Lee Levingston Perine Recognition Resolution of 2025

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A CEREMONIAL RESOLUTION

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IN THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA

June 3, 2025

To recognize honoree Lee Levingston Perine during the 2025 celebration of DC Black Pride.

WHEREAS, Lee Levingston Perine is a curator, creative producer, and founder of Black
in Space, an arts collective celebrating Black LGBTQ+ culture;

WHEREAS, as Senior Manager of Special Projects at Events DC, Lee Levingston Perine
has built a career at the intersection of arts, advocacy, and community healing;

WHEREAS, Lee Levingston Perine led engagement initiatives for the DC Creative
Affairs Office, producing events like The Mayor’s Arts Awards and Care for Creatives;

WHEREAS, Lee Levingston Perine has been honored by the White House and the
National Trans Visibility March for his community leadership;

WHEREAS, Lee Levingston Perine is a history lover and documentary buff, and also a
proud “pops” to 4 chosen children and a beloved cultural force in D.C.;

WHEREAS, DC Black Pride is an annual event to increase awareness of and showcase
pride in the diversity of the LGBTQIA+ populations in the African American community, and to
support organizations that focus on health disparities, education, youth, and families;

WHEREAS, as the very first Black Pride festival in the world, DC Black Pride fostered
the beginning of the Center for Black Equity (formerly known as the International Federation of
Black Prides, Inc. (IFBP)) and the “Black Pride Movement”;

WHEREAS, since the birth of DC Black Pride, more than 50 other Black Pride
celebrations now take place throughout the world and on 4 continents, with many using DC
Black Pride as a model;

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WHEREAS, May 23, 2025, through May 26, 2025, marks the 34th annual DC Black
Pride celebration;

WHEREAS, the theme for this year’s celebration is “BLACK PRIDE IS FREEDOM”;

WHEREAS, for more than 30 years, DC Black Pride has been an opportunity for the
Black LGBTQIA+ community to gather and celebrate being both African American and
members of LGBTQIA+ communities;

WHEREAS, DC Black Pride is the oldest and one of the largest Black Pride events in the
world, drawing thousands of residents and visitors from around the globe; and

WHEREAS, DC Black Pride brings more than 500,000 people to the nation’s capital
from across the United States, Canada, the Caribbean, South Africa, Great Britain, France,
Germany, and the Netherlands and will carry that tradition this year and into the future to
celebrate their shared community, raise awareness and funding for HIV/AIDS prevention, and
stand against homophobia inspired by violence and bigotry.

RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA, That
this resolution be cited as the “Lee Levingston Perine Recognition Resolution of 2025”.

Sec. 2. The Council of the District of Columbia recognizes and celebrates Lee Levingston
Perine during the 2025 celebration of DC Black Pride.

Sec. 3. This resolution shall take effect immediately.