Arts & Entertainment
Lesbian couple donates Rockefeller Center Christmas tree
Shirley Figueroa and Lissette Gutierrez nicknamed the Norway spruce Shelby
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Shirley Figueroa and Lissette Gutierrez (Photo via Facebook)
For the first time in the 86-year history of the now iconic Rockefeller Center tree lighting ceremony, the tree was donated by a lesbian couple, according to the New York Times.
Shirley Figueroa and her wife Lissette Gutierrez moved to a home in Wallkill, N.Y., about an hour and a half outside New York City, last year. Figueroa, a Bronx native, wanted to find a new home with trees. The couple hit the jackpot as the property included a 72-foot Norway spruce tree, which weighs an estimated 12 tons.
The couple nicknamed the tree Shelby because “I felt she has a female spirit,” Figueroa told the Associated Press.
Shelby was adorned with five miles of LED multicolored lights topped off with a 900-pound Swarovski crystal star.
“Just the fact that I have a tree that I can donate when I came from somewhere that had no trees — it’s so surreal,” Figueroa told the New York Times.
Figueroa and Gutierrez are not only the first same-sex couple to donate a tree to Rockefeller Center but the first Latinx couple.
The tree will be on display through Jan. 7.
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The 2024 New York City Pride Parade wound through the streets of Manhattan and past the historic Stonewall Inn on Sunday, June 30.
(Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt)
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The fourth annual Fredericksburg Pride march and festival was held at Riverfront Park in Fredericksburg, Va. on Saturday, June 29. The event began with a march around downtown Fredericksburg beginning and ending in the park.
(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)
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Covering Fredericksburg Pride for @WashBlade . City Council member @WillMackintosh speaking: pic.twitter.com/tDdVD2IVsM
— Michael Patrick Key (@MichaelKeyWB) June 29, 2024
Photos
PHOTOS: Goodwin Living Pride
Senior living and healthcare organization holds fourth annual march at Falls Church campus
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The senior living and healthcare organization Goodwin Living held its fourth annual community Pride march around its Bailey’s Crossroads campus in Falls Church, Va. with residents, friends and supporters on Tuesday, June 25. Following the march, a drag brunch was held with performances by drag artists of SADBrunch: Crimsyn, Sapphire Dupree and Evon Dior Michelle.
(Photos courtesy of Goodwin Living)
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