District of Columbia
DC Center, Capital Pride sign joint lease for new offices
LGBTQ groups to operate in historic Shaw neighborhood building
The DC Center for the LGBT Community and the Capital Pride Alliance, which organizes D.C.ās annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced on Wednesday that they have signed a joint lease to move their operations into a renovated warehouse building in the cityās Shaw neighborhood.
In a Dec. 7 statement, the two organizations said the lease is for a 6,671-square-foot space on the entire first floor of a five-story building at 1827 Wiltberger St., N.W. called The Adora. The building is located steps away from the Howard Theatre and a little over a block from the Shaw-Howard University Metro station.
The new space is more than double the 2,400-square-foot offices the D.C. Center and Capital Pride currently occupy in the cityās Reeves Center municipal building at 2000 14th St., N.W. The Reeves building is slated to be demolished as part of a new development project that will require all its tenants, including the D.C. Center, to move.
The sprawling building, which takes up about half of the narrow, one-block long Wiltberger Street, was built in 1891 as the home of the Holzbeierlein Bakery, according to the online publication Commercial Observer.
Online real estate listings show it was redeveloped about two years ago with an extension and now includes commercial condominium space on the second and third floors and nine luxury residential condominium units on the fourth and fifth floors.
The statement released by the D.C. Center and Capital Pride Alliance says the first-floor space in the building that the two groups leased currently is un-renovated warehouse space. The statement says the space is being designed for a build out renovation by an architectural firm āwith the D.C. Centerās specific needs in mind.ā It will include 10 offices and multiple workstations, the statement says.
According to the statement, the renovation is being funded in part by a $1 million grant approved by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser through the Office of the Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development and the Mayorās Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
Rehana Mohammed, who serves as vice chair of the D.C. Centerās Board of Directors, told the Washington Blade the renovation work was scheduled to be completed by mid-2023. She said D.C. Center officials were hopeful that the Center and Capital Pride would be able to move into the new space in June or early July.
The statement says the new, larger space will enable the D.C. Center to expand its services to include ādedicated therapy rooms, a larger food pantry for the community food distribution program, and dedicated wellness spaces for meditation, yoga, and counseling.ā
It says there will also be an expanded state-of-the-art cyber lounge, a larger Community Closet program, which provides free apparel, and that will incorporate a designated dressing area, and individual lockers providing temporary storage for āunhoused/displaced community members.ā
āThis is an extraordinary opportunity for the D.C. Center to more fully expand our support offerings and provide vital and integral wraparound care to and for our LGBTQIA2s+ siblings,ā D.C. Center Executive Director Kimberley Bush said in the statement.
āWhen community members come to this new space, theyāll see a broader range of support being offered and an enhanced experience for increasing their health, wellness, and personal security,ā Bush said.
āWe are very excited to support this opportunity and come together in a new space with fellow nonprofits,ā said Ryan Bos, the Capital Pride Alliance executive director. āCollectively and collaboratively, we will better serve the LGBTQ+ community and combine resources to provide a much-needed safe space to gather,ā Bos said in the statement.
The statement by the two groups says the new larger space will also allow the D.C. Center to sublease office and desk space to other LGBTQ+ nonprofit organizations. As of this week, the Wanda Alston Foundation, Rainbow Families and G3 Associates, an organization operated by local gay activist George Kerr, have confirmed arrangements to sublease space in the new building, the statement says.
āWe are proud to reaffirm our support for D.C.ās LGBTQ+ community,ā said Mayor Bowser in a statement referring to her officeās awarding a $1 million grant to help fund the D.C. Centerās build out in the new space. āThis investment is a reflection of our D.C. values,ā the mayor said.
“We know that when we foster community, and when we support organizations that invest in the community, D.C. is stronger and our residents have more and better opportunities to reach their full potential and live happy, healthy lives,” the mayor said.Ā
District of Columbia
Billy Porter, Keke Palmer, Ava Max to perform at Capital Pride
Concert to be held at annual festival on June 9
The Capital Pride Alliance, the group that organizes D.C.ās annual LGBTQ Pride events, announced this week the lineup of performers for the Sunday, June 9, Capital Pride Concert to be held during the Capital Pride Festival on Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. near the U.S. Capitol.
Among the performers will be nationally acclaimed singers and recording artists Billy Porter and Keke Palmer, who will also serve as grand marshals for the Capital Pride Parade set to take place one day earlier on Saturday, June 8.
The Capital Price announcement says the other lead performers will be Ava Max, Sapphira Cristal, and the pop female trio ExposƩ.
āThe beloved pop icons will captivate audiences with upbeat performances coupled with their fierce advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, echoing the vibrant spirit of this yearās theme, āTotally Radical,āā according to a statement released by Capital Pride Alliance.
āWith Billy Porter and Keke Palmer leading the parade as Grand Marshals, weāre not only honoring their incredible contributions to the LGBTQ+ community but also amplifying their voices as fierce advocates for equality and acceptance,ā Capital Pride Alliance Executive Director Ryan Bos said in the statement.
āThe concert and festival serve as a platform to showcase the diverse array of LGBTQ+ talent, from the chart-topping hits of Ava Max to the iconic sounds of ExposĆ© and the electrifying performances of Sapphira Cristal,ā Bos said in the statement. āCapital Pride 2024 promises to be a celebration like no other.ā
The concert will take place from 12-10 p.m. on the main stage and other stages across the four-block long festival site on Pennsylvania Avenue.
District of Columbia
200 turn out for āLove Festā Drag Story Hour at Freddieās
Performer reads stories to kids and parents as three protest outside
Between 200 and 250 people, including parents and their children, turned out on Saturday, May 4, for a āLove Festā Drag Story Hour brunch hosted by the Arlington, Va., LGBTQ establishment Freddieās Beach Bar and Restaurant.
Local drag performer Tara Hoot, who read childrenās stories and handed out coloring books to the kids attending the event, was joined by members of the Gay Menās Chorus of Washington, which sang several songs before Hoot began reading from childrenās books in keeping with the tradition of drag queens conducting Drag Story Hour events across the country.
The May 4 event at Freddieās in the Crystal City section of Arlington took place four weeks after the start of a similar event hosted by Freddieās was delayed by a bomb threat, forcing those who had arrived to exit through a rear door and wait in a parking lot as Arlington police conducted a search of the premises with a bomb sniffing dog. No trace of a bomb was found.
All the customers, including parents and their kids, were invited back inside and the show took place as planned.
No similar threat occurred at the May 4 event. But three male protesters assembled on the sidewalk next to the parking lot behind the Freddieās building, with one of them shouting from a bullhorn passages from his Bible that he said indicated the Drag Story Hour event was an āabomination.ā
The three protesters were outnumbered by nearly a dozen counter protesters who were members of the Rainbow Defense Coalition, an LGBTQ organization. They carried bright, rainbow-colored umbrellas while chanting messages of support for the Drag Story Hour event.
Freddie Lutz, Freddieās Beach Bar owner, called the event a āsmashing successā that brought an āoutpouring of love from the community.ā Lutz released a flier on social media promoting the Love Fest event shortly after the earlier event interrupted by the bomb threat as a showing of love “to stop the hate.”
“Join us for the next story time brunch dressed in your favorite rainbow/hippie outfit” and “carry your favorite homemade signs of support,” Lutz said in his promotional flier. He came to the event dressed in what he called his hippie protest outfit.
Lutz said while the protesters did not interrupt the event, he was concerned that their shouting was scaring some of the kids as they and their parents walked by the protesters to enter Freddieās.
āI went out back and tried to talk to one of them and it was kind of like talking to a brick wall,ā Lutz told the Washington Blade. āHe was screaming at the parents that were crossing their kids on the crosswalk,ā Lutz said. āAnd I said, youāre screaming at those kids, youāre scaring them.ā
Lutz said the man told him he was yelling at the parents, not the kids. āAnd I said, no youāre not. The kids are hearing you. Youāre scaring them.ā
Added Lutz, āAnd to have such a fun-loving, happy show and then walk out on the sidewalk to that is very disheartening. Itās really sad. I told him my God is a forgiving and loving God.ā
One of the protesters, who declined to disclose his name, said he and his two fellow protesters came to talk about the gospel of Jesus Christ.
āWe want them to know this is an abomination to the Lord,ā he told the Blade. āWe want them to know those children donāt have a voice and theyāre being brainwashed in there. Weāre here to call out their sin.ā
Stephanie Krenrich, who brought her two-year-old daughter to the event, said she strongly disputes the claims of the protesters.
āI brought my daughter here because I think that it was a beautiful and wonderful show, and it was great for her,ā she said. āAnd I think itās pretty offensive when people come to Arlington and tell parents what to do, especially for something so beautiful and so fun and so wholesome,ā she told the Blade.
āSo thatās why I brought her,ā Krenrich said. āI think that itās really important that we stand up for our values and people just being themselves, being happy and being them.ā
Among those who attended the event were four elected officials from Arlington ā Virginia State Sen. Barbara Favola, Virginia State Del. Adele McClure, Arlington County Board member Maureen Coffee, and Arlington and Falls Church Stateās Attorney Parisa Dehgani-Tafti.
Also attending was Nick Benton, editor and publisher of the LGBTQ supportive Falls Church, Va., News Press; and Kellen McBeth, president of the LGBTQ group Equality Arlington.
āIt was fantastic to see so many people come out to support Freddieās, to support the LGBTQ+ community,ā McBeth said. āIt was a great event and weāre happy to be a part of it.ā
District of Columbia
Another successful Taste of Point fundraiser
Scholars praise financial, networking support
The Point Foundation hosted its annual Taste of Point DC fundraising event on Thursday with nine participating restaurants, a drag performance, and a silent auction.
The event was hosted on the rooftop of the Room & Board on 14th Street, with an afterparty at Shakers. Point donors, scholars, and alumni circled the rooftop eating chips and guacamole from Mi Vida and drinking Pinot Grigio from Barkada.
After about an hour of mingling the events began with event committee member, Kelly Horton and Kevin Kim Wright, chief of staff welcoming the crowd and speaking about the importance of their presence during this pivotal time in queer youth history. Then, Wright welcomed BIPOC Scholar Katherine Guerrero Rivera, saying she was a model of a Point scholar.
āWeāre always impressed with all of our scholars and Katherine is another example of a student who is deeply engaged in their campus life and a myriad of projects, everything from creating her own podcast to being a part of a number of student organizations.ā Wright said.
Rivera said that the Point Foundation scholarship helps her resist the pressure to drop out. She pointed out that just over 50 percent of Latina students who attend college graduate.
āThe Point BIPOC Scholarship is not just financial support, Point has connected me with hundreds of people like me studying on campuses across the country.ā she said.
Rivera is a criminology major and poetics minor at University of Maryland and said she hopes to use her degree to bring knowledge to her community through art and advocacy. She said it is important for her to take academic jargon and make it accessible to her community.
āToo often, the history of LGBTQ and people are ignored and silenced during our education,ā she said. āI want to use my access to higher education and the chance to develop my creative skills to bring light to societal issues.ā
She finished her speech with applause for the audience, then Horton came back with drag queen Tara Hoot to discuss ways donors could continue to support the Point Foundation.
After the lineup of events Wright said he felt great about the event, because it was a celebration of Pointās scholars.
āSome are interning for United States senators, some are volunteering for leading national non-profits, so to be able to celebrate all thatās being done here is truly amazing,ā
Wright continued, thanking the D.C. restaurant community for consistently showing up in force to support Point.
āThis really helps to paint the picture that this movement is growing,ā he said. āPeople believe in this mission to provide LGBTQ young people with the opportunity to pursue their higher education goals, to improve their leadership abilities and then go on to make a significant impact on society.ā
CLICK HERE to see more photos from Taste of Point.
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