Brian Sims

Marsha P. Johnson didn’t just ask a question. She challenged the world to do better.

This , we celebrate the activists, advocates and communities who continue to fight for a future where everyone can live freely, safely and equally. 🌈

Another successful Windy Brow Pizza Night!🍕🏳️‍🌈💪

⭐️🎤💃REST WELL, DITO💃🎤⭐️ Philadelphia lost one of its greatest souls last night.

Dito van Reigersberg, known to the world as Martha Graham Cracker, died yesterday at the start of Pride Month, surrounded by family, friends, and music.

Most of you knew “the world’s tallest and hairiest drag queen” in platform heels and a shaggy wig. What he really was, was irreplaceable. A co-founder of Pig Iron Theatre Company. A cabaret legend who turned L’Etage into a holy place every month for years. Dito sold out stages from Joe’s Pub in New York City to venues across Europe.

An icon who performed at the 2016 Democratic National Convention in an American flag dress, and at one point grabbed me out of the crowd and danced on me in front of everyone. I have never recovered. I never want to.

That was Dito. He made you feel like the whole room existed just for the moment.

He fought leukemia with the same ferocious grace he brought to every stage he ever stood on. He was tender offstage and thunderous on it. He fought for q***r communities, for artists, for anyone who needed someone loud and fabulous in their corner.

Rest well, my friend. It was always yours.

🎭JOIN ME!🌆 Can’t wait to see ALLIES later this month and you should join me! My friend since high school, Zakiya Young, co-created and performs in this one alongside Jeff Liu and Franky D. Gonzalez. The premise hits hard: a Black woman, an Asian man, and a Latino man interrogate whether their communities can truly show up for each other right now, or if the divisions have grown too deep.

Zakiya has been doing extraordinary work for years (Broadway, Pretty Little Liars: Original Sin, her solo show Suburban Black Girl) and the talent assembled here is serious. This feels like exactly the kind of conversation we need to be having live and in person.

ALLIES is part of NuWorks at the Pan Asian Repertory Theatre. Ticket information is here and in my bio - https://www.panasianrep.org/nuworks-2026 -c

🏳️‍🌈BARNEY FRANK🇺🇸 Congressman Barney Frank died earlier today. He spent thirty-two years in Congress, was out as gay since 1987, and had a legislative record that changed what this country was willing to call equal.

I met him a few times, but the moment that stays with me was at the 2012 DNC in Charlotte. I’d missed something big on the main floor and slipped into the LGBTQ+ caucus after party before it had really even opened.

Then Barney Frank walked in. He was also alone. He’d received a lifetime achievement award from the caucus the day before. He sat at the bar a few stools down, I went over, said hello and thank you. Two minutes, maybe. Then we just…watched the big speech on TV.

That room filled up with a thousand q***r people later that night and his legacy was a huge reason for it. He didn’t go to the big Obama event, though. He came there instead.

He was abrasive and we didn’t see eye-to-eye politically, even within the same party. But he was already fighting for me, and my family, and my life, long before I even knew to be.

Thank you and rest well, Congressman.

🇺🇸🏆JASON COLLINS🏆🏳️‍🌈Jason changed the world long before most people had the courage to admit it needed changing.

I first met him in 2014, through Outsports and Nike, in those days when so many of us were throwing our shoulders against doors locked for generations. What stopped me wasn’t just his courage, though history will rightly honor that. It was his kindness. His humility. The quiet, unshakeable way he carried himself, like a man who had already decided that love was worth whatever it cost him.

We stayed in touch over the years. I treasured that. He didn’t just open doors. He stood in them until everyone else got through.

Today I’m sitting with the weight of losing a friend, and with gratitude for the reminder that one person’s quiet bravery can permanently alter what’s possible for millions.

My heart is with everyone who loved him.

Rest well, Jason.

Update from A Mighty Girl.

Today, for the first time ever, survivors of Jeffrey Epstein's abuse testified publicly under oath before members of Congress. The hearing took place not in Washington but in West Palm Beach, Florida -- less than three miles from the mansion where Epstein abused hundreds of girls, and just minutes from Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago. Previous meetings between Epstein survivors and lawmakers had all been closed-door roundtables. By testifying publicly under oath, survivors put their voices on the official record for the first time.

The nearly three-hour hearing, led by House Oversight Committee Democrats, focused on the 2008 sweetheart plea deal that made Epstein's continued abuse possible -- and on what it would take to make sure nothing like it ever happens again. Survivors and attorneys called for concrete changes to the Crime Victims' Rights Act, which was supposed to guarantee Epstein's victims a seat at the table during his prosecution but didn't.

Attorney Spencer Kuvin, who represented the first victim to come forward in the Palm Beach investigation, called the agreement negotiated by then-U.S. Attorney Alex Acosta "the worst" ever executed by a federal prosecutor. "The victims were not consulted," he said. "Their advocates like me were not consulted. Victims were never given an opportunity to be heard."

Democrats released a new report called "The Price of Non-Prosecution" detailing exactly what that deal cost. In 2005, a parent in Palm Beach reported that her 14-year-old daughter had been taken to Epstein's mansion. Detectives uncovered a pattern of abuse involving dozens of teenage girls and recommended felony charges that could have sent Epstein to prison for decades.

Instead, Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer declined to bring serious charges -- worried, according to Kuvin's testimony, that his "career would go up in flames" if he charged Epstein and failed. The case went federal, but Epstein's high-powered legal team "swarmed into Palm Beach County."

In 2008, Epstein pleaded guilty to a single state charge of soliciting prostitution from a minor. He received an 18-month sentence but served less than 13 months, most of it on work release, leaving jail for up to 12 hours a day. The federal investigation was shut down. The deal was negotiated in secret -- victims and their attorneys weren't told until it was already signed.

A survivor named Roza testified about what that secret sweetheart deal actually meant. She met Epstein in 2009 while he was supposedly serving his sentence. "Jeffrey Epstein was under house arrest at the exact same time he was abusing me," she told lawmakers. "Those years of abuse turned into a decade of fear that I still carry today."

"Had prosecutors in Florida done their jobs," said Rep. Lois Frankel, whose district includes Palm Beach, "most likely hundreds of young women would have been spared unimaginable harm."

Survivors also spoke about the ongoing harm inflicted by the government's handling of the case. When the Justice Department finally released files under the Epstein Files Transparency Act, it redacted the names of wealthy associates while exposing names and personal information of victims. Jena-Lisa Jones described how husbands learned of their wives' abuse from media coverage, how children learned of their mothers' trauma from strangers. "Take responsibility," she demanded.

Jones also had a message for former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who is scheduled to testify before the Oversight Committee on May 29: "You were willing to lose your job to cover up for these people. What do they have on you, because I'd like to know."

Dani Bensky, who was abused by Epstein in 2004 and 2005 -- eight years after survivor Maria Farmer first reported him to the FBI -- closed with a warning. "Our entrenched systemic failures have allowed powerful people like Jeffrey to thrive. If we continue down this path, the question isn't whether abuse will happen again, but who will be the next Jeffrey Epstein."

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The girls and young women Epstein targeted were often vulnerable -- most were young, many were struggling financially and desperate for a way forward. Girls like them are still out there. Here's how to help:

--> To support survivors of sexual violence and connect them with free, confidential support through the National S*xual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673), donate to RAINN, the nation's largest anti-sexual violence organization, at https://www.rainn.org

--> To support efforts to find and protect children from sexual exploitation and trafficking, donate to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at https://www.missingkids.org

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To read the powerful story of one Epstein victim in her own words, we recommend Virginia Giuffre's harrowing memoir: "Nobody’s Girl: A Memoir of Surviving Abuse and Fighting for Justice," visit https://bookshop.org/a/8011/9780593493120 (Bookshop) and https://amzn.to/4nZbSAZ (Amazon)

Raising kids to have empathy for others and an understanding of consent is one of the most important things parents can do to help reduce the incidence of sexual assault. To teach children -- girls and boys alike -- about the need to respect others and their personal boundaries, we recommend "Let's Talk About Body Boundaries, Consent, and Respect" for ages 4 to 7 (https://www.amightygirl.com/body-boundaries) and "Consent (for Kids!)" for ages 6 to 10 (https://www.amightygirl.com/consent-for-kids)

There is also a helpful guide for teens on topics such as consent and coercion, "Real Talk About S*x and Consent: What Every Teen Needs to Know," for ages 13 and up at https://www.amightygirl.com/real-talk-about-sex-and-consent

For an excellent book for older teens and adults about the early warning signs of abusive relationships, myths about abusive personalities, and how to get help, we highly recommend "Why Does He Do That?: Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men" at https://www.amightygirl.com/why-does-he-do-that

If you know a teen girl struggling after sexual abuse or trauma, “The S*xual Trauma Workbook for Teen Girls: A Guide to Recovery from S*xual Assault and Abuse” may help at https://www.amightygirl.com/sexual-trauma-workbook-girls

For several fictional stories that address r**e and sexual violence and offer a helpful way to spark conversations with young adult readers around sexual assault, we recommend "Speak" for ages 14 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/speak), "Girl Made of Stars" for ages 14 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/girl-made-of-stars), and "The Way I Used To Be" for ages 15 and up (https://www.amightygirl.com/the-way-i-used-to-be)