Washingtonblade.com, Volume 50, Issue 10, March 8, 2019 by Washington Blade

Leonard Fink Photography, LGBT Community Center

MA RCH 08, 2019 • VOLUME 50 • I S S UE 10 • WA S HI N GTONB LAD E.CO M

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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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VOLUME 50 ISSUE 10 ADDRESS

PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE

The cover photo is from the 1973 Christopher Street Parade featuring Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. It is a part of the Newseum exhibit ‘Rise Up’ opening this weekend.

Looking back: 50 years of the Blade

Casa Ruby brings 15 LGBT

Stonewall-themed exhibit

migrants to D.C.

Queery: Dana Price

D.C. gay bar Cobalt closes after

GMCW pays homage to

20-year run 11 12

Arts & Culture

ofﬁce in Fairfax

‘Vanity Fair’ actor on stage life

Injectable, long-acting PrEP

as gay, disabled 38

Trump global plan to decriminalize homosexuality ﬁnds fans at CPAC

African-American culture

Gay campaign strategist runs for

could be next in combating HIV 13

Newseum unveils ‘Rise Up’

At last, Marvel showcases a female hero

Scrutiny over 2020 hopefuls’

Trans athlete: an advocate and a competitor

remarks on anti-LGBT Pence

Coping with an alcoholic partner

In ﬁrst, trans troops testify on

Zodiac at Freddie’s

Capitol Hill

Tell me something...

Cannabis Culture

Viewpoint

about beach living 46

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. The editors reserve the right to accept, reject or edit any submission. A single copy of the Washington Blade is available from authorized distribution points, to any individual within a 50-mile radius of Washington, D.C. Multiple copies are available from the Washington Blade office only. Call for rates. If you are unable to get to a convenient free distribution point, you may receive a 52-week mailed subscription for $195 per year or $5.00 per single issue. Checks or credit card orders can be sent to Phil Rockstroh at prockstroh@ washblade.com. Postmaster: Send address changes to the Washington Blade, PO BOX 53352 Washington, DC 20009. The Washington Blade is published weekly, on Friday, by Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. Individual Subscriptions are $195 per year for 52 issues (only $3.75 per issue mailed to you USPS). Rates for businesses/institutions are $450 per year. Periodical postage paid at Washington, D.C., and additional mailing offices. Editorial positions of the Washington Blade are expressed in editorials and in editors’ notes as determined by the paper’s editors. Other opinions are those of the writers and do not necessarily represent the opinion of the Washington Blade or its staff. To submit a letter or commentary: Letters should be fewer than 400 words; commentaries should be fewer than 750 words. Submissions may be edited for content and length, and must include a name, address and phone number for verification. Send submissions by e-mail to knaff@washblade.com.

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In 1989, 2-bedroom, 2-bath townhomes for $120,000! The old real estate ads in the Blade are endlessly entertaining. If you were smart enough to buy in the ‘80s, then you probably appreciate them more than if you didn’t. In this ad, a reminder that 30 years ago, a two-bedroom, two-bath townhome at Michigan and North Capitol streets could be had for $120,000. And a one-bedroom loft for just $93,750. That includes free off-street parking, security, a pool and more.

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. 0 6 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 8 , 2 0 1 9

Thank you to our founding sponsors and partners of the Washington Blade’s 50th anniversary year.

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Casa Ruby brings 15 LGBT migrants to D.C.

DANICA ROEM.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

LGBT refugees from Central America speak with Congresswoman ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON (D-D.C.) at Casa Ruby on March 5.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

A group of 15 LGBT migrants from Central America who are seeking asylum in the U.S. are receiving housing and other assistance from Casa Ruby. Casa Ruby CEO Ruby Corado last week traveled to San Antonio to meet the group of migrants from El Salvador, Honduras and Nicaragua who had just been released from the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Corado, who was born in El Salvador, then drove the migrants to D.C. A minister in Houston brought the migrants clothes and cooked them breakfast at her home. The migrants — who are seeking asylum in the U.S. — arrived in D.C. on Monday. Congresswoman Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.); Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; Jackie Reyes, director of the Mayor’s Office of Latino Affairs; Rev. Thomas Bowen, director of the D.C. Office of Religious Affairs; Bishop Allyson Abrams of Empowerment Liberation Church in Northeast D.C. and other local activists met with the migrants on Tuesday at Casa Ruby. “You will find people from your country … you will find them living here among us,” said Norton. She also invited the migrants to share their stories with her. “It’s one thing for us to talk to you,” said Norton. “Because I represent you now, I need to hear from some of you before I go back to the House of Representatives.” Rampant violence and poverty in Central America — Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala in particular — has prompted tens of thousands of migrants to travel to the U.S. and Mexico over the last two years. Violence from gang members, police officers and family members and a lack of employment opportunities are among the factors that have prompted LGBTI migrants to leave their countries. The migrants who are now in D.C. traveled to the U.S.-Mexico border with a caravan that left Honduras. “We are running away from the police,” said Perla, a transgender Honduran woman, as she spoke with Norton on Tuesday at Casa Ruby. “They are the ones who are persecuting us in our countries. They are the ones who want us to run away from our countries.” Perla said people in Honduras have pulled her wig off and said she should act like a man. Perla added the Honduran government does nothing to protect the LGBTI community. “We don’t have the government’s protection, we don’t have the state’s protection,” she said. “The only protection we have is from ourselves.” MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Roem raises $26,000 after Westboro attack The first openly transgender woman elected to the Virginia House of Delegates is raising money off of the Westboro Baptist Church’s effort to unseat her. Since the church on Friday announced a protest against her presence in the General Assembly scheduled for March 11, state Del. Danica Roem (D-Manassas) has raised more than $26,000 for her re-election campaign. She has promoted the fundraising effort with the hashtag #WestboroBackfire on Twitter. Roem said the donations have come from more than 700 people. Westboro attacked the effort as a display of “greedy fundraising” from the delegate. Roem is up for re-election in 2019. On her fundraising page, Roem lists her priorities as fixing Route 28, providing state economic development grants, raising teacher salaries in her area and reducing class sizes. The Westboro Baptist Church will demonstrate near Virginia Commonwealth University and the Virginia State Capitol on March 11. VCU released a statement condemning the church and its statements against “the LGBTQIA community, the U.S. military and Catholics, Jews and Muslims” but affirming the organization’s right to engage in such speech. “I’m grateful for your never-ending generosity,” Roem tweeted in response to the donations she has received. JAMES WELLEMEYER

D.C. Eagle not for sale: owners The D.C. Eagle, one of the city’s oldest continuously operating gay bars, continues to operate in its location on Benning Road, N.E. and plans to stay in business by selling its building to generate revenue and lease it back from the new owner, two of its three co-owners told the Washington Blade. Herb Kaylor-Hawkins and Ted Clements said they quickly changed an earlier plan as reflected in an outdated online real estate ad saying the Eagle’s building along with the business and licenses were for sale. “What we’re currently working with and trying to do is sell the building and then lease it back from the new owner,” said Kaylor-Hawkins. “That’s part of the offer that we’re putting in place,” he said. “We have no intention of going anywhere anytime soon.” He and Clements told the Blade that the Eagle encountered financial problems over the past year and a half that they believe are being overcome by plans to sell the building and a decision to expand the Eagle’s appeal to all segments of the LGBT community in addition to the leather crowd. New attractions including drag shows, circuit style dance parties, the admission of people 18-20 years old on certain nights similar to the policy of the former gay nightclub Town, which closed last year due to real estate development, and other new venues have resulted in an expanded customer base, the two co-owners said. The two also point out that a shopping center located next to the Eagle, which initially filed an unsuccessful challenge to the Eagle’s liquor license and refused to allow Eagle customers to use its large parking lot, is now under new management that is friendly toward the Eagle. LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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D.C. gay bar Cobalt closes after 20-year run

Baltimore’s Grand Central to close Longtime LGBT bar, club sold to developer

Another change to D.C.’s gay club scene

By ED GUNTS

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM The D.C. gay bar Cobalt, which has operated in its three-story building at 17th and R Streets, N.W. near Dupont Circle for more than 20 years, is closing its doors for good this week, according to a Facebook announcement by its owner. The closing comes six months after the adjoining three-story townhouse buildings it occupies at 1639 and 1641 R St., N.W. and an adjacent building were sold for $4.75 million to a developer that announced plans to convert the buildings into residential occupancy. At the time of the sale Cobalt said on its website that its lease for the buildings it occupied extended until 2021 and it planned to remain open indefinitely. But in a Facebook posting on Tuesday, Cobalt owner Eric Little said circumstances have changed. “With the combination of the sale of the buildings, the start of demolition, costly infrastructure repairs and upgrades that we would need to shoulder to remain open for the short remainder of our lease (without the opportunity to extend the lease) along with a slow decline in sales we decided it was the right time to close the business to focus on our other businesses and some personal family needs,” Little said in his statement. “For more than 20 years, our amazing customers and incredible staff have contributed greatly to the DC-area LGBT community and we have always strived to do our part to strengthen local organizations, businesses, and the entire 17th Street neighborhood and we couldn’t be prouder of the legacy Cobalt leaves behind,” Little’s statement says. He noted that the gay bar industry has been changing in recent years, with dating apps, pop-up parties and events held at non-gay venues, and changing social norms having an impact on traditional gay businesses. He said he applauds these changes. “And it is our hope that patrons will encourage these new businesses to support the greater LGBT community to continue the good work and social change that Cobalt and all of the many other gay bars, restaurants, and businesses (past and present) have worked so hard to achieve,” Little said. Little also owns the nearby gay bar JR.’s at 1519 17th Street, N.W. The Cobalt closing follows the closing last year of two other popular gay clubs. Town nightclub, the city’s largest gay dance club located at 8th Street and Florida Avenue, N.W., shut down last June after the building it had been leasing was sold to a developer that has since demolished the building to build highrise condominiums and retail outlets. The Town owners haven’t said whether they plan to reopen in another location. Also closing last year was the longtime Capitol Hill gay bar Bachelor’s Mill, which catered to a largely black gay clientele. Unconfirmed reports surfaced that the owner or an event promoter who held special events at the Bachelor’s Mill in the past may try to reopen it. But the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control Board on Feb. 27 issued an order cancelling the Bachelor’s Mill liquor license on grounds that its owner failed to place the license in “safe keeping” as required under city law when a bar or other establishment with a liquor license stops operating. Under the city’s liquor law a “safe keeping’ status means the licensee pays the city an annual licensing fee to hold the license until the owner decides to reopen, sell the license, or possibly transfer the business and license to a new location. In yet another development in the D.C. gay club scene, the gay bar Green Lantern, which is located at 1335 Green Court, N.W., in an alley near Thomas Circle, has been placed on the market for sale for $2.9 million, according to a real estate listing. Green Lantern owner John Colameco couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether the sale includes both the building and the business, whether he plans to close the Green Lantern or move it to another location.

Grand Central originally opened in 1991 as Central Station Pub. Washington Blade photo by Ed Gunts

Goodbye Grand Central, hello office building. Baltimore’s largest gay nightclub will close and the building will be converted to office and retail space, according to an announcement by the new owners of the property. In its first statement since acquiring Grand Central nightclub, a group called Landmark Partners LLC said it assumed ownership on Feb. 28 and plans to close the club permanently “as soon as the full redevelopment is set to commence.” Instead of the dance club there now, Landmark intends to build “a Class A office building, with two ground floor retail concepts and lounge space.” The announcement means Grand Central will be the second large gay nightclub to disappear in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon ‘gayborhood’ since 2015. The famed Club Hippo closed at the same intersection on Oct. 3, 2015, and was replaced by a CVS drug store. It also comes as the Baltimore Eagle, closed since last summer, is planning to reopen under new operators. They posted a message on Facebook on March 1 saying “We’re coming,” but provided no dates. Containing nearly 15,000 square feet of space at 1001-1003 North Charles Street, Grand Central was sold after former owner Don Davis decided to retire and move out of state. A purchase price was not disclosed. After the sale was final, Davis identified the owners as Jon Pannoni and George Watson and referred questions to Marc Hayes, who was the club’s general manager while the property was under contract and has continued to manage the club for the new owners. Hayes released a statement from Landmark, giving information about their plans to close the club. In the statement, the new owners said they “will continue to operate the business with improvements through our new management

team” until they’re ready to start the conversion. Grand Central started in 1991 as Central Station Pub, which occupied the corner building at 1001 N. Charles Street. In 2003, Davis bought the Stagecoach nightclub at 1003 N. Charles Street, combined the two properties and renamed them Grand Central. With the Hippo across the street, it became an anchor for Baltimore’s gay community and a backdrop for the annual Baltimore Pride Block Party and other events. In the statement from the new owners, Davis said he supports their plans to close the business. “I believe Landmark Partners plan for Grand Central is the right move to grow the neighborhood and build something great for the entire community that we all can enjoy,” Davis is quoted as saying. “I was very selective about the team that I wanted to sell to, knowing whatever happened on this corner would be a critical part of this neighborhood’s future and after spending time with Landmark, seeing their stabilized and planned projects, I’m confident they’re the right fit.” Davis has argued that there is less of a market for gay bars and clubs than there used to be, because gay people today are welcome in more places than before. “The social climate has changed a lot since the 1980s,” he said in the statement released by Landmark. “Everyone is welcome everywhere – the need for a specific gay establishment/ bar is not as necessary any longer, and after an amazing 30 years, it’s time to turn the page.” The developers who now control the property “have a long history in Mt. Vernon and a proven track record,” Davis added. “I hope the neighborhood and our devoted patrons see this transition as a positive and support this project because it’s good for the entire community.”

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Jury deadlocked in trans murder case Judge sends jurors back for further deliberations By LOU CHIBBARO JR.

A D.C. Superior Court jury on Wednesday announced it was unable to reach a unanimous verdict on whether two men were guilty or innocent of first-degree murder for the July 4, 2016 shooting death of transgender woman Deeniquia “Dee Dee” Dodds on a Northeast D.C. street. But the jury disclosed through its foreperson that it found defendant Monte Johnson, 23, not guilty on seven of 15 other charges filed against him and found defendant Jolonta Little, 28, not guilty on five of the same 15 additional charges against him, including the charge of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The jury reached just one guilty verdict, said the foreperson. Little was found guilty of a single count of carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business. Judge Milton C. Lee then instructed the jury to return to the jury room to continue their deliberations and to make an earnest effort to reach verdicts on the remaining charges for which they were deadlocked. The partial verdicts by the jury came at the conclusion of a month-long trial in which prosecutors with the U.S. Attorney’s Office argued that Little, Johnson and two other men targeted as many as seven transgender women for armed robberies along streets where female trans sex workers congregate on the night Dodds was shot. The prosecutors, Assistant U.S. Attorneys Thomas Saunders and Ahmed Baset, told the jury Dodds was among the trans women targeted by the men in the early morning hours of July 4, 2016. The prosecutors said defendant Johnson fatally shot Dodds in the neck after she fought back when Johnson and another man implicated in the murder attempted to rob her at gunpoint. The other man that allegedly targeted Dodds, Cyheme Hall, 23, and his brother, Shareem Hall, 25, had been charged along with Little and Johnson with first-degree murder while armed in connection with the Dodds murder. But prosecutors informed the jury at the start of the trial that the Hall brothers agreed to become cooperating witnesses for the government after pleading guilty to second-degree murder in the Dodds case. In dramatic testimony at the trial, Cyheme Hall told the jury it was Johnson who shot Dodds in the neck at point blank range after she grabbed the barrel of his handgun as Johnson and Hall attempted to rob her on Division Ave., N.E. near where she lived. Hall testified that the plan among the men to commit robberies did

not include the intent to kill anyone. Although prosecutors presented numerous other witnesses who they said corroborated testimony by the Hall brothers, defense attorney Kevin Irving, who represents Johnson, and Brandi Harden, who represents Little, told the jury the Hall brothers were habitual liars with no credibility and anything they said in their testimony should be discounted. The two defense attorneys pointed to what they said were inconsistencies in the Hall brothers’ testimony and noted that the Halls’ motives were aimed strictly at telling prosecutors what the prosecutors wanted to hear so they could get off with a lighter sentence. The defense attorneys also argued repeatedly that jurors were required by law to find the defendants not guilty if they had a reasonable doubt about Johnson and Little’s guilt in any aspect of the complex circumstances surrounding the murder. Prosecutor Saunders reminded the jury in his rebuttal argument last week that “solid” corroborating evidence linking Johnson and Little to the murder and a string of armed robberies of other trans women that took place on the night of the murder. Among the key corroborating evidence, Saunders pointed out, was a GPS ankle bracelet that Little wore on the night of the murder stemming from a previous 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 three robberies Little and Johnson were charged with committing, including the scene where Dodds was shot, at the exact time those incidents occurred. Saunders noted that prosecutors and police also tracked the cell phone conversations between Little and Johnson and the Hall brothers that they say placed them at the scene of the robberies and shooting. In addition, Saunders pointed to recorded phone conversations played before the jury that the government obtained of Johnson talking with his girlfriend by phone while in jail awaiting trial for the Dodds murder in which prosecutors say he admitted committing the murder. During Wednesday morning’s court session, the jury announced it found Little not guilty on seven separate counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. The jury found him guilty of a single count of carrying a pistol without a license outside of a home or business. The jury similarly found Johnson not

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guilty on five counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. It did not find Johnson guilty of any charges as of Wednesday morning. Among the charges against both men for which the jury reported it was deadlocked included felony murder while armed, conspiracy, assault with a dangerous weapon, robbery while armed,

and additional counts of possession of a firearm during a crime of violence. If the jury remains deadlocked on the charges it announced Wednesday morning it would be up to Judge Lee to decide whether to approve a possible request by prosecutors for a new trial or an expected motion by defense attorneys to dismiss the case.

Gay campaign strategist runs for office in Fairfax By JAMES WELLEMEYER Karl Frisch has worked in political communications for most of his career, crafting the campaign messages of candidates and organizations across the country. Now at 41, he’s running for office himself. Frisch, who is on leave from his position as executive director at consumer watchdog group Allied Progress, is hoping to represent the Providence District on the Fairfax County School Board in Virginia. He’s running against Republican Andrea Bayer, and if elected, he’ll become the first openly gay member of the board. Frisch, a Democrat whose partner is a teacher in Fairfax County, says he first became interested in working with the school board after attending a board meeting a couple of years ago. The contentious meeting Frisch attended focused on policies for LGBTQ students and staff. “I heard things that were just vile, and I saw kids cry at the school board,” Frisch told the Blade in an interview on March 1. After witnessing the meeting, he decided to become more involved in politics on the local level. He ultimately became part of a successful effort to change the sex education curriculum in Fairfax County to include LGBT identities and teach older students about PrEP for HIV prevention. His interest in running to become a member of the school board himself results from issues that stretch beyond the LGBT community, though. “One of the things I like about Karl…is he’s not running to be the LGBT person on the board. He’s running to make sure that there’s a level of fairness and equality of opportunity for students,” Bryan Graham, a gay voting member of the Providence District Democratic Committee, told the Blade. “When you love a teacher … you’re following all sorts of issues whether you want to or not,” Frisch said. He says his platform centers on “equity,” or a desire to “level [the] playing field for everybody.” Part of that means ensuring all students in Fairfax County have access to an advanced curriculum. “Schools like [The Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology] are getting every opportunity under the sun,” Frisch said. On the other hand, “You’ve got some schools where the advanced curriculum programs aren’t even available to many students.” Frisch’s platform also suggests an increase in teacher pay and a 25-year construction cycle for the county. The 37-year cycle the school system currently operates on has pushed students out of their regular classrooms and increased class sizes, Frisch said. “We have two elementary schools in the Providence District that…are covered with portable trailers,” he said. “So we need to find a way to quicken the speed of the construction cycle.” Frisch says establishing a 25-year cycle comes down to money. He plans to “push Richmond to provide more money and also give county supervisors local funding authority.” Beyond shifts in the construction cycle and expanded access to advanced courses, Frisch is proposing what he calls a Green New Deal for Fairfax County Schools. He hopes to increase the use of solar power in the school system and ensure the county is more “aggressive with the greening of our campuses during construction projects.” Frisch would serve a four-year term on the board alongside 11 other members, if elected. In the lead up to November, he says his campaign strategy is to meet as many voters as possible. “I plan on knocking on thousands of doors between now and November,” he said. The Victory Fund, a political action committee focused on increasing the number of LGBT elected officials, is hopeful about Frisch’s chances in the race. “Karl is doing a lot of the necessary work…to win, and we’re very excited about that prospect,” Sean Meloy, the political director at the organization, told the Blade. “I have a nearly 20-year record of putting equity into action,” Frisch said. “I think that gives me a unique insight into the needs of students in our district.”

Injectable, long-acting PrEP could be next in combating HIV ‘London patient’ treatment not viable for masses: expert By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Studies are ongoing for drugs that would take Truvada’s PrEP to an injectable, long-acting form.

News the “London patient” has become the second-person ever found in remission of HIV has been hailed as a medical triumph, but new developments with pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, could mark additional steps in combatting the disease. In the works for potential approval in the next couple of years is medicine based on PrEP, but for long-acting treatment, such as an injectable drug and antibodies that block HIV infection as well as PrEP-ondemand for use on a case-by-case basis for sexual encounters. Anthony Fauci, an immunologist and head of the National Institute of Allergy & Infectious Disease, said during an interview with the Washington Blade a number of studies are ongoing to develop drugs for patients at risk of contracting HIV so they don’t need to take a pill every day. “People sometimes get pill fatigue, and it becomes onerous to have to take the medicine every single day of your life, particularly a medicine that you know is important for a disease that’s potentially lethal,” Fauci said. One alternative evaluated in clinical trials, Fauci said, is a long-acting injectable drug version of PrEP a patient would take at first take every four weeks or so, and then every two months, and then every four to six months. “So instead of having the obligation of remembering to take a pill every day, you

hopefully, we’re not there yet, can have an injection that you get maybe two or three times a year to allow you to essentially suppress the virus,” Fauci said. The same drug, Fauci said, would be able to work for both HIV prevention and treatment, so patients both with HIV looking to suppress the viral loads and patients at risk of contracting HIV would have use for the medication. Fauci said the injectable drug is “the most common and optimistic one and promising one,” but other options are in the works. A large study, Fauci said, is taking place in developing countries, mostly in Southern Africa, where individuals would have to use a device intermittently about every eight weeks that would transfer a broadly neutralizing antibody, or a natural protein, that acts against HIV. “And you give that to people who are at risk of getting infected, so that’s for prophylaxsis,” Fauci said. “So instead of taking that single pill every day to prevent infection, you can get an infusion of any antibody about every eight to 12 weeks or so to prevent infection.” Another possible alternative, Fauci said, is PrEP-on-demand that individuals would take on an intermittent basis when they expect they would have a sexual encounter. But Fauci cautioned PrEP-on-demand is “a little bit risky” because it might require expecting a sexual encounter before it

happens and “often people, they get into situations where they can’t anticipate what’s going to happen.” Carlos del Rio, chair of the Hubert Department of Global Health at Emory University’s Rollins School of Public Health, told the Blade new medications would be effective as a compliment to existing treatment. “I think it’s another strategy,” del Rio said. “I think it’s something that we can clearly do, and I think it’s something that needs to be looked at. For some populations that may be the way to go. If I was infected, maybe I’d rather take a pill a day, but some other people may want to get an injection once a month.” For each of the possible medications, Fauci said the timeline for approval is “tough to say” with trials ongoing. The medication, he said, won’t be made available to the public for “at least a year or two.” “Nonetheless, that PrEP-on-demand is a study that is being conducted to see how effective it is,” Fauci said. “It might be as effective as a pill a day. We don’t know. Hopefully it will be because we could save people the obligation of taking a pill every day.” “You’d have to have a clinical trial that shows that it’s highly effective in preventing HIV infection, or, in the case of the people who are infected, and using it as a treatment, you’d have to show that compared to taking a pill every day that the people who get the injection every several months, they suppress their virus as well as if you take a pill every day,” Fauci said. “That’s the data that are generally end points of the study.” James Driscoll, a Nevada-based HIV activist who supported Donald Trump for president in 2016, said the long-acting medicine for HIV prevention and treatment is “an essential tool” for combatting the disease. “Current efforts are not doing the job,” Driscoll said. “An aggressive campaign to get out long-acting PrEP, will reduce new infections, but also increase AIDS awareness and lower stigma.” The Food & Drug Administration, Driscoll said, should move expeditiously on the approving the medication. “In the 1990s, FDA delays in approving new treatments resulted in unnecessary deaths,” Driscoll said. “It is crucial that President Trump and Secretary Azar stress to FDA the urgency of avoiding the errors of the past with this critical new weapon in the war against AIDS.” The new medications are being studied as news recently broke in The New York Times an individual known as the “London

patient” has become the second person found to have been in remission after HIV infection. (The first was the “Berlin Patient,” whose apparent remission was announced in 2008.) The treatment consisted of a bone marrow transplant from donors with a genetic makeup resistant to HIV infection. Del Rio, however, said the treatment provided to the “London Patient” is “not feasible” for widespread treatment of HIV. “That’s a very nice science discovery, but it’s not a feasible result,” del Rio said. “You are not going to be able to do bone marrow transplants for 35 million people globally. It’s a good science study, we’re learning a lot from it, but this is not something that can be implemented.” The achievement, del Rio said, was comparable to John Glenn becoming the first American to orbit the Earth in 1962. “From that to say that we’re going to be traveling in space, all of us, is not the case,” del Rio said. Del Rio said the existing medication and long-acting treatments in development, on the other hand, are practical in combatting HIV. “But at the end of the day, we do need to find a cure, and I think research and cure has advanced with this patient, but there’s still a lot of research to be done.” Development of these medications to treat and prevent HIV occur as President Trump announced in his State of the Union address his administration’s plan to end new HIV infections by 2030. The effort will target areas in the United States where new infections are taking place: 48 counties in the United States, D.C., and San Juan, Puerto Rico, as well as seven states where the epidemic is mostly in rural areas. The seven states are Missouri, Kentucky, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama and South Carolina. Fauci said the development of alternative treatment for HIV and prevention “certainly could wind up being helpful” in achieving the administration’s goal of ending new infections. Gilead didn’t respond to repeated requests from the Washington Blade to comment for this article, nor did ViiV respond to a request for comment. The new drugs are being developed amid calls for Gilead to make the existing product generic, and therefore less expensive for purchase. Although Gilead offers a coupon for Truvada and many insurance companies cover the medication, the average retail cost is $2,000 a bottle and many say the existing mediation is out of reach.

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Trump global plan to decriminalize homosexuality finds fans at CPAC But support for gay rights doesn’t extend to trans troops By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

PRESIDENT TRUMP’s plan to decriminalize homosexuality found some surprising support at CPAC. Washington Blade file photo by Lee Whitman

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The Conservative Political Action Conference isn’t known for being a confab for supporters of LGBT rights, but this year brought surprise support for the Trump administration’s recently announced global initiative to decriminalize homosexuality. Attendees at last weekend’s 2019 Conservative Political Action Conference who spoke with the Washington Blade — many of whom were wearing business suits and “Make America Great Again” hats as they moved from event to event — were uniformly in favor of the plan. One such attendee, who wore a MAGA hat as well as a button on his lapel with the phrase “Socialism sucks” in a style mocking Bernie Sanders’ campaign logo, was Charlie Honkonen, president of the University of Maine College Republicans. Honkonen told the Blade he “absolutely support[s]” the initiative, which was announced last month by U.S. ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, the highest-ranking openly gay person in the Trump administration. “I love gay rights,” Honkonen said. “I think gay people are great. I have no problem with them.” Asked by the Blade how he could support the initiative while backing Trump and deriding Sanders, Honkonen said he sees no conflict with those positions. “I think socialism has nothing to do with gay rights,” Honkonen said. “I think Donald Trump has always been a proponent of gay rights… You see the picture of him back in the campaign with the LGBTQ flag?…I don’t think he’s ever said anything that he’s led for me to believe that he’s against gay rights and I think this initiative proposed by his office shows exactly that.” In an exclusive report last month to NBC News, Grenell announced the Trump initiative, which seeks to decriminalize homosexuality in the 71 nations where it is illegal.

The initiative seems focused on Iran, a longtime adversary of the United States where homosexual acts are punishable by death. The Jerusalem Post, a conservative publication in Israel, reported recently Iran executed a gay man in a public hanging. Mike Cernovich, a conservative activist and filmmaker closely associated with the “Pizzagate” conspiracy theory against Hillary Clinton, told the Blade he supports the Trump initiative “in the abstract,” but has questions about it. “How do you make Iran or nations decriminalize homosexuality?” Cernovich said. “What do you do? So yeah, but is it a good idea? How are you going to tell Qatar quit killing gay people, right? I agree that it should be done, but what the plan looks like, we’ll see.” Asked whether he’s generally in support of gay rights, Cernovich said opposing them has “never been a thing” for him as a libertarian. “If you just start from the fundamental proposition that people ought to be able to live their lives largely unmolested by the government, then you would realize most things just aren’t your concern,” Cernovich said. “So, whatever consensual activities you’re engaged in, I’ve never in my whole life cared about that. To me, if I say, gay rights, that means the same thing as can I watch the TV I want to watch? It’s a question that never really made much sense to me. Of course, you ought to be able to.” Theodore Milk, a 21-year-old student at the University of Jamestown, North Dakota, also said he supports the Trump administration global initiative. “I don’t think gays should be persecuted,” Milk said. “At this point, I think it’s almost a human right to kind of be supportive and what your sexual preferences are. I don’t think that should be something that should be persecuted around the world.” Asked whether he thinks being in

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support of the initiative is inconsistent with being a conservative, Milk said younger conservatives are changing the movement. “It’s funny because I think there’s a branch of younger conservatives that are a little bit more socially liberal, a little bit more libertarian,” Milk said. “I think that’s just a fact of the times are changing. I think the Republican Party is changing a little bit, especially from my more youthful standpoint, conservatives are kind of shifting to be a little bit more socially liberal.” Milk admitted “not all” conservatives are ready to accept gay rights, but insisted a sect of younger Republicans are coming into the movement with a different mindset as a result of the “changing of the times.” James Dorsey, who’s 22 and from Hampton Roads, Va., said he “absolutely” supports the Trump administration global initiative. “I don’t think that any human being should have to live in fear or live in shame of who they are,” Dorsey said. “I’m not a homosexual myself. I can’t say that I have many homosexual friends or family members, but, frankly, I think it’s a very archaic belief that people should be… persecuted for who they are and that’s about the most un-American thing I can think of.” Dorsey said “there’s a breed of conservatism that would agree” the movement is anti-gay, but that represents a misunderstanding of conservative principles. “True conservatism I think, is ideologically opposed to those kinds of misconceptions about people,” Dorsey said. “I think that investing in a person and not the group is more conservative. I think that looking at someone based on the content of their character and not by the color of their skin and what they belong to, what their sexual preferences are, things like that. That’s about the most conservative thing I can think of, and that’s about the most American thing.” The most prominent attendee at CPAC after President Trump — Vice President Mike Pence — has previously indicated through a spokesperson he supports Trump’s global initiative, even though Pence is notorious for his anti-LGBT record. (During his speech at CPAC, Pence again defended his wife and second lady Karen Pence for teaching at a Christian school that refuses to employ LGBT teachers or admit LGBT students on religious grounds.) Things got trickier when the Blade asked attendees about the Trump administration initiatives criticized for being anti-LGBT, including the transgender military ban and “religious freedom” initiatives seen to enable to discrimination against LGBT people. Last year, the Trump administration interceded in the Masterpiece Cakeshop case,

siding with Colorado baker Jack Phillips who asserted a First Amendment right to refuse to make custom-made wedding cakes for same-sex couples on religious grounds. The U.S. Justice Department filed a friend-of-thecourt brief before the Supreme Court and sent U.S. Solicitor General Noel Francisco to argue before the Supreme Court on Phillips’ behalf. Honkonen said he doesn’t think either the transgender military ban or the religious freedom issue are gay rights issues. On the transgender military ban, Honkonen said the issue is “about having the fullest level of service you can.” “To be able to serve in that capacity to a high level that you need to in the military, a lot of times folks who are transgender don’t have that ability to serve,” Honkonen said. “They can be hormonal, they can have struggles to achieve the same levels, so I don’t think that’s an issue about gay rights at all.” The House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee recently held a hearing on Capitol Hillwhere five transgender service members testified about their commitment to service and having no impediments to their ability to perform their duties. The American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association have both concluded there are no medical or mental health reasons to ban transgender people from the military. Honkonen said refusing services to LGBT people for religious reasons is “not a gay rights issue, that’s a First Amendment issue.” “I think that there’s so many places in the United States where a gay person can go to get their wedding cake made,” Honkonen said. “I don’t think they should worry about mom and pops who run a nice Christian bakery and maybe don’t agree with them. I think there are many places for them to go and they shouldn’t focus on the negativity, they should focus on the people who want to support them, and there’s going to be people who disagree with them. I think that’s OK, that’s what made America so great is that everyone can have their own opinion.” Cernovich, when asked about the Trump administration’s anti-LGBT policies, reiterated his general support for LGBT rights, including transgender rights. In contrast to the Trump administration, Cernovich said he supports allowing transgender people in the military. “People should be able to live how they want to live,” Cernovich said. “So if you’re trans, you’re trans, you ought to be able to live your life without being fucked with. That’s just my general outlook.”

Scrutiny over 2020 hopefuls’ remarks on anti-LGBT Pence

New agreement ends litigation in Masterpiece case By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Biden gets backlash; Buttigieg calls him ‘nice guy’ but ‘fanatical’ By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

A new agreement will end litigation against Masterpiece Cakeshop owner JACK PHILLIPS. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

PETE BUTTIGIEG called Mike Pence a ‘super-nice guy’ in a Blade interview. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Former vice president and potential 2020 hopeful Joe Biden sparked criticism last week after referring to Mike Pence as a “decent guy,” but another Democrat pursuing a presidential run — one who is openly gay — made similar comments calling the vice president a “super-nice guy” two years ago. South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg called Mike Pence “a super-nice guy” during an interview with the Washington Blade two years ago when he was running to become chair of the Democratic National Committee. Asked about the experience of being openly gay in a state where Pence was governor, Buttigieg called Pence a “supernice guy,” but also said he pursues “divisive and backward-looking policies.” “The thing about Mike Pence is, he’s a super-nice guy, who just genuinely believes this stuff,” Buttigieg said. “He operates from a different reality than the rest of us operate from. He’s written that cigarettes don’t kill, he thinks climate change is made up. He must assume that people get up in the morning one day and decide to be gay. And so, as nice as he’ll be to you in person, when it comes to policy, like a moth to a flame, he goes in for these divisive and backward-looking policies and I think is having the same influence in the White House right now that he did as governor.” Biden’s remarks calling Pence a “decent guy” during an event in Omaha, Neb., emerged last week as a result of reporting from the Wall Street Journal’s Reid Epstein. The comments drew criticism on Twitter

from LGBT rights supporters who said Pence’s anti-LGBT record demonstrates the vice president isn’t decent. Among those condemning the comments was queeridentified “Sex and the City” star and 2018 New York gubernatorial candidate Cynthia Nixon. Pence has a long anti-LGBT history that includes votes as a congressman against “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” repeal and opposition to marriage equality. His record notably includes signing into law as Indiana governor a “religious freedom” bill widely seen to enable anti-LGBT discrimination. More recently, Pence as vice president has defended his wife, Karen Pence, for teaching at a Christian school that refuses to admit LGBT students or employ LGBT teachers. As a result of the criticism, Biden was forced to walk back his comments on Twitter, saying he was discussing Pence in terms of foreign policy, but “there’s nothing decent about being anti-LGBTQ rights, and that includes the vice president.” Lis Smith, a Buttigieg campaign spokesperson, said the full quote from Buttigieg is “critical to understanding his views on Pence.” “He had a whole chapter in his book about this…and he’s addressed [it] on the campaign trail, as reporters and voters ask a fair amount about Pence,” Smith said. “I can’t speak to what other potential candidates say about the VP, but what Pete has always said is that Pence’s ‘nice’ demeanor masks a very fanatical ideology that is out of step with reality and one that is very anti-LGBTQ.”

Masterpiece Cakeshop — famed for its case that reached the U.S. Supreme Court after its owner refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple — has reached a new agreement with the State of Colorado to end subsequent litigation against him. As part of the new agreement, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission will withdraw its administrative action against owner Jack Phillips. The commission found probable cause the bakery violated state law by refusing to make a cake celebrating a gender transition for a transgender person’s birthday. In turn, Phillips will voluntarily dismiss his federal court case against Colorado, which cited ongoing harassment from the state in the aftermath of the narrow ruling in his favor by the U.S. Supreme Court. Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser, a Democrat, said in a statement the decision is beneficial for all parties involved. “After careful consideration of the facts, both sides agreed it was not in anyone’s best interest to move forward with these cases,” Weiser said. “The larger constitutional issues might well be decided down the road, but these cases will not be the vehicle for resolving them. Equal justice for all will continue to be a core value that we will uphold as we enforce our state’s and nation’s civil rights laws.” Last year, the Supreme Court stopped short of asserting a First Amendment right for Phillips to refuse service to a same-sex couple based on freedom of religion and freedom of speech, but ruled in his favorbased on the facts of the case, finding anti-religion bias on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission. On the day the Supreme Court decision was handed down, an attorney asked Phillips to create a cake with pink on the inside and blue on the outside to celebrate a gender transition from male to female. Phillips declined the request on religious grounds. Weeks later, the Colorado Civil Rights Commission declared it had found probable causeColorado law requires Phillips to create the requested gendertransition cake. In turn, Alliance Defending Freedom, an anti-LGBT legal group, filed the federal lawsuit against Colorado, citing ongoing harassment of Phillips. Kristen Waggoner, who argued the Masterpiece Cakeshop case before the Supreme Court as senior Vice President of the U.S. legal division of Alliance Defending Freeedom, said in a statement the agreement is a victory for Phillips. “The state of Colorado is dismissing its case against Jack, stopping its six and a half years of hostility toward him for his beliefs,” Waggoner said. “Jack’s victory is great news for everyone. Tolerance and respect for good-faith differences of opinion are essential in a diverse society like ours. They enable us to peacefully coexist with each another. But the state’s demonstrated and ongoing hostility toward Jack because of his beliefs is undeniable.” Daniel Ramos, executive director of One Colorado, said in a statement Colorado’s Anti-Discrimination Act remains in effect despite the agreement. “Despite the mutual agreement between the State of Colorado and Masterpiece Cakeshop, the law is still the law,” Ramos said. “No matter who you are, who you love, or what you believe, Coloradans across our state – including LGBTQ Coloradans and their families – are still protected under Colorado law from discrimination in the areas of employment, housing, and public accommodations. According to the Colorado Civil Rights Commission, each side will bear their own costs and attorneys’ fees and the agreement doesn’t affect the ability of Autumn Scardina, the transgender complainant in the state administrative case, to pursue a claim on her own.

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In first, trans troops testify on Capitol Hill Trump admin officials advocate for ban By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Five trans service members testified last week about their military records. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

A hearing on Capitol Hill last week became a veritable tale of two cities as transgender troops testified about their commitment to military service while Trump administration officials sought to explain why they would seek to deny them from enlisting in the armed forces (while at the same denying their proposed policy was a ban). Each of the five transgender service members told the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee about their military records, which consisted in some cases of years of military service and deployments overseas. Meanwhile, the Trump administration — at a time when the Army is falling short of making its recruitment goals — is seeking to implement a policy to bar transgender people like them from enlistment, although for the time being the courts have blocked the policy. Lt. Cmdr. Blake Dremann, president of the transgender military group SPARTA, has been in the Navy for 14 years and talked about experiencing firsthand — as a lesbian who later came out as transgender — changes in policy allowing women on submarines, and end to “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and transgender people in the military. “Good leaders can take a team and make it work,” Dremann said. “Great leaders mold their teams to exceed expectations because it doesn’t matter if you’re female or LGBT. What matters is that each member is capable and focused on the mission.” Capt. Jennifer Peace, who has served for 15 years in the Army and currently serves as an intelligence officer for Iran in the Defense Intelligence Agency, testified there had never been an issue within the unit she commanded because she was transgender. “We were out for extended time periods in the theater, in the deserts of California, in the forest of Wisconsin,” Peace said. “There were never any issues that arose to being

transgender. Between the time of the initial announcement of open service and the tweets of our commander-in-chief, the fact that I was transgender never came up. It wasn’t something that needed to be discussed.” As a company commander, Peace said she knows the importance of readiness and would “be the first person to kick out a transgender service member if they are not able to meet the standards, if they are unable to deploy, engage and destroy the enemies of the United States.” Army Staff Sergeant Patricia King, who has served in the Army for 19 years, talked about her experience having been deployed three times to Afghanistan and being transgender in the military. “From the get-go, none of that mattered to the soldiers to my squad,” King said. “Most of them are 21 years old or younger, and people in Generation Z simply aren’t worried about trans very much. Much like their iPhones or Facebook, they grew up with trans people in their lives.” King concluded, “Laverne Cox is a household name for Generation Z, much like we grew up with Laverne & Shirley.” The quintet of witnesses were the firstever openly transgender service members to testify before the U.S. House. (But they weren’t the first openly transgender witnesses more generally. That distinction belongs to Vandy Beth Glenn, who testified before the House in 2009 on employment non-discrimination legislation.) The transgender service members testified in civilian attire and not their uniforms. A Speier aide said they weren’t in uniform because they aren’t testifying in their official capacities as department representatives. Testifying alongside the transgender service members was Jesse Ehrenfeld, a combat veteran who deployed to Afghanistan and is now a professor at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.

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Although he testified in a personal capacity, Ehrenfeld expressed views similar to those of the American Medical Association, which has concluded there’s no medical need to bar transgender people from military service. “I would like to say unequivocally for the record that there is no medically valid reason, including a diagnosis of gender dysphoria, to exclude transgender individuals from military service,” Ehrenfeld said. Chairing the hearing was House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee Chair Jackie Speier (D-Calif.), who has introduced legislation that would bar the Defense Department from excluding qualified transgender people from the military on the basis of their gender identity. “Despite living in a nation where many discriminate against you, you made a choice that fewer and fewer Americans make,” Speier said. “You joined the military, and risked your lives and your family’s well-being for our safety. And how has the administration thanked you? By treating you like a liability, not an asset.” Rep. Deb Haaland (D-N.M.), one of two of the first female Native Americans elected to Congress in 2018, was visibly emotional as she thanked the transgender witnesses for their service, recalling her experience as a child growing up in a military family. “Regardless of what the president says, there are millions of Americans who appreciate the service that you give to our country,” Haaland said. Making a veiled criticism of President Trump, Haaland said, “If there’s one person that isn’t fit to serve — we all know who that is right now, because that person devalues things that people want to do to make our country better and to move forward.” “And although I can’t apologize for that person, I can tell you that I can do everything in my power to make sure

that we can bring back some civility and respect to the people who are serving our country,” Haaland said. Two Trump administration officials, however, came to the hearing to defend the administration policy: James Stewart, who’s performing the duties of under secretary of defense for personnel and readiness, and Vice Adm. Raquel Bono, director of the Defense Health Agency. Stewart repeatedly said the Trump policy was not a ban because it wasn’t an exclusion of transgender people, but a blanket medical policy requiring discharges and inadmission for individuals diagnosed with gender dysphoria (which is often a defining characteristic of being transgender.) “The new policy ends the practice of providing special accommodations for individuals with a history or diagnosis of gender dysphoria and transitionrelated treatment,” Stewart said. “Rather, it approaches the condition in the same manner as the department manages any serious medical condition for recession and retention purposes, ensuring equal application of military standards for all persons regardless of gender identity.” A key moment came when Stewart — who insisted the policy would grandfather openly transgender people currently in the armed forces — was asked whether those individuals would be eligible for certain promotions, a change in services or readmission to the military if they dropped out to pursue an education opportunity. Stewart simply repeatedly his line the policy grandfathers openly transgender people currently in the military. Rep. Anthony Brown (D-Md.), who took part in the hearing as a guest of the subcommittee, sought to expose the Trump policy as a ban in a fiery exchange when he pointed out even individuals who have treated their gender dysphoria wouldn’t be allowed to enlist in the armed forces. “We are not talking about heart surgery and diabetes,” Brown said. “We are talking about a group of Americans who identify as transgender. I’ve never seen a group of Americans, OK, who are prone to heart attacks who come lobbying Congress and say give us the right to serve even though the risk of heart attack is very great because I’ve already had three or four. That’s mixing apples and oranges and I don’t appreciate that.” The only Republican who came to the hearing and asked questions was Rep. Trent Kelly (R-Miss.), top Republican on the House Armed Services Personnel Subcommittee. Although Kelly in his opening remarks suggested an openness to the idea of transgender military service, he also said “categorical exceptions for certain groups” in military standards “undermine military readiness.”

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Cannabis Culture

on Taxation and Economic Policy, state and local excise taxes collected on retail adult use cannabis sales nationwide surpassed $1 billion in 2018 — a 57 percent increase over 2017 levels.

Lenient laws not associated with higher pot use: study San Francisco District Attorney GEORGE GASCÓN said the move to expunge is ‘the morally right thing to do.’ Photo via Twitter

San Fran to expunge 9,000 marijuana convictions San Francisco — The Office of the San Francisco District Attorney has announced that it will automatically expunge more than 9,000 marijuana-related convictions. Last February, city officials announced efforts to proactively review and vacate past marijuana-related crimes. To date, the office has sealed several thousand cases and is taking actions to re-sentence an estimated 5,000 additional felony cases. On Monday, officials said that they have identified a total of 9,362 convictions eligible for expungement. “It’s incumbent that we, as law enforcement leaders, continue to evolve how we advance fairness and public safety in our respective communities,” San Francisco District Attorney George Gascón said. He added, “It [is] the morally right thing to do.” In October, state lawmakers approved legislation requiring “the Department of Justice, before July 1, 2019, to review the records in the state summary criminal history information database and to identify past convictions that are potentially eligible for recall or dismissal of sentence, dismissal and sealing, or redesignation pursuant to AUMA (the Adult Use Marijuana Act).”

Retail marijuana sales pass $6 billion in Colo. DENVER — More than $6 billion of cannabis and cannabisinfused products have been legally sold by licensed retailers in Colorado since 2014, according to data provided by the Colorado Department of Health. Colorado became the first state to permit licensed marijuana sales on Jan. 1, 2014. In 2018, total retail sales revenues were more than $1.5 billion, a figure that was largely in line with 2017 sales data. It is more than double the amount of revenue reported in 2014. The majority of retail sales were purchased by recreational marijuana consumers. According to data compiled earlier in the month by the Institute H E A LT H • MAR CH 08, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE . COM • 17

KENT, U.K. — Changes in the legal status of marijuana are not associated with an increased likelihood that more adolescents will consume it, according data published in the International Journal of Drug Policy. A University of Kent professor of sociology and social research analyzed three separate waves of global marijuana use data from 38 countries over a period of nine years. The author reported, “[D]ata do not reveal a statistically significant association between policy ‘liberalization’ and higher odds of increased cannabis use.” The findings are consistent with those of several prior studies finding that changes in marijuana’s legal status in jurisdictions in the United States is not associated with upticks in either teens’ use of cannabis or access to it.

Del. AG calls for civil penalties for pot violations DOVER, Del. — Delaware prosecutors will no longer be encouraged to pursue criminal charges against those who possess marijuana for personal use, according to guidelines issued last week by the state’s new Attorney General, Kathleen Jennings. In a Feb. 15 memorandum, Jennings called for sweeping changes to help prioritize resources toward the prosecution of violent criminal offenders and away from non-violent defendants. These changes include encouraging prosecutors and “police agencies to expand the use of civil citations [for] marijuana possession in lieu of criminal arrest.” News radio station WHYY reports that the decriminalization policy will apply to possession cases involving up to 175 grams of cannabis. Under state law, the possession of up to one ounce of cannabis is a civil violation. By contrast, offenses involving the possession of marijuana in greater amounts (between one ounce and six ounces) are classified as criminal misdemeanors punishable by up to three months in jail and a criminal record. The Attorney General’s actions to cease criminally prosecuting minor marijuana possession offenses are similar to steps recently taken by municipal law enforcement officials in other jurisdictions, including Baltimore, St. Louis, and Philadelphia. (Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, contact Paul Armentano, NORML deputy director, at paul@norml.org.)

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RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

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

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 08, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 21

BROCK THOMPSON

is a D.C.-based writer who contributes regularly to the Blade.

MICHAEL DOAN

is a retired journalist and communications coordinator for Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Washington.

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

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

The GOP’s sickening slide into servility Whatever happened to embarrassment?

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Have you ever witnessed something so mortifying that you wished you were invisible and could slink away unnoticed? I wonder if any Republicans had that impulse last week. Their president did not introduce incapacity for embarrassment into our politics, he just took it to another level. The week was too much. Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) threatened Michael Cohen before a House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing. Sebastian Gorka compared Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) to Joseph Stalin. Diamond and Silk were treated as A-listers at CPAC. At the heart of the chaos was Mr. Art of the Deal, hugging the ﬂag and giving another unhinged pep rally speech after returning from his Hanoi summit, where his vanity and dictator envy left him emptyhanded, though he fatuously absolved Kim Jong-un in the torture of Otto Warmbier. At the hearing, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) told Cohen, “You’re a pathological liar. You don’t know truth from falsehood.” Cohen rejoined, “Are you talking about me or the president?” Not only did Gosar say, “Liar, liar, pants on ﬁre,” the Republicans displayed the schoolyard taunt on a poster. Rep. Mark Meadows (R-NC) had a live exhibit: Lynne Patton, a wedding planner Trump made an administrator at HUD. Meadows thought Patton’s blackness refuted Cohen’s charge that Trump (the birther, Central Park Five slanderer, and Nazi defender) is a racist. Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was having none of it. She said using a black woman as a prop is “racist in itself.” Meadows, who talked in 2012 of sending President Obama “back home to Kenya,” was near tears as he demanded Tlaib’s remarks be stricken. He cited nieces and nephews of color as proof he couldn’t be racist. Perhaps he forgot that our third president enslaved his own black children. Committee chair Elijah Cummings (D-Md.), whose indulgence of the Republicans may have been in the spirit of giving one’s opponent enough rope to hang himself, persuaded Tlaib to say she wasn’t calling Meadows a racist. Thus, typically, it fell to people of color to soothe a colleague’s fragile whiteness. Author Robin DiAngelo writes, “White fragility is not

weakness per se. In fact, it is a powerful means of white racial control and the protection of white advantage.” Only through a privileged lens can calling someone out on his racism be offensive while deleting black people from voting rolls is fine. Falsely conflating white identity with national identity divides and diminishes us. You cannot see other people’s struggles if you insist on being the protagonist of every story. We are all in the American project together, and will rise or fall together. We need to take our blinders off. The day after the hearing, an MSNBC reporter asked a white man in a pancake house, “Do you believe Michael Cohen or the president?” He answered, “I’m gonna have to put my faith in the president.” He followed that with “because,” but I missed the rest as I threw my shoe at the screen. Trump’s performance art distracts his fans from the con job he is pulling on them. Former Maine Gov. Paul LePage says that without the Electoral College, white people will be forgotten. Seriously? Reality was in the loo when Trump told the CPAC crowd, “We believe in the American dream, not in the socialist nightmare.” If you’re a Trumpist, socialism is anything that helps brown people, while benefits you receive are considered an entitlement, even if they’re the same program. If we let ourselves be cowed by Trump’s provocations, if we focus on what stirs the rabble instead of what serves the greater good, we will lose our country and squander centuries of struggle. We must believe enough in ourselves, our values, and our fellow citizens to seize the moment and not be diverted by a demagogue‘s crude cavortings. Instead of fighting on Trump’s favored ground of fear and resentment, we should impart an honest vision—not just advancing policy goals, but recognizing our diverse human resources as an asset and not a threat, demanding the best in ourselves as in each other, and reclaiming our decency and honor. That reclamation requires an historic Republican loss. Copyright © 2019 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

22 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • M AR C H 0 8 , 2 0 1 9 • V IEWP O IN T

PETER ROSENSTEIN

琀栀攀

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

The warped world Trump has wrought We must continue to fight GOP fools and hypocrites

Are you racist for defending a racist? Are you despicable for defending Trump? We are living in an altered universe when Congressman Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) parades one African-America woman in front of the world trying to prove Trump isn’t racist and then gets upset when he is called a racist. The same Meadows who said in 2012, “We will send him back to Kenya or wherever that is” about President Obama. There is a saying “if it walks like a duck and quacks like a duck it’s a duck.” I felt sorry for the woman who stood behind Meadows looking like a deer in the headlights until I read a story in the paper about her loving the attention. Apparently she wants to star in a reality show. Donald Trump has verbally attacked immigrants and people of color. He has defended white nationalists and antiSemites. He promotes a host of policies harmful to African Americans, the LGBTQ community, women and immigrants. One can say considering him racist is being too kind. He is a totally disgusting individual lacking in any empathy or decency. Listening to their attacks on Michael Cohen in their zeal to defend this president we must feel free to question Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-OH), among his top defenders, about their beliefs and principles. It is clear after listening to Meadows go after Cohen and how in the past he has defended the outrageousness of Trump he doth protest too much when attacked. I don’t know about his nieces and nephews being people of color but that fact alone doesn’t make him not a racist. It speaks to the saying: “some of my best friends are,” which some people use to explain why they really aren’t racist. Trump hiring his son’s wedding planner to work at HUD clearly doesn’t make him not a racist. Republicans falling over themselves to hitch their wagon to Trump once again have managed to make themselves look like fools. When they attack Cohen for being a liar he readily agrees with them reminding them it is the reason he is about

to go to prison. But these Republican fools can’t see the hypocrisy in attacking him while defending the sad excuse for a man in the White House who it has been proven has lied thousands of times to the American people since being elected president. Listening carefully to most of Trump’s sycophants on the Committee while attacking Cohen they weren’t actually defending Trump though one of the blithering idiots, Jim Jordan, has said in the past he has never heard Trump lie. This the same Jim Jordan who has been accused by his former athletes when he was an assistant coach at Ohio State of knowing team doctor Richard Strauss sexually abused athletes but failed to report it. So I guess pretending to not hear Trump lie is really a minor thing for him to pretend not to hear or see. So what does it make all Republicans who continue to defend Trump? As Cohen said maybe it makes them all like him. We can only hope Trump and his family will be punished for their lying and cheating and even serve time in jail. The way the American people can punish Trump’s congressional defenders is by defeating them in an election. They can continue to sputter and make excuses for him and attack those who would call him out but in the long run that is like pissing in the wind and with any luck the wind will be at their faces. We must demand those like Rep. Matt Gaetz who issued an explicit threat to Michael Cohen to intimidate him before he testified will be held accountable to the full extent the law allows. We are at a point when even though each day brings another surprise we are no longer shocked. Yet there are still many Americans who believe what he says. There are still Republicans on the Hill who defend him. This is the world Donald Trump has wrought. We must fight together to bring this despot and his cohorts down and restore some semblance of sanity.

VI E WPO I NT • MARCH 08, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 23

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MICHAEL DOAN

BROCK THOMPSON

is a retired journalist and communications coordinator for Dumbarton United Methodist Church in Washington.

is a D.C.-based writer. He contributes regularly to the Blade.

Still supporting LGBTQ Gay and raised Methodist — when do people, despite you let go of the past? Methodist division Once a place of warmth, church now feels stodgy, out of touch Come this May, I’ll have been in Washington for 13 years. That is, 13 years ago, I was teaching history in a small college in my hometown. I turned in my grades at the end of the semester, packed the car and left. Since then I don’t make it home much. Maybe once or twice a year. It’s so far, you know. But I do try to make it home at least for Christmas. As the gay child, you’re sort of counted on to do so. My brothers have their own families now and people are generally busy. But the gay kid sort of parachutes in and keeps many of the family traditions going. One of ours is cramming in the old family pew in our Methodist Church downtown — the same church my parents were married in, the same church I was baptized in. One of my earliest memories is laying my head in my mother’s lap, looking up at the colors in the stained glass. I must have sat in that same pew close to a 1,000 times. Last week, the United Methodist General Conference, after several days of dramatic testimony, voted 438-384 to reinforce the United Methodist Church’s stance against ordaining gay clergy and performing same-sex weddings. A fairly shocking move for the church, really. One that will certainly drive the church to split, just as some of the other more progressive denominations have already done over this very issue. To be clear, I’m not particularly religious. I wouldn’t even consider myself to be a Methodist, really. As I noted, I go to church seldom and that’s driven more by tradition and to please my parents. Nevertheless, I took the news from the Methodist conference fairly hard. Mainly because my

father did too. A sweet southern man, he invested a great deal in his church’s future on this issue. Having come around on it himself he became one of his local church’s strongest advocates and most impassioned voices for inclusion, love, and acceptance. His Methodist heritage runs deep. His father, my grandfather, was a Methodist minister. Dad was heartbroken over the news. Now in their 70s, he and my mother are trying to figure out what to do next. And you have to remember that back home, and in many other small towns I suspect, at one time there were really only two main protestant camps. The Methodists could always hold their heads up a little higher, knowing we weren’t nutty, knee-jerking Southern Baptists, screaming about abortion and fixated on Hell. Valuing education, reason, and decorum, Methodists always were the calmer, more dignified alternative. Again, I’m not sure why I took it so hard. Maybe it’s because I feel somewhat cheated out of my birthright. Maybe I’ve come to realize that part of my childhood that I look back on with fondness isn’t quite how I remember it. The old Methodist church in downtown Conway, Arkansas, is truly a beautiful building. Large columns, oak railings, stained glass — built long before evangelical tin metal churches with prefab steeples dotted the southern landscape. But how will the old church seem now on my next visit home? I’m afraid less a place of warmth, tradition, and family heritage. More of stodginess, silliness. Arkansas can be hard to get back to. A little far, really, for more than a oncea-year visit. But things like this make it seem a little farther.

Dumbarton will continue to perform same-gender weddings The damage done by the United Methodist Church General Conference finally sank in for me when I saw two women renewing their wedding vows on their 15th anniversary last Sunday, March 3. Not only were Jennifer Stapleton and Amy Stapleton expressing their love, they were nurturing their two small children, who were all dressed up for the ceremony. This is what the Methodist church wants to prevent? This is supposed to be wrong? Just five days before this beautiful ceremony at Dumbarton United Methodist Church, the denomination’s General Conference tightened its ban on same-gender weddings and ordination of LGBTQIA+ clergy. Pastors who conduct these ceremonies will be suspended for a year and ousted if they do it again. Few, if any, at the Georgetown church would agree with this decision by the General Conference, which was held to settle the issue once and for all. We have gone through a long education process that we wish other congregations had undertaken. After long and hard discussions, our church decided 32 years ago to be one of the city’s first “Reconciling Congregations,” openly welcoming gay and lesbian people. Slowly, some gay and lesbian members outed themselves, and newcomers began attending services. Soon, we became friends with them and many were volunteering for major jobs in the church and carrying their weight like the oldtimers. Transgender folks came, as well, offering their gifts and taking on leadership positions. For 10 years I have happily sung next to a transgender person in the choir. I taught the Stapletons’ children in Sunday school with my wife. We have enjoyed the Mardi Gras-style parties put on after the annual reconciling service. All are a vital part of the congregation. In 2010, after same-gender marriages became legal in the District of Columbia, Dumbarton was the first United Methodist church in Washington to vow to conduct such weddings. Various clergy in our denomination married same-sex couples 20 times, risking losing their credentials. We also gave support to LGBTQIA+ individuals from other churches

who had been denied their call for ordination. Our efforts were going along smoothly, but the General Conference decision in St. Louis was a big blow. “On Feb. 26 the United Methodist Church died,” declared our pastor, the Rev. Mary Kay Totty. On that day, the General Conference set aside two plans that would have removed the bans from the church’s Book of Discipline and let each congregation make their choices. Instead, with a 53 percent majority vote, it added teeth to the rules by voting for the “Traditional Plan,” which penalizes pastors who conduct same-gender weddings, tightens its ban on ordination of LGBTQIA+ persons and fails to remove the statement that “homosexuality is incompatible with Christian teaching.” One reason for the sharp division: American churches now make up only 60 percent of the United Methodist Church. A majority of the others are from Africa, many of whose cultural contexts are far less tolerant of homosexuals than in much of the U.S. The “Traditional Plan” was led by conservatives in the U.S., who were joined by global delegates from Russia and several African nations. So what are churches like ours going to do now? Well, most are still digesting the decision. Many are holding out hope that some of the rules will be overturned by the church’s Judicial Council in late April. Others are hoping that minds will be changed by the next General Conference in May 2020. But time is against progressives because church membership in America is shrinking, while in Africa it is growing. Another option is quitting the United Methodist denomination and forming a new one with like-minded churches. The General Conference seemed to make this move more palatable by allowing departing churches to keep their property and pastors’ pensions. But the Judicial Council has yet to rule on this measure. Whatever choice Dumbarton makes, the Rev. Totty says, “We will not obey unjust rules.” The church will continue to perform samegender weddings and welcome LGBTQAI+ people regardless.

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LUIS ALFONSO CERVANTES MUÑIZ is an attorney licensed in Mexico by the Escuela Libre de Derecho, and founding partner of Cervantes Sainz, S.C.

Provocative, innovative, electrifying performances

Clarifying the record on Mexican homophobia case

March 24–April 7, 2019 Be a part of today’s art—and tomorrow’s transformation.

For a full listing of events, plug in at direct-current.org

Brooklyn Youth Chorus, Photo by Julienne Schaer

Court judgment challenged as accusations of discrimination disputed

Highlights include:

Moon Medicin, Photo by Tim Trumble

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company Analogy/Ambros: the Emigrant Photo by Andrew Jernigan

Gabriel Kahane—Book of Travelers - March 27

Du Yun—Where We Lost Our Shadows - March 31

Bill T. Jones/Arnie Zane Company: Analogy Trilogy - March 28–30

Brooklyn Youth Chorus: “Silent Voices”: Lovestate

(This is a response to a story published Jan. 18 by contributor Armando Ocampo Zambrano) I brought to the attention of the Washington Blade that no court decision exists in the terms set out by Armando Ocampo Zambrano in the interview published in the Blade on Jan. 18, 2019. Ocampo untruthfully stated that “he became the first Mexican to win a lawsuit due to homophobia against one of the most powerful law firms in the country”; such statement as the result of a judgment issued on Sept. 5, 2018 by the High Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice, which Ocampo falsely brags as a judgement against Chevez Ruiz Zamarripa y Cía., S.C. (“Chevez”) condemning it for acts of discrimination. The firm represents the interests of Chevez in the lawsuit that resulted from the complaint/ legal action filed by Ocampo with the National Council to Prevent Discrimination alleging several facts that Ocampo claims happened on November 2015, in which he and partners of Chevez participated; Ocampo considered them to be discriminatory and therefore filed the complaint. Council, by decision issued on Jan. 26, 2017, concluded that Chevez was not liable for discriminatory acts affecting Ocampo.

Ocampo ﬁled legal action for the annulment of Council’s decision of Jan. 26, 2017 with the Federal Court of Administrative Justice; this Court annulled Council’s decision ordering it to re-issue same considering certain evidence provided by the parties. Chevez and Ocampo, both, contested the judgment through Amparo lawsuits, to be decided by the Seventh Collegiate Tribunal for Administrative Matters of the First Circuit, which will decide on the validity and legality of the Judgment, which obviously as of today is not ﬁnal and conclusive. The above statement by Ocampo in the interview is totally and absolutely false because of the following two reasons: 1. There is no court decision issued by any Mexican court/authority that concludes that Chevez was found guilty of acts of discrimination against Ocampo. 2. The judgement has been challenged by Ocampo precisely because Chevez was not found liable for acts of discrimination against Ocampo. Chevez also challenged the judgment considering that Council´s decision issued on Jan. 26, 2017 is correct and impeccable, not being legally correct that the High Chamber of the Federal Court of Administrative Justice annuls Council´s decision.

Mason Bates’s KC Jukebox: Chanticleer - April 2 Moon Medicin - April 4

April 1

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DIRECT CURRENT is presented as part of The Irene Pollin Audience Development and Community Engagement Initiatives.

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40 Under 40: Queer Women of Washington Awards Reception presented by

Join the Mayor’s Ofﬁce of LGBTQ Affairs, the Ofﬁce of Women’s Policies and Initiatives, and the Washington Blade as we celebrate 40 fantastic queer women who are making a difference in their community. From political activism, business leadership, and cultural innovation, we’ve found 40 queer women who call their District home and are the change-agents the District needs.

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Photo courtesy of Newseum

Newseum unveils ‘Rise Up’ Stonewall-themed exhibit New installation features media and mementos covering AIDS, religion, pop culture and more By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM

The madras sport coat Jim Obergefell got married in, a red suit worn by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.), the sewing machine on which Gilbert Baker made the first rainbow flag — all that and much more are part of a new Newseum exhibit celebrating the 50th anniversary of Stonewall. “Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement” opens Friday, March 8 at the Newseum (555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.) and runs through year’s end. The exhibit explores the modern gay rights movement in the United States marking the 50th anniversary of the June, 1969 police raid of the Stonewall Inn in New York’s Greenwich Village neighborhood. The protests following the raid are considered the catalyst that inspired the modern gay liberation movement. It’s loosely part of an overall Newseum series “From Selma to Stonewall” that explore significant civil rights movements. Patty Rhule, vice president of content and exhibit development at the Newseum, says the exhibit was a relatively easy one to conceive and execute. It’s been in the works for a year or year and a half, she says. Upon contacting potential contributors, Rhule says, “I think people were excited. There’s a lot of excitement around this anniversary … and people were excited that we were planning such a big exhibit on this topic. Everybody we reached out to seemed enthused about the idea.” It opens with a section on LGBT portrayals in pop culture. Actors such as Jesse Tyler Ferguson (“Modern Family”), Cynthia Nixon (“Sex in the City”) and George Takei (“Star Trek”) appear in video installations talking about their experiences as LGBT actors. Next is an extensive depiction through photos and text of what actually happened at Stonewall and how it was covered (barely) in mainstream media at the time. “I think it was the third day before the mainstream press even paid attention and then you see headlines … in The Daily News that use slurs,” Rhule says. She says Stonewall’s impact on igniting the modern LGBT rights movement can’t be overstated. “From this moment on, it’s propelling forward a movement that gets more militant, more radical and more demanding,” says Rhule, who’s straight. “It’s about demanding more than just tolerance, but demanding acceptance.” There’s also a pre-Stonewall section that depicts Harry Hay, The Mattachine Society and Daughters of Bilitis, early ‘60s gay and lesbian groups that formed and protested in pockets around the country but lacked tailwinds since almost nobody was out at the time. “Young people today don’t realize just how repressive it was back then,” Rhule says. “We have headlines from newspapers

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The Blade is part of an exhibit on media at ‘Rise Up.’ Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

like the New York Times and Chicago Daily News with horrible headlines, using horrible language that no on would ever use today just to give you an idea of what society and the accepted societal attitudes were. It kind of immerses people in that time.” Items from gay rights pioneer Frank Kameny (his typewriter), former U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (buttons and photos from his same-sex marriage), Harvey Milk (an envelope with bullet holes that was in his jacket when he was assassinated) and more are part of the exhibit as is a wealth of media including two copies of the Washington Blade (founded 1969), The Ladder (a national lesbian publication from 1956-1972), Frontiers (a now-closed Los Angeles gay magazine) and more. (The Blade is a sponsor of the exhibit.) The AIDS crisis is up next with an AIDS quilt panel from a trans woman who died in 2016, ACT UP newsletters, mainstream coverage of the epidemic and more. Anti-gay quotes from Billy Graham, Jerry Falwell and Anita Bryant are countered with images of Bishop Gene Robinson (the first openly gay man consecrated Bishop in the U.S.) to show

how religion has evolved on LGBT issues. “Rise Up” closes with bringing the issues into the present, especially the ongoing battle for transgender rights. As you exit, a large panel features famous LGBT folks such as Janelle Monae, Caitlyn Jenner, Laverne Cox, Rachel Maddow, Anderson Cooper, Adam Rippon, Ellen DeGeneres and more. “We really need to get that Oscar dress in here,” Newseum PR Director Sonya Gavankar says referring to out actor Billy Porter’s gown/suit. “Wasn’t that fabulous?” A team of about 15 worked on the exhibit along with a handful of contractors in various stages. Most are straight but some LGBT employees were part of the team and outside LGBT folks, such as the Blade’s veteran reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr. were consulted on everything from appropriate language to essential issues to cover and include. “We knew we couldn’t have an allstraight perspective on this,” Maeve Scott, the Newseum’s director of collections and registrar, who worked on securing the items, says. “We came up with a whole glossary and asked a lot of people in the community how they feel about it to make

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sure we were using the right language.” Scott says by seeking input from “a lot of people with diverse backgrounds” and “relying on our experts,” the exhibit was planned to be as unbiased as possible. “It’s definitely something we keep in mind,” she says. Attempts were also made to make the display relevant to longtime activists as well as D.C. visitors who may know little or nothing about Stonewall and LGBT history. “There are always three types of museum visitors,” Rhule says. “Swimmers, skimmers and divers, people who read every word,” she says. “We try to make things look really compelling, give different access points and ways for people to interact. … We have selfie stations, people can pose behind a mic or with a protest sign. There are always going to be different levels of interest and understanding. We’re trying to meet that in the middle.” Scott, also straight, hopes visitors will find “Rise Up” inspiring. “A lot of these people were just everyday people who used their First Amendment rights to enact change,” she says. “If this group did this, other groups can as well and this is not the end of the story.”

‘Rise Up: Stonewall and the LGBTQ Rights Movement’ Newseum 555 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W. Opens Friday, March 8 Through Dec. 31 Family Pride Weekend (March 9-10) Free admission for two children (18 and younger) with the purchase of one adult ticket. Saturday, March 9 Activities with mix107.3 street team Program with Jimmy Alexander of “The Jack Diamond Morning Show” at 2:30 p.m. in Knight TV Studio Monday, March 18 — A Conversation with Alan Cumming Thursday, April 4 — Fourth annual Free Expression Awards with Katie Couric and the “Queer Eye” cast Friday, June 28 — Newseum Nights Party Full details at newseum.org

QUEERY Dana Price Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Queery: Dana Price His Imperial Majesty answers 20 gay questions By MARIAH COOPER

Dana Price is a contracting officer for the U.S. Department of the Interior by day and His Imperial Majesty (HIM) Trace Couture Kennady-Smith for the Imperial Court of Washington D.C. by night. Price, 46, recalls the first time he heard about the LGBTQ charity and social organization Imperial Court when he happened to be at the bar during one of their functions in Missoula, Montana. Price found himself enamored by “the family camaraderie and the fun everyone seemed to have.” When Price and his husband Tommy Price, aka Athena KS Couture Moore, moved to D.C. in 2006 for work, their first question on a night out was, “How do we find the Imperial Court?” They learned there wasn’t a D.C. chapter and in 2010 joined a group to kick-start the Imperial Court of Washington D.C. Price now counts his ICWDC accomplishments as the regent emperor, longest active member, co-founder and first monarch for the ICWDC. He is also the first monarch of D.C. to reign twice. Price hopes his reign can bring more attention

to ICWDC. “I’d like to increase our active membership and increase the visibility of the ICWDC to the community,” Price says. ICWDC will host numerous events throughout the year including its first Royal Mardi Gras Monte Carlo Casino Night at the Sphinx (1315 K St., N.W.) on Friday, March 9 from 8-11 p.m. Doors open at 7 p.m. with a royal ribbon cutting before the festivities kick off at 8 p.m. Guests can play blackjack 21, roulette, craps and poker. The event emphasizes that it “isn’t like Vegas” and all player levels are welcome. Throughout the night there will be a speakeasy drag show in the bar area. Tickets are $25 and include $25,000,000 Court Bucks for gaming and four raffle tickets. A portion of the night’s proceeds will go toward the court charities: Shriners Kids Travel Fund, Chesapeake and Potomac Softball Association and The True Colors Fund. Visit imperialcourtdc. org for details. Price and his husband live in Fairfax, Va. In his free time, Price enjoys skiing, reading, watching TV and playing computer games.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell? I’ve been out 25 years. The hardest person for me to tell was my boss at work. Sadly, for a long time in Montana, someone could be fired from work or kicked out of their house simply because they were homosexual. Who’s your LGBT hero? This is a hard question. I’d have to say my heroes would be Karl Ulrichs and Harvey Milk. Karl because he was the first gay person to speak out for homosexuality and Harvey because he was one of the first gay people elected to public office.

We are all who we are, the world is what it is, whether for good or bad. To change anything could change so many things that in the end, I might not even have existed. What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime? The smart phone. There’s an instant gratification that we didn’t have when I was growing up. You take a picture, it’s instantly ready; you hear a song, you can identify it immediately; there is no time. On what do you insist? I insist that if you say you are going to do something, do it.

What’s Washington’s best nightspot, past or present? Again, another very hard question. I miss Nation and Apex. I love Freddie’s and DIK Bar. It all depends on what you are in the mood for. If you want a sports night, there’s Nellie’s; if you want drag, there’s a ton; if you want leather, there’s the D.C. Eagle. So I can’t say what Washington’s best nightspot is because it’s subjective to the person and even to what the person feels like doing for the night in particular.

What was your last Facebook post or Tweet? Wishing Happy B-Day to a friend of mine from back home in Montana.

Describe your dream wedding. Tommy’s and my wedding was at a guest ranch in West Yellowstone with friends and family. That was my dream wedding.

What do you believe in beyond the physical world? I believe….

What non-LGBT issue are you most passionate about? Youth advocacy. Whether LGBTQIA or not, our youth is our future. What historical outcome would you change? Like my response to the question about “if science discovered a way to change…,” I wouldn’t change anything.

If your life were a book, what would the title be? “Are we there yet?” If science discovered a way to change sexual orientation, what would you do? Nothing. I am who I am and I like who I am.

What’s your advice for LGBT movement leaders? Patience. What would you walk across hot coals for? A Klondike bar. No, seriously, I would walk across hot coals for my family and friends. But that’s just my nature: I would give you the shirt off my back or my last $10.

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1221 Massachusetts Ave., NW 703 D St., NW 955 L’Enfant Plz., SW PR #325 What LGBT stereotype annoys you most? All of them. We are all LGBTQIA, why do we further separate ourselves from each other? Let’s stand together as one so the detractors can’t take us down. What’s your favorite LGBT movie? “Love, Simon.” I love the part when they’re going through imagining if you had to come out as straight.

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What’s the most overrated social custom? This was big with my grandma: That you have to eat with your dominate hand. In my grandma’s house you had to switch hands after cutting your steak so that the fork was back in your dominate hand. I can actually use both hands to cut and hold a fork, so I had no issues with holding the fork in my left hand and eating with my left hand. To be required to switch is a waste of time. What trophy or prize do you most covet? It wasn’t a tangible prize, but I’d have to say that when I was in high school, we were getting ready to go on our senior band trip to Edmonton, Alberta, PROOFCanada. # ISSUE DATE 190208 SALES REPRESENTATIVE I had raised enough money throughout high school through candy REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Proof will be considered ﬁnal and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of sales, orange/tangerine/grapefruit 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 responsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users REDESIGN sales, etc. that I was able to “defray” can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or TEXTof REVISIONS any So, rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any some the cost for everybody. copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair IMAGE/LOGO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, as example since I’m old and don’t or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the NOan REVISIONS washington blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred remember exactly how much itliability, was, by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations and warranties. instead of the trip costing $600 per person it only cost $250. What do you wish you’d known at 18? That it was going to be OK to be gay. Why Washington? Honestly, because of my job at the time. Now it’s because of the family and friends we have here: I couldn’t imagine living anywhere else. M AR CH 08, 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 31

Eugene Onegin March 9–29 | Opera House ADVERTISING

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From top: GMCW performs ‘Let Freedom Sing’ on March 16. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key. Team D.C. presents Spring Sportsfest on March 20. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key. La Fantasy brings PaPa Party to L8 Lounge on March 15. Photo courtesy of the thepapa.party.

GMCW pays homage to African-American culture Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington D.C. presents “Let Freedom Sing,” a musical celebration of how African-American culture has influenced the LGBTQ community, at the Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.) on Saturday, March 16 at 4 p.m.

and 8 p.m. The chorus will feature songs from Prince, Motown, The Temptations, Duke Ellington, Whitney Houston and more. Songs will include “Purple Rain,” “I’m Here,” “Think,” “I Wanna Dance with Somebody,” among others. The 4 p.m. performance will have an ASL interpreter. Tickets range from $25-$65. For more details, visit gmcw.org.

La Fantasy presents Papa Party: Army of Love La Fantasy hosts Papa Party: Army of Love at L8 Lounge (727 15th St., N.W.) on Friday, March 15 from 10 p.m.-4 a.m. DJ Eliad Cohen and DJ Danny Verde will play music for the night. Dress code is sexy military gear. Coat and clothes check will be available on site. General admission tickets are $35. VIP tickets are $50 and

include a meet and greet with Cohen at midnight and gives permission to skip the line at coat check. For more information, visit lafantasyproductions.com.

Team D.C. hosts its 2019 Spring Sportsfest Team D.C. hosts its Spring Sportsfest

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Today

Women in Their 20s and 30s, a social discussion group for lesbian, bisexual, transgender and all women interested in women, meets today at the D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) from 8-9:30 p.m. For details, visit thedccenter.org. The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts its Birds of Prey Drag Show tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. Special guest Cynthia Lee Fontaine from “RuPaul’s Drag Race” will perform. Showtime is 11:30. Guests who attended the Haters Roast Shady Tour will receive free admission. Alicia Love, Sasha Adams Sanchez, Crystal Edge, Katrina Colby, Ophelia Bottoms, Bambi Necole Ferrah and Ariel Ventura will also perform. Ba’Naka hosts the night. DJ C Dubz will spin tracks. Attendees must be 18 and over. Tickets are $15. For more details, visit dceagle.com. Gamma D.C., a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) today from 7:309:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group, visit gammaindc.org. at Room & Board (1640 14th St., N.W.) on Wednesday, March 20 at 6 p.m. Attendees can learn about the DMV’s more than 35 LGBTQ sports clubs. No cover. Two drink tickets are $10 or pay $20 to drink all night. The ﬁrst 50 donors will receive a Room & Board canvas tote bag. For more details, visit teamdc.org.

Imperial Court switches up its Turn About Show The Imperial Court of Washington D.C. hosts its Turn About Show at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23rd St., S Arlington, Va.) on Sunday, March 17 from 8-10 p.m. The ladies and gentlemen will switch roles on stage for the night. Proceeds beneﬁt the True Colors Fund. Cookie B Childs Von Shigglesworth and Trace Couture Kennedy Smith will host the event. For more information, visit imperialcourtdc.org.

Saturday, March 9 The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) presents Daddy, a men’s jock and underwear party, tonight from 8 p.m.-4 a.m. DJ Strike Walton Stone and DJ Dean Douglas Sullivan will play music all night. For more information, visit dceagle.com. The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) hosts SirCuit: Get Lucky, a St. Patrick’s Day-themed party, tonight from 10 p.m.-6 a.m. Green jocks and harnesses are encouraged. Extended alcohol service until 4 a.m. Clothes and coat check will be available. DJ UltaPup and DJ David Merrill will play music. For more details, visit dceagle.com. DC9 Nightclub (1940 9th St., N.W.) hosts Betcha Bucks Drag Show tonight at 11 p.m. Kristina Kelly hosts the show. In addition to the drag show, the audience is encouraged to show off their talents for a grand prize of $50. Doors open at 10:30 p.m. Seating is limited. Cover is $5. For more information, visit dc9.club. D.C. Rawhides takes over Ziegfelds/ Secrets (1824 Half St., S.W.) tonight at 7

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p.m. The country western dance lesson is from 7-8 p.m. and open dancing is from 8-10:50 p.m. Cover is $5 until 9 p.m. and then $10 after 9 p.m. For more information, visit facebook.com/dcrawhides.

Sunday, March 10 The DC Area Transmasculine Society (DCATS) hosts its March group meeting today from 5-7 p.m. at Whitman-Walker Health (1525 14th St., N.W.) to discuss how to access trans-competent care and their experiences. The Trans Wellness Information Network, Whitman-Walker Health and TransHealthcare Maryland will give presentations. The meeting is open to all trans, non-binary and other gender non-conforming individuals, not just transmasculine individuals. For more information, visit facebook.com/dcatsociety. DCATS also hosts a meeting for Partners of Transmasc Folx at WhitmanWalker Health (1525 14th St., N.W.) today from 5-7 p.m. Spouses, partners, signiﬁcant others and friends are invited to join this partner-facilitated group discussion on the issues of having a transmasculine partner. Partners of all genders and sexual orientations are welcome. For more details, visit facebook.com/dcatsociety. Flash (645 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts Flashy Sundaze, a Daylight Savings party, today from 4-10 p.m. DJ Twin and DJ Sean Morris will spin tracks. No cover. For more details, visit facebook.com/ﬂashydc. Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) hosts Slay My Name featuring KC B. Yoncé tonight at 7 p.m. Sippi will also perform. DJ Dvonne will spin tracks. There will also be a high heel limbo contest and a Girl Group slay off contest. For more information, visit facebook.com/tradebardc. U Street Music Hall (1115 U St., N.W.) presents Life: Get Yours, a house and vogue party, tonight from 10 p.m.-2 a.m. Lemz, Scottie B and Vjuan Allur will spin tracks. No cover. For more details, visit ustreetmusichall.com.

Monday, March 11 LGBTQ Democrats of Montgomery County holds its March meeting at the Montgomery County Democratic Central Committee (3720 Farragut Ave., Kensington, Md.) tonight from 7-8:30 p.m. The meeting will give an update

on Maryland LGBTQ organizations and advocacy. LGBTQ Democrats of Montgomery County member Lily Amara Pastor will speak on state organizations such as Trans Healthcare MD and Sex Work Outreach Project. Pastor and other members will give advocacy updates on legislative priorities and other legislation of interest to LGBTQ people. For more information, visit lgbtqdemsmoco.org.

Tuesday, March 12 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) will prepare and serve a meal to residents of the Wanda Alston House today from 7-8 p.m. If interested in volunteering email supportdesk@thedccenter.org or visit thedccenter.org.

Wednesday, March 13 The Dirty Goose (913 U St., N.W.) hosts Banker Pride beneﬁtting Whitman-Walker Health tonight from 6-9 p.m. LGBTQ employees from Bank of America, Wells Fargo, PNC and BB&T will gather together for a fundraiser to beneﬁt Whitman-Walker Health.There is a suggested $10 donation. For more details, visit facebook.com/thedirtygoosedc. Big Gay Book Group meets at 1155 F St., N.W. tonight at 7 p.m. to discuss “No One Can Pronounce My Name” by Rakesh Satyal and “Queer Nuns: Religion, Activism and Serious Parody” by Melissa M. Wilcox. Newcomers welcome. For more details, visit biggaybookgroup.com or email biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com. The Lambda Bridge Club meets at 7:30 p.m. at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations required and new comers welcome. If you need a partner, call 703-407-6540.

Thursday, March 14 Out actor, singer and performer Andrew Rannells discusses his memoir “Too Much is Not Enough: A Memoir of Fumbling Toward Adulthood” at Sixth & I Synagogue (600 I St., N.W.) tonight at 7 p.m.General admission tickets are $20. Tickets for admission and one book are $32. Two tickets and one book are $45. Seating is ﬁrst come, ﬁrst served. Doors open at 6 p.m. For more details, visit sixthandi.org.

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KODO Saturday, March 16 at 8 p.m.

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Madama Butterfly Saturday, March 23 at 8 p.m. Sunday, February 24 at 2 p.m.

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream Sunday, March 31 at 7 p.m.

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ANTHONY MICHAEL LOPEZ as Dobbin in Vanity Fair. Photo by Scott Suchman

‘Vanity Fair’ actor on stage life as gay, disabled Lopez ‘can still serve ferocious choreography’ By PATRICK FOLLIARD

With his current gig, accomplished out actor Anthony Michael Lopez proves versatility incarnate, assaying roles ranging from subdued spurned suitor to assorted comic parts played wildly broad, in Kate Hamill’s “Vanity Fair” now at Shakespeare Theatre Company. “The first scene opens with me in drag,” says Lopez, 33. “I dive into a dress. Somebody throws me a wig from across the stage, I slap it on my head, turn around and I’m the headmistress of a girls’ school.” “It hopefully gets you used to the kinds of conventions you’ll be seeing,” he adds. In addition to nasty headmistress, Lopez adeptly plays multiple roles including Dobbin, a noble victim of unrequited love. “Because it’s a swiftly unfolding, sweeping epic spanning 15 years and a couple of countries, a lot of the performance style is big, plot points must be made crisply, and the cast needs to make quick changes. It’s challenging but so much fun.” Like William Makepeace Thackery’s same-titled 1848 novel, Hamill’s tremendously entertaining “Vanity Fair” tracks the shady rise and thud-like fall of devious but likable parvenu Becky Sharp. The New York-based playwright is celebrated for adapting, often irreverently, literary classics centered on strong women for the stage. With an inventive, lean cast of seven, playing more than 20 parts, Hamill’s play was initially written for a smaller space, but for its run in STC’s not tiny Lansburgh Theatre, director Jessica Stone gives a stylistic nod to Victorian burlesque – a merger of traditional theater and English music hall – to successfully translate the action to bigger space. “Along with the fast-paced, sometimes slapstick humor we’re dealing with issues, says Lopez. “These people’s lives fall apart in front of you. Playing high highs and super lows — like Becky Sharp’s life – is really gratifying.” As a kid, Lopez showed a precocity for showbiz. Family lore has it that at four, he demanded his uber supportive mother get him an agent and put him on “Sesame Street.” He was doing children’s theater at 10, and by high school was nabbing leading roles Don Quixote in the musical “Man of La Mancha.” He determinedly pursued acting at Illinois Wesleyan University. Shortly after graduation, he was cast in the national tour of “The 25th Putnam Valley Spelling Bee,” and has been working ever since. Lopez knocks on wood. In a surprising twist on professional theater, Lopez explains, he often finds myself the only openly gay person in the room. As part of the high-profile 2016 production of “Othello” with movie star Daniel Craig and David Oyelowo, Lopez was definitely the only out cast member. “When I was younger, I was selfconscious about coming off ‘too gay.’ But now I realize that fear inhibits my ability to perform and connect with actors, words

and feelings,” he says. “I sometimes have to remind myself not to butch-up. That’s a defense mechanism. As gays it’s kept us safe. But ultimately I’m not OK with not being myself.” “My first big movie role is a gay dude,” he says delightedly of the biopic “Mapplethorpe,” a studio, wide-release feature (now in theaters) based on the life of the seminal and controversial gay photographer. Lopez plays gay activist Jack Fritscher, founding editor of gay leather-themed magazine Drummer and Mapplethorpe’s sometime lover and friend. Looking forward, Lopez wants to do more Shakespeare. He’d like to play the visibly disabled title character in “Richard the Third” (now running concurrently at STC). “Because I’m disabled – I have a prosthetic leg – it’s a part that I really interests me. Also, I’m beginning to think more about lead roles. As a gay man I never thought I could play Macbeth. But [out actor] Sir Ian McKellan did it, so why not me?” Lopez was born with a condition that requires he use a prosthetic leg: “While there are certain limitations, I can still serve ferocious choreography. [“Vanity Fair’s” cast both dances and takes parts in precision like scene changes, which Lopez executes with agile aplomb.] But getting new equipment approved by insurance companies can be a nightmare.” It’s vital that he take care of himself, he says. “It’s important to stretch, hydrate, and get rest. I’m lucky that I can wear long pants and easily play non-disabled roles. And with some productions, the director might make the decision to costume me in shorts and the character is now disabled because I’m playing the role.” Whether at home in New York City or on the road, Lopez loves working. But while away, he’s not immune to homesickness. “I miss my friends and my boyfriend who’s “not in theater, thank God!” He’s a renaissance man who’s currently doing production work for film, TV, and commercials. “He just did the sets for the New Kids on the Block video. Yes, the video came as a surprise to us too,” he adds. Typically used to a more sub-textual, performance style, Lopez is relishing the theatricality of “Vanity Fair”: “It’s been really great to snap my head out to the audience and declare this or that. There’s just something so satisfying about it.”

Anthony Michael Lopez ‘Vanity Fair’ Through March 31 Shakespeare Theatre Company Lansburgh Theatre 450 7th St., N.W. $64-$125 202-547-1122 Shakespearetheatre.org

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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

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

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

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BRIE LARSON stars as ‘Captain Marvel.’ Photo courtesy Marvel Studios

At last, Marvel showcases a female hero ‘Captain Marvel,’ ‘American Gods’ embrace diversity in superhero genre By BRIAN T. CARNEY The universe of people with superpowers is becoming increasingly diverse. Two interesting new examples burst onto the scene this week. Based on the international bestseller by Neil Gaiman, “American Gods” is an epic battle between the Old Gods and the New Gods. Led by Odin (traveling incognito as Mr. Wednesday and played by the rakish Ian McShane), the Old Gods have migrated to America from around the world. Led by Mr. World (a chilling Crispin Glover), the New Gods reflect modern society’s obsession with money, technology, and mass media. When Season One of “American Gods” premiered on STARZ last year. LGBT viewers were delightfully surprised to find an intimate and tender gay love story in the middle of Episode Three (newcomers can find it on YouTube). The hapless salesman Salim

(Omid Abtahi) gets in a cab driven by the Jinn (Mousa Kraish) and the two are instantly attracted to each other. The sizzling sex scene that followed was both graphic (including full frontal nudity) and deeply moving. Salim and the Jinn go their own separate ways after their one-night stand, but LGBT fans will be pleased to know that they are reunited at the start of Season Two and embark on a heroic quest to find the magical spear Gangnir. In fact, a segment of their touching reunion scene is included in the season trailer. Other returning characters include Ricky Whittle as Shadow Moon, Emily Browning as Laura Moon, Pablo Schreiber as Mad Sweeney, Orlando Jones as Mr. Nancy, Yetide Badaki as Bilquis, Bruce Langley as Technical Boy and queer icon Cloris Leachman as Zorya Vechernyaya. New characters include Kahyun Kim as New Media, Sakina Jeffrey as Mama-Ji and Dean Winters as Mr. Town Fans of Season One will be pleased to know that the second season maintains the high production standards and rather trippy sensibility of the first season. The colorsaturated cinematography and design are dazzling and sometimes wonderfully lurid. The pacing is rather deliberate (the show is still only partway through Gaiman’s book, but Gaiman has been closely involved in the adaptation and alterations of his original story) and the dialogue is frequently loopy, but the actors and directors all know how to make the most of every moment. Season Two of American Gods returns to STARZ on March 10. New episodes drop weekly. “Captain Marvel,” ranked as the most highly anticipated release of 2019, zooms into theaters today. It’s the 21st film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU), but only the first to star a female character. Even though it

doesn’t get everything right, the movie is a fun and fresh take on the superhero genre. It’s amazing what happens when women and people of color take center stage. Set in 1995, and loaded with wonderful pop culture references, the movie is both an origin story and a mystery. Written and directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck (with Geneva Robinson-Dworet also receiving screenplay credit), the movie opens with “Vers” (the excellent Brie Larson) training to be a Kree warrior. She’s haunted by dreams of her past but is fully committed to helping the highly regimented Kree in their galactic battle against the shape-shifting Skrull. Vers ends up on Planet C-23 (aka Earth) and slowly starts gathering clues about her real identity (Air Force pilot Carol Danvers) and learning how to harness her superpowers to become Captain Marvel. In a neat twist, she becomes a true superhero by embracing her human emotions. The movie is strongest, freshest and most interesting when it focuses on the mystery of Vers’ identity and her evolving relationships with the other characters. Those moments look great and crackle with both humor and emotion. Unfortunately, some of the outer space sequences look and feel like they’ve been phoned in. Brie Larson, who won an Oscar for her powerful performance in “Room,” is a wonderful addition to the superhero pantheon. She brings a fierce determination, aching vulnerability and sly sense of humor to the character and it’s great fun to cheer her on. Larson is surrounded by a great supporting cast. She has a lively rapport Samuel L. Jackson (Agent Nick Fury) and their banter is wonderful. To maintain continuity with present-day Marvel outings, both Jackson and Clark Gregg are digitally “de-aged” by twenty-five years and the results are incredible. Their digital transformation is seamless. Annette Bening finally gets a role worthy of her stellar talents: the Supreme Intelligence. Like Frank Morgan in “The Wizard of Oz,” she plays several characters and appears in different guises to different people. She’s stunning and badass and the key to unraveling the fascinating twists and turns and shifting alliances of the unfolding story. There are also fine performances by Lashana Lynch as Danver’s best friend Maria Rambeau (Rambo – get it?) Jude Law as Kree commander Yon-Rogg and Ben Mendelsohn as Skrull warrior Talos and various humans, but they are all upstaged by a captivating cat named Goose (one of many “Top Gun” references). Both “American Gods” and “Captain Marvel” are fun reconsiderations of ancient myths and modern mythologies. They raise interesting questions about power, belief, gender and sexuality, and history and the power of storytelling, but both take themselves lightly. They’re great popcorn fodder, but they’ll leave you with something to think about after the credits roll. By the way, make sure you stay for the credits of “Captain Marvel.” The fun doesn’t stop until after the last digital technician is acknowledged.

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‘If you are going to whisper in people’s ears how great they are going to be, you should also be the best that you can be,’ says PORSHA BURTON. Photo by Kevin Majoros

Trans athlete: an advocate and a competitor Porsha Burton talks transition and importance of a team By KEVIN MAJOROS

Porsha Burton is missing her sport. A former track and field athlete, she stopped competing in high school to begin the process of transitioning to her true gender identity. Burton began as an 8 year old with the Cambria Youth Association in Philadelphia and found success as a sprinter and shot putter. She ran through her freshman year of high school before starting hormone blockers at age 15. “My participation in sports stopped because it seemed counterproductive to be pumping muscles while I was trying to be softer,” says Burton. “Also, my appearance was changing, and it would have been distracting to race against boys and not fair to the girls.” Had Burton chosen to compete, according to transathlete.com, the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association has a policy on “mixed-gender” participation that includes some phrasing on transgender athletes. However, the policy allows a school’s principal to make the final decision about what gender the student is and what team they may play on, without outlining any criteria for the decision making process. A class project in junior high led Burton to a path of sexual health advocacy where she educated herself on topics such as pregnancy prevention, STIs and HIV. At age 18, she furthered her own transition by working with a doctor at the Mazzoni Center to gain more knowledge on hormones, therapy and surgeries. Her work career began at The COLOURS Organization in Philadelphia as a peer educator performing street outreach to young trans women. “My brother passed from HIV complications during that time,” Burton says. “I have always wished I could have shared more of the things I have learned with him.” A relationship brought her to D.C. where she was impressed by the people of color she was meeting who had education on their side. She began working at the DC Center for the LGBT Community before moving over to

the D.C. Department of Health as a Health Impact Specialist. Burton was contracted out by the DOH and worked inside of local youth organization SMYAL for over a year. Now working as a community health worker, Burton is hoping to reintroduce sports into her life. “If you are going to whisper in people’s ears how great they are going to be, you should also be the best that you can be,” says Burton. “I have a love for being athletic and am excited at the thought of competing again. My younger self would have been inspired by seeing a trans woman as an athlete. I never would have stopped.” Burton happens to be living in a city with a thriving LGBT sports community. The DC Front Runners offer a walking and running program along with a 10-week series of track workouts. “It’s wonderful to live in a city like D.C. with such an incredible infrastructure for the LGBT community,” says Mick Bullock, Club Coordinator for the DC Front Runners. “We have members from all walks of life, and we are a running family. We accept everyone and are very experienced with nonbinary and trans athletes.” “We want to represent the whole community and we love diversity,” adds Jeremy Garrett, track coach for the DC Front Runners. “We offer a full range of paces and cater to all abilities. The track program is designed to be fun and a great workout.” While Porsha Burton explores her path back into sports, the LGBT sports community in D.C. stands ready to embrace her and any individual that wants to reap the benefits of participating in sports. “My former teammates taught me how to be a team player,” says Burton. “I would like for people who want to understand why a trans athlete should be able to compete and be part of a team, to do more research. Most of the great things in life were made from a team effort.”

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

MICHAEL RADKOWSKY

What’s worth saving when the world collapses?

masterpieces

Substance abuse is entrenched in LGBT culture

MICHAEL,

MICHAEL REPLIES:

I think my girlfriend is an addict and I am struggling with how to help her. We met three years ago when we were both in our mid-20s, and Anna told me she had a history of drinking too much back when she was a teenager. But she said it was now totally under control. I’d notice that she’d seem to drink a lot when we were out at a club but I trusted her that she no longer had a problem. After about a year I started noticing that her drinking was increasing and not just when we were clubbing. Once I was on a business trip and when I called her she seemed out of it, slurring her words and not making much sense. She said she’d spent the evening home alone. That really worried me that she’d be drinking by herself on a weeknight. After that, I started really paying attention to how much she was drinking when we were together and I got alarmed. I raised it with her and she got angry. Then she got a DWI. I tried to make a plan with her not to drink too much but told me not to tell her what to do. I don’t want to tell her what to do. I just want to help her get back to where she was when we met, and drinking wasn’t a problem for her. It’s gotten so I don’t want to be with her anytime she might drink, because I get nervous and upset. Last Tuesday she yelled at me to stop making her feel like she’s a drunk. Then she went to sleep in the guest room. When I left for work the next morning she was still asleep. I tried to wake her up so she wouldn’t be late for work but she was out cold. When I was leaving the house I saw three new empty bottles of wine in the recycling. She must have drunk them overnight. Since then she’s barely talking to me. I am trying to be nice and not bring up anything about drinking but I know this isn’t good for her. She has already gotten written up for repeatedly being late to work and I am also worried about her getting another DWI because she has to drive a lot for work. How do I approach this to help her without her getting angry? I feel we were on a really good trajectory and now it is derailing. Thank you.

You can’t help Anna stop or reduce her drinking if she does not want to change her behavior. Nor can you find a way to approach this without Anna getting angry. Anna’s anger is up to her. I’m sorry. Living with an addict who is using is frustrating, infuriating, and often very sad. What you can do is find a better way to cope with Anna’s drinking than letting it take over your life, as you are now doing when you monitor the recycling, try and keep her from being late to work, and search for ways to get her to cut back. Can you accept that you are powerless over Anna’s drinking, and enjoy being in this relationship with Anna as she is? This would mean that you stop trying to change her behavior and accept that Anna is responsible for her life—job loss, DWI, and all. Practically speaking, if you stay with Anna under these terms, there may be times when you won’t want to just stand by. You might try such strategies as taking away her keys so that she doesn’t drive drunk. Doing so might save her life—or someone else’s life. But a relationship where you play this role is not a love relationship of two equal partners. If you don’t want to be with someone who drinks as much as Anna does, you can leave the relationship. But do not to threaten Anna with leaving unless she curtails her alcohol consumption. Threatening your significant other with consequences to get her to change her behavior will poison your relationship. Whether you decide to stay with Anna or not, consider checking out Al-Anon, a support fellowship for families and friends based on the principles of Alcoholics Anonymous. You could use some help getting out of the role of wanna-be rescuer. For Anna and anyone struggling with addiction: People abuse drugs and alcohol for complex, deep-seated reasons. But alcohol and other substance abuse is entrenched in LGBT culture Many of us drink and use other substances to block feelings of depression, anxiety, isolation and self-loathing. LGBT socializing is often alcohol-focused, which encourages and normalizes drinking to excess. Reducing or stopping substance use isn’t easy, but it is possible. Consider getting support including through a 12-step group or a therapist.

M AR CH 08, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 41

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Tell me something …about beach living Consider a move or second home in coastal Delaware By LEE ANN WILKINSON Have you been considering a move to the beach – either full-time or buying a second home/easy getaway from the city? What’s holding you back? If you are a city person by nature, we get it. D.C. has a lot to love and the annual pilgrimage to the beach is a traditional “summer vacation.” But “if you need more … and there’s something else you’re searching for” (thank you Lady Gaga and Bradley Cooper), you might find it here in Coastal Delaware. While most of our D.C. clients are familiar with Rehoboth Beach as a summer destination, many are still surprised to find out how livable Delaware is as a yearround home. Plus, it’s still so close to D.C. when you need a dose of city life. Here are a few points to consider as you find yourself “longing for change:” Cost of Living. “It’s too expensive” is not a true excuse since living at the beach is likely less expensive than living in D.C., especially when you factor in our low property taxes. (Annual taxes typically range from $1K - $3K annually.) Plus, “the beach,” which years ago was limited to intown Rehoboth, has expanded to include Lewes and Milton. These towns are only a few miles away – like, less than five miles - but are significantly less expensive and now have great restaurants of their own. For example, at the high end, beachfront property in Rehoboth Beach is typically in the $4M+ range; while currently available beachfront property in Lewes is in the $2M range and one block off the beach can go for $1.5M and less. Neighborhood living in Rehoboth, still biking distance to downtown, is more affordable still: currently you can

There’s more to coastal Delaware than in-town Rehoboth. Washington blade photo by Daniel Truitt

get a fantastic, like-new Rehoboth home just four blocks from the boardwalk for $625,000, a low-maintenance twin-home for $320’s-520’s, and a condo in nearby Spring Lake for $299,000. Lewes is home to several new construction communities which will offer homes in the $500-600Ks. And Milton, just a few miles north, features communities from the high $200Ks to $400Ks. Several homes currently for sale in Milton offer water access/views and are in the $400s. Cultural Withdraw. The days of everything shutting down for the winter at the beach are over. Just a few considerations:

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• Clear Space Theater Company in Rehoboth Beach continues to expand its live productions and offers classes and terrific shows year-round. Current and upcoming shows include “The Music Man,” “The Addams Family,” “‘Night Mother,” “Hello Dolly,” and more. • The Cinema Art Theatre in Lewes showcases Academy Award-winning films and hosts film festivals • Coastal Concerts in Lewes hosts internationally renowned classical performers • Restaurants are continually upping the beach dining game. Local chef Matthew Kern from Heirloom restaurant in

Lewes was just named semi-finalist for the James Beard Foundation Award. Health Care & Schools. Medical facilities and specialties continue to expand here to include a cardiovascular specialty at Beebe Medical Center, more walk-in health clinics, and a brand new hospital, Bayhealth, north of Milton in Milford. The health care divide between once-rural Delaware and the city is narrowing. School districts are booming; high schools are expanding, we are replacing outdated elementary schools and have added an additional one, and are adding a new middle school. Charter school options are expanding, too. Making Your Move. Of course, D.C. is a pretty great place to live and has something for everyone. Just know that Coastal Delaware continues to expand its housing options and includes more than in-town Rehoboth price tags. Our local market is brisk – homes east of Route 1 in Lewes were on the market in 2018 for half of the time they were in 2017 and well-priced homes are selling quickly this spring. In terms of houses, condos, new construction, and building lots, there is something for everyone here, too. And one last tip: even if you are considering new construction, call a local Realtor to work for you and help you navigate the coastal market. If you are ready to invest in a second/ vacation home, or you are ready to retire, we welcome you – and we would love to help you find what you’re searching for at the beach.

Lee Ann Wilkinson is a Realtor and CEO of The Lee Ann Wilkinson Group of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Gallo Realty, the topselling real estate team in Delaware and #4 nationally for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. Visit LeeAnnGroup.com, email LeeAnn@LeeAnnGroup.com, or call her at 302-645-6664 for information on living at the beach.

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