Away from where Frank Cumenney once organized the first picket for gay rights in Washington, the new hotel suite invites guests to relax, recharge and enjoy the city’s LGBTQ history, the first pride-themed rooms in the Eton hotel’s capital.
From walls covered in archived photographs of Washington Blade from the past 50 years to decades of vinyl libraries, from genres of music celebrated by LGBTQ fans to small assertions written in the mirror, this room is quickly revealed when it opens the door.
Blade sat in the suite with Eton’s cultural director Nina Ligon to discuss why boutique hotels debut pride-themed rooms and how their unique mission-driven hospitality is at the heart of it.
Ligon began how Blade and Eaton’s relationship turned out, explaining that DC’s major LGBTQ newspaper collaborations have been longer than they’ve been involved in the hotel.
“The blades were always there,” Ligon said. “This has always been one of the entities in the city. It’s always there. When I came to my position here at Eton, Sheldon Scott – our original cultural director who helped open the hotel – was already associated with Stephen. [Rutgers] Other members of the Washington Blade. Through that we were able to establish very strong relationships in the city. ”
Although that relationship flourished after a boutique hotel, which itself was considered more than a hotel, the cultural hub for those who wanted to explore Washington was given by Blade and nominated for the best LGBTQ DC award published.
“Since 2022, we were the first to vote for the best LGBTQ hotel in the city by the best LGBTQ DC awards,” she said. “It fell in 2023, but that’s fine. I made the editor’s choice in 2024. I’m going to make a comeback.”
That comeback is supported by adding a new Capital Pride-themed hotel suite that uses feedback from LGBTQ hotel staff to determine what happened in the room.
“It’s the community. We have a really great team here in Eton, so we were able to put together a committee with people who want to say we want to be involved. And that’s not just the Pride Suite, but our Pride efforts, but our Pride efforts, 365, a lot of these throughout the year,” she said. There was an inflationable chair and a disco ball. I was here to support their creative vision.
Ligon went on to explain that special care was taken to ensure that a diverse range of LGBTQ experiences were displayed in the room. From pictures of LGBTQ icons like Marsha P. Johnson and Rupaul, to the music of their sound system (including Chappell Roan’s “Midwest Princess Elevation” and Troye Sivan’s “Bloom”), as well as the quotes on the wall were to improve the entire LGBTQ community rather than a specific identity.
“My colleague, Eduardo [Romero]a man who was just a beam of light in my life, attracted my attention. As a black woman, I was reading the archive links for Blade and sifting through some of them. Capital Pride is traditionally CIS and is led by white men. He helped me as a black woman and helped me to retreat and say. “Oh, wait, there’s more we can represent here. There’s more people we can represent.” And I reached out to DC Black Pride and saw the images they might have and the input they have. And we were able to come up with something a little. ”
As the room tour approached the end, Ligon told Blade that he hopes people will get by staying in this suite.
“When it comes to pride, pride is resistance,” she said. “Pride is more than just a party. Pride is an opportunity. It started with people fighting for their rights and mere existence. And I want them to come here and come to the party, take the time to get rid of the load and see pride in a reflection of what it is. This reflects that.”
Eaton Hotel is located at 1201 K St., NW
Source: Washington Blade: LGBTQ News, Politics, LGBTQ Rights, Gay News – www.washingtonblade.com
