“Sports have been part of my universe,” says Dr. Demetre Daskalakis. “When I was in high school in Alexandria, I was the student athletic trainer, so I was the one who was helping out the teams to make sure that they were ready to go on the field from the medical and physical perspective.”
Daskalakis, chief medical officer of Callen-Lorde Community Health Center in New York City, adds that he “played baseball very casually when I was a kid, but was never on a team.”
That baseball experience — however slight — may come in handy on Wednesday, June 24, when the D.C. native throws out the ceremonial first pitch at Team DC’s annual Pride Night OUT at Nationals Park ahead of the Washington Nationals’ matchup with the Philadelphia Phillies.
While Daskalakis may not be known for his athletic prowess, he has become one of the nation’s most recognizable public health leaders.
Prior to joining Callen-Lorde, he served in several senior roles at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and helped lead the Biden administration’s response to the 2022 mpox outbreak, including a large-scale vaccination effort aimed at those most at risk of infection.
“Honoring Dr. Daskalakis at Pride Night OUT reflects the values Team DC hopes to lift up through this event: visibility, service, courage, and the power of community,” Miguel Ayala, president of Team DC, said in an email to Metro Weekly. “He has been a powerful voice for our community in the most difficult of times.”
The evening’s pregame ceremony will also feature the Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C., singing the national anthem, a drag show, a live DJ, photo opportunities, and other themed activities throughout the stadium concourse.
Among them is Play Catch with Dad, a group of volunteer fathers who attend Pride events across the country, offering a game of catch and a hug to LGBTQ people who have lost or never had the support of a father.
While Daskalakis is coy about any outfit reveals he has planned before stepping onto the pitcher’s mound — “I know how to turn a look,” he says — his biggest goal is to throw a better pitch than the one Dr. Anthony Fauci threw out at the Nationals’ 2020 season opener.
“I recently saw a YouTube video just to check, and I’m going to try my best to outdo him,” Daskalakis says. “Which doesn’t seem like it’s going to be really hard, based on the pitch I saw.”
Team DC’s Pride Night OUT is Wednesday, June 24, at 6:45 p.m. at Nationals Park, 1500 S. Capitol St. SE. Fans who purchase a special ticket are eligible to receive one of two Nationals Pride jerseys, with $5 from each ticket benefiting Team DC. For tickets or more information, visit nationals.com/NightOut.
LGBTQ Black Pride events and Washington, D.C., share a compelling history that goes as far back as at least the late 19th century. That's when William Dorsey Swann, a former slave, was hosting parties of Black men in fine ladies' attire. It was enough to get him and some fellow celebrants thrown in jail. It's also why city leaders more recently moved to commemorate the already existing Swann Street NW in his honor in this century.
But just as Swann navigated the fraught terrain between party and peril, so too do the Black Pride celebrations of today. As Kenya Hutton, president and CEO of the D.C.-based Center for Black Equity (CBE), prepares for this year's D.C. Black Pride, May 22 to 25, he says there are warning signs flashing for his and similar events around the country, if not the world.
The District of Columbia Mayor's Office of LGBTQ Affairs is promoting four city-sponsored events in June to commemorate LGBTQ Pride Month.
"These moments are designed to honor our history, elevate our community, and celebrate the partnerships that continue to move us forward," D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser said in a statement.
Beginning Monday, June 1, at 4 p.m., the Mayor's Office of LGBTQ Affairs will host its annual Pride flag-raising ceremony at the John A. Wilson Building. The event, considered the symbolic start of Pride Month, will feature remarks from the mayor and several community leaders on the building's steps before attendees gather for a group photograph.
A Brooklyn man who fatally stabbed gay dancer O'Shae Sibley during a confrontation at a gas station in 2023 has been convicted of manslaughter as a hate crime, but acquitted of murder charges.
Dmitriy Popov, 20, a smoke shop employee from Brooklyn's Sheepshead Bay neighborhood, was accused of fatally stabbing O'Shae Sibley, a 28-year-old professional dancer who had moved from Philadelphia to New York City to pursue a career in the arts.
Popov faced nine charges, including two counts of second-degree murder as hate crimes, two counts of first-degree manslaughter as hate crimes, and aggravated harassment based on race, religion, or sexual orientation.
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.