Local
Heroic distinction ‘very humbling’
Capital Pride honors locals working to help others


The Capital Pride heroes are honored in advance of this year's festival. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)
This yearās Capital Pride Heroes include four individuals and two organizations. Meet the heroes below.
MARTA ALVARADO
Latina and LGBT rights advocate Marta Alvarado leads the annual “Creating Change” conference, an important contribution to advancing the cause of LGBT rights.
Alvarado, whose National Gay and Lesbian Task Force job title of program coordinator for movement building barely hints at the array of skills she brings to getting all those cantankerous ducks in a row for five days of intensive movement-building, which she calls “the largest gathering of LGBT people and their allies.” Itās an exercise requiring equal parts precision and empathy.
Next year’s “Creating Change” conference ā February 2-6 in Minneapolis ā is expected to draw 2,000-3,000 people, she says. The year after that she will bring the conference to Baltimore.
For Alvarado, the Capital Pride Hero award is “a big honor … I had to take a step back, and receiving it takes me back to age 15 to my very first Pride event, and now it’s 15 years later, and I know the significance of Pride, and it’s very humbling.”
DESTINY B. CHILDS
How many ways are there to be dazzled by Destiny B. Childs?
Her list of titles as female impersonator and lady-illusionist are legendary, including her newest title of Miss Capital Pride 2010, the award she just won in a June 4 competition with seven other contestants at Town Danceboutique to kick off Capital Pride’s schedule. As such, she will preside over the parade on Saturday evening and the festival on Sunday.
Also known as Richard Legg, a 32-year-old government contracting specialist during the day, Destiny will be married on Aug. 28 in D.C. to her beloved, Rudy Benavides. With her theme song by Diana DeGarmo of “I Believe” and her special motto of “defy gravity,” Destiny has been doing drag for seven years in D.C.
Born in Albuquerque, Legg entered the Army and then completed his undergraduate education with a bachelorās in health care management from Southern Illinois University in 2005. In D.C., he has been the featured entertainer at Freddie’s Beach Bar for six years and also a member of the Ladies of Illusion at Ziegfeldās.
REV. ELDER DARLENE GARNER
Garner, the mother of four, grandmother of seven and great-grandmother of three, is a warrior of the spirit. She was born in Columbus, Ohio but after her divorce in 1973 she moved to D.C. to take a job as an administrative assistant at the World Bank.
Raised in the National Baptist Church, in 1976 she joined the still relatively new Metropolitan Community Church, where she is now an ordained minister and member of the MCC Board of Elders. She leads the MCC Conference for African-American Leaders and has also worked as executive director of the Philadelphia Mayor’s Commission on Sexual Minorities and previously as chaplain for an AIDS hospice and as board president for the Northern Virginia AIDS Ministry. She also helped to found the National Coalition of Black Lesbians and Gays.
On March 9, she and her partner of many years, Rev. Candy Holmes, were married along with two other couples in the first ceremony under D.C.’s new same-sex marriage law.
DC CLERGY UNITED FOR MARRIAGE EQUALITY
This diverse group of more than 200 “affirming and welcoming” clergy, representing religious institutions in every ward of the District, pushed back with robust fortitude and biblical testimony against the dogmatic naysayers from the homophobic corners of religious life.
“We are the District of Columbia clergy and religious leaders of many faiths, races, ethnicities, and sexual orientations,” they declared in a statement full of eloquent yet simple profundity: “We now join our voices again to speak a faithful word for freedom and equality.”
“We declare that our faith calls for us to affirm marriage equality for loving same-sex couples,” because “where love is present, God is also present,” and “it is holy and good.”
These clergy fought the “battle of Jericho” in D.C. and the walls came tumbling down.
DC FOR MARRIAGE
A program of the DC Center, this group of local residents became activists pushing politically every inch of the way to win votes on the D.C. Council in favor of this historic step. And the organization continues its important work today, for example in offering legal updates for D.C. residents on creating legal protections for “families of choice” brought together under the new marriage law. See more information on their ongoing work at www.dcformarriage.org.
Virginia
Youngkin calls on gay Va. GOP LG candidate to exit race over alleged ‘porn’ scandal
John Reid denounces ‘fabricated internet lie’ as anti-gay smear campaign

Less than a week after John Reid, the conservative gay radio talk show host from Richmond secured the Republican nomination for the office of lieutenant governor in Virginia, sensational allegations have surfaced, which he strongly denies, that he allegedly posted pornographic photos on social media.
According to the Virginia Mercury newspaper, the allegations surfaced when Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkinās office released a statement saying Youngkin contacted Reid on Friday, April 25, and asked him to withdraw his candidacy over reports that a social media account with Reidās username included āpornographic contentā that was āsharedā with others.
āThe governor was made aware late Thursday of the disturbing online content,ā the Virginia Mercury quotes a Youngkin spokesperson as saying. āFriday morning, in a call with Mr. Reid, the governor asked him to step down as the lt. governor nominee,ā the spokesperson is quoted as saying.
Reid responded to the allegations in an early Friday evening video he posted on his campaignās Facebook page, calling the allegations āa totally fabricated internet lieā motivated by anti-gay bias.
āI can tell you thatās not my account and anyone on the internet can open accounts with the same or similar names as other people,ā he stated in his video. āItās predictable,ā he added.
āBut what I didnāt expect was the governor I have always supported to call and demand my resignation without even showing me the supposed evidence or offering me a chance to respond,ā Reid states in his video.
He said he will not drop out of the lieutenant governorās race and called the allegations against him just the latest in what he said was an ongoing effort by some in the Republican Party, especially conservative Christians, to force him out of politics.
āLetās be honest,ā he said. āitās because Iām openly gay. And I have never backed down to the establishment, and will not,ā he continued in his video message. āWhat happened today is another coordinated assassination attempt against me to force the first openly gay candidate off of a Virginia statewide ticket.ā
Reid added, āItās shameful, and I wonāt back down, even though I know the plan is for the attacks to continue in this overt effort to make me toxic.ā
Reid secured the GOP nomination for lieutenant governor last week after his only rival in the Republican primary, Fairfax County Supervisor Pat Herrity, dropped out of the race for health reasons.
By securing the nomination Reid became the first known openly gay candidate, Republican or Democrat, to be nominated for a statewide office in Virginia.
In an interview with the Washington Blade earlier this week Reid pointed out that he came out as gay in 1996 or 1997 on National Coming Out Day in his role as TV news anchor in Richmond, where he worked for 10 years.
Following that, Reid worked as a radio talk show host for the next eight years, promoting his ideas as a gay conservative Republican, up until shortly before he announced his candidacy for lieutenant governor, he told the Blade.
Reidās video responding to the accusations against him can be accessed here.
Reidās campaign website and statements he has released to the media acknowledge his status as a gay candidate but point out he has a long record of support for conservative Republican positions on a wide range of issues that are against the positions of most mainline LGBTQ rights organizations.
āIām not a diversity hire,ā he stated in a press release issued at the time he announced his candidacy in January. āIām the most conservative and proven candidate running, and Iāve boldly stood up for our beliefs in a way that should make my personal life a total nonissue,ā he stated.
A statement on his campaign website states āJohn is uniquely positioned to take the fight to the radical progressives head on as he continues his fight against boys in girlsā sports and the extreme trans agenda being forced upon our children.ā
His campaign website statement on transgender issues concludes by saying, āAnd we must be blatant in saying that it is factually impossible for biological men or women to personally decide to change their gender. John believes in the right for grown adults to live their lives as they see fit, but not if they impose restrictions and obligations on others and not if any of their behavior sexualizes or grooms children.
Maryland
A Baltimore theater educator lost jobs at Johns Hopkins and the Kennedy Center
Tavish Forsyth concluded they could not work for Trump

BY WESLEY CASE | Tavish Forsyth had come to a conclusion: They could not work for President Donald Trump.
So the 32-year-old Baltimore resident stripped down, turned on their camera, and lit their career on fire.
āFāā Donald Trump and fāā the Kennedy Center,ā a naked Forsyth, an associate artistic lead at the Washington National Operaās Opera Institute, which is run by the Kennedy Center, said in a video that went viral. The board of the nationās leading cultural institution had elected Trump just weeks prior as its chairman after he gutted the board of members appointed by his predecessor, President Joe Biden.
The rest of this article can be read on the Baltimore Banner’s website.
District of Columbia
Little Gay Pub to host April 25 celebration of life for Patrick Shaw
School teacher, D.C. resident praised for āwarmth, humor, kindnessā

Co-workers and friends will hold a celebration of life for highly acclaimed schoolteacher and D.C. resident Patrick Shaw beginning at 5:30 p.m. Friday, April 25 at The Little Gay Pub 1100 P St., N.W.
Little Gay Pub co-owner and Shawās friend, Dusty Martinez, said Shaw passed away unexpectedly on April 19 from a heart related ailment at the age of 60.
āPatrick touched so many lives with his warmth, humor, kindness, and unmistakable spark,ā Martinez said. āHe was a truly special soul ā funny, vibrant, sassy, and full of life and we are heartbroken by his loss.ā
In an Instagram posting, Shawās colleagues said Shaw was a second-grade special education teacher at the J.F. Cook campus of D.C.ās Mundo Verde Bilingual Public Charter School.
āPatrick brought warmth, joy, and deep commitment to Mundo Verde,ā his colleagues said in their posting. āHis daily Broadway sing-alongs, vibrant outfits, and genuine love for his students filled our community with energy and laughter.ā
The posted message adds, āPatrick was more than a teacher; he was a light in our school, inspiring us all to show up with heart, humor, and kindness every day. His spirit will be deeply missed.ā
The Washington Blade is preparing a full obituary on Patrick Shaw to be published soon.
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