in the day and discovered the cash was missing from the registers they immediately called police, Tsusaki told the Blade. Knowing that Jones often hung out along the 2000 block of 14th Street where Spark is located, Tsusaki said he went outside to look for him and saw him across the street and pointed Jones out to police, who then placed him under arrest.
A police arrest affidavit filed in court states that at the time they arrested him police found the stolen cash inside the pocket of the jacket Jones was wearing. It says after taking him into police custody officers found a powdered substance in a Ziploc bag also in Jones’s possession that tested positive for cocaine, resulting in him being charged with cocaine possession in addition to the burglary charge.
D.C. Superior Court records show a judge ordered Jones held in preventive detention at a Feb. 19 presentment hearing. The judge then scheduled a preliminary hearing for the case on Feb. 20, the outcome of which couldn’t immediately be obtained.
District of Columbia
Judge rescinds order against activist in Capital Pride lawsuit
Darren Pasha accused of stalking organization staff, board members, volunteers
A D.C. Superior Court judge on Feb.18 agreed to rescind his earlier ruling declaring local gay activist Darren Pasha in default for failing to attend a virtual court hearing regarding an anti-stalking lawsuit brought against him by the Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.’s annual Pride events.
The Capital Pride lawsuit, initially filed on Oct. 27, 2025, accuses Pasha of engaging in a year-long “course of conduct” of “harassment, intimidation, threats, manipulation, and coercive behavior” targeting Capital Pride staff, board members, and volunteers.
In his own court filings without retaining an attorney, Pasha has strongly denied the stalking related allegations against him, saying “no credible or admissible evidence has been provided” to show he engaged in any wrongdoing.
Judge Robert D. Okum nevertheless on Feb. 6 approved a temporary stay-away order requiring Pasha to stay at least 100 feet away from Capital Pride’s staff, volunteers, and board members until the time of a follow-up court hearing scheduled for April 17. He reduced the stay-away distance from 200 yards as requested by Capital Pride.
In his two-page order issued on Feb. 18, Okun stated that Pasha explained that he was involved in a scooter accident in which he was injured and his phone was damaged, preventing him from joining the Feb. 6 court hearing.
“Therefore, the court finds there is a good cause for vacating the default,” Okun states in his order.
At the time he initially approved the default order at the Feb. 6 hearing that Pasha didn’t attend, Okun scheduled an April 17 ex parte proof hearing in which Capital Pride could have requested a ruling in its favor seeking a permanent anti-stalking order against Pasha.
In his Feb. 18 ruling rescinding the default order Okun changed the April 17 ex parte proof hearing to an initial scheduling conference hearing in which a decision on the outcome of the case is not likely to happen.
In addition, he agreed to consider Pasha’s call for a jury trial and gave Capital Pride 14 days to contest that request. The Capital Pride lawsuit initially called for a non-jury trial by judge.
One request by Pasha that Okum denied was a call for him to order Capital Pride to stop its staff or volunteers from posting information about the lawsuit on social media. Pasha has said the D.C.-based online blog called DC Homos, which Pasha claims is operated by someone associated with Capital Pride, has been posting articles portraying him in a negative light and subjecting him to highly negative publicity.
“The defendant has not set forth a sufficient basis for the court to restrict the plaintiff’s social media postings, and the court therefore will deny the defendant’s request in his social media praecipe,” Okun states in his order.
A praecipe is a formal written document requesting action by a court.
Pasha called the order a positive development in his favor. He said he plans to file another motion with more information about what he calls the unfair and defamatory reports about him related to the lawsuit by DC Homos, with a call for the judge to reverse his decision not to order Capital Pride to stop social media postings about the lawsuit.
Pasha points to a video interview on the LGBTQ Team Rayceen broadcast, a link to which he sent to the Washington Blade, in which DC Homos operator Jose Romero acknowledged his association with Capital Pride Alliance.
Capital Pride Executive Director Ryan Bos didn’t immediately respond to a message from the Blade asking whether Romero was a volunteer or employee with Capital Pride.
Pasha also said he believes the latest order has the effect of rescinding the temporary stay away order against him approved by Okun in his earlier ruling, even though Okun makes no mention of the stay away order in his latest ruling. Capital Pride attorney Nick Harrison told the Blade the stay away order “remains in full force and effect.”
Harrison said Capital Pride has no further comment on the lawsuit.
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