Next Up: Monday, April 21, 6:30 PM
Capital Pride Alliance in partnership with Team Rayceen Production and the 50th Anniversary subcommittee of World Pride 2025 presents “An Evening with Heroes”.
The Capital Pride Alliance is celebrating 50 years of pride in our nation’s capital. As part of that celebration, we want to highlight some of the organizers in our community who have received an honor from our organization or made outstanding contributions to pride in Washington DC.
This panel will include the founders of several pride events in DC. Join us for a memorable evening.
Doors open at 6:15 pm at the Human Rights Campaign Equality Center, 1640 Rhode Island Ave NW.
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Heroes
Jim Bennett & Deacon Maccubin
Founders,
Capital Pride
About Deacon Maccubbin
Deacon Maccubbin founded the first annual Gay Pride Day in Washington DC in 1975 which has evolved into Capital Pride.
While still in the Army, Maccubbin became a gay activist, joining the Gay Liberation Front-DC briefly. In 1971, he took over a craftshop at 1724 20th St NW, turning it into the Earthworks paraphernalia shop. On June 8, 1974, Earthworks’ shelves of magazines and books became the core stock for the new Lambda Rising, one of the nation’s largest and most successful groups of gay bookstores.
Through Lambda Rising, he created the first annual D.C. Gay Pride celebration in June 1975; the first gay youth support group in D.C.; and the gay switchboard, all in the “Community Building” which Maccubbin managed at 1724 20th St NW. In February, 1975, Maccubbin’s Lambda Rising became the first gay business to run a gay and lesbian television commercial anywhere in the world.
Maccubbin has played important roles in the reform of D.C.’s sodomy law, passage of the D.C. Human Rights Act, and in responding to Bible-based attacks on homosexuality. In 1982, Deacon and his husband, Jim Bennett, who also worked for 20 years at Lambda Rising, were among the first to celebrate a Holy Union and they were the second couple to be registered as Domestic Partners in the District of Columbia. They were legally married in 2015 after the historic Supreme Court decision that recognized marriage equality. Earlier this year, they celebrated their 47th year together on a second honeymoon in Puerto Rico.
In addition to Lambda Rising, Deacon helped save the Oscar Wilde bookstore in New York as well as issuing the first Lambda Book Report in 1987 that led to the creation of the Lambda Literary Foundation which has championed LGBTQ writers and books. Jim and Deacon continue to be inspirational leaders in our community.
Ernest Hopkins
Co-Founder
Black Pride
About Ernest Hopkins
Ernest Hopkins is a pioneering advocate for the Black LGBTQ+ community and HIV/AIDS awareness. He founded the inaugural Black Gay and Lesbian Pride Day in 1991, an event that has played a pivotal role in funding essential services for HIV/AIDS patients. Hopkins has held several Director roles in various HIV/AIDS organizations, including the Metropolitan Washington, D.C. Regional HIV Health Services Planning Council and the San Francisco AIDS Foundation (SFAF). Recognized for his impactful work, Hopkins received the Congressional Black Caucus’s Leadership Award, and the DC Black Pride’s Unsung Hero Award was renamed in his honor in 2021.
Christopher Dyer
Founder,
Youth Pride
About Christopher Dyer
Christopher Dyer is a DC based LGBT and community activist who is the founder of Youth Pride Day in Washington DC. Professionally, Chris served as the Director of the Office of LBGTQ Affairs, for the DC Government from 2007-2010. In this position, he was responsible for recommending and implementing policy changes to improve the lives of LGBT residents in the District of Columbia and represent the Mayor to the LGBT community. One of the highlights of this service was helping find funding for the Wanda Alston House which was the first transitional housing program for LGBT Youth. Dyer is the co-founder of the Wanda Alston Foundation which manages the house as well as other transitional housing programs.
Dyer currently serves as the Community Engagement Manager for the DC Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR). Prior to joining DPR, Dyer implemented and managed the Private Security Camera Rebate Program for DC Government. Dyer was also recently re-elected to
his 4th term (2nd non-consecutive) as an Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner.
Prior to joining the DC Government, Chris worked for a variety of non-profit organizations. An avid fan of his beloved Washington Capitals, karaoke and global travel, Dyer is currently co-chairing the 50th Anniversary committee of World Pride and lives with his beloved and very tolerant husband in DC.
Jose Gutierrez
Founder,
Latino Pride
About Jose Gutierrez
Jose Guiterrez is an activist, Latinx historian, curator, writer and a poet. He is the founder of the Latino GLBT History Project, the DC Latino Pride and co-founder of the Rainbow History Project.
In 2014 he received the Jose Sarria medal of honor by Nicole Murray-Ramirez, The Queen Mother of the Americas for his contributions to the LGBTQ and in 2015 contributed to the book Queer Brown Voices, with an interview/essay entitled “We must preserve our Latino LGBTQ history”. Jose works with the DHS DC Gov and he is serving at the DC History Center Latnx Advisory Group, currently he is writing a book about the history of the Washington, DC Latinx LGBTQ. In 2020 Jose founded the Jose Gutierrez Archives to preserve the history of the DC LGBTQ Latino community.
SaVanna Wanzer
Founder,
Trans Pride
About SaVanna Wanzer
SaVanna Wanzer is the founder of TransPride which started in 2007 as a one-day event. She has also started May Is “All About Trans”. Events include a Transgender Summit and grand youth Ball. She is also the founder of DC Black Trans pride and is working to build the first Transgender National Monument.
In addition to Trans Pride, SaVanna has been involved with several community organizations. Here are some of the many contributions she has made.
SaVanna has received the Lifetime Volunteer Award from Whitman-Walker Health, the Pride Founders Award, and named a Capital Pride Hero and the Black Pride Unsung Hero.
She has served as a Member of Community Advisory Panel (CAP) NMAC, Support Group Co-Facilitator- Us Helping Us People Into Living and provided educational trainings for the GWU Doctors “Bedside Manners” program, an instructor in Trans 101 Sensitivity training. A volunteer for over 30 years with Whitman Walker Health including seven with the Gender Name Change Clinic. She also volunteers with the DC Trans Coalition which worked to improve the lives of members of the transgender community.
SaVanna was the first Capital Pride Transgender Board member. She also served on the board of Whitman-Walker Health and a member of Mayor Vincent Gray’s LGBT Advisory Board. SaVanna is an active member of the Westminster Presbyterian Church from and a team of community members had Thanksgiving Dinner for clients and passed out Turkeys for 100 clients.
Moderators
Benjamin Coy
About Benjamin Coy
Benjamin Coy is an award-winning digital strategist and dynamic fashion creative with expertise in content strategy, influencer marketing, and brand development. As a digital strategist, Benjamin focuses on Black and queer liberation, intersectionality, and LGBTQ+ advocacy. As a fashion creative, Benjamin is a stylist, fashion show producer, and recurring red carpet review panelist on Washington, D.C.’s lifestyle talk show, Living Local DMV. A recognized speaker and thought leader, Benjamin is a co-host of the “Cocktails and Culture Podcast,” and hosts the National LGBTQ Task Force’s Instagram Live series “X is a Queer Issue.” Benjamin holds a BA in Mass Communication from Bethune-Cookman University and an MA in Strategic Communication from American University. In 2024, Benjamin was added to PR Week’s Pride in PR list of 30 inspirational LGBTQ PR practitioners in the world.
The Capital Pride Alliance, through its stewardship of diverse programming and events, specifically year-round LGBTQ+ Pride festivities centered in Washington, DC and the National Capital Region, serves to celebrate, educate, support, and inspire our multi-faceted communities in order to grow and preserve our history and protect our rights for current and future generations. Learn More