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Cuts to Medicare Drug Coverage Will Put Patient Health at Risk.

New insurance rules come between doctors and patients Millions of people with serious diseases like cancer, epilepsy, mental health conditions and HIV are being targeted for insurance company cuts to their Medicare drug coverage.

A one-size-fits-all approach could deny patients access to the individualized therapies they depend on.

And these new Medicare rules will only lower costs 0.01% over ten years, while today’s treatments are saving taxpayers many billions more by helping patients live healthier lives.

Government restrictions on the therapies a doctor can prescribe will put patient health at risk.

Call the White House at 202-456-1111. Protect Medicare Drug Coverage.

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M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 03

2/8/19 6:08 PM

VOLUME 50 ISSUE 09 ADDRESS

PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE

Dissonance Dance Theatre performs ‘Fluid’ at the Atlas Performing Arts Center on Sunday, March 3. Full Spring Arts coverage begins on Page 32

06

Looking back:

23

Cannabis Culture

50 years of the Blade

24

Health

08

Comings & Goings

27

Viewpoint

10

Jury begins deliberations

32

Kicking back with Karamo

in D.C. trans murder case

34

Queery: Anthony Oakes

2019 Va. legislative session

38

Spring Arts

disappoints activists

58

Robyn performs sold-out show at the Anthem

60

Arts & Culture

62

Pop-and-pop business

63

A League of Her Own

67

The power of paint color

68

Classifieds

12 14

Polis on his experience as an out gay governor

16

D.C. churches wrestle with Methodist decision to uphold gay ban

18

Sen. Harris calls Trump a racist

20

Gay man joins Vatican clergy sex abuse summit

202-747-2077 E-MAIL news@washblade.com INTERNET washingtonblade.com PUBLISHED BY Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. PUBLISHER LYNNE J. BROWN lbrown@washblade.com ext. 8075 EDITORIAL EDITOR KEVIN NAFF knaff@washblade.com ext. 8088 FEATURES EDITOR JOEY DIGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com ext. 8081 SR. NEWS REPORTER LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com ext. 8079 NEWS REPORTER CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com ext. 8083 REPORTER & INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com POP CULTURE REPORTER MARIAH COOPER PHOTO EDITOR MICHAEL KEY mkey@washblade.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PETER ROSENSTEIN, MARK LEE, LATEEFAH WILLIAMS, KATE CLINTON, KATHI WOLFE, RICHARD J. ROSENDALL, ERNESTO VALLE, NICOLÁS LEVY, FELIPE ALFACE, YARIEL VALDÉS, LYNARE ROBBINS, RACHAEL ESPINET, KATLEGO K. KOL-KES, VICTOR MAUNG NEWS INTERN JAMES WELLEMEYER CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION AZERCREATIVE.COM SALES & ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING STEPHEN RUTGERS srutgers@washblade.com ext. 8077 SR. ACCT. EXECUTIVE BRIAN PITTS bpitts@washblade.com ext. 8089 ACCT. EXECUTIVE JOE HICKLING jhickling@washblade.com ext. 8094 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH prockstroh@washblade.com ext. 8092 NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863; sales@rivendellmedia.com For distribution, contact Lynne Brown at 202-747-2077, ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC All material in the Washington Blade is protected by federal copyright law and may not be reproduced without the written consent of the Washington Blade. The sexual orientation of advertisers, photographers, writers and cartoonists published herein is neither inferred nor implied. The appearance of names or pictorial representation does not necessarily indicate the sexual orientation of that person or persons. Although the Washington Blade is supported by many fine advertisers, we cannot accept responsibility for claims made by advertisers. Unsolicited editorial material is accepted by the Washington Blade, but the paper cannot take responsibility for its return.

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Police crackdown in Black Forest major concern in ’74 The Blade continues its 50th anniversary series looking back through our archives with this front-page article from the March 1, 1974 edition about a spike in arrests for “oral sodomy, indecent acts and indecent gestures” in Black Forest, an area along the canal in Georgetown and the southern part of Rock Creek Woods.

On the occasion of our 50th anniversary year, the Blade is looking for couples to profile who met via Blade classified ads and are still together.

If interested, please contact Features Editor Joey DiGuglielmo at joeyd@washblade.com or 202-731-0829.

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Comings & Goings Jennings wins prestigious award for work with LGBT youth

By PETER ROSENSTEIN The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community.

We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: comingsandgoings@washblade.com.

Congratulations to Kevin Jennings who received the Bob Angelo Medal from the COC KEVIN JENNINGS Netherlands, known as the oldest still operating LGBTI organization in the world. The Bob Angelo Medal was established in 1991 to honor individuals, groups or organizations that contributed in an extraordinary way to the emancipation of lesbians, homosexual men, bisexual, transgender and intersex people (LGBTI). Among the previous winners are Council of Europe Commissioner of Human Rights Thomas Hammarberg (Sweden) and the South African imam Mushin Hendricks.

DANIEL FINKEL COC chair Astrid Oosenbrug presented the award during COC’s annual True Colors event in the sold out Paradiso venue in Amsterdam. Astrid said, “This award is presented to Kevin Jennings for his outstanding contribution to the improvement of the position of LGBTI youth in schools around the globe.”

“I was honored to receive the Bob Angelo medal from COC-Netherlands, the world’s oldest LGBTI rights organization,” Jennings said. “‘Bob Angelo’ was the code name used during the Second World War by Niek Engelschman, a Dutch resistance leader who founded the COC in 1946. I was humbled to receive an award in the name of such a brave and visionary leader who stood up for our community when the courage it took to do so was breathtaking.”

In 1988, Jennings established the world’s first Gender & Sexuality Alliance (GSA). It is thanks to the Gay and Lesbian School Education Network (GLSEN) that GSAs were set up in thousands of schools in the United States and worldwide. In the Netherlands there are now GSAs in about 80 percent of all high schools.

In 1994, Jennings was part of the founding committee for LGBT History Month, and also that year published the first book on the subject for young people (“Becoming Visible”). In 1997, a documentary he wrote and produced on LGBT history for young people, “Out of the Past,” won the Sundance Film Festival Audience Award for Best Documentary and in 2017 he was the executive producer for “The Lavender Scare,” a documentary detailing the 1950s witch hunts for LGBT federal employees. From 2012-2017, he worked as executive director of the Arcus Foundation, a leading international funder of LGBT human rights work. Prior to that, he served as the Assistant Deputy Secretary for Safe & Drug-Free Schools under President Obama.

Jennings is currently president of the Tenement Museum in New York City. He has published seven books and holds degrees from Harvard, Columbia and NYU. Congratulations also to Daniel Finkel the new vice president of Booking Experience and Supplier Strategy at TripActions. Ariel Cohen, co-founder and CEO of TripActions, said the company strives to make the lives of business travelers better by delivering a world-class experience. “We are thrilled to have Daniel join us to lead this effort and be part of the team that is focused on building an amazing experience for travelers,” Cohen said.

“I am truly excited to help continue TripActions’ journey of finding the optimal balance between customer experience, supplier differentiation and technology innovations,” said Finkel.

In his new role, Finkel will be responsible for scaling up the company’s shopping capabilities as well as expanding the depth and diversity of its content.

He will also lead the company’s growing supplier relations team.

Finkel spent the past seven years at Expedia Group leading strategy and business development efforts.

Prior to joining Expedia he held a leadership role at SRA International.

Acevero working to ensure values reflected in Md. budget Groundbreaking lawmaker on his first session in office

By JAMES WELLEMEYER

Gabriel Acevero made history on Nov. 6, 2018, when he became the first openly gay man of Afro-Latino descent elected to the Maryland General Assembly. He took office on Jan. 9, the first day of this year’s legislative session and now represents House District 39.

Acevero told the Washington Blade in February 2018 he was running to “expand opportunity.”

One year later, his priorities have not shifted, and he is particularly focused on LGBTQ issues.

A labor organizer for the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and a long-time campaigner for marriage equality in Maryland, Acevero is no stranger to politics, but he says there’s something different about serving in the legislature.

“I’m excited that I’m a part of the decisionmaking process and I’m in the rooms where policies and programs that impact Marylanders, and more specifically LGBTQ Marylanders, are made,” Acevero told the Blade in a phone interview on Sunday.

He says his work with the UFCW and his previous LGBT activism have informed the approach he takes to his position in Annapolis.

“The LGBTQ community is a community that is economically oppressed,” Acevero said. “One of the most important conduits for workplace change and community change is unions … Being a union organizer and working to change the material conditions of workers in the workplace to now being able to legislate and strengthen collective bargaining laws at the state level is exciting.”

Acevero is a member of the House Appropriations Committee and the LGBTQ Caucus in the Maryland House.

He says his priority in the Appropriations Committee is to “ensure that our morals, our values and our priorities as a community and as a state are reflected in our state’s budget.” In practice, that means making certain that a significant portion of funding for the Ending Youth Homeless Act of 2018 in Maryland is allocated to homeless LGBT youth, who make up 40

percent of homeless minors nationally.

Acevero also recently introduced a bill that would lay the groundwork for universal basic income in the state. The bill would establish the Maryland People’s Fund, which would collect revenue from the tax on the sale of medical marijuana and eventually redistribute that money to state residents.

“It’s a form of social security, and it is one of the most transformative policies that we can enact at the state and federal level to put a dent in extreme poverty,” Acevero said.

He cited Alaska as an example of a state that has used a universal basic income to reduce income inequality for years.

“Alaska has had universal basic income since the 70s.” said Acevero.

As a member of the LGBTQ Caucus, Acevero is pushing legislation that would update state ID laws to allow for gender self-identification and a gender-neutral option on driver’s licenses.

“This is a critical issue for our trans and gender non-conforming siblings because that is one of the barriers to economic mobility, ensuring that you are recognized by the state and by your employers as the individual that you identify as and with the preferred pronouns,” Acevero said.

He is also working with the caucus to expand access to PrEP for HIV prevention among LGBT youth.

“We’re working on legislation this session that would allow for minors to get information about as well as access to PrEP,” Acevero said. “We are ensuring that they’re being sexually healthy.”

Beyond HIV prevention, Acevero is hoping to increase police accountability and reduce police violence — which remains an LGBT issue, he says.

“Police violence is one of the issues that I believe impacts not just communities of color but the LGBTQ community as well,” Acevero said. “Marsha P. Johnson used to fight the police in New York City. Our movement started when our community was tired of the police violence and mistreatment [we] were facing.”

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2/20/2019 10:11:08 AM

Jury begins deliberations in D.C. trans murder case Judge dismisses hate crime designation in Dee Dee Dodds’ 2016 slaying

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

A D.C. jury began deliberations this week in the murder of DEENIQUIA ‘DEE DEE’ DODDS. Photo via Facebook

A D.C. Superior Court jury began deliberations on Tuesday in the monthlong trial of two men charged with the July 4, 2016 shooting death of transgender woman Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds on a Northeast D.C. street near her home.

The deliberations began one week after Judge Milton C. Lee issued a controversial decision to dismiss the hate crime designation for first-degree murder and four other charges against defendants Jolonta Little, 28, and Monte Johnson, 23, who prosecutors say targeted Dodds because of her status as a transgender woman.

In a development that has raised concern among LGBT activists, Lee’s decision to dismiss the hate crime “enhancement” designations came in response to a request by both prosecutors and the defense attorneys.

But despite the removal of the hate crime designation, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Saunders and Ahmed Baset, the lead prosecutors in the case, argued that defendants Johnson and Little along with two other men conspired to target female transgender sex workers for armed street robberies in the early morning hours of July 4, 2016. They said Dodds was among those they targeted.

Without mentioning the words “hate crime” Saunders in his closing arguments said the defendants believed trans women would be “easy targets” for robberies and chose to go to sections of the city known for where trans sex workers congregate to carry out robberies.

Shortly before jurors were called back to the courtroom to hear the completion of the lawyers’ closing arguments on Tuesday, Lee issued another controversial decision – this time to allow the trial to continue following a dramatic disclosure by prosecutors one day earlier. In an email to

the defense and the judge, the head of the U.S. Attorney’s division handling murder cases disclosed that prosecutor Saunders spoke to a colleague at the U.S. Attorney’s Office about the prosecution of a case involving the son of one of the jurors.

Defense attorneys called Saunders’ action a possible act of jury tampering because he reportedly asked the prosecutor working on the case of the juror’s son about the possibility of probation rather than a prison sentence and possibly mentioning this to the juror. The defense attorneys argued that the juror, a woman, could have perceived the action as favorable to her son and prompted her to push for a verdict of guilty in the Dodds case in support of the prosecutors.

Assistant U.S. Attorney David Gorman, Saunders’ boss and the head of the U.S. Attorney’s Homicide Section, argued that there was no evidence that the development would impact the juror or the jury as a whole because there was no evidence that any juror knew about it. He said Saunders’ action did not constitute jury tampering.

Lee declined to act on the defense attorney’s request that the entire case be dismissed over Saunders’ actions. But he said he would consider holding a post-trial fact-finding hearing to determine whether Saunders acted improperly.

Following the discussion over the jury matter and Lee’s ruling, which occurred while the jury was outside the courtroom, the lawyers resumed the closing arguments they began on Monday.

Among the hot topics of the closing arguments on both sides was the role of the other two men involved in the robberies of trans women who were implicated in the Dodds murder. The two are Shareem Hall, 25, and his brother, Cyheme Hall, 23. Both men pleaded guilty to a charge of second-degree murder in connection with Dodds’ murder and agreed to become government witnesses at the trial.

Cyheme Hall testified that it was Johnson who fatally shot Dodds in the neck after she fought back when he and Johnson attacked her with guns drawn and demanded her money as she was walking home on Division Avenue, N.E. He told the jury that after Dodds fell to the sidewalk bleeding, the two grabbed her purse and cell phone and ran away before being picked up by Little and Shareem Hall, who had remained in Little’s car. Cyheme Hall testified that the group discovered the purse was empty.

“The plan was to just rob a person,” the Washington Post quoted Cyheme Hall as telling the jury. “I was in shock. He shot a person for nothing,” the Post quoted Hall

as saying in referring to Johnson, who he identified as the one who fatally shot Dodds.

Defense attorney Brandi Harden, who represents Little, and Kevin Irving, who represents Johnson, told the jury the Hall brothers should be considered untrustworthy, unreliable, and habitual liars interested only in getting off with a more lenient sentence. The defense attorneys accused the Halls of falsely blaming their clients for the Dodds murder to gain the favor of prosecutors, who have the power to recommend a lenient sentence for them.

Prosecutors Saunders and Baset disputed those claims in their opening and closing arguments, saying the Hall brothers admitted they committed second-degree murder knowing they face a considerable sentence sometime later this year. All four men charged in the case have been held without bond since the time of their arrests.

Saunders reminded the jury in his rebuttal argument on Tuesday that prosecutors presented corroborating evidence, including corroborating witnesses linking Johnson and Little to the Dodds murder and a string of armed robberies of at least seven trans women, including Dodds on the night of the murder.

Among the key corroborating evidence, Saunders noted, was a GPS ankle bracelet that Little wore on the night of the murder as part of a conviction and probation he received in an unrelated criminal case. The tracking of Little’s whereabouts that night by GPS experts placed him at the scene of each of the three robberies the men were charged with committing, including the scene where Dodds was shot, at the exact time those incidents occurred.

Prosecutors and police also tracked the cell phone conversations between Little and Johnson and the Halls that they say placed them at the scene of the robberies and shooting.

In addition, Saunders pointed to recorded phone conversations that the government obtained of Johnson talking with his girlfriend while in prison in which prosecutors say he admitted committing the murder.

Defense attorneys Harden and Irving disputed the reliability of the GPS and cell phone evidence, saying the government was relying on the testimony of the Hall brothers to prove its case, even though the two attorneys said the Halls should be considered unreliable and completely biased toward prosecutors.

“What lie are you going to believe?”

Irving asked jurors in his closing argument, noting that both Halls have admitted they lied when they testified before a grand jury prior to the trial, committing perjury.

Similar to defense attorney Harden, he

disputed the reliability of the GPS tracking information presented by prosecutors. He said there were no finger prints on the gun police said was the murder weapon and no video to show his client, Monte Johnson, was present where Dodds was shot.

Irving also noted that one of two eyewitnesses who saw the shooting but didn’t have a clear view of the shooter’s face testified that one of the two men at the scene of the shooting wore his hair in dreadlocks.

Yet neither Johnson nor Cyheme Hall had dreads at that time, Irving said.

Noting that the case presented by prosecutors is riddled with doubt, Irving and Harden told jurors that they are required under the law for criminal trials to find someone not guilty if they have “reasonable doubt” on any aspect of the case.

“If you cannot say you are firmly convinced because you are seeing all these lies, you must find not guilty,” he said.

Shortly after their arrests Little and Johnson were charged with 16 criminal offenses in connection with the Dodds murder and the armed robberies of at least six other trans women on the night of Dodds’ murder.

The charges include felony first-degree murder while armed, two counts of robbery while armed, conspiracy, and assault with a dangerous weapon. Prosecutors charged Little and Johnson with 11 other offenses related to Dodds’ murder that were not designated as hate crimes, including possession of a firearm in the commission of a crime of violence and assault to commit robbery while armed.

William Miller, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, declined to say why one of the prosecutors asked the judge to dismiss the hate crimes designations for Johnson’s offenses, saying his office has a policy of not commenting on specific details for trials in progress.

Defense attorney Harden moved to have the hate crime designations dismissed for Little, saying the government lacked evidence that her client targeted or had animus toward transgender people. Harden also argued that a hate crime designation would create prejudice against her client in the eyes of the jury.

In handing down his decision to dismiss the hate crime designations, Lee said he too believed there was insufficient evidence to support the designations.

The D.C. hate crimes statute calls for designating an underlying offense such as murder, assault, or robbery with a hate crime “enhancement,” which can result in a more severe sentence if the individual charged is convicted.

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2019 Va. legislative session disappoints activists

or gender identity. Ebbin claimed “talk therapy is a big part of the problem” and said he didn’t believe a ban on only the physical aspects of conversion therapy would put much of dent in the practice.

Soon after the defeat of the legislation, the Virginia Board of Counseling voted to issue guidance that will ban licensed counselors from engaging in any sort of conversion therapy. The board became the second state board under the state Department of Health Professions to push back on conversion therapy after the Board of Psychology commenced a similar effort a month prior.

This is an election year in Virginia, with

all seats in the state Senate and the House up for grabs.

Ebbin and Parrish are hoping the election brings a change in leadership in the House.

“We will be spending nine months doing everything we can to make sure there is new leadership in the House of Delegates in 2020,” Parrish told the Blade.

“I’m more motivated than ever for this campaign season and to change up the makeup of the House,” Ebbin added. “And I think that we won’t be able to get our bills to the governor’s desk until then.”

JAMES WELLEMEYER

Loudoun schools ban anti-LGBT discrimination

Del. DANICA ROEM praised a bill that would make the state’s surrogacy laws gender-neutral.

But other advocates were disappointed that other non-discrimination measures didn’t advance.

Washington blade photo by Michael Key

The Virginia General Assembly’s 2019 session that ended on Feb. 24 has left many LGBT rights advocates disappointed.

Equality Virginia, the Human Rights Campaign and other LGBT groups had hoped 2019 would be the year the Virginia House of Delegates would pass laws barring discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in housing and public employment.

For a fourth year, bills prohibiting such discrimination passed in the Virginia Senate with record support. The housing bill went forward on a 13-1 vote, and the public employment legislation passed with an 11-3 vote.

“Seeing the housing bill come out yesterday with the support of everyone except [state Sen. Dick Black] shows good momentum that people on both sides of the aisle understand that these protections are necessary,” Equality Virginia Executive Director James Parrish said at the time of the vote.

Recent polling indicates more than half of Virginia Republican voters favored the bills.

This statistic made many activists hope the House would pass the pieces of legislation.

To bolster conservative support further, Equality Virginia enlisted state Del. Roxanne Robinson (R-Midlothian) to sponsor one of the House bills and launched a campaign titled Virginia Beach for Fairness in one of the most conservative areas of the state.

In the lead-up to the 2019 legislative session, the campaign sent postcards from Virginia residents to House Speaker Kirk Cox (R-Colonial Heights). Equality Virginia hoped the stories of individuals who have faced discrimination due to their LGBT identity would convince Republican politicians that anti-discrimination laws are necessary.

The pieces of legislation did initially make it past the House Rules Committee.

But the campaign ultimately failed as Republicans removed the bills from the House General Laws Committee’s docket, killing the pieces of legislation.

“We had such a strong hand this year that they wouldn’t give the bills a hearing, which has never happened in the 11 years that I have been in front of the general assembly with our non-discrimination legislation,” Parrish told the Washington Blade on Tuesday during a telephone interview.

Soon after the bills failed, Equality Virginia announced its intention to continue pushing for the legislation in the future despite the loss. “We lost this one but make no mistake ... we will keep fighting for the community and we won’t stop,” the organization tweeted.

Beyond the defeat of the nondiscrimination bills, some pro-LGBT legislation and policies did see success.

The House and state Senate passed a bill that will make the state’s surrogacy laws gender neutral, removing the words “husband” and “wife” from the existing legislation and allowing an unmarried individual to be an “intended parent.”

Danica Roem, the only transgender member of the General Assembly, wrote that the bill will make it “easier for LGBTQ parents to have kids.”

“I’m grateful that the General Assembly took steps to update existing laws to recognize all the families that exist in Virginia,” Parrish said.

State Sen. Adam Ebbin (D-Alexandria), the only openly gay state senator in Virginia, led an effort to kill a bill that would have banned the physical aspects of conversion therapy while keeping socalled “talk therapy” legal for minors.

Ebbin said an estimated 350,000 LGBT people in the U.S. have undergone some sort of therapy to change their sexual orientation

The Loudoun County School Board on Tuesday voted to add sexual orientation and gender identity to its equal opportunity policy.

The motion, which passed by a 5-4 vote margin, will prohibit anti-LGBT discrimination among faculty, staff, and students in the school system. Loudoun County, which has the third largest school district in Virginia, joins school districts in D.C., Maryland and Alexandria, Arlington and Fairfax County, along with other areas of Virginia in covering sexual orientation and gender identity in its equal opportunity policy.

Two years ago, a similar motion for LGBT protections failed in Loudoun County on a 4-5 vote. Since then, a shift in the makeup of the school board has occurred, allowing for the protections to pass on Tuesday.

The vote took place at a public hearing in the school board’s auditorium.

Hundreds of Loudoun County residents attended the hearing, and 80 people spoke at the event.

Charlotte McConnell and Amber Beichler were among the speakers.

A community organizer for Equality Loudoun, McConnell has been advocating for school-wide LGBT protections since Brenda Sheridan first proposed the policy in 2016. McConnell and other Equality Loudoun members have regularly attended school board meetings over the past three years to speak in favor of the policy.

Amber Beichler, another community organizer for Equality Loudoun and a former student in the Loudoun County Public Schools, worked at the school district as a substitute teacher from 2015 until 2017.

In 2016, she decided she wanted to apply for a full-time position in the school district. At the same time, she chose to be open about her gender identity and begin her transition.

Beichler’s colleagues in the Loudoun County Public Schools advised her to seek work elsewhere, citing a conservative and potentially hostile environment in the school district.

“Whenever I had brought it up with some people who worked in the county, I was dissuaded,” Beichler told the Washington Blade. “I was told that the school system is conservative and it would be difficult to be able to transition.”

Beichler took a job outside of education but felt disappointed.

“I grew up in a family of educators, all in Loudoun County,” she said. “Not being able to work under the same umbrella as the rest of my family was disheartening.”

Beichler hopes the new policy will begin to establish a more inclusive environment in Loudoun County Public Schools.

U.S. Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-Va.), whose district includes Loudoun County, tweeted her approval of last night’s vote in favor of the LGBT protections.

“To our LGBT students and staff — you are seen, you are supported, and you are now protected in our schools,” she wrote.

State Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas), who is the first openly transgender person elected to the Virginia General Assembly, also voiced her support for the new policy.

“In Northern Virginia, we welcome you because of who you are, not despite it,” Danica tweeted “It’s a shame it wasn’t unanimous,” McConnell told the Blade after the vote.

McConnell says her next steps include “working to replace those who voted no” and “educating [the county].”

“We need to make sure that we protect the LGBTQ staff and that we train everyone in the school on what is accepted and not accepted when we’re discussing these kinds of topics,” she said.

JAMES WELLEMEYER

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Polis on his experience as an out gay governor Colo. exec seeks to ban ‘conversion therapy,’ abandon Electoral College

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Gov. JARED POLIS of Colorado was in town for a meeting of the National Governors Association.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Seven weeks after his inauguration on Jan. 8, Jared Polis is already seeing progress in his new job as governor of Colorado. A teacher’s strike in Denver is resolved and legislation is heading to his desk aimed at shifting toward a winner in presidential elections based on the popular vote.

The first openly gay person inaugurated governor also awaits two pieces of proLGBT legislation advanced in the Colorado House, but still pending in the Senate: a ban on widely discredited “ex-gay” conversion therapy for youth and a birth certificate bill easing the process by which transgender people can change their gender marker.

Polis talked about his experience — including the role of his spouse, Marlon Reis, the first-ever spouse of a governor in a same-sex relationship — during an interview Sunday with the Washington Blade as he sipped on a Red Bull. The Colorado governor was in town for a meeting of the National Governors Association.

The Blade’s complete Q&A with Polis follows — including his thoughts on Jussie Smollett and 2020 candidates.

Washington Blade: Has anything unexpected occurred as result of being the first openly gay person inaugurated as governor?

Jared Polis: In terms of the unexpected, Denver’s had a teachers’ strike…things like that hit, and the job of governor really has nothing to do with your orientation or identity.

It’s just you always expect the unexpected, like you’re always worried about fires in Colorado, [working] with the legislature on some historic progress, including equality.

We’re looking forward to hopefully banning conversion therapy for minors essentially in our state.

BLADE: What was going through your head during the inauguration?

POLIS: It’s a blur. It was just crazy to be there and have thousands of people with my partner Marlon and our family.

Really, I was looking forward to being

done with it because I just was looking forward to doing the job. I was not really comfortable with the ceremonial aspects of it.

But I wanted to put together a thoughtful ceremony. We had people from multiple faith traditions. We had a Sikh blessing, a Native American blessing, we had a Christian minister and Rabbi. We had the gay men’s choir kick it off. We wanted to do a thoughtful, inclusive ceremony.

I set the theme as “Colorado for All” to highlight how our state welcomes and includes everybody regardless of where you live, who you love, who you are, your ethnicity or your race, your gender, so that’s kind of what we wanted to celebrate.

BLADE: I’m not terribly familiar with how Colorado handles the office of first spouse — POLIS: So, yeah, Marlon is first gentleman. His cause is animal welfare.

He’s going to be hosting a pet adoption at the governor’s mansion in the next few weeks. He’s going to be advocating for animals as well as other causes near to his heart, like equality, and other causes.

BLADE: Is there anything different in handling the office of first spouse? After all, Marlon is the first first spouse of a governor in a same-sex marriage.

POLIS: He’s attending the spouse track at NGA and the other spouses, Republican and Democrat, are all very welcoming and warm to him.

A lot of them are just figuring it out, too. They’re all of a sudden first spouses, right, of first-time governors? They have to figure it out on their own in their own way.

And there’s no model. I mean, some of them do literally zero with their spouse. Others are full-time with a different cause. Many of them are kind of in between managing a career or being a homemaker along with some causes.

So, that’s what the spouse track here is kind of all about. They’re just kind of figuring how to do it and what to focus on.

And Marlon is ahead of many of them in already identifying his cause and already putting together, you know, some events around it.

BLADE: Let’s talk about LGBT policy.

You mentioned the legislative ban on conversion therapy. There’s also the birth certificate legislation easing the process so transgender people can change their gender marker. What’s your expectation for timing for when those would become law?

POLIS: When they reach my desk, they’ll become law. So, you know, it’s the legislature and I don’t know when they’ll be considered by the other chamber and pass, but they’ll become law when they reach my desk.

And I’ve signed a few bills so far, which is pretty cool just to think that’s the final act, and then I sign it and all of sudden it’s the law of Colorado. It was different than as a congressman. You vote on something and then maybe vote on it again.

I attended some signing ceremonies with President Obama, but now to be on the other end, and seeing this act of signing it makes it law is pretty cool.

BLADE: What would be the significance of those two bills in particular becoming law?

POLIS: It’ll be exciting and they’re the result of years of hard work. We have a strong equality advocacy organization called One Colorado in Colorado. We have many LGBT members of our legislature, including our first transgender legislator, Brianna Titone.

And so, this’ll be really getting it across the finish line after years and years of work from advocates in our state.

BLADE: One other bill that’s coming to your desk soon is the bill that would throw the electoral votes in Colorado to the popular vote winner in presidential elections under certain circumstances.

You’ve indicated you support that. Can you talk a little about that?

POLIS: When I was in Congress, I supported moving to popular vote for election for president. I believe in one person, one vote. I think the Electoral College is an undemocratic relic that potentially could cause a constitutional crisis, and was nearly done twice in the last two decades.

BLADE: I think critics of the proposal would say that if you’re giving up this process for the popular vote, then Colorado will have to give up its nine points in the Electoral College and presidential candidates won’t go to Colorado and make campaign promises.

What would you say to that?

POLIS: It means that every vote counts in Colorado, right? It means that even if our state is leaning Democrat, every vote counts because they all go into the national total.

So I think it’s particularly important for people who believe in states that lean in one way or the other. And our state’s competitive, of course. But it’s nice to know that even if the Democrat is winning, then all the Republican votes won’t just be thrown away.

BLADE: I also want to ask you about the Equality Act. I know you’ve been away from Congress, but are you hearing anything from Congress about it?

POLIS: No. I’m hopeful that it will be brought to the floor, hopefully this summer.

It’ll be an historic occasion. Hopefully, the House has the opportunity to pass the Equality Act. BLADE: What makes you say this summer?

Polis: What are we in now? March? So, I guess it could be spring. As soon as they have time on the floor of the House, I’m confident they’ll bring it to the floor in the coming months.

BLADE: Let’s get to some stories in the news. One high-profile story is the case of Jussie Smollet. When you heard about the story as it unfolded, what was your reaction?

POLIS: I haven’t been following it that closely because you know I’ve been following what I have to do as governor.

I mean, I see the headlines, but I haven’t read all the articles in detail.

I have to focus on Colorado, and we’re focused on our agenda of free full-day kindergarten, renewable energy, saving people money on health care and tax reform.

BLADE: You must be aware that he’s accused of having faked a hate crime against him. Do you have any reaction to that?

POLIS: It’s hard to figure out what his motive would have been. He probably needs some kind of help to work through whatever issues he has and I’m sure he’ll likely be facing criminal charges. If he did fake it, then he deserves to be convicted.

BLADE: The Trump administration, for all its anti-LGBT policy, last week unveiled a new initiative to decriminalize homosexuality in the 71 countries where it’s illegal. Does the Trump administration deserve credit for this?

POLIS: Didn’t the president seem not to acknowledge it?

BLADE: He seemed unaware of it when asked about it.

POLIS: It’s long been the position of the American government under Republicans and Democrats that homosexuality shouldn’t be illegal. I think we’ve had differences on marriage rights, which President Trump has said he supports traditional marriage and not same-sex marriage.

But, yes, Republicans and Democrats in our country agree that it should not be illegal to be gay.

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D.C. churches wrestle with Methodist decision to uphold gay ban Some fear schism, while others hope for judicial solution

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM Methodist churches in D.C. are weighing their next steps in the wake of their denomination’s decision to uphold its ban on gay clergy and same-sex marriages — and while the possibility of leaving the United Methodist Church is part of the discussion, at least one pastor says schism won’t happen.

Donna Claycomb Sokol, pastor of Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church, said the General Conference’s decision during a special session in St. Louis to tighten anti-gay restrictions is a “complete heartbreak.”

“I serve a congregation with a large number of LGBTQIA individuals, and while our church is an incredibly different expression of much of what was said or took place over the last few days in St. Louis…the General Conference is known as the only body that can officially speak for the denomination, and so to have a body that is charged with that task speaking brutal fatal into a congregation like ours is devastating and heartbreaking,” Sokol said.

Rev. Ginger Gaines-Cirelli, senior pastor at the Foundry United Methodist Church, said the anti-LGBT rejection brought “outrage, heartbreak and disappointment.”

“Part of me was not surprised because we knew we were fighting an uphill battle against a well-funded, well-oiled machine that has been seeking to disrupt and find a way to tighten the grip in control of LGBTQIA people and their allies for many, many years,” Gaines-Cirelli added.

At the special session this week in St. Louis for the United Methodist Church, 864 half lay, half clergy delegates from all over the world met to discuss and act on the report of the Commission On A Way Forward, which sought to reevaluate the church’s position on sexuality.

An initial plan before delegates sought to ease the church’s policy with respect to gay clergy and let local church bodies decide individual policies. The proposal, however, was voted down 449-374.

Delegates then took up a competing measure known as the “Traditional Plan,” which sought to go the other direction and tighten enforcement of the LGBT bans, encouraging Methodists who disagree to leave the church. It won majority support in a preliminary a 438-384 vote and now heads to the Judicial Council for ratification.

According to the Associated Press, the Traditional Plan succeeded as result of an alliance of conservatives from both the United States and abroad. An estimated 43 percent of the delegates are from overseas, mostly from Africa, and overwhelmingly support the anti-gay policy.

The United Methodist Church is America’s second largest Protestant denomination and

boasts 12.7 million members, 7 million of which are in the United States.

Sokol said the “complexities” the general conference, such as the mixture of U.S. members and those overseas, contributed to the affirmation of the Traditional Plan.

Two-thirds of U.S. delegates voted against the Traditional Plan, according to pro-LGBT pastors in the church, and would have eased restrictions for LGBT members.

Nothing passed at the special session would take effect until January 2020.

“The complexities are incredibly hard to interpret,” Sokol said. “And so, you’re left with an incredibly devastating headline that will take decades to reverse and to unravel.”

Gaines-Cirelli, however, said the Methodist church is “not in schism” and was confident the Judicial Council would determine based on its prior rulings the Traditional Plan is unconstitutional.

“The Traditional Plan came into the General Conference so full of holes, it was crazy,” Gaines-Cirelli said. “The Judicial Council had already done a full review of it, and found… maybe 40 percent of the legislation was deemed unconstitutional. They brought the legislation in, still put it before the body and we were able to keep the amendments from being made that would make it constitutional.

They were trying to kind of fix it. We were able to block a lot of that. And so, what got passed is still largely unconstitutional and we voted to refer it back to Judicial Council, so it’s really important for people to understand that.”

In recent years, the Methodist Church’s policies have resulted in hardship for its members and the perception the church is fostering anti-LGBT animus.

In 2017, for example, the Methodist Church rescinded the appointment of out lesbian Bishop Karen Oliveto, pastor of the San Francisco-based Gilde Memorial United Methodist Church. The South Central Jurisdiction of the Church had challenged Oliveto’s appointment.

But individual parishes, including many in D.C., have bucked the anti-LGBT policy, drawing on a concept LGBT supporter Bishop Melvin Talbert coined in 2012 called “Biblical Disobedience.”

LGBT pastors have delivered sermons at local churches, where same-sex marriages are ordained and recognized. (Transgender people are not barred from ordination on the basis of gender identity in the United Methodist Church and an attempt to ban such ordinations failed in 2008, according to the Human Rights Campaign.)

Jay Brown, the Human Rights Campaign Foundation’s acting senior vice president,

spoke out in a statement against the Methodist Church’s decision to uphold its anti-gay ban.

“Countless LGBTQ Methodists, including young people and their families, are yearning for a welcoming church family,” Brown said.

“Unfortunately, today the United Methodist Church decided against taking meaningful steps that would include LGBTQ Methodists fully in the life of the church.”

Brown, however, was hopeful for members of the church, referencing the work of the Reconciling Ministries Network, which strives for greater LGBT inclusion in the Methodist denomination.

“Despite this decision, it’s clear that LGBTQ Methodists and allies will continue to push for inclusion — not in spite of their faith, but because of it,” Brown said.

The decision of the Methodist Church stands in contrast to the approach to LGBT people under other Christian denominations.

The Episcopal and Presbyterian denominations, for example, have recently loosened their language to allow same-sex marriages and have admitted gay clergy. The Catholic faith, however, still bans recognition of same-sex unions and chastity is required for priests.

Bishop Ken Carter, president of the Council of Bishops for the United Methodist Church, said in a statement following the vote in favor of the “Traditional Plan” the Church continues to be welcoming.

“We continue to teach and believe that all persons are welcomed in the church, all persons are persons of sacred worth and we welcome all to receive the ministry of Jesus,” Carter said. “Human sexuality is a topic on which people of faith have differing views.

Despite our differences, we will continue to work together to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world and share God’s love with all people.”

Gaines-Cirelli said she “absolutely” expects the Judicial Council to rule against the Traditional Plan. Although she said some parts may be deemed constitutional, she added “when you take out the stuff that’s unconstitutional, I’m not sure what you’re really left with.”

Gaines-Cirelli said “Foundry’s not going anywhere” and “will continue to practice sacred resistance, radical hospitality, inclusion and marriage equality.”

“I will continue to do weddings, as I’ve been doing, and we’ll welcome people in the fullness of their beautiful created nature,” Gaines-Cirelli added.

Within many local communities and congregations, the reaction was intense against the anti-gay policy. In New York City, protesters gathered at America’s Center to protest the decision by singing.

Police were called at around 6 p.m., although there were no reports of arrests.

Sokol said on Wednesday morning, she received a phone call from people who’ve indicated they’d no longer give financially to the Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church as a result of the anti-LGBT decision. Sokol also predicted “significant heartache” during an upcoming meeting of an LGBT small group.

“There’s a whole lot of pastoral care work to be done in ways that I don’t think people can even imagine, and pastors, many of us, are barely holding on at the same time, and doing our very best to show up for people while we’re just as heartbroken,” Sokol said.

Leaders within the United Methodist Church supportive of gay clergy and same-sex marriage have called for another meeting of pastors and leaders to gather to evaluate the next steps. Departure is on the table, but the potential results of this discussion aren’t yet clear.

Sokol predicted “a new expression of Methodism” would emerge. Although the results are uncertain and many observers are wondering if departures will take place, Sokol expressed solidarity and said the Methodist theology “is second to none.”

“It is based upon grace and mercy and our interpretation of scripture is never to simply rest on scripture alone,” Sokol said. “It’s scripture, tradition, reason and experience, and I have great hope that something new is going to come out of this.”

The new framework for this expression, Sokol said, would take some time to emerge that would be “longer than three days, which is how long it took for Jesus to be resurrected.”

“The folks who were for the Traditional Plan have already awakened a whole other group of people who are eager to be part of the conversation,” Sokol said. “And so, it’s going to take a whole lot longer than three days, but it’s going to happen.”

Sokol said her expectation for Mount Vernon Place United Methodist Church is “we will be as deeply faithful as possibly can be, that we will seek to be the widest possible expression of God’s love and light that we can be.”

“It doesn’t mean necessarily leaving the United Methodist Church,” Sokol said. “When I say new expression, it doesn’t mean that, but something new is going to come out of the death and destruction that happened.”

Gaines-Cirelli said Foundry has “no intention of going anywhere” when asked if the church would remain in the Methodist denomination.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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All anti-trans bills die in S. Dakota Legislature

Sen. KAMALA HARRIS told The Root that President Trump is a racist.

Washington blade photo by Karen Ocamb

Sen. Harris calls Trump a racist With Donald Trump’s long history of racial remarks, it’s a question his 2020 presidential challengers can expect to get during their campaigns: is President Trump a racist? On Feb. 26, Sen. Kamala Harris, the popular Californian running for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2020, said yes.

“When you talk about him calling African-American countries s-hole countries.

When you talk about him referring to immigrants as rapists and murderers, I don’t think you can reach any other conclusion,” Harris told The Root.

The Root: “So you definitely would agree that he’s a racist?”

Harris: “I do yes, yes.”

Gov. Gavin Newsom agrees. Last year he took to Facebook to call Trump out for disparaging migrants from Africa, Central America and the Caribbean. “Why do we want all these people from shithole countries?” Trump said in the Oval Office, adding that he welcomed immigrants from countries like Norway.

“You’re a joke and a racist, President Donald J. Trump. Resign,” Newsom wrote.

Recently, Newsom endorsed Harris in her presidential race and joined Rep. Barbara Lee and civil rights icon Dolores Huerta as California Co-Chairs for Harris’s campaign. Other California congressional representatives who back Harris include out bisexual Katie Hill, Ted Lieu, and Nanette Barragan.

Harris also picked up 21 members of the California State Senate Democratic Caucus, including Senate Pro Tem Toni Atkins and two other members of the California LGBT Legislative Caucus, Sens. Cathleen Galgiani and Scott Wiener on Feb. 7.

“While serving California, she has defended civil rights and stood up to the forces that would divide us or take us backwards,” Atkins said in a statement. “As San Francisco District Attorney, Attorney General of California, and United States Senator, she has been a strong proponent of criminal justice reforms, protecting homeowners and immigrant communities, and strengthening the middle class.

As President, I know she will continue to prioritize the needs of all the people.”

“My campaign is about returning power to the people in this country, and these leaders represent California’s diversity and reflect the broad commitment we share to move our state and our nation forward,” Harris said. “This level of support from my home state of California makes me so proud, and I am honored to have them fighting beside me.”

The California primary is slated for March 3, 2020.

KAREN OCAMB

All four anti-transgender bills introduced this year in the South Dakota legislature are now dead in the aftermath of the defeat Tuesday in the state House of a bill that would have placed restrictions on transgender athletes.

The legislation, House Bill 1225, sought to make the gender marker on a birth certificate the sole determinant of a student’s gender identity for the purposes of participating in high school sports.

The vote in the Republican-controlled chamber was tied 34-34, which means the legislation would be rejected for this legislative session.

The legislation died after the American Civil Liberties Union published as a full-page ad in the South Dakota Argus Leader a petition signed by more than 200 athletes, coaches and administrators in favor of transgender athletes.

HB 1225 was the fourth anti-trans bill to die in the South Dakota Legislature.

Another bill was House Bill 1108, a “Don’t Say Trans” measure that would have banned K-7 teachers from teaching about gender dysphoria. Although the House approved the legislation, it died last week in Senate committee.

Other bills sought to limit transgender participation in sports and transgender kids’ access to transition-related care.

The bills were four of 78 anti-LGBT bills and 18 bills that were specifically antitransgender pending in state legislatures throughout the country this legislative session, according to the Equality Federation. South Dakota initially led the way with this anti-trans legislation after the state House approved the “Don’t Say Trans” bill, but that is no longer the case with the defeat of all anti-trans bills in the legislature.

CHRIS JOHNSON

Gay dads win citizenship for twins A federal judge in Los Angeles ruled last week that the United States State Department was wrong to deny citizenship to the twin son of a gay married couple. U.S. District Judge John F. Walter wrote in his ruling that 2-year-old Ethan Dvash-Banks, “has been an American citizen since birth.”

The State Department had only conferred citizenship status to his twin brother Aiden.

The Dvash-Banks case, was one of two filed in Los Angeles and Washington, by the LGBTQ Legal Advocacy group Immigration Equality. A spokesperson for

Immigration Equality told the Blade that “the children of a U.S. citizen who marries abroad are entitled to U.S. citizenship at birth no matter where they are born and even if the other parent is a foreigner.”

“This is justice! We are hopeful that no other family will ever have to go through this again. It’s like a giant rock has been removed from our hearts,” Andrew and Elad Dvash-Banks said in a statement provided by their attorney.

NBC News reported that the suit in the California case was filed by the twin’s married fathers, Andrew and Elad DvashBanks, sought citizenship for Ethan, that his brother Aiden has a citizen.

Each boy was conceived with donor eggs and the sperm from a different father — one an American, the other an Israeli citizen — but born by the same surrogate mother minutes apart.

The government had only granted citizenship to Aiden, who DNA tests showed was the biological son of Andrew, a U.S. citizen. Ethan was conceived from the sperm of Elad Dvash-Banks, an Israeli citizen.

According to the Associated Press, Andrew Dvash-Banks was studying in Israel when he met his future husband, Elad, an Israeli citizen. Because they couldn’t marry at the time in the U.S. or in Israel, they moved to Canada, where they wed in 2010. The children were born by a surrogate in September 2016.

Everything seemed fine until the couple brought the twins to the American consulate in Toronto a few months later to apply for citizenship and a State Department Consular official began asking probing questions that the couple described as “shocking and humiliating.”

The consular official told them she had discretion to require a DNA test to show who the biological father was of each boy and without those tests neither son would get citizenship. The men knew that Andrew was Aiden’s biological father and Elad was Ethan’s but they had kept it a secret and hadn’t planned on telling anyone.

After submitting the DNA test results that proved who fathered each boy, the couple received a large and small envelope from the U.S. on March 2. The big one included Aiden’s passport. The other was a letter notifying Andrew that Ethan’s application had been denied.

The family has since moved to Los Angeles to be closer to Andrew DvashBanks’ family.

Aaron Morris, executive director of Immigration Equality said the U.S. State Department is discriminating against same-sex bi-national couples by denying their children citizenship at birth.

In his written ruling Thursday Judge Walter noted, […] “that the State Department statute does not contain language “requiring a ‘blood relationship between the person and the father’ in order for citizenship to be acquired at birth.”

(Reporting by The Associated Press, NBC News, and the Los Angeles Blade)

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M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 19

Gay man joins Vatican clergy sex abuse summit A gay man from Chile who was sexually abused by a notorious pedophile priest participated in a summit on clergy sex abuse that took place at the Vatican last week.

Juan Carlos Cruz told the Blade on Monday during a telephone interview from Philadelphia that he and a dozen other survivors of clergy sex abuse met with bishops before the 4-day summit began at the Vatican on Feb. 21.

“It was positive because it was a very constructive dialogue, but at the same time (it was) painful and difficult and good,” he said. “It was all kind of things.”

Cruz told the Blade he was also asked to record a video for Pope Francis and the bishops from around the world who traveled to Rome. The video was shown at the beginning of the summit.

“You are the doctors of souls and yet, … you have become, in some cases, the killers of souls, the killers of faith,” said Cruz in the video, according to La Nación, an Argentine newspaper that covered the summit.

Fernando Karadima, who has been defrocked, sexually abused Cruz and hundreds of other people over three decades at Parroquia Sagrado Corazón de Jesús, a parish in a wealthy neighborhood in the Chilean capital of Santiago.

Cruz and two other men who Karadima abused — José Murillo and James Hamilton — in a 2013 lawsuit accused Cardinal Ricardo Ezzati, the archbishop of Santiago and his predecessor, Cardinal Francisco Javier Errázuriz, and the Archdiocese of Santiago of covering up the abuse.

Errázuriz and Ezzati conspired to block Cruz from being named to a sex abuse commission that Francis created. Cruz in a previous interview with the Blade said Errázuriz dismissed his allegations against Karadima, noting he is “gay and he liked it.”

Francis in January 2018 sparked widespread outrage during his trip to Chile when he publicly defended Rev. Juan Barros, a Karadima protége who was the then-bishop of the city of Osorno, and dismissed allegations that he witnessed the abuse and covered it up. Francis faced additional criticism over his assertion that he did not know about the allegations against Barros.

“As a Catholic, the first thing that I thought was I am going to go to the Holy Mother Church, where they are going to listen and they are going to respect me,” said Cruz in his video, according to La Nación. “The first thing that they did was treat me as though I was a liar, turn their backs on me and say that I and others were enemies of the church.”

Francis last May met with Cruz, Murillo and Hamilton at the Vatican.

Francis subsequently asked for the resignations of all of the 31 bishops who were active in the Chilean Catholic church after he met with Cruz, Murillo and Hamilton. Francis accepted Barros’ resignation last June.

Chilean Bishop Luis Fernando Ramos attended the summit. Cruz told the Blade that Bishop Santiago Silva, president of the Chilean Episcopal Conference, did not travel to Rome because he remains under investigation over the church’s cover-up of clergy sex abuse in the South American country.

“He was there, but he didn’t want to meet with me, nor did I,” Cruz told the Blade, referring to Ramos. “He’s not any benefit to Chile in terms of helping survivors.”

The Associated Press reported Francis at the end of the summit acknowledged “people’s justified anger” over clergy sex abuse.

“The church sees the reflection of the wrath of God, betrayed and insulted by these deceitful consecrated persons,” he said.

The summit began four days after the Vatican announced former Cardinal Theodore McCarrick, who was the archbishop of Washington from 2001-2006, had been defrocked after he was found guilty of sexual abuse. An Australian court on Tuesday announced the conviction of Cardinal George Pell, the Vatican’s economic minister who was a close advisor to Francis, on charges he sexually abused two choirboys in the 1990s.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

ARIANA GRANDE is scheduled to headline this summer’s Manchester Pride in England.

Photo courtesy Republic

Ariana Grande to headline Manchester Pride Ariana Grande is scheduled to headline Manchester Pride in England later this year.

The event will take place from Aug. 23-26. Manchester Pride CEO Mark Fletcher on Monday in a statement said his organization is “truly honored to be welcoming Ariana back to the city to help us celebrate LGBT+ life.”

“I’m so thrilled to be headlining pride,” said Grande in a tweet.

A suicide bomber killed 22 people and injured more than 100 others when he blew himself up at Manchester Arena after a Grande concert on May 22, 2017.

Grande hosted a benefit concert in the city less than two weeks later.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Cubans approve new constitution Cuban voters on Sunday overwhelmingly approved the draft of their country’s new constitution.

Maykel González Vivero, co-founder of Tremenda Nota, an independent online magazine that is the Blade’s media partner on the Communist island, reported 86.85 percent of Cubans who participated in Sunday’s referendum voted for the new constitution. Official results indicate 9 percent of voters voted against it, but

González reported this figure may be higher because of abstentions or ballots that were either left blank or thrown out.

Independent LGBTI rights advocates in Cuba sharply criticized the government’s decision in December to remove an amendment from the draft constitution that would have extended marriage rights to same-sex couples in Cuba. The issue also sparked a rare public debate in the country, with evangelical church groups highlighting their opposition to nuptials for gays and lesbians.

Francisco Rodríguez Cruz, a gay Cuban blogger who supports Mariela Castro, the daughter of former Cuban President Raúl Castro who spearheads LGBTI issues as director of the National Center for Sexual Education, on Monday wrote the new constitution “backs the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people in a specific way.” Rodríguez in his blog points to three amendments that “expressly prohibits and punishes under law discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity”, recognizes “the right of all people to form a family and protects all families” and defines marriage not as the “union between a man and a woman” but rather as “a social and legal institution.”

Mariela Castro and her supporters have said they plan to push for changes to Cuba’s Family Code that would extend marriage rights to same-sex couples.

“The new constitution is the result of more than a decade of citizen and institutional activism in support of the sexual rights of LGBTI people,” wrote Rodríguez on his blog.

Those who publicly campaigned against the new constitution argued it will not improve Cuba’s economy or overall human rights record.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

20 • WA S HI N GTONB L A DE.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9 • IN T ER N AT IO N AL N EW S

Historic 7000 sq. ft. commercial building, circa 1895, and Award winning Florist (Designs by Teresa) For sale on Main St in Olde Town Warrenton, Virginia Building was totally renovated in 2010, and now includes 2 car garage with two additional parking spaces, Fabulous Owners apartment suite with 2 large bedrooms, formal living room with fireplace and door to Brick Terrace for entertaining, room for 10+. Upscale kitchen, dining area, and large owners bathroom. A second two bedroom apartment, for residential or offices. The renovations were done according to the rules and regulations set by the Architectural Review board of the Old Town Warrenton.

Walk the brick sidewalk to dining, banking, post office and many eateries. The florist is highly successful and voted the Best in the Area for over 10 straight years.

Offered at $1,600,000

See all the photos and video, go to Long and Foster, listing #VAFQ145340.

Charlie Ebbets Long and Foster, Warrenton, VA 540-341-3547 charles.ebbets@LNF.com

M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 21

2 2 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

Cannabis Culture

Cannabis not associated with changes in morphology Lawmakers have sent two bills to Gov. RALPH NORTHAM’s desk expanding access to medical cannabis.

Washington blade photo by Michael Key

Va. lawmakers pass bills expanding medical cannabis access RICHMOND, Va. — Legislation is heading to the Governor’s desk to expand patients’ access to medical cannabis products.

Senate Bill 1557 expands the pool of health professionals who can approve cannabis therapy to include nurse practitioners and physician assistants. It also permits qualifying patients access to a broader spectrum of products containing both plant-derived CBD and THC. Lawmakers in both chambers unanimously passed the bill.

Senate Bill 1719 facilitates greater patient access to cannabis products by permitting “registered agents” or caregivers to pick up or receive deliveries. The measure also passed unanimously in both chambers.

Under the state’s access law, medical professionals may recommend plant-derived cannabis extracts to those patients for whom they believe will benefit from them.

Wis. guv calls for overhaul of marijuana laws MADISON, Wis. — Democratic Gov. Tony Evers has publicly announced his support for amending the state’s marijuana laws in a manner that would permit its medical access and decriminalize its recreational use.

Speaking last week at a press conference outlining the state’s budget, the governor said that Wisconsin should join the other 33 states that regulate medical cannabis access. He also called for decriminalizing marijuana possession offenses (involving up to 25 grams) and expunging past marijuana-related convictions. The governor opined that police often make marijuana arrests in a racially disproportionate manner. Historically, African Americans are arrested for marijuana possession crimes in Wisconsin at approximately sixtimes the rates of whites.

Under existing state law, the possession of marijuana is classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to six-months in jail, a $1,000 fine, and a criminal record.

H E A LT H • MAR CH 01, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE . COM • 23

Cannabis exposure is not associated with significant changes in brain morphology in either older or younger subjects, according to a pair of newly published studies.

Commenting on the two studies, NORML Deputy Director Paul Armentano said: “These findings dispute the long-standing ‘stoner-stupid’ stereotype and should help to assuage fears that cannabis’ acute effects on neurocognitive behavior may persist long after drug ingestion, or that cannabis exposure is associated with any sort of significant changes in brain morphology.”

In the first study, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine compared brain scans of occasional (one to two times per week) and frequent (more than three times per week) marijuana consumers versus nonusers. Subjects were between 14 and 22 years of age.

Investigators reported: “There were no significant differences by cannabis group in global or regional brain volumes, cortical thickness, or gray matter density, and no significant group by age interactions were found. Follow-up analyses indicated that values of structural neuroimaging measures by cannabis group were similar across regions, and any differences among groups were likely of a small magnitude.”

They concluded, “In sum, structural brain metrics were largely similar among adolescent and young adult cannabis users and nonusers.”

The findings appear in the journal Neuropsychopharmacology.

In the second study, researchers from the University of Colorado at Boulder compared magnetic resonance imaging scans in 28 cannabis users over the age of 60 versus matched controls. Cannabis consumers, on average, had used marijuana weekly for 24 years.

Authors reported that long-term cannabis exposure “does not have a widespread impact on overall cortical volumes while controlling for age, despite over two decades of regular cannabis use on average.

This is in contrast to the large, widespread effects of alcohol on cortical volumes) that might be expected to negatively impact cognitive performance.” Researchers also reported “no significant differences between groups” with regard to cognitive performance.

They concluded: “The current study was able to explore cannabis use in a novel older adult population that has seen recent dramatic increases in cannabis use while controlling for likely confounding variables (e.g., alcohol use). The participants in this study were generally healthy and highly educated, and it is in this context that cannabis use showed limited effects on brain structural measures or cognitive performance.”

The findings appear in the journal Psychiatry Research: Neuroimaging.

The studies’ conclusions are similar to those of prior trials similarly finding no significant long-term changes in brain structure attributable to cannabis exposure.

(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.)

March 15–August 18

A groundbreaking exhibition highlighting nearly 60 artists who grappled with a war that forever changed America.

TIFFANY CHUNG March 15–September 2

Tiffany Chung probes the legacies of the Vietnam War and its aftermath through maps, paintings, and videos that share the stories of former Vietnamese refugees.

8th and G Streets, NW | Free | Open Daily 11:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.

AmericanArt.si.edu | #atSAAM Martha Rosler, Red Stripe Kitchen, from the series House Beautiful: Bringing the War Home (detail), ca. 1967–72, photomontage, Art Institute of Chicago, through prior gift of Adeline Yates; exhibition copy provided by Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York. © Martha Rosler; Image courtesy of the artist and Mitchell-Innes & Nash, New York Tiffany Chung, Operation Lam Sơn 719, 30 Jan–6 April 1971, 2018, acrylic, ink, and oil on vellum and paper. Courtesy the artist and Tyler Rollins Fine Art, New York. © 2018 Tiffany Chung

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Anti-gay classroom law has staying power in Ariz.

PHOENIX — Efforts to overturn an Arizona law that limits who teachers can talk to about LGBT issues in health classes appear unlikely to pass, NPR reports.

Arizona is one of seven states with LGBT curriculum laws according to GLSEN. Arizona’s is the only one that bans “promoting a homosexual lifestyle,” University of Utah law professor Clifford Rosky told NPR. “This is not about gay sex,” Rosky said.

“This is literally about whether it’s OK to be gay and to talk about people who are gay.”

The Arizona law controls HIV/AIDS instruction in public schools. It bans teachers in those courses from portraying “homosexuality as a positive alternative lifestyle” or suggesting there are safe ways to have homosexual sex.

Like many of the other state laws, Arizona’s was created in the throes of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, and after a 1986 recommendation from the U.S. surgeon general that HIV/AIDS education start at an early age.

Lawmakers in Arizona initially resisted that recommendation, but that changed in 1991.

“Rather than opposing it, they began to say, ‘Well, if we’re going to teach teenagers about HIV, then we have to make sure that we’re not teaching them how to be gay or how to have gay sex or things like that,’” Rosky said.

While Arizona’s law is limited to HIV/ AIDS education, in practice it’s applied more broadly, sometimes to sex education.

Several districts in Arizona have tried to reform their sex education policies, separately from HIV/AIDS education, to be more inclusive of LGBT students.

Every year since 2016, Arizona Sen. Martín Quezada has tried to change the HIV/ AIDS education law to be more inclusive.

His bill would strike the law’s current restrictions around discussing homosexual relationships.

This week, the state’s Republican leadership once again declined to advance Quezada’s bill. Sen. Sylvia Allen, who chairs the committee where the bill could be heard, did not return NPR’s request for comment.

But in a 2016 Senate discussion about the proposed changes, Allen said, “We have to also have respect for people who are sending their children to school just wanting their children to get educated and

not indoctrinated or taught something that is contrary to maybe what they believe and what they want for their children.”

Then-Sen. John Kavanagh, also a Republican, said, “I don’t think my tax dollars or any tax dollars should be paying to promote the homosexual lifestyle.”

Lesbian, bi U.K. women more likely to be obese LONDON — Lesbian and bi women are at increased risk of being overweight or obese compared to straight women, according to new research from the University of East Anglia and UCL, MedicalXPress reports.

Gay men however are less likely to be overweight than their straight counterparts and more at risk of being underweight.

The study, published this week in the Journal of Public Health, is the first to investigate the relationship between sexual orientation and body mass index (BMI) using population data in the U.K. The findings support the argument that sexual identity should be considered as a social determinant of health.

The research team pooled data from 12 U.K. national health surveys involving 93,429 participants and studied the relationship between sexual orientation and BMI. Lead researcher Dr. Joanna Semlyen, from UEA’s Norwich Medical School, said, “We found that women who identify as lesbian or bisexual are at an increased risk of being overweight or obese, compared to heterosexual women. This is worrying because being overweight and obese are known risk factors for a number of conditions including coronary heart disease, stroke, cancer and early death.”

As for the underweight men, there’s growing evidence that being underweight is linked to a range of health problems too, including excess deaths, Semlyen said, according to MedicalXPress.

“We also found that gay men are significantly less likely than straight men to be overweight or obese,” she said.

There are a number of possible explanations for these findings. It is known that sexual minority groups are more likely to be exposed to psychosocial stressors, which impacts on their mental health and their health behaviours such as smoking and alcohol use and which may influence their health behaviours such as diet or physical activity, Semlyen said, according to MedicalXPress.

24 • WA S HI NGTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9 • H EALT H N EW S

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EXCLUSIVE PRESALE ACCESS, WAIVED SERVICE FEES, complimentary valet, invitations to special events & MORE! MAR 1

MAR 2

MAR 3

MAR 3

MAR 4

MAR 5

MAR 6

Suttle

Aztec Two-Step ft. Rex Fowler & Friends in the wine garden

w/ jumpin’ jupiter

shinyribs

Zelula Tributo Caifanes, El Cruce Los Prisioneros Tribute

Christopher Cross

The Tossers

in the wine garden

Take Me As I Am Tour 2019

w/ Gallows Bound in the Wine Garden

Cheryl Pepsii Riley

MAR 7

MAR 8

MAR 8

MAR 9

MAR 9

MAR 10

MAR 11

MAR 12

MAR 13

The Fred Eaglesmith Show starring tif ginn

Eminence Ensemble

Arrested Development

damn the torpedoes

The Ultimate Fleetwood Mac Tribute

MAR 6

MAR 7

LOW TICKET ALERT!

The Accidentals Angela Johnson in the Wine Garden & Darien Dean

LOW TICKET ALERT! in the wine garden

Album Release w/ special guest Tiger Party in the wine garden

MAR 14

MAR 14

Dwele:

Everyday People Tour 2019 (2 shows!)

Ivory & Cream Tour (2 shows!)

MAR 15

MAR 15

a tribute to tom petty in the wine garden

Jason Eady Acoustic

David Keenan

in the wine garden

in the wine garden

Sirius Co. FT. Ms Kim & Scooby

MAR 16

MAR 17

MAR 17

MAR 18

TUSK

MAR 20 Luther Dickinson, Amy Helm and Birds of Chicago present

Sisters of the Strawberry Moon

Crystal Bowersox

Wylder, Strong Water, Eli Lev & The Fortunes Found in the wine garden

MAR 20

MAR 22

LOW TICKET ALERT!

LOW TICKET ALERT!

“A Celebration of Rory Gallagher feat. Davy Knowles, Gerry McAvoy, Ted McKenna”

bela dona

Idan Raichel

The Mundial Band: Maná vs.

Hombres G

Rare Essence

MAR 22

MAR 23

MAR 24

MAR 24

Band of Friends

in the wine garden

Scott H. Biram, The God Damn Gallows in the wine garden

Luther Dickinson, Amy Helm, Birds of Chicago present the Sisters of the Strawberry Moon

MAR 25

MAR 25

MAR 26 LutherDickinson.com / NewWestRecords.com

Briclyn Ent. Presents

crush your craft ft. eric roberson in the wine garden

MAR 27

Mr. Gone!

Anders Osborne Solo

The Currys CD release

The Weight Band

Emmanuel Withers

MAR 31

MAR 31

APR 1

APR 2

(Slim Cessna’s Auto Club), Norman Westberg (Swans) in the wine garden

dbuk

Secret Society

Tony Terry

Vybe Band

APR 7

APR 8

APR 9

APR 9

eran zur

Mike Farris

w/ Special Guest Amy Black

MAR 28

MAR 29

MAR 29

MAR 30

Ivy League

The Yardbirds

The Billy Price Charm City Rhythm Band in the wine garden

Got My Own Sound Band

APR 4

APR 5

APR 6

APR 3

APR 4-5

LOW TICKET ALERT!

Levi Kreis

in the wine garden

A Tribute to Nina Simone ft. michelle d. bennett

(2 shows!)

w/ Jaimee Harris in the wine garden

in the wine garden

The Pump & Dump Show

Jimmy Vivino & Bob Margolin Just 2 Guitars and 200 Stories

Briclyn Ent. Presents

Mary Gauthier

ft. members of The Band & The Levon Helm Band, Kerri Powers

A Tribute To Weather Report

w/ special guest Nova Payton

Blind Boys of Alabama

“This Side of the Glass” w/ special guest: Matthew Fowler in the wine garden

LOW TICKET ALERT!

Doug Stone in the wine garden

Burlesque Night Out

Hayes Carll w/ Ben Dickey

19th annual downtown seder

ft. david broza, gay men’s chorus of washington dc

KiDe’

Kia Bennett and Desiree Jordan

(solo acoustic tour) in the wine garden

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@CITYWINERYDC

@CITYWINERYDC

Full name: Ted Buckley Occupation: Public Affairs Favorite local restaurant: Guajillo (first date with Sam!) Favorite local bar/lounge: 18th & U Duplex Diner Favorite vacation spot: Can’t choose just one Favorite Charity: Capital Caring (Hospice) Favorite thing to do on a weekend: Hiking

Full name: Sam Roberson Occupation: Business/Tax Attorney Favorite local restaurant: Al Tiramisu Favorite local bar/lounge: 18th & U Duplex Diner Favorite vacation spot: Alaska (most recent favorite) Favorite Charity: Humane Rescue Alliance Favorite thing to do on a weekend: Hiking

Ted and Sam are wearing the latest items from the Spring 2019 collection.

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2 6 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

VI E WPO I NT • MARCH 01, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 27

MARK LEE

is a long-time entrepreneur and community business advocate. Follow on Twitter: @ MarkLeeDC. Reach him at OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

DCFRAY.COM

Medicare for All, Green New Deal are aspirational Democrats should tell voters what we plan to do if we win in 2020 The current various discussions of Medicare-for-All and the resolution set forth for the Green New Deal are aspirational goals and that is not a bad thing. With both of these goals we must find the right pathway that will allow us to achieve them.

The Democratic Party and its candidates need to determine how we bring people along with us, especially those who might tend to agree with our long-term goals but are afraid some pathways will cause major upset in their lives. Politically if we are to win we must find a way to have the majority of the country with us and not have everyone else so upset they are poised to use every lever at hand to stop any progress.

The current Green New Deal resolution has been attacked by many conservatives.

Those who developed it tell us not worry but to plow ahead. They urged other Democrats in Congress to just go ahead and endorse it.

They will get many endorsements and some of our announced and unannounced presidential candidates have already done so. Some without comment others like Amy Klobuchar calling it “aspirational” as a way not to pick it apart.

Sherrod Brown has not yet endorsed it. Diane Feinstein was clear it couldn’t get through the Senate but she has another version.

What has been overlooked by some is there are more than just conservatives who have issues with the resolution as presented and behind the scenes many unions and environmentalists and rational progressives who share the long-term goals are saying they see problems. The issues they are talking about include what we do about nuclear energy and the call for cutting air travel to name just two.

On the other issue, there is nearly universal agreement among Democratic candidates to embrace the words “Medicare for All.” Yet go just one layer below the words and there is widespread disagreement on what they mean. Some believe it’s immediate universal healthcare or a single-payer system; some like Sherrod Brown want to open up current Medicare to younger people, while to others it means an end to private insurance. There is no

current consensus on how to move forward.

The best case scenario for Democrats, with the leadership of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, would be to have the Democratic caucus in the House come to agreement on legislation they can introduce and pass in the next year on a host of issues including healthcare. They could potentially pass a bill with fixes to the Affordable Care Act, including reducing the cost of prescription drugs and guaranteeing affordable care for those with pre-existing conditions. They can pass bills leading to real progress in the fight against climate change. There are a host of other issues they could address including immigration with a bill to allow Dreamers to stay in the country and giving all immigrants a pathway to citizenship. They could pass an infrastructure bill and another bill guaranteeing equal pay for women and one to ensure equality for the LGBTQ+ community. They can pass a voting rights bill and maybe one to help ease the burden of student debt and making at least community college free to everyone.

They should do these things because the nation is sliding backwards, and will continue to move backwards, as long as the clearly unhinged man remains in the White House and his sycophants control the Senate. I am not naïve enough to think if the House passes even some of these bills they will be passed by the Senate or signed into law by the president.

But what they accomplish is to lay out a blueprint for progress and allow candidates to say to voters, “If you elect Democrats in 2020 and give us control of the Congress and the White House, this is what we will do.”

The worst thing that can happen to Democrats is we take back government and find like Republicans did when they tried to get rid of the ACA and pass a replacement, they couldn’t agree on anything to pass.

Democrats can and must do better. We must be prepared to act on day one if the people give us back the ability to do so. We must do it both for the nation and as a symbol to the world the Trump administration is an aberration and not who we are.

28 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9 • V IEWP O IN T

MARK LEE

琀栀攀

is a long-time entrepreneur and community business advocate.

Follow on Twitter: @MarkLeeDC. Reach him at OurBusinessMatters@gmail.com.

D.C. must delay paid leave law to prevent botched launch Skepticism by both D.C. elected officials and local businesses regarding the planned implementation timetable for the city’s pending private-sector paid leave mandate has been notably high and has continued unabated since passage of the law in Dec. 2016.

Observers at the time and since have broadly anticipated the likelihood to be extremely low that the District government would be prepared and capable of initiating collection of the proscribed business tax to fund the “Universal Paid Leave Act” scheduled to begin on July 1.

It will take a full year to assemble sufficient funds for the massive and expensive government-administered employee benefit to become available one year later.

Those well-founded fears have now proven to be harsh reality. The District government is simply not prepared to launch the program on the original estimated and overly optimistic schedule.

D.C. Council members must delay the timeline to prevent a botched and disastrous start-up. Failure to postpone the program by one year will result in insufficient funds necessary for covering claims payments beginning in mid-2020 and serve to undermine public confidence in its fiscal sustainability.

Most startling, it was revealed only days ago at a D.C. Council committee hearing that the city has not yet awarded the third-party vendor contract to create a business tax payment submission mechanism allowing the thousands of District employers to begin paying the required levy of 0.62 percent on employee wages. To expect the required online portal to be magically built, tested, fixed, and functioning in only four months is unsupported by practical expectations or past experience.

Worse, awareness by the huge number of businesses of all sizes and types regarding the tax payment initiation schedule is extraordinarily low. Adequate time for the District government to undertake notification and education of this new business tax obligation and effective date is the only fair and reasonable course.

In addition, the District government must provide sufficient opportunity for businesses to update existing payroll systems to

determine fluctuating tax payments.

The significant additional cost of doing business in the city must be planned for and absorbed by local enterprise. This is an absolutely necessary factor if the objective is to implement this nationally rare entitlement with the least economic harm to both employers and employees.

Establishing a controversial and enormous new program in a responsible manner and avoiding large-scale noncompliance with the tax payment requirement incurring additional infraction penalties is the only equitable and appropriate approach.

This gargantuan governmentadministered entitlement, after all, will become one of the very largest undertakings in a city with an extremely poor performance record for program administration, management, service, and delivery.

An abysmal record of government planning, execution, and oversight is, in fact, among the factors most troubling for the business community. The long-notorious and worst-in-the-nation level of fraud, abuse, and waste in the city’s unemployment compensation program is a starkly cautionary tale.

The District is among only a tiny number of states countable on the fingers of one hand mandating paid leave. It is the sole jurisdiction financing it through a business tax instead of employee withholding.

While public support for the paid leave proposal was high among D.C. residents according to a Washington Post poll at the time of enactment, support plummeted to a minority when residents were asked their view if employees would be required to finance the program as elsewhere.

Employees know, as employers do, that the plan will negatively affect wages and other benefits for many due to added business expense. Local independent small businesses will be hurt the most, and the additional tax imposition will result in lower overall wages for some workers due to staffing and workhours reductions to accommodate the cost.

It is imperative that elected officials act to ensure the business-financed paid leave law is implemented when the city government is actually prepared to do so.

Anything less will be a dereliction of both civic and political duty.

VI E WPO I NT • MARCH 01, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 29

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KARAMO BROWN of ‘Queer Eye’ fame says now is the right time for a memoir because he’s learned so much about life.

Photo by Alex Rhoades

Kicking back with Karamo

‘Queer Eye’ favorite prepping wedding, memoir and more life advice

By MARIAH COOPER MCOOPER@WASHBLADE.COM

Karamo Brown has become known as a gay, male version of Oprah as the resident culture expert of the Netflix reboot “Queer Eye.” Over the show’s past two seasons, Brown, who has a background in psychotherapy and social work, has offered life advice and shared a different perspective in a way that seems to profoundly change the “heroes” of each episode. Before he landed “Queer Eye,” he also unexpectedly made history as the first out gay black man on reality television during his stint on “The Real World: Philadelphia.”

3 2 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

However, Brown’s life view wasn’t always so grounded. In his memoir, “My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing and Hope” (out March 5), the 38-year-old chronicles how he came from a broken place of drug addiction and other traumas and was able to build himself into the advice guru he is today. He also brings light to rarely talked about topics such as how he discovered he was a father when his son was 10 years old. Now, Brown has full custody of his son and his son’s brother and is engaged to his fiancé, director Ian Jordan.

Brown spoke with the Blade from another speaking engagement in Raleigh, N.C., about his memoir, new episodes of “Queer Eye” and an update on the stress of wedding planning.

WASHINGTON BLADE: Let’s take it back to when you were on “The Real World: Philadelphia.” You were the first out gay black man on reality TV in the U.S. When that happened were you trying to be a pioneer? Did you find out before the show?

KARAMO BROWN: I found out after the fact. I was not even that strategic to say, at that age, “You know what I’m going to go on here and do something that’s never been done.” It wasn’t even that. I was like, “How can I go in this house and have a good time and party and have fun.” There was no thought in my mind about “Am I the first?” Once I came off the show and that was immediately told to me by MTV and that narrative started getting pushed, I immediately started to feel the pressure as people wrote to me and said, “Oh my god I haven’t seen anyone that looked like me.

Thank you,” and I was like, “Wow, there’s a whole lot of eyes on me right now and if I don’t do what’s right I’m not screwing up myself I’m screwing up others.” And that was difficult but also pretty amazing because I opened up a door, just a little bit enough, so that other people could run through and do what they do.

BLADE: How did the audition come about to be a “culture expert” on “Queer Eye”?

BROWN: Being in bed I hear Carson Kressley and Andy Cohen talking about the reboot. I got on the phone with my agent and said, “I have to be a part of this,” and he told me it was done. Luckily, he pushed for me to get in because the casting was already finished and they took a chance on me. But once I got in there I realized that culture couldn’t be what everyone else had seen it be the first go around where it was about Broadway tickets and art museums. Having training as a psychotherapist and a social worker, I was like, “Someone has to fix the hearts and minds.” Change is great, it is phenomenal, but if you only have outward change and no inward change then what happened?”

You just go back to what you did before

because you haven’t acknowledged the behavior. So when I think about culture, I think about the shared attitude and values that make people do the things they do.

That’s how I approach culture.

BLADE: How is the fame circuit now different than it was when you did “Real World”?

BROWN: Oh my gosh, it’s great now. The first time around people were thinking, “Come here and come fight” and now people come to me and they’re like, “Please help me remove the drama from my life.” That is a major shift. Before, they wanted to be in the drama and now they’re like, “Please remove the drama from my life. I want to be happy with myself and with my boyfriend and my girlfriend and my family.” They’re like, “Help me understand how I can be drama free” and I think that’s what the biggest shift is.

BLADE: You come off as though you have such a wealth of knowledge and life advice. Were you always this way?

BROWN: No. I wish that could say that I came out of the womb knowing the answer to every question but it’s not true. I went through a lot of hard times dealing with abuse, domestic violence, drugs, colorism, religion. I think what makes me so happy about my book is that I’m showing people that even in my darkest moments, I try to find what the lesson was in it so I can use that as a springboard to get toward my greater self. I think that’s hard to do for most people because we don’t have the language or the tools. In my book, I try to show people that you can find the tools, here’s the language, here’s how you do it.

So who I am today is not who I was even on “The Real World.” And I’m glad because I was able to grow through and heal from all the traumatic things that have happened to me and still be able to do that work.

That’s what I show people that they can do as well in my book.

BLADE: The third season of “Queer Eye” returns in March. The show has become known for the memorable stories of people like Tom and Skyler. Can you give me a preview of any memorable stories coming up in the next season?

BROWN: They won’t let me tell you about the heroes but I will tell you this.

For my category, I am most proud. Season one I was embarrassed for the fact that I didn’t fight for what the culture category was, being more about fixing the inside.

I was doing that work but I didn’t have a clear conversation with executives. Even though they weren’t fighting against me, it was my own internal battle. Season two you saw me be more, “Oh he’s fixing the inside. Oh, he’s the mental health expert.” But season three, it comes full

M AR CH 01, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 33

forward. If you loved the laughing and the crying, we do it so much. We have real conversations, really deep, real growth for these individuals. It’s more diverse.

I think it’s almost half and half men and women, which is great. So more diverse in race. I think it’s great when people are able to say, ‘Wow, great I see myself” and a large part of that is what I’m doing and I’m really proud of that. My brothers and I when we first came into this a year ago, the Fab Five, we didn’t know each other.

We were so worried. Someone said to us, “OK, we’re going to put you on a treadmill and you can’t crawl you have to run full speed.” And at first we were like, “Oh can we do it?” and we locked hands and we have done it. I’m so proud of us.

BLADE: You guys recently went to Japan to film “Queer Eye.” How was filming there different than filming in the U.S.?

BROWN: Us being in Tokyo was something the network wanted us to do because they wanted what we do to really translate internationally. Us going into a country with people who don’t speak the same language. It’s funny because in my book you see I talk about how emotions are universal and we all have them.

Somehow we feel disconnected yet every single person whether you’re in Tokyo or Texas experiences the same thing. That experience lets me know, especially in my category, that you don’t really need words to understand what someone is going through. You can help them to realize that their emotions are the words. I can’t wait for people to see those. The Tokyo episodes aren’t a full season it’s just a special season that will be coming out who knows when.

But we’re all excited about it.

BLADE: Why did you decide that now was the time in your life to come out with a memoir?

BROWN: Because I’ve grown a lot. I’ve had a lot of life experience. I’ve also been trained as a psychotherapist and social worker, I know how to articulate what I’m feeling in a way that’s digestible and in a way the people can relate to it and apply to their own lives. This is just me telling infinite stories of how I’ve grown so that people can do the same with clear insights.

I’m not saying my journey of growth is done but I’ve had enough life experience that I’m like, “Let’s share this with someone else.” I’m very transparent in the book.

BLADE: You’re very open about fatherhood and how you found out you were a father. Why was that such an important story to share for you?

BROWN: You don’t really hear stories about single, black fathers stepping up, taking full custody of their children and still having a supportive relationship with the

child’s mother. The narrative we get told in the media is that black fathers and black mothers don’t have a good relationship and everybody is fighting and, “You’re my baby mama” and whatever BS that gets put out there. That’s not the case for me. I am a black man raising two black boys on my own. Secondly, you never hear the story of gay, black men who are saying, “I can raise my children and there’s not any issues because of my sexuality, and yes, me and my child’s mother are going to be able to co-parent.” I have a very untraditional trajectory toward fatherhood. Though it’s not traditional it’s still the same in so many ways. I’ve worked with fathers and mothers across the country and we always are like, “We’re experiencing the same thing.” So although I got my son when he was a little bit older I still experience what it’s like to be a parent. I talk about that in the book because first of all look at the narrative that you’re hearing about people who look like you but secondly, stories are universal and here are some tips for you to understand how to talk to your kids, how to have better conversations with them and how to manage what you’re feeling as a parent.

BLADE: You give out so much advice to other people but what’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever gotten?

BROWN: Don’t be afraid of going slowly only of standing still. Because sometimes we get stuck in our lives doing something and we’re like, “I’m not going to be happy but I’m going to stay here.” But if you take one small step every day toward what you truly want you’ll make it.

BLADE: You recently got engaged.

How is wedding planning going?

BROWN: Wedding planning is going great for me. My fiancé not so much because he has full anxiety of it. This is a special day. I was the little boy who dreamed of my wedding and I’m not ashamed to say that. I want little boys to know around the world they can dream of their wedding day too. I don’t think it’s fair that we say girls should dream about their weddings but men can’t. Especially in heterosexual relationships. We tell girls, “Oh you should want a wedding” but you don’t tell the boys the same? What kind of screwed-up mixed narrative is that you’re sending? Marriage is not for everyone but it is for me. I have been planning an extravaganza. When I was at a Vanity Fair party, Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra were there and I so badly wanted to go up them and be like, “I’m rivaling your wedding.” Of course, they have more money than me so theirs is always going to be more fabulous. But in my mind I’m coming close to what they created. It’s giving my partner anxiety but luckily, it’s going well for me.

QUEERY Anthony Oakes Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

QUEERY: Anthony Oakes

The ‘Ask Rayceen’ host answers 20 gay questions

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM

Anthony Oakes has been emceeing since his teens, but he didn’t always know he was funny. That came later.

In his native North Carolina, Jack Mizrahi groomed him to be a commentator/emcee in the ballroom scene. Oakes moved to Washington five years ago for “a fresh start,” and was working at Loc Lov Salon where “the clients kept raving about how funny I was,” he says.

He eventually did a comedy workshop with comedian Chelsea Shorte that proved perspective changing.

“Upon completion of the worship, there was a showcase,” the 43-year-old WinstonSalem, N.C., native says. “The moment I got my first laugh, all insecurities about what I was supposed to be doing with my life melted away. One of the mentors pulled me aside and told me I really had what it took to succeed.”

Oakes now works full time performing

and emceeing and hosts radio show Thursday Night Tea with Anthony on WLVS each Thursday at 6 p.m. He’s also co-host of “The Ask Rayceen” show, which has its eighth season premiere Wednesday, March 6 at 7 p.m. at the HRC Equality Center (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.).

It continues the first Wednesday of each month March through November. Look for the show on Facebook for full details.

Oakes and Rayceen met in the ballroom scene and have been working together more and more in recent years.

“There’s something for everyone,” Oakes says of “Ask Rayceen.” “The thing is, with all of the different types of people and backgrounds, you feel a sense of oneness.”

Oakes lives in Southeast Washington with partner, Kevin Sutton. Oakes enjoys reading, writing, cooking and eating in his free time.

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

I’ve been out for 24 years, since I was 19 years old. My parents are ministers, so my father was the most difficult to tell. It shouldn’t have been. When I told him, he turned into Aaliyah and wrote me a four-page letter about how much he loved me.

Who’s your LGBT hero?

James Baldwin

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

Tracks

On what do you insist?

“To thine own self be true.” Polonius What was your last Facebook post or Tweet?

Thanking everyone for their love and support during my gall bladder-removal surgery.

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

“The Sketch Life” If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do?

Protest it.

Describe your dream wedding.

On the beach with those I love.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world?

God

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about?

Racial equality.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders?

Become one of those who are in power.

What historical outcome would you change?

Slavery

What would you walk across hot coals for?

Kevin, my partner.

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

The explosion of the internet.

What LGBT stereotype annoys you most?

Gays are weak.

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What’s your favorite LGBT movie?

“Moonlight” What’s the most overrated social custom?

Making toys gender specific.

What trophy or prize do you most covet?

I would have to say my Legendary Status in The Ballroom Scene. I fostered the Ballroom Scene and ignited it ADVERTISING PROOF in the Carolinas. In over 20 years it has PROOFafforded #1 ISSUEof DATE: 01.13.2017 SALES REPRESENTATIVE: JOE HICKLING (jhickling@washblade.com) me a cornucopia opportunities and awards including REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of awards for HIV and AIDS work proof. in my the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts REVISIONS omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is hometown door responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users REDESIGN community. It was the can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or REVISIONS rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any toTEXT in which I walked through asany an copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair IMAGE/LOGO REVISIONS defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, emcee and now comedian. competition, or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE NO REVISIONS washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations and warranties.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

Good credit is life! Allow your gifts to make room for you.

Why Washington?

It’s a cultural melting pot. It is the happy median between New York and North Carolina.

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Pirouettes and arabesques

Dorsey Dance Company’s gender exploration among season’s dance highlights

By MARIAH COOPER MCOOPER@WASHBLADE.COM

Top photo: ‘Tracings’ by Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance. Photo by Mary Nobel Ours; courtesy DTSB ‘Three World Premieres’ by Washington Ballet. Photo by Procopio Photography; courtesy Washington Ballet

The Washington Ballet presents “The Sleeping Beauty” through March 3 at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.).

The classic tale is reimagined as a ballet with the familiar characters of Princess Aurora, her prince and her wicked fairy godmother Carabosse. Tickets range from $25-160. For more information, visit washingtonballet.org.

Dissonance Dance Theatre performs “Fluid” at the Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., N.E.) on Sunday, March 3 at 2:30 p.m. Set to the music of Ezio Bosso, the dance explores the themes of trust, lost, betrayal and love, through contemporary ballet inspired by physical theater and Afro-modern dance. Tickets are $30. For more details, visit atlasarts. org/events/fluid.

Akiko Kitamura presents “Cross Transit” at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) on March 19 at 7:30 p.m. “Cross

Transit” focuses on Cambodia’s folk culture using movement choreographed by Kitamura. The work is inspired by artists Kitamura encountered during his field work in Cambodia provided by funding from the Japan Society. Tickets range from $29-39. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Bon Iver and TU Dance present “Come Through” to kick-off the Kennedy Center’s Direct Current series on Monday, March 25 at 7:30 p.m. The performance includes new music from Bon Iver bandmate Justin Vernon and new choreography from TU Dance. “Come Through” is a blend of modern dance and classical ballet with African-based movements.Tickets range from $49-189. For more details, visit kennedy-center.org.

The Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) presents the Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company’s “Analogy Trilogy” as part of its Direct Current series from March 2830. The company will perform “Analogy/ Dora: Tramontane” on Thursday, March 28. This show is based on an oral history that Jones received from mother-in-law, a French Jewish nurse and social worker, as she told him about her story of survival during World War II. “Analogy/Lance: Pretty aka the Escape Artist” is on Friday, March 29. This performance explores the struggles of Jones’s nephew Lance as he navigates the club culture and sex trade of the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. “Analogy/Ambros: The Emigrant” is on Saturday, March 30 and is inspired by the novel “The Emigrant” by W.G. Seblad. Tickets range from $29-79. For more information, visit kennedy-center.org.

The Washington Ballet presents its annual program “Three World Premieres”

in Sidney Harmon Hall (610 F St., N.W.) April 3-7. Audiences can experience three, never-before-seen works by choreographers Dana Genshaft, Trey McIntyre and Ethan Stiefel. Tickets range from $25-100. For more information, visit washingtonballet.org.

Shen Yun returns to the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) April 17-21 to perform “5,000 Years of Civilization Reborn,” a performance that recreates the spirit of ancient China. The dance incorporates intricate costumes, a theatrical background and an orchestra to revisit various eras of China’s past up until the present. Tickets range from $80-250.

For more details, visit kennedy-center.org.

The Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater brings its 60th anniversary tour to the Modell Lyric (140 W. Mt Royal Ave., Baltimore) April 23-24. In 1958, Alvin Ailey, who was gay, founded the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater and since then the company has celebrated African-American heritage and other cultures in performances for an estimated 25 million people.

On April 23, the dance company will perform “Lazarus” and “Revelations.” On April 24, the company will perform the works “Members Don’t Get Weary,” The Call,” “Pause,” “Juba” and “Revelations.”

Tickets range from $36-46. For more information, visit modell-lyric.com.

Dana Tai Soon Burgess Dance presents “Tracings” at the National Portrait Gallery (8th St., N.W. and F St., N.W.) on May 4 at 6 p.m. The work, choreographed

by Burgess (who’s gay), examines the Korean planation experience in Hawaii.

Admission is free. For more details, visit dtsbdc.org.

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Womxn f*** shit up — musically of course Region teeming with queer acts at the Anthem, Fillmore, Jiffy and more

By THOM MURPHY

BETTY WHO plans a 9:30 Club engagement May 28-29.

Photo by Zak Cassar; courtesy Karpel Group

A number of great music acts will be passing through D.C. this spring — Kelly Clarkson, Robyn, Fleetwood Mac, Mariah Carey, Betty Who and more.

Robyn, who recently released her eighth studio album “Honey,” her first full album since the 2010 album “Body Talk,” comes to The Anthem (901 Wharf St. S.W.) on Saturday March 9 at 7 p.m. The show is sold out.

Bi artist Crystal Bowersox plays City Winery (1350 Okie St. N.E.) on Thursday, March 14 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $2232. More information and tickets available at citywinery.com.

Kelly Clarkson brings her “Meaning of Life Tour,” following her 2017 album of the same name, to Royal Farms Arena (201 W. Baltimore St., Baltimore) on Saturday, March 16 at 7 p.m. Tickets go from $25399 and are available for purchase at ticketmaster.com.

Soul legend Gladys Knight plays The Theater at MGM National Harbor. Saturday, March 23 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $87343 through Ticketmaster.

Fleetwood Mac returns to Washington for “An Evening with Fleetwood Mac” on Sunday, March 24 at 8 p.m. Standard

tickets start at $69.50, with Verified Resale tickets going as high as $3,000, and may be purchased from ticketmaster.com. The group has been getting mixed reviews since it ousted bedrock member Lindsey Buckingham last year.

Also on March 24, lesbian singer Mary Gauthier performs at City Winery (1350 Okie St. N.E.). General admission tickets are $22 and are available for purchase from citywinery.com.

Following on the major success of her 2018 album “Sweetener” and her just released “Thank U, Next,” Ariana Grande’s “Sweetener World Tour” will be coming to the Capital One Arena on Monday, March 25 at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $153 with VIP Packages running up to $699 and may be purchased at ticketmaster.com.

David Archuleta, the former “American Idol” contestant and pop singer, plays The Birchmere (3701 Mt. Vernon Av., Alexandria, Va.) on Wednesday, March 27 at 7:30 p.m. General admission tickets are available for $29.50.

Homosuperior, Hex Girlfriends and Wipeout perform at Comet Ping Pong (5037 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Friday, March 29 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $12 at ticketfly.

Pop diva Mariah Carey returns to the greater D.C. area for her “Caution World Tour,” on the heels of her 2018 album “Caution,” at The Theater at MGM National Harbour (101 MGM National Ave., Oxon Hill, Md.). Sunday, March 31 at 8 p.m.

Verified resale tickets are available starting at $384 from ticketmaster.com.

Gay songwriter Levi Kreis will be performing with guest Nova Payton

at City Winery (1350 Okie St. N.E.) on Wednesday, April 3 at 8 p.m. Ticket prices range between $20-30 and are availabel at citywinery.com.

Almost Queen is slated to perform at Baltimore Soundstage (124 Market Pl., Baltimore) on Friday, April 12 at 7:30 p.m.

Ticket prices range between $19.80-44 and may be purchased from ticketmaster.com.

The Womxn Fuck Shit Up (WFSU) D.C. 2019 music festival will take place at Union Stage (740 Water St. S.W.) on Saturday, April 20 from 5 p.m.-2 a.m. Early bird tickets are available for $15, advance tickets for $20 and general admission for $25 at the door. Early bird and advance tickets may be purchased at ticketfly.com.

Laura Jane Grace and Devouring Mothers play The Rock and Roll Hotel (1353 H St. N.E.) on Tuesday, April 23 at 8 p.m. General admission tickets may be purchased for $25.

Australian folk singer and songwriter Julia Jacklin will perform material from her new album “Crushing” at the DC9 Nightclub on Tuesday, April 30 at 8 p.m.

General admission tickets are available for $15.

Amy Ray (of Indigo Girls fame) and her band will be at Rams Head On Stage (33 West St., Annapolis, Md.) on Tuesday, May 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $27.50. She plays The Birchmere in Alexandria May 23.

Betty Who plays The 9:30 Club (815 V St. N.W.) May 28-29. One dollar of every ticket sold will go to support The Trevor Project. Tickets for the May 28 date are sold out. Tickets for the May 29 show are still available.

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March Savings Madness!

Experience The Remy life at our Open House this Saturday.

March to The Remy to give your address a refresh.

Join us for food, fun and a taste of what our stunning apartment community offers.

Located right next to the New Carrollton Metro, The Remy gives you a personal oasis to come home to every day, with resort-style amenities, beautiful apartments and great neighbors.

Come spin the March Savings Madness prize wheel, take a virtual tour using our new virtual reality headset, explore the spaces, chat with our residents and get a feel for just how good life can be at The Remy.

Awesome features to check out while you’re here:

Luxe clubroom with bar area, billiards table, foosball and more

Amazing two-bedroom apartments with a special bonus only available at this event

State-of-the-art fitness facility, including Pilates, spin and yoga studio

Gourmet kitchens, including quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances

Pet-friendly living with pet spa and dog run

Hardwood-inspired flooring and spa-inspired baths

Resort-style saltwater pool and cabanas, relaxing courtyard and rooftop lounge with grilling area

Join us at the March Savings Madness event this Saturday, March 2, 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.!

7730 HARKINS ROAD, LANHAM, MD 20706 /

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T H E R E M YA P T S .C O M

/ 3 0 1 . 6 3 7. 8 0 6 5

Melissa, P!nk, Reba and more

As more artists take surprise approach, spring season harder to predict

By THOM MURPHY

Top photo: Openly gay Broadway actor/singer BEN PLATT releases his solo debut in late March.

Rock legend MELISSA ETHERIDGE releases her new album ‘The Medicine Show’ in April. (Photos courtesy Atlantic Records and ME Records.

Two-thousand-nineteen seems so far to be a quieter year for major pop releases, but there’s still plenty of new music to look forward to in the coming months.

First, some recent releases you may have missed.

Ariana Grande just released “Thank U, Next,” her second album in six months, on the heels of “Sweetener,” which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Vocal Album. R&B legend Chaka Khan came out with her 12th solo studio album, “Hello Happiness,” her first in 12 years.

On Feb. 22, non-binary artist Beth Jeans Houghton, known as Du Blonde, released a third album entitled “Lung Bread for Daddy.” And Australian folk rocker Julia Jacklin, who is also the frontwoman for Phantastic Ferniture (which released its self-titled debut last year), released her second solo album, “Crushing.”

Young Norwegian singer and songwriter Sigrid is coming out with a debut album entitled “Sucker Punch,” on March 1, following the release of her 2018 EP “Raw.” For the project, she’s working with writer and producer Oscar Holter, who has co-written and produced music with artists such as Tiësto, Carly Rae Jepsen, Katy Perry, P!nk, Troye Sivan and Charlie XCX. On the same day, American rock band Weezer is scheduled to release its 13th studio album, entitled “Weezer (The Black Album).”

On March 8, the English pop singer Dido is expected to release a new album entitled “Still On My Mind.” This would be her first release since her 2013 album “Girl Who Got Away.” Lead single “Give You Up” was released in January and landed at no.

22 on the Billboard Adult Contemporary chart. It’s a sign of some momentum for a singer who has been out of the spotlight in the U.S. since 1999 (though she has remained a fixture in Europe).

On March 29, Ben Platt releases his first solo album, entitled “Sing to Me Instead.”

Platt is well known for his major Broadway roles, most recently as Evan Hansen in the acclaimed musical “Dear Evan Hansen.” He also played the role of Benji Applebaum alongside Anna Kendrick in the movies “Pitch Perfect” and “Pitch Perfect 2.” The same date will see the release of the legendary Marvin Gaye’s “You’re the Man,” an album that was recorded four decades ago but never released.

While there’s no official release date, P!nk’s “Hurts 2B Human” is expected to be released this April. The first single, “Walk Me Home,” from the singer’s eighth studio album was released last week, signaling the arrival of the new album relatively soon.

On April 5, country music legend Reba McEntire will release her 29th studio album, entitled “Stronger Than the Truth.” And on the same date, American

psychedelic-pop singer Weyes Blood will release her album “Titanic Rising.” Weyes Blood has risen in popularity since her most recent album, “Front Row Seat to Earth,” and has been touring extensively in Europe and the U.S. The new album is her first on the Sub Pop label (Warner Music Group), which signed artists like Nirvana and Father John Misty.

Sara Bareilles will likewise release her new album, “Amidst the Chaos” on April 5.

Bareilles has been enjoying the spotlight a lot recently, following the Broadway production of “Waitress,” for which Bareilles wrote lyrics and music. She also recently appeared in the widely acclaimed television adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber musical “Jesus Christ Superstar.” “Amidst the Chaos” is Bareilles’ first album since the 2015 release of “What’s Inside: Songs from Waitress.”

Lesbian rock icon Melissa Etheridge releases “The Medicine Show” April 12.

She said in a Blade interview last year the album contains some of her strongestever writing.

Welsh singer Marina (formerly Marina and the Diamonds) is slated to release a new album on April 26 called “Love+Fear.”

It’s her album since the 2015 “Froot.” Marina remains popular among gay audiences and has performed at New York Pride.

On May 10, Chicago artist Jamila Woods is scheduled to release her second album, “Legacy! Legacy!” Woods, who is regularly collaborates with Chance The Rapper, is producing music that directly engages with her home in Chicago. She is definitely someone to keep an eye on.

New album releases are rumored for Adele, Frank Ocean, Carly Rae Jepsen, Sheryl Crow, Vampire Weekend and Madonna, though there have been no official announcements. And there will most certainly be a few unexpected releases along the way.

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‘Perfume & Seduction’

Hillwood la toilette, Newseum ‘Rise Up’ Stonewall exhibit among season’s highlights

By MARIAH COOPER MCOOPER@WASHBLADE.COM ‘Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Green?’ by Rirkrit Tiravanija.

Photo courtesy Hirshhorn Museum

Hillwood Estate, Museum & Gardens (4155 Linnean Ave., N.W.) displays “Perfume & Seduction” through June 9.

Hillwood will display the luxury items used during la toilette, a popular bathing and dressing ritual in the 18th century.

Visitors can examine gold boxes, perfume bottles and numerous other items used for washing, makeup and drinking. For more details, visit hillwoodmuseum.org.

Touchstone Gallery (901 New York Ave., N.W.) presents three new exhibits through March 31. Gallery A will include the Touchstone Gallery Member Show.

Gallery B will feature “Pattern+Texture II”

by Pete McCutche, a photography exhibit of patterns found in rock, ice, sand and mud. Gallery C will showcase “Daylight Reflections: From Sunrise to Sunset” by Harvey Kupferberg, a photography exhibit on how the sun’s rays affect the landscape as it rises and falls. The opening reception is on Friday, March 1 from 6-8:30 p.m. For more details, visit touchstonegallery.com.

Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) debuts its new exhibit “Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement” on Friday, March 8. In honor of the Stonewall Riots’ 50th anniversary, “Rise Up” chronicles the events at the Stonewall Inn and how it became the kick-off point for the LGBT rights movement. The exhibit will continue through Dec. 31 and will feature a program of speakers including

journalists, authors, politicians and more.

Adult admission (19-64) is $24.95 plus tax; seniors 65 and older are $19.95 plus tax; youth (7-18) are $14.95 plus tax and children 6 and younger are free. For more information, visit newseum.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts (1250 New York Ave., N.W.) displays “Ursula von Rydingsvard: The Contour of Feeling” from March 22-July 28.

Rydingsvard’s cedar sculptures ranging from vertical structures and wall pieces to floor-based works will be exhibited starting from her work in 2000. This is her first solo exhibit in D.C. Admission is $10 for adults, $8 for students and visitors 64 and under. Children under 18 are free. The first Sunday of every month is Community Day and admission to all exhibits is free.

For more details, visit nmwa.org.

The National Portrait Gallery (8th St., N.W. and F St., N.W.) presents “Votes for Women: A Portrait of Persistence” March 29-Jan. 5, 2020. The exhibition uses portraiture, biography and material culture to tell the stories of the overlooked women who contributed to women’s suffrage in the United States. There will also be a special section dedicated to the struggles of minority women during the women’s suffrage movement. For more information, visit npg.si.edu.

Renwick Gallery of the Smithsonian American Art Museum (1661 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) displays “Connections: Contemporary Craft at the Renwick Gallery” as part of its permanent collection starting

March 29. More than 80 objects using crafted materials will be on display from the 1930s through today. The objects will include iconic pieces that have been featured in the exhibit before and new items.

The exhibit explores the interconnectivity of objects and how they tell stories. For more information, visit americanart.si.edu/ exhibitions/connections-2019.

Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden (Independence Ave., and 7th St., N.W.) presents “Rirkrit Tiravanija: Who’s Afraid of Red, Yellow and Green” May 17July 24. Thai artist Tiravanija will transform Hirshhorn’s galleries into a dining space where attendees will be served curry and invited to share a meal together. In the background of the dining area is a mural that paints a picture of protests against Thailand’s government policies. A series of documentary shorts from Thai Thai filmmaker Apichatpong Weerasethakul will also be screened during the exhibit. For more information, visit visit hirshhorn.si.edu.

The Freer Gallery of Art (1050 Independence Ave., S.W.) kicks off an ongoing display of “The Peacock Room in Blue and White” on May 18. “The Peacock Room” is the mural art masterpiece by James McNeill Whistler that is on an ongoing display at the Freer Gallery of Art. The room’s shelves will now be filled with blue-and-white Chinese porcelains to emulate how the room looked as the dining room of British shipping magnate, Frederick Leyland in 1876. For more details, visit freersackler.si.edu.

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Signature’s ‘Masterpieces,’ 4615’s ‘Separate Rooms’ among highlights JADE JONES as Little Red Ridinghood in an upcoming production of ‘Into the Woods’ at Ford’s Theatre.

Photo by Scott Suchman

Long considered a time of renewal, spring means getting out and about. How better to revitalize than with theater?

Out playwright Joe Calarco (“Shakespeare’s R&J”) debut his “Separate Rooms” (through March 17) at up-andcoming 4615 Theatre Company (The Highwood Theatre at 914 Silver Spring Avenue, Silver Spring, Md.). It’s a comedy about a group of friends who gather for an impromptu party following a friend’s funeral. It began as the playwright’s “Big Chill” but expanded in subsequent drafts.

Three of the play’s nine characters are gay men. Josh is the dead man’s lover and just hours after his partner’s burial he’s trying to stay afloat, Calarco says. At the party Josh meets gay character Simon, who provides solace in the way only a stranger can.

“Separate Rooms” features talented out actor Alex Mills. Jordan Friend directs.

Full details at 4625theatrecompany.org.

At Shakespeare Theatre Company (610 F St., N.W.), out artistic director Michael Kahn’s finale season continues with director David Muse’s morgue-set production of “Richard the Third,” through March 10, starring Matthew Rauch as the ruthless, bloodthirsty monarch. In addition to Rauch’s nuanced turn, the large diverse cast includes standout performances

by Christopher Michael McFarland as Buckingham and Sandra Shipley as the Duchess of York, Richard’s mother.

Following is Kate Hamill’s “Vanity Fair” (through March 31) based on the novel

by William Makepeace Thackery. Hamill’s adaptation “harnesses the frivolity of Thackeray’s novel while recasting its (anti) heroines as complex, vibrant women.”

Jessica Stone directs.

Kahn ends his esteemed STC tenure

with his staging of playwright Ellen McLaughlin’s adaptation of Aeschylus’ “The Oresteia” (April 30-June 2) at Sidney Harman Hall. This only surviving trilogy in Greek tragedy “chronicles a deluge of violence that can only be stopped when society peers into its own soul and sees the depths of its complicity.” Details at shakespearetheatre.org.

Signature Theatre (4200 Campbell Ave., Arlington) presents the world premiere of “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity” through April 7. Written by Heather McDonald and directed by Nadia Tass, it features out actor Holly Twyford and Felicia Curry in the story of three women trapped in a ravaged museum during a catastrophic hundred years war. It’s on them to decide what’s worth saving amid the chaos.

Next, it’s Signature’s out artistic director Eric Schaeffer’s production of “Grand Hotel” (April 2- May 19). With book by Luther Davis and music & lyrics by Robert Wright and George Forrest, the 1989 musical is based on Vicki Baum’s 1929 novel and play about love and intrigue set in luxe rooms between the wars. Baum’s story was also made into a 1932 MGM film starring Greta Garbo and Joan Crawford, among other screen luminaries.

Here, the talent-packed cast includes Helen Hayes Award-winning out actor Bobby Smith, Natascia Diaz as Grushinskaya, the Russian prima ballerina who wants to be left alone, and Kevin McAllister.

Later the world premiere of John Dempsey and Dana P. Rowe’s musical comedy “Blackbeard” (June 18-July 14) opens. Immersively set entirely on a pirate ship, the new work is staged by Eric Schaeffer and choreographed by out director/choreographer Matthew

As always, out actors galore slated to star in D.C.-area spring ’19 theater productions

By PATRICK FOLLIARD Gardiner. Details at sigtheatre.org.

Ford’s Theatre (511 10 St., N.W.) marks springtime with a production of genius out composer Stephen Sondheim’s dark comedy “Into the Woods” (March 5-May 22) based on classic fairytales. Singing Sondheim’s gorgeous Tony Award-winning score is a terrific cast that includes out actor Jade Jones as Little Red Ridinghood, and Evan Casey as the Baker and Awa Sal Secka as the Baker’s Wife. Peter Flynn directs. Details at fords.org.

At Studio Theatre (1501 14th St., N.W.), out director José Zayasis stages playwright Hilary Bettis’ “Queen of Basel” (March 6-April 7), an exploration of class, power and race set against Miami’s annual weeklong arts happening for the rich and/or fabulous. Details at studiotheatre.org.

Theater J (temporarily at Georgetown University’s Davis Performing Arts Center at 37th & O Streets, N.W.) presents “The Jewish Queen Lear” (March 13-April 17) staged by the company’s out artistic director Adam Immerwahr. A classic of Yiddish theater written in 1898, playwright Jacob Godin’s story focuses on Mirele Efros, a wealthy widow obsessed with finding the right wife for her son. Details at theaterj.org The Kennedy Center presents “The Watsons Go to Birmingham–1963” (March 15-24) with Justin Weaks. This musical adaptation of Christopher Paul Curtis’ celebrated book recounts an African-American family’s bonding experiences during a tense time in American history.

Also, at the Kennedy Center, for one night only on April 6, it’s “Triptych (Eyes of One on Another),” the first theatrical performance granted permission to explore and integrate the work of

Robert Mapplethorpe, the acclaimed and sometimes controversial gay photographer who died from AIDS in 1989. The piece brings together choral ensemble Roomful of Teeth, vocalistviolinist-composer Caroline Shaw, and the poetry of Patti Smith and Essex Hemphill, with projections of Mapplethorpe’s breathtaking images.

More Kennedy Center offerings include legendary out composer Jerry Herman’s chestnut “Hello, Dolly!” (June 4- July 7).

This time it’s the national tour of the revival that famously featured Bette Midler about a beloved matchmaker. Broadway legend Betty Buckley stars.

“Falsettos” (June 11-23), William Finn and James Lapine’s musical about a complicated New York City family, and in part how AIDS affects them, will be staged in an all new production from Lincoln Center. Details at kennedy-center.org At Keegan Theatre (1742 Church St., N.W.), “Hands on a Hardbody” (March 9-April 6) is up next. It’s a deceptively titled, Texas-set musical adapted by out playwright Doug Wright (“I Am My Own Wife”) from the samenamed 1997 documentary film about an unconventional endurance contest.

The large cast includes out actors Oscar Ceville and Patrck M. Doneghy. Details at keegantheatre.com.

D.C.’s company dedicated to the LGBT experience, Rainbow Theatre Project (D.C. Arts Center, 2438 18th St., N.W.), presents “Clothes for a Summer Hotel” (April 4-28), Tennessee Williams haunting work about the last days of F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda Fitzgerald. Out director Greg Stevens directs. Details at rainbowtheatreproject.org.

CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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STONEWALL AND THE LGBTQ RIGHTS MOVEMENT

Presented by

Additional support provided by Additional support provided by the Freedom Forum, Capital Pride Alliance, Washington Blade and the Stonewall Circle.

Flag: Loan, Mark Segal, LGBT pioneer, Publisher Philadelphia Gay News

M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 47

Stonewall milestone inspires spate of new books Dustin Lance Black, Jacob Tobia plan memoirs of growing up LGBT

By JAMES WELLEMEYER In “I.M.: A Memoir” (Flatiron Books, just released), American fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi shares his experiences growing gay in a Syrian Orthodox Jewish family, living through the AIDS epidemic and struggling with weight, insomnia and depression.

In their highly anticipated “Sissy: A Coming-of-Gender Story” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons, March 5), LGBT rights activist and host of MSNBC’s Queer 2.0 Jacob Tobia reflects on their relationship with gender from being labeled male at birth to identifying as genderqueer today.

“Love and Resistance: Out of the Closet into the Stonewall Era” (W. W. Norton & Company, March 5) brings together over 100 powerful photographs from the LGBT liberation movement, with a focus on queer activism in the ’60s and ’70s. Put together by Jason Baumann, Kay Tobin Lahusen and Diana Davies, the book will come out just in time for the 50th anniversary of Stonewall.

First released as a play at the Young Vic Theatre in London, Matthew Lopez’s “The Inheritance” (Faber & Faber, March 5) gives a glimpse into the lives young gay men living in New York City after the peak of the AIDS epidemic.

“When Brooklyn Was Queer: A History” (St. Martin’s Press, March 5) takes a new look at LGBT life in Brooklyn from the mid-1850s to modern day. Written by queer historian Hugh Ryan, the book explores LGBT history in New York beyond Greenwich Village, Harlem and the rest of Manhattan.

In “Real Queer America: LGBT Stories from Red States” (Little, Brown and Company, March 5), Daily Beast reporter Samantha Allen offers a glimpse into LGBT life in Red America. A trans woman who holds onto an undying love for “flyover country,” Allen shares the incredible stories of the activists and everyday Americans

who chose not to leave their homes for the coasts.

In “The Last 8” (Sourcebooks, March 5), debut YA author Laura Pohl tells the story of Clover Martinez, a bisexual aromantic girl and one of the few survivors of an alien invasion on Earth. After the invasion, Clover meets a group of other teens her age but suddenly becomes conflicted about her decision to join them when she learns they don’t want to fight back.

Award-winning playwright and debut author Mariah MacCarthy introduces us to Jenna Watson in her novel “Squad” (Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, March 12). A cheerleader whose life turns on its head when the girls she views as her best friends stop inviting her out with them, Jenna starts to date a trans boy and explore life beyond cheer.

Award-winning writer and former public school teacher Mathangi Subramanian provides a glimpse into queer life in India in her first work of literary fiction. “A People’s History of Heaven” (Algonquin, March 19) tells the story of a group of five girls — queer, trans or otherwise marginalized — who fight back against the government officials who want to tear down their homes in the 30-yearold slum they call Heaven.

In “Unbecoming: A Memoir of Disobedience” (Atria Books, March 26), former U.S. Marine Captain Anuradha Bhagwati reflects on her experience as a bisexual woman growing up with strict Indian parents and her fight that ultimately allowed women to serve in combat roles in the U.S. military.

In “This One Looks Like a Boy: My Gender Journey to Life as a Man” (Greystone Books, March 31), Canadian writer and former police officer Lorimer Shenher shares the story of his transition, from his gender dysphoria and struggles

with alcohol to his decision to be open about his identity and receive gender reassignment surgery in his 50s. “This One Looks Like a Boy” is Shenher’s second book, following “That Lonely Section of Hell: The Botched Investigation of a Serial Killer Who Almost Got Away.”

In “He Said, She Said: Lessons, Stories, and Mistakes from my Transgender Journey” (Harmony, April 2), famous beauty Youtuber Gigi Gorgeous shares the story of her transition, from her early years as a self-described “high school mean girl” to her decision to be open about her gender identity and sexuality.

Soraya Zaman’s “American Boys” (Daylight Books, April 2) showcases a visual representation of trans-masculine identity across the United States. With an introduction from trans porn star, director and icon Buck Angel, the book offers a new look at gender expression and what it means to be a man.

In “The Meaning of Birds” (HarperTeen, April 16), young adult author Jaye Robin Brown gives a glimpse into Jess’s world after the love of her life Vivi passes away. Jess abandons her plans to attend art school and finds some new friends as she processes her grief.

Gay screenwriter Dustin Lance Black won an Academy Award for his work on “Milk,” the 2008 biographical film that depicted the life of Harvey Milk. He also comes from a Mormon family that didn’t initially want to accept him. In “Mama’s Boy: A Story from Our Americas” (Knopf, April 30), he tells the story of his coming out and how his family remained close in the years following.

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, The New York Public Library put together “The Stonewall Reader” (Penguin Classics, April 30). With a forward from gay novelist Edmund White,

the book shares diary entries, literature, articles and more from the years preceding and directly following the uprising.

Debut author Arabelle Sicardi is giving LGBT kids a few icons of their own in “Queer Heroes” (Wide Eyed Editions, May 7). The children’s book shares the lives of 52 prominent LGBT figures throughout history, from Audre Lorde to Frida Kahlo.

Debut author Tanya Boteju’s “Kings, Queens and In-Betweens” (Simon Pulse, May 7) mixes drag, identity and selfdiscovery. In the novel, Nima Kumara-Clark grows bored with her life in Bridgeton and heads to the other side of town for a change in scene. She becomes wrapped up in a world of drag and learns more about herself than she expected.

The much-anticipated coffee table book “We Are Everywhere: Protest, Power and Pride in the History of Queer Liberation” (Ten Speed Press, May 7) takes a sweeping look at queer history from the pre-Stonewall era to modern day. Written by the creators of the widely popular @ lgbt_history Instagram account, Matthew Riemer and Leighton Brown, the book combines about 300 photographs with extensive historical narrative to provide a new and more comprehensive window into LGBT life and resistance.

In “Red, White & Royal Blue: A Novel” (St. Griffin’s Press, May 14), firsttime author Casey McQuiston tells the story of America’s First Son’s meeting with the Prince of Wales and the international ramifications of the love the two develop for each other.

In “Like a Love Story,” (June 4) Abdi Nazemian details the teenage years of Reza, an Iranian boy who moves to New York City in 1989. Reza begins to date a girl named Judy but soon realizes he must find a way out of their relationship when he falls for her best friend Art.

4 8 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

SPRING

Coming up at

2019

Redefining Nightlife on Rockville Pike

DAVID SEDARIS Wed, April 3

MS. LISA FISCHER & GRAND BATON

WITH THE NATIONAL PHILHARMONIC Sat, April 6

KRISTIN CHENOWETH Mon, April 8

LEWIS BLACK

THE JOKE’S ON US TOUR Sun, April 14

Upcoming Shows NICHOLAS RODRIGUEZ

{Broadway’s Leading Man}

THU, MARCH 14

CABARET AT AMP

LOSTON HARRIS

THE TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE CINE-CONCERT

FRI, MARCH 15

Thu, April 18

{Jazz Wonder}

Experience the animated French movie accompanied by the Oscarnominated score performed live.

ALAN CUMMING LEGAL IMMIGRANT Wed, April 24

and many more!

ROCHELLE RICE FRI, MARCH 22

PORTLAND CELLO PROJECT PERFORM RADIOHEAD’S OK COMPUTER SUN, MARCH 24

TINSLEY ELLIS & COCO MONTOYA {Blues Rock Titans}

TUE, MARCH 26

AMP Comedy Night

Eliot Chang

{Chelsea Lately, Comedy Central}

Fri, March 29

ANTONIO SÁNCHEZ & MIGRATION {Jazz Drum Machine}

THU, APRIL 4

GINA CHAVEZ

{Latin Pop Songstress}

SUN, APRIL 7

KYLE RIABKO

{Bacharach Reimagined}

THU, APRIL 11

CAROLINA EYCK

{Theremin + Voice} David Sedaris by Adam DeTour, Lisa Fischer

by Djeneba Aduayom, Kristin Chenoweth, Alan Cumming by Phillip Toledano, Lewis Black

STRATHMORE.ORG | 301.581.5100 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda, MD 20852

M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 49

FRI, APRIL 12

AMPbyStrathmore.com | NORTH BETHESDA, MD 20852 |

WHITE FLINT STATION

Smells like ‘Teen Spirit’ Superheroes (of course), live Disney, Elton John biopic among cinematic spring highlights

By BRIAN T. CARNEY

Top photo: JACK DYLAN GLAZIER and ZACHARY LEVI in ’Shazam!’ Photo by Steve Wilkie, DC Comics; courtesy Warner Bros. MAXINE PEAK in ‘Peterloo.’ Photo by Simon Mein; courtesy Amazon Studios

Now that the Oscars are over (and the polar vortex has passed), the spring thaw has come to D.C.’s movie theaters and new releases and fantastic festivals are in bloom.

The season gets off to a frightening start today with “Greta,” a stylish thriller written and directed by Neil Jordan (who won an Oscar for the LGBT classic “The Crying Game”). The dazzling Isabelle Huppert plays a lonely widow whose interest in her new friend (Chloë Grace Moretz) slowly turns sinister.

From March 1-10, the D.C. Independent Film Festival (dciff-indie. org) celebrates its 20th anniversary of bringing the most innovative independent films to Washington. This year’s slate includes several films highlighting the LGBT community, including “Transformistas,” about drag queens living in Cuba, and “WBCN and the American Revolution” about the famous underground radio station in Boston that produced the first gay and lesbian show on commercial radio.

March 1 also marks a somber cinematic milestone. Tyler Perry has announced that he’s hanging up his wig and retiring the character of Madea after her appearance in “A Madea Family Funeral.”

On March 15, writer/director Sebastián Lelio, creator of the Oscar-winning trans drama “A Fantastic Woman” and the lesbian drama “Disobedience,” returns

with “Gloria Bell,” a reworking of his 2013 Spanish language film. The movie stars Julianne Moore as an older woman searching for love in the dance clubs of Los Angeles. The supporting cast includes John Turturro, Brad Garrett, Sean Astin, Jeanne Tripplehorn and Holland Taylor.

Also slated for a March 15 release is “Giant Little Ones,” an intimate drama about coming out and discovering love. Franky Winter (Josh Wiggins) and Ballas Kohl (Darren Mann) have been best friends since childhood, but their relationship takes an unexpected turn during Franky’s wild 17th birthday celebration.

Maria Bello and Kyle MacLachlan (“Twin Peaks”) play Franky’s parents.

March 15 also marks the return of controversial queer photographer Robert Mapplethorpe to Washington.

Mapplethorpe’s provocative 1989 exhibition “The Perfect Moment” made headlines when the Corcoran Gallery of Art decided his prints were too hot to handle and cancelled the show. The new biopic “Mapplethorpe” stars Matt Smith (“Doctor Who” and “The Crown”) as the rebellious artist, with John Benjamin Hickey as his lover and patron Sam Wagstaff, Rotimi Paul as his lover and frequent model Ken Moody and Marianne Rendón as his lover and collaborator Patti Smith.

Two years ago, the multi-talented Jordan Peele scared audiences around the globe

with “Get Out,” his searing indictment of pious white liberalism. This year he returns on March 22 with the home invasion thriller “Us” starring Elisabeth Moss, Anna Diop, Lupita Nyong’o and Winston Duke.

On April 6, HBO premieres “Native Son,” a powerful indictment of systemic racism in America based on the classic novel by Richard Wright. The screenplay is

by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright SuzanLori Parks. The film is directed by renowned visual artist and first-time director Rashid Johnson and Ashton Sanders (“Moonlight”) plays Bigger Thomas.

The Annapolis Film Festival (annapolisfilmfestival.com) runs March 21-24. Filmfest D.C., the district’s international film festival, runs from April 25-May 5. The festival (filmfestdc.org) will include the local premiere of “D.C. Noir,” the latest film by crime novelist and D.C. native George Pelecanos.

Two great festivals open on May 8. The Maryland Film Festival (mdfilmfest.com) runs through May 12 in the revitalized arts district in downtown Baltimore. Running through May 26, the Eldavitch D.C.-JCC (edcjcc.org) is presenting JxJ an exciting new program which encompasses the Washington Jewish Film Festival and the Washington Jewish Music Festival.

Organizers have confirmed that “Rated LGBTQ,” a slate of queer movies, will still be part of the festival line-up.

Every month, Reel Affirmations brings great queer cinema to D.C. through its XTRA film series. This spring’s offerings include “Room to Grow” (March 22), “Tucked” (April 18) and “Transmilitary” (May 16). Starting in May, its monthly screenings will move to Landmark’s E Street Cinema. Full details can be found at (thedccenter.org/reelaffirmations).

On March 29, “The Brink,” a new documentary about conservative firebrand and former Trump advisor Steve Bannon opens. Director Alison Klayman, the youngest filmmaker included in the 2013 New York Times international list of “20 Directors To Watch,” also helmed “An Attack on Equality,” an examination of the rising number of hate crimes occurring in New York City.

The metro D.C. region is home of two great local arthouse cinemas: AFI Silver, located in downtown Silver Spring, and the Avalon, nestled in the city’s Chevy Chase neighborhood. Both present the latest indie releases, as well as classics from Hollywood and the global cinema, and both are great

supporters of LGBT filmmakers.

This spring, in addition to their regular programing, AFI Silver will host the Capital Irish Film Festival, the New African Film Festival and the Environmental Film Festival. As part of its Wednesday Signature Series, the Avalon will present “The Making of Montgomery Clift,” a documentary about the classic film star and queer icon on May 8. The screening will be followed by a Filmmakers Q&A. With the arrival of “Captain Marvel” (March 8), “Shazam” (April 9) and “Avengers: Endgame” (April 26), caped crusaders will be as thick as flies this spring. On the anti-hero side, “Hellboy” stomps into the cineplex on April 12.

On May 3, the entire family can enjoy an animated musical adventure in “Ugly Dolls.”

Molly and her friends love their life in Uglyville, where weird is celebrated and strange is special, but curiosity leads them to explore what lies outside their town. The amazing voice cast includes such LGBT heroes and allies as Kelly Clarkson, Nick Jonas, Wanda Sykes, Gabriel Iglesias, Emma Roberts, Blake Shelton, Pitbull and Janelle Monáe.

Also for the entire family, Disney presents live-action remakes of its animated classics “Dumbo” (March 29) and “Aladdin” (May 24).

May 10 brings the comedy “The Hustle.” Anne Hathaway and Rebel Wilson star as female scam artists who team up to take down the dirty rotten men who have wronged them.

Some of the other new spring releases include “The Hummingbird Project,” a high-stakes business thriller with Jesse Eisenberg, Alexander Skarsgård and Salma Hayek (March 15); Mike Leigh’s historic drama “Peterloo” (April 5); Elle Fanning singing in “Teen Spirit” (April 5); a remake of the Stephen King horror classic “Pet Semetary” (April 5); Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron in the comedy “Long Shot” (May 3); “Ask Dr. Ruth,” a documentary about the diminutive sex advisor (May 3); the biopic “Tolkien” with Lily Collins and Nicholas Hoult; and Octavia Spencer making her horror movie debut in “Ma” (May 29).

Finally, the spring film season comes to a fabulous finale on May 31 with the release of “Rocketman.” The movie is described as “an epic musical fantasy about the incredible human story of Elton John’s breakthrough years.” Taron Egerton stars as the flamboyant gay musician, Jamie Bell plays Bernie Taupin and Bryce Dallas Howard plays Elton’s mother.

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THE GLORY OF FR ANCE Sunday, March 10, 2019 | 4:30 PM Saint Luke Catholic Church, McLean, VA

Join us for our final concerts of the 2018–2019 season!

TICKETS: $15-$59.

GROUP DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE. ORDER YOUR TICKETS TODAY AT CITYCHOIR.ORG

The City Choir of Washington and Maestro Shafer transport you to France with a program including Fauré’s Cantique de Jean Racine, the Poulenc Gloria and the Duruflé Quatre Motets sur des thèmes grégoriens. Featuring acclaimed Metropolitan Opera soprano, Danielle Talamantes, this concert is part of the Music in McLean series.

BAROQUE AND BEYOND

Sunday, May 19, 2019 | 4:30 PM National Presbyterian Church, Washington, D.C. The City Choir of Washington concludes its twelfth season with one of the most popular choral works ever written: Mozart’s immortal Requiem. Maestro Shafer invites you to explore the baroque influences that shaped Mozart’s masterpiece, including Handel’s Messiah and the Uppsala Magnificat by German composer Heinrich Schütz. Schütz studied in Venice and took their poly-choral practices back to Northern Germany.

It is a thrilling and rarely-heard piece for three choirs and orchestra.

A fierce, funny, and shrewd indictment of the American prison system

WRITTEN AND PERFORMED

BY LIZA JESSIE PETERSON DIRECTED BY TALVIN WILKS

2018 Obie Award Winner, Best New American Play

BY RAJIV JOSEPH DIRECTED BY JOHN VREEKE

MAY 27 – JUNE 23

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2/25/19 2:16 PM

Small screen delights ‘American Gods,’ ‘Killing Eve,’ ‘Sabrina’ pepper TV season

By BRIAN T. CARNEY

Top photo: CAITY LOTZ as Sara Lance in ‘Legends of Tomorrow.’ Photo courtesy CW MICHELLE WILLIAMS and SAM ROCKWELL in ‘Fosse-Verdon.’ Photo courtesy FX

The spring television season includes some exciting new shows, some old favorites returning for a new season and some shows returning after their winter break.

The controversial HBO documentary “Leaving Neverland” explores allegations of sexual abuse made against Michael Jackson by James Safechuck and Wade Robson who were befriended by the pop star when they were boys. Despite a lawsuit filed by Jackson’s estate, HBO will air the doc as a two-part miniseries starting March 3.

Anarchic queer filmmaker Gregg Araki moves to the small screen with “Now Apocalypse” which premieres on STARZ on March 10. Known for the “Teen Apocalypse Trilogy (“Totally Fucked Up,” “The Doom Generation” and “Nowhere”), as well as the cult favorites “The Living End” and “Mysterious Skin,” the Japanese American writer/director has created a 10-episode comedy series that focuses on the sexual and romantic escapades of four friends in Los Angeles. The series center on Ulysses (Avan Jogia) who is not sure if he’s stumbled on a massive conspiracy or if he is just

paranoid from smoking too much weed.

NBC ups its representation game with the premiere of “Abby’s” on March 28. The series is about a bisexual ex-marine who runs an illegal neighborhood bar with very specific rules in her backyard. Abby will be played by out actress Natalie Morales, whose credits include playing Rosie Casals in “Battle of the Sexes.” In a fun twist, the series will be filmed outdoors in front of a live audience in a multi-camera format.

Snap your fingers and roll your hips for the dramatic entrance of “Fosse/Verdon” on FX on April 9. Directed by Thomas Kail (“Hamilton”), the series explores the tempestuous relationship between legendary choreographer Bob Fosse (played by Sam Rockwell of “Vice” and “Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri”) and his wife and muse Gwen Verdon (played by Michelle Williams of “Manchester by the Sea,” “My Week with Marilyn” and “Brokeback Mountain”).

Fosse and Verdon were married in 1960. They separated in 1971, but never divorced and worked together until his death in 1987.

“Catch-22,” Joseph Heller’s darkly

satirical novel about men and war, comes to life as a Hulu miniseries on May 17.

Christopher Abbott stars as the hapless bombardier Yossarian. The cast also includes Kyle Chandler, Hugh Laurie and George Clooney, who also served as executive director and directed some of the episodes.

Season one of “American Gods” surprised viewers with the graphic gay relationship between Salim (Omid Abtahi) and the Jinn (a mythic being of fire played

by Mousa Kraish). Season two of the series based on the novel by best-selling author Neil Gaiman, premieres on STARZ on March 10. Details are scarce, but the “star-crossed lovers” are expected to be regular characters.

“Queer Eye,” the award-winning reboot of “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” returns to Netflix on March 15.

The fifth and final season of “Jane the Virgin” will premiere on the CW on March 22. Loosely based on a Venezuelan telenovela, the parodic soap opera has included a number of LGBT characters, including Petra Solano and her latest love interest Jane “JR” Ramos.

Season two of “Killing Eve” premieres on BBC America on April 7. Sandra Oh recently won a Golden Globe for her performance as Eve Polastri, an MI5 officer who is tracking Villanelle (Jodie Comer), a psychopathic Russian assassin. The two women become obsessed with each other, both personally and professionally, and their complex lovehate relationship becomes both violent and erotic when they finally meet. Out actress Fiona Shaw plays Eve’s superior Carolyn Martens, head of the Russia section at MI5.

Season two of “9-1-1” returns to Fox on March 18. Co-created by the unstoppable team of Brad Falchuk, Tim Minear and Ryan Murphy (known for their work on “Glee,” “American Horror Story” and “Pose”), the show focuses on the intense personal and professional lives of first responders in Los Angeles. The show’s current LGBT characters include Aisha Hinds and Tracie Thoms as paramedic/ firefighter “Hen” Wilson and her wife Karen Wilson, a lesbian couple raising Hen’s son from a previous relationship.

Season four of “Legends of Tomorrow” returns to the CW on April 1. The timetraveling rag-tag team of heroes and villains trying to save planet earth is currently anchored by bisexual Captain Sara Lance (Caity Lotz), also known as White Canary.

After a holiday break (and a special Christmas episode), “The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina” returns to Netflix for season one, part two on April 5. Developed by openly gay writer Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa from his comic book novel of the same name, the show centers on Sabrina Spellman (Kiernan Shipka), a half-mortal, half-witch teenager fighting the evil forces that threaten her family. While not all of the show’s queer content has been embraced by LGBT critics, two queer characters have enchanted both critics and audience members.

Chance Perdomo plays Sabrina’s cousin Ambrose Spellman, a pansexual warlock from Britain who is Sabrina’s partner in crime. He’s been placed under house arrest by the Witches Council for trying to blow up the Vatican.

Non-binary actor Lachlan Watson plays Susie Putnam, a close friend of Sabrina who identifies as genderqueer and who has been assaulted by members of the high school football team. With Sabrina and other friends, Susie becomes a founding member of WICCA (the Women’s Intersectional Cultural and Creative Association).

Finally, Washingtonians recently got a sneak peek at season three of “The Handmaid’s Tale.” In a rather chilling juxtaposition, while President Trump was declaring a state of national emergency, the cast and crew of the award-winning show were filming on the National Mall. Scores of women dressed in the red robes of the Handmaids were clustered around the Tidal Basin and the monuments; shots of the Washington Monument will apparently be replaced by images of a giant cross, since the show is set in the dystopian theocratic regime of Gilead which was built on the ashes of the Unites States.

Despite the twists and turns of the second season, the entire principle cast is expected to return when “The Handmaid’s Tale” season three drops on Hulu on June 5.

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To gain the world, would you sell your soul?

MICHAEL TILSON THOMAS returns to the region with the San Francisco Symphony for a March 23 concert.

WPA file photo

Symphonies, opera, Gay Men’s Chorus and more on spring slate

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM

Faust March 16–30 | Opera House

Music by Charles Gounod / Libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe’s Faust: Part One Sung in French with projected English titles. Casting available at Kennedy-Center.org/wno

Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

Major support for WNO is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars.

David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of WNO.

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

WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.

WNO’s Presenting Sponsor

LGBT personnel in the classical arts tend to downplay their sexual orientations and gender identities. It’s usually not that anyone in those circles has the slightest issue with it — they tend to focus almost wholly on the art itself.

The personal travails of the artists — of seemingly endless interest to followers of pop culture figures — is almost wholly absent in the classical arts and LGBT thematic content remains rare.

That said, there are a few figures who are out. Openly gay musical director Michael Tilson Thomas will conduct The San Francisco Symphony on Saturday, March 23 at 8 p.m. at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.). They’ll perform Mozart’s “Violin Concerto No. 3” and Beethoven’s “Symphony No. 3 ‘Eroica.’” Tickets are $60-135 at washingtonperformingarts.org.

Washington National Opera, under lesbian leadership, presents “Eugene Onegin” March 9-29 and “Faust” March 1630. “Tosca” will be presented May 11-25.

Details at kennedy-center.org/wno.

Also of note, opera diva Jessye Norman will appear for a discussion of her career at the Thomas Jefferson Building (10 1st St., S.E.) on Thursday, May 16 at 7 p.m. in a presentation from the Performing Arts at the Library of Congress. It’s free and there are no tickets. Seating is firstcome, first-served. Look for the event on Facebook or eventbrite.com for details.

Young singers unspecified perform as classical divas Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price in “The Me I Want to Sing,” on Saturday, April 13 in the Family Theater at the Kennedy

Center. Tickets are $20 at kennedy-center.org.

Washington Concert Opera performs Rossini’s “Zelmira” on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m. at Linser Auditorium (730 21st St., N.W.).

Tickets are $40-110 at concertopera.org.

The Washington Bach Consort (under gay leadership) presents “Bach, Vivaldi & the Italian Influence” on Sunday, March 10 at 3 p.m. and “Sounds of Spring” on Friday, April 5 at 7 p.m.

Tickets are $10-69 at bachconsort.org.

Way more pop leaning but still of note, The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington will perform “Let Freedom Sing” on Saturday, March 16 at 4 and 8 p.m. at Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) with performances by black artists such as Prince, Whitney Houston, The Temptations, Duke Ellington and more. Tickets are $25-65.

GenOUT Chorus, Potomac Fever and Rock Creek Singers, smaller ensembles of the Gay Men’s Chorus, will perform in the Small Ensembles Extravaganza with songs from pop and Broadway at Theater of the Arts (4200 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Saturday, April 6.

The Chorus’s Spring Affair is Saturday, May 11. A Stonewall 50 concert and one-act musical “Quiet No More” will be performed at the Lincoln June 1-2. Details and tickets are gmcw.org.

Queer organist Cameron Carpenter plans a spring release of new album with the Berlin Concert Orchestra under the direction of Christoph Eschenbach featuring works by Rachmaninoff and Poulenc on the Sony Classical label. Its Carpenter’s first with orchestra and is slated for an April 5 release.

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D.C. jamboree LGBT potpourri

Standup acts, D.C.-based LGBT group events, benefits, ‘Ask Rayceen’ and more

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM Many upcoming events don’t fit in our regular spring arts categories. Here’s the catch all arranged chronologically.

“Haters Roast: the Shady Tour 2019” with “RuPaul’s Drag Race” alums is Friday, March 8 at Warner Theatre (513 13th St., N.W.). It’s sold out.

MIM Entertainment presents VAMP: an Exclusive Event for Her on Saturday, March 9 at 10 p.m. at XX+ Crostino (1926 9th St., N.W.). Tickets are $10 at eventbee.com.

Ladies of LURe’s BARE Military Appreciation Night is Saturday, March 9 at 10 p.m. at Cobalt (1639 R St., N.W.).

Admission is $7 before midnight or $10 after. Details on Facebook.

The Imperial Court of Washington presents Royal Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Casino Night on Saturday, March 9 at 8 p.m. at The Sphinx on K (1315 K St., N.W.). Its Imperial Crown Prince and Princess Ball is Saturday, March 23. A Little Bit Country Easter Show is Sunday, April 21 at 8 p.m. at Freddie’s (555 23rd St., Arlington, Va.).

Awwooo Fest is Saturday, May 11 at 4 p.m. at the Eagle (3701 Benning Rd. N.E.). Event prices vary. Details at imperialcourtdc.org.

Family Pride Weekend celebrates the opening of “Rise Up” is March 9-10 at The Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.).

Look for the event on Facebook for details.

Night OUT at the Wizards is Wednesday, March 13 at 7 p.m. at Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.). Tickets are $45. Details at teamdc.org.

Michelle Wolf plays The D.C. Improv Comedy Club (1140 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) March 14-17. Tickets are almost sold out for the entire run. Details at dcimprov-com.

Dappho presents Sunday Sessions: an (LGBT) Open Mic Night at XX+ Crostino (1926 9th St., N.W.) on Sunday, March 17 at 7 p.m. Tickets are $8 at eventbrite.com.

The National Cherry Blossom Festival runs with many events March 21-April 14.

Details at nationalcherryblossomfestival.org.

GLOE (GLBT Outreach & Engagement at the Edlavitch D.C.-JCC) will host Pride of Purim: GLOE Masquerade Party Saturday, March 23 at 7 p.m. at Mission Dupont (1606 20th St., N.W.). Its 12th annual National Rainbow Seder is

Sunday, April 14 at 5:45 p.m. at HRC Headquarters (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). Details at thejdc.convio.net.

The fifth annual Code Red V: Stigma Can’t Stop, an HIV benefit “with a fetishistic twist,” is Saturday, March 30 at 9 p.m. at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.).

Tickets are $15-20. Link is at the event’s Facebook page.

DCATS’ Trans Visibility Community Festival is Saturday, March 30 at 1 p.m. at Spaces (1140 3rd St., N.E.) with open mic, raffle, film screenings and art. Details at transvisibilityfestival.com.

“The Ask Rayceen Show” continues throughout spring with installments March 6 (season premiere), April 3 (mini ball) and May 1 (community forum) at 7 p.m. at HRC Equality Center (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). They’re free. Look for the event on Facebook for details.

Queer-helmed Church Night has its fifth anniversary event on Friday, April 5 at 9 p.m. at the Black Cat (1811 14th St., N.W.).

Look for the event on Facebook for details.

Capital Area Gay & Lesbian Chamber of Commerce usually holds its annual LGBT Mega Networking mixer in early April but members say they’re “on a delayed schedule” this year in search of a new venue since Town closed. An announcement is expected soon.

“BENT,” a new LGBT dance party is Saturday, April 6 at 11:30 p.m. at the 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.). Tickets are $15 at ticketfly.com.

Distrkt C Golden with DJ Paulo is Saturday, April 6 at 10 p.m. at Karma D.C. (2221 Adams Place N.E.). Tickets are $40 at distrktc.com.

The Victory Fund’s National Champagne Brunch is Sunday, April 7 at 11 a.m. at J.W. Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.). No ticket prices available at victoryfund.org as of this writing.

The National Association of Gay & Lesbian Real Estate Professionals has its LGBT Housing Policy Summit April 10-11 at HRC Headquarters (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.). Details at naglrep.com.

Pretty Boi Drag presents #OpenKingNight on Thursday, April 11 at 8 p.m. at Bier Baron Tavern (1523 22nd St.,

N.W.). Tickets are $10. Details on Facebook.

Equality Virginia’s 15th annual Commonwealth Dinner is Saturday, April 13 at the Greater Richmond Convention Center. Details at equalityvirginia.org.

CAMP Rehoboth Women’s Fest is April 11-14 in Delaware. Details at camprehoboth.com.

The Cherry Fund presents Cherrypop Weekend April 11-15 at various locations.

Tickets are $20-289 at eventbrite.com.

GLSEN’s National Day of Silence is Friday, April 12. Details at dayofsilence.org.

The Team D.C. Night of Champions Awards Dinner is Saturday, April 13 at Omni Shoreham Hotel (2500 Calvert St., N.W.) at 6 p.m. Tickets are $125 at eventbrite.com.

Food & Friends’ Dining Out for Life is Thursday, April 14. Find participating restaurants at diningoutforlife.com.

GLAA usually has its Distinguished Service Awards and 48th anniversary the third week in April but no details have been announced yet.

“Trans Issues are not Trans Issues” with Ava Pipitone, a discussion event, is Tuesday, April 16 at noon at Impact Hub Baltimore (10 E. North Ave., Baltimore). It’s free and open to the public. Look for the event on Facebook for details.

Awesome Con is April 26-28 at 801 Mt. Vernon Pl., N.W. Pride Alley returns.

Tickets are available in many packages at showclix.com.

Bill and Hill join up for “An Evening With the Clintons” on Saturday, April 27 at 7:30 p.m. at DAR Constitution Hall (1776 D St., N.W.). Tickets are $99-250 at Ticketmaster.

We the People and Us Helping Us are joining forces for a month-long series of events in the region devoted to “May Is? All About Trans: 31 Days Celebrating, Being, Living & Loving Transgender People” including a trans summit, trans awards dinner, mini ball for youth and more.

Look for the group on Facebook for details.

Randy Rainbow plays Warner Theatre (513 13th St., N.W.) on Friday, May 3. Tickets are $35.50-45 through eventticketscenter.com.

Rainbow Families has its 2018 Family Conference & Gathering on Saturday,

May 4 at 9 a.m. at Georgetown Day High School (4200 Davenport St., N.W.). Details at rainbowfamilies.org.

Gay Day at the Zoo is Sunday, May 5 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. at Smithsonian National Zoo (3001 Conncticut Ave., N.W.). Details at thedccenter.org.

“AC2: an Intimate Evening with Anderson Cooper and Andy Cohen” is Saturday, May 11 at the Hippodrome (12 N. Eutaw St.). Tickets are $93.50-137.50 at Ticketmaster.

CopCaks for a Cause 9 is Sunday, May 12 at 3 p.m. at UPROAR Lounge (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) for COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors) and the LGBT Fallen Heroes Fund. Tickets are $25 (wine/soda) or $40 (dessert, wine, soda and T-shirt).

Details at Facebook.

The 35th annual Helen Hayes Awards for Washington theater is Monday, May 13 at The Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.).

Details at theatrewashington.org.

Whitman-Walker Health’s Going the Extra Mile benefit is Wednesday, May 15 at City Winery (1350 Okie St., N.E.). Details at whitman-walker.org.

Capital Trans Pride is May 17-19.

Details at capitalpride.org.

API Pride (Asian/Pacific Islanders) is also May 17-19. No further details available. Check later at capitalpride.org for more.

D.C. Black Pride is, as always, Memorial Day Weekend and runs May 24-27. This year’s theme is Our Truths in Harmony. Details at dcblackpride.org.

Omega Entertainment runs events concurrently with Black Pride. Details at omegapartydc.com.

St.Thomas Episcopal Church consecrates its new building on Thursday, May 30 at 7 p.m.1517 18th St., N.W. with Bishop Mariann Budde, and Bishop Gene Robinson. Look for the event on Facebook for details.

Women’s Spoken Word FULL-STORE is Monday, June 3 at 7:30 p.m. at Busboys and Poets (location not specified). Check later at capitalpride.org for details.

The AIDS Walk & Run Baltimore is Sunday, June 9 (a month later this year) at 7 a.m. Details at chasebrexton.org.

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Coming Summer 2019

M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 57

Top photo: ROBYN plays The Anthem March 9 Photo courtesy AMP; SHAED is a D.C.-based band performing March 2. Photo by Shervin Lainez; courtesy Stunt Company; A drag bingo event for suicide prevention will be held in Baltimore March 14 Photo courtesy Joshua York Legacy Foundation.

Robyn performs sold-out show at the Anthem Swedish pop star Robyn performs a sold-out show at the Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.) on Saturday, March 9 at 7 p.m.

The tour is in promotion of Robyn’s eighth album “Honey,” which was released in 2018. House musician Channel Tres and British singer Kindness open the show.

Doors open at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are sold

out but can still be found on StubHub. For more details, visit theanthemdc.com.

Drag Bingo event for suicide prevention The Joshua York Legacy Foundation hosts Drag Queen Bingo for Suicide Prevention at Points South Latin Kitchen (1640 Thames St., Baltimore) on Thursday,

March 14 from 7-9 p.m.

The foundation aims to raise awareness and prevention through mental health care services at-risk groups such as the LGBT community and veterans. Drag queens will perform and there will be raffle baskets for sale. A portion of the food and drink sales between 7-9 p.m. will be donated to the Joshua York Legacy Foundation.

For more information, visit joshuayorkfoundation.org.

‘Let It Go’ singer Bay here March 8 LGBT ally James Bay brings his “Electric Light Tour” to the Anthem (901 Wharf St., S.W.) on Friday, March 8 at 8 p.m.

The British singer-songwriter is known for his hit singles “Let It Go,” from his debut album “Chaos and the Calm” and “Peer Pressure” featuring Julian Michaels. Singer Noel Kahan opens the show. Tickets range from $45-75. Doors open at 6:30 p.m.

For more details, visit theanthemdc.com.

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TODAY

Newseum commemorates Stonewall with ‘Rise Up’ exhibit The Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) debuts its new exhibit “Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement” on Friday, March 8.

“Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement,” commemorates the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots, which took place in June 1969. The exhibit showcases the events at Stonewall Inn and how that birthed the LGBT rights movement.

The exhibit will be on display through Dec. 31 and will feature speaking engagements with journalists, authors, politicians and more. Admission is $24.95 plus tax for adults (19-64), $19.95 plus tax for seniors (65 and older), $14.95 plus tax for youth (7-18) and free for children under six.

For more information, visit newseum.org.

D.C. Front Runners host a happy hour at Exiles Bar D.C. (1610 U St., N.W.) this evening at 6 p.m. Friends and interested runners are invited to join. For more details, search “DC Front Runners Happy Hour” on Facebook.

The Lodge (21614 National Pk., Boonsboro, Md.) hosts Miss Lodge 2019 Diva Renaissance Pageant tonight from 8:30 p.m.-2 a.m. ChiChi Ray Colby, Brooke Lane. Araya Sparxx, Ashley Bannks, Stephanie Michaels and Sasha Renee will perform. Truly Fabu and Ingenue will host the pageant. Doors open at 8:30 p.m. and the pageant starts at 9:30 p.m. The dance floor opens at midnight with music from DJ Kuhmeleon. For more information, visit facebook.com/thelodgemd.

“Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness performs his stand-up comedy show “Road to Beijing” at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $39-175.For more details, visit kennedy-center.org.

Let’s Go Play hosts Baltimore Pup Night at Flavor (15 E Centre St., Baltimore) tonight from 9 p.m.-1:30 a.m. DJ Pup Ultra will play music for the night. Pup Thunder will give demos. There will also be a Doggy Diner and Jell-O shots. Attendees must be 19 and over or 18 with a college ID. Cover is $10. For more details, visit facebook. com/letsgoplay93.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Woof Happy Hour and Porn Star Bingo today at 5 p.m. Eddie Danger hosts the party. There will be free pizza at 7:30 p.m. Drink specials include $4 rail drinks, $4 draft beers and more. No cover before 8:30 p.m. For more details, visit dceagle.com.

Saturday, March 2 SHAED performs at 9:30 Club (815 V St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m. The D.C.-based band consists of members Chelsea Lee and twin brothers Spencer and Max Ernst, who is gay. Their single “Trampoline” was recently used in Apple’s MacBook Air commercial.

JP Saxe opens the show. Tickets are $18.

For more details, visit 930.com.

“Queer Eye” star Jonathan Van Ness brings his stand-up comedy show “Road

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to Beijing” to the Hippodrome Theatre at the France-Merrick Performing Arts Center (12 North Eutaw St., Baltimore) tonight at 7 p.m. Tickets range from $55-149. For more information, visit france-merrickpac.com.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Daddy, a men’s jock and underwear party, tonight 8 p.m.-4 a.m. DJ Strike Walton Stone and DJ Dean Douglas will play music. Bryan Thompson will gogo dance for the night. General admission tickets are $10. VIP meet and greet tickets are available. For more details, visit dceagle.com.

The Wharf (690 Water St., S.W.) hosts a Mardi Gras celebration today from 2-6 p.m. There will be a NOLA-inspired parade down Wharf Street, a dance party with live music at District Pier, arts and crafts, activities and a fireworks finale.

Admission is free. For more information, visit facebook.com/thewharfdc.

Sunday, March 3 Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) has a drag brunch today with shows at 10:30 a.m. and 1 p.m. Drag entertainers will perform as Lady Gaga, Beyonce, Pink and more. Tickets are $41.91 and include an all-you-can-eat buffet and one mimosa or bloody Mary. For more details, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

Monday, March 4 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours for the senior LGBT community this morning from 10 a.m.-noon. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, March 5 Fleetwood Mac performs at Capitol One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) tonight at 8 p.m. Tickets range from $69.50-199.50.

For more details, visit ticketmaster.com.

Republic (6939 Laurel Ave., Takoma Park, Md.) hosts Alegre Happy Hour, an

LGBT happy hour, from 5-7 p.m. For more information, visit republictakoma.com.

Wednesday, March 6 D.C. Fray hosts Men Seeking Men Speed Dating at Pitchers (2317 18th St., N.W.) tonight from 7-10 p.m. This speed dating event is for gay men in their 20s and 30s. There will be happy hour drink specials until 10 p.m. and a chance to win raffle prizes. No dress code. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit dcfray. com/events.

Bookmen D.C., an informal gay men’s literature group, discusses “Very Recent History: An Entirely Factual Account of a Year (c. AD 2009) in a Large City” by Choire Sicha at the Cleveland Park Library (3310 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m.

All are welcome. For more information, visit bookmendc.blogspot.com.

The Job Club, a weekly job support program, meets at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) today at 6 p.m. The group works to improve self confidence and productivity in job searching and networking. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

Thursday, March 7 Le Kon Mexican Restaurant (3227 Washington Blvd., Arlington, Va.) hosts its weekly Pride Night today from 6-9 p.m.

15 percent of all bar proceeds will be donated to NOVA Pride. For more details, visit novapride.org.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts Blackout Thursdays tonight from 9 p.m.-3 a.m. Drink specials include $2 off all drinks, $10 bottomless Bud and Bud Lights and $12 bottomless premium drafts. Guys in harnesses, jocks and underwear will receive $3 rail and domestic drinks. For more information, visit dceagle.com.

A support group for the Asian and Pacific Islander Queer Community meets at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) tonight from 7-8 p.m. The group is co-sponsored by the Asian Pacific Islander Queer Society D.C. and Asian Queers United for Action. For more details, visit thedccenter.org.

This Week in the Arts provided by CultureCapital.com

Maria Naidu. Mar 2-Mar 3. Dance Place. danceplace.org.

MUSIC

Confection Mar 4-Mar 24. Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

Third Rail Projects’ newest immersive experience, Confection, is a rollicking rumination on opulence, inequity, and teeny-tiny desserts. In this 45-minute experience, audiences are granted exclusive access to the Folger’s magnificent Paster and Sedgwick-Bond Reading Rooms, with a performance that winds its way through these massive and ornate spaces, and are invited to savor bite-sized delights designed by local pâtissiers.

WORLD STAGES: Cirkus Cirkör: Limits Mar 6-Mar 9. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

“Boundaries are meant to be crossed. Limits are meant to be exceeded!” From Tilde Björfors and Sweden’s Cirkus Cirkör, Limits will turn perspectives on their heads.

Mark Morris Dance Group Mar 1-Mar 2. Mason’s Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.

Mark Morris Dance Group (MMDG), one of the most revered contemporary dance companies performing today, returns to their Northern Virginia home at the Center.

This influential dance company performs to live music by the MMDG Music Ensemble in a diverse program that includes The Trout, a brand new work set to music from Schubert’s Trout Quintet, and another of Morris’ newest works, Numerator.

Transformistas Mar 6. DCIFF at HRCF. dciff-indie.org.

Transformistas tells the story of how a group of drag queens carved out a space for the LBGTQ community in Cuba, against all odds, at a time when performing in drag was illegal and homosexuality was denounced as a product of capitalism. In the face of violent state persecution, when HIV positive people were incarcerated in sanatoriums, Transformistas is a story of sacrifice, resilience and commitment to the art form of drag.

PHOTO COURTESY OF FOLGER THEATRE

THEATRE Admissions. Thru Mar 10. Queen of Basel.

Mar 6-Apr 7. Studio Theatre. studiotheatre.org.

Ain’t Misbehavin’: The Fats Waller Musical Show. Thru Mar 10. Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. Thru Apr 7. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

American Girl Live. Mar 3. Strathmore. strathmore.org.

Bright Star Theatre: George Washington Carver. Mar 2. National Theatre. thenationaldc.org.

The Old Man, the Youth, and the Sea. Thru Mar 3. GALA Hispanic Theatre. galatheatre.org.

Nell Gwynn. Thru Mar 10. Folger Theatre. folger.edu.

Once. Thru Mar 10. Oil. Thru Mar 31. Olney Theatre. olneytheatre.org.

Shear Madness. Thru Jun 19. Kennedy Center. shearmadness.com.

DANCE Dances from Sweden and Israel. Mar 1. Instastory. Mar 2. Proud Outcasts: Journey of the Gypsy Soul. Mar 2.

Flamenco y Más. Mar 2. Fluid. Mar 3. Leather, Sand, Metal: An Audible Exploration of Tap Dance. Mar 3. Atlas. atlasarts.org.

Offering: The Music of Gil Scott-Heron and Brian Jackson. Mar 1. Colors of the World. Mar 1. Singer-songwriter Emily Henry in Performance. Mar 1.

Clara Delfina. Mar 1. Duke Ellington’s Neighborhood. Mar 2. Capital City Symphony presents The Lady Quartet.

Mar 3. Atlas. atlasarts.org.

Bitter Dose Combo. Mar 1. Arlington Cultural Affairs at Columbia Pike Branch Library. arlingtonarts.org.

Eschenbach conducts Haydn & Bruckner. Mar 7-Mar 9. NSO at Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Interference Concert. Mar 7. AU Museum at the Katzen. american.edu.

Kronos Quartet. Mar 2. Washington Performing Arts at Sixth & I. washingtonperformingarts.org.

Noah Getz and Friends Absolute Art and Jazz between the Wars. Mar 3. National Gallery of Art. nga.gov.

NSO: Shaham & Mozart. Thru Mar 2.

Fortas Chamber Music: Shai Wosner and Orion Weiss. Mar 5. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Rosanne Cash & Band. Mar 1. Rain: A Tribute To The Beatles. Mar 2. Strathmore. strathmore.org.

Sir András Schiff, piano. Mar 5. Steven Isserlis, cello & Connie Shih, piano.

Mar 6. Washington Performing Arts at Strathmore. washingtonperformingarts.org.

Téada. Mar 2. BlackRock. blackrockcenter.org.

Tim Whalen Quintet. Mar 2. Arts on the Green at Arts Barn. gaithersburgmd.gov.

MUSEUMS AU Museum at the Katzen. Michael B. Platt + Carol A. Beane: Influences and Connections. Thru Mar 17. Nancy at Ninety: A Retrospective of Form and Color.

Thru Mar 17. american.edu.

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

Thru Mar 24. societyofthecincinnati.org.

Folger Shakespeare Library. First Chefs: Fame and Foodways from Britain to the Americas. Thru Mar 31. folger.edu.

Library of Congress. Baseball Americana.

Thru Jun 29. loc.gov.

National Gallery of Art. Dawoud Bey: The Birmingham Project. Thru Mar 17. In the Library: The Evans-Tibbs Archive of African American Art. Thru Apr 12. nga.gov.

National Geographic. Queens of Egypt.

Mar 1-Sep 2. nglive.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts.

Ambreen Butt—Mark My Words. Thru Apr 14. New York Ave Sculpture Project. Thru Sep 20. nmwa.org.

Smithsonian Anacostia Museum. A Right to the City. Thru Apr 20. anacostia.si.edu.

Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. The REDress Project. Mar 1-Mar 31. The Great Inka Road: Engineering an Empire. Thru Jun 1. americanindian.si.edu.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian.

Black Out: Silhouettes Then and Now. Thru Mar 10. Orchids: Amazing Adaptations.

Thru Apr 28. npg.si.edu.

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

Trailblazing: 100 Years of Our National Parks. Thru Mar 3. postalmuseum.si.edu.

GALLERIES Atlas. Art Activation: The Immersive Quilt.

Thru Mar 3. atlasarts.org.

DC Arts Center. Lush: Reinvention Wayson R. Jones. Thru Apr 7. dcartscenter.org.

Del Ray Artisans. For The Artist Art Exhibit.

Mar 1-Mar 31. delrayartisans.org.

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

From Architect to Artist: Public Art by Charles Bergen, AIA. Thru Mar 29. aiadac.com. gallery neptune & brown. Jowita Wyszomirska: The Distance Of Blue. Thru Mar 9. galleryneptunebrown.com.

Glen Echo Park. A Singular Vision of Outer Cape Cod: Catherine Hess. Mar 2-Mar 30.

Landscape and Memory, An Elemental Journey: Robert Devers. Mar 2-Mar 31.

Voyages: Travel Photography by Michael Horan. Mar 2-Mar 31. glenechopark.org.

Hill Center. Hill Center Galleries Regional Juried Exhibition. Thru Mar 2. hillcenterdc.org.

JCCNV. The Norman and Jane Rosenthal Collection. Thru Mar 27. jccnv.org.

Korean Cultural Center DC. Painted in Light: Digital Media Artist HyeGyung Kim Exhibits a Virtual Canvas in The Culture of Time and Space. Thru Apr 22. koreaculturedc.org.

Takoma Park Community Center. The Beauty of Decay Art Exhibition. Thru Mar 6. takomaparkmd.gov.

Waverly Street Gallery. Waverly Street Gallery Invitational Exhibition. Thru Mar 2.

Unstuck in Space and Time: An Annotated Exhibit by Jeffrey Human. Mar 3-Apr 6. waverlystreetgallery.com.

Zenith Gallery. Love in all Mediums. Thru Mar 23. zenithgallery.com.

Zenith Sculpture Space. Women who Work, Care, and Create. Thru Apr 13. zenithgallery.com.

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

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SAGI KRISPIN (left) and JOHN TUSTIN. Photos courtesy the subjects

Pop-and-pop business

BBQ Bus Smokehouse is gay-owned and operated

By EVAN CAPLAN

When you’re named for a certain revolutionary, there might be some expectations. Che Ruddell-Tabisola just may be living up to them.

Ruddell and his husband Tadd run BBQ Bus Smokehouse (5830 Georgia Ave., N.W.) in Brightwood, named for their food truck (BBQ Bus) that launched them into mobile food fame.

They still operate the truck, but concentrate on their brick-and-mortar shop that opened in 2017. The store still offers popular truck items but has a bigger kitchen and expanded menu that allows them to get creative with their meats.

It also has a mission, Che says: “to nourish and to gather.”

Unsurprisingly, there’s more to the men behind the sauce.

Che personifies lifelong activism. He wrote his first petition in fifth grade and moved to Brussels to pursue a degree in international conflict. Later landing in Washington, he worked at nonprofits like Human Rights Campaign and Freedom to Marry. It was then that he and Tadd got married and combined their names.

Tadd, for his part, has plenty of cooking in his 23andMe results. While Che brings the signs, Tadd grew up at his grandfather’s side at the family restaurant in Florida.

Restless in his day job in tech in 2008, Tadd decided to enter culinary school. To practice, he bought his own smoker, set up in the couple’s backyard where they would decamp and invite neighbors.

More passionate about cooking than cubicles, the two planned to open an eatery, but could not attract enough funding.

Instead, on April 1, 2011, they threw open the doors of the BBQ Bus food truck.

Food trucking at the time was not easy. Haphazard enforcement burdened entrepreneurs, discouraging new

operations. The couple quit their jobs to focus on the truck full-time, but the truck itself soon became the platform for additional activism.

Che sensed the need for a stronger food truck community. Standing on his experience in organizing, he connected with other operators.

“In LGBT advocacy, the idea of coming out is central,” Che says. “I took the same approach to food trucking.”

Che soon helmed the DMV Food Truck Association, turning it into a true D.C. lobbying and organizing effort. In its outreach, Che said that he “put the face to the truck” to tell the story of the people crafting the meals that caused lines to snake around D.C.’s parks and squares.

When BBQ Bus opened, it was subject to random checks, forced to run without clear guidelines. For two years, Che toiled, organized and lobbied with the association.

Food trucks were a disruptor in the foodservice industry, he said, encountering resistance from traditional and chain food purveyors.

Food trucks were the pre-Postmates, Che says.

“Trucks were really the first to offer food where and when you wanted it. It was less about the in-store experience and more about the service and the food.”

In 2013, Che and his unified food truckers found success. They persuaded local authorities to pass a series of regulations that would allow the industry to flourish. “These regulations in 2013 weren’t perfect, but they worked,” he says.

“I remember my first job — it was the principles and work ethic that I took with me and made an impression, and that’s what we did with the truck and now with the Smokehouse.”

Back on the truck, Tadd oversaw the recipes, many of which originated from his family’s diner. The pork (locally sourced, of course) is pulled by hand, and workers ensure to slowly and painstakingly fold the beans to each dish so they maintain their integrity. The couple smokes their meat over a proprietary fruit- and nut- tree wood blend that Tadd created, sourced from one farm in Maine.

The BBQ Bus may be most famous for its sauces, of which there are more than 30. During the R&D phase, the couple numbered each sauce as it was created. They found success in Sauce 5, which is now the most popular. Only one sauce bears a real name: Georgia Avenue Gold, in honor of the shop’s location.

Che realized that opening the BBQ Bus and taking the helm of the association was his calling at the time. Today, he provides a place for his employees to be themselves, and most of the staff hails directly from the local neighborhood. “It may seem trite, but what we do is give people a reprieve,” Che says.

Though no longer officially in advocacy, Che maintains a close relationship with the communities he’s led. He hosts events with Republic Restoratives, the lesbian-owned distillery, and cook up a storm for special events and weddings, same-sex or otherwise.

Che and Tadd are still disruptors, but today, their vision is as welcoming as it is creative. They strive to be “woke and aware progressive business owners. We celebrate people as who they are.”

“This is a pop-and-pop business,” Che says. “There’s no question about that.”

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A League of Her Own Patrons enjoyed a night out at A League of Her Own on Saturday.

Washington Blade photos by Molly Byrom

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Pride Can Design Contest Finalist Voting!

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The power of paint color Neutrals, pastels and bold shades can evoke range of feelings

By VALERIE M. BLAKE When I grow up, I want to be the person who names paint colors.

Each year, Pantone announces its color of the year. This year, it’s Living Coral, which Pantone describes as “an animated, life-affirming shade of orange, with golden undertones.” I really don’t know what that means, but it suggests either a jaundiced carrot or a certain, diaper-clad balloon originating in the United Kingdom.

Sherwin Williams also participates in this “name the new color” game. For 2019, their color is Cavern Clay, a “warm terracotta color with ancient, elemental roots…that is both casual and refined.” I’m not sure how to juxtapose ancient, casual, and refined but in comparing the Pantone color to the Sherwin Williams color, it would appear that Sherwin Williams just copied Pantone’s homework.

Last year’s Pantone color, Ultra Violet, was touted as “a dramatically provocative and thoughtful purple shade that communicates originality, ingenuity, and visionary thinking that points us toward the future.” Really? That sounds more like a job description for a Fortune 500 company executive than a color.

Sherwin Williams followed Pantone’s lead again in 2018 with a similarly dramatic color, Oceanside, that they said, “represents the growing desire for color that is both accessible and elusive and… offers a sense of the familiar with a hint of the unknown.” This is my first experience with a passive aggressive paint color.

Ace Hardware’s Clark and Kensington paint plays it safe in 2019 with Pineapple Cream Granita, a light yellow that’s sort of

Pantone’s color of the year is ‘Living Coral.’

Photo by efetova; Photo courtesy of Bigstock

a cross between Haagen Dazs Pineapple Coconut ice cream and lemon sherbet. I learned something new when I Googled granita, which Wikipedia describes as a semi-frozen dessert that originated in Sicily, made from sugar, water and various flavorings. I don’t know whether to use this paint on my walls or eat a pint of it while binge watching Schitt’s Creek on Netflix.

Behr, the signature brand of Home Depot, has named Blueprint as its 2019 color and describes it as “a dark, rich, complex color.” That sounds like one of my exes, except for the rich part.

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Dutch Boy gives us Garden Patch, which is a light green as its name implies, while Benjamin Moore’s 2019 offering is Metropolitan, yet another one of the 50 shades of gray. Aren’t we getting tired of gray yet?

Valspar, which can be found at Lowe’s, takes color naming to the max with 12 trending colors for 2019 that “take you on a journey to new ideas and inspired style.”

Examples include Blushing Bride, Seattle Haze, and Spring Squash (the gourd, not the sport).

Whether you use bold colors, pastels,

or neutrals on your walls, experts in the psychology of color maintain that different hues can affect your mood. For example, interior designers will tell you that red in a dining room promotes excitement and hunger while cool blues provide a calming atmosphere for a bedroom.

According to the five elements of feng shui, fire colors such as red, orange and purple will rejuvenate both your career and your sexual energy. Beiges and tans are among the earth tones that stabilize relationships and promote good health.

Metallics (there’s that gray again) promote clarity and precision.

Water is represented by (you guessed it) shades of blue, but black can also play a role in creating harmony. Both water elements and the browns and greens of the wood element are said to stimulate wealth and prosperity.

Psychology and feng shui aside, I have a vision of people sitting around a table wearing green eyeshades and shouting out suggestions of paint color names like the guys pitching slogans in “Black-ish.”

If I were to join them, I might suggest the following colors.

Maroon Five – combining the throaty voice of a full-bodied wine with the heat and complexity of a habanero pepper.

Crystal City – a metallic silver paint that twinkles like a glass menagerie in a starlit mini-Manhattan. (Available soon on Amazon.com.)

My favorite, however, is Scarlett O’Hara, a color that is already offered by Pratt and Lambert Paints. Use it in your dining room and, as God is my witness, you will never go hungry again.

Valerie M. Blake is a licensed Associate Broker in D.C., Maryland and Virginia and Director of Education & Mentorship at RLAH Real Estate. Call or text her at 202-2468602, email her via DCHomeQuest. com, or follow her on Facebook at TheRealst8ofAffairs.

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BOOK & BAKE SALE MARCH 1-3 at National United Methodist Church 3401 Nebraska Ave. NW. features thousands of books, CDs, DVDs, vinyl records, well organized and at great prices.

Friday 9 am to 8 pm, Saturday 8 am to 6 pm, Sunday 9 to 11 am (Mega Clearance Sale!).

Credit Cards Accepted. Check out our rare book section. For more information, please see https://nationalchurch.org/ booksale.

LOOKING FOR COUPLES - MET VIA BLADE CLASSIFIEDS On the occasion of our 50th Anniversary year, the Blade is looking for couples to profile who met via Blade classified ads and are still together. If interested, please contact Features Editor, Joey DiGuglielmo at: joeyd@ washblade.com or (202) 731-0829.

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.

DOCTORS / HEALTH CARE SVCS. LOOKING FOR A NEW DOCTOR:

I’m searching for a new primary care physician. I am a gay man in my late 50s. I live in northern Virginia. I have CareFirst, but I can change this in the next open season if I need to. I’d like to find a doctor who is gay or gayfriendly, and who might be my doctor for the next 30 years or so. Email: liampatrickmiller@ yahoo.com.

EMPLOYMENT 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.

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

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.

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.

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

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

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

6 8 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

DEADLINES

SHARE ADS ARE FREE.

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

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

HANDYMAN BRITISH REMODELING HANDYMAN Local licensed company with over 25 years of experience. Specializing in bathrooms, kitchens & all interior/exterior repairs.

Drywall, paint, electric & wallpaper.

Trevor 703-303-8699.

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.

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

SHARE ADS ARE FREE

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

Playmates and soul mates...

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

Washington:

202-448-0824 PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

BEACHES

MOVERS

THE LEWES HOUSE- Perfect location - beach, dining, shops!

Clean boutique accommodations with roof top deck and much more - BOOK NOW - theleweshouse. com, Facebook, VRBO, Air B&B.

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

SHARE / DC CAPITAL HILL ROOMMATE 1400 F Street NE. Unfurnished room $600.00 / month, plus utilities. One month sec. deposit. No drugs, no pets. Avail to see Thurs & Sundays.

Call Tomas 202-397-7132.

M AR CH 01, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 69

BODYWORK THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue.

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

BLONDE GOOD LOOKING 5’11” 165 lbs, 32” waist, well endowed. Deep Tissue, oils or lotions. Call 703-599-2668 ask for Eli.

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7 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 1 , 2 0 1 9

6 uniquely furnished guest rooms w/ baths Includes 3-course gourmet breakfast with your choice of entrĂŠe.

Gay-owned and operated, welcoming the LGBTQ Community, Friends, and Family.

Dog-friendly with on-site dog sitting available Special Event Space Available

...more than just a place to sleep For information or reservations: 410-822-0605 info@hummingbirdinneaston.com www.HummingbirdInnEaston.com

14 N. Aurora St., Easton, MD 21601

Located in Easton’s downtown historic district, visit local boutiques and restaurants, and celebrate the arts at our galleries, museums, theatre, and year-round festivals.

The Trippe Gallery Photographs Paintings Sculpture 23 N Harrison Street Easton 410-310-8727

thetrippegallery.com y y.com

by Zemma Mastin

St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 17, 2019 | 5:30 p.m.

SIGNATURE EVENT

To learn more, visit us online at

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