Following three weeks of WorldPride festivities and organizations, Pride Month brings reflections on the values of resilience, authenticity and community in the storied evolution of queer culture in D.C.
From birthing the first Black student-led LGBTQ+ organization, to painting floats for the first WorldPride Parade hosted in Washington, local queer leaders have continuously paved paths toward inclusivity, all the while emphasizing these efforts as a means of influencing positive change and equity for all.
“It’s great to celebrate Pride each year with various events, but it’s better to live Pride every day and to live it to the fullest in every aspect of our lives,” said Philip Pannell, executive director of Anacostia Coordinating Council and longtime LGBTQ+ activist.
For Pannell, since his political beginnings in the first Home Rule Council in 1975, living his pride means advocating on behalf of not only the queer community, but civil rights at large, adamant in effecting change that stems from a right to freedom within.
“When I was doing [activist work], I never realized that this would be breaking ground. To me, it was just a matter of standing for rights, particularly because they affected me as a Black gay man,” Pannell told The Informer, “and so that has pretty much been my posture.”
1975: Setting the Stage for the Next 50 Years
When Pannell first moved to Washington, D.C. in 1975, he carried with him a heightened sense of leadership and advocacy for LGBTQ+ rights, due in no small part to his participation following the 1969 Stonewall Rebellion that birthed the Pride Movement in New York.
“Being part of the march and rally afterwards helped sensitize me to the need [to get involved] at a different level than just going to bars and enjoying the social side,” Pannell, 74, told The Informer. “There were things that were affecting the gay community that needed to be addressed in, I would say, the [activism] and political arenas. I became part of that.”
Pannell’s chronicles of justice include protesting sodomy laws; tackling HIV/AIDS awareness and legislation; and working in organizations such as the Black Gay Coalition (now the Black Lesbian and Gay Coalition), which he notes was pivotal to LGBTQ involvement in politics and the cultural movement of Black gays and lesbians.
The Ward 8 spokesman further highlighted the power of community collaboration as integral to much of the changemaking culture in D.C. He cites memories of hosting tours to gay bars for previous local officials, including former D.C. Mayor Marion Barry, and later partnering with Washington Informer founder Dr. Calvin Rolark, who also founded the United Black Fund, during his outreach amid the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic of the ‘80s.
“Rolark helped to fund some of the first street outreach for AIDS, particularly east of the river,” said Pannell. “With funds that I received from the United Black Fund, I was able to buy brochures and condoms, and [I] went throughout the community, in barber shops, beauty salons, to get that information out.”
While Pannell began to blaze trails in queer rights through political efforts and campaigns, other pioneers like Chi Hughes and Warrior Richardson were making history in Northwest, birthing the first LGBTQ+ organization of any historically Black college or university (HBCU) at Howard University.
Lambda Student Alliance (LSA) emerged in 1979 as a place to foster and build community for queer students, moved in a motion to promote visibility with educational seminars and forums, executive board meetings, and even campus-wide events and parties.
Despite an initial history of backlash, including administrative attempts to restrict the group from chartering as an official organization (which led to members filing a lawsuit), the resilience of LSA’s founding members laid the blueprint for a currently blossoming queer culture across Howard’s campus, including organizations such as C.A.S.C.A.D.E (the Coalition of Activist Students Celebrating the Acceptance of Diversity and Equality).
“The evolution that started in 1979 was about creating space where there was none and about being seen and heard. I hope to see that spirit continue with stronger institutional support, permanent funding, and policies that reflect our needs, especially for trans and nonbinary students,” said 2025-26 CASCADE President Jeremy Allman. “The goal is to move from moments of inclusion to a campus culture where queerness is naturally woven into the fabric of university life.”
Some storied milestones for LGBTQ+ representation at Howard that stem from the original iteration of Lambda Student Alliance include: electing the first trans person to hold the highest student office of any HBCU; introducing “Queer Studies” in the 2019 curriculum; and enacting October as the institution’s official Pride Month, alongside the national recognition in June, an accomplishment on behalf of the student-led CASCADE.
“Howard’s students are what make this university incredibly special. Their passion, drive, and commitment to change fuel everything,” Allman told The Informer, touting more storied accomplishments on behalf of youth queer leadership. “Whether it’s producing prominent figures, or launching initiatives that lead the way nationally, Howard constantly redefines what is possible. We honor our past, but we also keep moving forward with absolutely no regrets.”
Expanding D.C. Pride With ‘Full Circle Moments‘
One notable modern advancement beckoning at the hands of Pannell and three other queer activists – Mel Boozer, Ray Melrose, and Gary Walker – is the inclusion of LGBTQ+ voices in continued recognition of the 1963 March on Washington, which succeeded in part to key queer organizer, Bayard Rustin.
The four D.C. activists staged a sit-in outside of then-Del.Walter Fauntroy’s office to advocate for queer inclusion in the march’s 20th anniversary commencement, which ended in the four men’s arrest, but further established an understanding that queer voices are just as pivotal in conversations of civic reform.
“While we were in jail, there was a conference call among civil rights leaders, including people like Coretta Scott King, Jesse Jackson and Marion Barry…and they voted to name a speaker: Black lesbian poet and writer, Audre Lorde,” Pannell shared. “Our Black civil rights leaders understood that LGBT+ rights are all part of the civil rights agenda.”
Today, the landmark event is celebrated with queer voices at the forefront, including the June 8 International Rally + March on Washington for Freedom that culminated WorldPride.
Additionally, Rustin’s storied impact is continuing to gain national momentum, such as the most recent portrait unveiling of the civil rights pioneer at Union Temple Baptist Church on June 1, which Pannell attended.
For Keyonna Jones, founder and executive director of Congress Heights Arts and Culture Center, the arts is a way to contribute to the District’s queer community and leave her legacy on D.C. culture overall.
Like Pannell, Jones told The Informer advocating for queer representation doesn’t feel like a fight, “it’s just what I do,” noting the importance of a hyperlocal focus that allows the full-time artist to stay engaged in things that she can actually control.
Thus, the owner of Soufside Creative happily welcomed the opportunity to create artwork for the Dia de los Muertos DC (DDLMDC) float during this year’s WorldPride Parade on June 7, noting the experience as a “full-circle moment.”
“Everybody has a role, and everybody doesn’t need to be on the frontline,” said Jones, touting the creatives and innovators, such as herself, whose work captures and embodies the scrolls of history. “I say, be yourself, which is…being authentic to who you are and what speaks to you and your spirit.”
Jones spoke of the personal “healing journey” that began with her work on the Black Lives Matter Mural in 2020, as well as other ground-breaking moments like painting a mural for Rainbow Road, which is how she became acquainted with WorldPride and furthered connections with other queer organizations, including DDLMDC.
In addition to commending the growth of Pride festivities in D.C., Jones added the value of the parade is its overall representation of joy and community in defiance of the personal struggles that persist on the day-to-day.
Noting the presence of negativity that surrounds queer and Black communities alike, Jones attended the June 7 celebration with her children, leveraging the opportunity to showcase a community rooted in empowerment, authenticity, and an understanding that “the higher power leads to love, and that’s just how we live.”
“It’s important for me to show them…a parallel. You can’t change who you are…and there’s going to be people that accept you, there’s going to be people that don’t accept you,” Jones explained. “I want them to have pride for whoever they are, whoever they see themselves as. I want them to know that…I will always support them.”
As D.C. Pride continues to evolve, Pannell hopes to see youth and freedom fighters alike continue to trek forward in the push for resistance despite the modern challenges of federal pushback.
Notably, he prompts LGBTQ+ individuals to expand into the public education sector, alongside other issues affecting minority groups such as returning citizens, those suffering from substance abuse, and more.
Meanwhile, Jones encourages those looking to shape the future of queer culture to do so by looking within and embracing accountability, divine timing, and having grace to build the possibilities of all that can come next.
“This is a long haul and we don’t want to burn out,” said Jones. “Everything starts within. So don’t try to heal the world from the outside, you start from the inside and be a reflection of what you want to see.”