Washingtonblade.com, Issue 50, Volume 2, January 11, 2019

JA NUARY 11, 2019 • VOLUME 50 • I S S UE 2 • WA S HI N GTONB LAD E.CO M

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VOLUME 50 ISSUE 02 ADDRESS

Vice President Mike Pence swears in Sen. Kyrsten Sinema last week.Meet all 10 LGB members of Congress Page 18

PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE

Photo public domain

07

Looking back: 50 years of the Blade

40

Queery: Q

08

Gay murder victim stabbed 47 times

42

Next weekend packed with MAL events

10

Va., Md. could see LGBT advances as

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Arts & Culture

legislative sessions open

46

After Globes, all eyes on Oscar

Former GOP activist says ‘Vice’

48

Ky. native channels home state,

12

omits full story of Mary Cheney

family in ‘Gulf View Drive’

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Kevin Hart apologizes again

50

All Stars: triathletes

16

Removal of marriage from Cuban

52

‘Vice’ compelling but ultimately

constitution divides advocates

falls short

18

Rainbow wave comes ashore

54

The differentiation conundrum

22

Trans man makes history on

56

Photos from Bent

Olymic committee

59

Spring market starts earlier than

24

Cannabis Culture

26

Health

29

Viewpoint

38

12 times Nancy Pelosi was

you think 61

Classifieds

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Looking back: 50 years of the Blade 33 years ago, we sat down with Bayard Rustin in an interview that is making news again

This year, the Washington Blade celebrates its 50th anniversary. Each week, we’ll take a look back at memorable stories, compelling personalities and other noteworthy or amusing items from our extensive archives, which are accessible at washingtonblade. com/archives in partnership with the DC Public Library.

This week, we revisit an exclusive interview with civil rights icon Bayard Rustin from Feb. 7, 1986. Rustin died just a year later. Recently, Rustin’s surviving partner, Walter Naegle, discovered the original audio recording of the interview, conducted

by Blade reporter Peg Byron.

NPR’s All Things Considered aired a story about the newly uncovered audio this week; it will be played this week on the podcast Making Gay History.

“At a given point, there was so much pressure on Dr. King about my being gay and particularly because I would not deny it, that he set up a committee to explore whether it would be dangerous for me to continue working with him,” Rustin told the Blade in the interview, which is republished in its original form above.

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Gay murder victim stabbed 47 times Police say man arrested outside victim’s D.C. apartment was suicidal

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

Longtime WhitmanWalker supporter John Grimberg dies at 65 D.C. Police Chief PETER NEWSHAM said a preliminary investigation found that Lugo and Potter knew each other and were in a relationship.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

A 36-year-old gay man found dead in the hallway outside his apartment door in Northwest Washington on Jan. 6 had been stabbed at least 47 times allegedly by a U.S. Navy hospital corpsman in what police say appears to be an act of domestic violence.

New details about the case, including the number of stab wounds, were disclosed in a police arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court and obtained by the Washington Blade on Wednesday.

In a statement released on Sunday police said officers responding to a 911 call found Vongell Lugo unconscious and suffering from multiple stab wounds in the hallway of the Garfield House apartments where he lived at 2844 Wisconsin Ave., N.W. about 4:14 a.m. Sunday, Jan. 6.

The police statement says Lugo was pronounced dead at the scene a short time later after D.C. Fire and Emergency Medical Services personnel arrived.

A separate police incident report says probable cause was developed at the scene to arrest U.S. Navy Hospital Corpsman 3rd Class Collin J. Potter, 26, for Lugo’s murder. Police said Potter was at the scene when police arrived.

D.C. Police Chief Peter Newsham said a preliminary investigation found that Lugo and Potter knew each other and were in a relationship.

The three-page arrest affidavit prepared by 7th District Det. Tony Covington says that when officers arrived on the scene they found Lugo “lying nude on the floor in the hallway in front of apartment 206 with his foot partially inside of Unit 206.”

The affidavit says Lugo’s body was

partially covered by a blanket as officers determined that he showed no signs consistent with life.

“When officers responded to the second floor they also found defendant Collin Potter nude standing over the decedent’s body apparently trying to reenter Apartment #206,” the affidavit says.

“Defendant Potter had blood visible on various areas of his body, to include his arms and feet, however he did not have any apparent injuries,” says the affidavit.

“As officers approached defendant Potter he stated spontaneously that his girlfriend committed suicide and offered to allow officers to inspect the apartment,” it says.

“At some point Defendant Potter asked officers if ‘she’ was still alive,” the affidavit continues. “When asked where the female was that defendant Potter was referring to, defendant Potter stated ‘on the floor right there’ indicating in the direction of the decedent,” the affidavit says.

The affidavit says officers who had already handcuffed Potter had to place him on the floor after he began to repeatedly hit his head against a wall.

“While on the ground, defendant Potter shouted that he did not want to live, asked officers to kill him, and threatened the officers stating that if they did not kill him he was going to get up,” the affidavit says. It says officers a short time later transported him to the police homicide branch offices at 101 M St., S.W., where he was questioned further about the case.

The person who called 911 in connection with the incident, who is listed as Witness 1, told detectives that

he heard someone shouting inside Lugo’s apartment “Please no, Please no, Please no,” the affidavit says.

It says that when police later searched the apartment they found blood spattered on the walls, floors and ceilings with footprints visible in the blood pooled on the floors. Also found in the apartment was a large butcher knife that appeared to have blood on it.

When questioned at the police homicide branch Potter told detectives “he remembered performing oral sex on a male, he did not know why and it could not have been the result of having ingested alcohol, and that he later saw that he had blood on him that was not his own, but did not know the source of the blood,” the affidavit says.

After being read his Miranda rights Potter declined to answer further questions without having a lawyer present, the affidavit states.

A D.C. Superior Court judge on Monday ordered Potter held without bond pending a preliminary hearing scheduled for Jan. 18. D.C. police initially charge him with first-degree murder while armed. The U.S. Attorney’s Office, which prosecutes criminal cases in the District, lowered the charge to second-degree murder while armed during a presentment hearing on Monday.

A gay friend and former co-worker of Lugo, who said he knew him from the time Lugo worked as a manager at the Bloomingdale’s store in Chevy Chase, Md., said Lugo was well known as gay among his circle of friends in D.C. “I just can’t believe this,” said the friend.

“I’m so sad.”

John E. Grimberg, a longtime D.C. resident known as an avid crusader against HIV/AIDS and an active and passionate supporter of D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health for many years, died Dec. 14, 2018.

He was 65.

His friend Joshua Riley said the cause of death was a combination of pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

A write-up on his life by family members says Grimberg was well known in Washington, D.C. recovery and political circles. Riley said Grimberg worked as a communications consultant.

“He celebrated the 25th anniversary of his sobriety in May 2017,” according to the family write-up.

“The many friends of John E. Grimberg wrapped his friendship, loyalty and intelligence around themselves like a handmade shawl,” the write-up says, adding, “He was a much loved and complicated man.”

He is survived by his siblings including Alice Mary Hall, Paula Plofchan, Rosemary Esquivel, and Judith Allen. The family write-up says his extended family also includes 23 nieces and nephews and 39 great nieces and nephews.

He was born in Williamsport, Pa. A memorial service was held in Washington, D.C. on Jan. 5.

The family write-up says Grimberg will be buried in the spring of 2019 in Williamsport, Pa., “along the banks of his beloved Loyalsock Creek at the summer home of the Sauer family and his dear friends Marcia Sauer and Barbara Sauer Flock.

In lieu of flowers, family members suggest donations to the WhitmanWalker Foundation located at the WeWork Manhattan Laundry building at 1342 Florida Ave., N.W., Washington, D.C., 20005.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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APPROVAL

Va.,Md.could see LGBTadvances as legislative sessions open Two lawmakers make history in Maryland Assembly

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS & JAMES WELLEMEYER

From left: Maryland state Del. GABRIEL ACEVERO (D-Montgomery County) and Maryland state Sen. MARY WASHINGTON (D-Baltimore City) on Jan. 9, made history when their state’s 2019 legislative session began.

Photos courtesy of Gabriel Acevero/Mary Washington

Activists in Virginia and Maryland remain hopeful LGBT-specific issues will advance in their states’ legislative sessions that began on Wednesday.

Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish says outlawing anti-LGBT discrimination in housing and public employment is one of his organization’s top legislative priorities in 2019.

For the past five years, the Republicancontrolled Virginia Senate has passed legislation banning discrimination in government employment. For the past three years, the state Senate has passed the Fair Housing Law prohibiting similar discrimination in housing. However, none of the legislation has gotten past the Virginia House of Delegates.

This year, Parrish says a majority of delegates in the House support both proposals.

For the past few years, resistance from Republican leadership has prevented the bills from becoming law. In 2018, House Speaker Bill Howell (R-Stafford County) moved the bills to a special committee where they died.

Parrish believes this move from the Republicans “backfired because there ended up being over an hour of testimony from community members on why we need these protections.”

For the pieces of legislation to get past

committee this year, they need the backing of one of three Republican delegates representing Virginia Beach. Parrish is optimistic the bills will receive this support given that state senators and city council members from the Virginia Beach area have signaled their approval of the bills.

“We feel like that gives all the necessary support to those delegates to show that their constituents are supportive of these two issues,” he said.

“We know we have a pro-equality majority in the House to pass both of those measures if we can get them to the House floor,” state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) emphasized.

If these bills were to pass, Virginia would become the first Southern state to have statewide LGBT protections.

Outside of the housing and public employment nondiscrimination proposals, Equality Virginia and pro-LGBT legislators are also looking to reduce barriers to healthcare access for transgender people and remove the same-sex marriage ban from the Virginia constitution. Samesex marriage has been legal since 2014 in Virginia, but its ban remains in Virginia constitution. State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), the most senior LGBT official in the state Senate, says removing the ban would be “a symbolic gesture but one that we need to take.”

To successfully repeal the constitutional amendment, a bill would need to pass both this year and next year with identical language. Voters would then have the final say on whether or not to redact the mention of marriage from the constitution.

“It’s a lot to go through,” Ebbin told the Washington Blade.

Beyond codifying equal marriage rights for LGBT Virginians, Ebbin is hopeful about the chances of a package of LGBT protections supported by Attorney General Mark Herring. The legislation will designate attacks on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity as hate crimes.

Ebbin applauds the work Herring has done thus far with the LGBT community. The attorney general, who refused to defend the marriage ban earlier in his career, has held roundtables across the state on hate crimes this past year. “He’s really a proequality attorney general who has gone out of his way to try and understand the concerns of our community along with the entire public,” said Ebbin.

Ebbin says he’s optimistic about the prospect of passing protections for LGBT people this session largely because he

believes LGBT equality is beginning to gather bipartisan support.

“We’re seeing people with good voting records according to the Family Foundation being willing to depart from their preconceived notions about how they might vote,” Ebbin told the Blade. “There are some Republican legislators in Virginia now who are now voting pro-equality while at the same time maintaining their pro-life and pro-gun stance.”

Parental rights a priority in Md. Two Maryland lawmakers on Wednesday made history when the state’s 2019 legislative session began.

State Sen. Mary Washington (D-Baltimore City) became the first openly LGBT person of color seated in the Maryland Senate.

State Del. Gabriel Acevero (D-Montgomery County) became the first openly gay man of Afro-Latino descent seated in the Maryland General Assembly.

“It has been one of the highest honors of my life to serve you in the Maryland House of Delegates,” said Washington in an email she sent to her supporters on Tuesday. “Now, I will take this great honor into the Maryland state Senate.”

FreeState Justice Executive Director Mark Procopio on Tuesday told the Washington Blade during an interview that his organization has several priorities going into the legislative session. These include strengthening legal protections for LGBT parents and increasing funding for programs that are designed to curb youth homelessness in Maryland.

Procopio said another priority for FreeState Justice is to ease requirements for trans and intersex Marylanders who want to change the gender on their birth certificates under a 2015 law that allows them to do so without undergoing surgery. Procopio also told the Blade his organization supports efforts to improve the treatment of LGBT youth who are in the custody of the Maryland Department of Juvenile Services.

Republican Gov. Larry Hogan last year signed a law that bans so-called conversion therapy for minors in Maryland.

Procopio told the Blade he remains optimistic that Hogan, who was re-elected last November, will not oppose LGBTspecific bills in this legislative session.

“We hope that the governor will continue his track record from last session of supporting bills that protect LGBTQ civil rights when they come to his desk,” said Procopio.

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Former GOP activist says ‘Vice’ omits full story of Mary Cheney

Former Vice President DICK CHENEY is the subject of a new biopic, ‘Vice.’

The recently released movie about the life and political career of former Vice President Dick Cheney called “Vice” has drawn the attention of LGBT activists for portraying Cheney and his wife Lynne as being accepting and supportive of their lesbian daughter, Mary Cheney. (See the Blade’s review on page 52.)

Film critics have also noted that one of the movie’s most dramatic and emotional scenes captures Mary Cheney’s dismay when she learns that her older sister Liz Cheney came out against same-sex marriage shortly after announcing her candidacy for the U.S. Senate from Wyoming in 2013.

The movie shows Mary Cheney sulking over what she believed was her father and mother’s decision to give Liz Cheney the go-ahead to oppose same-sex marriage to boost her Senate campaign, which Liz later abandoned in 2014.

But Charles Francis, who in 2000 founded the Republican Unity Coalition as a GOP gay-straight alliance to expand the party’s base of support, says “Vice” totally omits the fact that in 2003 Mary Cheney resigned from her position on the group’s board of directors to join her father’s re-election campaign.

Francis notes that her resignation came after Bush announced his support for a constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriage and Dick Cheney, while not endorsing the constitutional amendment, said he supported the president’s judgment on the issue.

Francis also notes that Mary Cheney’s resignation came after White House operative Mary Matalin, who worked in Vice President Cheney’s office, attacked the Republican Unity Coalition for its criticism of then-Sen. Rick Santorum (R-Pa.) for comparing homosexuality to bigamy, incest and bestiality.

“I would not want to rehash all of this were it not that the film places Mary’s ‘betrayal’ by Liz and her Dad at the center of the emotional conclusion,” Francis said. “Mary Cheney is portrayed, finally, as an innocent victim of political/ Republican homophobia when Dick and Lynne Cheney give the OK to Liz Cheney to oppose same-sex marriage in her Senate primary.”

Francis points out that Mary Cheney had left the LGBT Republican cause and the Republican Unity Coalition in 2003, long before the conflict with her sister in 2013.

“She had left the community a long time before that when we needed her most before the all-out push for a constitutional amendment on same-sex marriage in 2003-2004,” said Francis.

Mary Cheney resumed support for LGBT issues, including same-sex marriage, after her father left office in 2009. She married her partner since 1992, Heather Poe, in 2012.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Bachelor’s Mill license remains in ‘limbo’

The co-owner of a company called Halo LLC that began negotiations to buy D.C.’s Bachelor’s Mill gay bar in 2017 said the “deal fell through” last June and he is unsure who currently holds the once popular bar’s liquor license.

In a little-noticed development, the Bachelor’s Mill located at 1102-1104 8th St., S.E. near the Washington Navy Yard closed its doors on Oct. 10, 2018, according to Courtney Williams, editor and publisher of the online local LGBT newsletter Community Life in the DMV. Michel Daley, who owns Halo LLC with his business partner Jewell Elliot, said he and Elliot decided to discontinue plans to open their own club called Halo in the Bachelor’s Mill building after the building was sold in a foreclosure auction in June 2018.

He said his and Elliot’s plans were to buy the building at the same time they purchased the liquor license from Bachelor’s Mill owner David J. Lewis.

Lewis couldn’t immediately be reached for comment this week.

The Bachelor’s Mill has catered to a mostly black gay clientele since it first opened in 1981 in another building at 8th and E Streets, S.E. The club moved to its location near the Navy Yard in 1988. Williams said Lewis acquired the club in 2007.

“This came as a surprise considering that during the week before closing the club kicked off a week of activities celebrating new management,” Williams said. He said a sign appeared on the building shortly after the club’s closing saying the building was up for leasing.

Aaron King, a spokesperson for the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration, known as ABRA, told the Blade last week that ABRA records showed that the Bachelor’s Mills ownership and liquor license had been transferred to Halo LLC, but he could not provide a date for when that happened.

King also sent the Blade documents showing that Halo LLC had applied for placing the club’s license in ABRA’s office for “safekeeping,” a status that is required to prevent a license from being revoked if the business is no longer operating.

He sent the Blade another document showing that the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board approved a Temporary Operator’s Retail Permit to allow Halo LLC to operate the club on a temporary basis while it was in the process of acquiring the liquor license through a transfer from Bachelor’s Mill.

Daley told the Blade on Tuesday that an ABRA official declined to accept a check from Halo LLC for payment for placing the license in safekeeping, saying that Bachelor’s Mill owner Lewis appeared to have applied for the safekeeping status.

Asked whether he and his partner have any plans to open their club Halo in the Bachelor’s Mill building, Daley said, “We don’t plan to do that. Our involvement is gone.” But after pausing he added, “In theory, we can reinstate it if we had a conversation with the current owner.”

A spokesperson for Northeast Management Consulting LLC, the company that bought the Bachelor’s Mill

building in June, declined to comment on the company’s plans for the building or whether it would allow a bar or club to continue operating there.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Whitman-Walker announces restructuring, leadership changes

In what it’s calling a newly adopted “shared leadership model,” WhitmanWalker Health announced on Thursday that its CEO Don Blanchon will become the founding CEO of a newly created nonprofit entity called Whitman-Walker System.

Whitman-Walker Health’s current Deputy Executive Director Naseema Shafi, according to the announcement, will replace Blanchon as Whitman-Walker Health’s new CEO. In a Jan. 10 Open Letter to the Community, Whitman-Walker said the shared leadership between Blanchon and Shafi would be part of a major restructuring of its departments and divisions aimed at strengthening its wide range of healthcare programs and its ability to raise funds to sustain and expand those programs.

“We will operate Whitman-Walker as a community-centered enterprise committed to advancing social justice and equality through health,” the open letter says. “We will expand our commitment to culturally affirming primary care and behavioral health services by way of Whitman-Walker Health – the nonprofit organization now in its 41st year,” it says.

“We will place greater emphasis on advocacy, education and research through a newly created Whitman-Walker Institute,” the open letter continues. “We will grow our core base of philanthropic support with a newly created Whitman-Walker Foundation,” it says. “We will pursue longterm sustainability through innovative partnerships and collaborations via the Whitman-Walker Health System.”

Whitman-Walker spokesperson Abby Fenton said the Whitman-Walker Health System to be headed by Blanchon will oversee the operations of the WhitmanWalker Foundation, Whitman-Walker Institute, and Whitman-Walker’s Real Property Holdings project, which is coordinating the redevelopment of the Elizabeth Taylor Medical Center in partnership with a developer at 14th and R Streets, N.W. Fenton said Blanchon will also oversee plans for moving the Max Robinson Medical Center in Anacostia to the city’s newly redeveloped campus of the former St. Elizabeth’s Hospital.

“This year we will advance our plans for a major expansion east of the Anacostia River,” the open letter says in referring to the new Max Robinson facility. “It is the single biggest priority for the community we serve and will house expanded youth programming, primary and urgent care and behavioral health services for thousands of people living east of the Anacostia River,” the open letter states.

The Blade will report further details of Whitman-Walker’s restructuring plans as they are announced by officials later this week.

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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Time for a woman,person of color to lead HRC? Griffin’s departure leads to speculation about future

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Former NCLR leader KATE KENDALL says she’s not interested in the HRC president’s job.

Photo Courtesy of Kendall

Weeks after Chad Griffin announced he will step down as president of the Human Rights Campaign, names are circulating in LGBTQ circles as possible replacements, including women and people of color, as the search for the next person to lead the nation’s largest LGBTQ group continues.

The Human Rights Campaign — which has annual revenue of about $45.6 million — continues to be the flagship organization in the fight for LGBTQ rights. As such, whomever is selected to lead it will play a crucial role in defending the LGBTQ community against the Trump administration’s attacks, pushing for the Equality Act in Congress and promoting a pro-LGBTQ presidential candidate in the 2020 election.

Individuals in the movement who spoke to the Washington Blade said a woman or a person or color would be a good choice to lead the Human Rights Campaign to ensure the next pick doesn’t amount to a succession of white men.

The last two presidents, both Griffin and Joe Solmonese, oversaw huge advances in LGBT rights, but a general perception among observers is that picking another gay white man for that role may miss an opportunity to reflect the diversity of the LGBTQ community.

Lane Hudson, a gay D.C.-based Democratic activist, said the Human Rights Campaign “hit a home run” with Griffin, but selecting as the next president a woman or person of color “would be a welcome addition of diversity” and could take the organization to the next level.

“The next president of HRC should recognize that an aggressive approach on all levels is what our movement needs,”

Hudson said. “Over the next two years, we need to support an LGBT agenda in the House and also in state legislatures where we can win progress. This will show LGBT voters the importance of voting up and down the ballot and will lay the groundwork for further success in the 2020 campaign.”

Among the individuals identified as possible contenders for the job is Kate Kendell, who recently stepped down as head of the National Center for Lesbian Rights after leading the San Franciscobased organization for 22 years. Also commonly mentioned is Nadine Smith, who has served as executive director of Equality Florida since its inception in 1997.

Kendell, however, expressed no desire to lead the Human Rights Campaign in response to an inquiry from the Blade.

“I’m very flattered but will not be pursuing this as my next role,” Kendell said.

Smith said she’s aware her “name has come up from different quarters,” calling it a recognition of her work and “the critical role of state-level organizing.”

“Whenever I’m approached about other roles in this movement, the question I always ask myself is this: What is the highest and best use of my time, experience, and talent?”

Smith said. “My answer has consistently kept me at Equality Florida where we have been doing groundbreaking work and have developed game-changing strategies that have been replicated in other states. I continue to believe that investing deeply in state-level work remains essential and that Florida has an outsized influence on the state and national battle for LGBT equality.”

Smith led Equality Florida at the time of the 2016 Pulse nightclub shooting, which left 49 dead and 53 wounded, using her position to press her state to enact LGBT non-discrimination protections and stronger gun control regulations.

Although the state continues to have no explicit statewide LGBTQ protections, the state in the aftermath of the Parkland High School shooting did exact additional gun control measures.

The next Human Rights Campaign president, Smith said, will have to rise to the challenge of an “ominous” political landscape, but also take advantage of “huge possibilities for changing, demanding and building the world we all had a right to be born into.”

“I don’t know the timeline for HRC’s process but this is an unprecedented and dangerous moment in our country and we need our national organizations thinking about deep grassroots mobilization and leadership development, stronger progressive partnerships, and greater support and engagement of emerging

leaders and overlooked voices,” Smith said.

Griffin is set to leave the organization this year on a high note after the success of the “blue” Democratic wave in the 2018 congressional mid-term elections.

Under his leadership, the Human Rights Campaign contributed to this effort with a $26 million #TurnOut campaign to vote that sought to motivate the estimated 10 million Americans who identify as LGBTQ and 52 million Americans who support pro-LGBTQ policies to vote in the election.

Chris Sgro, a spokesperson for the Human Rights Campaign, said the executive search committee seeking Griffin’s replacement will continue its work “over the next several months.”

“Today, HRC is the strongest it’s ever been, thanks to our organizational leadership, incredible staff and three million dedicated members working to accelerate the pace of progress toward full LGBTQ equality,” Sgro said. “To ensure that we continue to build on our momentum, the HRC Boards of Directors have formed an executive search committee — comprised of diverse members of our boards — to lead a comprehensive and thorough search that will take place over the next several months. “ Winnie Stachelberg, executive vice president for external affairs at the Center for American Progress, said she hasn’t heard speculation about who might replace Griffin, but said continuity is a key priority for the organization as well as choosing a leader who’ll “build on the progress that Chad and the staff and the board have driven on a range of LGBTQrelated issues.”

“I think they will have incredibly talented and diverse applicants,” she said. “I think they will have, I’m sure a difficult choice choosing from the pool that they get.”

Stachelberg, who worked as a political adviser for the Human Rights Campaign for 11 years before moving to the Center for American Progress, said the Equality Act would be “something that a next president will focus on” as well as the 2020 election.

“I think that the HRC president will focus on electing a pro-LGBT president in 2020, defeating this current president and vice president and this administration that have made very clear its LGBT animus through executive orders and policies, through the people in positions and the legislative policies that it supports and those that it blocks,” Stachelberg said.

“So they’ve made their case, and I think the next president of the Human Rights Campaign will work tirelessly in 2020 to elect a pro-LGBT president in many ways, just the way that Chad and the staff and board did in the 2018 election.”

KEVIN HART

Photo courtesy Hart’s Facebook

Hart apologizes (again), says he won’t host Oscars Kevin Hart apologized again to the LGBT community on Monday for past homophobic jokes and tweets that resulted in the comedian resigning as host of the Oscars.

“Once again, Kevin Hart apologizes for his remarks that hurt members of the LGBTQ community. I apologize,” Hart said on his SiriusXM podcast.

He also responded to CNN anchor Don Lemon’s comments that asked Hart to use his voice to make a change.

“Someone like Kevin Hart, with one of the biggest megaphones in the entire world, he can be a leader … he can help change homophobia in the black community,” Lemon said.

Hart made it clear he will apologize but isn’t interested in LGBT advocacy.

“Don Lemon goes on CNN and goes, ‘You can fix this, become an ally.’ That’s not my, that’s not my life dream,” Hart said.

This is the third time Hart has apologized since the jokes and tweets resurfaced after the announcement that he would host this year’s Oscars.

He appeared on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” where he apologized yet again and received the full, and controversial, support of DeGeneres who said she wanted him to host the awards show. Hart seemed unsure during the interview but during his podcast he said he is no longer considering hosting the Oscars.

MARIAH COOPER

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Removal of marriage from Cuban constitution divides advocates Church influence, homophobia blamed for change to document

By LAURA RODRIGUEZ FUENTES

The removal of a same-sex marriage amendment from the draft of Cuba’s new constitution has sparked a public debate across the country.

Photo by Yariel Valdés González

SANTA CLARA, Cuba — The LGBTI+ community remains divided after the National Assembly modified the marriage amendment in the draft of the new constitution. Part of it defends the yes vote and supports the official campaign, while another group says it will vote against the constitution.

On Saturday, Dec. 22, the same day the Cuban Parliament in Havana ended sessions where changes to the draft Cuban constitution were approved, a group of young people discussed them in Vidal Park in Santa Clara, 300 kilometers from the Cuban capital.

The decision to exclude Article 68, which defined marriage as “the union of two people,” from the future constitution was received with bewilderment in the city, which is known in the country for its inclusive spaces for the LGBTI+ community.

According to the National Assembly, the suppression has the goal of “respecting all opinions,” an argument that seems to echo the anti-marriage equality campaign from various evangelical churches.

Mariela Castro Espín referenced the “blackmail” of these religious groups in a recent interview, although nothing

suggested the constitutional text would be modified for this reason and marriage would be subject to another referendum, as part of the Family Code, under a twoyear deadline.

Castro Espín directs the National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) and is also the country’s best-known official LGBTI+ rights activist. Her work has been criticized because it intends to work the agenda of a minority that has been historically marginalized into the political discourse of the same government that has persecuted it and has not to this day offered reparations.

Ramón Silverio is another activist and cultural promoter who directs El Mejunje, a community center known across the country for its drag shows.

Silverio feels that the LGBTI+ community “did not do much to defend (Article 68).”

“There was no counterpart,” he admitted. “The churches had a lot of influence, combined with the homophobia that exists in society regarding the issue.”

Marriage now appears to be described in Article 82, a passage written in technical and ambiguous language with the

declared goal of not closing the door on the legality of partners of the same sex and gender, despite the controversial referendum option.

“We are putting the rights of the most vulnerable people and groups in a somewhat critical position when taking them to a popular referendum,” warned Deputy Luis Ángel Adán Roble during Parlament’s last session of 2018.

Adán Roble is the only deputy with a speech that mirrors LGBTI+ activism. In the closing session, however, he merely confirmed his support for the change and invited citizens to vote in favor of the draft constitution.

Dagnis Romero, vice coordinator of the TransCuba Network in Villa Clara Province, spoke without hesitation of what she considers a “lack of respect.” She is referring to the Article 68 modifications and the announcement of another referendum to approve the Family Code.

TransCuba is a group of transsexuals affiliated with CENESEX and led by Malú Cano, a trans woman who frequently appears with Mariela Castro in the media and on social media.

Dagnis, 36, says she was deported to the island after visiting some Latin American cities. “I left this country because of the rampant discrimination that exists, I have not been able to operate, I have not been able to do anything,” she explains.

Thirty-nine sex-reassignment surgeries have taken place in Cuba over the last decade, according to the Trabajadores newspaper in the middle of this year. A diagnosis of “gender dysphoria,” a requirement that part of the international trans advocacy movement rejects, is still required in order to reach the operating room.

Romero categorizes the country as “very late” and says living according to her gender identity leaves her feeling isolated everyday.

“Now they are taking away from me the possibility of forming a home,” she says in relation to the draft article.

Ramón Silverio, nevertheless, assures “a large part of this community has never been interested in marriage.”

“I don’t understand why there is this setback,” said Abel Raúl, a young man with Christian parents who moved to Villa Clara from eastern Cuba.

Mariela Castro Espín, (a member of the National Assembly) since the beginning of the debates has insisted that “there is no setback” and everything is due to a misinterpretation of the parliament’s first communiqué that was published on Twitter on Dec. 18.

CENESEX launched a social media

campaign during the parliamentary sessions with the hashtag #IVoteYes and the slogan “Rewrite happiness.”

Castro Espín attributed the intention of numerous people to vote against the draft constitution over the exclusion of Article 68 the announcement of another popular consultation exclusively on marriage to the “counter revolution.”

Raisel Nuñez Medina, another one of the young people who spoke with Tremenda Nota in the park in Santa Clara, considers the debates around marriage “were as if it was something abnormal, and there were thousands of more important things to discuss.”

“I know couples who have lived in the same home for more than 30 years and had put their hopes in their legal union to make their future plans,” he says.

Ramón Silverio, who agrees with CENESEX’s position, supports Article 82 and wants to influence El Mejunje’s clientele in order to get more votes in favor of the draft constitution.

“Since Sunday we have been conducting a campaign that includes exhaustive explanations of the article,” he declared to Tremenda Nota. “I am convinced that the majority is going to vote yes in the referendum.”

“For its part, an LGBTI+ group from Placetas, a city near Santa Clara, on Dec. 25 made an announcement on Facebook that left out propaganda from the yes and no (factions) and reflects on the inconsistencies of official activism.

The group considers that the version of the marriage article approved by the parliament “does not satisfy the demands of the LGBTI communities.”

“Some activists were controlled by indications of waiting later,” said a document signed by CENESEX collaborators that denounced the claims.

The revelation seems to allude to instructions sent by the institution (CENESEX) to its “community networks” in order to avoid answering questions or public acts against the homophobic campaign that various evangelical churches have promoted. The declaration suggests Placetas LGBTI will vote in favor of the new constitution, although its members also demanded the elimination from the constitutional text the provision that “authorizes” the right to marriage equality to go to a referendum.

Editor’s note: Tremenda Nota is the Washington Blade’s media partner in Cuba. This article was originally published on Tremenda Nota’s website on Jan. 2.

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Help us find D.C.’s top 20 LGBT singles for the Blade’s Singles Issue on February 8th, then meet them at the Singles Party on February 9th.

Nominate yourself or your friends from January 3rd-14th at

washingtonblade.com/singles

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Rainbow wave comes ashore

Meet the gay, lesbian, bi members of the 116th Congress

BY STAFF REPORTS A historic number of openly gay and bisexual lawmakers were sworn in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate at the start of the 116th Congress last week.

Ten LGB lawmakers will serve in the House and Senate during the 116th Congress. Eight will serve in the House and two will serve in the Senate. That’s a net gain of two from the 115th Congress.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) swore in seven LGB members to the U.S. House in her role as presiding officer of the chamber.

The seven members consisted of three lawmakers who have previously served in Congress — Reps. David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Mark Takano (D-Calif.) and Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) — and four freshmen lawmakers — Reps. Katie Hill (D-Calif.), Angie Craig (D-Minn.), Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) and Sharice Davids (D-Kansas).

Another openly gay member of the House — Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) — was present at the official swearing-in ceremony in the House Chamber, but didn’t attend the subsequent photo opportunity.

In the U.S. Senate on the same day, Vice President Mike Pence in his role as president of the Senate swore in two LGB U.S. senators — Sens. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.).

David Cicilline Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) became the most senior openly gay member of the U.S. House as Democrats took the majority last week, with outgoing Rep. Jared Polis leaving to become governor of Colorado. Cicilline

Mark Takano

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Calif.) holds a unique distinction as chair of the House Committee on Veterans Affairs. He wrote an exclusive op-

told the Blade in a recent exclusive interview that he’s “very proud” the chamber will have a net gain of two out LGB members in the 116th Congress and talked about the Equality Act. “It’s a great privilege to be a part of that group,” Cicilline told the Blade. “I think this year will be an opportunity for us to finally move forward on the Equality Act,

which I think is the single most important piece of legislation to our community in terms of, once and for all, prohibiting discrimination against members of the LGBT community as a matter of federal law.

And so, I’m honored to be the senior most member and really excited about the new colleagues that are joining this caucus.”

ed for the Blade last month about the need for improved care for veterans.

“Women veterans, LGBTQ veterans, and minority veterans all face unique challenges when attempting to receive

VA services and care, and resolving these challenges requires innovative solutions,” he wrote. “Increased diversity means that there must be an inclusive approach to benefits and care that the VA provides.”

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Sean Patrick Maloney Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney (D-N.Y.) won election to his fourth term in November. In a summer interview with the Blade while pursuing an unsuccessful campaign for New York attorney general, he pledged to take on Donald Trump.

“The Trump administration has families like mine in the crosshairs, and you better believe I’m going to use every tool I have fight back and to get on offense,” Maloney said, adding, “I’m sick of the Democratic Party playing defense.”

Sharice Davids

In addition to being a former mixed martial arts fighter, Rep. Sharice Davids (D-Kansas) earned her law degree from Cornell University and worked as a White House Fellow during the Obama-Trump transition.

Angie Craig Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.) unseated an anti-LGBT lawmaker, making her the first openly gay mother in Congress. Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said Craig’s victory means Minnesota “chose an authentic, solutions-oriented business leader to replace a divisive anti-LGBTQ demagogue – sending a powerful message to all incumbent legislators who attack LGBTQ people and other communities in hopes of political gain.”

Chris Pappas Rep. Chris Pappas (D-N.H.) is the first openly gay member of Congress from New Hampshire. Pappas told the Blade in an exclusive interview after his win that additional funding for treatment and recovery programs to address the country’s opioid crisis and reducing student loan debt are among his top legislative priorities.

Pappas also said it is “critical” that special counsel Robert Mueller be allowed to finish his investigation into whether President Trump and/ or any of his associates had any involvement in Russia’s interference in the 2016 election.

“We need to allow him to finish his work and put everything out on the table,” Pappas told the Blade. “The facts are what’s driving the conversation.”

Pappas said he will “reserve judgment” on whether Trump should be impeached until Mueller releases his final report.

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Katie Hill Rep. Katie Hill (D-Calif.) served as executive director of People Assisting the Homeless and grew the organization from a local non-profit to the state’s largest nonprofit provider of housing for the homeless.

Hill granted the Blade an exclusive interview during the height of her campaign to unseat longtime anti-LGBT Rep. Steve Knight.

She told the Blade, “We’ve known for a long time that we have to put some kind of check on [President Trump] and we’ve got to work toward getting him out as quickly as possible.”

Mark Pocan

Representing Wisconsin’s 2nd congressional district since 2013, Rep. Mark Pocan serves the same constituents that lesbian Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) represented for 14 years before she won election to the upper chamber of Congress. In 2017, he was elected co-chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus.

Tammy Baldwin Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.) comfortably won re-election to a second term in November after a campaign in which the Koch brothers and other anti-LGBT figures donated millions to unseat her.

Fighting Wisconsin’s opioid crisis is among her priorities. Baldwin told the Blade in an interview last year that her late mother was an addict.

“I remember what it was like to come

Kyrsten Sinema Sen. Kyrsten Sinema served three terms in the House and won a tight race to succeed retiring Sen. Jeff Flake in Arizona. She becomes the Senate’s first openly bisexual member.

Last year, she spoke to the Blade during the campaign and talked about her upbringing.

“Growing up, we were like every other

She also addressed her distinction as the chamber’s only out bisexual. Hill always felt “incredibly accepted by my family” but finds that a lot of people have difficulty wrapping their heads around bisexuality.

“Like, OK, you might be a woman and like other women, you might be a man and like other men but when there’s both involved, it just kind of confuses people sometimes… especially when you’re in a committed relationship. And so I feel like part of this campaign has really been kind of an educational process and I think that’s a big part of why representation is so important.”

The Blade was granted exclusive access to Pocan to shadow him for a day on the job just months into his first term.

In April 2013, he told the Blade that one of the main issues of concern for him is LGBT youth homelessness. That issue hits close to home; Pocan says an LGBT constituency group in Wisconsin informed him that about 400 people in Milwaukee who are homeless identify as LGBT youth.

home from school and not be able to get into the house. I’d pound on the door, but my mother wouldn’t answer. She’d be passed out inside. My mother had a drug abuse problem. She struggled with addiction to prescription drugs her whole life. I had to grow up fast. Very fast. So when I see the opioid crisis that is wrecking so many Wisconsin families, all I can tell you is—I’ve been there. I know how hard this fight is. I know the stigma that comes with drug abuse and mental illness,” she said in a video.

working family until my dad lost his job and we lost our home. We ended up living in an abandoned gas station for nearly three years.

But I worked hard, got an education, and got my shot at the American dream. I’m focused on making sure every Arizonan gets his or her shot just like I did,” Sinema told the Blade.

(Chris Johnson, Karen Ocamb, Michael K. Lavers and Kevin Naff contributed to this report.)

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Trans man makes history on Olympic committee

RICARDO DEL REAL is a transgender man who is a member of the Mexican Olympic Committee.

Image via YouTube

Ricardo del Real in November became the first openly transgender man on the Mexican Olympic Committee when he received a document with a male gender marker that recognizes him as a permanent member of this organization that oversees the development, protection and promotion of sports in the Aztec nation.

Del Real joined the committee in 2001, and had been recognized as a woman.

Del Real began his transition two years later with a variety of treatments; he legally changed his name and presented as a man physically and socially.

Del Real worked in collaboration with the International Olympic Committee and Mexico’s National Council to Prevent Discrimination (CONAPRED) throughout his transition.

“When I told the International

Olympic Committee about my transition I had their support 110 percent,” Del Real told Desastre, a Mexican publication. “In the case of the Mexican Olympic Committee there were no protocols in place, they were literally figuring out how to address the issue with me. We were working hand in hand and an agreement was reached.”

Del Real said Mexican Olympic Committee Secretary General Mario García de la Torre announced at the organization’s last meeting that he had legally changed his gender. De la Torre also said Del Real’s permanent membership would continue and there was no need for any discussion about it.

The former athlete revealed to Canal Once, a Mexican television station, in his first national interview as a man that he was afraid during his transition and urged all social and political classes to become more sensitized to trans issues. Del Real also added trans issues in Mexico are still “in diapers,” despite the efforts of the media and activists.

Del Real declared in reference to his experience with the Mexican Olympic Committee that there had never been anyone in the organization who put a face to the trans community “because there is a lot of fear, because there was not a lot of information and because of that there could be a lot of discrimination. It is a matter of providing the right information, training people to ensure sports is for everyone.”

The former athlete sought to make sports inclusive for the entire LGBTI community, although he stressed trans people face more difficulties due to the hormonal processes they experience.

“The IOC, therefore, since 2014 has declared medical and scientific practices should be implemented to address this issue and make conditions the same as they are for cisgender athletes,” Del Real told Desastre. “These protocols not being implemented in most of the world and Mexico has not yet signed onto them.”

Trump alleges ‘crisis’ on border

President Trump on Tuesday said there is a “crisis” on the border between the U.S. and Mexico.

“There is a growing humanitarian and security crisis at our southern border,” said Trump in a televised address from the White House.

Trump in his speech made several claims that have proven inaccurate. These include his claims there is “uncontrolled, illegal migration” and “thousands of Americans have been brutally killed by those who illegally entered our country.”

Trump also said “law enforcement professionals have requested” $5.7 billion for “a physical barrier” along the U.S.Mexico border.

“At the request of Democrats, it will be a steel barrier rather than a concrete wall,” said Trump. “This barrier is absolutely critical to border security. It’s also what our professionals at the border want and need.

This is just common sense.”

Trump delivered his speech on the 18th day of a partial government shutdown.

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday in their own televised speech once again rebuked Trump over his demands for funding of a border wall. Trump, for his part, once again blamed Democrats for the shutdown.

“The federal government remains shut down for one reason and one reason only: Because Democrats will not fund border security.” he said in his speech. “My administration is doing everything in our power to help those impacted by the situation, but the only solution is for Democrats to pass a spending bill that defends our borders and re-opens the government.”

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Cannabis Culture

Alaska regulators have voted to permit on-site marijuana consumption at certain retailers.

Alaska: Regulators advance on-site consumption rules JUNEAU, Alaska — State regulators have voted in favor of plans to permit on-site marijuana consumption at designated retailers.

Under the plan, licensed retailers could designate specific areas for on-site consumption by their customers. Customers would not be permitted to bring their own cannabis.

Retailers who wish to permit on-site consumption would need to apply for a special license from the state.

It is anticipated that state lawmakers may also weigh in on the issue in 2019.

Lifetime cannabis exposure is associated with lower body mass index, according to a new study.

Long-term cannabis use linked to lower BMI

TEMPE, Ariz.

— Lifetime cannabis exposure is associated with lower body mass index (BMI), according to longitudinal data published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine.

Researchers from Arizona State University and the University of Pittsburgh assessed the association between long-term cannabis exposure and cardiometabolic risk factors in a cohort of 253 men.

They reported that greater marijuana exposure was associated with lower BMI as well as lower cholesterol levels and other risk factors.

“Cannabis use is associated with lower BMI and lower BMI is related to lower levels of risk on other cardiometabolic risk factors,” they concluded.

The findings are consistent with those of prior studies concluding that cannabis exposure is associated with lower BMI, lower rates of obesity, and fewer incidences of type 2 diabetes.

Reducing risk of alcohol-induced pancreatitis SALEM, Mass. — Habitual alcohol consumers who also use cannabis are at less risk for either acute or chronic pancreatitis as compared to those who do not use the substance, according to clinical data published in the journal Alcoholism, Clinical and Experimental Research.

A team of investigators from the United States and Canada assessed the prevalence of alcohol-induced pancreatitis in a nationwide sample of heavy alcohol users. They reported that those subjects who concomitantly used cannabis possessed a significantly lower risk of pancreatitis as compared to those who did not.

“Our findings suggest a reduced incidence of only alcoholassociated pancreatitis with cannabis use,” authors concluded.

Separate research by the team previously reported that “risky alcohol drinking combined with cannabis use is associated with reduced prevalence of alcohol-associated gastritis in patients.” Alcoholic gastritis refers to inflammation or erosion of the stomach lining that is caused by excessive alcohol consumption.

Marijuana use falling aong Washington teens OLYMPIA, Wash. — The use of cannabis by young people in Washington State has declined following the enactment of adult use regulations, according to data published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Researchers from the RAND Corporation assessed cannabis prevalence among teens for the years 2014 to 2016.

They reported decreased cannabis use among 8th and 10th graders following legalization.

Separate data from Colorado similarly finds that the establishment of marijuana retailers is not associated with increased cannabis use by young people.

Study: CBD admin reduces meth cravings SYDNEY, Australia — The administration of cannabidiol (CBD) is associated with reduced cravings for methamphetamine in rats, according to preclinical data published in the Journal of Psychopharmacology.

Australian researchers assessed the impact of CBD on methamphetamine-seeking behavior in a rat model. They reported that CBD dosing reduced the animals’ motivation to self-administer methamphetamine and reduced the likelihood of relapse following drug abstinence.

Authors concluded, “This is the first demonstration that cannabidiol can reduce the motivation to seek and consume methamphetamine, and suggests that cannabidiol might be worth trialing as a novel pharmacotherapy for methamphetamine dependence.”

Prior studies have similarly reported that CBD is associated with reduced cravings for tobacco, heroin, cocaine, and opioids.

Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, contact Paul Armentano, NORML Deputy Director, at paul@norml.org.

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DENVER — With a unanimous City Council vote Monday night, Denver became Colorado’s first jurisdiction to ban use of conversion therapy to try to change the sexual orientation of minors, governing.com reports.

Psychology’s governing bodies have denounced conversion therapy, which treats being LGBT as a mental illness.

Research shows such therapy increases the risk of suicide, drug abuse and depression among teens.

“Tonight’s vote to ban conversion therapy is our city coming together and saying with one voice that we will never allow our LGBTQ-plus youth to be the targets of these dubious practices, and that we are here to support them,” Mayor Michael B. Hancock said in a statement, according to governing.com. “Who they are is something to be celebrated, not maligned, and Denver will always be there to lift up our youth and ensure that they have the opportunity to grow up safe, happy and healthy.”

Hancock called passage of the proposal “a very proud moment” and thanked council members for their votes.

The ban was recommended by Denver’s LGTBQ Commission and submitted by the Office of Human Rights and Community Partnerships, governing.com reports.

The ban “will protect LGBTQ-plus youth from dangerous and discredited practices aimed at changing their sexual orientation or gender identity or expression,” a city news release says. “This proposal is aimed at state-licensed therapists, operating their practice in the city, who are falsely claiming that being gay or transgender is a mental illness, and therefore taking advantage of parents and harming vulnerable youth.”

Democratic legislators, who now control both chambers of the state General Assembly, said they’ll try to ban conversion therapy in this legislative session, reports coloradopolitics.com.

House Democrats sent such a bill last year to the Republican-held Senate, where it was struck down for the fourth year in a row.

Chinese hookup app suspends registrations NEW YORK — The world’s largest gay social networking app has closed registration to new members after a report claimed that some underage users contracted HIV on dates organized through the platform, Newsweek reports.

In a statement on Sunday, Beijing-based app Blued — which claims approximately 40 million registered users — said its staff will suspend new registrations for a week to review the allegations and add improvements to the platform.

“Blued was founded to provide a more transparent, proactive and healthy online home for the minority. We have met with difficulties and challenges and we will continue improving,” the company said, before vowing to further assist in HIV/Aids prevention and crack down on underage users.

The announcement came one day after a report by Caixin where the Chinese news publication accused the company of failing to safeguard teenager users.

Inside the report, a researcher alleged that while the app doesn’t allow users under 18, it doesn’t have a verification mechanism that enforces the restriction.

Without it, underage boys can set up profiles by pretending to be over 18, which ultimately leaves them vulnerable to sexual exploitation and explicit content, Newsweek reports.

With reference to academic studies, the report alleged that numerous teenagers contracted HIV after having protected sex with someone they met on the app.

Peng Xiaohui, from the China Sexology Association, told the South China Morning Post that he had previously urged Blued’s founder to take steps to “prevent minors from using the app,” Newsweek reports.

Suicide of gay Ind. inmate spurs lawsuit KENDALLVILLE, Ind. — A northeastern Indiana county faces a wrongful death lawsuit alleging that a gay inmate killed himself in its jail after being denied mental health treatment and enduring harassment over his sexuality, The Associated Press reports citing reporting from The Kendallville News-Sun. Markus Middleton’s partner is suing Noble County’s sheriff, jail commander and jail staff.

The Kendallville News-Sun reports the federal lawsuit alleges that Middleton was 23 when he hanged himself in October 2017 after spending 23 days in the jail following his arrest on misdemeanor false informing and resisting law enforcement charges, the AP reports.

The suit contends the Albion, Ind., man was “continuously mocked, harassed, threatened, and denied mental health treatment” even though jail officials were told Middleton suffered from bipolar disorder and serious depression.

A message seeking comment was left Thursday for an attorney for the county’s liability insurer carrier, Travelers, the AP reports.

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The Washington Blade was founded in 1969 as a black & white, one-sheet community newsletter.

In 2019 the Blade celebrates its 50th anniversary as America’s LGBT News Source. The Washington

Blade was selected to join the pool rotation for the White House Press Corps, becoming the first LGBT publication to participate in these duties. Readers locally and globally rely on the Blade’s unmatched

OCTOBER 1969 JUNE 1972

OCTOBER 2019

JULY 1974

1979 OCTOBER 1980

2013

JANUARY 1983 APRIL 2010

OCTOBER 2008

JA NUARY 11, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 28

SEPTEMBER 1995

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL is a writer and activist. Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

KATHI WOLFE

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

is a regular contributor to the Blade and winner of the 2014 Stonewall Chapbook competition.

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 29

JUNIOR NSAMIA MAYEMA is a California-based Blade contributor.

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

is a writer and activist. Reach him at rrosendall@starpower.net.

‘American Moor’ returns to Washington + Largest LGBT owned title company + Billions of dollars in transactions closed annually + 6 in house attorneys + Residential and commercial transactions + In home and in office refinance settlements + Licensed in DC, DE, MD, NJ, VA & WV

Keith Hamilton Cobb takes on fear and erasure in American theater

The veteran actor channels and questions a bard four centuries gone, like the New Horizons probe reporting back to earth amid the cosmic noise from four billion miles away—though unlike manned missions, the probe didn’t stop to plant a flag as it passed Ultima Thule, an asteroid from the early solar system. Some claim possession of Shakespeare as they would a continent or a lunar crater, guarding their turf like gentrifiers calling police on black neighbors.

Keith Hamilton Cobb challenges this proprietorship, bringing his passionate, probing“AmericanMoor”backtoWashington’s Anacostia Playhouse as Democrats retake the House of Representatives. Cobb took his PFLAG promotes the equality and well-being of gay, lesbian, bisexual, play last year to London, Boston and West and transgendered persons, their families and friends through: Orange, N.J., portraying a tall, powerfully built, handsome black thespian in middle age • Support to cope with an adverse society. auditioning for Othello.

• Education to enlighten an ill-informed public.

The tension in the audition room • Advocacy to end discrimination and secure equal civil rights. resonates with that of our nation’s history and Trained facilitators lead the Arlington Support Group and confidentiality is maintained. For its roiling present: the white director thinks he knows the large black protagonist better further information about the Arlington Support Group, contact us at arl.pflag@gmail.com. than the large black man standing before Our groups meet on the second Sunday of each month, from 3 – 4:30pm at the Unitarian him. Confiding in the audience, the actor Universalist Church in Arlington, at George Mason Drive & Route 50. makes them his compatriots. Starring in his own play, Cobb critiques American regional A.L.Y. is a group for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgendered, and Questioning Youth and Allies in theater and its racial myopia from the inside grades 7-12. Our goal is to give LGBTQ youth a safe place to gather. Trained facilitators lead the as one who has loved Shakespeare since youth group. Confidentiality maintained. For more info, contact: aly.pflagdc@gmail.com. his youth—an actor who can do anything, his agent assures him, but whose prospective Our Washington DC Chapter of PFLAG may be reached at 202-638-3852. employers only see him as one thing. “[T]hroughout my American life, ADVERTISING PROOF whenever some white person, well-meaning ISSUE DATE: 181026 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: or otherwise, has asked me to ‘be open’ they have invariably meant, ‘See it my way.’

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 And in this instance, in this play, that is 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 unacceptable.” He recognized his acting 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 vocation early the way a person knows Pussycat, copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety Pussycat, right, false advertising, unfair /LOGO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, he’s gay. Decades later, his seasoned brain or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE SIONS where did go? washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) you 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 is not limited to placement, and butinstrument have much to lend the 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.

To Adams Morgan and warranties. enterprise, but the young director, confident to buy a condo. he knows Shakespeare’s intentions because he studied under a teacher twice removed from a Brit, is not as collaborative.

Lacking a time machine to allow consultation with a dead playwright, we can only interpret him through ourselves.

As with the casting of Hamilton, our cultural inheritance crosses the human VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI, Director of Education & Mentorship spectrum. Is Jessye Norman less glorious Dupont Circle Office • 202-518-8781 (o) • 202.246.8602 (c) a soprano than Elisabeth Schwarzkopf on Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com • www.DCHomeQuest.com

account of pigment?

“You are afraid of me,” Cobb tells the director. He is an envoy from an unfamiliar world all around us. In our fear of displacement we squander our most precious resource: one another.

There are people who feed on brokenness, who feel diminished or threatened by others’ strength or wisdom.

But we cannot thrive on smallness. To make the work sing, the actor knows, requires bringing all of himself to it.

Independent film’s low budgets gave black filmmakers like Ryan Coogler and Barry Jenkins freedom to tell their stories their way rather than subsume their projects to the whims of indifferent studio bosses.

Their success offers a transformative moment at whose heart are artists holding to their visions and self-belief. In a similar spirit, the actor in Moor prods the director to risk all for love, like Desdemona—in this case love of the play, love of theater.

At the start of the most diverse Congress in history, Nancy Pelosi invoked President Reagan’s farewell address. Reagan said of his “shining city upon a hill,” “[I]f there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here.” We have slid so far, Reagan sounds liberal. The “heterogeneous 116th” has only begun to fight.

The current spate of black film auteurs recalls the enrichment of Hollywood by German filmmakers who fled the Nazis in the 1930s, and the migrants whom Trump now slanders like a cut-rate Iago poisoning his marks’ minds. The voices we need most, in the arts as in our imperiled republic, are often those we are least inclined to welcome.

Flexing still-powerful sinews, the actor urges: “Please... put down your little brief authority, as you are certainly most ignorant of what you are most assured, and talk with me.”

At stake are not just line readings but the very things pledged in Philadelphia in 1776: “our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.”

“American Moor,” directed by Kim Weild, is at Anacostia Playhouse from Jan. 11 through Feb. 3.

Copyright © 2019 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

30 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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Keep your promise to protect each other.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Let the Democratic presidential games begin Wills & Trusts Powers of Attorney • Living Wills Partnership & Prenuptial Agreements

Candidates must check their egos, appeal to younger voters

A strong ego can work to a person’s advantage but it can be dangerous if it runs totally amok. It can be especially dangerous for politicians or would-be politicians. One example is Michael Avenatti, who recently recognized ego alone wouldn’t make him a good presidential candidate. There are a host of others who I hope will reach the same conclusion Avenatti has. They include West Virginia losing congressional candidate Richard Ojeda and former Maryland Congressman John Delaney, who got bored in Congress and moved to Iowa to run for president.

Then there are some candidates who people take seriously but have the same ego problems. Joe Biden, a man I admire, recently said in his own opinion he is the most qualified person to be president. And Sen. Bernie Sanders thinks he is qualified, yet might want to contemplate why he lost a primary by nearly four million votes as he decides whether he will run. Biden, who dropped out early in two previous tries for president, recently managed to put his foot in his mouth by declaring, “I’ve been there with SPEAK WITH OUR PREPLANNING ADVISOR, eight presidents as an elected official and JAMIE ARTHURS AT (202) 966-6400 OR EMAIL none had more class and a greater sense of JAMIE.ARTHURS@DIGNITYMEMORIAL.COM decency than President Bush.” Many wanted to know what he thought of Barack Obama.

Sanders is finding he is losing support and can’t count on those who helped him last time around. Another former loser reemerging is John Kerry suggesting he could 5130 Wisconsin Ave. NW • DC • (202) 966-6400 • www.JosephGawlers.com make another run at the office because in his own estimation he is the one most qualified.

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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 competing. If rumors are true there might 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 be 20 people running for the Democratic 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, nomination for president. A full employment or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE 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 limited tofor placement, boondoggle campaign consultants and 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. fundraisers. Many of those announcements will be based on the candidates’ own inflated ego convincing them they have a chance.

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promising. As the Mueller investigation moves forward getting closer to implicating the disgusting excuse for a man in the White House, and the continuing outrageousness of his lackeys in Congress, 2020 could be the year Democrats take back the White House and gain full control of Congress.

Yet despite ego and bluster working for Trump in 2016, let’s hope he was an anomaly.

Over the next 18 months, the Democratic primaries will winnow out those with no chance of winning a general election. We saw in the 2018 midterm elections a wide majority of voters elected neither far-right nor far-left candidates, rather choosing those ready to work within the system to get things done.

Three women exemplify this type of candidate winning races prognosticators predicted they could lose. They are Sens.

Tammy Baldwin (D-Wisc.), Jackie Rosen (D-Nev.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.). While their races were clearly impacted by national politics they ran campaigns based on issues their constituents were most concerned about. They didn’t campaign on slogans but spoke to voters in language the average voter in their state could connect with. They understood what might work for a candidate in California or New York wouldn’t necessarily work to elect them. They understood what Tip O’Neil said years ago, “All politics is local.”

As we head toward the primaries, it will be important for candidates for president to appeal to the widest possible range of voters.

In today’s world of instant gratification and 24hour news cycles it is important to delineate not only a vision but to translate that vision into a campaign people can connect with.

While the media loves to cover those like Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Sen. Sanders, the fact is candidates who emulate them may win a caucus or primary, or even a congressional seat in a particular district or state, but won’t be able to win a national election.

The Democratic presidential nomination and nominations for seats in Congress will be won by those best able to keep their balance while walking a tightrope, which is what our primaries have become. The American voter is skewing younger and more diverse and Democrats will want a ticket that will appeal to those voters while not turning off anyone else.

So let the games begin!

32 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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33 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

KATHI WOLFE

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

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Mrs.Maisel inspires us to keep on resisting Award-winning show remains relatable despite 1950s setting “Against the assault of laughter nothing can stand,” Mark Twain said.

The U.S. Supreme Court may limit LGBTQ rights over “religious freedom” concerns and is likely to scale back women’s reproductive rights.

The transgressive power of humor is needed now more than ever.

You might not think that comedy’s resistance against hypocrisy and sexism could be found in a TV show set in 1959 in the Mad Men era. But, you’d be wrong.

Once again, I’m turning to “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” the Emmy and Golden Globewinning Amazon TV show set in mid-20th century Manhattan, for the ass-kicking wit needed to resist intolerance and sexism.

The series, now in its second season, continues laughter’s wicked, incisive, spirit-saving assault. Rachel Brosnahan just won a Golden Globe for Best Actress in a TV series, musical or comedy for her spoton portrayal of the larger-than-life, Joan Rivers-like fabulous Mrs. (Miriam, a.k.a.

“Midge”) Maisel.

Our time differs in many ways from the 1950s. Thankfully, women today can own property, have credit cards and not lose their jobs when they become pregnant.

Yet, because some things from the ‘50s such as sexism and prejudice toward gender non-conforming people resonate all too well in our #MeToo moment, “Mrs. Maisel” is relatable.

In case you missed season one set in 1958, the show is created by Amy ShermanPalladino (of the “Gilmore Girls”). Mrs. Maisel is a Jewish housewife and mother who’s so funny that she delivers zingers at her wedding reception. Yet, she’s content to keep her hair impeccably coiffed and to make fantastic brisket. She and her cute husband Joel live in an apartment that would have made Jackie Kennedy envious.

Her picture-perfect marriage falls apart when Joel tries out stand-up comedy at the Gaslight, a Greenwich Village comedy club, and bombs with a bit he stole from Bob Newhart. Then, he has an affair with his secretary. Midge, unhinged, goes to

the Gaslight and drunkenly performs a stand-up routine.

Most of us would literally and figuratively fall on our faces if we pulled this stunt. But, it’s all good for Midge.

Her impromptu comedy routine kills and she morphs into Mrs. Maisel, the talented, attractive, energetic “girl” comic, struggling to break into the comedy world.

Susie, the butch, gender non-conforming, “Gaslight” manager (brilliantly played by Emmy-winning Alex Borstein), leaves the club to become Midge’s manager.

In its second season, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel,” with the rapid-fire wit and fast (sometime dizzying) pace of an Old Hollywood screwball comedy, moves from Paris to Manhattan to the Catskills. Paris never looked better – not even in “Funny Face” or in “An American in Paris.” There hasn’t been so much going on in the Catskills since “Dirty Dancing.” The scenes with Midge at her day job — handling calls with breakneck speed at the switchboard at B. Altman, the resplendent department store – are as campy as any fab musical!

And, let’s not forget the hats.

“Mrs. Maisel” isn’t all camp. Though the show’s a comedy, it’s aware of issues of class, sexism and privilege. Midge’s mother Rose goes to Paris because her husband Abe pays no attention to what she wants or needs. “What are you, the lost Gabor sister,” Susie, who grew up poor, asks Midge when she goes on about her privileged life.

Mrs. Maisel fights to be taken seriously as a comic at a time when women aren’t respected as comedians. Lenny Bruce supports her. “Tell me that men won’t think I’m funny because I don’t look like a dump truck?” she says.

“Why do we have to pretend to be sorry, when we have nothing to be sorry about?” Mrs. Maisel asks.

You know Mrs. Maisel, even through her comedy is lacerating, won’t be able to take down sexism. Yet, watching “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” gives the hope you need to keep resisting.

34 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

35 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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

JUNIOR NSAMIA MAYEMA

Colonel Don Schofield, Commander and Conductor

is a California-based Blade contributor.

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LGBTrefugees more vulnerable in Trump’s America I’m from Congo and San Francisco has been ‘a living hell’ Since Donald Trump became president, I have never seen so much hate being meted out against immigrants, let alone LGBT refugees and asylum seekers like me.

I am from the Democratic Republic of Congo and fled my homeland to escape homophobia. I made my way to South Africa, but experienced additional mistreatment because of my race and gender identity.

This mistreatment included a police officer who broke my wrist. I came to the U.S. on Nov. 20, 2014. I was working on fighting housing and employment discrimination.

Some of the people who I met were very friendly and welcoming.

After Trump’s election in 2016, internalized hatred of LGBT immigrants and refugees became a reality. I lost my job simply because I am a gay immigrant.

I could see the different treatment of LGBT Americans, I have been forced out of housing, harassed at school, treated like a social outcast everywhere I go.

I filed a discrimination case pending with California’s Department of Fair Employment and Housing on the basis of immigration status that was ultimately dismissed because I believe the very people who were discriminating against me contacted the DFEH and probably told them that I am a black tranny immigrant who has no rights in Trump’s America. I have been a target of police surveillance for months. It has been a living hell in a safe haven.

Most of my harassers happen to be mostly gay men or transgender women. I think it is because my gender transcends the male and female gender binary.

Homonationalism — the abandonment of intersectional activism that leaves the door open to racism, xenophobia, capitalism and the promotion of one’s own interests — is real and I see it everyday. The last time that I went to socialize in a gay-friendly environment I was verbally attacked at a bar in the Castro simply because I was talking to a handsome gay American man.

I tried to defend myself and then those gay men threatened to call the police on me and then took me by the throat and escorted me outside. I was walking past the same area the next day and I saw them laughing at me and saying that I am not allowed to socialize in that area again.

The reason why I am writing this is because we as LGBT people shouldn’t be fighting against each other or hating each other because that is what our homophobic enemies want from us. They want to divide us in order to conquer us.

In my experience, most LGBT Americans who I have met treated me like an outsider, an outcast, an enemy, an alien who must go back to where I came from.

I don’t know where this intense hatred is coming from. We say we support human rights and equality, and those rights are not only American. They are universal and of course LGBT people are universal.

Some are tolerated in their countries but some are persecuted. This is why we are seeking asylum because simply living openly in our countries means death and the communities of our countries in Canada, America or Western Europe come with their homophobia attached to them, so there is no place for us among them.

Let’s stop bringing each other down and let’s focus on the real enemies. We cannot claim to be human rights advocates while being racists at the same time. We need to change our inside before changing the outside, engage in transformational activism as they call it. Let’s be the change we want to see in the world like Obama said.

We are brothers and sisters of the same international community, which is the LGBT community. We just happen to be born in other countries with inherited homophobia.

This is why we are seeking security and safety in order to pursue our fundamental human rights to life, freedom and the pursuit of happiness. I hope our LGBT American brothers and sisters can allow us to have that second chance since our countries of origin continue to fail us.

36 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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TOP PHOTO: House Speaker NANCY PELOSI stands behind President Barack Obama at the signing of the repeal of ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’ on Dec. 22, 2010. BOTTOM PHOTO: Speaker NANCY PELOSI hugs ‘Don’t Ask’ repeal activist Mike Almy at the Congressional Certification of repeal on Dec. 21, 2010. Washington Blade photos by Michael Key

12 times Nancy Pelosi was there for LGBTcommunity

Whether riding in a Pride parade or spearheading tough legislation through Congress, the returning Speaker of the House epitomizes the word ally

BY JOEY DIGUGLIELMO & CHRIS JOHNSON

Last week, Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) became the first person in 64 years to return to the position of Speaker of the House of Representatives. She’s the only woman to hold the office and the first person to repeat in the office since Sam Rayburn, who served a record 17 years as speaker over three different periods. She’s now second in line to the president and is the highestranking elected woman in U.S. history.

Pelosi’s credibility with LGBT voters is ironclad. In November, 102 LGBT leaders announced they “enthusiastically endorsed” her to return to the speakership. “There is no better ally to the LGBT community on Capitol Hill than Leader Pelosi, period,” the group said in a statement.

Here are some highlights — some wonky and serious, some lighter. In no particular order: • Pelosi has long stood in favor of samesex marriage. In 1996, Pelosi voted against the Defense of Marriage Act, a federal law that prior to being ruled unconstitutional, defined marriage as one man and one woman. In 2004 and 2006, Pelosi voted against a proposed Federal Marriage Amendment that would have amended the Constitution to define marriage federally as one man, one woman. And in 2008, Pelosi voiced opposition to Proposition 8, a successful ballot initiative that defined California marriage similarly.

Pelosi told the Washington Post in 2012 that her Roman Catholic faith — despite official church teaching — compels her “to be against discrimination of any kind in our country.”

• Pelosi supported the Matthew Shepard & James Byrd Jr. Hate Crimes Prevention Act and helped it move through the House. It finally passed in 2009.

38 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

CLOCKWISE FROM TOP LEFT: NANCY PELOSI speaks at a Pride event for LGBT congressional staff in June of 2012. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key NANCY PELOSI wears a pin for the ‘March on Washington for Lesbian and Gay Rights’ in 1987. Washington Blade Archive photo by Doug Hinckle NANCY PELOSI speaks at the National LGBTQ Chamber of Commerce National Dinner in 2018. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

• Pelosi supported the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal in 2010. “Isn’t this a joyful day,” she said at the time. “(This measure will) change the law, improve the policy, make life better for many Americans and make our country stronger.” She then led a group sing of “God Bless America.”

• Pelosi is a champion of the Equality Act, comprehensive LGBT rights legislation that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to include sexual orientation and gender identity. She has said last October advancing it will be a top priority with Democrats in control of the House. “It isn’t in our ‘For The People’ agenda because it doesn’t get that specific, but there’s one more because it’s personal for me that I really want to do, and it’s called the Equality Act,” Pelosi said. “The Equality Act expands ending discrimination against LGBTQ people and women and adding that to the Civil Rights Act.” • In May, 2014 at the White House, Pelosi helped unveil an official U.S. forever postage stamp commemorating slain gay

rights leader Harvey Milk, who was killed in 1978 and was the first openly gay public official in California. Pelosi is, as was Milk, a long-time San Francisco resident.

• In February, 2015, Pelosi met with Cuban LGBT activist Juana Mora Cedeno of Proyecto Manos along with other human rights advocates during a trip with several House colleagues. They discussed education, health care and lack of access to antiretroviral medication for Cubans living with HIV. • Pelosi has appeared at many LGBT events over the years including a November, 2018 appearance at the NGLCC National Dinner, the 2007 HRC National Dinner, many appearances at San Francisco Pride (one year the car she was in broke down and she had to walk the rest of the parade route) and more.

• On June 9, 1987, Pelosi chose to address the HIV/AIDS epidemic in her first speech on the House floor and said she had come to Congress to fight AIDS. “Now we must take leadership, of course,

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 39

in the crisis of AIDS. And I look forward to working with you on that,” Pelosi said. Those remarks stood in contrast to President Reagan’s inaction and failure to speak out on the disease.

• Contestants on “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars” season three were shocked when Pelosi made a brief appearance in the “werk” room of the hit reality competition show in March, 2018. Ru introduced her as a “strong woman who knows how to get things done” and a “champion for LGBT rights.” Presumably because of time, Pelosi, unlike most “Drag Race” guest celebrities, did not appear at the judge’s table. But she teased the appearance on social media saying she had “a fabulous time.” “I’m honored to be here,” Pelosi, wearing a white pantsuit, said. “You’re an inspiration, I hope you know. Because you really know your power. It’s about taking pride and that’s what you do. Take pride in yourselves.”

• When the NAMES Project AIDS Memorial Quilt was being

developed, Pelosi took part in the some of the earliest meetings, sowing her own patch for a flower girl in her wedding who died of AIDS. Pelosi also secured permits from the National Park Service under the George H.W. Bush administration so the AIDS quilt could be shown on the National Mall. In April, 2012, Pelosi spoke at a Castro District ceremony marking the 25th anniversary of the Names Project AIDS Memorial Quilt, started by San Francisco volunteers in 1987. “We will keep fighting until there is a cure,” she said.

• In August 2016, Pelosi met with survivors of Orlando’s Pulse nightclub shooting and families of some of the 49 who died. She left flowers at a memorial outside the club and signed a wall.

• In July 2012, Pelosi danced to ZZ Top’s “Sharp Dressed Man” and “It’s Raining Men” at the reception for former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank’s marriage to Jim Ready. Pelosi’s partner was Terry Bean, a co-best man of the groom. Video of the dance went viral.

QUEERY Q

Photo by Denis Largeron; used with permission

QUEERY: Q

The Sex Shop Party nightlife producer answers 20 gay questions

BY JOEY DIGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell?

I came out in my 20s and the hardest person to tell was my mother because I knew telling her was like telling the world. I have a very multiracial family — Latin, Italian and African American and when I came out to my mother, she ensured everyone in the family knew. I experience different levels of support, stress, torture and humor. My family is very supportive and according to my brother, I’m the favorite sister!

Who’s your LGBT hero?

Harvey Milk and Ellen DeGeneres

Q got the idea for his Sex Shop Party a few months ago. He noticed two sex shops in D.C. on the same block, wandered in and went live on Facebook with his adventures.

“All the toys and gear at the stores gave me the inspiration for the party,” he says.

He’s a man known by several names. Q is a nickname that followed him from his sevenyear Army stint because everyone had trouble with his legal name — Jesu Quispe. When he started producing parties, people started calling him Mother Fantasy (or sometimes La Fantasy) because he was always going out of his way to make sure they got home safely. It turned into a running gag.

The Sex Shop Party, pegged to next weekend’s MAL (Mid-Atlantic Leather) festivities, is Friday, Jan. 18 from 10 p.m.-7 a.m. at L8DC (727 15th St., N.W.) with music by Alex Acosta, X Gonzalez and Joe Pacheco. Tickets are $40 at lafantasyproductions.com. If you want

tickets, Q says not to wait. His last four events have sold out and this one is close.

Q’s parties are all theme based. Sex Shop is designed to “showcase all the different sexual exhibitions celebrated during MAL,” he says. Other Q parties may highlight sexy swimsuits, underwear, masquerade, gym wear and more.

Q himself enjoys the leather/fetish scene (“We all have a wild side”) and works hard to incorporate a “wow” factor at his events with sets, performers, guests, outfits, drag queens, extravagant decor and more. He promises an “assault on the senses that leaves you wanting more at every turn.”

Q works full time in party promotions.

The 34-year-old New Jersey native came to Washington nine years ago for “a new change.” He’s single and lives in Columbia Heights. He enjoys music, running and going to the gym in his free time.

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

I don’t look at the past, I look at the present and of course I have to say my parties.

Describe your dream wedding.

Weddings are very stressful, so I would do something different. I will invite a group of 50-100 family members and friends and take them to Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic to just relax and party for a week. While there, we’d hold a small ceremony on the beach. Why create stress on what is supposed to be the happiest moment of your life? I like to be different.

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

Preventing animal cruelty.

What historical outcome would you change?

While undoubtedly there are events in

history that I would impact if I could (both world wars for example), society as a whole has learned from those events and, although not always evident, evolved from them.

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

Hanging out with the Black Eyed Peas at a concert and joking with Kathy Griffin while she was on tour in Iraq.

On what do you insist?

People who know me or follow me on FB know that I’m always asking people to smile, be kind and always work hard and dream big.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?

A meme of my daughter Luxor wearing a BDSM hood. Follow me on FB and see for yourself.

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

“The Story of a Circuit Queen”

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

That would depend. If there was a way to change back and forth, it might be fun to experience the full range of sexual desires. I’m not sure that I’d want to make a change permanent though. I’m happy being who I am.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

I’m very Catholic and believe

40 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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in a divine power.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

Use your power for good and don’t alienate or divide people but bring people together.

What would you walk across hot coals for?

Just to experience what it would be like to walk across hot coals. No but seriously, my family.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

The stuck-up, rude diva who thinks everyone else is beneath her.

What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“To Wong Foo”: “Little Latin boy in drag, why are you crying?”

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What’s the most overrated social custom?

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What or prize NOtrophy REVISIONS do you most covet?

None. I don’t define myself by the number of trophies I have or prizes I’ve won.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

How to properly invest in real estate.

Why Washington?

Why not? It’s our nation’s capital and one of the gayest and gay-friendly cities in the country. Need I say more?

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TOP PHOTO: Courtesy Reel Affirmations BOTTOM PHOTO: ‘Hard Wired,’ a piece by Tory Cowles on display now at Touchstone Gallery.

Photo courtesy Touchstone

Next weekend packed with MAL events Mid-Atlantic Leather Weekend, a leather/fetish event, returns Jan 18-20 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel (400 New Jersey Ave., N.W.). The Leather Exhibit Hall will feature more than two dozen exhibitors selling products and gear. Admission is

$30 for the full weekend, $15 for Friday, $20 for Saturday and $15 for Sunday. Other events include a rubber cocktail party on Friday, Jan. 18 from 7-9 p.m., Puppy Park XI on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 11 a.m.-1 p.m., brunch on Sunday, Jan. 20 from 10 a.m.-noon, the Mr. Mid-Atlantic Leather Contest on Sunday Jan. 20 from 1-4 p.m. and the closing dance party, which this year is a tribute to Frankie Knuckles, at 7 p.m. Visit leatherweekend.com for a full list of events.

There will also be plenty of off-site

parties celebrating MAL weekend.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts Rough House: Leather Edition on Friday, Jan. 18 at 9 p.m. Lemz and the Barber Streisand will spin tracks for the evening. Matt Strother and Scott M. Douglass will mix drinks. Cover is $10 and includes clothes check. For more information, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Highwaymen Tnt host Impact: Heroes MAL Fetish Ball at the Hyatt Regency (400 New Jersey Ave., N.W.) in Ballroom B on Friday, Jan. 18 from 10 p.m.-2 a.m.

Attendees are invited to dress as their favorite superhero. Cover is $10. DJ Twin will play tracks. For details, visit facebook. com/highwaymen_tnt.

Honcho presents DJ Josey Rebelle at U Street Musical Hall (1115 U St., N.W.) on Friday, Jan. 18 from 10 p.m.4 a.m. Rebelle is known for her house, techno and breakbeat sounds which she has performed in clubs across Europe and Asia. There will be a full clothes check. Advance tickets are $14 and day of show tickets are $18. Attendees ages 18-20 will be admitted by advance ticket only. For more information, visit ustreetmusichall.com.

Distrkt C hosts Masters, Boys and Pigs at Karma D.C. (2221 Adams Pl N.E.) on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 10 p.m.-6 a.m.

DJ Barney Philly plays the opening set followed by DJ Tony Moran. Rocco Steel makes a guest appearance. Tickets are $70. For more details, visit distrktc.com.

La Fantasy hosts SexShop Party at L8 Lounge (727 15th St., N.W.) on Friday, Jan. 18 from 10 p.m.-7 a.m.

DJ Alex Acosta, DJ X Gonzalez and DJ Joe Pacheco will play music. Coat check available for $5. Tickets are only available in advance for $40. For details, visit lafantasyproductions.com.

The Onyx Cocktail Party and Gear Show is at the Hyatt Regency (400 New Jersey Ave., N.W.) on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 2-6 p.m. There will be cocktails and a fetish auction to benefit Youth Empowered Society. Cash, credit and debit will be accepted for auction purchases. There is a suggested donation at the door. For more details, visit facebook.com/onyx.midatlantic.

495 Bears celebrates MAL weekend at Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. with its dance party the Bear Cave. DJ Popperz will spin tracks ranging from retro to electro. Drink specials run all night.

No cover. Clothes check available. Visit greenlanterndc.com for more information.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Sircuit, an MAL weekend party, on Saturday, Jan. 19 from 10 p.m.-6 a.m.

DJ Sean Morris will play music all night.

GoGo boys Israel Hermes and the Honey Bear will perform for the evening. Alcohol service runs until 4 a.m. and music goes until 6 a.m. Tickets in advance are $30 and tickets at the door are $40. For more details, visit thedceagle.com.

The Imperial Court of Washington presents Leather and Lace at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23rd St., S Arlington, Va.) on Sunday, Jan. 20 from 8-10 p.m. The show will raise awareness and funds for the group’s Reign VII Charities including the True Colors Fund. For more details, visit imperialcourtdc.org.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) presents “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alum Aja,as part of MAL weekend, on Sunday, Jan. 20 from 10 p.m.-1:30 a.m. There will be a meet and greet with Aja and go-go boys Israel Hermes and the Honey Bear at 10 p.m. At midnight there will be a performance by Aja, Ba’Naka, Desiree Dik, Katrina Colby, Alicia Love and Crystal

42 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

TODAY

Edge. DJ C Dubz will spin tracks. General admission advance tickets are $15.

General admission tickets at the door are $20. Advance meet and greet tickets are $25 and meet-and-greet tickets at the door are $30. For more information, visit thedceagle.com.

MAL weekend continues at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) with Penchance Afterhours, an MAL afterparty, on Monday, Jan. 21 from 1:30-6 a.m. Drinks will be served until 4 a.m. and music keeps going until 6 a.m. with DJ Ryan DoubleYou. Go-go boys Israel Hermes and the Honey Bear will also keep dancing.Advance tickets are $15 and tickets at the door are $20. Visit thedceagle.com for more information.

‘The Heiresses’ screens Jan. 18 Reel Affirmations screens “The Heiresses” at Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) on Friday, Jan. 18 from 7-9 p.m. The story follows Chela and Chiquita who are descendants of wealthy families in Paraguay. The couple, who has been together for 30 years, face financial hardship which leads Chiquita to become imprisoned for fraud charges. As Chela adjusts to her new life, she meets an intriguing young woman, Angy. Rayceen Pendarvis hosts the screening. General admission tickets are $12. VIP tickets are $25 and include VIP seating, one complimentary cocktail, beer or wine and movie candy or popcorn.

For more information, visit thedccenter.org/events/theheiresses.

D.C. Bear Crue hosts Bear Happy Hour at Uproar Lounge & Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) today from 5-10 p.m. Drink specials are until 10 p.m. and include $5 rail cocktails and $5 draft pitchers. Free appetizers will be handed out throughout the night.

For more details, visit facebook.com/ bearhappyhour.

Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts a weekly viewing party for “RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars 4” tonight at 8 p.m. Trade queens will host the night along with guest hosts. There will be games, prizes and more. Wessthedj will spin tracks before, during and after the episode.For more information, visit facebook.com/ tradebardc.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts Phucker, a hanky code party, tonight from 10 p.m.- 3 a.m. Let others know your kink with a hanky in your back pocket.

Attendees will receive a free hanky upon entry. DJ Ryan DoubleYou will play music. No cover. For more details, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Gamma D.C., a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) today from 7:309:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group, visit gammaindc.org.

Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St., N.W.) hosts Anna: Warhol Dance Party, a Andy Warhol party, tonight at 10 p.m.

DJ Honey and Get Face will spin tracks.

At midnight there will be performances from Creme Fatale, Washington Heights, Dee Dee Derèon, Venus Fastrada and Ariel Von Quinn.Admission is free with RSVP. There will also be an open bar and snacks from 10-11 p.m. For details, visit rockandrollhoteldc.com.

LezLink hosts its January happy hour at the Hawthorne (1336 U St., N.W.) tonight from 6-9 p.m. Lesbian, bi and queer women are invited for food, drinks and conversation. For more information, visit facebook.com/lezlinkevents.

Saturday, Jan. 12 Haute Dish: Camp, a drag brunch fundraiser for the Unite Foundation, is at 18th & U Duplex Diner (2004 18th

JA NUARY 11, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 43

St., N.W.) is today from 1-4 p.m. Anna G. O’Plasty, DivaD, Judy from HR, Kiana K’Naan, Mindy Nao and Tabeeda Deadhorse will perform. There will also be surprise performers from the Unite Foundation. Regyna Rubenstein hosts the show. Tickets are $50 and include one select brunch entree of your choice, one champagne cocktail or glass of Pinot Grigio and a donation to Unite. For more details, visit facebook.com/duplexdiner.

Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts Freeballers today from 4 p.m.-3 a.m. Guests are invited to wear basketball shorts, sweat pants or anything that accentuates their lower physique. This is not a naked party. No cover. Drink specials run all night. For more information, visit greenlanterndc.com.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts District: Steamwerq, a bathhouse-themed party, tonight from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. Guests can purchase a commemorative D.C. Eagle-branded towel to wear. DJ David Merrill will play music. Advance tickets are $15. Tickets at the door are $20. For more details, visit thedceagle.com.

Sunday, Jan. 13 Queer Girl Movie Night hosts a screening of “The L Word” season two at Slash Run (201 Upshur St., N.W.) today from 1-6 p.m. Episodes will run continuously through the day so stop by anytime. For more information, visit facebook.com/queergrrrlmovienight.

VisArts (155 Gibbs St., Rockville, Md.) hosts its Indie Wedding Expo today from 1-3 p.m. There will be artisans and small businesses available to help with creative and thrifty wedding ideas. Admission is free but RSVP is required. For more details, visit visartscenter.org/event/ indie-wedding-expo.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) presents Sunday Cruise today from noon-2 a.m. Drink specials include $10 and $12 bottomless beer mugs, $3 off all whiskeys and bourbons and $5 Chivas Regal all day. $2 off all other drinks until 9 p.m. For more information, visit thedceagle.com.

Monday, Jan. 14 Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) presents its January exhibits

today and throughout the month. Gallery A features the Touchstone Gallery Member Show. Gallery B and C will showcase “Hard Wired” by Tory Cowles.

This interactive installation allows people to wear Cowles’ sculptures. For more details, visit touchstonegallery.com.

The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W..) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT community.

Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, Jan. 15 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts its Packing Party from 7-9 p.m. tonight. Volunteers will assemble safer sex kits to distribute to the LGBT community.

For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

Wednesday, Jan. 16 XX+Crostino (1926 9th St., N.W.) and Taste host La Voz, a Latin karoke night, tonight from 8 p.m. midnight. Cuba Libres will be $8. No cover. For more details, visit facebook.com/xxcrostino.

Bookmen D.C., an informal gay men’s literature group, discusses David Plante’s diaries “Becoming a Londoner) at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. All are welcome. For more information, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

Thursday, Jan. 17 Tagg Magazine hosts financial planning seminars for LGBTQ women at Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) tonight from 6:30-8:30 p.m. Snacks and beverages will be provided. For more details, visit facebook.com/taggmagazine.

Daybreaker D.C. hosts an early morning dance party and yoga session at Renwick Gallery (1661 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) today from 6-9 a.m. Yoga is from 6-7 a.m. followed by the dance party from 7-9 a.m. There will be free kombucha and breakfast bites. FDVM will play music and Haile Supreme will serve as emcee. Dress code is sparkling white. Tickets for yoga and dance are $35. Tickets just for the dance are $25. For more information, visit daybreaker.com.

This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com

Judy Garland: A Star is Born Thru Jan 26. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

Judy Garland’s career spanned nearly four decades from child celebrity to adult icon. A cast of Signature favorites sings some of her most famous songs including “Over the Rainbow,” “Get Happy” and “The Man That Got Away” along with lesser known gems in a tribute to one of Hollywood’s brightest stars.

danceplace.org.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures: Cinderella. Jan 15-Jan 20. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

ZOFO Jan 13-Jan 14. Dumbarton Oaks. doaks.org.

MUSIC

For their Dumbarton Oaks debut, they will perform pieces by the contemporary composers Terry Riley and Urmas Sisask. They will also perform works by renowned 20th-century composer Samuel Barber, whose complex and lyrical music earned him two Pulitzer Prizes for Music, and early 19th-century composer Franz Schubert, whose music bridged the classical and romantic periods.

Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures: Cinderella Jan 15-Jan 20. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Following the dazzling adaptation of The Red Shoes in 2017, Matthew Bourne’s New Adventures return with one of its most popular and beloved productions, Cinderella—a thrilling twist on the classic fairy tale.

Transforming Cities, Transforming Lives: The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme Thru Mar 29. District Architecture Center. aiadac.com.

The District Architecture Center hosts an exhibition of 27 regeneration projects from nine countries that demonstrate how culture can have a positive impact well beyond conservation. These projects promote good governance, growth of civil society, rise in incomes and economic opportunities, greater respect for human rights, and better stewardship of the environment—even in the poorest and most remote areas of the globe.

Photo Courtesy of Signature Theatre

THEATRE Catch Me If You Can. Thru Jan 20. Arts Barn. gaithersburgmd.gov.

Heathers: The Musical. Jan 11-Jan 26. Dominion Stage at Gunston II. dominionstage.org.

Judy Garland: A Star is Born. Thru Jan 26. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

Kings. Thru Jan 13. Admissions. Jan 16Feb 17. Studio Theatre. studiotheatre.org.

Miss Saigon. Thru Jan 13. Cartography.

Jan 11-Jan 13. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Oh, God. Thru Jan 20. Mosaic Theater

Company at Atlas. mosaictheater.org.

RSC Live: Troilus and Cressida. Jan 14.

Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

School Of Rock - The Musical. Jan 16-Jan 27. National Theatre. thenationaldc.org.

The Enchanted Bookshop. Jan 11-Jan 20. Encore Stage at Gunston Arts Center. encorestage.org.

Visions of Love. Jan 11-Feb 9. Pointless Theatre at Dance Loft. pointlesstheatre.com.

DANCE Contemporary Viewpoints Festival. Jan 12-Jan 13. Dance Place.

From U Street to the Cotton Club.

Thru Jan 20. In Series at Source Theatre. inseries.org.

Johnny Rawls. Jan 11. Potomac Fever and The Rock Creek Singers of The Gay Man’s Chorus. Jan 12. Beth Wood. Jan 17. BlackRock. blackrockcenter.org.

ZOFO. Jan 13-Jan 14. Dumbarton Oaks. doaks.org.

The Verve Pipe. Jan 12. Toots & The Maytals. Jan 16. John Oates with The Good Road Band. Jan 17. Arnaud Sussman, Paul Neubauer, and David Finckel: Chamber Music at The Barns. Jan 11. The Barns at Wolf Trap. wolftrap.org.

WNO: Three New 20-Minute Operas, part of the American Opera Initiative Festival. Jan 12. Taking Up Serpents, a New Hour-Long Opera, part of the American Opera Initiative Festival. Jan 11-Jan 13. Kennedy Center. kennedycenter.org.

MUSEUMS Anderson House. A Revolution in Arms: Weapons in the War for Independence.

Thru Mar 24. societyofthecincinnati.org.

Dumbarton Oaks. Juggling the Middle Ages. Thru Feb 28. doaks.org.

Library of Congress. Baseball Americana.

Thru Jun 29. loc.gov.

National Museum of Women in the Arts. Rodarte. Thru Feb 10. Ambreen Butt—Mark My Words. Thru Apr 14. New York Ave Sculpture Project. Thru Sep 20. nmwa.org.

GALLERIES Del Ray Artisans. Faces Art Exhibit. Thru Jan 27. delrayartisans.org.

District Architecture Center.

Transforming Cities, Transforming Lives: The Aga Khan Historic Cities Programme.

Thru Mar 29. aiadac.com.

Gallery Clarendon. Signs Of The Times National Juried Exhibition. Thru Jan 31. arlingtonartistsalliance.org. gallery neptune & brown. Joseph Keiffer: Traveling Light. Thru Jan 19. galleryneptunebrown.com.

Glen Echo Park. Recovered Memory: New York & Paris 1960-1980. Thru Jan 20. Somewhere Over the Sea: Pottery by Eunkyung Han. Thru Jan 26. Depths of Strength: Cherie M. Redlinger and Klaudia Levin. Thru Jan 27. glenechopark.org.

JCCNV. Listen to Her. Thru Feb 21. jccnv.org.

Korean Cultural Center DC. Tradition Transformed: Bojagi, the Traditional Korean Wrapping Cloth. Jan 11-Feb 22. koreaculturedc.org.

Glen Echo Park. Ingrained: Sculpture and Furniture in Wood. Thru Jan 27. glenechopark.org.

Waverly Street Gallery. Waverly Street Gallery Annual Holiday Gift Show. Thru Feb 2. waverlystreetgallery.com.

Zenith Sculpture Space. Museum Studies II: Honoring the Female Perspective. Thru Jan 19. zenithgallery.com.

AND MORE...

Alliance Française. Galette Des Rois with Maison Kayser. Jan 11. Paris Noir, The African American History of Paris, talk by Tristan Cabello. Jan 17. francedc.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts. Gallery Talk: Rodarte. Jan 16. nmwa. org.

Library of Congress. Gold Diggers of 1933. Jan 17. loc.gov.

Politics and Prose. Joram Piatigorsky The Speed of Dark: A Memoir. Jan 12. politics-prose.com Washington Jewish Film Festival.

Joseph Pulitzer: Voice of the People. Jan 17. At Landmark’s Bethesda Row Cinema. wjff.org.

Hill Center. Pastry Fundamentals with Chef Gérard Pangaud. Jan 12. Kitchen 101: Winter Soups. Jan 15. hillcenterdc.org.

44 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

PRESENTED BY

40 outstanding dealers celebrity guests special events dealer talks jazz night & more

jan. 11–13, 2019 preview night: thursday, january 10

washingtonwintershow.org WWS2019_Blade_9.75x5.625.indd 1

« IMAGE PROVIDED BY TBSCAPES / TAYLOR B. SAUNDERS

friday lecture

bronson van wyck

design panel

whitney robinson

sarah bartholomew

leanne ford

saturday lecture

eddie ross

william allman

12/18/18 3:00 PM

45 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

Actor RAMI MALEK accepts the Golden Globe Sunday night for his performance as Freddie Mercury in ‘Bohemian Rhapsody.’

HFPA screen capture via NBC Broadcast

After Globes, all eyes on Oscar

‘Bohemian Rhapsody,’ ‘The Favourite,’ ‘Boy Erased’ just a few of the year’s best

By JOHN PAUL KING

It’s more than a week into the New Year already, and for movie fans, that means the season is upon us – awards season, that is.

Though some organizations start handing out their prizes in early December, the presentation of the Golden Globes – which took place last Sunday – is the first of the big, glitzy ceremonies we expect from a Hollywood awards show. The telecast of this year’s affair was watched by 18.6 million people, a little down (2 percent) from last year but a much smaller decline in viewership than those experienced by the Oscars and other awards in recent years.

The Globes are a big enough event in their own right, of course, but they are also a signal that the year’s Oscar race has kicked off in earnest. The Globes are considered the first real barometer for which films stand the best chance of grabbing Academy gold, and even though the winners aren’t guaranteed to win an Oscar, too, they are almost assured to be front runners.

The Globes split the categories for most of the big awards – Best Picture, Actor, Actress, etc. – into two divisions, “Drama” and “Musical or Comedy.” This makes handicapping the Oscars a tricky endeavor, since the Academy doesn’t make the same distinction; it means – in the performing categories, anyway – only half the number of nominees make the cut, and it’s happened before that even Globe winners get shut out from the final ballot.

Even so, it’s impossible to resist speculation about what the Golden Globes presage for the Oscars.

This year’s Globes reflected the increase of onscreen LGBT inclusion in 2018 by including what seemed like a record number of nominations for movies with queer narratives and characters.

The surprise winner in the Best Picture Drama category was “Bohemian Rhapsody,” a blockbuster biopic of Freddie Mercury – played by Rami Malek, who also won Best Actor in a Drama – in which the singer’s sexuality is a chief point of focus. The winner for Best Picture, Comedy or Musical was “Green Book,” about the relationship between real-life black musician Don Shirley and his white driver in the segregated South of the early 1960s; Shirley was gay, although the film barely touches on his sexuality, and again the actor who played him –Mahershala Ali – won the Globe in the supporting category.

Another winner, Olivia Colman as Best Actress in a Comedy or Musical for “The Favourite,” also played a queer character.

Besides the three winners, a total of five other performers were nominated for playing LGBT characters in films – and since the Globes also celebrate television, the tally is even higher. For queer roles on the small screen, actors Darren Criss (“The Assassination of Gianni Versace”) and Ben Whishaw (“A Very English Scandal”) won as Best Actor and Supporting Actor, respectively, in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television. Whishaw – the only one of the winners who publicly identifies as LGBT in real life – even dedicated his award to Norman Scott, whom he portrayed in the show, and called him a “queer hero.”

There was also a wide showing in the nonacting categories for LGBT-centric narratives.

On the film side, besides “Rhapsody” and “The Favourite,” others on the slate include “Boy Erased” and “Can You Ever Forgive Me?” In addition, movies like “A Star Is Born” and “Crazy Rich Asians,” both of which were mainstream hits and included queer characters in supporting roles, were heavily represented among the nominations.

In terms of Oscar, this means there are a lot of potential nominees in the running that could allow the Academy to promote and reward inclusion and support for the LGBT community – something for which many will be watching closely, in light of the Kevin Hart controversy – a debacle that may still be ongoing, considering reports that the Academy’s leadership may still be open to reinstating the comedian as this year’s host.

There are good odds that some of these will make the cut. The surest bet

is probably on “The Favourite,” Greek director Yorgos Lanthimos’ bawdy and quirky tale of behind-the-scenes lesbian intrigue in the 18th-century court of Queen Anne. It’s one of the year’s mostlauded films, and with up to 10 slots open in the Best Picture category, it seems certain to earn a nomination there; almost as probable are nods for Best Director and Best Adapted Screenplay, and odds are good it will snag nominations in several technical and design categories, also.

The film’s three stars are likely shooins; two of them, Emma Stone and Rachel Weisz, are former winners and Oscar favorites, and have both been nominated in the Supporting Actress category for most of the major awards so far; as for Olivia Colman, she may be less-well known – at least in the U.S. – than her co-stars, but she has been taking a hefty share of wins for her turn as the childish and petulant Queen Anne. All three actresses will almost certainly be nominated; Stone and Weisz would be competing against each other in the same category, potentially canceling each other out and making a win improbable, but Colman stands a stronger-than-average chance of being named Best Actress – especially after her win at the Golden Globes.

She has heavy competition, however.

“A Star is Born” features the breakthrough screen performance of Lady Gaga, who was an early favorite in the Oscar race – though her loss to Glenn Close’s work in “The Wife” at the Golden Globes, seen by many as an upset, may not bode well for her chances. The Bradley Cooperdirected remake is another almost-sure Best Picture nominee, and will probably get nods for its screenplay, for Cooper (as both director and leading actor), and for Sam Elliott (Best Supporting Actor), as well. Still, with Gaga facing off not only against Colman’s formidable performance but sentimental preference for Close (she’s been nominated six times without winning, and Oscar loves to reward beloved stars who are seen as long-overdue), this film’s (and Gaga’s) easiest shot at a victory is a Best Original Song award for “Shallow.”

The third “big” LGBT title in the running is “Bohemian Rhapsody,” which survived a troubled production history – and accusations of “straight-washing” when early previews seemed to indicate an erasure of Mercury’s queer identity – to earn the biggest box-office take of any LGBT movie to date. While critical response to the film has been mixed, at best, it has proven to be highly popular with audiences, and Malek’s performance as Mercury has garnered nearly universal acclaim. Since he took home a Golden Globe, he could be poised to grab an Oscar as well – though previous winner Christian Bale, who also scored at the Globes for his performance as Dick Cheney in “Vice,” probably has the edge. As for the movie itself, it may snag a few other nominations, including for Best Picture – but even with a Golden Globe win under its belt, a win there is probably a long shot.

Continues at washingtonblade.com

46 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

47 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

Out actor WOOD VAN METER aspires to strong gay plays such as ‘Angels in America.’

Photo courtesy WSG

Ky.native channels home state,family in ‘Gulf View Drive’ Third installment in romantic trilogy reunites actors of first two parts

BY PATRICK FOLLIARD

Typically, D.C. actors rehearse a part for three to four weeks, play the role for a month or so, then bid the character farewell.

But not for Wood Van Meter. Currently the genial but determined out actor is playing southern author Raleigh Brummett in Washington Stage Guild’s “Gulf View Drive,” the company’s final installation of Arlene Hutton’s romantic trilogy.

Van Meter first played Raleigh in trilogy opener “Last Train to Nibroc,” a twohander in which aspiring writer Raleigh and his future wife May (Lexi Langs) meet cute as strangers on a train. Next, he assayed Raleigh as a dissatisfied newlywed in “See Rock City.” Now, in “Gulf View Drive,” he plays a slightly more mature Raleigh who is both attaining professional goals and facing new personal obstacles.

(Washington Stage Guild is presenting pay-what-you-can staged readings of the first two plays in the trilogy “Last Train to Nibroc” and “See Rock City” on Jan. 23 and 30 respectively.)

“It’s been a dream,” says Van Meter, 27. “Raleigh is a straight character with intelligence and integrity. He’s a guy who has a sort of progressive take on masculinity, especially for the era. It’s set in the ’40s and ’50s. Usually when rehearsals begin, initial read-throughs can be notoriously awkward. But not here. It’s like a happy reunion. Lexi and I are good friends and really like working together.”

They also share chemistry onstage.

Van Meter met Raleigh at the perfect time: For a large portion of 2016, Van Meter was performing on a cruise ship.

And though the song and dance gig was fun, toward the end of his contract, Van Meter recalls, he really longed to do a straight play.

At about this time, he learned the Stage Guild was looking for an actor to play a passionate creative type in his early to mid20s. What’s more, much of the trilogy is set in Van Meter’s native Kentucky. It struck Van Meter as a perfect fit. Trilogy director Bill Largesse agreed.

Though Van Meter is probably best known for his 2018 Helen Hayes Awardnominated performance as Joseph in Toby’s Dinner Theatre production of “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat,” his bio is eclectic.

In 2015, he played squeaky-clean, young Mormon missionary in Rep Stage’s production of “The Whale,” out playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s dramedy about Charlie, a 600-pound man who is literally eating himself to death (memorably played by

out actor Michael Russotto). Van Meter describes the run as incredibly gratifying and says he learned more from Russotto about acting in 10 weeks than he learned throughout his entire four years at college.

The son of two doctors, Wood (short for Woodford like the Kentucky bourbon) Van Meter grew up in Lexington, an hour north of small-town Corbin where much of Hotton’s trilogy takes place. For Van Meter, a lot of his Raleigh characterization comes from an uncle who lives in central Kentucky.

“I use his sense of fun and intuitive compassion and his thick accent.”

As a kid, Van Meter studied classical voice but sang country. After high school, he left for Pittsburgh with his parents’ blessings to study musical theater at Point Park University.

“In my junior year, I became a bit lost.

I was too tall (6’4”) to play teenagers and not the leading man type. I’m a baritone that can sing high, but not the kind of young rock tenor that’s so popular today. It was a confusing time but I didn’t give up.”

After graduating, things moved quickly. Van Meter was cast as a swing in the musical “Elmer Gantry” at Signature Theatre. He moved to Washington and has worked consistently as an actor ever since.

Van Meter’s life is nicely organized.

He lives in D.C.’s trendy Bloomingdale neighborhood. When not on stage, he works the front desk at Barry’s Bootcamp, a fitness studio in Dupont Circle. His boyfriend isn’t involved in theater but loves to attend.

Yet, like so many working actors, Van Meter is not yet booked for another show after his current job ends.

His crowded resume boasts some LGBT parts including five months as Tony the gay hairdresser in the Kennedy Center’s longrunning comedy “Shear Madness,” but he aspires to stronger roles.

“I haven’t hit those holy grail gay characters like you find in ‘Angels in America.’ I’d like to do those one day.

And I’m dying to play the gay Streisand employee in the one-man comedy ‘Buyer & Cellar.’ That’s a part I’d love to do.”

‘Gulf View Drive’

Jan. 17-Feb. 10 Washington Stage Guild at The Undercroft Theatre 900 Massachusetts Ave., N.W. $50-60 stageguild.org

48 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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JORGE ALVAREZ (left) and SEAN MALONEY. Photos courtesy the subjects

All Stars: triathletes

LA Times

Local athletes find niche in triathlon community

Ashley Shaw and Andrew Monaghan, photo by Hugo Glendinning

By KEVIN MAJOROS

January 15–20, 2019 Opera House Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540

TriOut Multisport. is the LGBT community group under the DC Tri Club umbrella. This week in the Blade’s All Star series, we spotlight the path of two LGBT athletes who have found their niche in the triathlon community.

Like many triathletes, Sean Maloney has a list of goals. This year, he’ll compete in his third full Ironman triathlon and hopes to one day be selected for the Kona Ironman World Championship through its Ironman Legacy Program.

He also wants to run a full marathon on all seven continents. Even though he’s marking off sports achievements that many people only dream about, he still says he is not athletic.

“I don’t feel any more athletic now than when I started doing triathlons,” Maloney says.

“When I think of athleticism, I think of talent and coordination. I am just a normal guy.”

As a kid in Corning, N.Y., Maloney’s father pushed him to try sports, but none of them stayed with him. He spent two years on the tennis team in high school but says he was more interested in a less rigid sense of masculinity and just being himself.

While attending Binghamton University, he began running at a nearby nature reserve and continued through his graduate work at Syracuse University. After working as a clinical social worker at an LGBT community center in rural Pennsylvania, Maloney moved to D.C. in 2010.

He was only running up to three miles at the time when a spin instructor asked him to run the Annapolis Ten Mile Run. It was his launching pad race and he goes back every year to participate and mark the spot where he got started.

Maloney’s first triathlon was the Carolina Beach Double Sprint in 2014 and there were many lessons along the way.

“I signed up at the YMCA for swim training and couldn’t make it past 12 yards at my first session. When I saw the five-foot swells at the triathlon, I had a panic attack. I didn’t even know how to get past the breakers,” Maloney says. “After I completed the race, the feeling of accomplishment was totally novel to me. It was different and addicting. I did two more triathlons that year including the Cleveland Gay Games.”

Maloney, who works as director of development at Women for Women International, returned to the Gay Games

in Paris last year to run the full marathon.

Coming up he will be doing the Geneva Musselman sprint triathlon with his father and twin sister, and then completing the half Ironman the next day on his own.

“The triathlon community has given me so much. There are built-in training partners that help you cut through the noise,” Maloney says. “I have found my best friend, a sense of community and a sense of self.”

Jorge Alvarez discovered something in the triathlon community that he didn’t know was inside of him: a competitive sports spirit. Growing up in Venezuela and the United Kingdom, there was a small amount of swimming and tennis, but most of his focus was on playing cello.

His music kept him busy, but he put aside time for running and biking while attending Shepherd University. After moving to D.C. in 2013, he began dating a runner, ran a few 5Ks and then went right for a longer distance taking on the Marine Corps Marathon.

“Running long distances was starting to hurt my knees and I ended up splitting from my boyfriend,” Alvarez says. “I was in a dark place and I needed something positive to keep me busy.”

Alvarez started training on his own for a triathlon and completed his first sprint at the Nation’s Triathlon in 2017. He was hooked and joined TriOut Multisport for race and nutrition advice before moving forward to compete in more triathlons.

“My competitive drive kicked in after that first race when I realized that sports were helping me stay out of that dark place,” Alvarez says. “I love all of it — the discipline, the research, the dedication. It fulfills me and makes me happy.”

Alvarez has many things keeping him busy outside of triathlon training. Along with working as an accountant at a nonprofit, he plays cello with NIH Philharmonia, teaches music to youth and has played in Stonewall Kickball.

And like all competitive athletes, he has sports goals.

“I am aiming to complete a half Ironman this year and would like to try and make the elite team with DC Tri,” he says. “I am proud to be dedicated to my racing. If you work really hard, you can get to a better place.”

50 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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51 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

AMY ADAMS and CHRISTIAN BALE as Lynne and Dick Cheney in ‘Vice.’

Photo courtesy Annapurna Pictures

‘Vice’ compelling but ultimately falls short

Dick Cheney satirical biopic explores complicated lesbian family relationship

By BRIAN T. CARNEY Surprisingly, one of the pivotal characters in “Vice,” writer/director Adam McKay’s satiric new biopic about former Vice President Dick Cheney is Mary Cheney, Cheney’s openly lesbian daughter. Although Alison Pill does not get a lot of screen time, McKay cannily uses the character to help shape the audience’s reaction to Dick and the rest of the Cheney family.

After years of working on slapstick comedies with his buddy Will Ferrell (“Talladega Nights,” “The Anchorman”), Adam McKay became a “serious” director with the 2015 release of “The Big Short,” a dark satire about the collapse of the U.S. housing bubble.

One of the reasons for the movie’s success was McKay’s clever use of narrative devices to explain the complex financial transactions that drive the plot. Most notably, celebrities suddenly appear to talk about what’s going on in the movie. Margot Robbie, for example, discusses mortgage-backed securities and subprime loans from the luxurious comfort of her bubble bath.

McKay and Charles Randolph won the Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay for the clever script.

These delightful cameos provided necessary exposition, but also provided comic relief and offered a fresh perspective on the shady deals that were making the financiers rich.

In “Vice,” McKay has an even more ambitious agenda

— to not only examine how Dick Cheney cynically changed the American political landscape but to explore Dick Cheney’s life as a devoted family man.

To expose Cheney’s Machiavellian side, McKay expands on the narrative devices he used in “The Big Short.” In a wonderfully surrealistic restaurant scene, a waiter played by Alfred Molina joyfully explains to Cheney and his giddy colleagues the various shady legal strategies they can use to justify torture and other questionable tactics. In another stunning sequence, Lynne and Dick Cheney suddenly start speaking in Shakespearean blank verse, modern-day versions of the Macbeths plotting their rise to power.

To humanize the deeply conservative Cheney, McKay brings Mary Cheney into play. When a young Mary comes out to her parents, they have very different reactions.

Lynne worries what the political fallout of the situation will be, but Dick unconditionally embraces and supports his daughter.

The theme continues when Cheney and George W. Bush are discussing Cheney’s possible role as vice president. Cheney reminds Bush that he has a lesbian daughter and makes it clear that he will not come out against gay marriage. Bush agrees, and he also agrees to Cheney’s expanded role in running the White House and the country.

Finally, gay marriage again becomes an issue when Liz, the other Cheney daughter, is running for office. She’s behind in the polls and her conservative supporters are encouraging her to come out against gay marriage to bolster her base. With Lynne’s enthusiastic support, Liz does so, creating a dilemma for her father and causing great pain for her sister.

Despite his skillful writing and astute direction, McKay does not fully succeed in his ambitious scheme to both satirize and humanize Dick Cheney. It may be an impossible task.

On the plus side, Alison Pill and Lily Rabe turn in fine performances as Mary and Liz Cheney. They quickly create memorable characters in their few brief scenes, but McKay seems more interested in them as symbols than real people.

This is emphasized by the fact that Mary’s wife Heather Poe-Cheney (Melissa K. Marks) is seen in several scenes, but is never identified and has no lines.

Amy Adams turns in a dazzling performance as Lynne Cheney. She is truly the Lady Macbeth behind Dick’s rise to power. She is charming, ruthless, ambitious and very smart, fueled in fascinating ways by both her deep love for her husband and her profound belief in the ideals that shaped this country.

Steve Carell and Sam Rockwell are also outstanding as Donald Rumsfeld and George W. Bush. Carell is very funny as the cocky defense secretary, but also brings a surprising decency and dignity to the man who starts out as Cheney’s mentor but is tossed aside when he becomes a political liability. Rockwell is both amusing and terrifying as the unwitting pawn in Cheney’s horrible schemes.

Unfortunately, McKay is less successful in his work with Christian Bale as Dick Cheney. Bale, who just won a Golden Globe for his work here, rarely shows what’s going on in the vice president’s heart or mind. It’s not clear if Bale is overplaying Cheney’s unshakable façade or if he’s just buried beneath pounds of make-up and prosthetics, but his performance falls short of the mark.

Likewise, McKay falls short of his fascinating attempt to both satirize and humanize Cheney. It’s hard to humanize a man who seems to have no inner life and it’s probably impossible to mock a monster like Cheney. There is no ironic vantage point to view the terrible events of 9-11 from and it’s hard to find sustained humor or humanity in the man who started the pointless war in Afghanistan and who helped to lay the foundations for the Trump presidency.

There are some great performances and fine moments in “Vice,” but it’s hard to laugh at Dick Cheney for long, even if he loves his lesbian daughter.

52 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

Program C

Tue., Feb. 5 at 7 p.m.

Fri., Feb. 8 at 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 9 at 7:30 p.m.

Thu., Feb. 7 at 7:30 p.m.

Sat., Feb. 9 at 1:30 p.m.

Lazarus (Rennie Harris)*† Revelations (Alvin Ailey)

Program B Wed., Feb. 6 at 7:30 p.m.

Sun., Feb. 10 at 1:30 p.m.

Kairos (Wayne McGregor)* The Call (Ronald K. Brown)* Juba (Robert Battle) Revelations

Timeless Ailey including Revelations

Explore the Arts Feb. 9 at 5:30 p.m.

Free Revelations workshop on the Millennium Stage *D.C. premiere †Kennedy Center co-commission Programming subject to change.

Samantha Figgins and Jeroboam Bozeman, photo by Andrew Eccles

Program A

February 5–10, 2019 Opera House Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540

53 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

The differentiation conundrum

It takes skill to know when to stand your ground against external pressure

© 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: Return of the Jedi

(film with live orchestra) National Symphony Orchestra Steven Reineke, conductor

Music by John Williams Don’t miss the ultimate fan event! Experience the Oscar®winning film on the big screen while the NSO performs John Williams’s iconic score live.

January 22–24 | Concert Hall

Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

The best move you can make for 2019 and beyond: Aspire to live thoughtfully and respond to life in a way that you respect, despite pressure you may feel to think and act in ways that go against your integrity.

Friends, colleagues, employers, family members, and, yes, especially significant others, at times may lean on us to behave in ways that don’t feel good to us. That’s life.

Kindness, generosity, open-mindedness and collaboration are vital to maintaining healthy relationships of all sorts. Aspiring to behave with integrity does not mean doing whatever you want without regard to others. It does mean lining up your thoughts and actions with your self-respect, well-being and sense of what is right, even when others may want something different and especially when you feel pressure to conform.

This concept has a name: differentiation.

And aspiring to take a differentiated stance — holding onto yourself rather than seeking the validation of others — can be challenging.

For example: • Friends at a party urge you to keep drinking though you know you’ve had enough.

• You make a catty comment you don’t feel good about, to get a laugh from your peers.

• Someone pushes you to have sex against your wishes.

• Colleagues laugh at a bigoted remark and you’re afraid not to join in.

• Your spouse wants you to banish a needy friend from your life but you believe that person needs your support.

In addition to pressure from friends, colleagues, family and intimate partners, we also face ongoing pressure from society to conform.

Take coming out. Acknowledging being gay, given societal judgment and pressure to “be” straight, is a brave and difficult move. And even once you do, you still face the expectations of your new community around what it means to be a successful LGBT person.

Across all these situations, the problem isn’t simply that outside pressures can push us to violate our core values. The deeper issue is that we have trouble dealing with the anxiety that comes up in these situations: anxiety about being judged, excluded, rejected or hurt.

We may respond to this anxiety by taking some action we hope will get rid of it or by shifting our focus outward to someone or something we can blame for our feeling bad: You may decide

not to voice an unpopular position to avoid the worry of being criticized. You may yell at your spouse for some behavior of theirs when you are tense over a bad job review. Or you may snap at your aging forgetful parent when their mortality is staring you in the face.

Another way we often respond to this anxiety is by looking to someone else to soothe us. You may insist that your boyfriend tell you everything will be OK in the middle of a fight when he is in no position to do so. When you make such a move, of course, you’re engaging in the dynamic of pressuring someone else to possibly sell themselves out in order to reduce your own discomfort.

None of these behaviors address the real issue: How to keep yourself solid in the face of life’s challenges and uncertainties.

Taking a differentiated stance means that you aspire to handle yourself well when facing tough situations, rather than pushing away the anxiety, running from it or getting someone else to soothe you. You can do this both by learning to tolerate the anxiety and also by finding ways to soothe yourself.

There’s no one easy prescription for learning to manage your own anxiety. The best advice I can offer is to always keep in mind that the better you can tolerate anxiety, calm yourself and behave thoughtfully, the more you will respect yourself and the better your life is likely to proceed in important ways.

Our functioning and our relationships improve when we keep our head on straight in tough situations, when we don’t get pushed into betraying our deepest principles, when we don’t lash out, even when the other person is acting badly and when we can say no when we need to.

Keep in mind that when your integrity guides your behavior, you will at times let others down. Consequently, you will have to tolerate others being disappointed in you. You will also have to acknowledge that you are in some ways very different from those you love. All of this can feel lonely.

And yet, the ability to tolerate disappointment and difference is what allows us to be intimate with others while also being able to stand on our own. This resilience also enables us to tolerate the ups, downs, conflicts, risks and heartbreaks of life.

Wishing you, our country and our planet a happy and healthy 2019.

Groups call (202) 416-8400 For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540

MICHAEL RADKOWSKY

David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of the NSO. AARP is the Presenting Sponsor of the NSO Pops Season.

54 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

“

I love wandering through Smithsonian museums, eating on H Street with friends, and going to shows at Howard Theatre.

I’m a transgender woman and I’m part of DC. Please treat me the way any woman 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.

55 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

BENT ‘Bent,’ a new LGBTQ dance party, was held at the 9:30 Club on Saturday.

Performers included Pussy Noir, Donna Slash and Bombalicious Eklaver.

Washington Blade photos by Tom Hausman

56 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

57 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

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

For more information call 240-380-2678

3050 Military Road NW • Washington, DC www.ircdc.org

701 King Farm Blvd. • Rockville, MD www.inglesidekingfarm.org

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

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 58

Spring market starts earlier than you think

Think it’s too early to sell or buy a house? Think again.

Photo by RaStudio; Courtesy of Bigstock

Post-holidays is a good time to get started

BY JOSEPH HUDSON I remember doing my first open house, EVER. It was in February in Fort Totten.

I was hosting it open for another team at my brokerage, and I went by there on Friday afternoon just to see the house and the neighborhood. The house was nice, clean, staged decently, and in a quiet neighborhood but not too far from a Metro stop. I figured I would have a moderately

busy open house, since it was cold outside.

Well, I woke up on Saturday and it had snowed. I needed to find a shovel somewhere and then get to the open house early to make sure the sidewalk was cleared so I could have guests come in and not make the floor messy, or at the very least not fall and hurt themselves. When I got there a showing was already happening, AND as soon as I finished clearing the sidewalk the open house began and I had people flowing through the door! Spring market usually starts even before the first warm weekend of spring, and more frequently start happening as soon as the holidays are over.

What does this typically mean? Sellers usually benefit from having more buyers in

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 59

the market. Buyers frequently have to get a little more aggressive to get the house that they want. Is that going to happen again this year? There’s no guarantee. A current government shutdown could go on for weeks or months. Amazon wants to start moving people into the D.C. area. How many of these factors will help a seller sell their house quickly? How many of these factors will keep buyers from buying? We will just have to wait and see.

A wise move though, if someone is tired of paying high rent, is to find a Realtor friend and a trusted lender and explore your financing options, should you decide to make 2019 the year to buy. Or, if you are a seller, trust that enough buyers are still out there in the market, and that the spring

is typically the most popular time for buyers to hit the market, so start making a list of maintenance and de-cluttering projects to get your home market ready.

Happy 2019 everyone, and here’s to achieving all your goals in the New Year!

(Joseph Hudson will host a free homebuyer seminar at the Tonic at Quigley’s Pharmacy in Foggy Bottom D.C. on Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 6 p.m. Tickets are available on Eventbrite.)

Joseph Hudson is a Realtor with The Oakley Group at Compass. Reach him at 703-587-0597 or Joseph.hudson@compass.com.

Ready to Own, Ready to Live at National Harbor!

Only 3 remaining for this special!

VA loans with $0 down and all closing costs paid*

Tom Gaffney | Senior Loan Officer NMLS ID #182206

Current Incentives**

703.307.5877

tgaffney@fhmtg.com www.GaffneyLoans.com

• 1 year of Condo fees paid • Washer and dryer level 1 included • 2" faux wood white blinds – excluding the transoms • American Express $2500 gift card included

First Heritage Mortgage, LLC 3201 Jermantown Road, Suite 800 Fairfax, VA 22030 First Heritage Mortgage, LLC | Company NMLS ID #86548 (www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org) This is an advertisement and not a guarantee of lending. Terms and conditions apply. All approvals subject to underwriting guidelines. Prepared: 09/05/2018.

*Closing costs paid when using First Heritage Mortgage and does not include pre-paids. Pricing and terms may change, please speak with Loan Officer.

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 60

** not valid on previous contracts and must settle on or before 12/31/18.

MHBR #6755

Potomac Overlook Brownstones from the $600's 503 Halliard Lane, National Harbor, MD 20745 sales@integrityhmw.com | (703) 955-1187

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PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

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EMPLOYMENT

MASSAGE Rosslyn – Massage low key spot near Rosslyn, Sun-Tues, spa in DC, Thurs-Sat. Call or text Gary 301-7041158, mymassagebygary.com.

COUNSELING COUNSELING FOR GAY MEN. Individual/couple counseling w/ volunteer peer counselor. Gay Men’s Counseling Community since 1973. 202-580-8861. gaymenscounseling.org. No fees, donation requested.

WHOLISTIC SERVICES, INC. Seeking Full Time Direct Support Professionals to assist intellectually disabled adults with behavioral health complexities in group homes & day services throughout D.C. Requirements: Valid Driver’s License, able to lift 50-75 lbs., complete training program, become Med Certified within 6 months of hire, pass security background check. (Associates degree preferred) For more information please contact Human Resources @ 301-392-2500.

LOCKER ROOM ATTENDANTS NEEDED! The Crew Club, a gay men’s naturist gym & sauna, is now hiring Locker Room Attendants.

We all scrub toilets & do heavy cleaning. You must be physically able to handle the work & have a great attitude doing it. No drunks/ druggies need apply. Please call David at (202) 319-1333. from 9-5pm, to schedule an interview.

LEGAL SERVICES ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY legal services.

Jennifer represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters. 240-863- 2441, JFairfax@jenniferfairfax.com.

FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM Representing the GLBT community for over 35 years.

Family adoptions, estate planning, immigration, employment. (301) 891-2200. Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.SP-Law. com.

LIMOUSINES KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987.

Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. 2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan. Properly Licensed & Livery Insured in DC. www.KasperLivery.com.

Phone 202-554-2471.

TELL ‘EM YOU saw their ad in the Blade classifieds!

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Results-Oriented • Affordable

Larry Cohen, LICSW

30 years serving the LGBT community

202-244-0903 socialanxietyhelp.com

See website for NPR story on my work

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

DAVE LLOYD & ASSOCIATES Top 1% Nationwide NVAR Life Member Top Producder

703-593-3204

WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET ENTHUSIASTICALLY SERVING DC & VIRGINIA

JA NUARY 11, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 61

All Classified Ads - Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received

By Mondays at 5PM So They Can Be Included in That Week’s Edition of Washington Blade and washingtonblade.com

PHOTOGRAPHY STEVE O’TOOLE PHOTOGRAPHY Fine Art Photographer for Portraits & Weddings & more!

Check out my website - www. steveotoolephotography.com.

Specializing in Bears & Big men.

Steve 703-861-4422.

CLEANING FERNANDO’S CLEANING: Residential & Commercial Cleaning, Reasonable Rates, Free Estimates, Routine, 1-Time, Move-In/Move-Out. (202) 234-7050, 202-486-6183.

PLUMBERS DIAL A PLUMBER, LLC - FULL SERVICE PLUMBER

JUST SAY: I NEED A PLUMBER! Bathroom Sinks, Tubs, Vanities, Kitchen Sinks, Disposals, Boilers & Furnaces, Hot Water Heaters, Drain Service! 202-251-1479. Licensed, Bonded & Insured. DC Plumbers License #707. Visa, MasterCard, American Express accepted.

MOVERS AROUND TOWN MOVERS. Professional Moving & Storage. Let Our Movers Do The Heavy Lifting.

Mention the ‘Blade’ for 5% off of our regular rates. Call today 202.734.3080. www. aroundtownmovers.com

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RENT / MD Playmates and soul mates...

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TAKOMA PARK APT: $1350/ month incl utilities, wifi, cable, phone, ADT with private entrance. Newly renovated, fully furnished, equipped kitchen, w/d, near public transportation. Quiet home on Sligo Creek Park in notoriously progressive, LGBTQ-friendly community.

Email: vickilynnferguson@ yahoo.com

SHARE / DC

BODYWORK

Permanent Supportive Housing Alcohol and Drug free housing $400 per month.

Private room, shared common area. NW DC. Contact Don (202) 375-0067.

THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue.

Appts 202-486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

Washington:

202-448-0824

18+ MegaMates.com

62 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9

$4,700,000

518 CLIFTON FARM RD BERRYVILLE, VA 22611 5BR/4.5BA The Clifton Farm Estate boasts 400+ acres of land in a bucolic setting. George Washington was known to ride over from Mt. Vernon on many occasions to visit his cousin Warner Washington at this estate. Includes original ice house, outdoor kitchen. Can be utilized as horse/cattle farm. Perimeter fully fenced. 20+ acres are wooded.

Stunning stone guest house, outbuildings & barns w/ gorgeous views!

Scott Buzzelli | 540.454.1399 Peter Pejacsevich | 540.270.3835

10 East Washington Street • P.O. Box 485 • Middleburg, VA 20118 Office 540.687.6321 Fax 540.687.3966 middleburgrealestate.com 63 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • JAN UARY 1 1 , 2 0 1 9