Via the Washington Blade, three organizations are competing to take over Capital Pride from the Whitman-Walker Clinic, which began organizing the event in 1997 with One In Ten, DC’s LGBT arts group. Whitman-Walker became the sole producer and financier of Capital Pride in 2000. The three interested parties include the Southwest Renaissance Development Corporation, a group founded by the Westminster Presbyterian Church; the LGBT Community Center; and the recently-formed Capital Pride Alliance. All submitted proposals…

December 1 is World AIDS Day, and several vigils and protests are planned in D.C. today and through the weekend to mark the occasion. In the wake of the recent report by the D.C. HIV/AIDS Administration calling the HIV infection rate in the city “a modern epidemic,” over 40 protesters are planning to drape themselves in red tape and stage a sit-in on the White House sidewalk by Lafayette Square at 2:30 p.m. this afternoon….

The Examiner reports on a $36,000 bill received by the organizers of the 2007 Capital Pride Festival from the D.C. police and the Emergency Management Agency, who say they need the money to pay for overtime and other costs for security incurred during the June festival. But the festival’s organizers and some members of the D.C. Council are questioning the charges, since the agencies waived these same fees last year and other annual parades, like…

A bit of disheartening news today for local runners. According to an email sent by Richard Zeichik, National Director for the AIDS Marathon Training Program, the group will discontinue its popular training program in the D.C. area in 2007. It seems that the group’s partner, the Whitman-Walker Clinic, has chosen to sever its ties with the organization. From the email: After nine incredible years of producing the AIDS Marathon Training Program on behalf of Whitman-Walker…

More than two decades after the first cases of a strange “immunity systems ailment” appeared in Washington, today’s observance of World AIDS Day sees the epidemic still rampant, both in the city and around the world. While the number of new infections peaked in the District in 1993 at 1342 cases, it remains persistent. Despite massive education and “get tested” initiatives, the number of new infections in D.C. still hovers around 900 per year. We’ve…

If today’s PETA protest left you wishing for more skin with your politics, then Universal Gear up for more. Whitman-Walker Clinic’s yearly gay pride festival, Capital Pride, is back for another year, and—with all the new venues and expanded events—it is bulging at the seams. While it actually kicked off last weekend with a contest for Mr. CapitalPride Leather and a panel on “Building Bridges without Destroying Identities,” the festivities and other related events run…

When we last checked in on the state of HIV/AIDS in the District last August, things were looking rather grim. A report published by the D.C. Appleseed Center for Law and Justice lambasted the District’s efforts to deal with a severe HIV/AIDS crisis in the city, noting that the District remained some 10 to 15 years behind where it should be in mounting a defense against the disease. Shockingly, the report found that the District’s…

Now that Black Friday and her bastard half-brother Cyber Monday are behind us, it’s time to ditch mall food court and Internet cafes in favor of shopping among a real, slightly more civilized crowd. On Saturday, several local businesses are partnering to host charity shopping events benefiting oh-so worthy organizations. As if that weren’t reason enough to break out the plastic, the D.C. tax holiday is still in full effect. Suddenly we’re feeling festive… Shopping…

World AIDS Day, observed today, has particular relevance and importance for the District. The city has the distinction of suffering from one of the nation’s highest rates of HIV infection, afflicting 1 in 20 residents, ten times the national average, and 1 in 7 African-American men. The District’s response to the problem has been so ineffectual (some say the city is 10 to 15 years behind where it should be) that in August D.C. Mayor…

By DCist Food and Wine Contributor Michael Mugmon. After work on Friday evenings, DCist ponders our many social options. Head over to the local T.G.I. Friday’s and tell the wait staff that it’s our birthday? Think earnestly about exercising before deciding to watch What I Like About You? More often than not, DCist eschews –- well, postpones –- these alternatives and makes a beeline for the Wine Specialist and its weekly Friday night wine tastings….