RuPaul to headline Capital Pride
With Pride month fast approaching, Capital Pride has announced RuPaul will headline the annual event.
RuPaul was a dance club staple in the 1990s with her signature blend of Hi-NRG Euro-disco pop and campy hits like "Supermodel (You Better Work)". RuPaul also had a show on VH-1. She has appeared in "To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar", "Smoke," "Blue in the Face" and "Wigstock: The Movie."
The Most Beautiful Transsexuals In The World Association honored RuPaul with its Lifetime Achievement Award in 2002 for his outreach support to gays and lesbians. And she has of course gained even more notoriety with her hit reality show "RuPaul's Drag Race."
"This year we wanted to find an entertainer that embodied our theme, Generations of Pride: Celebrate and Remember - Stonewall at 40," Dyana Mason, executive director of Capital Pride, said. "We believe RuPaul is the perfect entertainer to help us celebrate the 40th Anniversary of Stonewall. Drag queens and transgender people helped lead the events of Stonewall, and through RuPaul's appearance we are honoring that tradition. She's also simply fabulous."
RuPaul will closing out the main stage entertainment on Sunday, June 14, in the shadow of the U.S. Capitol on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Other entertainers scheduled to perform include DJ Steve Henderson, Thomasina and the Jam, the DC Gurly Show, Oh My Josh, Dr. Spite, Dakshina/Daniel Phoenix Singh and Company, Freddie's Follies, Xavier Onasis Bloomingdale, the DC Cowboys, Ladies of Town and X-Faction, drag king E-Cleff, Honey Chuck, Ella Fitzgerald, Sister Funk, Odd Girl Out, the Gay Men's Chorus of Washington, D.C., Mama B, Sarah Bettens, Lori Michaels, Vanessa Conde and Martha Wash.
Valerie Harper, star of the 70s sitcom "Rhoda," will serve as the grand marshal of this year's Pride parade.
Washington's Pride is one of the largest in the country. It attracts an average of 250,000 people each June.
"We expect a great turnout," Ebone F. Bell, chair of marketing and communications for the Capital Pride Alliance, said.
She added she feels the 40th anniversary of Stonewall and RuPaul would draw even more people.
Log onto www.capitalpride.org for more information.