Kennedy Center’s events scheduled for LGBTQ+ pride celebration canceled, organizers say

https://apnews.com/article/world-pride-kennedy-center-trump-lgbtq-69fbf0ca20c2f9c36f49f8311f8bf1b6

The Kennedy Center is seen Aug. 13, 2019, in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin, File)

By ASHRAF KHALIL

Updated 7:47 PM EDT, April 25, 2025

Organizers and the Kennedy Center have canceled a week’s worth of events celebrating LGBTQ+ rights for this summer’s World Pride festival in Washington, D.C., amid a shift in priorities and the ousting of leadership at one of the nation’s premier cultural institutions.

Multiple artists and producers involved in the center’s Tapestry of Pride schedule, which had been planned for June 5 to 8, told The Associated Press that their events had been quietly canceled or moved to other venues. And in the wake of the cancellations, Washington’s Capital Pride Alliance has disassociated itself from the Kennedy Center.

“We are a resilient community, and we have found other avenues to celebrate,” said June Crenshaw, deputy director of the alliance. “We are finding another path to the celebration … but the fact that we have to maneuver in this way is disappointing.”

The Kennedy Center’s website still lists Tapestry of Pride on its website with a general description and a link to the World Pride site. There are no other details.

The Kennedy Center did not respond to a request from the AP for comment.

The move comes on the heels of massive changes at the Kennedy Center, with President Donald Trump firing both the president and chairman in early February. Trump replaced most of the board with loyalists, who then elected him the new Kennedy Center chairman.

The World Pride event, held every two years, starts in just under a month — running from May 17 through June 8 with performances and celebrations planned across the capital city. But Trump administration policies on transgender rights and comments about Kennedy Center drag performances have sparked concern about what kind of reception attendees will receive.

“I know that D.C. as a community will be very excited to be hosting World Pride, but I know the community is a little bit different than the government,” said Michael Roest, founder and director of the International Pride Orchestra, which had its June 5 performance at the Kennedy Center abruptly canceled within days of Trump’s takeover.

Roest told the AP he was in the final stages of planning the Kennedy Center performance after months of emails and Zoom calls. He was waiting on a final contract when Trump posted on social media Feb. 7 of the leadership changes and his intention to transform the Kennedy Center’s programming.

Immediately the Kennedy Center became nonresponsive, Roest said. On Feb. 12, he said, he received a one-sentence email from a Kennedy Center staffer stating, “We are no longer able to advance your contract at this time.”

“They went from very eager to host to nothing,” he said. “We have not since heard a word from anybody at the Kennedy Center, but that’s not going to stop us.”

In the wake of the cancellation, Roest said he managed to move the International Pride Orchestra performance to the Strathmore theater in nearby Bethesda, Maryland.

Crenshaw said some other events, including a drag story time and a display of parts of the AIDS Memorial Quilt, would be moved to the World Pride welcome center in Chinatown.

Monica Alford, a veteran arts and culture journalist and event planner, was scheduled to organize an event June 8 as part of Tapestry of Pride, but said she also saw communication abruptly end within days of Trump’s takeover.

Alford has a long history with the Kennedy Center and organized the first-ever drag brunch on the Kennedy Center rooftop in 2024, and said she regarded the institution — and its recent expansion known as The Reach — as “my home base” and “a safe space for the queer community”

She said she was still finalizing the details of her event, which she described as “meant to be family-friendly, just like the drag brunch was family-friendly and classy and sophisticated.”

She said she mourns the loss of the partnership she nurtured with the Kennedy Center.

“We’re doing our community a disservice — not just the queer community but the entire community,” she said.

Roest said he never received an explanation as to why the performance was canceled so late in the planning stages. He said his orchestra would no longer consider performing at the Kennedy Center, and he believes most queer artists would make the same choice.

“There would need to be a very, very public statement of inclusivity from the administration, from that board, for us to consider that,” he said. “Otherwise it is a hostile performance space.”

ASHRAF KHALIL

Khalil writes about local issues in Washington, D.C., for The Associated Press and covers the social safety net around the country.

What was the sin of Sodom?

Recent Yet Historic Marches, & More, in Peace & Justice History for 4/25

https://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/peacehistoryapril.htm#april25

Pentagon to resume medical care for transgender troops

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/04/24/transgender-troops-military-care-00306827

The move is another setback for Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who has made culture war issues a major part of his role.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has faced pressure from Democrats to follow the court order, suggesting he was undermining military recruitment needs. | Kevin Wolf/AP

By Jack Detsch, Paul McLeary and Kyle Cheney

04/24/2025 11:42 AM EDT

Updated: 04/24/2025 12:03 PM EDT

The Pentagon will resume gender-affirming care for transgender service members, according to a memo obtained by POLITICO, an embarrassing setback to Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s efforts to restrict their participation.

The memo says the Defense Department is returning to the Biden-era medical policy for transgender service members due to a court order that struck down Hegseth’s restrictions as unconstitutional. The administration is appealing the move, but a federal appeals court in California denied the department’s effort to halt the policy while its challenge is pending.

As a result, the administration is barred from removing transgender service members or restricting their medical care, a priority of President Donald Trump and Hegseth. The administration insisted its restrictions were geared toward people experiencing medical challenges related to “gender dysphoria,” but two federal judges said in March that the policy was a thinly veiled ban on transgender people that violated the Constitution.

The Trump administration on Thursday asked the Supreme Court to allow the Pentagon to ban transgender servicemembers while legal battles continue to play out.

Both judges ordered the military to refrain from forcing out more than 1,000 transgender troops and to resume providing for their medical care, including surgical procedures and voice and hormone therapy. The memo is the latest move by the Pentagon to comply with those orders.

But it presents another headache for Hegseth, who has made culture war issues — such as changing recruitment standards and reinstating the ban — a key piece of his effort to make the military more lethal. Hegseth has emphasized this theme as he’s sought to defend himself amid multiple scandals, including texting sensitive details of military operations in Yemen to multiple Signal group chats and a vicious brawl between his top advisers.

“Service members and all other covered beneficiaries 19 years of age or older may receive appropriate care for their diagnosis of [gender dysphoria], including mental health care and counseling and newly initiated or ongoing cross-sex hormone therapy,” Dr. Stephen Ferrara, the Pentagon’s acting assistant secretary of Defense for health affairs, said in a memo dated April 21.

President Donald Trump signed a long-expected order banning transgender people from serving in the military at the outset of the administration, just as he had done in 2017. But LGBTQ advocacy groups quickly pounced, calling the order discriminatory.

So far, the courts have rejected the Pentagon’s arguments that including transgender troops reduces the military’s ability to fight. U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle ruled in March that there is no evidence that transgender troops harm military readiness, and ordered the Pentagon to return to the status quo.

A three-judge panel of the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals on Tuesday became the first appellate court to hear arguments on Trump’s transgender military policy but gave little indication of how it might rule.

Defense officials acknowledged in a March memo sent to Pentagon leadership that the agency would comply with the court order, but did not detail the steps the department would take to follow it. Hegseth has openly attacked one of the judges, U.S. District Judge Ana Reyes, for her order, labeling her “Commander Reyes” in a pejorative post on X.

Hegseth has faced pressure from Democrats to follow the court order, suggesting he was undermining military recruitment needs.

“Given the unwillingness or inability of 99.6 percent of the U.S. population to serve in our military, the last thing our nation should be doing is rejecting patriotic Americans who are ready and willing to serve our country,” a group of 14 Senate Democrats, led by Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.), an Iraq veteran, wrote Tuesday to Hegseth. “The Trump administration’s repeated attacks on the transgender community reveal an ideological obsession rooted in a poor understanding of science.”

The Pentagon referred questions to the Justice Department, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A February memo signed by then-acting undersecretary for personnel and readiness Darin Selnick — who was fired by Hegseth last week — said service members or potential recruits interested in the military who have “a current diagnosis or history of, or exhibit symptoms consistent with, gender dysphoria” are “incompatible” with U.S. military service.

Hegseth, in a Wednesday speech at the Army War College, celebrated the first 100 days of the Trump administration by telling the assembled officers that there is “no more social engineering … no more gender confusion, no more pronouns, no more excuses,” within the military.

Some officials saw the move as a capitulation by the administration, which was settling for a loss in court while continuing to wage a public relations war to keep transgender service members out of the military.

“They’ve scared all of the trans people off,” said one person close to the Pentagon familiar with the conversations, granted anonymity to discuss a sensitive issue. “What’s to be gained by continuing to fight with the courts? It seems pretty easy to stop getting crazy with it. You won. You got what you wanted.”

Is “Being Gay” an Unforgivable Sin? – Questions from the Audience with Colby Martin

Roger suggested I look up this person and see what they had to say. I have read snippets of what he wrote and I like his message. He seems sincere and genuine. Hugs

Important News-

I was putting together a post on this, then saw tengrain had already done so, so here it is. There is an additional snippet/link from LawDork beneath the MPS window here; I was tossing around which parts to snip for a post when I opened MPS’s page.

SCOTUS Comes For Education

SCOTUS conservatives seem eager to increase parents’ religious rights in public schools by Chris Geidner

Tuesday’s arguments over Montgomery County schools’ story-time sessions included alarming questions about LGBTQ people. Read on Substack

The U.S. Supreme Court’s conservatives appeared eager on Tuesday to side with parents wanting to opt their students out of story-time sessions in Montgomery County’s public schools in Maryland that included a handful of books that contain same-sex couples and discussion of what it means to be transgender.

The question brought to the court by the parents’ lawyers from the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty is not whether schools can do so — as many do — but rather whether the First Amendment’s free exercise guarantee constitutionally requires it.

The school district has argued — and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit agreed — that teachers simply reading the books and students being exposed to these ideas do not constitute “coercion” such that parents’ free exercise rights are implicated.

But, in an alarming sign for LGBTQ people, it was clear that at least three of the justices believe that describing queer people accurately — acknowledging their equal existence — amounts to taking sides or trying to “influence” children.

More broadly, and after two-and-a-half hours of arguments at the Supreme Court, it was clear that the argument from the parents — with backing from the Trump administration — is going to prevail. The only real question was how the court will resolve the case. Given the different paths the court can take, though, the answer to that question is important.

It was, however, a lopsided argument that showed how extreme the “religious freedom” arguments have gotten in front of a court that has made clear that it backs religious supremacy over many — if not most — other constitutional rights. (snip-MORE)

Original Memes!

The Gays Had the Funniest “Get Me to God’s Country” Memes. Here Are Our Faves

A post made by country singer Morgan Wallen after walking off the SNL stage has become a much-mocked viral sensation.

By James Factora

If you’re anything like us (gay and deeply unwell), a certain five-word phrase has been echoing in your head since Saturday evening: “Get me to God’s country.” For those of blessed readers who have no idea what we’re talking about, allow us to explain. Country singer Morgan Wallen, who I had never heard of before this weekend, was the most recent musical guest on Saturday Night Live, with recent Oscar winner Mikey Madison serving as the show’s host. He abruptly walked offstage as the show was ending, still fully on camera, then proceeded to post a picture of a jet with the caption, “Get me to God’s country.”

Considering that this guy apparently called his neighbor the N-word in a highly publicized 2021 incident (for which he later apologized), it’s hard to place much stock in Wallen’s judgement about which American geography is holy and which isn’t. (Besides, a certain gay little website is headquartered in New York too, so it’s personal.) Thankfully, the gay internet immediately did what it does best and proceeded to meme the hell out of Wallen’s words. Below, scroll through some of our faves. (snip-I can’t possibly snag all of these! They’re a worthy click. -A)

OK, So.

I’ve been wrestling with whether to post this, or not. I want to always advise of resources for marginalized people to find community. However, these are religious resources. They’re the sort that emphasize inclusion and welcome and community, though, so that wins out, for me. I’m going to post this, hoping that someone will be able to use the information or knows someone else who can. I don’t know if there is an audience here for such things, so this would be the time to comment as to Yea, post these when I see them, or no comments/Nay being there is no one who might use these, and I’ll save the space in future. Thanks for your time! There is no proselytization intended with this post. It’s only to try to reach any- and everyone who is looking for community. These came from my Sojourners magazine. They’re simple resources that one can check out with no obligation or identification.

TRANSforming Church Culture: Becoming Trans Inclusive

Convocation 2025: UNCHARTED

Comics For Hopeful Expression

(Having only just now (10 PM Sunday) opened the email with this comic, I’m quite late; I’d saved it for a possible post, and it got buried. No matter, though; the message is good for more than one day, IMO. Everyone should be welcome everywhere every day, as they are welcome here. So, enjoy a comic. -A)

Published March 30, 2025

Creating Space for Trans Joy—And Rage

Teddie Bernard

During my first Trans Day of Visibility after starting hormone replacement therapy, I’m feeling like being trans is such a gift.

“Trans Day of Visibility 2025” is a comic drawn with sketchy maroon linework colored in with yellow and purple backgrounds, evocative of the non-binary pride flag. The narration follows Teddie, the artist, and their thoughts about transness. Teddie is depicted as a white person with short brown hair and a masculine or butch fashion sense. In panel one, Teddie is standing in their bathroom. They share, “I’ve identified as non binary for almost a decade and have felt my gender non conforming for longer than that.” Panel two is an illustration of Teddie’s hand squirting gel out of a bottle. They think, “But this is my first year celebrating Trans Day of Visibility (TDOV) while on Hormone Replacement Therapy.” Panel three, Teddie applies the gel to their upper arm. Their caption reads, “I’m incredibly grateful for this gift—for my happiness around transition.” Panel four, Teddie pulls down the sleeve of their t-shirt, covering their arm and looking reflective. The caption reads, “A huge weight, a blanket of dread that seemed to cover my life previously, has been lifted.” Panel five shows Teddie washing their hands of any remaining gel. They think, “Despite that lightness, that joy, I’m scared and furious for my community, my trans friends and family, for all of us.” Panel six has Teddie drying their hands off, thinking, “Anti-transgender legislation is being passed in the United States at a mind-numbing speed.” Across panel eight and nine, Teddie ponders their complicated feelings while looking in the mirror, seeing both a happy and frustrated version of themselves staring back. The caption reads, “While we celebrate transgender lives today, it’s crucial to hold space for not just trans joy but to hold equal space for trans rage.”

The next panels show those heavy moments of trans rage. A candlelight vigil with a trans flag in the background, a difficult conversation with a friend who says “I took they/them out of my bio…” and a phone balanced on someone’s knees, being informed there are “no operators available” are all depicted. The narration reads: “Every time we mourn for our trans siblings who were taken too soon, every time someone goes back into the closet, every time someone alls the lifeline and no one picks up, I feel trans rage, trans grief.” The next panel shows Teddie lying in bed at night, staring at the ceiling sleeplessly. The caption shares, “Right before starting HRT, I would have nights where I couldn’t sleep, wondering if I could manage to postpone medically transitioning another four years…” Teddie thinks to themselves hopelessly, “...or forever?” The caption of the next panel reads, “I had my first inkling I’d eventually want HRT when I was a teenager during Trump’s first presidency.” Below is a drawing of teenage Teddie, sitting on the couch with a laptop, looking at Laurence Philomene’s Trans Gaze photographs on their computer. They see themselves reflected back in the faces of other trans and nonbinary people. The next panel reads, “But I swallowed that feeling down for years. Ultimately, I was choking on dread—I couldn’t do it again.” Teddie here is depicted in a spiral of distress and dread. They can’t keep going the way they’re going at this point. The next panel reads, “I tried to imagine myself as a cis person, but it felt pointless. I’m a gender-freak through and through.” The image in the panel shows a TSA agent pulls Teddie aside, telling them, “We’ll need to pat down your crotch area.” Teddie looks irritated but not surprised, thinking to themselves, “I’m sure you do.”

Cutting back to the present moment, Teddie’s caption shares, “I’m not politically optimistic. Things have gotten much worse in a short period of time.” Teddie is shown walking in their apartment, looking at news on their phone that says: “Texas Bill 3399 aims to ban gender affirming care for adults.” In the foreground, a stack of posters that say “Protect and Defend Trans Lives” lie on the table. The next panel reads, “But those feelings are contrasted with my sudden love for my life and my body.” Teddie looks in the mirror and, similar to when they were looking at those photographs as a teenager, really sees themselves reflected back. They smile. Teddie thinks, “I’m overwhelmed by this freedom—I am the person in control of my body!” They hold their hand to their heart, feeling like they’re at home. Narration shares, “I get to decide what feels happy and healthy for myself.” Teddie walks through the park, a spring in their step. Teddie approaches a sign pole in their neighborhood. The caption reads, “Bodily autonomy is a feeling worth fighting for—” The caption continues: “—worth harnessing all the trans joy and rage to protect and defend.” We see Teddie staple a poster to the pole with a staple gun. In the last panel, we see Teddie standing next to the sign pole with the poster “Protect and Defend Trans Lives” displaying behind them. They speak directly to the audience in the final moment of the comic, saying, “Happy Trans Day of Visibility.”

Matt Walsh STUNNED During Heated Debate | Hasanabi reacts

If you look past the Matt Walsh crap Hasan gets to talking about people who are passing as the gender they identify as. And that is one reason why the red states are pushing so hard to trans block kids from using puberty blockers while allowing them for cis kids, they work and are safe but the trans kids won’t go through the wrong puberty giving them the wrong features we normally associate with genders. These people are terrified they won’t recognize who is trans because they pass so well. It shouldn’t be the issue I know as many wonderful trans people who had to go through the wrong puberty are still the gender they know and identify as. Sadly two things are at work. The two groups working together to stop trans positive or any positive LGBTQ+ inclusion / equality are the fundamentalist religious groups who think the entire world should run according to their faith … yet they have different faiths so … and the republican politicians who use it as a way to win votes and keep their base outraged. Both groups have their own agenda and they both ignore science and facts to create the narrative / outrage they desire rather than create a peaceful loving inclusive society. Oh I guess I forgot the white supremacist Nazi’s but they really fall under the Fundamentalist Christian banner right? Hugs.

Thank you Ali. I will make it a point to read it. Supporting trans people and their rights is very…

Hi Judy. I don't know how to get my birth certificate changed to reflect my current last name, it still…

Hi Ali. Oh yes you are so correct. The administration has tried hard to hide that Epstein said tRump was…

Hi Annie. Thank you for asking. I am trying to force myself to eat at least twice a day even…

Yes I read it. Thank you. Hugs.

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