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DC’s longtime advocate, founding member of Capital Pride Alliance dies at 68

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DC’s longtime advocate, founding member of Capital Pride Alliance dies at 68


WASHINGTON (DC News Now) — One of D.C.’s biggest advocates for the LGBTQ+ community has died.

Bernie Delia was one of the founding members of the Capital Pride Alliance.

For almost two decades he’s been involved in planning Pride, helping shape it into what it is today. It’s one of the reasons his passing is such a big loss for the community.

Delia has been an advocate for decades, one of the first openly gay appointees at the Justice Department during the Clinton administration and later an appellate attorney.

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In 2006, he joined Whitman Walker’s Capital Pride planning committee and helped found the Capital Pride Alliance in 2008.

Vincent Slatt, director of archiving with the Rainbow History Project was also a founding member.

“Bernie never tried to flaunt his resume or his years of experience at anybody. He just treated all of us as equal voices at the table,” Slatt said.

Most recently, he served as co-chair for WorldPride 2025, something he envisioned for more than 15 years.    

“Everything that we do on the WorldPride side, we will do that in conjunction or thoughts of what he would be wanting to see, come to fruition,” said Ashley Smith, board president of the Capital Pride Alliance.

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Smith said he was a friend and confidant and inspiration to the LGBTQ+ community.

“He would want to want us to always remember that pride is special because for there’s always one person, if not more, that it’s their first Pride, and they will always remember that. And that is something that he lived by,” Smith said.

The Capital Pride Alliance said Delia is reunited with his husband Doug and sweet angel Lani.

“He’s moved us very far along in terms of the Pride movement and our city. And now it’s up to the younger people to carry on in his footsteps,” Slatt said.

A celebration of life will be held soon to properly remember Delia.

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He died of natural causes.

As part of its oral history archives, The Rainbow History Project interviewed Delia in January 2022. You can listen to it online or read the transcript.



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Washington, D.C

Jack Schlossberg look-alike contest held in Northwest DC – WTOP News

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Jack Schlossberg look-alike contest held in Northwest DC – WTOP News


Following a trend of celebrity look-alike contests across the U.S. — and in the most D.C. fashion — one honoring a political legacy baby happened in Northwest on Sunday.

Hundreds of college-aged D.C.-area residents came out for a Jack Schlossberg look-alike contest being held at Meridian Hill Park in Columbia Heights.(WTOP/Ciara Wells)

Following a trend of celebrity look-alike contests around the nation — and in the most D.C. fashion — one honoring a political legacy baby happened at a Northwest park on Sunday.

Hundreds of college-aged D.C.-area residents came out for a Jack Schlossberg look-alike contest being held at Meridian Hill Park in Columbia Heights.

The appeal is obvious: people crave community.

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A scion of the famous Kennedy family, Schlossberg has been called the “people’s princess” for his pretty-boy good looks, an appeal to young Americans and the playful new energy he brings to politics.

His occasional public appearances, often in support of political causes, have led to comparisons to his grandfather, former President John F. Kennedy — both in terms of appearance and charisma.

In front of the James Buchanan Memorial statue, some 10 contestants stood in front of the massive crowd. Done up in plain button-up shirts and black ties — or one contestant who decided to strip in the 50-degree weather — the diverse group of contestants did their best to emulate the Kennedy grandson.

One by one, the crowd yelled in approval of which contestant they thought looked most like Schlossberg.

“I think he’s the perfect look-alike subject for D.C. He’s from a political family and he’s a political leader himself. … D.C. loves a handsome man in politics and we’re glad we picked him over any old senator. That would have been way less fun,” said event organizer Georgia Parolski.

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Though Schlossberg hinted he would be attending the event, Instagram stories made outside a Tesla location in New York proved otherwise.

“I am a little disappointed. But he has a certain mystique to maintain,” Parolski said.

Co-organizer Ruchika Sharma said they could have never expected the turnout: “We were originally supposed to be in Dupont Circle, and the RSVP response was just incredible. We had to move it.”

They said over 1,200 people RSVP’d to attend the event.

After about half an hour of bracketing out the crowd-favorites and asking Schlossberg trivia questions, a winner was crowned — taking home a $50 cash prize, a $100 Zipcar gift card and a $100 gift card to the restaurant Salazar.

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“I’m way too online and I’m way too into politics,” said winner Daniel Bonomo, a 25-year-old graduate student at Georgetown University.

Bonomo elicited jeers from the audience after announcing he was, unfortunately, not single. But standing in a tiara in front of the hundreds of oglers, he said he would always “commit to the bit.”

Organizers Sharma and Parolski said they don’t intend to host another event, citing the quick cycle of online trends.

“When (Sharma) texted me about a look alike contest, I said, ‘We need to do it as soon as possible, because it’s going to leave the cultural zeitgeist in a week anyways,’” Parolski said. “And I think we sent it out with a bang.”

WTOP’s Abigail Constantino contributed to this report.

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Washington, D.C

WATCH: DC names Jack Schlossberg look-alike in local contest

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WATCH: DC names Jack Schlossberg look-alike in local contest


Hundreds gathered in Northwest D.C. Sunday to crown one person the doppelganger of Jack Schlossberg, John F. Kennedy’s only grandson. 

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Schlossberg, a political correspondent for Vogue, spoke at the Democratic National Convention earlier this year. 

Sunday’s look-alike contest at Meridian Hill Park is the latest in a trend of look-alike contests in major cities throughout the country. Timothee Chalamet himself showed up to his look-alike contest in New York City last month. 

Watch the moment the winner was crowned below. 

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Washington, D.C

Starting XI: How the Orlando Pride will line up ahead of the NWSL Championship match against the Washington Spirit | Orlando Pride

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Starting XI: How the Orlando Pride will line up ahead of the NWSL Championship match against the Washington Spirit | Orlando Pride


Orlando Pride lineup: Anna Moorhouse, Cori Dyke, Emily Sams, Kylie Strom, Kerry Abello, Angelina, Haley McCutcheon, Adriana, Marta (C), Ally Watt, Barbra Banda

Substitutions: McKinley Crone, Celia, Summer Yates, Carrie Lawrence, Morgan Gautrat, Ally Lemos, Viviana Villacorta, Julie Doyle, Carson Pickett

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