District of Columbia
Gender Liberation March participants rally for bodily autonomy outside Supreme Court, Heritage Foundation
‘Our bodies, our genders, our choices, our futures’
Upwards of 1,000 people gathered in D.C. on Saturday for the first-ever Gender Liberation March, rallying for bodily autonomy and self-determination outside the U.S. Supreme Court and the Heritage Foundation headquarters.
The march brought together advocates for transgender, LGBTQ, feminist, and reproductive rights, uniting the movements to protest attacks on healthcare access and individual freedoms.
The event kicked off just after noon at Columbus Circle, outside Union Station, where organizers had set up a stage. Throughout the day, speakers such as Elliot Page, Miss Major, and Julio Torres shared personal stories and highlighted the intersectional challenges of trans rights, abortion rights, and LGBTQ rights. Raquel Willis, a core organizer of the event, outlined the broad coalition of communities represented in the Gender Liberation March.
“This march is for the queers, and the trans folks of any age. It’s for the childless cat ladies and babies and gentlemen and gentlethem. It’s for the migrants and our disabled family. It’s for intersex folks and those living and thriving with HIV. It’s for Muslims and folks of every faith. It’s for those who believe in a free Palestine. It’s for our sex workers. It’s for our incarcerated and detained. It’s for all of us who believe there is a better way to live and love than we are today,” she told the crowd.
Nick Lloyd, an abortion storyteller from the organization We Testify, underlined the interconnectedness of the movements by sharing his experience as a trans man who had an abortion and discussing the support he received from trans women, emphasizing the significance of “radical solidarity.”
“When we fight for liberation, we need to make sure we are fighting for liberation for all of us,” he said in his speech.
The Gender Liberation March is organized by a collective of gender justice-based groups, including organizers behind the Women’s Marches and the Brooklyn Liberation Marches. Rachel Carmona, the executive director of the Women’s March, also addressed the importance of solidarity across movements.
She acknowledged that some within the feminist movement have questioned the inclusion of trans issues but countered this view.
“The women’s movement necessarily includes trans people,” Carmona asserted.
The march organized buses from nine East Coast cities, and many attendees arrived in D.C. in the days prior. Chris Silva and Samy Nemir Olivares left New York early that morning to make sure they could participate.
“I actually heard [about the march] from my dear friend, Samy, two weeks ago, and I got energized by the idea, and we woke up really early today to take a 5 a.m. bus and make it here this morning,” Silva said.
At 1 p.m. the crowd began marching toward the Supreme Court on a route that also passed by the Capitol. Marchers held signs and banners proclaiming “You can’t legislate us out of existence,” and “Our bodies, our futures.”
The Supreme Court has eroded individual liberties with recent decisions such as the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and is set to hear U.S. v. Skrmetti, a case with wide-reaching implications for trans healthcare, in October. Speaking through a speaker system in front of the Supreme Court, activist Aaryn Lang urged the crowd to remain vigilant.
“We do not have the luxury of treating very real threats like a difference of opinion. It’s not that type of time. They really want us dead,” Lang said.
Republican lawmakers in state legislatures are relentlessly attacking the rights of LGBTQ people, particularly trans individuals. This year alone, 70 anti-LGBTQ laws have been signed into law, most targeting trans rights, and at least 26 states have laws or policies banning gender-affirming care, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
From the Supreme Court, the march proceeded to the Heritage Foundation headquarters. The far-right think tank created the Project 2025 initiative, a blueprint to overhaul the federal government and attack trans and abortion rights under a potential second Trump administration.
Marchers chanted, “Abortion rights are trans rights,” as they approached the Heritage Foundation, where DJ Griffin Maxwell Brooks and booming music received them. The crowd quickly fell into an impromptu dance party and formed a circle where marchers took turns showcasing their vogueing. Trans queer performance artist Qween Amor noted that the march was attended by a group diverse in both identity and age.
“I think it’s very empowering to see not just my generation, but also seeing younger generations coming up and finding themselves in a moment where we can be liberated together and to see a mix of intersectional identities. I think, for me, [that] lets me know that, you know, I’m alive and that there’s hope,” she told the Washington Blade.
The march then returned to Columbus Circle, where health organizations and political organizations had set up booths. Hundreds of banned books were distributed for free and all copies were claimed within two hours of the event’s start.
It was a particularly hot Saturday with temperatures reaching 87 degrees, but Columbus Circle continued to be filled with people late into the day.
Page, known for his roles in films and series such as “Juno” and “The Umbrella Academy,” drew a large crowd when he took the stage to speak about his journey as a trans man.
“When I was finally able to step back from the squirreling, foreboding, the self-battering, and torment, the messages to lie and hide grew faint. I was able to listen, at last, to embrace myself wholly. And goodness, do I want that feeling for everyone,” he said. “I love being trans. I love being alive, and I want everyone to have access to the care that has changed my life. So let’s fight for it.”
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.
‘The Inheritance’ is most-nominated at this year’s Helen Hayes Awards
HIV Vaccine Awareness Day set for May 18
DC Black Pride is around the corner
United Night Out set for Saturday
Calendar: May 15-21
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Senate Democrats press DOJ over anti-trans prison directives
Anti-LGBTQ violence prevention efforts highlighted at D.C. community fair
Celebrated performer Rose Levine plays Rehoboth on May 15
Washington Blade’s Pride on the Pier returns June 13 to kick off D.C. Pride week
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National3 days agoAmerica’s broken pipeline of mental healthcare for trans youth
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Federal Government5 days ago
Senate Democrats press DOJ over anti-trans prison directives
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District of Columbia4 days ago
Anti-LGBTQ violence prevention efforts highlighted at D.C. community fair
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Rehoboth Beach4 days ago
Celebrated performer Rose Levine plays Rehoboth on May 15
