Where else can you see drag queens, Septa Unella, the nun from Game of Thrones, Cruella de Vil flocked by a herd of dalmatians, mock political figures ranging from Hillary Clinton to Sarah Palin, and a host of pun-related costumes? On 17th Street NW, of course.
Each year, on the Tuesday before Halloween, the main drag in D.C.’s traditional “gayborhood” gets a veritable ton of foot traffic as people don creative costumes and heels, from simple 1-inch pumps to 6-inch stilettos, as they prepare for the annual 17th Street High Heel Race.
The actual course is a 300-meter straightaway, and the race typically lasts only a few minutes, but what draws thousands of spectators each year is the parade of costumes two hours prior to the starting gun. Participants strut up and down the street in their fancy footwear, hugging old friends and acquaintances, posing for photos, spraying silly string and confetti, and engaging in various campy antics.
The race, celebrating its 30th anniversary this year, was initially attended by only those “in the know” within D.C.’s LGBT community, but has grown in popularity each year. Now, families with children from the suburbs regularly attend and try to grab selfies with race participants. It’s a change that would have been unimaginable at a gay event 30 years ago, says Dave Perruzza, general manager of JR.’s Bar & Grill, the host bar of the High Heel Race.
In preparation for this Tuesday’s race, JR.’s has gone on a decorating blitz, constructing a 10-foot tall wooden high heel resting on a ledge above the bar. Suspended above the bar are 30 pairs of silver-colored high heels. “I joke that each pair is the heel the winner wore each year,” says Perruzza. “But we actually went to a thrift store and bought 30 pairs of heels to represent each year.”
Perruzza is so consumed with making sure the event runs flawlessly, worrying about security, crowd safety, and whether he can get enough volunteers, that he can’t really sit back and enjoy the race. But he does have a fond memory from years ago.
“The first year I ran it, just before I went out, [JR.’s owner] Eric Little said, ‘If you fall and hurt yourself, you’ll be out of work and won’t have any income.’ And I said, ‘I’ll be fine.’ I was one of the people who actually put on six-inch heels, and somebody fell right in front of me,” he says. “And I’m wearing this silver lamé dress with wings and stuff on it, and I jump over this person, and all I could think about was, ‘I cannot prove Eric right and sprain my ankle.’ So I did the perfect landing and kept on running. I got 13th place that year.”
The 30th Annual 17th Street High Heel Race will take place on on Tuesday, Oct. 25 on 17th Street between the intersections of P and R. The parade of participants starts at 7 p.m., with the race starting at Cobalt at 9 p.m. Volunteers are welcome, and must report to JR.’s at 1519 17th St. NW, by 6:30 p.m. For more information, visit jrsbar-dc.com.
Harvard University has drawn criticism from conservatives after announcing that Tufts professor Kareem Khubchandani -- who performs and occasionally lectures in drag as "LaWhore Vagistan" -- will serve as a visiting associate professor in its Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality department.
The visiting professorship was established through an endowment from members of the Harvard Gender & Sexuality Caucus, the university's LGBTQ alumni group. It was created to bring in scholars focused on issues related to sexual minorities and sexuality.
Khubchandani is scheduled to teach two courses during the 2025-2026 academic year: "Queer Ethnography," in the fall semester, and "RuPaulitics: Drag, Race, and Desire" in the spring semester, focusing on the cultural influence of the show RuPaul's Drag Race.
The founders of the legendary Miss Adams Morgan Pageant talk about how D.C.'s largest drag event has evolved over 37 years.
By John Riley Photographs from the 1998 to 2024 pageants courtesy of the Dupont Social Club
October 1, 2025
"The whole Miss Adams Morgan Pageant really started by accident," says Steven Brandt, a board member of the Dupont Social Club, which organizes the annual drag pageant, now a fixture on many D.C. residents' calendars.
Brandt recalls that he and his now-husband, Rick Boylan, were celebrating Halloween in drag with friends when, on their way to a piano bar, walking through Dupont Circle, they were accosted by a group of teenagers.
"It was raining," recalls Brandt. "They ripped my wig off and threw it in a puddle, spewing all kinds of hatefulness. After that, we decided we needed a place to be able to go in drag if we wanted. It was maybe only the first or second time we'd been in drag, but I was so enraged by the experience that I kept saying over and over, 'We've got to...This isn't right.'"
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