Washingtonblade.com, Volume 49 Issue 36, September 7, 2018

SEPTEMBER 07,

2018

VOLUME 49

ISSUE 36

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AMERICA’S LGBTQ NEWS SOURCE

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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Democrats object to missing docs, but derailing nominee an uphill fight

By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com

Democrats called for a delay on the first day of hearings for Supreme Court nominee BRETT KAVANAUGH

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Becerra, outspoken LGBT ally, calls president ‘dangerous’

By KAREN OCAMB

No H8 campaign photo of XAVIER BECERRA by photographer Adam Bouska PHOTO COURTESY NO H8 CAMPAIGN

LOS ANGELES — America is deeply divided, a threat to democracy President Donald Trump exploits regularly.

At a virtual state dinner at the White House on Aug. 27, Trump admonished his evangelical fans to turn out their flocks in the midterm elections to stave off a Democratic takeover of the House of Representatives and the potential move to impeachment. Democrats

Senate Democrats sought to put the brakes on Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the U.S. Supreme Court this week as they called for a delay in proceedings on a contentious first day of his confirmation hearings, which did not include references to LGBT issues as of Wednesday afternoon. (Visit washingtonblade.com for updated coverage.)

The nominee was queried about his views on other matters, such as abortion rights and a potential assault weapons ban. Kavanaugh said he’d respect legal precedent in those areas.

Amid accusations President Trump engaged in unlawful conduct, Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.) asked Kavanaugh whether he thinks the president of the CONTINUES ON PAGE 09

“will overturn everything that we’ve done, and they’ll do it quickly and violently,” Trump warned, adding “you’re one election away from losing everything you’ve got.”

California Attorney General Xavier Becerra, an ardent LGBT ally, is on high alert, having already filed 42 lawsuits against the Trump administration, as well as amicus briefs, opinions, and other actions to protect California, challenge federal agencies and policies and uphold the Constitution.

“It’s chilling to watch Congress abandon its role to put a check on Donald Trump’s excesses,” Becerra told CONTINUES ON PAGE 13

BIDEN & HRC

COMING UP SHORT

POPCORN TIME

Former veep to speak at annual National Dinner next week.

Rufus Gifford, other LGBT candidates fail to advance in Massachusetts primary.

D.C. Shorts Film Festival features plenty of queer content.

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Virginia state Del. DANICA ROEM (D-Manassas) was sworn in on Jan. 10. She is the first openly transgender person ever seated in a state legislature in the U.S. WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Va. newspaper honors Danica Roem The readers of a Virginia newspaper has named a former reporter as their “Best Local Politician.”

State Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) was a reporter for the Prince William Times and the Gainesville Times from 2006-2015.

She was elected to the Virginia House of Delegates in 2017. Roem is the first openly transgender person seated in any state legislature in the U.S. “I dedicated nine years, two months and two weeks to serving the readers of the Gainesville Times and Prince William Times as their local reporter from 2006 to 2015,” said Roem in a statement she released after the Prince William Times made the announcement on Aug. 29. “I’ve continued serving them as their state delegate representing the 13th District of the Virginia House of Delegates. The people of western Prince William County know who I am, know my values and know my platform is focused on constituent service, which is why I’m humbled to be honored by them as their choice for ‘Best Local Politician’ in the Prince William Times 2018 Readers’ Choice Awards.”

Roem in her statement added “the message I hope the readers of the Gainesville Times and Prince William Times send locally is the best way to serve the people is through inclusive leadership that unites our community. That is leadership focused on constituent service, improving our quality of life and remembering that as elected officials, we serve our constituents regardless of their inherent identifiers.”

“To me, the best way I can do that is by focusing on the universal issues my constituents face: traffic, jobs, schools, health care, land use, infrastructure, the environment and equality,” she said. “That’s why every bill I introduced to the House of Delegates this year as the chief patron came as a result of either constituent service requests or the government accountability platform I promised the people I would deliver for them when I told them I would bring a reporter’s eye to Richmond.”

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Opponent drops challenge to petition signatures for lesbian D.C. Council candidate A representative of D.C. Council candidate S. Kathryn Allen on Wednesday withdrew a challenge to the nominating petitions for lesbian businesswoman Dionne Reeder, who is considered one of Allen’s two leading opponents for an At-Large Council seat in the city’s Nov. 6 general election.

The challenge had been filed on Aug. 20 by Nona Richardson, whose company MitchRich Communications is serving as a paid consultant to the Allen campaign. It was filed on the same day that incumbent At-Large Council member Elissa Silverman filed a challenge to Allen’s nominating petitions.

All three are running as independents for an At-Large Council seat that under the city’s election law can only go to a non-Democrat. Democratic incumbent Anita Bonds holds the second AtLarge seat up for election on Nov. 6 and is considered the strong favorite to win re-election.

Reeder, who has worked as the Ward 8 community representative to former D.C. Mayor Anthony Williams, Silverman, and Bonds have longstanding records of support for LGBT rights.

Allen, the city’s former insurance commissioner, has expressed strong support for LGBT rights.

She is being backed by Williams and gay former D.C. Council member David Catania.

Richardson didn’t respond to a call from the Washington Blade asking for details about why she initially believed Reeder’s petition signatures were sufficiently defective to knock Reeder off of the ballot.

Under rules established by the D.C. Board of Elections, the board doesn’t disclose the details of a challenge until it holds a preliminary and later a full hearing to assess the merits of a petition challenge.

The Board on Tuesday held preliminary or pre-hearing conferences for the challenges to both Reeder and Allen’s petitions. Reeder’s campaign manager, Alfreda Davis, told the Blade that the Board’s Registrar, who conducts the pre-hearing conferences, made a preliminary determination that Reeder had sufficient valid signatures on her petitions to be granted access to the ballot on Nov. 6.

“That’s really good news,” said Davis. Davis noted that under the election board’s rules, Richardson would have an opportunity at a full hearing scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 5, to contest the Registrar’s determination and seek a final ruling by the full three-member Board of Election sometime before Sept. 10.

But Reeder’s campaign announced that the Board of Election cancelled the Wednesday hearing after the Allen representative withdrew the challenge against Reeder’s petitions.

Allen, meanwhile, didn’t comment on what the election board Registrar’s preliminary assessment was regarding the challenge against her petitions. One source supportive of Allen said the Registrar had a preliminary finding that while many of her petition signatures were invalid a sufficient number appear to have survived the challenge to enable her to be placed on the November election ballot.

However, Silverman, who filed the challenge, issued a statement saying the preliminary review confirmed that 3,028 signatures submitted by the Allen campaign were invalid, leaving Allen with only 3,040 signatures as the Board begins its final assessment between this week and Sept. 10. All at-large candidates must have at least 3,000 valid petition signatures to be placed on the ballot.

Silverman said in her statement issued on Tuesday that many of the signatures the Registrar said were valid could still be disqualified on grounds that the petition circulators’ names allegedly were forged. Silverman noted that under the city’s election law, all signatures of petitions submitted by a disqualified circulator could be disqualified.

Political observers have said Reeder currently has a shot at beating Silverman in the general election and her chances of doing so would increase significantly if Allen were to be disqualified from the ballot.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Longtime gov’t speechwriter Shelbia Lengel dies at 81 Shelbia “Shellie” Lengel, who served as a public affairs spokesperson and writer, including speechwriter, for several U.S. government agencies in Washington beginning in the late 1950s and played a lead role in organizing the government’s first national AIDS hotline in the early 1980s, died Aug. 27 of cancer at her home in Charlottesville, Va. She was 81.

A native of West Virginia, Lengel graduated second in her high school class in Charleston, W.Va., and was accepted at Duke University in North Carolina on a full scholarship, according to her son, Eric Lengel. Eric Lengel said his mother graduated from Duke in 1958 with a bachelor’s degree in English.

He said his mother began her professional career in the federal government in 1958 at the Department of Agriculture as a public information writer and speechwriter.

She continued her role as a writer and speech writer in subsequent years at the then Department of Health, Education, and Welfare from 1962 to 1968; and at the Environmental Protection Agency from 1969 to 1971. While at EPA she helped organize the agency’s first Earth Day activities, Eric Lengel said.

He said she took a hiatus from government service from 1971 to 1976 when she served as executive director of the United Cerebral Palsy Association of Pennsylvania at the organization’s office in Reading, Pa. She resumed her career in the federal government in 1976, her son said, when she became a public affairs spokesperson for the Department of Health and Human Services in Washington, where she remained until her retirement in 1988.

Eric Lengel said his mother became actively involved in HHS’s efforts to address the AIDS epidemic in the early 1980s, among other things, by playing a key role in getting the agency’s AIDS hotline up and running.

He said she also worked on AIDS related projects with then U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Everett Koop at a time when AIDS was little understood.

Eric Lengel said his mother became involved as a volunteer for AIDS causes upon her retirement in 1988. Among other things, she worked as a volunteer for D.C.’s Food and Friends, the first largescale organization in the D.C. area that delivered meals for homebound people with HIV/AIDS. Shellie Lengel is survived by her husband, Alan Lengel; her sons Eric and Ed Lengel; and grandchildren Megan Lengel, Stephen Lengel, Mike Lengel, Thomas Lengel, and Laura Lengel.

She was scheduled to be buried at the National Memorial Park in Falls Church, Va., next to her son Andy in a private ceremony.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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Comings & Goings Martin and Jeff group lands at Compass Real Estate

By PETER ROSENSTEIN The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

Congratulations to Jeffrey Brier and Martin Toews of the Martin and Jeff group on joining Compass Real Estate. They said “Compass is a brokerage whose mission is similar to ours. They pair the industry’s top technology with unsurpassed service to make the process of buying and selling a home smart and seamless.” Joining them at Compass will be the third member of their team, Olivia Kibler.

Brier moved to D.C. in 1982 and Toews has lived in D.C. since 1986. In 1995 they formed their real estate partnership and JEFFREY BRIER “The Martin and Jeff Group” was born. They were one of the PHOTO COURTESY BRIER pioneers in the now very common Real Estate team concept.

They believed bringing multiple agents together in a group with varied skills and talents makes for a better approach to helping clients achieve their goals. Together they have received many awards are are rated in the top 3 percent of real estate agents in Washington and listed in Washingtonian as top real estate agents 2014-2017.

Toews is a graduate of Washburn University in Kansas (undergrad and MBA) and Brier graduated from the University MARTIN TOEWS of Connecticut.

PHOTO COURTESY TOEWS Congratulations also to Anne Friedman the new National Director of Gay For Good (G4G). She is the first paid staffer for this organization celebrating its 10th year. G4G was founded in Los Angeles. Over the past 10 years organizers have developed chapters across the nation and have made a positive impact on the greater community by having members of the LGBTQ+ community volunteer their time to social and environmental organizations.

Each volunteer service project their volunteers participate ANNE FRIEDMAN in fosters stronger relationships and promotes goodwill.

PHOTO COURTESY FRIEDMAN Through Gay For Good’s grassroots efforts, parks have been cleaned, homeless people have been fed, schools have been restored and more. Friedman said, “When we show up, the narrative about the LGBTQ+ community is changed. Gay for Good volunteers have logged thousands of hours with our 14 chapters throughout the USA and we are steadily growing to become leaders in making a social impact.”

Previously, she was marketing and communications coordinator with the Jewish Community Foundation of Orange County. For many years she was a director and PETER MORGAN PHOTO COURTESY MORGAN instructor with Music ’N’ Kids, in Chino Hills, Calif. She and her wife life in Los Angeles. She earned her bachelor’s in Communication Studies from California State University Long Beach.

Congratulations and thanks also to Peter Morgan who is now leading a team that formed the newest chapter of G4G in D.C. He was there in LA when the group was founded. He said “I’m excited to be a part of the team launching G4G in Washington, D.C. I hope G4G-DC brings that same sense to the LGBTQ community here as we volunteer monthly on service projects with non-LGBTQ organizations bridging the gap that may still exist between LGBTQ+ individuals and communities.”

Morgan currently owns Morgan Ink. Marketing, LLC, a firm providing marketing, public relations, and special event services. His clients include DC Shorts Film Festival, Capital Pride Alliance, and Oasis Marketing. Previously he was director of programming and promotions for Studio 4 Networks, Inc. in Los Angeles and general manager of SAVVY Management Public Relations in New York City.

EYAL MIGDALOVICH, founder of the LGBTQ Refugee Program in Israel, speaks to members of Congregation Bet Mishpachah in D.C. on Aug. 24.

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Israeli LGBTI activists visit D.C. synagogue Bet Mishpachah hosts Aguda leaders after summer of protest

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com Two activists from Israel spoke to members of an LGBTI synagogue in D.C. on Aug. 24.

Congregation Bet Mishpachah hosted Ohad Hizki, chief executive officer of the Aguda, the Israeli National LGBT Task Force, and Eyal Migdalovich, founder of the LGBTQ Refugee Program.

They were in D.C. with A Wider Bridge, a U.S.-based organization that seeks to build “support for Israel and its LGBTQ community.” Nizki and Migdalovich also spoke with LGBTI rights advocates and supporters of A Wider Bridge in New York and Florida while they were in the U.S. Migdalovich founded the LGBTQ Refugee Program three years ago after he wrote an article about LGBTI refugees in Tel Aviv.

The LGBTQ Refugee Program has provided food, medicine and other basic needs to upwards of 70 refugees. The organization also works with the Aguda, the U.N. Refugee Agency and other organizations that advocate on behalf of refugees and asylum seekers.

“I see them as my brothers and sisters that are somehow falling through the cracks,” said Migdalovich. “They need our help because the situation is very harsh.”

Migdalovich said refugees from Eritrea and Sudan and Palestinians from the West Bank account for the majority of the people with whom the LGBTQ Refugee Program works. He added the LGBTQ Refugee Program has also worked with a transgender woman from Jamaica, a gay man from Iran

and other “people from all over the world who somehow arrived in Israel.”

Migdalovich said the Israeli government’s policies toward refugees and asylum seekers — which include Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial plan to deport more than 30,000 African refugees and asylum seekers that he withdrew earlier this year — are among the barriers he and the LGBTQ Refugee Program face. Migdalovich added many of the communities in which LGBTI refugees and asylum seekers are living are “very conservative.”

“They’re not reaching out to us and we’re not reaching out to them because we have a real lack of manpower,” he said. “We’re trying to do our best with the people who are reaching out to us.”

Migdalovich and Nizki traveled to the U.S. against the backdrop of President Trump’s policies toward immigrants, LGBTI people and other groups that continue to spark outrage. The Israeli government’s policies toward the Palestinians also remain highly controversial.

The Israeli Knesset in July approved a controversial bill that prevents gay couples and single men from using surrogates.

The Aguda and other advocacy groups organized a national strike against the measure in which tens of thousands of people took part. Upwards of 100,000 people attended a protest against the surrogacy bill that took place in Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square on July 22.

“We had a really busy summer,” Nizki told members of Congregation Bet Mishpachah. “We had a really big discussion in Israel around equality.”

Nizki told the Washington Blade after he and Migdalovich spoke the Aguda’s support of the LGBTQ Refugee Program is another way the organization can support LGBTI rights in Israel.

“We are putting a lot of effort into this project,” said Nizki.

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Check It vandalism suspect arrested, released

D.C. police released video of a woman they suspect vandalized Check It Enterprises in Anacostia on Aug. 28.

SCREENCAPTURE COURTESY D.C. POLICE

Woman charged with destruction of property violates ‘stay away’ order

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com D.C. police on Sunday arrested a 24-year-old District woman for an Aug. 28 incident in which she allegedly used a brick to smash the large plate glass window and damage the door of the storefront building in Anacostia occupied by the LGBT youth organization Check It Enterprises while yelling anti-gay insults.

Charging documents filed in D.C. Superior Court show that police charged Dwanna Cobbs, a resident of the 1400 block of T Street, S.E., with destruction of property in connection with the incident.

A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, which is prosecuting the case, told the Washington Blade a judge released Cobbs during a court appearance on Monday, Sept. 3, on the condition that she stay away from the 1900 block of Martin Luther King Ave., S.E., where the Check It building is located.

To the dismay of Ron Moten, Check It’s adviser and longtime mentor to its youth members, Cobbs returned to the area of the Check It building at 1920 Martin Luther King Ave., S.E. around 6 p.m.

Tuesday, Sept. 4, Moten told the Blade.

Moten said he immediately called police. But he said officers who arrived on the scene told him they had no authority to stop Cobbs because D.C. Superior Court records had not yet been updated to show a judge issued a stay away order prohibiting her from coming to the street where the Check It building is located.

However, D.C. Police Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the department’s LGBT Liaison Unit, told the Blade police now

have a record of the stay away order and have taken a report from Moten about Cobbs’ violation of the order. Parson said police would notify the court and the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the violation and that Cobbs would be arrested again for contempt of court if her whereabouts become known.

An updated police report listed the incident in which Cobbs allegedly smashed the Check It building’s window and damaged its door as a possible antiLGBT hate crime. The possible hate crime designation was based on an account by a witness who reported hearing the then unidentified woman yelling antigay insults while walking away from the Check It building.

Cobbs’ arrest for the Check It vandalism incident followed the release by police of a video of a woman later identified as Cobbs walking toward the Check It building with a brick in hand and striking the window and the building’s front door with the brick.

In a development that has troubled Moten, Court records show that Cobbs was also arrested and released for an unrelated incident in which she allegedly used a brick to smash the front window of a Subway sandwich shop at 3950 Minnesota Ave., N.E. on Wednesday, Aug. 29, one day before she allegedly damaged the Check It building, which is located near the Subway shop.

Court records show Cobbs was arrested at the scene of the Subway incident and charged with destruction of property after someone called police and witnesses identified Cobbs as the person responsible for the damage. The court records show that a judge released Cobbs on Aug. 30, one day after her arrest for the Subway incident and three days before her arrest for the Check It incident.

As of Monday, she was scheduled to

appear in court for a status hearing for both arrests on Sept. 19.

Moten, a longtime community activist who serves as an adviser and mentor to Check It’s Youth members, said he was concerned that authorities, including the judges who released Cobbs, may not be arranging for her to receive mental health services that she badly needs. He said people from the neighborhood where the Check It store and offices are located who know Cobbs have told him she has a history of mental health and substance abuse issues.

D.C. Superior Court records show she has been arrested several times on misdemeanor and felony charges since 2012, when she was 18 and first charged with unauthorized use of a vehicle. The records show that between 2012 and 2014 she was charged with multiple

probation violations and at one point a judge ordered that she undergo a psychiatric evaluation.

The video released by police shortly before her arrest for the Check It incident shows she was wearing what appeared to be only a large white diaper and a bra-like garment on her upper body.

“My concern is she isn’t getting the care she needs,” said Moten.

Check It members are comprised mostly of LGBT youth of color who formed the organization from what had been known as the Check It street gang.

Members, who vowed to end their status as a gang, formed Check It Enterprises with assistance from Moten out of their interest in fashion and building a combination community center and business to produce and sell clothing, including their own line of T-shirts.

Former Vice President JOE BIDEN is set to join the Human Rights Campaign dinner

WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

Biden joins lineup for HRC dinner Former vice president Joseph Biden will join the lineup for the annual Human Rights Campaign national dinner, the organization announced Wednesday.

Biden, who has a strong record as an LGBT rights supporter, joins the lineup at the 22nd annual dinner amid speculation he may pursue a run in 2020 against President Trump.

Chad Griffin, president of the Human Rights Campaign, praised Biden in a statement announcing the former vice president’s scheduled appearance at the dinner, which takes place Sept. 15.

“Vice President Biden and the Biden Foundation have tackled issues of LGBTQ equality with vigor, helping to shine a spotlight on the detention, torture and murder of LGBTQ people in Chechnya and working to accelerate acceptance in communities here at home,” Biden said. “Vice President Biden is a strong voice for the vulnerable and a bold advocate for LGBTQ people, and we’re honored to have him join us this year as we continue to blaze new trails, together.”

An early supporter of LGBT rights, Biden came out in support of marriage equality in 2012 one day before Obama and has called the struggle for transgender rights “the civil rights issue of our time.”

After leaving the Obama administration, Biden created the Biden Foundation.

Among the latest efforts of the foundation is the “As You Are” initiative, which seeks to promote LGBT acceptance.

CHRIS JOHNSON

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NATIONAL NEWS

Supreme Court rebuffs Catholic agency seeking to reject LGBT couples

RUFUS GIFFORD lost his bid for a U.S. House seat this week.

SCREENCAPTURE COURTESY YOUTUBE

Gay, trans candidates come up in short in Mass.

Two LGBT candidates running for the Democratic nomination to represent Massachusetts’ 3rd congressional district in the U.S. House came up short Tuesday night.

Although a final winner in the primary for that 10-way race wasn’t immediately called, neither LGBT candidate had enough votes to be in contention to win the nomination.

With 94 percent of precincts reporting, Rufus Gifford, a gay Democratic fundraiser who served as U.S. ambassador to Denmark in the Obama administration, claimed 15.3 percent of the vote, and Alexandra Chandler, a transgender former naval intelligence officer, had 5.8 percent.

The leading candidates were Daniel Koh, who has worked as a staffer for Boston mayors, and businessperson Lori Trahan. Koh had 21.7 percent of the vote and Trahan had 20.9 percent.

Gifford issued a statement Tuesday night thanking supporters of his campaign and invoking the legacy of former President Obama.

“I am filled with a lot of emotions, but the number one emotion is gratitude,” Gifford said. “I am so incredibly humbled that you were in my corner and were part of this team. You stood by me from that first cold day on the campaign trail last November, and I simply could not have survived this grueling process without you. Throughout this campaign, I found myself reflecting on advice President Obama gave me just before I started my ambassadorship in Denmark.

He told me, ‘Go be you. Go represent the country you love, and go be you.’”

Gifford had the backing of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, although Chandler had the backing of transgender groups, including the National Center for Transgender Equality Action Fund and the Trans United Fund.

Had Chandler succeeded, she would have been the first openly transgender person to win a major party nomination to run for the U.S. House and potentially could have been the first openly transgender person in Congress.

Daye Pope, Trans United Fund’s organizing director, said although Chandler came up short in the Massachusetts primary, her campaign was a historic endeavor.

“Although we were hoping for a victory in today’s primary, we’re proud to be on Team Chandler and of the campaign Alexandra ran,” Pope said. “She made her support for equality and equity, #WhoeverYouAre, a cornerstone of her campaign, and she’s been a fighter for working people. Thousands of voters supported a qualified, outstanding trans candidate for public office today, and we’re looking forward to continuing to work with Alexandra to build trans political power in Massachusetts — and to elect trans candidates across the country in the fights to come.”

Another gay candidate, Democratic activist Steve Kerrigan, had also placed a bid for the Democratic nomination in that race, but dropped out in February after the death of his mother.

CHRIS JOHNSON

The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to take action in a case in which a taxpayerfunded Catholic adoption agency is seeking a First Amendment right to deny child placement to LGBT homes for religious reasons.

In an order handed down Thursday in the case of Fulton v. Philadelphia, the court announced it wouldn’t grant injunctive relief to Catholic Social Services, which is contesting a Philadelphia policy barring anti-LGBT discrimination among adoption agencies.

An emergency petition was filed before the U.S. Associate Justice Samuel Alito, who referred the matter to the entire court. Although the vote isn’t recorded, the order notes Alito as well as U.S. Associate Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch would have granted the application for relief. (Notably, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts isn’t among those justices.)

The Becket Fund — a organization that takes up religious freedom lawsuits, such as the Hobby Lobby and Little Sisters of the Poor cases — had filed the petition before the U.S. Supreme Court, arguing Catholic adoption agencies would have to close under the Philadelphia policy.

“The city has excluded Catholic and its families from foster care because the City disagrees with the Catholic Church’s views about same-sex marriage,” the petition says.

“Same-sex unions have been recognized in Philadelphia for two decades, and the city is unaware of a single person who has been hurt by Catholic’s views. But the City is closing Catholic’s program over a hypothetical question: Whether the Catholic Church could endorse same-sex unions in writing, if a same-sex couple approached a Catholic agency seeking its written opinion on their family relationships.”

After the city of Philadelphia learned in March 2018 two of its Catholic foster care providers wouldn’t license same-sex couples as foster parents, the city decided to stop referring children to those agencies.

Upon the learning of that policy, Catholic Social Services and four of its foster parents sought injunctive relief, asserting a freedom of speech and freedom of religion right under the First Amendment to deny placement to LGBT homes.

After a federal district court denied the request for a preliminary injunction, the legal firm sought injunctive relief from the Supreme Court. The order from the Supreme Court on Thursday was the result of that request.

Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, hailed the decision by the Supreme Court as a victory.

“No child should ever be denied a safe and happy home because of who their qualified prospective parents or guardians are,” Warbelow said. “In a nation of over 400,000 foster children, it is inexcusable that some would choose to play politics rather than prioritize the security and well-being of children in need of a loving family. In declining to intervene, the Supreme Court allowed the City of Philadelphia to act in the best interest of children in need.

CHRIS JOHNSON

Eminem receives backlash for homophobic lyrics Eminem dropped his surprise album “Kamikaze” last week, which features plenty of diss tracks of other celebrities but his diss against fellow rapper Tyler, The Creator is receiving controversy for its anti-gay lyrics.

On the track “Fall,” Eminem raps “Tyler create nothin’, I see why you called yourself a f----t, bitch.”

Tyler, The Creator criticized Eminem back in 2014 for his work on the album, “ShadyXV.” “I love you Marshall, you are my favorite rapper but dude ShadyXV is fucking ASS hahaha why wont someone who loves him tell him NO,” Tyler, The Creator said at the time.

Eminem’s lyrical track record has included plenty of homophobic lyrics but the rapper was called out by some of his celebrity peers for still using anti-gay language in 2018.

Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon is featured on the song but says he wasn’t in the studio for Eminem’s verses. In a tweet, he says he’s “not a fan of the message” and asked for the song to be changed but was denied.

Imagine Dragons lead singer Dan Reynolds, who has recently become a strong advocate for the LGBT community, denounced the use of the term on Twitter. “it’s never ok to say a word that is filled with hate. I don’t care what year you were born in or what meaning it has to you,” Reynolds tweeted. “if it contributes to hate and bigotry then it is hateful. period. there is never an ok time to say the word fa**ot. I don’t care who you are.”

He continued: “it’s disgusting to be told this is being “overly sensitive” or “millennial.”

LGBTQ kids are TAKING THEIR LIVES after being bullied with homophobic slurs. it’s not “sensitive” to take a stand against a word that has been used to spread hate for years.”

MARIAH COOPER

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Democrats urge delay in contentious Kavanaugh hearings CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

United States can be forced to comply with a subpoena. Kavanaugh said he couldn’t answer that question because it’s a hypothetical, although he values the precedent set by United States v. Nixon on that issue.

The partisan breakdown on the Senate Judiciary Committee was clear as Democrats decried the absence of available material — an estimated 100,000 pages — from when Kavanaugh was staff secretary at the George W. Bush White House and Republicans insisted the nominee’s 12-year record as a judge on the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in D.C. offered enough insight about his judicial temperament.

For his part, Kavanaugh in his opening statement humbly positioned himself as a family man and a “pro-law” judge who would give both sides a fair shake when cases come before him at the Supreme Court.

“If confirmed to the Supreme Court, I would be part of a team of nine committed to deciding cases according to the Constitution and laws of the United States,” Kavanaugh said. “I would always strive to be a team player on the team of nine.”

Immediately after Senate Judiciary Committee Chair Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) gaveled the panel into session, Sen. Cory Booker (D-N.J.) called for a delay in proceedings until the missing information from Kavanaugh’s time at the Bush White House — blocked by the Trump administration — could be made available.

“What are we hiding by not letting those documents come up?” Booker said. “This committee is a violation of the values that we as a committee have striven for: Transparency.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) called on Grassley to adjourn the hearing. When the Iowa Republican denied the request, citing a rule requiring a vote on adjournment when one was requested. Grassley said the rule only applies to executive session, which the committee wasn’t in for the Kavanaugh hearings. Blumenthal retorted there was nothing in the rules preventing Grassley from taking a vote on adjournment.

Defending the process, Grassley said the committee had enough material to review despite the absence of material from Kavanaugh’s time as staff secretary, asserting the committee had five times more information than the last five Supreme Court nominees combined.

“That’s no reason to delay the hearing,” Grassley said. “We have received and read every page of Judge Kavanaugh’s extensive public record. This includes 12 years of his judicial service on the most important federal circuit court in the country, where he authored 307 opinions and joined hundreds more amounting to more than 10,000 pages of judicial writings.”

LGBT groups have joined Senate Democrats in objecting to the withholding

of information on Kavanaugh during his time as staff secretary, questioning the degree to which he was involved at the time in Bush’s push for a U.S. constitutional amendment that would have banned same-sex marriage nationwide.

The LGBT legal group Lambda Legal announced on Monday it had followed up an unanswered Freedom of Information Act request pending before the White House Office of Management with a federal lawsuit seeking information on Kavanaugh’s involvement with the initiative.

Sharon McGowan, chief strategy officer at Lambda Legal, said the missing documents are “a black hole of critical information” and said proceeding with the hearing was irresponsible.

“The George W. Bush White House was one of the most homophobic administrations in recent history, and Brett Kavanaugh was at the center of the action” McGowan added.

The lawsuit is now one of several seeking information on Kavanaugh, which also include a lawsuit filed by “Fix the Court” seeking documents on the nominee’s time at the Bush White House and as assistant to U.S. Special Counsel Kenneth Starr during the Clinton administration.

Even before the hearings began, demonstrators — many of whom objected to the perceived threat that Kavanaugh’s confirmation posed to abortion rights — sought to disrupt the proceedings with interruptions. At least one shouted the refrain, “Stop Kavanaugh!” One protester affiliated with “Code Pink” held up a sign reading, “Roe-Yes, Kava-Nope.”

The disruptions annoyed Republican members as they attempted to defend the nomination process amid criticism from Democrats — and even Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) expressed irritation at one point — but Grassley continued with the hearing.

The committee didn’t proceed with questioning on the first day of hearings, which Grassley said would begin on Tuesday. LGBT issues came up only in the capacity of Senate Democrats warning Kavanaugh’s confirmation would have strong implications on issues such as samesex marriage and protections for LGBT people at the workplace.

Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) brought up LGBT issues Kavanaugh might be forced to adjudicate as she expressed concerns about the nominee’s confirmation to the Supreme Court.

“We’re talking about the impact that one individual on that court can have, impact on people you’ll never meet and whose names you will never know,” Harris said.

“Whether a person can exercise their constitutional right to cast a ballot — that may be decided if Judge Kavanaugh sits on that court — whether a woman with breast cancer can afford health care, or is forced off life-saving treatment, whether a gay or transgender worker is treated with dignity, or may be treated as a second-

class citizen, whether a young woman who got pregnant at 15 is forced to give birth, or in desperation go to a back alley for an abortion, whether a president of the United States can be held accountably and whether he’ll be above the law.”

Sarah McBride, a transgender activist and spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, was present at the hearing after attending a rally that day against Kavanaugh and called the proceedings a “disgrace.”

“The majority party on the Senate

Judiciary Committee was clearly intent on rushing through this nomination with little regard for transparency or the Senate’s constitutional responsibility to thoroughly vet nominees,” McBride said. “Despite the concealing of roughly 90 percent of Judge Kavanaugh documents, we know what his rhetoric and record on the bench looks like and we cannot afford for senators to pretend that choice or LGBTQ equality at safe when this nominee was hand-picked by anti-choice, anti-equality organizations.”

Trans woman, D.C. restaurant reach ‘resolution’ in bias case A transgender woman has dropped a discrimination complaint against a downtown D.C. restaurant that forced her to leave its premises in June because she used the women’s restroom after it agreed to take a series of actions in support of the trans community and to prevent a similar incident from taking place again.

In a joint statement released on Aug. 31, trans activist Charlotte Clymer and Cuba Libre Restaurant and Rum Bar announced that the two parties reached “a just resolution regarding the charge of discrimination regarding the incident that occurred at the D.C.-based restaurant on June 22, 2018.”

The resolution was reached after the two sides participated in mediation organized by the D.C. Office of Human Rights, which was in the process of investigating Clymer’s discrimination complaint.

Clymer, who works as a press secretary for the D.C.-based national LGBT rights organization Human Rights Campaign, filed her complaint following a widely publicized incident in which the manager of Cuba Libre directed a bouncer to escort her out of the restaurant for violating what he claimed was its strict policy on restroom use.

Clymer said the manager and an attendant standing near the restrooms told her the policy required that she show identification confirming that she was a female before she could enter the women’s restroom.

In an account of the incident that Clymer posted on social media shortly after the incident occurred, she said she refused to show such identification and entered the restroom after trying to explain that D.C. law prohibits such an identification policy.

Upon leaving the restroom, Clymer said she left the restaurant on her own and used her phone to pull up D.C.’s nondiscrimination policies and laws regarding trans people. With that in hand, she returned to the restaurant and tried to further explain to the manager that D.C. law prohibits the type of restroom I.D. policy the manager claimed the restaurant had. He once again ignored her explanation and directed a bouncer to escort her out of the restaurant, Clymer stated in a Facebook posting.

Shortly after Clymer’s Facebook and Twitter postings recounting what happened to her and after strong messages surfaced on social media by others denouncing Cuba Libre for its treatment of her, the restaurant posted its own message on Twitter apologizing for the manager’s actions and saying it does not condone discrimination.

Clymer nevertheless filed a discrimination complaint against Cuba Libre with the D.C. Office of Human Rights, saying the action by the manger was a clear violation of the city’s Human Rights Act. The joint statement released on Aug. 31 by Clymer and Cuba Libre states, “The resolution includes annual staff training in Spanish and English at its D.C. location, changes to restroom signage to be fully LGBTQ-inclusive, adopting written policies instructing staff to be fully LGBTQ-inclusive, a substantial donation to Casa Ruby for the purposes of local LGBTQ advocacy work and a partnership with the Restaurant Association of Metropolitan Washington to educate local business owners on public accommodations law in the District (paid for by Cuba Libre.)”

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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Calif. AG says Trump will face justice via impeachment or indictment CONTINUED FROM PAGE 01

the Blade in a recent interview. “I have no hope for Donald Trump. And I think he’s proven himself repeatedly who he is and what he’ll do. When you have someone who’s that much of a rogue and that dangerous a player, you expect the other branches of government to stand up.”

In every respect, Trump is “endangering the health, the security, the economic well-being of the people of the country,” Becerra says. “It’s been a long time since we thought we were this close to having someone press the button that could end up starting some nuclear conflict. But given how erratic Donald Trump is—you just never know what he’s going to come up with next. I think that’s probably as bad as it gets when you get to the point of a nuclear conflict. But the fact that we would even talk about that or believe that could be possible for irrational reasons— it makes you just wonder where are the checks and balances that would make sure that one irrational person could not topple the longest living democracy in history.”

Becerra is the tip of the spear in California’s resistance to the growing conflict between the state’s laws and values and the Trump administration, including sanctuary laws and LGBT rights.

Sworn in as attorney general on Jan. 24, 2017, four days after Trump’s inauguration, Becerra’s first LGBT-related action came five weeks later on March 3 when he filed an amicus brief in the Supreme Court in Gloucester County School Board v. G.G., a case involving a discriminatory bathroom policy that segregates transgender students from their peers. Since then, he’s added states to the State-Funded Travel Restrictions law, filed numerous amicus briefs in LGBT-related cases and perhaps most significantly, on Nov. 9, 2017, filed a motion for the state of California to intervene in Stockman v. Trump, a federal case brought by Equality California and other plaintiffs challenging Trump’s ban on transgender individuals serving in the military. Becerra has kept up with that fight, including filing an amicus brief July 2 in Karnoski v. Trump, now in the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.

Becerra has never had an issue with LGBT people. “I’ve always looked at things from the perspective of someone who remembers my dad’s stories where, simply because he was from Mexican heritage, he couldn’t walk into restaurants because of the signs that said ‘no dogs or Mexicans allowed.’ When I ran [for the California Assembly] in 1990,” Becerra says, “I ran for office to be able to fight against discrimination.”

It was a quiet evolution. “You get accustomed when you’re younger to hearing things,” Becerra says. “I remember in my family it was always taboo if you weren’t Catholic. You begin

California Attorney General XAVIER BECERRA in the LA Pride Parade

to think, ‘well, if you’re not Catholic, I guess you’re a sinner all the time.’ And then you begin to realize, ‘wait, maybe you don’t have to be Catholic to be a good person.’ Same kind of thing. I think as time went on, not only were people willing to come out but people who were straight were willing to speak out in defense of, in support of people who were LGBTQ because there were still people who would be very mean-spirited towards folks. Rather than just absorb an attack or a gesture against someone who was LGBTQ, you’d actually say, ‘wait a minute, that’s not right.”

Becerra is still speaking out, however, now he has to be more cautious. For instance, advocacy groups representing victims of Catholic Church sexual abuse sent him a letter pleading for a grand jury probe into the decades of priest molestations and the church’s cover up in California.

Becerra starts with the caveat of never even acknowledging a California Department of Justice investigation. Then he adds: “There is no doubt that there some serious allegations that have been proven facts here of past misconduct.

And so at the Department of Justice we will take every measure that we must to try to make sure we’re protecting the rights of the people of California, whether it’s a consumer issue, whether it’s a criminal matter and whether it’s a matter involving the church. We understand what the obligations are for the state and we will do what we are authorized to do.”

Becerra comes to his job with deep experience: the first in his family to graduate from college, he secured his Juris Doctor from Stanford Law School in 1984, worked for State Sen. Art Torres,

then Attorney General John Van de Kamp before running for Assembly in 1990. He ran for Congress in 1992 after famed Rep. Ed Roybal announced his retirement. Becerra rose to leadership positions, including as chair of the House Democratic and Hispanic caucuses, until Gov. Jerry Brown asked him to replace departing AG Kamala Harris after her election to the U.S. Senate. Becerra is running for re-election in November.

During his long congressional tenure, Becerra fought for LGBT issues, including against the Defense of Marriage Act in 1996 and “to make sure that the standards for immigration were not discriminatory against people who were LGBTQ.” As attorney general, he is constrained by federal law in what he can do.

However, “we can take on the federal government if the federal government violates constitutional rights,” which is why he’s had success defending the DACA Dreamers and “protecting the state status against the attacks” by Trump and Attorney General Jeff Sessions.

Becerra is “very confident” about the lawsuits challenging the trans military service ban. “Why you would stop anyone who was willing to put his or her life on the line to protect our people in the nation goes beyond me and it certainly goes beyond the law,” Becerra says. “So I feel very confident that if the Trump administration seeks to act based on a bias and discrimination that the courts will overturn anything he tries to do.”

But Becerra is concerned about the confirmation of Trump’s Supreme Court nominee, Brett Kavanaugh, who Senate Republicans seem to want to rush through without a thorough examination.

PHOTO COURTESY BECERRA’S OFFICE

“If you don’t stand up in this crucial time, you’re being far less of a patriot than what we need right now in Washington, D.C.,” he says. “And right now with the way Congress has constantly been AWOL in doing oversight and the work that’s necessary to put a check on the work that the Trump administration is trying to put forward, it’s time to have profiles in courage.”

Anything short of “full, thorough, fair and transparent process” would be “a blemish on our form of governance” and would “undermine the credibility and the integrity of the Supreme Court to be that fair and final arbiter. And I think people will begin to say that the courts and the Supreme Court are no less a political body than is the executive.”

Becerra has a pointed analysis about Trump’s possible impeachment.

“Let me just try to give you my own personal opinion. I absolutely believe that there is an accumulation of evidence that Donald Trump has committed crimes. I believe that Robert Mueller is assembling those facts to prove that he has committed crimes. I believe that Robert Mueller’s investigation will be the evidence that it takes to take action against Donald Trump,” Becerra says.

He continued, “Some people say that he might face indictment; some people say that you can’t indict a sitting president.

Regardless, if Donald Trump has committed crimes, actions can be taken against him. I believe that Robert Mueller has accumulated evidence that shows that Donald Trump committed crimes.

Whether it’s through an impeachment process or through an indictment, I believe Donald Trump should and will face justice.”

Keep your promise to protect each other.

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H E A LT H N E W S

Californians, gay and bi men overrepresented in rising STD rates

By CHRISTOPHER KANE

As recently as 10 years ago, the number of reported cases of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis had fallen to historic lows. In the past four years, however, data show “steep and sustained increases” in rates for all three diseases, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Nearly 2.3 million patients were diagnosed with chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis just last year in the United States, marking the highest incidence rates of these STDs since a record-breaking number of cases were reported in 2016.

Health experts warn that America is now contending with a public health crisis.

“We are sliding backward,” said Jonathan Mermin, director of the CDC’s National Center for HIV/AIDS, Viral Hepatitis, STD and TB Prevention in an Aug. 28 press release on preliminary 2017 data presented at the National STD Prevention Conference in Washington. “It is evident the systems that identify, treat and ultimately prevent STDs are strained to near-breaking point.”

STDs are treatable with antibiotics but the emergence of new drug-resistant strains of gonorrhea has challenged lines of defense that have traditionally and reliably curbed the rate of new infections. The number of new gonorrhea cases in men nearly doubled from 2016 to 2017, disproportionately among men who have sex with men (MSM).

“We expect gonorrhea will eventually wear down our last highly effective antibiotic and additional treatment options are urgently needed,” said Gail Bolan, director of CDC’s Division of STD Prevention.

What happened? Across the board, rising rates of all three STDs can be attributed to factors that include the corresponding increase in unprotected sex among MSM, eroding public health infrastructures, clinic closures and, to a limited extent in some groups, improved rates of STD screening.

National Coalition of STD Directors Executive Director David Harvey said state and local STD clinic budgets have been halved since the early 2000s.

“It is time that President Trump and Secretary (Azar) declare STDs in America a public health crisis,” he said. “What goes along with that is emergency access to public health funding to make a dent in these STD rates and to bring these rates down and to ensure that all Americans get access to the health care that they need.”

While their access to sexual health resources has dwindled, research has also found gay and bisexual men are engaging in riskier behaviors, including condomless “bareback” sex, which helps explain the rising incidence rates of chlamydia, gonorrhea and syphilis. Experts say several factors are at play. Progress in the treatment of HIV, which is no longer considered a death sentence, may have effectively made unprotected sex “less scary.” And the introduction of preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) — approved in 2012 as a once-daily regimen to reduce by as much as 99 percent the risk of contracting HIV — may have had the same effect.

Importantly, PrEP remains a valuable tool that can help reduce the number of new HIV infections, despite possible associations between use of the drug and increased risk behaviors/rates of STDs. While HIV diagnoses in the U.S. have dropped consistently since 2010, 39,782 new cases were reported in 2016, and ADVERTISING PROOF one of seven patients is unaware he or she is HIV positive. Public health officials ISSUE DATE: 10.26.12 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: BRIAN PITTS (bpitts@washblade.com) consider PReP a crucial resource in fighting HIV disease and expanded access to the drug remains a core focus area in national HIV/AIDS strategy.

REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of To fight the STD crisis, officials have called for an approach that includes input the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts NS omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users GN from local stakeholders. can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or EVISIONS any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any “We don’t want to take a one-size-fits-all approach to STD prevention,” said copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair LOGO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE Michael Fraser, executive director of the Association of State and Territorial SIONS washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limitedOffi to placement, Health cials. “The techniques you might use in the MSM community are by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations payment and insertion schedule. and warranties. really different from what you might use with pregnant women. … And I think that’s another place where states have a lot of expertise because they know their population and they know some of the stuff that works well in some of those areas.”

State-specific data will be made available after the CDC publishes the full surveillance report in September. But public health workers in California have already reported spikes this year in the number of diagnosed cases of STDs, particularly of syphilis among gay and bisexual men.

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Insurgent Dems beat back the trolls Candidates like Abrams, Gillum, O’Rourke offer midterm shakeup

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist.

Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

“Damn the torpedoes! Four bells. Captain Drayton, go ahead! Jouett, full speed!”

Thus did Union Admiral David Farragut order an attack on the Confederate fleet at Mobile Bay in 1864. As with Farragut, defeating Donald Trump’s tide of racist populism calls not for caution but for boldness and conviction like that of Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum.

Gillum, who last week won the Democratic nomination for governor of Florida, is dismissed as a socialist and a communist by partisans of a president whose lips are firmly planted on the butt of veteran KGB agent Vladimir Putin.

Gillum’s issues page states, “Andrew is running for Governor so that Florida can finally confront the challenges we’ve shrunk from over the past 20 years: rebuilding our economy, revitalizing public education, protecting and expanding healthcare access, and addressing our climate change crisis with a clean energy economy.” Somehow Republican nominee Ron DeSantis interprets this as Gillum wanting “to turn Florida into Venezuela,” though it’s DeSantis backer Trump who appears bent on turning America into a

banana republic.

DeSantis indignantly denied any racist intent in his “monkey this up” reference to Gillum. That‘s how it works: blow the dogwhistle and play innocent. Two days later, DeSantis had to denounce robocalls by an Idaho-based Neo-Nazi group portraying Gillum with a minstrel voice and jungle noises.

Trump’s diehards don’t want honest debate. They prefer to smear and caricature. Gillum sticks to his positive message. He exemplifies the appeal of fresh voices who focus on solutions rather than kowtowing to fear mongers.

Stacey Abrams, the Democratic nominee for Georgia governor, is a progressive whose bipartisan efforts in the General Assembly belie Republican labels of her as radical. She can win not just because her proposals like Medicaid expansion and small business investment address popular needs, but because the diversity some decry as a leftist slogan describes a changing electorate.

Another impressive Democrat is Beto O’Rourke, challenging Texas Sen. Ted Cruz. His answer to a question about NFL player protests has gone viral. Here is a portion: “The freedoms that we have were purchased not just by those in uniform, and they definitely were. But also by ... peaceful, nonviolent protests, including taking a knee at a football game to point out that Black men, unarmed; Black teenagers, unarmed; and Black children, unarmed, are being killed at a frightening level right now, including by members of law enforcement, without accountability and without justice.... I can think of nothing more American than to peacefully stand up or take a knee for your rights anytime, anywhere, anyplace.”

Cruz twisted this into an attack on wounded veterans.

If Trump’s desired autocracy takes

hold—and we are on the knife’s edge— the main cause will not be white nationalist stockpiles but a fatal decline in our habits of thought and discourse. In our click wars we are like someone walking down the street who is too fixated on his smartphone to notice the open sewer grate he is approaching.

Trump has lately threatened Big Tech companies, not because their platforms help disseminate misinformation but because he is a thin-skinned bully. He doesn’t want Google’s search algorithm to be fair and unbiased, but only to be flattering toward him.

Reality is like that sewer grate. If we are distracted by bots and trolls, we are in for a fall.

Mockery and epithets have replaced arguments. Solving our shared problems requires connecting across various divides. It requires mutually recognized facts, norms, and authorities. These foundations of our republic are under assault

by Trump and his enablers in the GOP. In his latest display of family values, Trump has ramped up passport denials to Americans born in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley; one report blamed President Obama despite his having settled in 2009 an ACLU case begun under George W. Bush.

A gunman echoing Trump’s “enemy of the people” mantra threatened to kill Boston Globe employees, yet Trump calls Democrats violent.

This madness can only be countered by a voter turnout large enough to overcome voter suppression. Our country is governed by an unrepresentative minority determined to lock in its power. If we don’t rise to this fight like many insurgent Democratic candidates, that may happen.

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Elissa Silverman for Council-at-large Re-elect the independent, progressive incumbent

PETER ROSENSTEIN is a D.C.-based LGBT rights and Democratic Party activist. He writes regularly for the Blade.

The voters of the District of Columbia should make a statement with their vote Nov. 6 and tell lobbyists they won’t accept them trying to control the votes of our City Council.

There has never been a Council member with whom I agree all the time and Elissa Silverman is no exception; she is independent and stands unabashedly for workers and their families.

She understands the District has become a place where the average worker finds it hard to afford living and is willing to do everything she can to make it easier for them to support themselves and their families here.

According to the Washington Post, Anthony Williams, former mayor and highly paid executive director of the Federal City Council and David Catania, former Council member,

losing mayoral candidate and now lobbyist are “teaming up in an effort to unseat Silverman in November.” They don’t like the bill providing family leave to workers Silverman co-introduced with David Grosso. The final bill with support from Council Chair Mendelson won overwhelming support on the Council. According to the Post it is “among the nation’s most generous and imposes a new tax on business.” Now Catania and Williams don’t like the bill or the tax it creates and figure Silverman is the easiest target to go after; she is standing strong. They aren’t going after the chair or any of the other Council members who voted for it thinking they could be convinced/bullied to make changes before it goes into effect. I recently wondered why Catania wrote an opinion piece in the Blade supporting Anita Bonds and from the Post got my answer; he opened a new lobbying firm in the District.

This kind of heavy handed political action is not what the people of the District should lend their support to. Elissa is the most liberal member of the D.C. Council. She can be counted on to support workers and economic fairness which is why she is supported by unions like SEIU and the D.C. Nurses Association, and other groups like Democracy for America, the D.C. Chapter of NOW, TENAC, Jews United for Justice Campaign Fund, and is also supported

by D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine.

There are others aside from Williams and

Catania’s candidate who announced they were running for the independent seat Silverman holds. When Catania and Williams stepped in to push a businesswoman there was already another businesswoman in the race and she happens to be a lesbian and someone I admire. My assumption is she wasn’t willing to commit as much to those two lobbyists. Their candidate is now having problems with her petition signatures. Maybe karma, but one would think that was something Williams, who had problems with his petitions and got tossed from the ballot, could have helped her avoid.

Before the Post column I was not sure who I would endorse in this race. But after this selfstyled dynamic duo got involved friends who read the column called asking what I thought.

They told me how infuriated they were after reading it. These were lawyers and business people who were aghast at what Williams and Catania were doing.

They were people who have lived in the District for years and were strong Williams supporters in both his campaigns as was I. They tend to follow more national politics than local and this just caught their eye and made them mad and they didn’t even know Elissa.

So I sought a meeting with Elissa to talk about the campaign. She told me in the next four years she will continue to fight for workers. She intends to introduce a bill to mandate national chains like CVS and Safeway

give their employees their work schedules at least two weeks in advance so they can realistically arrange everything from childcare to doctor’s appointments. Low-salaried employees in those stores don’t always get that now.

She wants to work with the city to ensure the city’s Infrastructure Academy that trains D.C. residents for D.C. jobs is actually doing the job and training potential employees for the jobs that are coming to the District. If we build the new proposed hospital east of the river she wants to ensure local residents will be prepared to work there. For that to happen some may need training not only in the actual job responsibilities/skills, but may need training in what are often called the soft skills — including how to answer a phone, write a resume and handle an interview. She has also pledged to continue to fight for a minimum of at least $100 million each year for affordable housing.

The voters in the District of Columbia are some of the most progressive in the nation. They believe in fairness for all and it is important we have some people like Elissa, un-pledged to any particular lobbyists, on the Council to stand up for fairness and the little guy. There are more than enough Council members already responsive to the business community and at times too responsive to lobbyists like Catania and Williams. That is why I urge voters to cast their ballot on Nov. 6 for Elissa Silverman for Council-at-large.

V I E WPO I N T

Happy 150th anniversary to influential ‘Little Women’ Gender-bending novel still resonates with queer readers

KATHI WOLFE, a regular contributor to the Blade, was the winner of the 2014 Stonewall Chapbook Competition.

When I was 10, I didn’t want to wear a skirt, comb my hair or learn to keep house. I wanted to run around outside and to write. I felt alone, like an alien dropped into GirlLand: the other girls were so different from me. Until I read “Little Women” by Louisa May Alcott.

When I met Jo March, the novel’s genderbending sister, I no longer felt alone.

“Little Women” has been adapted numerous times for the stage, screen and TV. Who can forget Katharine Hepburn as

Jo March in the 1933 movie of the novel directed by George Cukor? A movie adaptation of “Little Women,” directed by Clare Niederpruem, will be released nationally on Sept. 28. Another movie of the novel, directed by Greta Gerwig of “Lady Bird,” will be out in 2019.

Even if you live in a cave, you’ve likely heard of “Little Women” published 150 years ago this month. Set during and after the Civil War, the novel tells the story of Meg, Jo (short for Josephine), Beth and Amy – the four sisters of the March family. The family is poor. Meg and Jo have to work. Their father is largely absent: he’s away as a chaplain in the war, and a figure in the background when he comes home. Their mother (“Marmee”), as a single parent, holds the family together.

Lawrence, a.k.a., Laurie, a rich teenager, lives next door with his grandfather.

This would be a boring, unremarkable, outdated story if not for some surprising twists. Meg wants what every girl in the 19th century is expected to aspire to: she hopes to find a man, marry, set up house and have children. Beth, like other fiction-

al 19th century invalids, is practically an angel. She’s too otherworldly to think of marriage and kids. But, Amy, girly, likable, though shallow, is a bit unusual for girls of her time. She’s not only a fashion plate and social butterfly, she loves art and devotes herself to her drawing.

Jo’s gender-bending practically leaps off the page. Jo doesn’t want to be the least bit girly, to marry or to be mired in domesticity. “I hate to think I’ve got to... wear long gowns...,” Jo says, “...I like boys’ games and work and manners! I can’t get over my disappointment in not being a boy.”

More surprising, at a time when women were discouraged from pursuing careers and being authors, Jo is a writer. Alone in her garret, eating apples, Jo in her “vortex” writes stories. She uses the money that she earns from her stories to help her struggling family. As Anne Boyd Rioux, author of the new book “Meg, Jo, Beth, Amy: The Story of ‘Little Women’ and Why It Still Matters,” says, Alcott’s novel has inspired writers from bell hooks to Barbara Kingsolver to Susan Sontag to John Green to

Anne Tyler to Jhumpa Lahiri.

“I was able to tell myself that I too was like her [Jo],” said Simone de Beauvoir, “I too would be superior and find my place.”

I wouldn’t have written any poems if I hadn’t read “Little Women” in the attic as a kid.

The genderbending isn’t limited to the girls in “Little Women.” Laurie goes against the conventional view of masculinity. While his grandfather wants him to go into business, he’s intent on becoming a musician.

In its 150th year, “Little Women” still resonates for queer people. “Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy: A Graphic Novel: A Modern Retelling of Little Women” written by Ray Terciero and illustrated by Bre Indigo will be out in February. In this retelling the March family is blended, multiracial and LGBTQ inclusive. Terchiero, who is queer said in a statement, “...Bre and I wanted to see ourselves in the characters...which is why we made the family diverse and one of the characters LGBTQ.” From your fans, Happy anniversary, “Little Women!”

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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VIEWPOINT

What’s at stake for LGBTQ rights in Massachusetts Facing down major threat to equality in November

By KASEY SUFFREDINI On Nov. 6, the LGBTQ movement will face one of the single biggest threats to equality in recent memory. Anti-transgender activists in Massachusetts have secured the country’s first statewide popular vote on an LGBTQ nondiscrimination law.

The legislation passed with a bipartisan supermajority in 2016 and was signed into law by Republican Gov. Charlie Baker, providing protections for transgender people from discrimination in public places like restaurants, stores and hospitals. The activists seeking repeal of this law have publicly stated that, if successful, they will seek to roll back nondiscrimination protections for the entire LGBTQ community in states nationwide. The outcome of this vote could fuel our opponents’ attacks for years to come, and the national stakes for our community could not be higher.

Yes, it’s “blue” Massachusetts. Yes, 2018 may bring a “blue wave.” But two recent polls show this is a 50/50 fight - and that’s before repeal proponents have begun airing their ugly, misleading advertisements. We know voters across the political spectrum are vulnerable to our opponents’ scare tactics. We can take nothing for granted, and we have to work to earn every vote. That’s why Freedom for All

Americans has been on the ground with Freedom for All Massachusetts - now the Yes on 3 campaign - since early 2017 going door-to-door talking with voters about what it means to be transgender and what nondiscrimination laws do and don’t do.

Massachusetts led the country on marriage equality and it must serve as a firewall to stop the spread of discrimination.

This is not a challenge our movement asked for, but we can seize it as an opportunity. There’s no clearer way to demonstrate growth in public support for nondiscrimination protections than to win a statewide popular vote. The Yes On 3 campaign to uphold Massachusetts’ transgender protections is laser-focused on leveraging lessons learned from previous campaigns, introducing voters to transgender people, addressing concerns about safety and restrooms head on, and connecting the aspirations of our transgender friends and neighbors to the values we all share - freedom, liberty, kindness, and making sure everyone has a fair shot at success.

The truth is, anti-LGBTQ activists are in a race against the clock to capitalize on the fact that too few Americans yet personally know a transgender person. A 2016 Pew Research Center study found that nearly nine in ten (87%) U.S. adults know someone who is gay or lesbian -- one of the most important factors that determines whether a person supports marriage equality. In the same survey, only 3 in 10 (30%) said they know someone who

is transgender. Opponents of rights for the LGBTQ community know that transgender equality is a relatively new issue for many people. They use protections for transgender people as a wedge issue to rollback existing protections for the entire LGBTQ community and to prevent passage of new protections. Winning this fight in Massachusetts opens the door to winning the full equality we seek for all LGBTQ Americans.

Just as we saw with efforts to win marriage equality, everyday Americans from all political backgrounds are moved to support transgender nondiscrimination measures by opportunities to become more familiar with transgender people.

Massachusetts Republican Rep. Sheila Harrington summed this up best when she shared her personal journey from opposing to supporting transgender protections in a speech during the 2016 legislative vote stating: “I have had the opportunity to listen again and for many hours, to transgender people and their loved ones who have eloquently and courageously shared their stories and experiences. I have been well aware of the arguments made against transgender rights, because I once made them myself. But I also know now that they are wrong.”

In the current landscape of myths and lies about who transgender people are, our wins can not be taken for granted.

And what we have learned from people like Rep. Harrington in states across the country is that logic and reason aren’t

always enough to change minds on this issue. It’s when Americans realize that transgender people are their friends, family members and neighbors, working alongside them and sharing similar dreams to build a good life for themselves and their families, that minds are changed and hearts are won.

With hard work and a smart strategy, I know that when Massachusetts voters are asked whether to continue treating their friends, family members, and and neighbors with dignity and respect, they will vote Yes on 3. And when they do, our movement will be one step closer to demonstrating that America is ready for nondiscrimination protections nationwide.

Volunteers are walking door-to-door to talk to Massachusetts voters about an America we all believe in - a place where all people have the opportunity to achieve their American dream, and to do so without fear of discrimination. We know that voters simply need the opportunity to get to know their transgender neighbors, and that’s why we need all hands on deck.

If you haven’t yet joined Yes on 3 in seizing this historic opportunity, now is the time. Go to www.FreedomMA.org to learn how you can phone bank from any zip code, take a “volunteer vacation” to Massachusetts to join our door-to-door canvassing efforts, and contribute financially.

KASEY SUFFREDINI is the president of strategy at Freedom for All Americans and co-chair of the Yes on 3 campaign.

Serving Our Community for 35 years

a d v i C e • m e d iat i o N • L i t i G at i o N • a P P e a L S • C o L L a B o r at i o N

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SPEAK WITH OUR PREPLANNING ADVISOR, JAMIE ARTHURS AT (202) 966-6400 OR EMAIL JAMIE.ARTHURS@DIGNITYMEMORIAL.COM

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at tor N e YS at L aw • d C | m d | va

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Vote in the Tuesday, November 6, 2018 General Election

Polls will be open from 7 am to 8 pm.

During the General Election, all registered voters and District residents eligible to register, may vote.

CONTESTS ON THE BALLOT: Delegate to the United States House of Representatives Mayor of the District of Columbia Chairman of the Council of the District of Columbia At-large Member of the Council of the District of Columbia Ward Member of the Council of the District of Columbia (Wards 1, 3, 5 and 6) Attorney General of the District of Columbia United States Senator United States Representative Ward Member of the State Board of Education (Wards 1, 3, 5 and 6) Advisory Neighborhood Commissioner

WANT TO VOTE EARLY? Early Voting will start at One Judiciary Square (OJS) on October 22, and at satellite Early Voting Centers on October 26. Early Voting Centers are open daily (including weekends) through November 2, from 8:30 am until 7 pm. Both paper and touchscreen ballots will be available at OJS. Satellite Early Voting Centers will open on October 26, and they will have touchscreen ballots only. Eligible voters may vote at any Early Voting Center during Early Voting, regardless of their address or Election Day polling place. Early Voting Center locations can be found online at https://earlyvoting.dcboe.org/.

NEED MORE INFORMATION? For more information on the upcoming election, on voter registration, to confirm your registration information, or to find your polling place, please visit www.dcboe.org or call (202) 727-2525.

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‘Empire on Main Street,’ (top left) ‘Life After’ (top right) and ‘Sparrow’ (bottom center).

PHOTOS COURTESY D.C. SHORTS

The long and short of it D.C. SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL FEATURES — AS ALWAYS — PLENTY OF QUEER CONTENT

By BRIAN T. CARNEY There’s a reason why short films are becoming increasingly popular.

The best ones are exhilarating distillations of the filmmaker’s experiences and viewpoints. They linger with you.

They leave you with a great punchline, an indelible image or maybe even a tear or two. They definitely give you something to talk about on the way home.

As for the worst ones, they’re over quickly.

Luckily for D.C. movie audiences, the acclaimed D.C. Shorts Film Festival and Screenplay Competition, which is running through Sept. 16, is offering the

best short films from around the corner and around the globe. Festival Executive Director Kimberly Bush says she and her dedicated staff and volunteers reviewed about 1,200 films and 70 screenplays for this year’s event.

From those submissions, the team selected 125 short films and seven screenplays. Directed by filmmakers from 30 different countries, the films range from two-40 minutes in length and cover an amazing array of stories and genres.

Bush is especially proud of the number of female filmmakers who will be

participating in this year’s festival.

“The movement within the industry toward expanding the presence of women behind the camera in the director’s role is reflected in a notable milestone in the festival’s history,” Bush says. “With a total of 40 women directors, we offer more films directed by women than any prior year in the festival’s history.”

The films are divided into over 25 general and thematic showcases that will be screened at the Landmark E Street Cinema. The logistics can be a little daunting, but the festival website (festival.

dcshorts.com) offers a handy guide to the films and information on getting festival passes or tickets for individual films. With D.C. Shorts Online, it’s also possible to watch films from home or on your favorite mobile device.

The website also offers information of the festival’s impressive schedules of both parties and filmmaker workshops.

For LGBT audiences, one of the highlights of the festival, now in its 15th year, will be Cinema 10%, a collection of CONTINUES ON PAGE 32

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Q U E E RY : 2 0 Q U E ST I O N S F O R MI CH A E L CH A SE

WASHINGTON BLADE PHOTO BY MICHAEL KEY

By JOEY DiGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com Michael Chase isn’t a big runner himself.

“I’m built for endurance, not speed,” he says.

But that hasn’t stopped him from walking the Race to Beat Cancer “many times.”

Chase is concierge supervisor at the Four Seasons in Georgetown where he’s worked for 20 years. Each year the hotel hosts the event with the Washington Cancer Institute at MedStar Washington Hospital Center. In 2017, $300,000 was raised from the event. This year’s goal is $400,000.

This year’s race is Saturday, Sept. 15 at the Four Seasons (2800 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) with three components — adult, college and kids. All three start at 8 a.m. Participants can register online in advance or in person on race day.

Full details at racetobeatcancer5k.com.

“We all have a cancer story,” Chase says. “It’s a terrible disease that does not discriminate no matter the race, sexual orientation, age or gender.

Cancer has most likely touched all of our lives in some way. … We are all in this together to eradicate this plight and find a cure.”

Chase helps raise money each year for the event soliciting donations from Four Seasons regulars.

“Since I have been here for 20 years, I have a wonderful and very long-term relationship with many of our guests,” the 55-year-old, Ridgefield, N.J., native says. “This is the only time I solicit guests for money. I enjoy making the big ask, usually $10,000 donations at a time. My colleagues and I also call on our local partners to obtain extra donations that can make the day extra special.”

Chase came to Washington 37 years ago to attend American University.

He’s in a relationship with Dana Mikelson and lives in Cleveland Park. Chase enjoys travel, sightseeing, theater, baking, biking, movies, scuba diving and more in his free time.

M I C H A EL C H A S E How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

Twenty-one years and myself.

Who’s your LGBT hero?

Tim Gill

What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present?

Tracks (past) and JR.’s on Monday evening (present).

Describe your dream wedding.

Black tie with a big band high up in a NYC building with the city as the dramatic back drop. The Rainbow Room would be ideal! On the simpler side, outdoors in the Rockies, under the Maroon Bells and Aspen sky!

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

Holocaust remembrance

What historical outcome would you change?

The AIDS epidemic

What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

Three come to mind: the march on Washington after Trump’s inaugural, attending the Kennedy Center Honors and going to the opening of Parliament in London. Seeing the Queen, her court and all their pomp and circumstance — they know how to throw a show.

On what do you insist?

Integrity and honesty

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?

The Four Seasons Race to Beat Cancer 5k and seeing “Hamilton” at the Kennedy Center.

If your life were a book, what would the title be?

“My Lips Are Chapped”

If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

I’d stay just as I am.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

Nothing. Dead is dead.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

Never relent but don’t be rude.

What would you walk across hot coals for?

The health and happiness of my family and friends.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

That all gay men are effeminate.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“Rocky Horror Picture Show”

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Fist bump

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

Four Seasons Employee of the Year or a Tony Award. I love to sing.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

I should have followed my own instincts.

Why Washington?

It’s a big little town.

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GREAT PERFORMANCES AT MASON 2018/2019 SEASON N SE EW AS T H O IS N!

The Manhattan Transfer

Featuring the American Festival Pops Orchestra Saturday, September 29 at 8:30 p.m.

This performance is part of the ARTS by George! benefit.

Family Series

Aga-Boom

Sunday, September 30 at 1 p.m. and 4 p.m.

This performance is also at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on Sat., Sept. 29 at 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

Information at HyltonCenter.org.

Chamber Society of Lincoln Center Saturday, October 13 at 8 p.m.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW! 703-993-2787 OR CFA.GMU.EDU

SE CF AS A’ O S1 N 8 BE /1 GI 9 NS !

L.A. Theatre Works

Steel Magnolias Sunday, October 14 at 7 p.m.

This performance is also at the Hylton Performing Arts Center on Sat., Feb. 9 at 8 p.m. Information at HyltonCenter.org.

Located on the Fairfax campus, six miles west of Beltway exit 54, at the intersection of Braddock Road and Rt. 123.

E: 01.13.2017

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

24 • SE PT E M B E R 07, 2018

O U T & A BO U T

By MARIAH COOPER

CALL FOR RESERVATIONS

PHOTO BY JOHN RUSSO

Sally Field to discuss memoir M-TH 11:30AM-10PM • F-SAT 11:30AM-11PM SUN. BRUNCH 11AM-3PM / DINNER 3-10PM

322 MASS. AVE. NE • 202.543.7656

CAFEBERLIN-DC.COM

Sally Field discusses her new memoir “In Pieces” at Sixth and I Synagogue (600 I St., N.W.) on Thursday, Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.

The Academy and Emmy Award-winning actress chronicles her difficult childhood and her career journey. Field will speak about her life and memoir with “All Things Considered” co-host, Ari Shapiro. Tickets for admission are $25.

One ticket and one book is $42 and two tickets and one book is $55. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more information, visit sixthandi.org.

Time to pop the cork!

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WASHINGTON BLADE FILE PHOTO BY TOM HAUSSMAN

HRC National Dinner slated for next weekend ADVERTISER SIGNATURE By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, payment and insertion schedule.

The 22nd annual Human Rights Campaign National Dinner is at Walter E. Washington Convention Center (801 Mt Vernon Pl., N.W.) on Saturday, Sept. 15 from 6-10 p.m.

Attendees will gather with more than 3,600 HRC members, friends, families and allies to celebrate LGBT achievement in education, research, and politics.

There will be a silent and live auction, cocktail reception, dinner, speakers and live entertainment. General admission tickets are $400. Active duty military tickets are $275.

For more details, visit hrcnationaldinner.org.

D.C. Wine Fest is at Big Chief (2002 Fenwick St., N.E.) on Saturday, Sept. 15 from noon-10 p.m.

Guests can sample wines from an assortment of wineries. DJ Curley Sue will play music for the event. There will also be food, music performers and surprise performers. Tickets are sold in sessions from noon-3 p.m., 1-3 p.m., 3:30-6:30 p.m., 4:30-6:30 p.m., 7-10 p.m. and 8-10 p.m. VIP tickets are $60 and include early admission to the event. General admission tickets are $35.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit dcwinefest.com.

H Street Festival is Sept. 15 The H Street Festival takes place on H Street N.E. on Saturday, Sept. 15 from noon-7 p.m.

The festival will include a variety of activities spanning 11 blocks. There will be 14 stage areas with performances ranging from music, dance, youth based performances, fashion, poetry, heritage arts and more. The festival will also include exhibitors, food and an interactive children’s program. Admission is free.

For more details, visit hstreetfestival.org.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

T H E A TER

S E PT E M B E R 07, 2018 • 25

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND WA S H I N G T O N , D . C .

Colonel Larry H. Lang, Commander and Conductor

PHOTO BY STAN BAROUH

ROZ WHITE (left) and AYANA REED in ‘Marie and Rosetta.’

Sister act Guitar-playing gospel music legend revisited in Mosaic play

By PATRICK FOLLIARD Sister Rosetta Tharpe? The name may not ring a bell to some, but for those who saw her perform in her heyday, she’s not easily forgotten; and by many in the know, Tharpe is famous as the queer black woman who helped invent rock and roll.

She came up in the church singing gospel but later made the switch to what’s described as gospel combined with incipient rock. What made Tharpe stand out is that she played the guitar while she sang, something that few women were doing in the mid-20th century. In George Brant’s play with music “Marie & Rosetta” at Mosaic Theater, the spotlight focuses on Tharpe’s professional and personal relationship with another gospel girl-turned-popular singer, Marie Knight.

The action is set in 1946 Jim Crow Mississippi. While on the road the women find digs wherever they can. Tonight, they’re seeking shelter in a well-appointed funeral parlor replete with shiny open caskets. The women are getting to know each other and in turn we get to know them. Rosetta (Roz White), the older of the two, is raucous and fun. Marie (Ayana Reed) is seemingly more genteel and innocent but eventually reveals a rocky past and a thirst for adventure.

They discuss relationships gone sour and future professional plans.

Rather than have Knight and White simulate playing piano and guitar, respectively, with the actual musicians offstage, able director Sandra L. Holloway and musical director e’Marcus HarperShort have put the actors’ fabulous musical counterparts (Ronnette F. Harrison on piano and Barbara Roy Gaskins on guitar) in full view of the audience and made them part of the story. All four women are onstage as they perform a varied jazzy and passionately soulful playlist. It’s terrific.

Prior to becoming involved with Knight, Tharpe had been married twice and had relationships with women. Knight had married also and had children. When the

pair successfully teamed up in the 1940s, they not only performed together but also took control of the business end of things, highly unusual for the era.

We hear Rosetta compliment Marie’s good looks — her pretty face and shapely figure. But the play doesn’t explicitly explore the women’s’ sexual relationship.

In writing Tharpe’s biography “Shout, Sister, Shout!,” author Gayle Wald interviewed many of Rosetta’s contemporaries and confirmed rumors that Rosetta and Marie were lovers.

For a time, they were a successful gay power couple. The play acknowledges that for three years the two women set up housekeeping and lived as a family.

But after a house fire that killed Marie’s mother and her children, the relationship fell apart. Marie left the act and returned to singing exclusively in church.

Tharpe went on to marry another man and continued to perform, albeit in sadder venues. Her star dimmed rapidly and in 1970 she died from a stroke in Philadelphia.

But in Marie and Rosetta we witness the joyous and empowered lives of two women at the top their game. It’s exciting.

The cast is top notch. Roz White, a charismatic local actor with a strong, soulful voice, is known for her Helen Hayes Award-wining star turn in Studio Theatre’s “Bessie’s Blues,” and as well as a string of fabulous musical leads at MetroStage in Alexandria. Ayana Reed is moving and delightful as Marie. Her bio includes stellar notices for her performances in both opera and musical theater.

At a recent performance at Atlas, 80-something audience member Juanita accompanied by her charming granddaughter recalls seeing the real Sister Tharpe in the early ‘50s at Howard Theatre. She remembers Tharpe as more a gospel singer. She was the first woman that Washingtonians had ever seen who sang and played guitar on stage. She says seeing her was “a big deal.” Tharpe’s shows always sold out.

‘Marie and Rosetta’ Through Sept. 30 Mosaic Theater Company at the Atlas Performing Arts Center 1333 H St., NE $50-68 202-399-7993 Mosaictheater.org

Heritage to Horizons Friday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m.

“Strengthening Alliances” featuring The Airmen of Note, Air Force Strings and Singing Sergeants

Air Force Memorial

1 Air Force Memorial Drive, Arlington, VA

www.usafband.af.mil

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 6 • SEPTE MB ER 07, 2018

A RT S & CU LT U RE

This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com MUSIC

Macbeth Thru Sep 23. Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

Shakespeare’s murderous tragedy is seen anew in Davenant’s Restoration-era adaptation which delighted audiences for most of the 18th-century. This special engagement, with music performed by Folger Consort, features Helen Hayes Award-winners Ian Merrill Peakes and Kate Eastwood Norris, seen anew as the tragically ambitious Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.

In Series: Viva V.E.R.D.I Sep 8-Sep 23. In Series at Source Theatre. inseries.org.

Verdi’s name became the battle-cry of an entire revolution. Verdi and Shakespeare come together in this season-opener, a unique imagining of the Bard’s King Lear, alongside the composer’s towering Requiem. Heart-stopping melodies and breathtaking choruses reveal Verdi at the moment of his death, weighing fragments of his life and telling the story of Lear.

MUSEUMS

In the Closet Thru Sep 15. DC Arts Center. dcartscenter.org.

The season will kick off in August with the world premiere production of Siegmund Fuchs’ In the Closet, a metaphysical comedy that follows four men, each living during a different time period, as they look at their lives in the place where all gay men begin, in the closet.

Art Walk in the Park Thru Sep 7. Glen Echo Park. glenechopark.org.

Come to Glen Echo Park for some refreshments while you walk around the park watching artists work. Along with the open studios, the Popcorn, Stone Tower, and Park View Galleries will be open as well.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOLGER THEATRE

THEATRE Como agua para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate). Thru Oct 7.

GALA Hispanic Theatre. galatheatre.org.

Don Cristobol. Thru Sep 9.

Pointless Theatre at Dance Loft. pointlesstheatre.com.

Gloria. Thru Sep 30. Woolly Mammoth. woollymammoth.net.

Hamilton. Thru Sep 7. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

If I Forget. Sep 12-Oct 14. Studio Theatre. studiotheatre.org.

In Series: Viva V.E.R.D.I. - The Promised End. Sep 8-Sep 23. In Series

American Jazz. Sep 9. Anderson House. societyofthecincinnati.org.

Ash Koosha | Emel Mathlouthi.

Sep 7. Dupont Underground. dupontunderground.org.

Carpe Diem! Second Thursday Dance. Sep 13. Washington Revels at Silver Spring Civic Building at Veterans Plaza. revelsdc.org.

Ian Anderson Presents Jethro Tull 50th Anniversary Tour. Sep 7. 4 U: A Symphonic Celebration of Prince.

Sep 8. Wolf Trap. wolftrap.org.

John McCutcheon. Sep 12. Library of Congress. loc.gov.

Piano Quartets with Pianist John Sutherland Earle. Sep 9. Washington Metropolitan Philharmonic Association at The Lyceum. wmpamusic.org.

Sound Health: Music and the Mind Shaping Our Children’s Lives Through Music Engagement. Sep 7-Sep 8. NSO Pops: Star Wars: A New Hope (film with live orchestra). Sep 12-Sep 15. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Superfly Disco. Sep 9. The Alden at McLean Central Park. mcleancenter.org.

at Source Theatre. inseries.org.

In the Closet. Thru Sep 15. DC Arts Center (DCAC). dcartscenter.org.

Passion. Thru Sep 23. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

Macbeth. Thru Sep 23. Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

Shear Madness. Thru Nov 25.

Kennedy Center. shearmadness.com.

Small Mouth Sounds by Bess Wohl. Thru Sep 23. Round House. roundhousetheatre.org.

South Pacific. Thru Oct 7. Olney Theatre. olneytheatre.org.

The Pianist of Willesden Lane.

Sep 12-Sep 30. Theater J at Kennedy Center. theaterj.org.

Folger Shakespeare Library. Form & Function: The Genius of the Book. Thru Sep 23. folger.edu.

Kreeger Museum. Against the Day by Richard Deutsch.

Thru Jan 1. Reinstallation of the Permanent Collection. Thru Dec 31. kreegermuseum.org.

Library of Congress. Echoes of the Great War: American Experiences of World War I. Thru Jan 1. Baseball Americana. Thru Jun 29. loc.gov.

National Archives. Remembering Vietnam. Thru Jan 6. archivesfoundation.org.

National Gallery of Art. Water, Wind, and Waves: Marine Paintings from the Dutch Golden Age. Thru Nov 25. nga.gov.

National Geographic. National Geographic: Exploration Starts Here.

Thru Jan 1. Titanic: The Untold Story.

Thru Jan 6. nglive.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts. Heavy Metal—Women to Watch 2018. Thru Sep 16. Bound to Amaze: Inside a Book-Collecting Career. Thru Nov 25. nmwa.org.

Smithsonian Anacostia Museum.

Your Community, Your Story: Celebrating Five Decades Of The Anacostia Community Museum, 1967-2017. Thru Jan 6. Bridging the Americas: Community and Belonging

from Panama to Washington, DC. Thru Jan 31. anacostia.si.edu.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian. Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now. Thru March 10. One Year: 1968. An American Odyssey. Thru May 19, 2019. npg.si.edu.

Postal Museum. Alexander Hamilton: Soldier, Secretary, Icon. Thru Mar 3. postalmuseum.si.edu.

GALLERIES African American Civil War Memorial and Museum. 20th Anniversary Celebration: Hubert Jackson & Curtis Woody. Thru Sep 30. zenithgallery.com.

Arts Barn. Natural Wonders.

Thru Sep 10.

Del Ray Artisans. Eat, Drink, and Be Merry: National Ceramic Show and Regional Art Exhibit. Sep 7-Sep 30. delrayartisans.org.

District Architecture Center. Next Generation Architects: 5th Annual Thesis Showcase. Sep 11-Oct 26. aiadac.com.

Dupont Circle. First Friday Dupont Circle Art Walk. Sep 7. dupontcirclemainstreets.org.

Gallery Clarendon. Gallery Clarendon August Show. Thru Sep 9. arlingtonartistsalliance.org.

Gallery Underground. LAND and SEA 2018 Painting Exhibit by Barry Barnett Keith. Thru Sep 28. arlingtonartistsalliance.org.

Glen Echo Park. Emerge: Sally MacGeorge. Thru Sep 29. Vessels From Our Trees. Thru Sep 30. glenechopark.org.

Goethe-Institut. Astrid Riecken: Samantha Series. Thru Oct 31. goethe.de.

Hill Center. Hill Center Galleries Regional Juried Exhibition. Thru Sep 22. hillcenterdc.org.

Korean Cultural Center DC. Inner Monologue: Works by Three Korean Ceramic Sculpture Artists. Sep 7-Sep 29. koreaculturedc.org.

Lee Arts Center. Coastal Tales: Scratching the Surface. Thru Sep 29. arlingtonarts.org.

Strathmore. Jennifer Kahn Barlow.

Thru Dec 1. strathmore.org.

Takoma Park Community Center.

Metropolis Art Exhibition. Sep 13-Nov 4. takomaparkmd.gov.

The Art League. September Open Exhibit. Thru Oct 7. Brian Kirk: Natural Reaction. Thru Oct 7. theartleague.org.

VCA Alexandria Animal Hospital.

Atomic Dog and Consequential Cat Exhibit. Thru Sep 30. delrayartisans.org.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

N I G HTLI F E

S E PT E M B E R 07, 2018 • 27

PHOTO BY DAVE CLAYPOOL/KALORAMA PHOTOGRAPHY

A previous Mixtape party held at the 9:30 Club.

Mixtape says goodbye Monthly alternative dance party ends decade-long run

By MARIAH COOPER mcooper@washblade.com LGBT nightlife has had its fair share of goodbyes this summer with the closing of gay dance club, Town. Now Mixtape, an alternative LGBT dance party, will shutter its “doors” after a decade of hosting queer parties.

Mixtape’s resident DJs Matt Bailer and Shea Van Horn were inspired to create their own dance party after bonding over a mutual love for spinning tracks. Bailer met Van Horn at another LGBT dance party where the pair immediately hit it off as friends. Van Horn asked Bailer if he would be interested in being the opening DJ for an upcoming party. Bailer accepted and after playing the party, they both realized they had something special.

In 2008, Bailer and Van Horn decided to put on a trial party together which drew in “a bunch of people.” From there, a decades-long party was born.

Bailer and Van Horn had an idea for their party’s vibe but weren’t sure about the name. Eventually, they landed on the name “Mixtape” because it encompassed the type of music they wanted to play.

“We realized that what we wanted to do was be able to play anything we wanted,” Bailer says. “We liked the format of when we would make mixtapes for friends in high school. How it would be a collage of both songs that the person knows that they like and, ‘Let me introduce you to this song that I think you’ll like.’ So we wanted to do a collage of different styles and familiarity and being able to have the kind of opportunity to share new music with people. “ They described Mixtape as a “venuehopping LGBTQ-plus dance party” which called many venues home over the years including Black Cat, D.C. Nine, Howard Theatre, Rock and Roll Hotel, Town and many more.

The goal was to create a crowd that arrived just for Mixtape and not just people who happened to be at the location. It was also important to switch up the party’s atmosphere.

“Whether it’s not a gay bar, not a bar at all or a theater, we’ve enjoyed having it move around from venue to venue and to create a different atmosphere based on where we’re at,” Bailer says.

Mixtape became known for its eclectic music which included house, nu-disco, electro and indie-dance. The parties became so popular that its last Pride party at 9:30 Club was sold out.

But now it’s the end of an era.

Bailer says one major factor in the decision was Van Horn’s move to India although Van Horn still occasionally returns to D.C. to play parties. Another factor is that it’s simply time to end, Bailer says.

“The fact that when we started there weren’t really any monthly alternative parties,” he says. “As opposed to going to a gay club on Saturday night like Town, which is great, but Town is always the place to go on Saturday night. There weren’t any other smaller options of alternative parties to go to. In the 10 years since we’ve started, several more have cropped up and that’s exciting to watch our friends and colleagues create these really successful parties. There’s a landscape now of lots of other parties to go to. Ten years is a good time. It gives us the opportunity to do other things too.”

For Bailer, those other ventures include regular DJing at places like Nellies’ Sports Bar, Trade and Cobalt. He also DJs at Peach Pit, a ‘90s dance party, at D.C. Nine.

He says he’s also started a “Mixtapey”type party in Denver after some of his friends moved from D.C. to Denver and noticed a dearth of alternative LGBT parties in that city.

Before Mixtape closes up for good it will have one final hoo-rah for its 10th anniversary and finale party at U Street Music Hall on Saturday, Sept. 8 at 10 p.m.

Bailer and Van Horn promise it will be a “fun, stress-free” party with “good music, good people and good vibes.”

While Mixtape may be over, former attendees can get their nostalgia fix by listening to a Mixtape playlist on its website.

For more information, visit mixtapedc.com.

MIXTAPE 10TH ANNIVERSARY AND FINALE Saturday, Sept. 8 10 p.m.

U Street Music Hall $10

TUE & WED, SEPT 25 & 26

STRATHMORE.ORG | 301.581.5100 /DIANAROSS

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

2 8 • S EPTE MB ER 07, 2018

CA LE N D A R

E-mail calendar items to calendars@washblade. com two weeks prior to your event. Space is limited so priority is given to LGBT-specific events or those with LGBT participants. Recurring events must be re-submitted each time.

TODAY The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Woof, a happy hour, today from 5-11 p.m. Drink specials are $4 rail drinks until 11 p.m., $4 Bud Light bottles until 10 p.m., draft beers until 10 p.m. and $9 draft pitchers until 10 p.m. Free pizza will be given at 7:30 p.m. There is no cover before 9:30 p.m. For details, visit facebook.com/eagledc.

The Imperial Court of Washington hosts its Out of Town Show at the Sphinx on K (1315 K St., N.W.) tonight from 7-10 p.m. Performers will include out-oftown reigning monarchs, past monarchs and more. Tickets are $20. For more information, visit imperialcourtdc.org.

Gay District meets at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) tonight from 8:309:30 p.m. The facilitated group discussion covers building understanding of gay culture and personal identity and awareness of community events for LGBT men between the ages of 18-35 in the D.C. area. For more details, visit gaydistrict.org.

Comedian Michael Ian Black performs at Drafthouse Comedy (1100 13th St., N.W.) tonight with shows at 7 and 9 p.m. Black is known for his appearances on “The Jim Gaffigan Show” and “The Good Fight,” among others. Tickets are $30. For more information, visit drafthousecomedy.com.

SATURDAY, SEPT. 8 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts Universal Pride Meeting, an LGBT group to support, educate and empower people with disabilities, today from 1-2:30 p.m. Discussion will include the intersections between being LGBT and disabled, dating and relationships and creating access/breaking down barriers in public spaces. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

Kathy Griffin brings her “Laugh Your Head Off World Tour” to DAR Constitution Hall (1776 D St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m.

Tickets range from $37-75. For more information and to purchase tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.

The Imperial Court of Washington hosts Gala of the Americas: Coronation VII at the Sphinx on K (1315 K St., N.W.) tonight from 6 p.m.-midnight. The event will complete Reign VI and Emperor and Empress Romeo Dennis-Chalet B. Childs and CI Tooker Bottoms Jewel will step down. Emperor and Empress VII will be crowned later in the night. Cocktails start at 6 p.m. and the ball begins at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $130. For more details, visit imperialcourtdc.org.

LGBT dance party Mixtape holds its 10th anniversary and finale party at U

PHOTO BY SHERVIN LAINEZ

Singer/songwriter JILL SOBULE has returned from a long hiatus. She has a new album out and plays City Winery Sunday night.

Street Music Hall (1115 U Street N.W.) tonight at 10 p.m. DJ Matt Bailer and DJ Shea Van Horn will play music for the party’s farewell. Tickets are $10.

Guests ages 18-20 will be admitted through advance ticket only. For more information, visit ustreetmusichall.com.

The Coven D.C., a witchy, queer women’s dance party, is at Ten Tigers Parlour (3813 Georgia Ave., N.W.) tonight from 10 p.m.-2:30 a.m. DJ Honey will spin tracks. Cover is $10. A portion of ticket proceeds will go towards D.C. Books to Prisons. For more details, visit thecovendc.com.

SUNDAY, SEPT. 9 The Imperial Court of Washington hosts its Victory Brunch at the Sphinx on K (1315 K St., N.W.) today from 11 a.m.-1 p.m. Tickets are $40. For more information, visit imperialcourtdc.org.

Singer/songwriter Jill Sobule hosts her album release party for “Nostalgia Kills” in the Wine Garden at City Winery (1350 Okie St., N.E.) tonight at 9 p.m. Doors open at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $20. For more details, visit citywinery.com.

MONDAY, SEPT. 10 LaTiDo presents Jazz Night at Bistro Bistro (1727 Connecticut Ave., N.W.)

tonight from 8-10 p.m. Russwin Francisco and the group Summer Parfait will be the featured performers. Guest performers will include Krystle Cruz, Michelle MosesEisenstein, Taunya Ferguson, Lawrence Grey, Jr., Michael Santos Sandoval and Karen Vincent. Don Michael Mendoza and Anya Randall Nebell will host the event.

Paige Rammelkamp will serve as music director. General admission tickets are $15 at the door. Student and senior tickets are $7 and tickets for non-performing LaTiDo alumni are $5. For more details, visit ltdjazz.brownpapertickets.com.

TUESDAY, SEPT. 11 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts its trans support group tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. The group is meant to provide an emotional and physical safe space for transgender individuals and those questioning their gender identity. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Author John Larison, author of the transthemed novel “Whiskey When We’re Dry,” is at East City Bookshop (645 Pennsylvania Ave., S.E., no. 100) this evening at 6:30 p.m. for a reading and book signing. Details at eastcitybookshop.com.

WEDNESDAY, SEPT. 12 Queer singer/songwriter Be Steadwell

performs “Queer Love Songs” at Busboys and Poets (625 Monroe St., N.E.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. This event is presented by Busboys and Poets’ ZAMI gender and sexuality series. Seating is first come, first served. A full food menu and the bar will be available for the performance.

Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets are $15. For more information, visit facebook.com/ zamicircle.

Big Gay Book Group meets at Trio Bistro Restaurant (1537 17th St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss “Not So Good A Gay Man: A Memoir” by Frank M. Robinson. Newcomers welcome. For more details, visit biggaybookgroup.com or email biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com.

Lambda Bridge Club meets tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations needed and newcomers are welcome. Call 202-841-0279 if you need a partner.

THURSDAY, SEPT. 13 Pretty Boi Drag presents #AmateurKingNight at Bier Baron (1523 22nd St., N.W.) tonight from 8-11 p.m. The stage will be open to new and first time drag kings. Tickets are $10 in advance and $15 at the door. Performers do not need to purchase tickets. For more details, visit facebook.com/prettyboidrag.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

S P O RTI N ’ I N D. C.

S E PT E M B E R 07, 2018 • 29

琀栀攀

一䄀䬀䔀䐀 夀伀䜀䄀 䴀漀渀搀愀礀猀 ☀ 眀攀搀渀攀猀搀愀礀猀

㘀㨀㌀ 倀䴀

PHOTO COURTESY THE SUBJECTS

PAUL SLIWKA (left) and AMY POWELL, members of Lambda Links

All Stars: Lambda Links Local players enjoy challenges, concentration golf requires

By KEVIN MAJOROS Golf takes the spotlight this week in the ongoing Washington Blade All Star series.

Two LGBT players from Lambda Links share their path to the sport of golf.

Paul Sliwka had a golf course near his home in upstate New York as a youth and he occasionally snuck in with his brother to hit golf balls. Organized sports came in the way of little league baseball and peewee football.

As a high schooler, he was a school record holder in the pole vault. Originally from Washington, he returned to the area to attend Georgetown University.

Sliwka started his own business in 2011, Central Properties, and made sure he left room in his schedule for outside activities. He began with golf lessons at Langston Golf Course and eventually signed up with Lambda Links.

“It’s nice to have a regular golf date with folks that are nonjudgmental and interesting. It forced me to become a better golfer,” Sliwka says. “The Links offered a way of playing golf that I hadn’t experienced before. They are extremely welcoming of beginners and they worked with me. It was a soft landing.”

Now an avid golfer who is competing in tournaments, Sliwka weaves in his other hobbies, skiing and art collecting, on his travels. He calls it “traveling with a purpose.”

“In life as in golf, if you keep your head down and keep grinding, good things will happen,” Sliwka says. “I love to compete and it is necessary to be patient in this sport. The first putt and the last putt are both important.”

Sliwka also competes in tournaments with the Maryland State Golf Association

and played earlier this year with Stonewall Golfers in Palm Springs. Last month he won a bronze medal at the Gay Games in Paris. Coming up for him this month are the Lambda Links club championships at Twin Lakes Golf Course.

“Lambda Links is a great mix of people, men and women of all ages,” Sliwka says.

“Competing in your sport makes you understand what you need. Golf for me is relaxing, lifts my spirits and makes me happy.”

Amy Powell needed a gym credit while attending William & Mary and chose golf.

She didn’t think about the sport again until years later when a friend needed a golf partner. She found herself hooked.

Born in Roanoke, Va., Powell grew up a tennis player. She played on her high school team and was a walk-on at William & Mary. After completing grad school at the University of Vermont, she moved to D.C. in 1999. She bowled with the Capital Area Rainbowlers Association and the following year signed up with Lambda Links.

“Lambda Links has players of all levels and the league is a good way to get started in the sport,” Powell says. “I like having a built in social event along with a guaranteed tee time.”

Powell, who works at the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, refers to herself as an achiever type and likes that there are multiple levels of challenges in golf.

“Golf is the hardest sport I have ever tried,” Powell says. “You can measure yourself in different ways; against the course, against your last round.”

Working her way through the sport, Powell played in a few Pro-Ams until a back injury knocked her out two years ago. This year marked her return to Lambda Links.

“It’s been great to see folks again and reconnect. That two-year period was like an extended winter,” she says. “Lambda Links is a healthy balance between people who want to compete and people who want to learn the sport.”

琀甀攀猀搀愀 礀猀 ㄀⼀㈀ 瀀爀椀挀攀 氀漀挀欀攀爀猀 ☀ 爀漀漀洀猀 㠀 愀洀 ⴀ 洀椀搀渀椀最栀琀

猀愀 琀甀爀搀愀 礀猀 最爀愀戀 愀 ␀㔀 漀昀昀 挀愀爀搀 愀琀 吀刀䄀䐀䔀 昀愀挀攀戀漀漀欀⸀挀漀洀⼀琀栀攀挀爀攀眀挀氀甀戀

㄀㌀㈀㄀ ㄀㐀琀栀 猀琀 一圀

“

Some think I should dress more like a woman. Some think I should dress more like a man.

I may not fit some ideas about gender, and I am a proud part of DC. Please treat me the same way any person would want to be treated: with courtesy and respect.

Discrimination based on gender identity and expression is illegal in the District of Columbia.

If you think you’ve been the target of discrimination, visit www.ohr.dc.gov or call (202) 727-4559.

OFFICE OF

GLBT AFFAIRS

Show your support! Spread word of the #TransRespect campaign by photographing this ad and sharing on Twitter.

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

30 • S E PT E M B E R 07, 201 8

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MICHAEL RADKOWSKY, Psy.D. is a licensed psychologist who works with gay individuals and couples in D.C. He can be found online at personalgrowthzone.com. All identifying information has been changed for reasons of confidentiality. Have a question? Send it to michaelradkowsky.com

MICHAEL, All my friends are telling me to leave my girlfriend because she socked me.

She’s telling me that I also have to take some responsibility for the fight, but my friends say there is no excuse for physical abuse.

We were supposed to have a fun evening out. It was our six-month anniversary. I planned a really great night: dinner at a popular restaurant where I had to reserve a table two weeks early, then dancing at a club we love.

At the last minute, Cheryl had a work “emergency” and I was majorly pissed.

I had taken the time to make this night special. I yelled at her on the phone that she is always putting work first. She’s an associate at a law firm and she claims she “has to” work late and on weekends pretty often if she’s going to get promoted.

I canceled the dinner reservation and was at home fuming. I decided to go out to the club rather than stay home by myself.

Right when I got there Cheryl texted me that she’d been able to finish and wanted to start our evening. I was so mad at her that I knew I wouldn’t have a good time with her so I ignored her text. I know she texted me a few times after that.

Anyhow there was this really attractive woman there and we were looking at each other and after a while we were dancing together and then we were making out a little.

My luck, Cheryl had shown up and sees this. She tracked me on my phone.

She interrupts us and starts yelling at me and we go outside. I told her to “f-- off” if she can’t be bothered to put our relationship first on a night I planned a whole great evening. When I turned to walk back into the club she pushed me so hard that I fell down and badly skinned my knee.

Since then I’m not talking to her. She keeps texting me though. She apologized

but says I have a role in this too.

If I hadn’t had a few drinks, I probably wouldn’t have been making out and I probably wouldn’t have cussed Cheryl out. But she had really let me down and not for the first time.

We did have a good relationship except for the job stuff. I’m wondering if I should keep dating her or if I should consider her behavior unforgivable.

MICHAEL REPLIES: Should Cheryl have pushed you? No. Should you have yelled at her for staying late at work, ignored her texts and cursed at her? That’s up to you to decide, but you sure were being hostile to her.

So when you’ve been sticking it to your girlfriend in all sorts of ways — and let’s include that makeout session with your dance partner — I think it’s a stretch to consider her pushing you to be unforgivable physical abuse.

I get that you don’t like Cheryl’s putting her work first, but she is clear with you that she believes she must do so at this point in her career. If you can’t abide by that, then don’t be in a relationship with her. Cheryl’s making a choice that you don’t like does not give you license to berate her and otherwise treat her badly.

If you do want to stay with Cheryl and have a good relationship going forward, accept that she is going to break plans with you, evidently with some frequency.

Drop the sarcasm and judgment about this and start a conversation with her about how each of you manages your behavior when the other person irritates you or lets you down. Both of you could stand to improve here.

I’m curious if you lash out at anyone else in your life when they don’t behave the way that you want them to. If so, I’d wager you’re putting other relationships at risk. If not, why do so with Cheryl?

People often tell me that they subject their significant other to all sorts of bad behavior, believing that their partner should love them unconditionally. I think that concept is baloney. Who wants to love someone who treats them badly?

You didn’t mention any previous episodes where Cheryl struck you so I’ll take it that nothing like this ever happened before. If it has, you have more reason to be concerned about being in an abusive relationship if you stay with her.

That said, if there’s a pattern of Cheryl hitting you after you’ve been yelling at her or otherwise verbally harassing her, then you’re a matched set; and I’ll reiterate that both of you have work to do with regard to handling your frustration, disappointment and anger.

W A SH I N GTO NB LAD E.C OM

SE P T E MBE R 0 7 , 2 0 1 8 • 3 1

SMYAL’S ANNUAL

FALL BRUNCH OCTOBER 14, 2018 THE MARRIOTT MARQUIS

Join us for the region’s premiere event in support of LGBTQ youth

Cocktail reception and silent auction Begins at 10:30am Three-course brunch & seated program Begins at noon

To purchase tickets smyal.org/brunch

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

3 2 • SEPTE MB ER 07, 2018

A RT S & E N T E RT A I N ME N T

‘The Red Tree,’ (top left) ‘We Know Where You Live’ (top right) and ‘The Pick Up’ (bottom center).

PHOTOS COURTESY D.C. SHORTS

Queer shorts package to be screened Sept. 12 CONTINUED FROM PAGE 21

exciting queer shorts that will screen on Wednesday Sept. 12 at 7:15 p.m.

After the success of his movie “Pool” in last year’s festival, director Leandro Goddinho returns to with a fascinating two-part drama called “The World Is Round So That Nobody Can Hide in the Corners.” Part One (13 minutes) is subtitled “Refuge” and is about the journey of a gay African refugee seeking asylum in Germany. Part Two (five minutes) is subtitled “The Kiss” and is about the visit of an African refuge to the Gay Holocaust Memorial in Berlin.

“Short film festivals are necessary and extremely important for young filmmakers,” Goddinho says. “Festivals like D.C. Shorts have become a crucial stage for revealing new talents. Cinema history started with short films. For many years, feature-length films have been the standard, but we are now seeing a new short film era. We are living in a digital era where people watch movies on a variety of devices so short narratives are becoming the best way to communicate with audiences.”

World War II is also the subject of “The Red Tree,” a documentary by Paul Rowley. The film uncovers the littleknown history of Italian gay men who

were arrested and exiled to a remote island during Mussolini’s fascist regime.

“I wanted to give the film a contemporary resonance, so I came up with the idea of focusing on an older man returning to the island where he was a prisoner many years before,” Rowley says. “This allowed me to see the history from the present day and draw parallels to what is happening still to our community.”

The impact of war on the LGBT community is also the subject of “Sparrow”

by Welby Ings. He notes that the movie is based on “a true story about a gay soldier who deserted in Egypt in the second world war when his lover was shot. He was shamed and died alone in a psychiatric hospital. I wanted to place the story into the world because the role and experiences of gay soldiers are almost invisible.”

Family history and family secrets are the subject of “Life After” by Ria Tobaccowala who was inspired by Indian American movies like “The Namesake” by Mira Nair as well as the recent release “Captain Fantastic.”

This short film follows Nisha, a single mother and Indian immigrant, who travels to New York City to clear out her recently deceased daughter Zara’s apartment. Out of her element in her daughter’s environment, Nisha discovers surprising new details about Zara. In the

midst of her grief, Nisha must decide whether to embrace or ignore the truth about her daughter’s short life.

Mothers and daughters are also at the core of “The Pick Up” by local filmmaker Giovanna Chesler. Loosely based on an incident from her own childhood, Chesler says, “’The Pick Up’ is a sweet, and surprisingly steamy, ride home from swim practice with sullen teenager Melanie, her mother and a mysterious passenger.”

The film, which Chesler describes as “a love letter to my own mother,” was produced as part of the Mason Film Lab at George Mason University, a program which brings together students, professors and industry professionals together on a movie set.

The Cinema 10% showcase also includes “Let Me Dance,” a French drama directed by Valérie Leroy. The film centers on Myléne, a trans woman working as a maid on a ferry boat who gets an unpleasant reminder of her past during a surprise party for her 45th birthday.

Joe Bilancio, the festival’s director of programming, points that one special showcase could not contain all of the great LGBT films that are part of this year’s D.C. Shorts Film Festival. He recommends that interested audiences also keep an eye out for “Empire on Main Street,” “Marguerite,” “Casey” and “We Know

Where You Live.” The films featured in Cinema 10% can also be seen in other showcases during the festival.

The festival also includes a screenplay competition on Friday Sept. 14 at the Miracle Theatre in Eastern Market.

At 10 a.m., the public can watch local actors audition for a role in one of the screenplays. At 7 p.m., audiences can watch table readings of the selected screenplays and vote for their favorite.

The winner will walk away with a $2,000 prize to help produce their movie. The evening will also include a screening of last year’s winner, “The Pharaohs.”

Bush says the festival has helped change the way people think of short films.

“The filmmakers represented feature the best in modern-day cinematic creativity and offer insight as to how to cultivate the future we want to see — one that is full of hope, equality, imagination, uplifted voices, determination, humor and vulnerability,” Bush says.

D.C. SHORTS FILM FESTIVAL Continues through Sept. 16 Landmark E Street Cinema 555 11th St., N.W. Miracle Theater 535 8th St., S.E. festival.dcshorts.com

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SEPT. 15 | 11AM-7PM | SPRINT PAVILION MUSIC, DANCE, DRAG ALL DAY KID AREA - BEER GARDEN - AFTER PARTY © 2018 & TM LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © DISNEY. Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts in association with 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Warner/Chappell Music.

Star Wars: A New Hope (film with live orchestra) National Symphony Orchestra Steven Reineke, conductor

Music by John Williams

September 12–15 | Concert Hall

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

KENNEDY-CENTER.ORG | (202) 467-4600

Tickets also available at the Box Office. Groups call (202) 416-8400.

For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.

David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of the NSO.

AARP is the Presenting Sponsor of the NSO Pops Season.

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W A SH I N G T O N BLA D E . CO M

We believe that to create an exceptional community of culture it takes all kinds.

The Ingleside communities are proud. We are proud to be advocates for an entire new generation of diversity. We are proud of our great history and heritage of serving Washington DC area seniors for generations. We are proud of our legacy of promoting a culture of inclusion that provides extraordinary service and exceptional care.

We’re Ingleside proud! Visit us today and discover what Engaged Living can mean to you.

An Ingleside Community

An Ingleside Community

For more information call 202-470-3413

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Ingleside at Rock Creek and Ingleside at King Farm are CARF accredited, not-for-profit, Life Plan communities.

Attorneys that are OUTthinking |OUTspoken |OUTdoing ackermanbrown.com

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REALESTATE

How does a real estate agent compare with an app?

To find the right home, you need both

By JOSEPH HUDSON Why work with a real estate agent in this internet filled world we live in? Let me put it this way: You could do a Google search for “Paris” but what if one of your good friends has been to Paris say, 20 times over the last few years? Isn’t it good to get advice from both? Sometimes the internet can be overwhelming with facts and data, and the use of a good reliable real estate agent can help you decipher which facts are the most important for you to know. Also, it’s one thing to see a property online, it’s another to stand in it physically and really get a feel for how big the space is, how much light it’s getting, and how close the neighbors are, as well as what the surrounding neighborhood is like. A good agent will help you see the forest AND the trees.

A good agent is like an extra set of eyes and ears for their clients. They can offer sellers feedback on how much to de-clutter their space, why their favorite teddy

Sure, apps are convenient, but buyers need the personal experience and expertise of a real estate agent, too.

bear from their childhood might need to go in a closet during the open house, and which color to paint the front door.

Additionally, a good agent will give their clients recommendations on lenders to work with, negotiate strategies that are a win-win for both the sellers and the buyers, advise on ways to do simple renovations after settlement to make the living

Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.*

area more open, and give their clients the names of handymen and contractors to help them with those projects.

I also try to be inclusive when working with my clients. I realize that many clients have significant others, parents, children, or roommates that they will be bringing along on the showings, and will also be giving feedback and potentially even be

living in the new property with the client.

If someone wants to check to make sure the HVAC system is really working properly, while someone else is putting together measurements for drapes, I try to answer questions from both parties. Or find out the answers from the sellers or listing agent. Buying a home can be one of the biggest purchases and decisions a client makes in their lifetime, so I understand the need to bring along others to help with the decision making and fact finding.

In many cases I have helped my clients through the home buying process, then gone to get a drink and celebrate with them afterward, and I feel l truly have made a new friend through the process.

I will be teaching a homebuyer seminar on Tuesday, Sept. 11 at Paragon Title and Escrow at 1410 Q St., NW at 6:30 p.m., along with Tina DelCasale from Sandy Spring Bank to discuss the home buying process more in depth. Refreshments will be served and the seminar will last about an hour.

Joseph Hudson is a Realtor with The Oakley Group at Compass. He can be reached at 703587-0597 or Joseph.hudson@compass.com.

The Man Who Knew Too Much: A poignant documentary spanning the 40-year career of a DC home inspector.

*25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI, Director of Education & Mentorship Dupont Circle Office • 202-518-8781 (o) • 202.246.8602 (c) Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com • www.DCHomeQuest.com

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SHARE ADS ARE FREE. Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.* *25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

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DEADLINES

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Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.* *25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

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LEGAL SERVICES

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COUNSELING

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DEADLINES

SHARE ADS ARE FREE. Place your HOUSING TO SHARE ad online at washingtonblade.com and the ad prints free in the paper and online.* *25 words or less prints free - anything more is $1/word.

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All Classified Ads - Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received

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TONI A. GHAZI

Realtor (Licensed in DC, MD, & VA) (Fluent in Arabic, French, Spanish, English) (Soon, Mandarin/Chinese)

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Perhaps your typical heart-warming immigrant story, from humble beginnings to a successful and well respected Real Estate Agent in our Area serving the International & Local Community. Toni moved from Lebanon with his family in 1995 in the pursuit of the American Dream. Without speaking a word of English and only knowing Arabic & French – Toni figured a way to connect with his people early on – whether through body language, handgestures, and at time the wrong use of English expressions – nothing stopped Toni from being able to connect with his audience. Fast forward 20-years later, a US Citizen Status reached, 4 languages spoken (English, Spanish, French, Arabic and currently learning Mandarin Chinese), and an MBA, Toni continues to evolve daily to better serve his clients. Toni connects with everyone on a deep humane level - a level that pushes newly found client relationships to a higher level of friendships that’s forever lasting.

With more than 14 years in the Real Estate arena from commercial development to residential sales in the Washington Metro Area, Toni has excelled in this field and has proven over and over again that this niche of business is ‘his’ home. Skilled in the art of communication and negotiation, and having the ability to speak multiple languages from 4 continents, Toni brings a multi-cultural perspective that enables him to understand nuances and business practices related to the international cultures within the Washington Metro Area – an additional edge he employs to deliver his clients a globally-appreciated high-quality level of service.

Some of Toni’s clients have included 1st Time Home Buyers with modest incomes to the Royal Family of the UAE, CEO’s, CFO’s, Entrepreneurs, World Bank, IFC & IMF Executives, State Department, and the White House. Toni has represented buyers, sellers, investors and renters as well. Above all, Toni believes in being ‘yourself,’ in whichever way that self is. Toni prides himself on being extremely professional, ethical, caring and above ALL judge-free.

Toni believes in giving back to his community and helping others – he serves on the Board of KEEN Greater DC whose mission empowers youth with disabilities by providing free, one-to-one programs of exercise and Fitness.

An owner of 4 rescued-dogs, Toni is a huge supporter of the Human Rescue Alliance who protects animals, supports families, and advocates for positive change to create a world where all animals can thrive positively. In addition, Toni is a supporter of the La Clinica de Pueblo whose mission is to build a healthy Latino community through culturally appropriate health services, focusing on those most in need. Most recently Toni is helping to raise funds to complete the building a Church by the name of ‘‘St. Paulus Miki Oemoro Chapel’ in a remote village of Indonesia - the chapel will be a spiritual home for less than 25 poor and traditional peasant families.

1313 14th Street NW Washington DC 20005 m: 571.216.1075 o: 202.386-6330 f: 202.609.9652 toni.ghazi@compass.com

Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate.

This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland.

1313 14th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005 202.386.6330