District of Columbia
Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs honors Earline Budd
Transgender activist received Toast to LGBTQIA+ Elder award
Longtime D.C. transgender rights advocate and community activist Earline Budd was honored on Wednesday as the first recipient of an annual Toast to LGBTQIA+ Elder award initiated by Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs.
About 50 people, including D.C. Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), attended a ceremony hosted by the mayor’s office to honor Budd on her selection for the recognition. The event was held at the Atlas Performing Arts Center at 1333 H St., N.E.
“The Toast to LGBTQIA+ Elders is a way for the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs and greater community to give thanks and recognition to those who paved the way for many of us in the LGBTQIA+ community today,” said Japer Bowles, director of the Mayor’s LGBTQ Affairs Office, in a statement.
Bowles said he and the mayor’s office were honored to have selected Budd for the first annual Toast award.
“We thank Ms. Budd for her 35+ years of outstanding and extraordinary dedication to the most vulnerable of our communities through support and harm reduction services,” Bowles said in the statement. “Known as THE Advocate, Ms. Budd has been steadfast in community outreach, an accomplishment of immense significance, especially to our LGBTIA+ youth.”
Budd’s selection as the first Toast to LGBTQIA+ Elder recipient came one month after she was honored in a ceremony unveiling a large wall mural painting of Budd in an alley next to the Atlas Performing Arts Center, making her the first trans person to be portrayed in D.C.’s citywide wall mural program.
Among those attending Tuesday’s elder recognition event was local artist Shani Shih, who designed and painted the Budd wall mural.
Also attending was Sean Cuddihy, a member of the staff of D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large), who presented Budd with a resolution introduced by White and passed unanimously by the Council called the Earline Budd Recognition Resolution.
The resolution, among other things, credits Budd for dedicating “decades of her life to advocacy for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and other gender and sexual minority (LGBTQ) communities in the District of Columbia, especially those struggling with substance abuse, mental health challenges, homelessness, and HIV/AIDS.”
It also mentions Budd’s role as founder and executive director of the D.C. group Empowering the Transgender Community and her work as Re-entry Program Manager for the D.C. organization HIPS, which provides support and services for sex workers and those impacted by drug use.
Parker became the first openly gay member of the D.C. Council since 2015 when he took office in January. He presented another Council resolution at the Wednesday Toast to Budd event recognizing the life of trans woman Jasmine Star Parker, who was found murdered on a street in Northeast D.C. on Dec. 7.
Parker presented the Jasmine Star Parker Memorial Recognition Resolution of 2023 to members of Parker’s family, including her mother and sister, who attended the Wednesday event. Parker credited Budd’s efforts to draw attention to the Jasmine Parker murder, including Budd’s role in organizing a vigil honoring Jasmine Parker, with prompting him to introduce the Jasmine Parker resolution.
“The Council of the District of Columbia honors Jasmine Star Parker’s memory, joins with those privileged to have known her in mourning her untimely death and condemns all forms of hate and violence directed towards members of the LGBTQ+ community, particularly Black trans women,” the resolution states.
In his remarks at the Wednesday event, Parker said his current role as the city’s only Black openly gay council member was made possible by people like Earlene Budd.
“Before there was ever a Zachary Parker there was an Earline Budd,” he told the gathering. “Thank you for serving as a personal inspiration for me and countless other youth and individuals across the District,” Parker said. “On behalf of more than 90,000 residents of Ward 5 and every LGBTQIA+ person in the District, thank you.”
Among the others who spoke at the event about the important role Budd has played in helping to secure LGBTQ rights were D.C. event host and longtime LGBTQ advocate Rayceen Pendarvis, who served as host at the Tuesday event; and longtime local trans rights advocate Jeri Hughes.
“I’m so honored to have the privilege to host this wonderful event as we honor a living legend,” Pendarvis told the gathering. “Not many people in their lifetime can say that they know a living legend,” Pendarvis said, pointing to Budd. “I am honored to call you a friend, sister, and colleague.”
Hughes said she and Budd have been friends for at least 17 years and have worked together on numerous projects related to human rights.
“Earline Budd has always been defined in my eyes as a woman of service,” Hughes said. “She’s one of the most selfless human beings that I’ve ever known. She spends most of her days thinking of ways to care for others and help others.”
Budd, who spoke at the conclusion of the event, recited the names of the many community activists and government officials she has interacted with in her years of community organizing and advocacy and praised them for their help in her endeavors. She expressed strong gratitude and called for recognition of Shih for her painting of the Budd wall mural.
“Let me say with an honor to God, it is not by any means a false profit that I find myself here, because God knew before that this day would come,” Budd said. “I didn’t know it, that it would come, I’m here to say I’ve been to so many places. And I tell people that if this were my last day, and I mean this from the bottom of my heart, I have lived a good life.”
District of Columbia
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
Whitman-Walker joins nationwide recognition of efforts to develop vaccine
Whitman-Walker Health, the D.C.-based community healthcare center that specializes in HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ-related health services, will join health care advocates from across the country to support efforts to develop an HIV vaccine on HIV Vaccine Awareness Day on May 18.
“HIV Awareness Day, observed annually on May 18, was established to recognize and thank the volunteers, scientists, health professionals, and community members working toward a safe and effective prevention HIV vaccine,” Whitman-Walker said in a statement.
“Led by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), the day is also an opportunity to educate communities about the critical importance of preventive HIV vaccine research,” the statement says.
It adds, “The reality is that any new vaccine discovery must be built community by community, institution by institution, and then it must reach everyone – especially the communities who have carried the heaviest burden of this epidemic.”
On its own website, the National Institutes of Health says HIV Vaccine Awareness Day also highlights its longstanding efforts, coordinated by its Office of AIDS Research, to support researchers’ efforts to develop an HIV vaccine.
“Researchers are making promising headway in efforts to develop a safe, effective HIV vaccine,” it says in a statement on its website.
A Whitman-Walker spokesperson said Whitman-Walker was not holding a specific event to observe HIV Vaccine Awareness Day, but it will recognize the day as a way of encouragement for its ongoing work to address the AIDS epidemic and support for vaccine research.
“Today, no one has to die from HIV,” said Whitman-Walker’s Health System division’s CEO, Dr. Heather Aaron in the Whitman-Walker statement. “We have the treatments, the technology, and the research to change outcomes, and yet people in our community are still dying from HIV//AIDS,” she said in the statement.
“That is unacceptable, and it is exactly why our work continues,” she added. “Here in D.C. with more focus on Southeast D.C., the Whitman-Walker Health System remains committed to making a difference through cutting-edge research, policy advocacy, and philanthropy, because fair access to life-saving treatment is not a privilege. It is a right.”
District of Columbia
Capital Stonewall Democrats endorses Janeese Lewis George for D.C. mayor
Group also backed D.C. Council, Congressional delegate, AG candidates
The Capital Stonewall Democrats, D.C.’s largest local LGBTQ political organization, announced on May 14 that it has endorsed D.C. Councilmember Janeese Lewis George (D-Ward 4) for mayor in the city’s June 16 Democratic primary.
Lewis George along with former D.C. Councilmember Kenyan McDuffie (D-At-Large) are considered by political observers to be the two leading candidates among the seven candidates competing in the Democratic primary election for mayor.
Both have strong, long-standing records of support on LGBTQ issues, indicating Capital Stonewall Democrats members, like LGBTQ voters across the city, are likely choosing a candidate based on non-LGBTQ related issues.
In a May 14 statement, the group announced its endorsements in seven other Democratic primary races, including D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson, who is running unopposed in the primary. Also endorsed is D.C. Councilmember Robert White (D-At-Large), who is one of five Democratic candidates competing for the position of D.C. delegate to the U.S. House of Representatives.
D.C. Councilmember Brooke Pinto (D-Ward 2) is among the four candidates competing with White for that post, and who like White has a strong record of support on LGBTQ issues.
In the At-Large D.C. Council race for which incumbent Anita Bonds is not running for re-election, Capital Stonewall Democrats has endorsed community activist and LGBTQ ally Oye Owolewa in a nine candidate race.
For the Ward 1 D.C. Council election, in which five LGBTQ supportive candidates are competing, the group did not make an endorsement because none of the candidate received a required 60 percent of the endorsement vote cast by Capital Stonewall Democrats members, according to the group’s former president, Howard Garrett.
The statement announcing its endorsements shows that it decided to list its “Preferred Ranking” of each of the Ward 1 Democratic candidates as part of the city’s newly implemented ranked choice voting system. It lists gay candidate Miguel Trindade Deramo as first, bisexual candidate Aparna Raj second, Jackie Reyes Yanes third, Rashida Brown fourth, and Terry Lynch fifth.
In the remaining ward Council races, Capital Stonewall Democrats endorsed Councilmember Matt Fruman (D-Ward 3), who is running unopposed for re-election; Councilmember Zachary Parker (D-Ward 5), the Council’s only gay member who is being challenged by two opponents; and Councilmember Charles Allen (D-Ward 6), who is running unopposed for re-election.
The group also chose not to make an endorsement in the special election for another At-Large D.C. Council seat that became vacant when then-Independent Councilmember McDuffie resigned to enable him to run for mayor as a Democrat. Under the city’s Home Rule Charter adopted by Congress, that at large sweat is restricted to a “non-majority party” candidate, meaning a non-Democrat.
The three candidates running for the seat, all Independents, include incumbent Doni Crawford, who was appointed to the seat earlier this year; former D.C. Councilmember Elissa Silverman; and Jacque Patterson. All three have expressed support on LGBTQ related issues.
“The organization’s endorsement process included candidate questionnaires, public forums, and direct voting by active CSD members,” the statement announcing its endorsements says. “Each endorsement reflects the collective voice of 173 LGBTQ+ Democrats who voted in the process and are committed to building lasting political power in the District,” according to the statement. “Candidates that reached 60 percent support received the endorsement.”
Garrett, the group’s former president, acknowledged that with nearly all candidates running in D.C. elections expressing strong support for the LGBTQ community, many if not most of the group’s members most likely chose a candidate based on issues other than LGBTQ related issues.
He said he believes Lewis George, who he is supporting and is viewed as a progressive candidate who self-identifies as a Democratic Socialist, compared to McDuffie, who is viewed as a moderate Democrat, captured the group’s endorsement based on the view that she is the best person to lead the city going forward.
“I believe that Capital Stonewall members voted for Janeese Lewis George because we’re tired of the status quo and we need a new, bold leader to not only move our city forward but also to stand up to Donald Trump and his administration,” Garrett told the Washington Blade.
McDuffie’s LGBTQ supporters, including former Capital Stonewall Democrats presidents David Meadows and Kurt Vorndran, have argued that McDuffie’s positions on a wide range of issues, including LGBTQ issues, show him to be the best candidates to lead the city at this time and In future years.
The group’s endorsement of Lewis George comes one week after GLAA DC, a nonpartisan LGBTQ advocacy group, awarded her its highest candidate rating of +10.
District of Columbia
Pride faith services in Washington, D.C.
Almost half of all LGBTQ adults in the U.S. are religious
Are you an LGBTQ person of faith or someone exploring spirituality? It is more common than people realize. According to a Williams Institute study published in October 2020, almost half of all LGBTQ adults in the United States are religious. This may seem counterintuitive as any LGBTQ people have complicated relationships with faith because of very real histories of abuse, trauma, and violence.
This violence still continues in the United States, especially following the Supreme Court’s March 2026 decision in Chiles v. Salazar, who ruled Colorado’s ban on conversion therapy for minors violates the First Amendment, but not everyone has encountered this violence, nor do people who have faced it, separate themselves completely from religion. Many people may seek out affirming faith traditions which are prevalent in the DMV area.
For individuals seeking out faith services during Pride 2026, please check out the list below, which will be updated as more events are publicized.
Memorial Service for SaVanna Wanzer
May 17th at 1 pm
Westminster Presbyterian Church (400 I St SW, Washington, DC 20024)
Westminster Presbyterian will host a celebration of life for legendary DC trans rights activist and founder of DC Trans Pride and Black Trans Pride SaVanna Wanzer who was a long-time member of the church. Live music will begin at 12:15 pm before the start of the memorial service. The service will be livestreamed on the Westminster DC Facebook page. A meal will follow the Sunday service.
There will also be a celebratory vigil held on Saturday, May 16th from 6:30-8 pm for friends and family at the church led by LGBTQ organizer Rayceen Pendarvis.
May 23th at 11 am
Downtown Westin (999 9th Street NW, Washington, DC 20001)
This intimate conversation is hosted by Janeé Lee, founder of Queer Ministry, between Black trans and queer people who are surviving religious trauma and navigating their relationship with the church. The workshop, hosted as part of Trans Pride DC, is a chance for people to share their stories at the intersection of queerness and spirituality and to walk away with a spiritual healing guide with affirming scriptures and inclusive theology.
DC Black Pride Worship Service
May 24th at 10 am
Remnant Christian Center (120 West Hampton Avenue, Capitol Heights, MD)
Hosted by The Community Church of Washington DC-UCC, this service will feature speakers and sessions on Black queer faith and unity, including host and speaker Robert D. Wise Jr. for a powerful Pentecost Unity Service. Attendees are encouraged to come dressed in and white.
June 5th at 7 pm
Sixth & I (600 I Street, NW, Washington, DC 20001)
Join Rabbi Jenna will be leading an inclusive, musical service celebrating the diversity of Jewish life in Washington, DC. Happy Hour, which is limited to people 21 and older, will start at 6 pm. The service will start at 7 pm, with dinner at 8:15 pm. The service is free but registration is required, and the kosher-style pescatarian meal does cost money. Register online here.
June 14th at 5 pm
Black Cat (1811 14th St NW, Washington, DC 20009)
Muslim Pride is a community-led and funded grassroots performance series centering queer and trans Muslim artists through music, drag and dance. The series was originally founded in 2020 as a way to create affirming spaces where faith, culture, and queerness can coexist. This year’s series features Mercedes Iman Diamond. This year, Muslim Pride expands to Washington, DC, New York City, and Los Angeles. Buy tickets here.
Pride Celebrations and Sunday Worship Service
June 14th all day
Riverside Baptist Church (699 Maine Avenue SW, Washington, DC 20024)
Join Riverside Baptist Church for a day-long Pride celebration beginning with Pride Weekend/Musical Theater Sunday worship service at 10 am. Later that morning and early afternoon, from 11:30 am to 1:30 pm, the church will be hosting a Pride Pageant, a technicolor celebration featuring a runway showcase, line dancing, food, and refreshments.
June 22nd at 7 pm
St. Mark’s Episocpal Church (301 A Street, SE, Washington, DC 20003)
Join this interfaith service celebrating affirming faith traditions and intertradition dialogue hosted by queer and trans faith leaders. The interfaith service has been hosted annually for over 40 years, and first began back in the 1980s with faith leaders and queer people of faith coming together to mourn and pray at the site of the AIDS Memorial Quilt on the National Mall. Learn more about the history of the interfaith service here.
June 23rd at 6 pm
Holy Trinity Catholic Church (3513 N St NW, Washington, DC 20007)
Holy Trinity will be hosting its 6th annual Pride Mass. After its debut this past summer, the Pride Mass choir will be singing at the Pride Mass in June, and following the Mass, there will be an annual reception with ice cream and other goodies. Learn more about attending the reception and Holy Trinity’s LGBTQ+ Ministry.
PHOTOS: Blade Summer Kickoff Party
PHOTOS: Taste of Point
Honey, have we been priced out of gay paradise?
Comings & Goings
IDAHOBiT a reminder we all must stand up against transphobia
UK government makes trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban a legislative priority
Bureau of Prisons declines to reconsider transgender inmate policy
Yes, chef!
What’s new in Rehoboth Beach for summer 2026
LGBTQ community must say NO to Janeese Lewis George
-
United Kingdom4 days agoUK government makes trans-inclusive conversion therapy ban a legislative priority
-
Federal Government4 days ago
Bureau of Prisons declines to reconsider transgender inmate policy
-
a&e features4 days ago
Yes, chef!
-
Rehoboth Beach4 days ago
What’s new in Rehoboth Beach for summer 2026
