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Washington Post
3 days ago
- General
- Washington Post
An illustrated look at how readers spent their first Pride
Social Issues An illustrated look at how readers spent their first Pride We asked readers to share memories of their first Pride. Powerful responses poured in. (Hannah Good/The Washington Post) By Marissa J. Lang and Hannah Good June 7, 2025 at 8:00 a.m. EDT 5 minutes ago 1 min As the nation's capital wrapped itself in rainbows this month to welcome visitors for WorldPride, one of the largest international observances of LGBTQ people and their rights, we asked Washington Post readers to think back to their first-ever Pride. Did they go with a big, supportive group of friends? Or did they have to sneak out alone? What sights and sounds, sensations and feelings have stuck with them even years later? Our call-out drew responses from people across the country. Readers from ages 18 to 82 shared a range of experiences at Prides in big cities and smaller communities. The first DC Pride, then known as Gay Pride Day, was in 1975. Story continues below advertisement One reader, from Fresno, California, said he has attended Pride annually for 35 years — and only ever missed one parade. Others said they were planning to celebrate their very first Pride this year, and looked forward to making the kind of self-affirming memories so many others shared. What follows are a handful of those reflections. These first-person accounts, drawn from written comments and follow-up interviews, have been lightly edited and condensed. Tara Cheston (45) and Michelle Cheston (50) Lesbians, Falls Church, Va., pronouns: she/her 'My first Pride was June 2010 in Washington, D.C. My now-wife and I were both invited to the same house party in Dupont Circle and decided, last minute, to show up. The party was packed. I decided I didn't want to be around all those people so I went downstairs to watch the parade — and so did she. We saw someone go by with these Mylar balloons — and Michelle was like, 'Oh no, the poor sea turtles!' And I was like, 'Yes! The sea turtles!' We got coffee after that and just chatted. We've talked every day since then. This year is going to be our 15th Pride together. When we got married, we went to Kauai and had a sunset beach wedding. Afterward, we got to swim with sea turtles.' Ash Lazarus Orr (34) Bisexual trans man, Morgantown, pronouns: he/they 'My first Pride was here in Appalachia. I was a closeted trans man, and the son of a pastor, carrying so much silence and self-doubt. I'd always felt like I had to hide parts of myself just to survive — at church, in town, even in my own skin. I didn't have the language for anything I was feeling then. I was in high school and still so closeted. But on that day, something shifted.' Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Riley Reed (25) Queer, Washington, D.C., pronouns: she/her 'My first Pride was in Milwaukee in 2017. I was a junior in high school, closeted and navigating the early stages of understanding my identity. I borrowed my parents' car and drove into the city. I didn't tell them where I was going. I wasn't out yet, but deep down, I knew I was gay. That day changed everything. Surrounded by music, celebration and people who radiated joy and authenticity, I felt — for the first time — what it meant to belong.' Davian Morgan (33) Gay, Washington, D.C., pronouns: he/him 'My first Pride was in Washington, D.C., in the summer of 2010. I had just graduated high school, was newly settled into my first year of college and had just come out to my extended family. With each conversation, I shed layers of fear, shame and self-doubt that had silently weighed me down. I went with a group of friends. As we emerged from the Metro, it hit me: I had never seen anything like this. Rainbows streamed from windows, flags waved high above buildings — the air itself seemed charged, with love, with history, with possibility. Everywhere I looked, there were people just like me: Black, brown, queer, fabulous, fearless. Holding hands. Hugging. Dancing. Living.' Story continues below advertisement Advertisement Maria Denton (56) Bisexual, Arlington, Va., pronouns: she/her 'My first Pride was in Washington, D.C., in 2018. I was marching with a company and I wasn't out yet as bisexual, except to close friends and my husband. I pass as straight because I'm married to a man, and it felt exhilarating to be among so many people who were out and proud. The next year, Pride became so much more than a catchphrase. It became a cause, a way of being. I wanted to show LGBTQ youth that you can be out and your value isn't tied to who you love — only that you love. Today, I never shy away from being queer. I hope I can be the example to others that I so sorely needed when I was young.'
Daily Mail
08-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
MAGA ally responds after explosive marriage details revealed
A top congressional Republican has confirmed he was married by an Islamic teacher with connections to Hamas, the Islamic Brotherhood and the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., married his soon-to-be ex-wife, Rana Al Saadi, a naturalized American from Iraq, in 2014. The two were wed by Mohammad Al-Hanooti at the Dar Al-Hijirah Islamic Center in Falls Church, Virginia. Al-Hanooti had taught as the center's imam, or leader, from 1995 to 1999 and was a widely respected among the capitol 's Islamic community, according to CAIR. But the teacher was also considered to be radical. He taught about the importance of jihad and advocated for holy wars against non-Muslims while he taught there. All of this was unbeknownst to Mills, an Army veteran who fought in Iraq, the lawmaker bizarrely explained to The Blaze. Dar Al-Hijrah, where Al-Hanooti taught, was also attended by 9/11 hijackers Hani Hanjour and Nawaf al-Hazmi in early 2001. The pair later crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon, which is just six miles from the islamic center where Mills was married. 'We all have to be ready for the jihad with our properties and our souls,' Al-Hanooti said in 1998. 'Allah will rain his curse on the Americans and the British.' 'The curse of Allah will become true on the Jews,' Mills' wedding officiator taught at the time. The cleric is also reportedly an unindicted co-conspirator in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. Reports further indicate that Al-Hanooti, born in Palestine in 1937, was a leader of the Muslim Brotherhood and a fundraiser for Hamas. Mills, meanwhile, is a conservative Christian who represents a fairly red district along the Florida coast. He has repeatedly invoked his Christian faith on the campaign trail and in Congress and told The Blaze he attends Word of Faith church near Orlando, Florida. However, an anonymous source close to Mills revealed to The Blaze that the Republican became a practicing Muslim after marrying his wife. Getting combative with The Blaze over the phone, Mills explained the wedding administered by Al-Hanooti was meant to protect his wife as she traveled to Iraq to visit an ailing relative. She 'would've been arrested' without documentation of her religious marriage to Mills, the congressman told The Blaze. Al-Hanooti, was sick at the time and died 'months' after the wedding, Mills recounted. 'I don't know the damn guy.' Iranian activist Sarah Raviani told Washington law enforcement she and Mills got into a domestic dispute at his residence earlier this year. No wrongdoing was done, both have said, and no charges have been filed. Mills is in the midst of a divorce from Al Saadi, he has said Mills claimed he would do anything for his family and that Al-Hanooti was 'the only Iraqi imam that her mom [could] get in contact with who would do this for us.' 'I don't know anything about his involvement in the co-conspirator thing,' the congressman told the outlet of Al-Hooti's connections to Hamas and the Islamic Brotherhood. The Florida Republican also shared that he and his wife, Al Saadi, who served in the first Trump administration on Middle Eastern affairs, are in the midst of a divorce. 'We've been going through divorce proceedings for 2.5 years and have been separated for three years,' he told the outlet. The update comes after the lawmaker was embroiled in a controversial domestic dispute earlier this year with a pro-Iranian activist, Sarah Raviani, 27, who told the police 'her significant other for over a year' at the time 'grabbed her, shoved her, and pushed her out of the door,' according to The Blaze report. Both Mills and Raviani denied any wrongdoing and charges have not been filed. However, a spokesperson for Washington's Metropolitan Police Department did confirm to the Daily Mail that 'the matter is still open.' Mills and Raviani both went on a trip to Syria together this spring amid the fighting in the country and the recent overthrow of its government, pictures posted by Raviani show. Images show the pair sitting at a table next to each together with Rep. Marlin Stuzman, R-Ind., and what appear to be Turkish officials.
