Washingtonblade.com, Volume 50, Issue 17, April 25, 2019 by Washington Blade

Photo courtesy of Mitchell Gold

MITCHELL GOLD AND BOB WILLIAMS CELEBRATE 30 YEARS OF STYLE AND ADVOCACY, PAGE 30

A PRIL 26, 2019 • VOLUM E 50 • I S S UE 17 • WA S HI N GTONB LAD E.CO M

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VOLUME 50 ISSUE 17 ADDRESS

PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE

Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams look back on 30 years of style and substance in our annual Home & Garden section. PAGES 29-34

06 08

Looking back:

Cannabis Culture

50 years of the Blade

New Aussie study

Judy Stevens, beloved

explores bi psychology

D.C. bartender, dies at 79

Viewpoint

AHF ribbon-cutting marks

Home & Garden

opening of expanded D.C.

QUEERY: Krylios Clarke Jr.

healthcare center

More laughs with Wanda

Comings & Goings

Arts & Culture

Hollywood’s A-list

Jaysen’s lyric

gays welcome Buttigieg

That’s a fact, ‘Jack’

Supreme Court to hear

‘All About Trans’ month returns

LGBT discrimination cases

Gobsmacking memoir

Lesbian candidate wins

An Ugly situation

big in Tampa mayoral race

Classiﬁeds

13 16 17

Northern Ireland

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Friday June 7, 2019 at 7:00pm Historical Congressional Cemetery, 1801 E Street SE, Washington, DC 20003. Chip-timed 5K race with winners and age-graded prizes, Finish Line Party with free snacks & drinks plus DJ, Dance Troupe, raffle prizes and more! www.dcfrpriderun.com

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Stein Club backs Jesse Jackson for president — April 29, 1988 The Gertrude Stein Democratic Club in 1988 endorsed Rev. Jesse Jackson for president ahead of the D.C. Democratic primary that took place on May 3 of that year. This ad that notes its endorsement of Jackson and other candidates ran in the Washington Blade on April 29, 1988.

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Judy Stevens, beloved D.C. bartender, dies at 79 ‘Mama Judy’ worked at Fireplace, Tracks, other gay bars By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

history as well as its verbal history,” he said. In a Facebook message to Lisa Vinella, one of Stevens’ daughters, Hicks added one more remembrance of Stevens. “Your mother was a living guardian angel to a city of ‘lost boys’ like in Peter Pan,” he wrote. “She was family to those that had been discarded by their biological families. Know that thousands loved her over the fifty years she made us smile and feel better for having known her.” Mulnar said Stevens invited many of her longtime customers to her home during her days off from her bartending jobs. “She used to invite us to her home in Bowie for Christmas,” said Mulnar. “We call called her mom. She was our second mom,” he said. “All those boys said I wish my mom was as cool as her.” Added Mulnar: “She had that wonderful respect and honor. She would tell you if she thought you did something wrong. Judy loved her customers and we loved her.” James Travis Thorn, a longtime

Fireplace customer who became a close friend of Stevens, said he was among the countless gay bar customers who confided in Stevens some of their most intimate concerns, including, as with Thorn, a breakup with his partner. “She is a lady that many tears have been shed on her shoulders because she was the first one to hear the troubles and joys from everybody. It did not matter who they were – male, female, black, white, whatever,” Thorn said. Vinella, Stevens’ daughter, said a Celebration of Life gathering in Stevens’ honor is planned for 2 p.m. on Thursday, June 6, at the waterfront harbor in Centerville, Md. Vinella said another Celebration of Life gathering will be held at the Fireplace at a date and time to be announced soon. She said the Stevens family is suggesting that donations in lieu of flowers be made to an AIDS organization selected by the donor.

Gay tech professional running for Fairfax board

JUDY STEVENS (second from left) worked at the Fireplace, Tracks and other D.C. gay bars over the years. Photos courtesy of Victor Hicks

Judy Stevens, a bartender who worked for as many as seven D.C. gay bars over a period of more than 50 years and whose gay male customers and friends say she became a beloved mother figure to those who were rejected by their own families, died April 18 at her home in Bowie, Md., following a battle with colon cancer. She was 79. Her friend and longtime customer Victor Hicks said Stevens, who was straight and who became known as “Mama Judy,” began her long tenure as a bartender at D.C.’s gay bars in 1964 at the Georgetown Grill, where she met many of her gay customers who became lifelong friends. Hicks said Stevens left the Georgetown Grill in February 1977, shortly after its owner sold it and the new owner changed it to a restaurant and straight bar called Au Pied de Cochon. According to Hicks and Richard Mulnar, another of her customers and longtime friends, Stevens then began work as a bartender at another gay bar located just north of Georgetown called the Court Jester. Over the next 40 years, the two said, Judy Stevens continued her role as an admired bartender for at least five other

gay bars in D.C. Among them were Cy’s; Onyx; the Fraternity House, which later changed its name to Omega; Tracks; and The Fireplace near Dupont Circle, where she worked for about 25 years until illness forced her to retire in 2017. The Fireplace is the only one of the gay bars for which she worked that’s still open. Fireplace co-owner Steve Weinstein couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. “For many in the gay community over those 50 years, she was a beacon of light and comfort,” Hicks wrote in a posting on the website of D.C.’s Rainbow History Project. “She was funny, spirited, strong, and tough,” Hicks wrote. “She served on the front lines of the AIDS crisis during its darkest hours and watched thousands dear to her fade away and disappear,” Hicks said in his posting. “She once said she dealt with the loss by just imagining that they moved away and someday might walk through her door,” Hicks states. “She will forever be remembered in the local gay history of the Washington, D.C. area through its written

Linh Hoang has worked as a technology professional in the private sector for more than a decade. Now at 36, he’s running for public office. Hoang, who is gay, is running for the Providence District seat on the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors. He is among five candidates vying for the Democratic nomination. He decided to leave his position in technology to run for office because he believes “Fairfax County is at a really important crossroad right now.” “Our economy is changing. Our community is changing. We’re certainly much more diverse,” Hoang said in a telephone interview with the Washington Blade on April 15. “I think we need someone who is going to come in with bold ideas and work with the business community and the diversity of the community to help take Fairfax to the next level.” Hoang hopes to promote international trade, improve the county’s education system and celebrate the area’s diversity if elected. “We need to diversify our economy,” Hoang said. “That means attracting companies from around the world to set up shops right here in Fairfax County.” He thinks bringing more technology companies to Fairfax will be key to this economic expansion and believes his experience in the private sector will help him facilitate this process. Beyond working with businesses, Hoang plans to address issues he sees in the public education system in Fairfax. His proposed initiatives include raising teacher pay, providing access to pre-K for all children in the county, and expanding vocational and skill-based training opportunities for high school students. “Students, even at the high school level, should be able to access real world experiences to provide them with an idea of the possibilities that are out there,” Hoang said. He feels particularly invested in expanding educational opportunities for children in the county, as he believes education was his ticket out of poverty. Hoang is the son of a refugee and an immigrant himself. “My father was imprisoned at a labor camp, and he escaped from Vietnam in search of opportunity,” Hoang said. “He believed that America was the land of opportunity, and he was willing to risk everything — including his own life — so that his family could have a better future.” Ten years after Hoang’s father arrived in the U.S., Hoang, his mother, and his seven siblings followed. They lived together in a three-bedroom apartment in Oakland, Calif. “It was really hard at the beginning, but we worked hard, focused on our education, learned English, and seven years later, I got the chance to attend Georgetown University,” Hoang said. As an immigrant, the son of a refugee, and an LGBT person, Hoang also hopes to foster inclusion in Fairfax if elected. “We have a large LGBT population in our county. And right now, today, you can still be fired for being LGBT,” Hoang said. “We need to change that.” Hoang is a member of the Virginia Small Business Financing Authority, where he helps to manage more than $1.7 billion in bond financings and $70 million in loans. JAMES WELLEMEYER

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AHF ribbon-cutting marks opening of expanded D.C. healthcare center

Dr. ROXANNE COX-IYAMU is joined by AHF officials and guests as she cuts ribbon marking the opening of AHF’s expanded offices in downtown D.C. Washington Blade photo by Lou Chibbaro Jr.

About 50 people turned out on April 18 for a ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the opening earlier this year of the AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s expanded offices in D.C. and the 10th anniversary of its D.C. Blair Underwood Healthcare Center. The Underwood Center, one of three HIV clinics AHF operates in the D.C. area, provides state-of-the-art HIV medical treatment and care and related services for more than 600 patients at its expanded offices at 2141 K Street, N.W. AHF is the world’s largest nonprofit HIV/AIDS service organization and AIDS advocacy group, with healthcare centers located throughout the U.S. and in 42 other countries in Africa, Asia, Europe and the Americas. “AHF is proud of the impact that we’ve had over the past decade in addressing the growing HIV epidemic in D.C., and getting those living with HIV connected and sustained in care,” said Michael McVicker, AHF’s D.C. regional director, who participated in the ribbon cutting ceremony. Others joining him were Dr. Roxanne Cox-Iyamu, medical director of the D.C. Underwood Center; Michael Kharfen, Senior Deputy Director of the D.C. Department of Health’s HIV/AIDS, STD and Tuberculosis Administration; Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor’s Office of LGBTQ Affairs; and DeMarc Hickson, executive director of the D.C. HIV/AIDS and health services group Us Helping Us. With a giant pair of scissors, Cox-Iyamu cut a large red ribbon inside the main lobby at the AHF Underwood Healthcare Center office, saying she was proud to have been a part of the office’s growth over the past 10 years. LOU CHIBBARO JR.

GLAA celebrates 48th anniversary

D.C. Council Chair Phil Mendelson (D-AtLarge) and fellow Council member Jack Evans (D-Ward 2) were among more than 50 community leaders and LGBT activists and

their supporters that turned out on April 18 for the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington’s 48th anniversary reception. GLAA is the nation’s oldest continuously active LGBT civil rights organization. It has been credited with playing a lead role in advocating for and monitoring the implementation of virtually all of D.C.’s LGBT rights laws and policies, including

the city’s 2009 law legalizing same-sex marriage, since its founding in 1971. The event took place at the Lost Society restaurant and nightclub at 2001 14th Street, N.W. Also attending the event were Monica Palacios, director of the D.C. Office of Human Rights; and members of the D.C. Metropolitan Police Department’s LGBT Liaison Unit, including the unit’s supervisor, Sgt. Nicole Brown, and Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees all of the department’s liaison units. Mendelson and Evans presented the nonpartisan GLAA with a ceremonial resolution passed unanimously by the D.C. Council praising GLAA for its work on behalf of the LGBT community and the city as a whole, among other things, for its longtime advocacy for D.C. home rule and against congressional interference in D.C.’s local affairs. Sheila Alexander-Reid, director of the Mayor’s Office on LGBTQ Affairs, presented the group with a proclamation issued by Mayor Muriel Bowser recognizing GLAA’s work over its 48-year history and declaring April 18 Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance Day in the District of Columbia. D.C. Congressional Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-D.C.) earlier this month spoke on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives about GLAA and its work. “Today, I rise to ask the House of Representatives to join me in recognizing the 48th anniversary of the Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance of Washington, D.C.,” Norton said in a message recorded in the Congressional Record. GLAA used the occasion of its anniversary reception to present its annual Distinguished Service Award to two organizations and an individual in recognition of their service to the LGBT community and the city. The Distinguished Service Award recipients this year included Center Global, a program of the D.C. Center for the LGBT Community that provides support and services to LGBT immigrants seeking political asylum in the United States; Compassion & Choices, a national organization that advocates for end-of-life care and choices for terminally ill patients; and Diego Miguel Sanchez, an award-winning international public relations, marketing, and diversity management expert, transgender rights advocate and current Director of Advocacy, Policy & Partnerships for the national LGBT group PFLAG. “A lot of folks think that with the accomplishment of marriage equality in the District the work of GLAA has passed,” Mendelson told the Blade at the GLAA reception. “But civil rights is never ending and the work of GLAA needs to continue,” he said. Evans agreed with that assessment, saying it’s important that the younger generation of activists know about GLAA’s long history in pushing for LGBT equality in D.C. “Our work is never done. It can slip away as fast as we got it,” Evans said. “And particularly what you see with the Trump administration there are those who would turn the clock back,” he said. “And so we have to be vigilant, we have to be ever forceful and we have to always advance the cause, and that’s why GLAA is here today and will be here tomorrow,” Evans said. “I felt we had a wonderful event,” said GLAA President Bobbi Strang. “We could

not have done it without all the assistance from our different members and we had wonderful honorees this year,” she said. LOU CHIBBARO JR.

LGBT youth discussed at D.C. judicial conference

Legal experts discussed problems faced by LGBT youth in the criminal justice system on April 12 at a workshop session as part of the 2019 annual District of Columbia Judicial and Bar Conference in which D.C. Superior Court judges, defense lawyers, and prosecutors participated. Four attorneys and a social worker with D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health were among the panelists at a conference workshop session called “Trauma & The Law: Best Practices for Supporting LGBTQ Youth.” Timothy Elliott, a licensed independent clinical social worker at Whitman-Walker, told those attending the session that studies show LGBT youth are eight and a half times more likely to attempt suicide than their straight peers if they are denied support from parents and caregivers. He and others speaking at the session said this development should be taken into consideration when judges, defense lawyers and prosecutors participate in criminal cases involving LGBT youth. One issue that often comes up when transgender young people are charged with criminal offenses, some of the panelists said, is how to address them when they have not legally changed their birth name but use a different name and identify as a gender opposite of their birth gender. Superior Court Judge Zinora MitchellRankin, who attended the workshop session, told the panelists she explains to transgender defendants before her in court the court record must use their legal name, “but what name would you like to be called” in the courtroom? Angela Buckner, as Assistant U.S. Attorney who volunteers as an attorney for WhitmanWalker, advised fellow attorneys to ask the judge if it would be OK to use the defendant’s preferred name and pronoun. Buckner said the types of offenses LGBT youth are sometimes charged with are unlawful entry, theft, use of illegal drugs, and simple assault. Attorney and Whitman-Walker legal services director Amy Nelson said some LGBT youth are sometimes arrested ON prostitution-related charges when circumstances force them into sex work to survive on the streets. She and other panelists said many LGBT youth become homeless after being rejected by their families. In addition to Nelson, Elliott, and Buckner, the others serving as panelists at the workshop session were Connor Cory, a Whitman-Walker staff attorney specializing in immigration issues; Jess Davis-Ricci, Whitman-Walker staff attorney; and Melissa Sellenvaag, licensed independent social worker and Director of Training and Education for the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing. LOU CHIBBARO JR.

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U.S. will become Comings & Goings ‘homocracy’ under New leadership for the Congressional Buttigieg: pastor LGBT Equality Caucus By PETER ROSENSTEIN

The Comings & Goings column is about sharing the professional successes of our community. We want to recognize those landing new jobs, new clients for their business, joining boards of organizations and other achievements. Please share your successes with us at: comingsandgoings@washblade.com. Congratulations to Heine Lund who has a new position in customer service with Colorado Grand Vacations in HEINE LUND Breckenridge, Colo. Lund said, “I am thrilled to be working in the mountains where it is truly God’s country.” Many will know Lund from his years of living in D.C. and Rehoboth Beach, Del. He has always been an avid skier and has worked in many different areas but one of the most interesting was as instructor with the Twin Cities Trapeze Center. Prior to moving to Colorado he worked in retail as a sales consultant with Allen Edmunds. He continues his work on a contract basis as a personal trainer and Stretch Zone Practitioner. For 14 years he was a flight PHILIP SHELLY attendant with Delta Airlines. Congratulations also to Philip Shelly who begins his new position as a staff assistant to Congresswoman Angie Craig (D-Minn.). On starting the position Shelly said, “I am proud to work for the first LGBTQ mom in Congress and I thank everyone who has helped me to earn this opportunity.” He moved to this position after completing an internship with Congresswoman Cheri Bustos (D-Ill.). SHAWN Prior to that he worked as in intern with the Human GAYLORD Rights Campaign in the Major Gifts Office. He has also worked for Correct The Record as Digital Media Manager. While in school Shelly worked with the Galesburg Downtown Council in Galesburg, Ill., where he organized a committee of local government and business leaders to discuss expansion of access to recycling facilities in the downtown and designed a new website and refined its content to improve availability of information to members of the Special Service Area, board members, and grant applicants. He graduated cum laude from Loyola University Chicago with a bachelor’s in history and political science. Congratulations also to Shawn Gaylord, the new executive director of the Congressional LGBT Equality Caucus. The mission of the caucus is to work for LGBT rights, the repeal of discriminatory laws, the elimination of hate-motivated violence, and improved health and well-being for all persons, regardless of sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression. The caucus serves as a resource for members of Congress, their staffs, and the public on LGBT issues. Membership in the LGBT Equality Caucus is open to any member who is willing to advance LGBT rights, regardless of their sexual identity or orientation. It has historically been co-chaired by every openly LGBT member of the House. In February 2016 the caucus formed the Equality PAC to support candidates running for federal office who are LGBT or seek to advance LGBT rights. Upon accepting the position Gaylord said, “I am excited to be stepping into this role at such an important moment. The expanded leadership of the Equality Caucus and the momentum behind important legislation such as The Equality Act make this an exciting time to be engaged in this work.” Prior to joining the Equality Caucus he worked for a number of different organizations including PL+US as legislative director where he worked on paid family leave issues. He worked for Human Rights First as Advocacy Counsel and for the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network in a number of positions including Public Policy Director.

LOCAL NE WS • APRIL 26, 2019 • WA SHINGTO NB L A DE . COM • 11

E.W. JACKSON last week said the U.S. would become a ‘homocracy’ if Pete Buttigieg were elected president.

Photo by Mark Taylor via Flickr

A former Republican nominee for lieutenant governor of Virginia said presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg will turn the U.S. into a “homocracy” if elected. E.W. Jackson made the “homocracy” comment on his radio show “The Awakening” on April 16. Jackson emphasized he and his supporters do not want a theocracy. “But I guarantee you they want a homocracy,” he said, referring to Buttigieg and LGBT people. Jackson in the same show noted his disgust at seeing Buttigieg kiss his husband and criticized former President Obama for doing “more than any other single president to advance the cause of homosexuality and normalize it.” Jackson stated he does not want LGBT people to be punished for “what they’re doing,” but rather he wants to “see them converted.” Efforts to change a person’s sexual orientation or gender identity have been widely discredited. Jackson also claimed Buttigieg or “someone like Buttigieg” would attempt to shut down his radio show and other conservatives’ programs.

Jackson is the head pastor of Exodus Faith Ministries, a Chesapeake, Va., church he founded, and a lawyer. He received a law degree from Harvard University. Jackson is best known for his run against current Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam in the state’s 2013 lieutenant gubernatorial election. Jackson was also a primary candidate for U.S. Senate in 2012 and again in 2018. In a 2012 op-ed in The Washington Times, Jackson wrote Democrats have “made the lesbian-homosexual-bisexualtransgender agenda their vision for America.” Jackson has also called LGBT people “frankly very sick” and blamed homosexuality for HIV rates among young black men. Jackson has made other comments that have been deemed anti-Muslim. After the 2018 election, which increased the number of Muslims in Congress from two to three, Jackson claimed, “the floor of Congress is now going to look like an Islamic republic.” The Washington Blade has reached out to Jackson for comment. JAMES WELLEMEYER

Hollywood’s A-list gays welcome Buttigieg Fundraiser planned as rivals figure out how to attack By KAREN OCAMB

Mayor PETE BUTTIGIEG is headed to West Hollywood. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg has surprisingly charmed so many in America with his smart, calm liberal morality that some polls of Democratic presidential contenders show him third behind Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders—a once impossible feat for an openly gay politician. Buttigieg is no cookie-cutter candidate. Shortly after his breakthrough CNN Town Hall and his West Hollywood appearance last March, Buttigieg appeared on Fox News for an interview with Chris Wallace. “I think coming from the industrial Midwest, the place where, unfortunately, my party really lost touch with a lot of voters, especially in 2016—it’s a combination of attributes, not to mention the military service—that I bring to the table, that is simply different from the others and I’m looking forward to competing,” he told Wallace. Buttigieg said his core message is: “Generational change, and then liberty, democracy and security.” By mid-March, Buttigieg had hit the 65,000 individual donor goal the Democratic National Committee requires to qualify to be on the DNC debate stage— the first of which will be in June hosted by NBC News, MSNBC and Telemundo. Hollywood A-Gays want to hear more directly, especially about Buttigieg reclaiming “values,” using his marriage to Chasten as an example. The Hollywood Reporter reports that mega-producer Ryan Murphy and husband David Miller are hosting a fundraiser for Buttigieg at their Los Angeles home on June 19. The event is also co-hosted by a bevy of married gays, including PR guru

Simon Halls and his husband actor Matt Bomer; TV hit-maker Greg Berlanti and his husband, producer/ former soccer star Robbie Rogers; CAA partner Bryan Lourd and his husband Bruce Bozzi; and former People editor Jess Cagle and TV writer-producer husband Matt Whitney. But with Buttigieg’s surge in popularity comes the hard-knocks of political gamesmanship. His political rivals have been “caught off guard” and are “scrambling to find vulnerabilities and lines of attack that can be used against him, five officials with opposing Democratic primary campaigns and Republican political groups tell NBC News.” “He’s getting a very significant free pass on a lot of stuff that other candidates aren’t getting a free pass on,” said one official from a rival Democratic presidential campaign, who called Buttigieg a “kid mayor,” citing the 37-year-old candidate’s willingness to take money from lobbyists as an example. “There’s a novelty there. People don’t know anything about him, so he can kind of be whatever people want him to be. But if he sustains this, that will come down to earth.” “Our competitors can run their campaigns how they want,” Lis Smith, Buttigieg’s top communications adviser, told NBC News. “We’re less interested in politics as usual and more focused on getting Mayor Pete’s hopeful message of generational change out there.” But Buttigieg’s Democratic competitors might note that many of these A-Gays also raise and contribute money for other candidates—Murphy and Miller hosted a mega-fundraiser for California Sen. Kamala Harris on April 12, for instance—and they

may not appreciate being used as “opporesearch” against a viable gay candidate. The lobbyist Buttigieg’s rivals are using against him right now is longtime gay fundraiser Steve Elmendorf, former Board Chair for the Victory Fund. He and longtime Human Rights Campaign backer Barry Karas are co-hosting a fundraiser for Buttigieg in Washington, D.C. on May 21. “Elmendorf is a lobbyist and former John Kerry campaign official who bundled more than $100,000 in the last election for Clinton. He announced his support for Buttigieg on Sunday, just as the Democrat officially launched his campaign,” NBC News reported on April 18. “Karas raised at least half a million dollars for Obama in 2012 and was later appointed by Obama to the Kennedy Center’s advisory board.” “The more I watched him, the more I thought he was performing at a level above all the other candidates. He has an optimistic message and I liked him,” Elmendorf told CNBC for an April 17 story. “I just think everything about him is the opposite of Trump in a good way and when he answers every question he’s trying to find solutions. He’s not attacking anyone.” Elmendorf is impressed. “I think he’s put himself out there in every possible venue. He’s done every possible interview and has done well. He comes across as authentic,” Elmendorf added. “There’s something to be said about someone from out of Washington and a new, young person in this race.” Buttigieg is also different in not eschewing capitalism for democratic socialism. He has pledged not to take PAC money from corporations or the fossil fuel industry but contributions from top finance executives helped him raise $7 million, which catapulted him to the top tier over better-known contenders. “Pete has never made a decision based on a contribution that he’s received, and where he receives his contributions from has no bearing on the policy positions and governmental actions he takes,” Smith told NBC News. In fact, Buttigieg has re-framed capitalism. He says the Green New Deal, for instance, is more of a “goal” than a concrete plan. But it recognizes climate change as a reality and a necessity set by science. And, Buttigieg told Fox’s Chris Wallace, “Retrofitting buildings means a huge amount of jobs for the building trades in this country. I view that as a good thing.” The other reality, Buttigieg told CNBC, is that “[t]he economy is not some creature that just lumbers along on its own. It’s an interaction between private sector and public sector. And public sector policies, for basically as long as I’ve been alive, have been skewed in a direction that’s increasing inequality.”

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Supreme Court to hear LGBT discrimination cases Pelosi urges Congress to pass Equality Act By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

A spokesperson for House Speaker NANCY PELOSI said the Supreme Court would have ‘no impact’ on the Equality Act. Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear cases seeking to determine if antiLGBT discrimination in the workplace is prohibited under federal law. In its orders list released on Monday, the court announced it has granted certiorari in response to three separate petitions seeking clarification on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which bars sex discrimination in the workplace, applies to cases of anti-LGBT discrimination. Two of the petitions — the filings for the cases of Zarda v. Altitude Express and Bostock v. Clayton County — sought clarification on whether Title VII applies to cases of sexual orientation discrimination. The other petition — a filing in the case of Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC — seeks clarification on whether Title VII applies to anti-transgender discrimination. Masen Davis, CEO of Freedom for All Americans, said in a statement the time has come “for the Supreme Court to cement into place our core American values of treating all people with respect and dignity and allowing everyone a fair shot no matter who they are.” Because the court decided to grant certiorari in April, the court will be unable to reach a conclusion by the time it adjourns for this term in June. The decision will have to wait until the next term, which means a ruling may not happen until June 2020. The decision by the U.S. Supreme Court to review whether existing federal law prohibits anti-LGBT discrimination will have “no impact” on the advancement of legislation seeking to ban it explicitly under federal law, a spokesperson for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said in response to the news. Drew Hammill, a Pelosi spokesperson, told the Blade the Supreme Court decision

will have “no impact” on the legislative process for the Equality Act, which he said is set for a floor vote in the U.S. House in May. “I would just make the point that House passage sends a strong message to SCOTUS,” Hammill said. Introduced by Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I. and Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), the Equality Act would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Fair Housing Act to ban anti-LGBT discrimination in employment, housing, public accommodations, jury service, education, federal programs and credit. The petition in the Harris case was filed in behalf of Harris Funeral Homes by the antiLGBT legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom, which called on the Supreme Court to issue a more restrictive interpretation of Title VII that would omit transgender protections. “Neither government agencies nor the courts have authority to rewrite federal law by replacing sex with gender identity — a change with widespread consequences for everyone,” ADF Vice President of Appellate Advocacy John Bursch said. “Businesses have the right to rely on what the law is — not what government agencies want it to be — when they create and enforce employment policies. The funeral home wants to serve families mourning the loss of a loved one, but the EEOC has elevated its political goals above the interests of the grieving people that the funeral home serves.” In a conference call with reporters Monday, Bursch told the Blade the Alliance Defending Freedom doesn’t have a position on whether Title VII applies to cases of sexual orientation discrimination. “The issue in our case is about what Congress meant when it prohibited discrimination based on sex in 1964 and I don’t think any reasonable person would look at what was happening in 1964 and conclude that they intended to address

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gender identity in any way shape or form,” Bursch said. “I suspect that there are similar arguments that can be advanced with respect to sexual orientation, but they’re obviously distinct cases.” LGBT people have asserted workplace discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity constitutes sex discrimination and is unlawful under Title VII for decades. With respect to sexual orientation discrimination, courts have more recently adopted the idea Title VII applies to sex discrimination. The Second Circuit and Seventh Circuit have affirmed Title VII prohibits anti-gay discrimination, but the Eleventh Circuit recently rejected the idea. Case law affirming Title VII covers antitransgender discrimination is more developed. Over nearly two decades, eight federal appeals courts and 35 federal district courts have affirmed anti-transgender discrimination is sex discrimination and unlawful, according to the National Center for Transgender Equality. James Esseks, director of the LGBT project at the American Civil Liberties Union, said in a conference call with reporters a ruling from Supreme Court against LGBT protections would conflict with the public acceptance for LGBT rights and the perception held by 70 percent of people that anti-LGBT discrimination is already unlawful. “There are cases going back to 1977 where courts have protected transgender workers or transgender individuals from sex discrimination,” Esseks said. “In fact, the public would be shocked if the Supreme Court ruled that it’s perfectly legal to fire someone just because she’s LGBTQ.” The ACLU is co-counsel for the gay plaintiff in the Zarda case and the transgender plaintiff in the Harris case, but isn’t affiliated with the Bostock case. Although the upcoming Supreme Court ruling will determine whether antiLGBT discrimination is prohibited under employment non-discrimination law, it will also impact other non-discrimination laws that bar discrimination on the basis of sex, such as the Fair Housing Act, the Affordable Care Act and Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Esseks pointed out LGBT people have taken advantage of laws barring sex discrimination in cases of discrimination not just in employment, but also education, housing and health care. Transgender people have won cases asserting denial of transition-related health care, including gender reassignment surgery, constitutes unlawful sex discrimination.

“This isn’t a question of is the Supreme Court going to for the first time say that LGBT people get to sue from discrimination,” Esseks said. “LGBT people are suing and have been suing for years and have been getting remedies for the discrimination where the courts say it is real.” (No federal law bars discrimination on the basis of sex in public accommodations, so discriminating against LGBT people in public accommodations will be legal regardless of what the Supreme Court decides.) The Supreme Court has agreed to hear the cases at the same time the Democraticcontrolled House is moving forward with the Equality Act, legislation that would amend the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to prohibit antiLGBT discrimination in employment, housing, credit, jury service, federally funded programs, education and public accommodations” Sarah Warbelow, legal director for the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement the Supreme Court has “an opportunity to clarify this area of law to ensure protections for LGBTQ people in many important areas of life,” but legislative action is still necessary. “The impact of this decision will have very real consequences for millions of LGBTQ people across the country,” Warbelow said. “Regardless of the eventual outcome, it’s critical that Congress pass the Equality Act to address the significant gaps in federal civil rights laws and improve protections for everyone.” The petitions have been pending before the court for some time. The court granted certiorari the week after the U.S. Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals held arguments in the case of Horton v. Midwest Geriatric Management on whether Title VII covers sexual orientation discrimination. It remains to be seen what decision the Supreme Court will reach. The cases reach the Supreme Court after Trump has remade the bench with the appointments of U.S. Associate Justices Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh. LGBT groups, fearing the appointees would be hostile to LGBT rights, opposed the confirmation of both justices. Esseks, nonetheless, told the Blade he’s “hopeful” the Supreme Court will reach a decision affirming LGBT protection under existing law. “I think that the lower courts that have recognized that anti-LGBT discrimination is a form of sex discrimination have it right,” Esseks said. “I think the public has it right. The public already agrees that we are protected. And so, I think the court would be going out on a limb with the public and, I think, legal argument by ruling against us as opposed to ruling for us.”

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AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 15

Lesbian candidate wins big in Tampa mayoral race

Gay couple sorry for photo with Aaron Schock

WILL ROSSI and ROB MASSI posed for a photo with Aaron Schock and regretted it.

JANE CASTOR won the race to become the next Tampa mayor. Photo courtesy of the Castor Campaign

Lesbian candidate Jane Castor won big Tuesday night in Tampa, Fla., in the race to become the city’s next mayor, making her the first out person elected mayor of top 100 city in the Southeast. Castor, the city’s former police chief, won 72.5 percent of the vote against her opponent, philanthropist David Straz, who won 27.5 percent of the vote, according to the Tampa Bay Times. Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund and the first openly lesbian mayor of Houston, commended Castor in a statement, saying “a lavender ceiling was shattered in Florida Tuesday night.” “Both LGBTQ people and women face tremendous obstacles in running for public office, but Jane’s victory shows lesbian candidates can win citywide office with a strong record of public service and policy priorities that align with their constituents,” Parker said. “While voters chose Jane because of her vision for Tampa, her willingness to be open and honest about her life lent her an authenticity that voters are drawn to not just in Tampa, but across the nation.” According to Equality Florida, Castor wins the distinction of being the first openly LGBT person to lead one of Florida’s three largest cities. Joe Saunders, senior political director for Equality Florida, said in a statement Castor’s victory is “a historic milestone for our LGBTQ community.” “Equality Florida Action PAC members, supporters and donors showed up in force in this election,” Saunders said. “We’ve spent months talking to over 30,000 pro-equality voters in the City of Tampa about how important this race is. The phone calls, emails, digital ads and door knocks mobilized our community to support our champion, and that support has made a defining difference.” Castor is the third out lesbian to win a big city mayoral race this year. Both Lori Lightfoot of Chicago and Satya Rhodes-Conway of Madison, Wisconsin also won mayoral elections earlier this month. CHRIS JOHNSON

Will Rossi and Rob Massi have issued an apology on Instagram for posing for a photo with former GOP Rep. Aaron Schock. Schock, 37, supported anti-gay policies such as “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell” while a member of Congress. During the recent Coachella weekend, Schock was photographed and recorded partying with gay men and kissing another man. Schock has stated in the past that he is not gay. Rossi and Massi posed for a photo with Schock at the music festival and have now apologized for it. The apology was posted on both of their Instagram accounts. “Will and I wanted to take a photo with our friends at Coachella, to celebrate our last day there,” the statement reads. “Being polite, we allowed Aaron–who was basically a stranger to us and someone we just met–to include himself in our photo.” Rossi and Massi claim they were not aware of who Shock was or the anti-LGBTQ policies he has voted for. “For our own political ignorance, we are deeply sorry,” the statement continues. “We hope Aaron does decide to come out publicly and live the gay life he so freely enjoyed at Coachella, the kind of life so many out and proud LGBTQ individuals have fought for and have made possible for younger gays like Will and me to live today. And we hope if or when Aaron does decide to come out and own his actions, he apologizes and makes amends with the LGBTQ community, because he certainly owes us one.” MARIAH COOPER

Gillibrand hangs with drag queens at Iowa bar Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) dropped by gay bar Blazing Saddle in Des Moines, Iowa last Friday night where she spent some quality time with the drag queens. The Democratic presidential hopeful hung out with the queens backstage at Blazing Saddle, known as the “Gay Cheers” since its 1983 opening, did her makeup with them and even lent one queen her dress. “Vana and the amazing queens at the Blazing Saddle in Des Moines invited me for a visit tonight before their show. I felt underdressed, so I brought a dress I picked up yesterday—turns out it fit me, but it fit Vana even better! Thank you for having me, ladies,” Gillibrand captioned a photo set of her night. Gillibrand will continue her support for the drag community when she sits down to discuss LGBTQ issues with drag queen and activist Marti Gould Cummings, who went viral for her “Baby Shark” brunch performance, on May 2 in New York City. “For the first time in the history of the United States a presidential candidate is sitting down one on one with a drag queen to discuss the issues,” Gould promoted the discussion on Twitter. MARIAH COOPER

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Northern Ireland journalist/activist killed

LYRA MCKEE

Photo by International Journalism Festival via Wikimedia Commons

A prominent investigative journalist and activist in Northern Ireland was killed on April 18 as she covered riots in the city of Londonderry. Lyra McKee was shot to death in Creggan, a predominantly Catholic neighborhood in Londonderry, which is near the Irish border. The Associated Press reported the Police Service of Northern Ireland has said a stray bullet likely killed McKee. Authorities have also described McKee’s murder as a “terrorist act” the New IRA dissident group likely carried out. Local media reports indicate authorities have released two young men they arrested in connection with their investigation into McKee’s death. McKee, 29, was an editor for Mediagazer, a news website. She also contributed to BuzzFeed and other media outlets and recently signed two book deals. Forbes Magazine in 2016 named McKee as one of its “30 under 30 in media.” McKee two years earlier wrote “Letter to my 14-year-old self,” a blog post that detailed her struggles growing up as a lesbian in Belfast, the capital of Northern Ireland. “I hated myself for much of my life because of what religion taught me about people like me,” she said during a TED Talk speech she gave in Belfast in 2017. “And when I stopped hating myself, I started hating religion.” The New York Times reported McKee was pronounced dead at the same hospital where her partner, Sara Canning, is a nurse. Canning on April 19 spoke at a vigil for McKee. “The death of Lyra McKee in last night’s suspected terrorist incident in Londonderry is shocking and truly senseless,” said British Prime Minister Theresa May in a tweet that her office posted on April 19. “My deepest condolences go to her family, friends and colleagues. She was a journalist who died doing her job with great courage.” Leo Varadkar, the gay prime minister of Ireland, also condemned McKee’s murder. “The government condemns in the strongest possible terms the fatal shooting of journalist and writer Lyra McKee in Derry,” said Varadkar in a tweet. “We are all full of sadness after last night’s events. We cannot allow those who want to propagate violence, fear and hate to drag us back to the past.” MICHAEL K. LAVERS

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8 LGBT Nicaraguans killed in protests: report A report from Nicaragua indicates eight LGBT people have been killed during antigovernment protests that began in the Central American country last April. The report notes a gay man was one of three people who were killed on April 19, 2018, the day after protests against the government of President Daniel Ortega and his wife, Vice President Rosario Murillo, began. The report says a total of seven gay men and a lesbian were reported killed in Managua and Carazo departments between April 18, 2018, and Jan. 31, 2019. The report indicates five of these murders “were committed during the protests” and the bodies of three of the victims were found “many days after they disappeared.” “These three victims had been receiving death threats or had been injured,” reads the report. “Two of them had denounced (these threats) on their social media networks or with close associates and one of them blamed members of Citizens Power Councils (local, progovernment entities that are similar to Cuba’s Committees for the Defense of the Revolution) in her community for what happened to her.” The protests began after Ortega announced cuts to the country’s social security benefits that he later rescinded. The government’s response to a fire at the Indio Maíz Biological Reserve on Nicaragua’s Caribbean coast in April 2018 also sparked widespread criticism. Hundreds of people have been killed since the protests began. The National LGBTIQ Roundtable of Nicaragua was one of the first organizations that urged the government to stop using violence against the protesters. The U.S. has imposed sanctions against Murillo, National Police Commissioner Francisco Javier Díaz Madriz and other Nicaraguan officials that include travel bans and frozen assets under the 2016 Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act. The report notes LGBTI people “have actively participated” in the protests since they began. It also includes findings of a survey to which 220 lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer and cross-dressing Nicaraguans responded that indicate the government and its supporters continue to target LGBTI people in the country. MICHAEL K. LAVERS

More LGBT Bruneians speak out against penal code Two LGBTI Bruneians with whom the Blade spoke last week said their country’s new penal code that calls for the death penalty for anyone convicted of same-sex sexual relations continues to spark fear. A gay man who asked the Blade not to publish his name said during a WhatsApp interview from Bandar Seri Bagawan, the

Bruneian capital, that he was “freaked out” when the provision took effect on April 3. The man said he did not go to school on Saturday, in part, because police officers were participating in a career day. “Anyone would freak out initially, but as the days go on, they don’t really want to enforce that type of punishment because of the international backlash,” he said. “The international media is already getting into it, calling out Brunei. If Brunei tries to enforce that type of the law, of course they’re going to get into more trouble.” Brunei’s penal code, which also criminalizes apostasy and adultery, began to take effect in 2014. The State Department, gay U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet and Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau are among those who have sharply criticized the penal code, which is based on Shariah law. George Clooney, Ellen DeGeneres and other celebrities have called for a boycott of the Beverly Hills Hotel and other properties that Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah of Brunei owns. The Bruneian government in an April 7 letter to the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights defended the penal code. The gay Bruneian man with whom the Blade spoke on Saturday said his country’s government “tried to implement this without getting caught, which obviously didn’t work.” “It got real,” he said. He added Bolkiah implemented the penal code as a way to exert further control over his country’s population. A transgender Bruneian woman with whom the Blade spoke agreed. “I knew it was going to happen sometime in the future because the sultan wanted more control and power over the population and religion for him would be the best tool for it,” she said during a WhatsApp interview from Canada. “But personally, it sucks my friends back there would basically be criminals under Shariah law.” “It’s just that they’re basically waiting to be found,” she added. The trans woman, who also asked the Blade not to publish her name, said she flew to Vancouver last November. She said she decided to seek asylum in Canada because of the country’s human rights record and Trudeau’s immigration policy. “I’ve always wanted to leave Brunei as soon as possible and as far as possible,” said the trans woman, noting it was impossible for her to transition in Brunei. “They would punish anyone or stone anyone who is an apostate, which is someone who left Islam.” She said Brunei was always “a repressive country before” the penal code’s implementation, even though oil and gas deposits have made the country one of the wealthiest in the world. The State Department’s 2018 human rights report notes “violence or threats targeting lesbian, gay, bisexual and intersex (LGBTI) persons including intimidation by police,” the exploitation of foreign workers and “substantial interference with the rights of peaceful assembly and freedom of association” are among the human rights concerns in Brunei. Bolkiah and his family have also faced questions over their lavish lifestyle and reports that his brother had a harem of dozens of women. MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Cannabis Culture

A measure barring employers from drug testing certain job applicants for the presence of marijuana awaits Mayor BILL DEBLASIO’s signature.

Israel: Private cannabis use no longer criminal

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

NYC may limit drug testing for cannabis in employment NEW YORK — Members of the New York City Council have approved a pair of municipal bills limiting situations where those seeking employment or on probation may be drug tested for the past use of cannabis. Council members overwhelmingly voted in favor of a municipal proposal (No.1445) barring employers from drug testing certain job applicants for the presence of marijuana. The proposal states, “[I]t shall be an unlawful discriminatory practice for an employer, labor organization, employment agency, or agent thereof to require a prospective employee to submit to testing for the presence of any tetrahydrocannabinols or marijuana in such prospective employee’s system as a condition of employment.” Council members passed the bill by a vote of 40 to 4. Under the plan, employees seeking certain safety sensitive positions — such as police officers or commercial drivers — or those positions regulated by federal drug testing guidelines, would be exempt from the municipal law. The measure now awaits final approval from Mayor Bill DeBlasio. The new rules would take effect one year after being signed into law. Studies have identified the presence of the inert carboxy-THC metabolite in the urine of former marijuana consumers for periods of several months following their last exposure. Council members also advanced separate legislation (No. 1427) to the mayor’s office limiting situations in which persons on probation may be drug tested. Once signed, the new rules will take immediate effect. A resolution (Res. 641) calling on the New York City officials to expunge the records of all city misdemeanor marijuana convictions is pending. New York City police made over 78,000 marijuana possession arrests between the years 2014 and 2017.

JERUSALEM — Israeli adults may possess or cultivate personal use amounts of cannabis in their homes, under new policies that took effect earlier this month. Under the amended law, which took effect on April 1, the private possession of cannabis is no longer classified as either a criminal or a civil violation. The possession or use of cannabis in public is punishable by a fine. In cases where an adult is in repeated violation of the law, police at their discretion may pursue a criminal investigation. The Times of Israel newspaper quoted Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan as stating that the new limited legalization policy is an “important step” that “shift[s] the focus from the criminal process to fines, education, public information and rehabilitation.”

Portsmouth, Va. to dismiss all pot possession cases PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Officials for the city of Portsmouth (population 95,000) will no longer seek to criminally prosecute low-level marijuana possession offenses. “Effective immediately, please be advised that this office hereby moves for dismissal ... on all possession of marijuana charges in the Portsmouth General District Court,” Commonwealth’s Attorney Stephanie N. Morales stated in an April 8 correspondence to judges. In comments to local news media, Morales said that prosecutors ought to focus their limited resources toward more serious crimes. “It is really time we think about how we start to decarcerate as opposed to incarcerating for every type of crime,” she said. Under state law, first-time marijuana possession violations are classified as a criminal misdemeanor, punishable by up to 30 days in jail. Her actions are similar to those recently taken in Norfolk, Virginia (population 255,000), as well as in a number of other major cities throughout the country, including Baltimore, Philadelphia, and St. Louis. Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. For more information, visit norml.org.

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New Aussie study explores bi psychology BUNDOORA, Australia — The largest study of bisexual people in the world to date, led by La Trobe University, has examined why bisexual people experience higher rates of psychological distress than straight and gay people, the university announced in a press release. Questioning more than 2,600 bisexual people across Australia, the Who I Am study’s aim was to uncover the reasons for poor mental health in bisexual people. The study found significant links between poor mental health and the following factors: • Bisexual people who are in straight relationships; • Bisexual people perceiving their sexuality to be bad or wrong; • Bisexual people thinking their partner’s support or understanding of their sexuality is low. The study has already instigated Bi+ Australia, the first national organization set up to improve the mental health of bisexual Australians through support, education and research. The study found significant statistics demonstrating the poor mental health of cisgender bisexual people: • One in four have attempted suicide; • Nearly 80 percent had considered self-harm or thought about committing suicide • Over 60 percent have high or very high current psychological distress, with 40 percent reporting having had depression in the past • Transgender and gender diverse bisexual people experienced even poorer mental health and these findings will be released in the coming months.

Possible Trump rollback stokes trans fears WASHINGTON — The Trump administration appears ready to roll back health care protections for transgender people and advocates are gearing up for a fight, The Hill reports. A proposed rule from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that’s expected in the coming days would make it easier for doctors, hospitals and insurance companies to deny care or coverage to transgender patients as well as women who have had abortions, the Hill reports. Coming on the heels of the military transgender ban, there are fears the administration could go even further and

use the proposal as an opportunity to narrow the definition of gender. The administration hinted in a recent court filing that new health regulations could be published as soon as next week. The rule is expected to weaken or eliminate an anti-discrimination provision enshrined in ObamaCare, the Hill reports. The provision says patients cannot be turned away because they are transgender, nor can they be denied coverage if they need a service that’s related to their transgender status. Religious providers say they expect the administration’s rule to reinforce their right not to provide treatment that is against their beliefs. Advocates, meanwhile, say they are concerned that the proposal could jeopardize the gains made in making sure transgender individuals receive equal access to care, the Hill reports.

Teen trans study ‘deeply flawed’: report NEW YORK — A controversial study claiming that some teens abruptly decide to change genders due to peer pressure was deeply flawed, according to a scathing new scientific critique, Buzzfeed reports. The original 2018 study used a new term — “rapid-onset gender dysphoria,” or ROGD — to describe certain young adults, typically those assigned female at birth, who develop gender dysphoria due to “social and peer contagion.” The paper has been widely cited, particularly in conservative media, to cast doubt on many gender-nonconforming people’s experiences by framing trans identification as a trend, phase or disease, Buzzfeed reports. But scientific critics and trans advocates have long criticized the methods chosen by the paper’s author, Lisa Littman of Brown University. Within a week of its publication in August 2018, PLOS One, the journal in which the study appeared, announced that it would seek “further expert assessment on the study’s methodology and analyses,” citing reader concerns. This, in turn, prompted Brown to remove a press release touting its findings. Just last month, PLOS One published a correction and an apology, while also noting that the study’s results were largely unchanged, Buzzfeed reports. Arjee Restar, a trans researcher in the same department as Littman at Brown, told BuzzFeed News that even in the corrected version of the study, “the methods remain unchanged, flawed and below scientific standards.” Frustrated by how the work was handled by the journal and her own institution, Restar, a trans graduate student at Brown’s School of Public Health, wrote the new critique, the most thorough and damning description of the research to date, Buzzfeed reports.

H E A LTH NE WS • APRIL 26, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 19

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2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9

JAMES DRISCOLL

Ph.D., is a long time AIDSactivist and registered Republican who endorsed and voted for Donald Trump in 2016. He is author of ‘Shakespeare and Jung: The God in Time.’

KATHI WOLFE

BROCK THOMPSON

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

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

VI E WPO I NT • APRIL 26, 2019 • WA SHINGTON BL A DE . COM • 21

MARK LEE

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

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

JAMES DRISCOLL

BROCK THOMPSON

Ph.D., is a long time AIDSactivist and registered Republican who endorsed and voted for Donald Trump in 2016. He is author of ‘Shakespeare and Jung: The God in Time.’

Mike Pence doesn’t get to define Christianity Jesus beat him to it: “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The Golden Rule and Rabbi Hillel’s corollary are the tap root of our nation’s democratic principles. “All men are created equal” extended the Judeo-Christian ethic into the political realm. “Equal protection of the law” puts the ethic in our legal system. Jesus never mentioned homosexuality; for those who would condemn LGBTs he left a warning, “Judge not that ye be no judged.” To find a biblical mandate our detractors must go back to Leviticus, which also forbids eating pork, shellfish, and rabbit, condemns adulterers to death, and makes other cruel and senseless judgments that few Christians support today. Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence are expected to set a standard for America. Recently, Karen Pence resumed her employment in a school whose official policies systematically discriminate against LGBT Americans. Mike and Karen Pence excused this by claiming that condemnation of homosexuality is part of the Christian religion. Actually, it’s a social bias in violation of the religion’s ethical core, the Golden Rule. Cutting the Pences slack here sets a precedent that may be used to sanction more dangerous forms of antiLGBT discrimination in the name of religion. In the past many professed Christians have defended slavery, and promoted racial discrimination and anti-Semitism in the name of their religion. Human sacrifice was part of the Aztec religion. Every kind of barbarity and inhumanity has been defended on the grounds of religion. That is why human rights must take precedence over religious claims, and why the founders forbade establishing a specific religion in America. The Judeo-Christian ethic disallows forms of discrimination and bias that are not needed to maintain social order. An ethical defense of discrimination (e.g. against drunk drivers) must show it protects public health and safety. Otherwise discrimination is just a custom that can be prohibited when it violates the rights of others. America took a long time to wake up to the truth that racial discrimination violates the Judeo-Christian ethic and the spirit of our Constitution. The learning curve on LGBT rights has been even slower. It seems particularly slow with

Mike and Karen Pence. The Pences have accused Mayor Pete Buttigieg of making their religion an issue in an election year. However, it is Karen Pence’s decision to affiliate with a school that aggressively discriminates against LGBTs that raised the issue. Mike Pence indignantly charges Mayor Pete with attacking his wife for her Christian beliefs. LGBTs must not allow Mike Pence to define the Christian religion for us, or for America. To allow Mike Pence to use Christianity as a license to discriminate is to fail to take the Christian ethic seriously. Mayor Pete has criticized the Pences precisely because he strives to be a serious Christian. Pence shows profound insensitivity to the long history of violation of LGBT rights, nearly always done in the name of religion. I have personally suffered employment discrimination in the past for being gay. Many friends suffered similar fates then. Today LGBT youth attempt suicide at four times the rate of their straight peers, for bullied youths the rate is ten times higher. But with recognition of gay marriage their suicide rate has begun to drop. What do Mike and Karen Pence conclude from this? Do they care? Anti-LGBT bias promotes abuse of LGBT people; it is ugly, unethical, and all too prevalent in American society. Our criticism of using religion to excuse discrimination is far outweighed by what LGBTs still suffer for being who we are — for being, as Mayor Pete might say, what God created us to be. Listen up politicians. Time is not on the side of discriminators. With each passing year, more LGBTs self-identify in exit polls. Our number has risen to 6 percent of voters, as many as Jews and Mormons combined. Considering that Asians are from disparate cultures and races, LGBTs are the third largest minority. Every year more Americans support gay marriage and refuse to judge our lifestyle. The majority for fairness is 70 percent. When President Trump runs again in 2020, 70 percent of voters will want a president with a running mate who represents all Americans, not just the dwindling minority who want to discriminate against LGBTs. If Pence expects to fit that bill, he must show greater sensitivity to and understanding of the discrimination LGBT people have suffered and continue to suffer.

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

Trying for that beach body — and a healthier me New Year’s resolution starts to pay off Truth be told, I needed a topic for this week’s column, and ‘this week in gay’ seemed tame. Or, at least, uninteresting. Last week the gay news, from where I was sitting, was dominated by disgraced former congressman Aaron Schock being all out and gay, West Hollywood style, at Coachella. But then I thought, ‘no, he’s boring garbage and doesn’t need any more attention. Let’s move on.’ So, I’ve decided to focus on the good things. Our fair city is now in full bloom. And like the swallow returning to Capistrano, the first shirtless jogger has been spotted running the wrong way up 17th Street. All this means that beach season is just around the corner. And with that, our favorite gay gym swells to capacity. I’ve always found it curious that as gay kids we did everything we could to get out of gym. But as gay adults we seem to flock to them. Just exactly why that is can’t be answered in a single column. But my own gym journey began in earnest this year with my New Year’s resolution to take my health more seriously. And now I’m 42 years old, beach bodies don’t come as easily as they maybe once did. I do have younger friends who can just pick up a weight and watch the pounds fall off and toning take shape. So unfair. I’ve been a member of the gym for years. But, up until now, it’s been more or less yoga, maybe some cardio here and there. I’ve never really had the guts to venture too far onto the free weights and machine floor. And no, I don’t think I’m being ridiculous here. That’s a very intimidating space. And with my usual routine, I’ve never really had to explore it. My usual gym time is what I call ‘Realtor,

Bartender, Stripper’ Hour - that quiet time of day between noon and 2 p.m. or so. Yoga and cardio of course are great and I continue to practice both. But I was looking to kick in my gym routine into the next level. So I spent some money on a trainer, Jesse, who was honored by this paper as being one of the best in the city. And from what I see that’s well-deserved. Singularly focused in his training, he doesn’t fall for my usual tactic of using humor to deﬂect difﬁcult situations. Coupling with Jesse, I’ve also spent time with Amanda, one of the staff nutritionists. Hammering out with me a diet that actually works for me and my goals. You see, growing up in the South, and in a large family, my childhood and beyond seemed to be one big eating contest. That’s a lot of bad habits to break. But she’s amenable and cool; we even went grocery shopping together. With her, we’ve set my alcohol units at no more than seven a week. She calls this a ‘goal.’ I call it more of an ‘aspiration.’ Drinking is so wrapped up in gay culture, and this being the boozy city that it is, this has been one of the most challenging aspects of getting to a healthier me. This has all been going on for 45 days now. And I’ve lost two pounds of fat, for me that’s a whole body percentage less. So it’s fun to see that sort of change happening in the mirror. Am I trying to look more like Aaron Schock? Rock hard abs I guess? Maybe? No, not really. I like to think I’m far more interesting than that sellout. What I am trying to do is be a healthier happier version of me. And I’ve enjoyed what I’ve seen so far and the self-esteem boost that has come along with it. What will it all look like come summer? Stay tuned.

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‘Special’ combats stigma surrounding disability New Netflix series helps debunk ableist stereotypes Where has Ryan O’Connell, the 32-year-old gay writer, actor, and producer who has cerebral palsy (CP) been all my life? If only his semi-autobiographical, funny, hip new Netflix series “Special” had been around when I was growing up! If I’d seen the show, based on his memoir “I’m Special and Other Lies We Tell Ourselves,” maybe my youth wouldn’t have been filled with sad, awkward, embarrassing stories. Take this tale: One night, when I was in my 20s, I left my white cane behind before going on a blind date. My date, watching, as I in my low vision fog stumbled going up the steps into the eatery where we met, was annoyed. “Are you drunk?” she asked me. “Sorry,” I lied, “I had one too many drinks with a friend before coming here.” I shouldn’t have tried to pass as nondisabled. (Besides, I’m a bad liar: I stammer when I fib!) But then, I knew few queer and disabled people, and I didn’t see anyone like me on TV. The stigma surrounding disability was so entrenched. I locked myself in the disability closet and poems about loneliness. (I was no budding Sylvia Plath: I was a lonely scribbler of cliched angst.) Why am I telling you about this longago bad blind date from when I was (mostly) out as gay but (often, especially, when looking for love in the queer community) as closeted as possible about my disability? Because my story is far from unique. Ableism (overt and subtle disability-based stigma and prejudice) is still embedded in the queer community and the culture at large. Few gay bars, crucial gathering spaces for many queers, are wheelchair-accessible. LGBTQ festivals and conferences often don’t have American Sign Language interpreters for deaf people or materials in Braille or audio format for blind folks. There are the stares of pity, disgusted glances and gazes of fetishized fascination at our queer, crip bodies. I’m still processing the time I danced with a woman at a queer bar.

“Being blind – that’s so sad,” she said, “you probably don’t want to make out.” Why do these ridiculous, yet pervasive stereotypes persist? Maybe because so few disabled people are seen on TV. Nearly one in five Americans has a disability according to the U.S. Census Bureau, yet, you still rarely see disabled characters on TV. With the exception of Jodi Lerner, the hot, deaf, lesbian artist played by Marlee Matlin on “The L Word,” queer, crip characters have been scarce on TV. Even fewer queer characters with disabilities are played by disabled LGBTQ actors. Despite the large number of disabled people in the United States, “the amount of regular prime time broadcast characters counted who have a disability has only slightly increased by 2.1 percent,” according to a recent GLAAD report. These characters with disabilities often aren’t portrayed by disabled actors. A 2017 Ruderman Family Foundation White Paper found that “95% of top TV show characters with disabilities are played by non-disabled performers.” No show alone could transform how people think about and interact with queer, crip folk. Yet, “Special,” with its humor, charm and millennial slant without preaching, goes a long way toward debunking ableist stereotypes. In the show, Ryan, 28, finds his first experience with work (as a website intern), sex (with a sex worker) and living on his own (away from his mother). After being run over by a car, Ryan keeps his CP a secret, and says he limps because of the accident. In a funny send-up of start-ups, his boss tells Ryan to write a post about it ASAP. Posts about being hit by a car go viral, she says. “Special,” “illustrates why more disabled people should create media – they have fresh stories to tell,” Beth Haller, author of “Representing Disability in an Ableist World” emailed me. I can’t wait for season 2 of “Special” for more fresh, queer crip stories.

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

Impeachment: Is it worth the time and effort now? Democrats should focus on legislation and 2020 elections The act of filing Articles of Impeachment is the role of the House of Representatives should they decide to do it. There is a continuing debate as to whether this is worthwhile at this time. Clearly, Donald Trump deserves to be impeached and the nation would be best served if he were convicted and removed from office. But to impeach a president requires not just a vote in the House to enact Articles of Impeachment but a two-thirds vote of the Senate to convict. Rational people looking at the current make-up of the Senate must agree that will not happen. When Articles of Impeachment were filed against Bill Clinton in 1998, some of the initial charges failed to get the needed votes in the House and eventually they voted to impeach Clinton for lying under oath and on obstruction charges. The Senate after a trial by a vote of 55 for impeachment and 45 against was not able to convict as 67 votes are needed to convict in the Senate. Again it is clear today with Trump’s sycophants in the Senate there is no way 20 Republicans would join with Democrats to convict Trump on any charges. What that would mean is prior to the election, Trump would once again have headlines and be able to say he was cleared of wrongdoing and exonerated. Many, even those who would like to impeach, question if giving him that opportunity is worth it. We must ask what a trial in the Senate, if we could get that far, would accomplish. Will anything new be brought out by such a trial and convince even one Trump voter to not vote for him? It seems impeachment, though tempting, at this time would be an exercise in futility and Democrats’ time would be much better spent working to pass good legislation in the House and focusing on defeating Trump and other Republicans at the polls in November of 2020. There are many issues and charges potentially still pending against Trump and his minions. Some sealed indictments await action and New York State is looking to file charges. There are issues that could still be brought to fruition and he could be criminally charged and face trial once he is out of office if we can defeat him in 2020. New York State is looking at tax evasion issues.

Many are disappointed in how Mueller ended his investigation and of course how Attorney General Barr, clearly a Trump sycophant, chose to interpret Mueller’s report. I hope Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N,Y,), chair of the House Judiciary Committee, will bring Mueller, Barr and many of the people who spoke to the Special Council to testify in front of his committee under oath. Let that committee keep the focus on what they said and how the investigation clearly implicated Trump. Mueller decided to lay out the facts but not to make a determination on obstruction; not because he didn’t have enough to present to a jury, but because he determined Department of Justice policy precluded him from making a determination unless he was able to conclude there was no crime, which he could not conclude. The political role of the Congress is clearly different. Barr was clearly acting for Trump and not the nation when he determined there was no obstruction. We all know Barr determined this long before he saw the Mueller report in the paper he wrote. Trump won big when he got Republicans to confirm Barr as his attorney general. So let the Judiciary Committee do its work and there is plenty to do before there is a final decision on whether impeachment is the way to go. While the Judiciary Committee is doing its work, the rest of the Democrats in the House should be working on passing legislation. They don’t need Sen. Elizabeth Warren telling them what to do. Democrats need to show the voters what they will get if they return full control of the Congress, both the House and the Senate, along with the White House to them. The issues they need to work on include immigration with a focus on Dreamers; infrastructure; fixes to the Affordable Care Act; tax reform; climate change; voting rights; the Equality Act, and a myriad of others. These are the issues voters in 2020 will be basing their decisions on. Democrats need to bring out every voter who thinks Trump is a disgusting lying SOB and an embarrassment to the nation. There are enough voters who already think that. It is the issues I mentioned not impeachment that will likely get them to the polls.

24 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • V IEW P O IN T

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the cato institute presents its inaugural art exhibition

MARK LEE

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

D.C. hospitality is ‘hood-group hood-winked

Freedom Art as the Messenger

Curated by Harriet Lesser and June Linowitz Art exhibition free and open to the public

April 11, 2019–June 14, 2019 • Monday–Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–4:00 p.m. Freedom means something different to every person, yet its value is a common bond between Americans. In these polarized times, Freedom: Art as the Messenger aims to provide a unifying platform of civility and creativity. Artists from across the country—in a wide range of media—share innovative and thought-provoking perspectives on freedom and the enduring need for its protection.

To view the online gallery and find related events, please visit cato.org/artmessenger Pictured: Sylvie by Leslie Nolan

for private tours and questions: exhibition@cato.org #artmessenger • cato.org/artmessenger 1000

ma s s a ch u setts av enu e , nw • was hi n g t o n , dc

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Hoodwinking season is at full bloom in neighborhoods throughout D.C. Triennial liquor license renewals are now underway for restaurants in the District. Unless on an alternate schedule due to time of business initiation or a prior cycle-affecting licensing modification, large red renewal placards currently adorn local restaurant-class alcohol-serving establishments. Most bars and nightclubs will similarly undertake the same process later this year. It might seem superfluous to warn restaurateurs to be wary of attempts by advisory neighborhood commissions (ANCs), often in concert with small self-proclaimed citizens groups and tiny clusters of NIMBY neighbors, manipulating the licensing system to circumvent city regulations and operating privileges. These groups have, after all, been doing that for years. Sounding an alarm, unfortunately, remains necessary. Such cautionary advisories result from the expanding implicit or even explicit admonishment by ANCs that signing an area-centric “cookie-cutter” restrictive operating agreement is required in order to attain or retain licensing approval. It’s a false assertion contrary to local law and signals to community businesses not aided by billable attorneys enduring lengthy meetings while simultaneously fearful of costly procedural delays that coerced concurrence is obligatory. Operators may be able to locate obscure notation on the Alcoholic Beverage Regulation Administration (ABRA) website indicating there is no such obligation. This might-aswell-be-hidden clarification is subverted, however, by agency personnel eager for easy resolutions to prevent being overwhelmed by individual case-by-case board adjudication. D.C. Council members, likewise, long ago offloaded and distanced these hyperlocal matters for ANC input on ABRA licensing and have too-long-tolerated these procedural exploitations. The agreements, previously called “Voluntary Agreements” when bandied about as anything but that, were legislatively renamed “Settlement Agreements” several years ago. The name-change was intended to underscore their functional purpose in

resolving specific issues or addressing actual problems associated with a particular venue’s operation when renewing a license or mitigating unique concerns at initial licensing. This moniker revision was designed to halt the widespread abuse of these agreements for imposing special micro-area regulatory “policies.” This creates discordant and unequal business environments among varying ANC districts, additionally causing competitive business disadvantages and inequitable amenities between commercial areas. That effort, regrettably, has failed. Some ANCs simply shove “templatestyle” documents toward venue operators while commanding agreement to restrictions superseding citywide regulations. Businesses challenging such ANC directives confront arched eyebrows, are queried as to why they consider themselves “special” exceptions to localized rules, and are threatened with licensing protests before the city alcohol board. Worst of all, these discussions are now commonly conducted not with elected neighborhood commissioners, but instead with committees comprised of haphazardly random or self-selected residents sometimes devoid of even a single elected ANC representative. The blanket provisions typically cover a broad range of limitations. While no business constraint seems off-limit, included are restrictions on operating hours, especially for sidewalk patios or outdoor spaces and rooftop decks regardless of commercial zone location or property configuration, music and entertainment limitations, trash pickup and product delivery scheduling prohibitions contrary to city regulations, and numerous other operating stipulations. Certain provisos have unintended consequences hindering standard business activities, such as specifying non-truncated operating hours effectively disallowing city-extended holiday service. Confusion caused by these ANC contentions leave operators perplexed regarding both licensing procedures and purported necessity of conceding to a “onesize-fits-all” agreement. These practices are also enterprise barriers to entry and serve as ongoing success opportunity obstacles due to the imposition of inconsistent rules on an arbitrary basis in differing areas.

26 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • V IEW P O IN T

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AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 27

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Khalil El-Ghoul Principal Broker & Owner

friends, community, and fellowship we have experienced since joining the Green Hedges community." -Khalil El-Ghoul

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308 Florida Ave NW – Shaw

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145 Church St., NW Vienna, VA 22180

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Licensed in DC, MD & VA. If you are already working with an agent this is not meant to solicit your business. AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 29

Three decades of style and substance Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams positions itself for the future under watchful eye of its namesakes By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM

MITCHELL GOLD and BOB WILLIAMS in 1987. Photo courtesy Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams

It’s a Monday morning and Mitchell Gold and Bob Williams, the visionaries behind the Taylorsville, N.C.-based, eponymous company that bills itself as “classic modern home furnishings,” are looking at another long work week ahead but excited about the weekend’s events. It happens to be the day after Pete Buttigieg announced his presidential campaign and Gold especially is excited. “I think he’s really terrific,” Gold, 68, says. As a long-time outspoken proponent for LGBT rights and author of the book “Crisis: 40 Stories Revealing the Personal, Social and Religious Pain and Trauma of Growing up Gay in America,” Gold’s enthusiasm is not surprising. “I think when he first came on the scene I was kind of dismissive,” Gold says. “Oh, this is some gay guy from the Midwest, he’s mayor of a small town, you know, who does he think he is? But the more I saw him, especially on a CNBC town hall, for me what he’s doing is standing up against the evangelicals, against the Mike Pences of the world. … In my wildest dreams as a kid, I would never have thought yesterday would happen so I was really touched by it.” The occasion is the 30th anniversary of Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams and a lot has changed since the Blade profiled the company and men (Williams is 57), longtime business partners and at one time romantic partners as well, on their 25th anniversary five years ago. It’s been a season of significant growth. Five years ago, they had about 700 employees. It’s near 1,000 now. The majority are full time. Then they had 17 stores. There are now 33. The most recent opened last year in Fort Worth, Texas. Their headquarters five years ago was about 600,000 square feet It’s now close to 1 million. Sales have doubled in that time as well to about $230 million for all

their holdings, which include a contract business that sells to hotels and an office supply arm. For more information, visit mgbwhome.com. They were chatty — Gold especially — during a 45-minute phone interview. Their comments have been edited for space. WASHINGTON BLADE: What’s going on these days with Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams? It sounds like a lot has happened since we last spoke. MITCHELL GOLD: We are really working to position our company for the future to get the team really in order to take the company into the next decade and we’re super optimistic because the style sense that we have, the modern sensibility, whether it goes to pure American modern or more of a traditional modern, really seems to resonate with a lot of customers. BLADE: How have trends changed from five years ago? GOLD: We’ve had a lot of new competition in the last five years and a lot of our older competition has moved toward making more modern furniture. I think consumers have really moved toward the style sense we’ve had for well over 20 years. BOB WILLIAMS: The other thing we’ve seen is color. Five years ago it was a lot more neutrals and a lot of it had to do with the 2008 recession. After about 2016, people were tired of that and wanted some freshness. That’s the other big thing we’ve noticed. BLADE: Have you seen trends like that before over the years? WILLIAMS: Yes, we saw it after 9-11. People were much more hesitant and conservative and not feeling as bold and colorful. It took a few years after that before we started seeing color back on the floor. BLADE: What does that say about our national psyche? WILLIAMS? I think when things get

tough and people don’t feel secure, they get a little bit more reserved in their thinking and buying habits. GOLD: Now things are a little chaotic and unsettling but I think what we’re seeing is a lot of people want to be happy and as Bob often says, the colors that we do are happy colors. BLADE: What other national trends affect what you guys do? Over 30 years, for instance, the middle class in this country isn’t what it was yet your sales are up. Has the one percent made up the difference? WILLIAMS: I wouldn’t say it’s the one percent making up the difference. I would say it really depends on the mood of what’s going on. People need to buy furniture no matter what’s going on with the economy. They move into a new house, something’s changed … so it’s kind of a tricky situation. GOLD: People in our community categorize us as aspirational luxury … and you’d be amazed how many people just starting out in their career tell me, “Oh, I bought a sofa from you, I waited ’til the floor sample was on clearance so I could get a price I could afford,” or they bought something at more of an opening price point, all the way to people who are in charge of stuff like global retail for Nike. There are a lot more people at our more entry level price point who aspire to have our stuff and we try to make it available to them at different times of the year. BLADE: You had a spate of events at your various stores for your 25th anniversary. Are you doing that again for 30? GOLD: We have a few. We just had one in New York with Elle Decor magazine that benefited the Tyler Clementi Foundation. Lady Bunny DJ’ed … she’s fantastic. … We’re doing a big event in September in our Beverly Hills store with Architectural Digest and in our Texas stores next week.

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BOB WILLIAMS and MITCHELL GOLD today. They say their line of aspirational luxury furniture has resonated with consumers and their numbers back it up. Photo courtesy Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams

So yes, we have things going on all over the country for the year. BLADE: What other causes are you passionate about besides LGBT ones? GOLD: We work with the Sustainable Furnishings Council, an environmental group for the home furnishings industry. And Exodus Works, headed by Rev. Reggie Longcrier that helps homeless people get into their first apartments. BLADE: How do you decide where you’ll open new stores? GOLD: There are a lot of factors — what the household incomes are, what the education levels are, what the style sense is. We also try to cluster our stores in big markets because they do more business than you would get in a remote market and you get to take advantage of the efficiencies of having two-three stores in one market like in D.C., we have a store just down the street from you and also one in Tysons Galleria that really gives us the opportunity to cover a big part of the market. Another big factor is just what’s available in commercial real estate. It’s much different than residential. We really want to be in great locations, great buildings and have it be the right size for us so there are always four or five balls we have up in the air looking for the right place. BLADE: Will you open any more in 2019? GOLD: No. We’re working more on our website this year, then we will start back expanding in 2020. BLADE: Does your expanded headquarters space make up for more overall volume or are there other things you’re doing there? GOLD: It’s mainly a factor of volume but we have a large distribution center now. We used to ship certain categories out of different locations but we’ve brought it all

together to one distribution center and we took the other space and used it to expand our manufacturing abilities. BLADE: What are the downsides of so much growth? Are there headaches involved that the average person wouldn’t think of? GOLD: You have to do everything very carefully. One of the difficulties is hiring the right people, hiring them quickly … WILLIAMS: Office space … GOLD: … moving people around, we’re going through that again. Every time you hire somebody, you have to have a space for them. Even though we try to have extra office space available, it never seems to be enough. BLADE: Five years ago, you estimated your employees were about 15 percent LGBT and clientele about 15-20 percent LGBT. Would you say those numbers have changed? GOLD: Those are close enough I would say. BLADE: Mitchell, almost exactly a year ago you were on the cover of The Washington Post (Sunday) Magazine in a piece called “The Last Frontier for Gay Rights,” and spoke of your work with the P.R.I.D.E. Club at a high school in your community. How was it received? GOLD: The reaction was generally very good. … I got virtually no negative comments that I know of, to my face. The only disappointing thing was I wish the writer had focused a bit more on people who have changed their minds (on LGBT rights). She seemed a bit more focused on people who have dug in their heels, who still believe, quote-unquote, that homosexuality is a sin. There are people, whether they’re evangelicals, Mormons or Catholics, who have started to change like Rev. Stan Mitchell in Tennessee or David

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Gushee in Atlanta … who stand up and say, “I don’t believe it is a sin.” BLADE: Do you feel the rate at which that is happening is encouraging or will we still be debating this in 20 years? GOLD: Mayor Pete has the opportunity to create a seismic shift and he has that opportunity because he’s willing to talk about it in a way that people understand, in a way that our LGBT advocacy groups don’t talk about it. It’s not enough to win an election or win a court case, we have to continue educating people and getting them to understand the harm they’re doing to people … to understand why they have to change their voting habits. BLADE: Bob, do you follow these issues as closely as Mitchell? WILLIAMS: Not quite as closely as Mitchell but my husband is on the board for OUTright Youth so I hear a lot of things that are going on because of him and also being out in the community, being a big part of that. BLADE: You listed the Sunbrella Collection in 2018 as one of your recent milestones. What’s that? WILLIAMS: That’s a company that has been around for a long time and is really known for their outdoor fabric and for the longest time they’ve been trying to get in on the indoor market but their fabrics weren’t quite soft enough. But they’ve finally found a way to re-engineer their yarn to have a softer feel and we’re very excited to be part of their new indoor collection. It’s easy to take care of. You don’t have to worry about it staining. BLADE: Are buying trends any different in Washington than your other markets? GOLD: The stuff in D.C. is very gay. No, I’m kidding (laughs). The only thing I’d say is maybe a larger amount of smaller pieces that might be sold because it’s a

city whereas in Tysons where the homes are bigger, not as much, but style wise it’s very similar. BLADE: How about in Los Angeles? GOLD: There’s sort of a California casual yet dressier look. Maybe a little cleaner looking but still very modern. In D.C., maybe a little more traditional. We have three fantastic stores in L.A. BLADE: Would you like to retire someday? GOLD: At some point I would like to work a little less. We have a search on now for a CEO to come in and transition and eventually take a lot of my responsibility. WILLIAMS: One of the things we’ve been focusing on the last year is getting everything a little bit more organized for that day when neither of us are here. GOLD: We’re also searching for a chief marketing officer. That could be a pretty big opportunity for somebody. BLADE: Any other big changes since we last spoke in your personal lives? WILLIAMS: I grew a beard, that’s about it. GOLD: I lost about 45 pounds and feel great. BLADE: How are your husbands and what do they do? GOLD: Tim (Gold) is fostering at-risk puppies and cogs with the local Catawba Valley Human Society. He picks the appropriate dogs and trains them to be service dogs for kids or young adults with autism or other people in need. And Bob’s husband Stephen (Heavner) is a painter and is very good. WILLIAMS: He also does volunteer work and has sold some paintings. Not anything that expensive. GOLD: But he’s very good and he’s sold things for prices above what I would have anticipated. BLADE: How is Mitchell Gold+Bob Williams different from Pottery Barn or Room & Board? GOLD: We have a distinctly modern style sense, we have our own factor and we make higher quality and equality is important to us. We are a company that supports equality for everybody, not just in the things we say but in the organizations and politicians we support. In those other stores, when people go in and buy, they’re buying from manufacturers that we know down South do not support politicians who honor equality. In fact, they have manufacturers that supported (anti-LGBT legislation) HB2 (the Public Facilities Privacy & Security Act) and politicians that had those in place. BLADE: How do you relax? GOLD: I like “Law & Order” and “Seinfeld.” WILLIAMS: He watches the first eight minutes then falls asleep in the middle and wakes up at the very end and says, “Let’s watch another.” Then he falls asleep again. He never knows what’s in the middle of any of those episodes. GOLD: I love to read. On the weekends, Tim and I take the dogs on long walks. WILLIAMS: We like taking short trips and discovering new things in North Carolina. We take advantage of that as often as we can.

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Yards to ‘Envy’ The cast of ‘Backyard Envy.’ From left are JAMES DeSANTIS, MEL BRAISER and GARRETT MAGEE. Photo courtesy Bravo

One of the stars of Bravo’s “Backyard Envy” talks about working with friends, making backyards beautiful and supporting LGBT people By CRYSTAL SCHELLE

From small intimate New York backyards to sprawling hills In the suburbs to transforming a Manhattan parking lot into a tropical oasis — complete with live palms — the trio from Manscapers New York have tackled almost every space imaginable. James DeSantis, one-third of the exterior and interior design team, hopes that those who tune in to watch the three friends get their hands dirty in Bravo’s “Backyard Envy” can take away some helpful gardening tips, but also see three best friends. Check local listing for air times. To catch up on this season, watch full episodes at bravotv.com/ backyard-envy.

It started with a party Manscapers NY got its start when DeSantis was living with his best friend Melissa “Mel” Braiser in New York. The two had met while attending the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City and were both pursuing careers in interior design. They were also known to throw some good parties for Garrett Magee, their best friend who had an extensive landscaping background. And it was transforming Braiser and DeSantis’ small backyard into an outdoor living space that was the talk of the party more than the drinks. DeSantis said they would hear remarks from “fabulous people” about their designs. Then those people started asking them to redesign their backyards. “One of our first clients was in fashion. Most of our first clients came from that world of design and fashion because those were the people that we know,” DeSantis says. “They let you have a little more of creative freedom and are more understanding of the creative process and trial and error. We really are not

trained landscape designers. We consider ourselves exterior designers. I think that’s what makes us different. Because we had practiced interior design for so long, we just translated all of those things and all the elements and principals of good design as well, and we took them to the outside.” By that time they had had successful careers in their own right: DeSantis worked for Ralph Lauren, Braiser worked for elite clients in construction and design and Magee was a respected landscape designer. But as more jobs came in, the friends decided that maybe they had found something that allowed them to work together. That’s when they founded the Williamsburg, Brooklyn-based Manscapers New York.

Go for green Transforming outdoor spaces in a four-season climate where backyards are notoriously tiny has had its challenges, DeSantis says “Number one, New York City is a very small space-driven design palette. There are those constraints and then the actual constraints of the weather here,” he says. That means understanding the type of plants that can survive a brutal New York winter, but still give their clients some greenery during those cold months. “There’s definitely a learning curve there. Garrett is really our plant expert, which that’s what helps our relationship. We all are experts in this sort of exterior design and we all do know a lot about design and we all do know a lot about plants, but also let each other shine on certain issues,” he says. “Like I have no problem deferring to Garrett and saying, ‘Hey, what plant is good for this shady backyard?’ or asking

Mel, ‘What type of stone is going to look great with this oak tree but isn’t going to stain?’ I do my business and clients relations and design stuff. We pick up each other. … That’s what’s kind of amazing of three people running a business.”

We are family At the core of the show, and their real life, is their friendship. And although some might say getting in business with friends is a bad idea, DeSantis says for them it’s never been an issue. “I don’t think it hinders us, because we do know how to approach each other. We’ve known each other for so long and so well that we know when someone’s buttons are being pushed, so we know when to back off, too. Some of us — I’m not going to mention any names — have a hard time shutting off business sometimes, remembering that when we’re not working we’re still friends. Sometimes we have to say, ‘OK today’s not a work day, today’s a friend day’. And that’s trial and error, too.” Their friendship existed before their business and subsequent show and DeSantis says it always will continue long after the show. “I don’t think these two people are ever going to be anyone I cannot see in my life or that it’s ever going sour,” he says. “You know that when you work with people. We have supported each other through everything. Once you’re friends and you also share a bank account, it could change things, luckily for us it’s always been very positive.” In this season of “Backyard Envy,” DeSantis’ father, David, a well-respected metal works artist, makes an appearance on the show. He builds a special light for a wedding arch for one of Manscapers’ clients.

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All three give back as much as they can to the community as much as they can. “Mel’s straight but she’s a huge supporter, she gives up a lot of money and her time because everyone in her life is gay except her husband,” he says with a laugh.

Changing minds

JAMES DeSANTIS says it never occurred to him not to be out on TV. Photo courtesy Bravo

“It was amazing. I’ve worked with my dad on and off for 12 years, since I’ve been in design,” he says. DeSantis says his father has always been his go-to person when he needs anything in metal. “When I used to work for Ralph Lauren, he would build a lot of custom furniture for us, and he still has Ralph Lauren as one of his clients still today,” he says. “It’s been great. We just did this huge event last week for the New York Botanical Garden as contributing designers this year, and we did a big installation and my dad built a bunch of furniture for us, which all got purchased, which was great.”

Gay pride DeSantis, who’s openly gay, says it never crossed his mind to worry about exposing his private life on TV. Mostly because of reality shows like the original “Queer Eye for the Straight Guy” and the rebooted “Queer Eye” allowed he and his castmates to be who they are on and off the screen. “I actually thought of it always as a selling point,” he says. “In my mind it was just two fabulous gay men and a beautiful woman in New York who have an interesting relationship.” That means all types of audiences will find something in the show. “I think we have something for everyone. Garrett has that ‘70s porn star look, and I’m like a funny bear and Mel’s an amazing looking contractor and she’s straight, appeals to everyone. To me, it was like, ‘Oh we’re checking all the boxes,”’ he says. It also helped, he says, that they were

going to be aired on Bravo, which has always been known as an LGBTQ-friendly network. “I wanted ours to be a LGBT TV show because that’s how we consider our business,” he says. “We started catering to gay men in Chelsea. We have hot guys who wear tank tops (called the Mannies) to work who dig your bushes and plant your holes. Our entire staff is gay, actually like 95 percent are gay. Not because for any reason, it’s just that those are the people that we know and who works for us.” They also had the support of their producers World of Wonder. The production company produces other LGBTQ-friendly shows such as “RuPaul’s Drag Race.” “We knew we were in the right hands, if we were going to have a show with two main characters who were gay it would be with World of Wonder,” he says.

Giving back With their newfound celebrity, DeSantis says it has encouraged them to give back even more to the LGBTQ community and using their new status to help. “I think anytime you become a public figure or a person in media and you have attention on you, you have to step up a little bit,” he says. One of their newest projects is working with the South Hamptons estate of the late LGBTQ activist Edie Windsor. Many fundraisers that benefited the LGBTQ causes were held on her estate and with the new project, Manscapers NY are hoping to give it new life as the fundraising continues. DeSantis says they expect to feature the project next season. On April

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25, they also are doing a charity event for Housing Works for AIDS research.

Sure, DeSantis says they want people to watch their show for great design tips, but he also wants viewers to see stereotypes broken. “My goal always for this show was to show reversified gender roles on the way we do things. Mel is such an amazing strong character as a woman who does building and constructing projects. She really does. It’s not bullshit, it’s not just for TV, that’s always been her role in her company,” he says. And in the media where gay men are portrayed as either flamboyant or drag queens, DeSantis says he and Garrett show that gay men come in all types. “It just demystifies for some people in Middle America that a gay guy can pick up a hammer or dig holes or do work with their hands,” he says. “We’re not all just hairdressers and fashion stylists. … I hope it can show people we’re not all the same.”

Five tips to transform your space James DeSantis from Bravo’s hit exterior design show “Backyard Envy” offers design tips to transform your backyard into an oasis. Treat your inside like your outside. Take the inspirations from your interior design and bring them outside. Look around and find what works. Find your favorite room and if you have A-B-C-D, translate that style to your outside. Start small and go green. If you can’t afford to redo the entire backyard but you want to live with some greenery for the summer months, go to any hardware store and get some really affordable houseplants parlor palms that are 6 feet tall and 2 to 3 feet wide and inexpensive. They take up a lot of space and they’re greenery. Put them in a pot and have them outside and in the wintertime bring them inside. Find the walls. We always treat fences like interior walls. Your fence or your exterior wall, because you’re surrounded by buildings in New York, you should be treated like a decorative element. To liven up your space, hang mirrors on the fences or the walls. Paint them interesting patterns and colors. You can create a macrame weave on the wall. Always think about the vertical spaces as well because that’s really what helps to make it feel like an outdoor room. Lighting is key. Don’t neglect that to the last thing. The easiest way to handle outdoor lighting is hanging bistro lights. It’s something simple and you can get them at Target for $25 and it can create a mood in your backyard. Be realistic with your budget. I think the most important things, as the money guy, is to not get over your head. When you’re looking to redesign your space, you really need to take a fine tooth comb to your finances and see how much you can really dedicate toward it. Then, create an order of operations around that that will give you the most successful bang for your buck. Don’t go spending $2,000 of your budget on one tree if your yard is 3,000 square feet. You need to find a cost-effective plant that will take up a lot of space. Maybe you reuse or recycle your outdoor plants or your furniture from somewhere else or build it yourself because that stuff can get really costly really quickly. It can eat up a ton of your budget. Know where you’re at and what you want to tackle before you get three sheets to the wind, Really know your budget inside and out. CRYSTAL SCHELLE

The best list to follow when buying a home is yours Write down why you are buying before meeting a Realtor By SHERRI ANNE GREEN There are lots of “Lists” proclaiming the best places to live, best neighborhoods, best Zip Codes, and more. If you are in the market to buy this spring, all of these lists can be swirling around in your head just adding confusion to your purchase. How do you evaluate those Lists? Those recommendations? How do you evaluate those lists with what your Realtor is telling you? What list is the best one to follow when purchasing a home? The answer is Your List! Everyone has a reason, or two, that they want purchase property—to put down roots, have a place to call their own, to invest in the real estate market, add stability to their life, build wealth, and more. Honing in on what is your reason to purchase can help you immensely in deciding where you should purchase. The list an investor puts together before purchasing, for example, is likely very different than the list a homeowner would make. So, before you meet with a Realtor, you should write down why YOU are buying. Underneath that headline, write down the points that would make the property a good fit for you because of your reason to purchase. Let’s do some examples to see what your list might look like. Let’s take the reason to buy example of “To Stop Renting and Have a Place to Call My Own.” You might consider the following points for your list: Size of home you need. Monthly mortgage payment you are comfortable with. Length of time you plan to stay in the property. Type of home you prefer—condo, coop, row home, or stand-alone. Architectural styles that are appealing to you. Is outdoor space something you need? Do you have a pet and will it need a yard, or is a condo/coop OK? Is parking a must or nice to have? How much furniture do you have and must it all go into your new home? What length of commute time to work that you would prefer?

Transportation modes that are important to you—from walking to driving a car. Neighborhoods that feel like home. Neighborhoods that have the activities you enjoy and can get to quickly. What are the typical price points for the home you need in the neighborhoods you listed above? Now, let’s look at a completely different reason to buy: “Own an Investment Property.” When looking to invest, your list might include the following points: Neighborhoods close to multiple transportation options. Neighborhoods with lots of amenities or close to a large employer. How long do you expect to hold the property? Neighborhoods that are trending in popularity. Neighborhoods that will grow in value based on surrounding development. Popular type and size of rentals in the area. Value of the property at purchase and in the future—if you are handy, perhaps you can buy a place in need of some upgrades and repairs that you can easily improve on your own to add value to your investment. The cost to purchase weighed against the rent you can charge. Can you cover your mortgage, taxes and other expenses and make money with the rent you can charge for the area? Certainly, there may be more data points to either list, but these examples will give you a starting point. When you meet with your Realtor share your list. Don’t be shy. Working as a team with your agent can help immensely in the search and purchase process. Searching for a property can be tiring and overwhelming if you and your agent are not focused. Go over your list together and ask your Realtor for feedback. Have you thought of everything? What other data points should you consider? What else should you be considering as part of your search? Armed with a great list, you’ll make a great purchase.

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Spring is Fabulous

Home trends to consider

Fluid, eclectic, bold concepts hot now in interior design FROM STATEPOINT

Natural, organic, eclectic, bold — these are some of the buzz words hot with designers currently. Photo courtesy StatePoint

Keeping up with the latest décor trends is no easy feat. That’s why celebrity interior designer Taniya Nayak has pulled together top five home design trends to provide inspiration no matter your personal taste. 1. Natural and organic. Bring a touch of Mother Nature into your home with this trend that accentuates earthy, organic elements. Nayak recommends adding layers of textures, like natural raw jute, and incorporating muted tones, such as terra cotta, moss green or mustard, to achieve this nature-inspired style. 2. Feminine and free. This style embraces a pastel palette of pale blue, pink and cream to achieve a romantic and glam look. Infuse this trend into your space by creating a striped accent wall with softhued tones or alternate different paint finishes, such as eggshell and satin, in the same color for a dimensional effect. Bring the look to life with fresh greenery and indoor plants. 3. Eclectic and bold. Nayak says “own your own style and show it off; make a statement!” An easy way to achieve this bold trend is to paint a door, an accent piece or even a ceiling in a bright color, like Jester Red or Ceylon Yellow. Unsure if bold colors are for you? Take a look in your closet to see which shades you tend to gravitate toward most. And when it comes to achieving clean, sharp paint lines, one of Nayak’s go-to tools is a premium painter’s tape like FrogTape

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brand painter’s tape that delivers the sharpest paint lines possible. Treated with patented PaintBlock Technology, FrogTape is a foolproof way to get professional-looking results and eliminate the need for touch-ups. 4. Fluid and fashionable. Create a space that exudes effortlessness by infusing repetitive patterns and fluid transitions of the same color. According to Nayak, the best way to incorporate varying shades of a single color is to use a paint sample strip like you might find at a paint supply store as guidance to achieve a serene look throughout the space. Otherwise, stick to a single shade and carefully play with patterns. For example, pair striped dining room chairs with a patterned rug for a fashion-forward statement. 5. Luxe modern. A little design secret to keep in mind: mixing metals is back and in a big way. Nayak encourages DIYers to compliment metallic accents, instead of matching them. She suggests creating a palette of two to four metal tones and distributing them throughout the space in ways that are intentional and maintain balance. For a look that is glam, yet modern, consider pairing rose gold with pewter or brushed gold and stainless steel. Visit frogtape.com/trends for more trend information and ideas. Ingenious and easy to achieve, these rising trends for 2019 will provide the necessary inspiration to update your home’s interiors.

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QUEERY Krylios Clarke Jr. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

QUEERY: Krylios Clarke Jr. The ‘Ask Rayceen Show’ volunteer answers 20 queer questions By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM Krylios Clarke Jr. is a pre-show announcer for “The Ask Rayceen Show,” a monthly, D.C.-based series and one of many it takes to pull off the production each month. “I saw they needed volunteers on Twitter, so I reached out and the rest is history,” the 24-year-old Jamaica native says. “The Ask Rayceen Show,” now in its eighth season, returns Wednesday, May 1 for an episode devoted to community forum: intergenerational dialogue, a panel discussion in which Clarke is one of the panelists. It’s at the HRC Equality Center (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) at 7 p.m. The series runs the first Wednesday of each month March through November. It’s

free and open to the public. Look for the series on Facebook or other social media for details. “I warm up the crowd before Rayceen arrives, I do general announcements about Team Rayceen’s upcoming events and projects as well as promote the vendors that are on the show that day,” Clarke says. Clarke is a Howard University graduate and works as a digital and social media associate with AARP. He came to Washington five years ago to study. He’s in a relationship and lives in Silver Spring, Md. Clarke enjoys cannabis, reading, writing, TV, travel and music in his free time.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell? That’s a tricky question. I was out to my closest friends between 16 and 18. However, I was also outed in high school at 18. I was outed to my father in 2017. And I came out to my mom in 2018. But to me, I feel like I’ve been living my life as an out and proud gay man since I moved to D.C. in 2014. The hardest person for me to tell was my mother, because she’s very religious and openly homophobic.

What terrifies you? I’m claustrophobic so being trapped in tight places with no point of escape.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero? Author/novelist Marlon James. As a queer, Jamaican writer and the first Jamaican to win the Man Booker Prize for his critically acclaimed novel “A Brief History of Seven Killings,” his success has inspired and motivated me to achieve my dreams despite whatever perceived obstacles that may be in my way.

What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show? “Paris is Burning,” hands down. It’s the film I’ve watched the most in my life. If I meet a queer person of color and they’ve never seen it, I instantly recommend it. Every time I watch it, I fall in love with it some more and I learn something I never noticed in the first 6,000 watches.

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you? When people equate sexual positions with a personality. It undermines individuality.

What’s your social media pet peeve? Trolls. Just the act of trolling in general. I avoid comments sections now because I can’t stand to see trolls.

What’s your proudest professional achievement? Being a panelist on the EducationUSA LGBTI International Students panel with the U.S. State Department. It was live streamed and broadcast to U.S. embassies all over the world and I felt proud that I could connect with other LGBT students from various countries. My favorite moment from that experience was when we received calls and questions from the U.S. embassy in Jamaica; I actually felt like a true ambassador for my nation.

What’s something trashy or vapid you love? “The Real Housewives.” I would never describe them as trashy but I’ll cop to vapid. I watch every iteration of the franchise. What’s your greatest domestic skill? I think I’m a good cook.

What would the end of the LGBTQ movement look like to you? Ideally it would be a society where all members of the spectrum have achieved ultimate equality and equity socially, politically and legally in all political jurisdictions around the world without the loss of our queer culture and identities. What’s the most overrated social custom? Going clubbing, I guess. It’s fun until it gets old. What was your religion, if any, as a child and what is it today? I grew up as a Seventh-day Adventist.

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Counterclockwise from top: ‘Les Deux Noirs: Notes on Notes of a Native Son’ is at Atlas Performing Arts Center tonight Photo courtesy Mosaic, WANDA SYKES plays Warner Theatre May 4 Photo Courtesy of Howard, and Gay Day at the Zoo is May 5 Washington Blade photo by Michael Key.

More laughs with Wanda Wanda Sykes brings her “Oh Well Tour” to the Warner Theatre (513 13th St., N.W.) on Saturday, May 4 at 7 p.m. The out actress and comedian was raised in Maryland and performed standup comedy for the first time in D.C. She is also known for her writing credits on “The Chris Rock Show” and the “Roseanne” revival. Tickets range from $37-73. For more details, visit warnertheatredc.com.

Family Conference is next weekend Rainbow Families hosts its 2019

Family Conference at Georgetown Day High School (4200 Davenport St., N.W.) on Saturday, May 4 from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. NBC4’s Barbara Harrison will be the guest of honor. Transgender activist Trystan Angel Reese is the featured speaker. The conference will feature more than 30 workshops and a Resource and Provider Fair focused on information and tools for LGBTQ families, prospective parents and allies. Some workshops will include Talking with Children and Teens about Adoption, Coming Out: The Impact of Positive Role Models, Celebrating Our Non-Binary Children, among others. Kids can also participate with age-appropriate activities. Children ages 2-and-a-half-4 years old can enjoy crafts and Spanish language immersion activities. Kids ages 5-9 years old can decorate vegan cupcakes and head to the gym. Teens and tweens ages 10-16 can sit in on a GenOUT rehearsal,

learn improv and theater. Everyone can participate in stories, puzzles, outdoor time, games and more. Adult nonmember registration is $90. For more information, visit rainbowfamiliesdc.org.

Gay Day at the Zoo is May 5 Gay Day at the Zoo is at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park (3001 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) on Sunday, May 5 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. LGBTQ people, families and allies are invited to celebrate International Family Equality Day at the zoo.Admission is free but Gay Day at the Zoo T-shirts are available for purchase. Adult T-shirts are $20 and youth T-shirts are $10. Purchase them at thedccenter.org/events/gayday2019.

Gay Day at the Zoo After Party is at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) on Sunday, May 5 from 5-8 p.m. Trade will be selling The Zeebra, the signature cocktail of the evening, with a portion of proceeds going towards the D.C. Center. There will be free food, face painting and a chance to take photos with Alex the Unicorn. High Heel Race winner Madame Chevitz will also perform. For more information, visit facebook. com/tradebardc.

Gay for Good plans fundraiser Gay for Good, an LGBTQ group that donates time to social welfare and environmental service projects, hosts a fundraiser at Dacha Beer Garden (1600 7th St., N.W.) on Tuesday, May 7 from 4-8 p.m.

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There will be an extended happy hour until 8 p.m. When guests arrive, they should stop at the Gay for Good table to receive a wristband. Wristbands are $10. All proceeds beneﬁt Gay for Good. Extra donations are also accepted. For more information, visit facebook. com/gayforgooddc.

Eastern Shore pride debuts The Maryland Mid-Shore chapter of PFLAG presents the ﬁrst Eastern Shore Pride at various locations May 2-5. “Paint with Pride” is at Kiln Born Creations (1 S Washington St., Easton, Md.) on Thursday, May 2 at 6:30 p.m. On Friday, May 3 at 8 p.m. there will be a comedy show at the Eastern Shore Conservation Center (114 S Washington St., Easton, Md.). “Dance with Pride” is on Friday, May 3 starting at 5 p.m. at Fountain Park (High St., Chestertown, Md.). The Multicultural Festival will be at Idlewild Park (115 Idlewild Ave., Easton, Md.) on Saturday, May 4 starting at 10 a.m. “Pride in the Park” festival will be at Fountain Park on Saturday, May 4 from 1-5 p.m. There will be music, speeches and vendor booths. A drag show will be at Washington College’s Decker Theatre (300 Washington Ave., Chestertown, Md.) on Saturday, May 4 at 9 p.m. Eastern Shore Pride closes out with a drag brunch at 447 Race St., Cambridge, Md. on Sunday, May 5 at 2:30 p.m. For more details on events, email pﬂagchestertown@gmail.com.

TODAY

Saturday, April 27

Mosaic Theater Company presents “Les Deux Noirs: Notes on Notes of A Native Son,” written by Psalmayene 24, at Atlas Performing Arts Center (1333 H St., N.E.) tonight at 8 p.m. The play features “Native Son” author Richard Wright (James J. Johnson) and gay writer/activist James Baldwin (Jeremy Hunter) as they have a tense discussion about the controversial novel “Native Son.” Raymond O. Caldwell directs the play. Tickets range from $2060. Details at mosaictheater.org. Annapolis Pride and USNA Out host a Pride social and beer release at Chesapeake Brewing Company (114 West St., Annapolis, Md.) tonight from 6-9 p.m. The social will celebrate the release of Annapolis Pride’s ﬁrst Pride Brew. One dollar from all pint proceeds will be donated to support the Annapolis Pride 2019: Inaugural Parade and Festival on June 29. There will be a contest to name the Pride Brew and free Annapolis Pride swag. For more information, visit facebook. com/annapolispride. AGLA presents Miss Gay Arlington 2019 at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23rd St., S Arlington, Va.) tonight at 7 p.m. The pageant’s theme is “An Evening in the Land of Oz.” Current reigning Miss Gay Arlington Seeina B. Diamond will be honored before passing the crown. The categories will be presentation “Wizard of Oz” theme, talent, evening gown and onstage question. The winner will receive a prize package valued at $1,500 in cash and prizes including $500 in cash. For more details, visit facebook.com/outinnova. Desiree Dik hosts Oddball, a drag show, at Slash Run (201 Upshur St., N.W.) tonight from 11:30 p.m.-2 a.m. Performers will include Sippi, Bellatrix Foxxx, Kamani Sutra, Ty Dupp and Geneva Confection. Cover is $5. Showtime is at midnight. For more information, visit facebook.com/slashrun. Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) hosts Blush, a new gay dance party, tonight from 10 p.m.-3 a.m. DJs will play a mix of house and techno music. Cover is $5. Drink specials run all night. For more details, visit greenlanterndc.com. Gamma D.C., a support group for men in mixed-orientation relationships, meets at Luther Place Memorial Church (1226 Vermont Ave., N.W.) today from 7:309:30 p.m. The group is for men who are attracted to men but are currently, or were at one point, in relationships with women. For more information about the group, visit gammaindc.org.

Uproar Lounge & Restaurant (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) hosts Centaur M.C. Leather Bar Night tonight from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. The night will celebrate the organizers of Mid-Atlantic Leather (MAL), the Centaur Motorcycle Club. For more information, visit facebook.com/uproarloungedc. Team D.C. presents its Spring Casino Night at Buffalo Billiards (1330 19th St., N.W.) tonight from 8 p.m.-midnight. Attendees can play poker, blackjack and craps with dealers from local LGBTQ sports teams. Entry is $10 and gets chips to play games and entry for rafﬂe prizes. There will be food and drink specials all night. For more details, visit teamdc.org. Qwerty, a gay dance party, is at Trade (1410 14th St., N.W.) tonight from 10 p.m.2:45 a.m. DJ Adam Koussari-Amin, DJ Dvonne and DJ Jeff Prior will spin vogue house, pop, queer-step, disco and more. KC B. Yoncé will perform. No cover. For more information, visit facebook.com/ tradebardc. Brolapse, a formerly secret underground gay dance party, is at the Dew Drop Inn D.C. (2801 8th St., N.E.) tonight from 11 p.m.-3 a.m. This is the ﬁrst time the party is open to the public. Dress code is creative self-expression. DJ StrikeStone and DJ The Lothario will play tracks. Phone use and photography is requested to be kept at a minimum. Cover is $10 before midnight and $15 after. For more details, visit facebook.com/the-dewdrop-inn-dc. Swazzy nights, a queer party with performances, is at the Looking Glass Lounge (3634 Georgia Ave., N.W.) tonight at 9:30 p.m. No cover. For more information, visit facebook.com/swazzevents.

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Sunday, April 28 Tula’s Cabaret, a cabaret drag show, is at BlackRock Center (12901 Town Commons Dr., Germantown, Md.) tonight at 7 p.m. Tula and the girls will prefer songs from past and present. Tipping is encouraged to help support BlackRock. General admission tickets are $25 and senior tickets are $23. For more details, visit blackrockcenter.org. CAMP Rehoboth Chorus presents a ﬁnal encore performance of “Seasons of Love: Celebrating a Decade of Song” at Sussex Academy (21150 Airport Rd., Georgtown, Del.) today at 3 p.m. The

chorus will sing a mix of rock, Broadway, spiritual songs, patriotic songs and a Beatles medley. Tickets are $25. For more information, visit camprehoboth.com.

Monday, April 29 The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) hosts coffee drop-in hours this morning from 10 a.m.-noon for the senior LGBT community. Older LGBT adults can come and enjoy complimentary coffee and conversation with other community members. For more information, visit thedccenter.org.

Tuesday, April 30 Annapolis Pride hosts Taco Tuesday Takeover at El Toro Bravo (50 West St., Annapolis, Md.) this evening from 5:30-8:30 p.m. Annapolis Pride will be giving away Pride wristbands, pins, stickers and magnets at their swag table. For more details, visit facebook.com/ annapolispride. The Washington D.C. Police Foundation hosts Beyond the Badge, a presentation on the Special Liaison Branch of the Metropolitan Police Department, at PNC Bank (800 17th St. N.W.) tonight from 6-8 p.m. The SLB includes four full-time units that serve the LGBTQ, Latino, deaf and hard of hearing and Asian communities. Chief Peter Newsham will moderate the panel with the Special Liaison Branch. For more details, email rebecca. schwartz@dcpolicefoundation.org.

Wednesday, May 1 D&K Sounds hosts karaoke at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) tonight from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. Drink specials include $3 rail cocktails and domestic drafts and $4 wines. For more information, visit dceagle.com.

Thursday, May 2 Pitchers D.C. (2317 18th St., N.W.) presents Thirst Trap tonight from 11 p.m.2:30 a.m. Venus Valhalla hosts the show which will include local queer performers. For more information, visit facebook. com/pitchersdc.

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Jaysen’s lyric

New musical relays story of renowned Fisk Jubilee Singers By PATRICK FOLLIARD

Actor/singer JAYSEN WRIGHT says his current role in ‘Jubilee’ reminds him of music he grew up with. Photo courtesy Arena

With “Jubilee” (now premiering at Arena Stage), out actor Jaysen Wright relays a compelling piece of AfricanAmerican music and social history. Told mainly through song, the new work, written and directed by Tazewell Thompson, is the story of The Fisk Jubilee Singers, an a cappella ensemble founded in 1871 that introduced spirituals and slave songs to mainstream audiences at home and abroad. Their motivation was to raise money for Fisk University. “What most impresses me,” says Wright, 32. “Though they toured and played for affluent audiences, the young black singers weren’t’ in it for money and fame. Their intentions were remarkably unselfish. They were doing it in large part for their school.” Wright plays Edmund Walker, a reallife character and one of the original Fisk singers. Edmund was born a slave. He picked cotton with his mother, sought freedom, became literate, attended Fisk University, founded the Jubilee singers and toured with them for five years. “Beyond these facts, the playwright takes some liberties. In our telling, Edmund is presented as a queer character. After eventually leaving the singers, he lives with a man for the rest of his life. A lot of black folks, myself included, don’t know all the details of family history,” says Wright who lives with his husband in D.C.’s Park View neighborhood near Columbia Heights. “During slavery, records were incomplete to nonexistent and throughout Reconstruction many former slaves were on the go looking for family.” But where genealogy is missing, the music is a lasting and breathing record of African-American heritage. Jubilee’s music director Dianne Adams McDowell has arranged about 60 spirituals. “The songs’ origins go back to slave ships, plantation fields and behind closed doors where black folks sang in harmony. The songs belonged to everyone but to no one specifically. Eventually various people set down different arrangements and put the songs on paper,” Wright says. Coming into the project, Wright was familiar with some of the music. “I grew up in the church and sang in choirs but, like a lot of gay kids, at a certain point my sexuality and spiritually seemed at odds, so I stepped away. But you don’t entirely leave it behind. My mom passed away on Christmas Eve. At her funeral service, the choir sang so beautifully,

it took me back in time. And now I’m privileged to be singing with a talented cast that includes some world class soloists who are choosing to blend for ‘Jubilee.’” A Washington native, Wright attended some of D.C.’s most prestigious private lower schools. “I was a black kid who grew up in a single-parent house going to school with the offspring of D.C.’s one percent.” He attended high school in Annapolis where drama club became the core of his identity: “I felt awkward in my body, was gay but not out, and didn’t know how to relate to people. Stepping into different characters’ shoes was very appealing to me.” After attending Grinnell College in Iowa, Wright earned an master’s degree in acting from Indiana University. “My First plays at grad school were a queered ‘As You Like It.’ I realized not only did I have a future in theater but I could use aspects of my identity in my work.” Career choices and roles have unfolded organically for the affable and talented actor. Many roles are intersections of race and sexuality, he says. Memorable gigs include African-American playwright Tarrell Alvin McCraney’s “Choir Boys” and “Wig Out!”; “Take Me Out” in which Wright played a well-built professional athlete grappling with his burgeoning sexuality; and out playwright Stephen Karam’s “Sons of the Prophets.” Looking forward, he’d like to reprise the part of Belize, the smart, droll but empathetic drag queen turned nurse in “Angels in America,” a part he played as an undergraduate and wants to do professionally. “People see me as physical and that limits what parts they imagine me doing. But I’m interested in playing super smart, intellectual. These are qualities that I find delicious. It’s rewarding to do parts draw on your own experience,” he says. “Anytime you share something with the character it’s part of your job as an actor to figure out how to make them as human and three dimensional as possible.”

‘Jubilee’

Though June 2 Arena Stage 1101 Sixth St., S.W. $41-95 202-488-3300 arenastage.org

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Stop Cannabis Arrest & Prosecution in Washington DC

We the people of Washington DC ask that Mayor Bowser and the city council direct the Metropolitan Police Department to stop arresting and prosecuting citizens for Possession or Distribution of any amount of Cannabis , Cannabis oils and Cannabis Edibles . Arresting citizens for Cannabis Crimes is Immoral and against the community standard of the citizens of Washington DC Arresting citizens is a waste of the cit city’s resources and affects People of Color disproportionately. The People of Washington DC have spoken that they want the right to purchase recreational cannabis and smoke cannabis in private clubs overwhelmingly in 2015 . Stop All Arrest & Prosecutions of Cannabis We started this petition because... King Weedy Collective is a 501c3 non profit . Our mission is to bring safe access of Cannabis to all citizens and visitors of Washington DC

Please visit www.kingweedy.org to sign this petition AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 49

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SURANNE JONES and KELVIN CANTWELL in ‘Gentleman Jack.’ Photo by Matt Squire for HBO

That’s a fact, ‘Jack’ New HBO miniseries explores life of ‘first modern lesbian’

By BRIAN T. CARNEY “Gentleman Jack,” now playing on HBO, is a fascinating portrait of Anne Lister, an English landowner often descried as “the first modern lesbian.” The splendid eight-part series, a co-production of HBO and BBC One, is a rollicking portrait of life in Regency England, a time of great social, political and economic upheaval. Set in Halifax in 1832, the series opens when Anne Lister (the delightfully swaggering Suranna Jones) returns to the family manse after foreign travel and a collapsed affair with Vere Hobart (Jodhi May) who has decided to marry a man (something that has happened to Lister before). Lister is a complex and captivating bundle of contradictions and Jones captures them all with rakish charm. Lister caries a walking stick and dresses all in black, with a voluminous skirt without petticoats, a corset and a fitted bodice, a long coat and a top hat. (The witty title sequence shows her getting dressed which is a great introduction to the character.) She’s a shrewd businesswoman, personally collecting the rents from her tenant farmers and negotiating business

deals directly. She’s fiercely protective of her tenants but also fiercely protective of her bottom line. She personally (and awkwardly) tends to a boy who is injured, but refuses to renew the lease of any farmer who’s not measuring up. She’s confident in her sexuality, but discreet enough to avoid open scandal (even though the local gossips do warn that she’s “not to be trusted in the company of other women”). But while she claims the right to run her own business and sexual affairs, she’s also rather reactionary. She’s upset when a tradesman dares to court her sister Marion (Gemma Whalen, who’s also playing Yara Greyjoy on HBO’s “Game of Thrones”) and she’s obsessed with restoring the faded ancestral home Shibden Hall to its former glory. And that’s what sets the story in motion. Like any cash-poor landowner, Lister decides that she needs to find a rich wife. She sets her sights on Ann Walker (Sophie Rundle), a local heiress who’s been dazzled by Lister’s charisma for years. Lister also discovers there’s coal on her property and enters into a nasty business rivalry with the brutal Christopher Rawson (Vincent Franklin). Series creator and screenwriter Sally Wainwright introduces both of these plot lines with a light touch, delighting in Lister’s playful seduction of Walker and her tough negotiations with Rawson. But over the course of the five episodes available for review, Wainwright slowly ratchets up the tension. Rawson becomes violent when his ambitions are thwarted and Walker and Lister are caught in flagrante delicto by a nosy neighbor. The acting is first rate. Jones is a marvel as Anne Lister, effortlessly capturing every contradictory facet of this remarkable character. Rundle is captivating as the heiress who has a few secrets of her own and Franklin makes a fine villain. Whalen turns in a full-bodied performance as Anne’s exasperated sister Marian; she makes the character warm and believable while providing some much-needed common sense and humor to the proceedings. Veteran British actors Gemma Whalen and Timothy West turn in fine performances as Aunt Anne Lister and Jeremy Lister, aunt and father to Anne and Marian. Neither character is quite as befuddled as their young relatives think they are, and their finely tuned observations are often amusing and quite biting. Wainwright’s script is solid, with

dialogue that sounds natural yet quite appropriate for the period. The directing (by Wainwright, Sarah Harding and Jennifer Perrott) is generally assured and well paced, although it’s difficult to see how the final three episodes can keep increasing the tension while resolving the main plots and the many subplots. The cinematography is stunning, a virtual Valentine to the lush West Yorkshire countryside. Wainwright and her talented colleagues also create a powerful sense of period, While there are some delightful modern flourishes (especially in the lively score by Murray Gold), the series has an authentic feel. Everything feels lived in and the period details underscore the fact that the past is indeed a foreign country, recognizable yet distinctly different. This is especially true of discussions of Lister’s sexuality and gender nonconformity. Her same-sex desires and her unconventional clothing choices are freely discussed, but the script avoids the temptation to use modern terminology. For example, when discussing her romantic relationships with her family, Lister refers to her “companions.” There’s also the delightful exchange where a young boy askes Lister, “Are you a man?” Flustered, Lister responds, “Well, that’s a question. So no, I am not a man. I’m a lady — woman. I’m a lady—woman. I’m a woman.” The remarkable authenticity and detail of “Gentleman Jack” comes from Wainwright’s intimate knowledge of Lister’s diaries. Over the course of her life, Lister kept a four-million-word diary that recorded her daily life in astonishing detail. Much of the diary was written in a secret code that used algebraic symbols and letters of the Greek alphabet. Wainwright was granted extensive access to the diaries and learned how to decipher the code and more fully understand Lister’s rich inner life. Since then, Wainwright funded the restoration and digitization of the diary; excerpts can be found at annelister.co.uk/ diary-archives. “Gentleman Jack” is a rare and genuine treat. It’s a full-blooded, full-bodied period piece with and vibrant and authentic inner life that is fully relatable yet true to its own time. Led by creator Sally Wainwright and the vivacious Suranna Jones, the series is a rousing tale that is also a rich contribution to our understanding of how same-sex desire and gender nonconformity are expressed in different times and places.

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TUESDAY MAY 7, 2019 8:00AM - 2:00PM Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center

By MARIAH COOPER

1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20004 Metro Station: Federal Triangle Workshops • Networking Opportunities Business Resources • Access to Capital Executive Luncheon Speaker: Liz Sara, Chairwoman National Women’s Business Council

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH:

‘All About Trans’ month returns We the People, a local transgender activist group, is bringing back May Is? All About Trans, a series of transgendercentric events in May, for a second consecutive year. SaVanna Wanzer, founder of D.C. Trans Pride and We the People, explains that the title May Is? All About Trans is meant to be a call-and-response cheer. “I’m asking someone else a question ‘May is?’ and then the other person says ‘All about trans.’ It’s to motivate you like ‘Christmas is?’ Tomorrow,’” Wanzer says. There will be plenty to cheer about with the events list this year which includes a community mixer at the Library of Congress hosted by KeeKee Ke’niya Funches and NBC4’s Leon Harris, a Trans Summit featuring trans-focused workshops, an open mic and an art show featuring transgender artists. The transgender community is also celebrated during Trans Pride but Wanzer says Capital Pride only allots 45-60 minutes to discuss transgender issues. We the People has organized events that allow up to three hours of conversation focused on the transgender community’s “mind, body and spirit,” according to Wanzer. See the complete list of events below. For more information on May Is? All About Trans, visit mayistransdc.com. Wednesday, May 1 Trans Summit is at the Metropolitan Community Church of Washington (474 Ridge St., N.W.) from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. From 9-10 a.m. there will be registration and breakfast followed by a greeting at 10 a.m. The morning session will include discussions entitled Navigating Medical and Legal Spaces from 10:45 a.m.-noon and then lunch from 12:15-1:15 p.m. The afternoon session will include Connecting Voices from the Community (1:15-2:15 p.m.), Growing an Activist/Growing the Entrepreneur (2:15-3:15 p.m.), Showing Up Spiritual/Showing Up Professional (3:15-4:15 p.m.) and closing remarks from 4:15-4:45 p.m. There will be dinner after the summit at Busboys and Poets (625 Monroe St., N.E.) from 6-9 p.m. The first 40 people to register for the summit will be invited to the dinner. Thursday, May 2 Name & Gender Change Clinic, a free legal clinic for D.C. and Virginia residents, is at 11:30 a.m. in Tysons Corner, Va. Meet with an attorney to complete name and gender change documents. Email lhicks@ whitman-walker.org to register and to receive the exact address. Saturday, May 4 A Conversation About Addictions is at

the Reeves Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) from 1-3 p.m. Monday, May 6 The Awards Dinner featuring keynote speaker Diana Feliz Oliva is at Studio Theatre (1501 14th St., N.W.) from 6-9 p.m. Two people from the transgender community, one youth activist and one organization that represents the transgender community will be honored. Admission is free. Tuesday, May 7 Trans Conversations is at Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) from 6-8 p.m. There will be a conversation on transmasculine health in room one and a conversation on transfemme health in room two. The conversations will followed by dinner and a cocktail reception at 9 p.m. Admission is free. Friday, May 10 Silver Pride, a celebration of the older LGBTQ community, is at Human Rights Campaign (1640 Rhode Island Ave., N.W.) from 3-7 p.m. There will be tabling and a dance. Free. Saturday, May 11 Trans Art Showing is at Westminster Presbyterian Church (400 I St., S.W.) from 3-5 p.m. Art from local artists in the transgender community will be on display. Free admission. Open Mic is at Westminster Presbyterian Church from 5-7 p.m. All are welcome to showcase their talent. Free. “Transmilitary,” a documentary about life as a transgender person in the military, will be screened at Westminster Presbyterian Church from 7-9 p.m. A Q&A will follow the screening. Admission is free. Sunday, May 12 Happy hour is at Denizens Brewing Co. (1115 East West Highway, Silver Spring, Md.) from 2-4 p.m. Tuesday, May 14 Do Tell, a conversation about the pros and cons of sex-reassignment surgeries, is at Us Helping Us (3636 Georgia Ave., N.W.) from 6-8 p.m. Wednesday, May 15 A conversation on HIV vs. PrEP is at Whitman-Walker Health (1525 14th St., N.W.) from 6-8 p.m. Friday, May 17 Community Mixer is at Library of Congress (10 First St., S.E.) from 6-9 p.m. Keynote speaker will be Queen Victoria Ortega and NBC4’s Leon Harris hosts the event. This event is invite-only.

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Gobsmacking memoir ‘Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls’ gathers steam as it progresses

In love and war, what will you stand for?

Tosca May 11–25 Opera House

Photo courtesy Bloomsbury

Music by Giacomo Puccini / Libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa Sung in Italian with Projected English Titles. Casting available at Kennedy-Center.org/wno

Photo by Elise Bakketun

WNO’s Tosca Pride Night Out is May 22! Special Offer: Tickets starting at $39!* Join Washington National Opera as we partner with Capital Pride for a night at Puccini’s Tosca and an exclusive Night Out reception! Use Promo Code 342004 online, at the Box Office or over the phone at (202) 467-4600.

Kennedy-Center.org (202) 467-4600

* Offer valid on select orchestra seats for the 5/22 performance of Washington National Opera: Tosca. Offer subject to availability. Not valid in combination with any other offer. Not valid on previously purchased tickets. Offer may be withdrawn at any time. Service fees may apply. Major support for WNO and Tosca is provided by Jacqueline Badger Mars. David M. Rubenstein is the Presenting Underwriter of WNO. WNO acknowledges the longstanding generosity of Life Chairman Mrs. Eugene B. Casey.

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

WNO's Presenting Sponsor Generous support for WNO Italian Opera is provided by Daniel and Gayle D’Aniello. Unexpected Italy is presented in cooperation with the Embassy of Italy. International programming at the Kennedy Center is made possible through the generosity of the Kennedy Center International Committee on the Arts.

Some kids are born lucky. Those are the ones who get everything they want; sometimes, they don’t even ask and their hearts’ desire is presented. Some might call those kids spoiled but others might pity them. Maybe, as in the new memoir “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls” by T Kira Madden, what those kids really want is love. The story starts, as T Kira Madden remembers, with a mannequin. She was only 2 years old then, and she called him Uncle Nuke. Her mother had ﬁshed him out of the trash behind a department store, bringing the “fancy, distinguished” plastic man home “to protect me,” Madden writes. “Remember this.” When Uncle Nuke came to stay, mother and daughter lived alone because Madden’s father was married and had another family. Even so, his wealth and extravagance meant that Madden had everything a girl could want: ponies, private schools, concert tickets and weekend jaunts to Vegas. She had plenty for classmates to covet, but what she really wanted was attention and approval. That came from her parents, of course, but when she was in elementary school, she also had “pen pals,” grown men who wanted to meet her for reasons she couldn’t quite grasp. Attention came from various dealers who sold drugs to members of Madden’s family, including her parents. And attention of the wrong sort came from classmates who taunted Madden for her Asian heritage, her misshapen teeth and her awkwardness. By the time Madden hit middle school, her parents were addicts who were absent more than not and she could never remember where they’d gone. By high school, unsupervised, she was skipping school and had let her grades

and favorite pastimes drop; drinking had become a new hobby and she and her friends pushed the limits of the law nearly every day. Madden, who’d been sexually assaulted as a young teen, began experimenting with boys, then with girls because she learned “how much more I wanted them.” And she learned a shocking truth about herself. Starting out, “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls” is going to take some getting used to. The chapters aren’t exactly linear, not too chronological and don’t seem to have much cohesion, as if someone drew a raggedy circle and then ripped part of it away. The temptation may exist to put the book aside. And yet, the near-dispassionate tone in author T Kira Madden’s memoir is irresistible, almost compelling. Despite the calmness of her words, the chaos of the world she writes about hints that there’s more to the story that we haven’t read yet and, at the risk of spilling a secret, that’s exactly how this book turns out, in a jaw-dropping didn’t-see-it-coming whirl of quick ﬁnal chapters that feel like a volley of BBs as they hit. That end is going to leave you breathless. It’ll leave you desperately wanting to talk to someone about this book. If you want a memoir that’ll leave you gobsmacked, “Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls” may be your hearts’ desire.

‘Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls’ By T Kira Madden Bloomsbury $27 311 pages

In partnership with

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER has been reading since she was 3 years old. She lives in Wisconsin with two dogs and 12,000 books. Reach her at bookwormsez@yahoo.com.

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An Ugly situation

CAPITOL HILL RESTORATION SOCIETY

Barracks Row sports bar welcomes gays as options there dwindle

62nd Annual

By EVAN CAPLAN

May 11 & 12, 2019 Mother’s Day Weekend

The General Tso’s BBQ Chicken Sandwich at The Ugly Mug. Photo courtesy Ugly Mug

GOLD SPONSORS

SILVER SPONSORS

TICKETS $35 ADVANCE / $40 TOUR DAYS • ON SALE BELOW AND AT CHRS.ORG Berkshire Hathaway Eastern Market • Coldwell Banker Capitol Hill Groovy DC Cards & Gifts • Hill’s Kitchen • Labyrinth Games & Puzzles

When one bar’s doors close, another bar’s doors open even wider. The gay scene in Capitol Hill has felt some pain over the past several years after the closing of Remington’s and Phase 1. Enter The Ugly Mug, an unlikely replacement as host for that neighborhood’s LGBT community. It’s like Nellie’s in reverse. An unassuming sports bar, The Ugly Mug sits along 8th Street, S.E. on busy Barracks Row. The far side of swank, it attracts Capitol Hill staff, Southeast locals and sports fans seeking a no-judgment atmosphere and classic pub snacks. During its 15-year tenure, the bar has added some elements, a new retractable roof, for instance, but has maintained its relaxed, no-pretense atmosphere. Yet over the bar’s service of slinging beers and burgers, however, the city has changed and the bar’s clientele with it. At its outset, owner Gaynor Jablonski (who’s straight) says he, “saw a need for a place where Hill interns, neighbors and everyone in between could just grab a drink and watch the game. And that’s still at the core of our business — sports and beer.” He says the bar has always been an inclusive space. As the LGBT-forward bars closed, “the customers who frequented them are still here,” he says. Plus, Barracks Row still has its charm — it’s its own little community — so it’s really about reminding everyone that they’re welcomed here.” While those same customers reported having trouble ﬁnding bars that were truly open to them, “that was never an issue for us,” Jablonski says. The beginning was simple. A local LGBT group held one event there. Later, “the organizers realized that their crowd really enjoyed the experience and our

team also enjoyed it,” he says. Of course, Jablonski recognized that taking in these new customers signiﬁes business gains, especially on nights that might otherwise be quiet. But at the same time, the bar has explicitly created an atmosphere of welcoming inclusivity. “We’re glad that we can provide a safe space,” he says. Some local organizations that now make a home at The Ugly Mug include D.C. Rollergirls and Ebony Pyramid. For D.C. Rollergirls, a ﬂattrack skating league with a strong lesbian presence, the bar provides food and drinks during the team’s exhibitions. Ebony Pyramid, a social and charitable group with a mission to serve African-American and minority LGBT communities, hosts many of its own events at the bar, including weekly gatherings on Tuesday evenings. The Ugly Mug will play host to Black Pride events in association with Ebony Pyramid. Jablonski says The Ugly Mug has stayed true to its roots, offering “all the great things about sports bars,” like rotating draft beers, a full bar and pizza, burgers and wings, as well as karaoke and live music nights. Yet because The Ugly Mug recognized that the neighborhood residents needed a place to go and be comfortable, to carve out a niche that no longer existed, the bar has become more than just a place to catch a Nats game. The owner and staff don’t consider The Ugly Mug to be a gay bar, but the establishment’s evolution to a space that is treated and understood as one sets it apart. More than accepting, it actively supports the LGBT community. As some LGBT bars close, and others completely or purposefully lose their LGBT identities, The Ugly Mug represents a move in the opposite direction.

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The Capitol Hill Mothers’ Day House and Garden Tour, now in its 62nd year, is the longest continuously-operating house tour in Washington. Founded in 1956 to highlight the livability of Capitol Hill neighborhoods, it blends history and southern charm in a self-guided tour to make an ideal spring outing or Mothers’ Day get-together. Proceeds support the Capitol Hill Restoration Society’s historic preservation and educational activities.

CAPITOL HILL HOUSE TOUR: A MOTHERS’ DAY TRADITION By Janet Quigley

This year’s tour, on May 11 and 12, features the area around historic Lincoln Park, where homebuilding flourished in the 1890’s and 1900’s spurred by the arrival of streetcars. The area is now a friendly community with broad leafy streets, lively alleys and a mix of grand Victorian and roomy Wardman row houses. Highlights include ten homes ranging in age from 1880 to 1935, five lush gardens and three guided tours of a residential alley dating to the 1890’s, once home to Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. The house and garden tour starts 1 block from Eastern Market Metro at the Corner Store Arts gallery. Come for a peek inside one of Washington’s most livable neighborhoods and prepare to be wowed by its remarkable variety. In addition to Capitol Hill staples such as soaring ceilings, original woodwork, pocket doors, transoms and ornate fixtures, several homes feature 21st century touches including solar panels, geothermal wells, smart home technology, high-efficiency HVAC, compact radiators, a dug-out basement and numerous renovations and additions.

NOT TO BE MISSED: • An award-winning, 5,000 square foot converted industrial building tucked away in an alley;

The Capitol Hill House Tour is a Mothers’ Day tradition.

•

A grand East Capitol Street home facing Lincoln Park with gold leaf friezes and Art Nouveau ﬁxtures;

•

An artist’s home whose every wall features his whimsical mosaics inspired by studies in Italy and Portugal;

•

A guided tour of quaint Gessford Court, led by a CHRS historian;

•

A lush rose garden bordering an 1865 corner house on Philadelphia Row, the site of an early preservation victory;

•

The corner gardens of a celebrity ﬂorist on Lincoln Park;

•

The 1,600 square foot, book-ﬁlled home of a local bookstore owner; and

•

A Wardman home which celebrates the owners’ love of pigs.

Credit: Nick Alberti

Formal dining room featuresKlimt prints. Credit: Bill Kohutanycz

AFTER THE TOUR: Rest your feet at Corner Store Arts with complimentary refreshments, watch a bit of the continuously running 1950’s video of Washington’s streetcar routes, and compare experiences with fellow tour participants. On Sunday afternoon, Eastern High School’s Blue and White Marching Machine band will add to the festivities. For more substantial refreshment, the restaurants and watering holes of Eastern Market, Pennsylvania Avenue and Barracks Row 8th Street are ﬁve minutes away. CHRS gratefully acknowledges the tour sponsors: The Rob & Brent Group, TTR Sotheby’s International Realty; National Capital Bank; The Smith Team, Berkshire Hathaway PenFed Realty; and Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Capitol Hill.

This converted 1920’s warehouse won a preservation award in 2015. Credit: Carl Nash

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IF YOU GO: Dates:

Saturday May 11, 4-7 pm; Sunday May 12, 1-5 pm.

Tickets:

$35 in advance at www.chrs.org, $40 on tour weekend. Ticket is good for both days.

Tour Start:

Corner Store Arts, 900 South Carolina Ave., SE, 20003

Metro:

Eastern Market

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WASHINGTONBLADE.COM HUGE YARD SALE to Benefit the Feline Foundation of Greater Washington. Sat 04/27 8-1 P.M., 2355 Bedfordshire Cir, Reston. CASH FOR ESTATES; MOVING, ETC. I buy a wide range of items. Buy out / clean up. TheAtticLLC.com, Gary Roman 301-520-0755.

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LOOKING FOR COUPLES MET VIA BLADE CLASSIFIEDS On the occasion of our 50th Anniversary year, the Blade is looking for couples to profile who met via Blade classified ads and are still together. If interested, please contact Features Editor, Joey DiGuglielmo at: joeyd@ washblade.com or (202) 731-0829.

COUNSELING COUNSELING FOR LGBTQ People. Individual/ couple counseling with a volunteer peer counselor. GMCC, servicing since 1973. 202-580-8661. gaymenscounseling.org. No fees, donation requested.

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

LOCKER ROOM ATTENDANTS NEEDED! The Crew Club, a gay men’s naturist gym & sauna, is now hiring Locker Room Attendants. We all scrub toilets & do heavy cleaning. You must be physically able to handle the work & have a great attitude doing it. No drunks/ druggies need apply. Please call David at (202) 319-1333. from 9-5pm, to schedule an interview.

LEGAL SERVICES ADOPTION, DONOR, SURROGACY legal services. Jennifer represents LGBTQ clients in DC, MD & VA interested in adoption or ART matters. 240-863- 2441, JFairfax@jenniferfairfax.com.

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

FULL SERVICE LAW FIRM Representing the GLBT community for over 35 years. Family adoptions, estate planning, immigration, employment. (301) 891-2200. Silber, Perlman, Sigman & Tilev, P.A. www.SP-Law. com.

EVENT WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHY Distinctive event / wedding photography moderately priced. www.annlittlephoto.com 202-860-4550 FB: annlittlephoto

LIMOUSINES

CLEANING

KASPER’S LIVERY SERVICE Since 1987. Gay & Veteran Owner/ Operator. 2016 Luxury BMW 750Li Sedan. Properly Licensed & Livery Insured in DC. www.KasperLivery.com. Phone 202-554-2471.

PHOTOGRAPHY

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

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy Results-Oriented • Affordable

Larry Cohen, LICSW

30 years serving the LGBT community

202-244-0903 socialanxietyhelp.com

See website for NPR story on my work

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

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

703-593-3204

WWW.DAVELLOYD.NET ENTHUSIASTICALLY SERVING DC & VIRGINIA

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

SIMPLE AFFORDABLE PROVEN RESULTS

CALL TODAY TOPLACE YOUR AD

202.747.2077

6 2 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • AP R IL 2 6 , 2 0 1 9

DEADLINES

SHARE ADS ARE FREE.

All Classiﬁed Ads - Including Regular & Adult Must Be Received By Mondays at 5PM So They Can Be Included in That Week’s Edition of Washington Blade and washingtonblade.com

PLACE YOUR CLASSIFIEDS ONLINE

WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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

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

ELECTRICANS COMPLETE ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS, INC. quality work by professionals at reasonable rates, residential / commercial. Serving the DMV for over 20 years, no job too small. 301-530-1925.

MOVERS AROUND TOWN MOVERS. Professional Moving & Storage. Let Our Movers Do The Heavy Lifting. Mention the ‘Blade’ for 5% off of our regular rates. Call today 202.734.3080. www. aroundtownmovers.com

HOME IMPROVEMENT

BODYWORK

PLASTERING & STUCCO Quality work. DC licensed http://www.rtbullard.com. 703-845-1565.

THE MAGIC TOUCH: Swedish, Massage or Deep Tissue. Appts 202-486-6183, Low Rates, 24/7, In-Calls.

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Playmates and soul mates...

Washington:

202-448-0824

18+ MegaMates.com

Celebrating 10 Years in DC HIVcare.org

Dr. Roxanne Cox-Iyamu, MD

William, AHF Client

New Location! 2141 K Street NW Suite 707 | (202) 329-7189