Washingtonblade.com, Volume 50, Issue 26, July 5, 2019

A PARTY 50 YEARS IN THE MAKING NYC HOSTS HISTORIC STONEWALL, WORLD PRIDE CELEBRATIONS, PAGE 12

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Millions flocked to NYC last weekend for Stonewall commemorations and World Pride, PAGES 12-14.

(Cover photo courtesy NY governor’s office) More photos, PAGE 35

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Looking back:

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50 years of the Blade

Dishy drag docu-series is a ‘Werq’ of wonder

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Comings & Goings

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Queery: Reeves Gift

10

Store manager attacked by man

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Hagerstown Pride is next weekend

using anti-gay slurs

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Seamster was unabashed

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Harris shines in first Democratic debate

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Queer themes at Fringe

Millions attend World Pride in

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Tick, tick, tick ‘Boom!’

NYC to mark Stonewall’s 50th

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The gay Betsy Ross

Activists, politicians, celebrities join

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WorldPride 2019

forces in New York for Pride

35

Celebrate your independence

about trans woman’s death 19

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Rep. Kennedy demands answers

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In 2015, immigration protester interrupts President Obama FROM STAFF REPORTS

PRESIDENT OBAMA admonished a protester for disrupting him at the White House.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Four years ago, activist Jennicet Gutierrez created a stir during the White House Pride reception when she interrupted President Obama’s remarks to protest the treatment of transgender migrants at the border, an issue even more urgent today given the Trump administration’s treatment of asylum seekers.

After the incident, which drew praise and criticism alike, Gutierrez wrote an opinion piece for the Blade explaining her decision to speak out.

She wrote, “I was fortunate to be invited to the White House to listen to President Obama’s speech recognizing the LGBTQ community and the progress being made. But while he spoke of ‘trans women of color being targeted,’ his administration holds LGBTQ and trans immigrants in detention.

I spoke out because our issues and struggles can no longer be ignored.

“Immigrant trans women are 12 times more likely to face discrimination because of our gender identity. If we add our immigration status to the equation, the discrimination increases. Transgender immigrants make up one out of every 500 people in detention, but we account for one out of five

confirmed sexual abuse cases in ICE custody.

“The violence my trans sisters face in detention centers is one of torture and abuse. The torture and abuse come from ICE officials and other detainees in these detention centers. I have spoken with my trans immigrant sisters who were recently released from detention centers. With a lot of emotional pain and heavy tears in their eyes, they opened up about the horrendous treatment they all experienced. Often seeking asylum to escape threats of violence because of their gender identity and sexuality, this is how they’re greeted in this country. At times misgendered, exposed to assault, and put in detention centers with men.

“Last night I spoke out to demand respect and acknowledgement of our gender expression and the release of the estimated 75 transgender immigrants in detention right now. There is no pride in how LGBTQ immigrants are treated in this country and there can be no celebration with an administration that has the ability to keep us detained and in danger or release us to freedom.”

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Comings & Goings Marriott, Karsting accept new positions

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 Michael Marriott in his new position as director of Digital Marketing Strategy for The Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA). In his new role he will focus on the strategic development, coordination and oversight of digital marketing platform enhancements while tracking and reporting on the MICHAEL MARRIOTT effectiveness of marketing campaigns.

“With this recognition and new responsibility, I’m able to showcase my years of experience,” Marriott said.

“In this role, I’m tasked with bridging the gap between data and marketing efforts. But, the most exciting part is that I’ll lead a new digital marketing team.

I’m fortunate to have had wonderful mentors in my career, and I’m looking forward to being a mentor to others.”

Prior to being with ICBA Michael was with the Education Writers Association as their Multimedia & Web Manager. He has also worked for the American Academy of Nursing, The American Political Science Association, and the YWCA of Greenville, S.C. He has volunteered with the 2016 Democratic National PHIL KARSTING Convention Committee in the area of digital communications and websites and with the Wheaton Hill Civic Association.

Marriott attended the Greenville Technical College receiving his Associate of Arts with Honors and was a member of Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society, Greenville, S.C. He received his bachelor’s in political science with a concentration in public policy from the George Washington University in D.C. Congratulations also to Phil Karsting in his new role as interim president and CEO of the World Food Program, USA, the nonprofit organization working to generate financial and in-kind resources for the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and to develop policies necessary to alleviate global hunger.

“WFP’s work has never been more critical to so many across the globe,” he said. “WFP USA has an incredibly strong team, committed to supporting WFP’s efforts and to making a difference in the fight against hunger. I am honored to call them colleagues and lead them through this important transition.”

Karsting previously served as the administrator for the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service, as well as in several key positions on Capitol Hill, including chief of staff to Sen. Herb Kohl (D-Wisc.), then chair of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development and Related Agencies.

Another who deserves our congratulations is: Michele Zavos for being the recipient of the D.C. Bar’s William J. Brennan Award, which is given every two years to a D.C. lawyer for a lifetime of civil rights work. This is the first time it has been given to someone who has done work in the LGBT community, particularly around family issues. She is a partner with Delaney McKinney LLP.

DecrimNow rally held on Stonewall anniversary

By MICHAEL KEY MKEY@WASHBLADE.COM

Trans activist DEE CURRY, second from right, speaks at a rally to support the decriminalization of sex work.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

The Sex Worker Advocates Coalition (DecrimNow) held a rally at Freedom Plaza on Friday, June 28 to call for D.C. Council hearings and passage of the Community Safety and Health Amendment Act of 2019.

The proposed legislation advocated for by those at the rally would “eliminate criminal prohibitions and penalties for consensual sex work and establish a task force to evaluate the effects of removing criminal penalties and recommend further improvements to public safety, health, and human rights,” according to a statement from D.C. Council member David Grosso (I-At-Large).

Approximately 150 activists and supporters gathered across the street from the John A. Wilson District Building on the 50th anniversary of the first day of the Stonewall riots. Among the issues advocated for by the speakers were employment opportunities for transgender women of color as well as the decriminalization of sex work in D.C. “Today, 50 years later, black and brown trans women are under attack,” Emmelia Talarico, organizing director of the activist group No Justice No Pride and an organizer of the rally said in a statement. “Between recent local and national individual acts of violence against our community members to the repercussions of the Trump administration and the impacts caused by the passage of FOSTA/SESTA we need our local elected leaders to show up for us now when we need them most.”

The Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) and the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA) became law in 2018. Many activists, including those from No Justice No Pride, have denounced the effects of the implementation of the new laws on vulnerable populations, particularly trans sex workers.

“The fact that we are having, in 2019, this discussion — actually this fight — as it relates

to decriminalization is a sad testament that society in all of its advancements still frowns on the most common practice of all: commercial sex work,” trans rights activist Dee Curry said to the crowd. “Sadder yet, the persons doing the frowning are individuals steadfastly standing for economic suppression of people of color.”

“The persons frowning the most are persons blocking any real legislation supporting sincere skills-building and job training for vulnerable populations everywhere,” Curry continued.

“And the persons who would have you believe that we are asking for the legalization of prostitution: We are not,” said Curry. “We are simply requesting that there is a removal of the target on the backs of many of our youth who have had limited choices in their advancement to live a productive life.”

“We need more than just understanding: we need legislation,” Curry demanded.

“So I say to this city and I say to this mayor and I say to this city council, enough with the excuses. If you’re not going to promote decriminalization of commercial sex work, then give us a damn job,” Curry concluded.

Nona, another speaker at the rally, related to the crowd the need for employment and educational opportunities for transgender women.

“Trans women of color want employment,” said Nona. “We would love to be hired and work among our cis counterparts in this corrupt society.”

“Trans women of color have tireless goals and dreams that are broken by closed-minded, ignorant people who choose to remain in their cemented state,” Nona continued. “Trans women of color may not have many job function skills, but it is only due to not being hired. But we are eager to learn so that our lives may flourish by being productive.”

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Full name: Matt Howe Occupation: Social Media Favorite local restaurant: Commissary Favorite local bar/lounge: Bar Dupont Favorite vacation spot: Manuel Antonio, Costa Rica Favorite Charity: Washington Animal Rescue League Favorite thing to do on a weekend: Take photos of our cats

Full name: Dan Adler Occupation: Commercial Real Estate Favorite local restaurant: Floriana Favorite local bar/lounge: Dito’s Bar at Floriana Favorite vacation spot: Burning Man Favorite Charity: University of Virginia Favorite thing to do on a weekend: Watch a movie at home

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Store manager attacked by man using anti-gay slurs

GOP congressman: ‘Don’tbe an asshole, don’tbe a homophobe’

D.C. Wawa staffer struck with bicycle

Rep. Hurd speaks to D.C. Log Cabin group

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM D.C. police last week arrested a 33-year-old Florida man for allegedly using a stolen bicycle to assault the manager of a downtown Wawa store while shouting anti-gay slurs and threatening to kill the manager, according to a police statement and court charging documents.

The police statement says the incident remains under investigation as a potential hate crime. It couldn’t immediately be determined if the store manager is gay or whether the attacker incorrectly perceived him to be gay.

It becomes the seventh incident within the past three weeks in which an LGBT person or someone perceived to be LGBT was assaulted or threatened in the D.C. area.

The most serious of the seven incidents was the June 13 murder of D.C. transgender woman Zoe Spears, who was shot to death by an unidentified assailant in Fairmount Heights, Md., just across the D.C. line near Eastern Avenue.

A police arrest affidavit filed in D.C. Superior Court says Nehemiah Allen Taylor of Miami with no fixed address in D.C., attacked the Wawa store manager with the bicycle outside the store. It says the attack occurred after he entered the Wawa store at 1111 19th St., N.W., and began “threatening people, yelling and screaming and acting aggressively toward the staff.”

The affidavit says the manager, who is listed in the affidavit as Complainant 1, responded by telling Taylor to leave the store and not to return because he was creating a disturbance by threatening the staff and the store’s customers.

According to the affidavit, Taylor exited the store through the front doors and immediately began to bang his hands against the store’s front windows while “continuing to yell and scream” at the manager. It says a witness who was sitting at a table in front of the window told police Taylor used his fingers to write “DIE” on the front glass window while continuing to scream.

“Complaint 1 approached Defendant 1 in an attempt to get him to move away from his store and leave the area,” the affidavit says. “Defendant 1 proceeded to pick up a red Capital Bikeshare bicycle and used it as a weapon to strike Complainant 1. Complainant 1 reported that Defendant 1 struck him in the left forearm with the bicycle,” the affidavit says.

A separate police statement says the store manager wasn’t seriously injured.

“After walking back up to Complainant 1, Defendant 1 began to use anti-gay slurs toward Complainant 1, calling him a ‘faggot’ and several other homophobic slurs while continually calling him gay,” the affidavit continues. “Complainant 1 stated that Defendant 1 called him ‘every slur there is’ and further stated that some he had not heard in years,” according to the affidavit.

“While using the anti-gay slurs towards Complainant 1, Defendant 1 stated ‘I’m going to fucking kill you’ and proceeded to walk past Complainant 1 and enter the store again,” the affidavit says. It says Defendant 1 (Taylor) left the store a short time later and was apprehended by D.C. police who arrived on the scene at approximately 4:30 p.m. in response to a call for help from the store.

The affidavit says that Taylor admitted to the officers on the scene that he struck the store manager with the bicycle. It says that after being taken to the Second District police station for booking Taylor waived his Miranda rights informing him he had a right to a lawyer and he wasn’t required to answer questions by police.

He told police at the station, among other things, “I don’t like gay people,” the affidavit says.

Police charged Taylor with assault, attempted possession of a prohibited weapon (the bicycle), unlawful entry, and attempted threats to do bodily harm.

Court records show D.C. Superior Court Judge Rene Raymond agreed to release Taylor at an arraignment on Tuesday, June 25, on condition that he stay away from the Wawa store and report to the court’s Pretrial Services Agency. Raymond ordered Taylor to return to court for a status hearing on July 31, court records show.

The court records show he pleaded not guilty to the charges through his court appointed lawyer and requested a trial.

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

‘Don’t be an asshole. Don’t be a racist. Don’t be a misogynist, right? Don’t be a homophobe,’ said Rep. WILL HURD (R-Texas).

Rep. Will Hurd (R-Texas), the only AfricanAmerican Republican member of the U.S. House of Representatives, praised the LGBT GOP group Log Cabin Republicans and its work on behalf of LGBT rights at a June 20 Pride Social gathering organized by Log Cabin Republicans of D.C. Close to 70 people turned out for the gathering at the Chastleton Apartments ballroom on 16th Street, N.W., which Log Cabin D.C. billed as a bipartisan event. Among those attending were many LGBT Democrats and D.C. elected officials, including Advisory Neighborhood Commissioners and D.C. Board of Education President Ruth Wattenberg.

“It’s a pleasure to be with you all today because you all know something that many of my colleagues don’t,” Hurd told the gathering. “If you’re at least the age of 40 in most places across this country you have to whisper that you’re a Republican,” he said.

“This is a party that is shrinking. The party is not growing in some of the largest parts of our country,” he continued.

“Why is that? I’ll tell you. It’s real simple,” said Hurd. “Don’t be an asshole. Don’t be a racist. Don’t be a misogynist, right? Don’t be a homophobe. These are real basic things that we all should learn when we were in kindergarten.”

Hurd’s district in Southern Texas includes more than a third of the U.S.-Mexico border. He has broken from many of his fellow Republicans by expressing strong opposition to President Trump’s controversial proposal to build a wall along the entire U.S.-Mexico border.

He is also one of just eight Republicans in the House that voted earlier this year for the LGBT civil rights bill known as the Equality Act, which the House passed but is stalled in the Senate.

Hurd told the Log Cabin gathering that he

has a quick reply to those in his majority Latino district in Texas and in Washington who ask him how he came to support LGBT rights.

“People would ask me and I would say, look, are you asking the only black Republican to support not being proequality?” Hurd said. “And most people never have a follow-up question to that.”

Added Hurd: “And you all have been toiling and fighting for a very long time. You all have had a difficult fight not only in our country but in our party. And so I just thank you for sticking to it. Thank you for caring about our principles. Thank you for being an example for so many other people.”

Log Cabin D.C. President Adam Savit and the group’s vice president, Patrick Wheat, said they believe the event, in which attendees mingled before and after Hurd spoke, succeeded in furthering a campaign started earlier this year by gay Democratic activist Paul Kuntzler to build a bipartisan effort to advance the rights of LGBT people. Kuntzler was among those who attended the event.

“It exceeded my expectations,” Wheat said. “I’m extremely excited to have as many representatives from both the LGBT community and the D.C. elected officials,” he told the Blade. “We are in a unique place as the District of Columbia Log Cabin Republicans to serve as a conservative voice in LGBT spaces and as an LGBT voice in conservative spaces.”

Among the others attending the event were Jerri Ann Henry, executive director of the national Log Cabin Republicans; Robert Kabel, chair of the board of the national Log Cabin group; Bobbi Elaine Strang, president of the D.C. Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance; Jose Cunningham, the gay chair of the D.C. Republican Party; and James Abbott, a member of the U.S. Federal Labor Relations Board.

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Harris shines in first Democratic debate Biden suffers drop in polls; Buttigieg nabs endorsement, big fundraising haul

By CHRIS JOHNSON CJOHNSON@WASHBLADE.COM

Sen. KAMALA HARRIS emerged as a winner in last week’s Democratic presidential debates after challenging Joe Biden.

Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

Last week’s Democratic presidential debates were watched by record-breaking numbers of viewers and several hopefuls distinguished themselves among the 20 who partook over two nights, including Sen. Kamala Harris, Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who’s gay.

Harris directly challenged Biden on race, helping trigger a bump in her poll numbers. And Buttigieg was subsequently endorsed by the Victory Fund, then announced a $25 million second quarter fundraising haul.

Post-debate polls showed Joe Biden taking a hit, while Harris surged. A new poll from CNN/SSRS found Biden in first place with 22 percent support, his lowest showing to date. That same poll shows Harris moving into second place with 17 percent, followed by Warren at 15 percent and Sen. Bernie Sanders at 14 percent.

Harris pulled off an impressive performance Thursday night during the debate as racial issues haunted Buttigieg and Biden.

When the smoke cleared after the debate concluded in Miami, Harris came out as a favorite based on her responses throughout the evening that served a combination of steak and sizzle, appealing to emotion as she laid out policy.

Touting the importance of a universal health care plan, Harris pulled at the heartstrings when she talked about the hesitation a mother endures if she wants to take a child to an emergency room because of the child’s high fever, but is

worried about the cost.

When moderators momentarily lost control of the debate, Harris was the one issuing a call to order.

“Hey, guys, you know what?” Harris said. “America does not want to witness a food fight, they want to know how we are going to put food on their table.”

But the moment of greatest contention among the candidates came when moderator Rachel Maddow asked Buttgieg, who made history that night by being the first openly gay person to participate in a major party presidential debate, about a recent shooting in South Bend, Ind., by a white police officer who killed a black man.

Citing a statistic that 26 percent of South Bend is black, but only 6 percent of its police force is black, Maddow asked him why that hasn’t improved.

“Because I couldn’t get it done,” Buttigieg replied. “My community is in anguish right now because of an officerinvolved shooting, a black man, Eric Logan, killed by a white officer. And I’m not allowed to take sides until the investigation comes back. The officer said he was attacked with a knife, but he didn’t have his body camera on. It’s a mess. And we’re hurting.”

Recognizing the issue as a national problem, Buttigieg said this is an issue “facing our community and so many communities around the country,” calling for a moving policing “out from the shadow of systemic racism.”

“And I am determined to bring about a

N AT I O NAL NE WS • J ULY 05, 2019 WA SHINGTON BL A DE . COM • 11

day when a white person driving a vehicle and a black person driving a vehicle, when they see a police officer approaching, feels the exact same thing — a feeling not of fear but of safety,” Buttigieg said.

But Buttigieg’s competitors on the debate stage weren’t letting him off the hook that easily.

Directly questioning the South Bend mayor, former Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper said, “the question they’re asking in South Bend and I think across the country is why has it taken so long?”

Buttigieg insisted he’s taken steps to increase police accountability and “the FOP just denounced me for too much accountability.”

Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) weighed in, telling Buttigieg, “If the camera wasn’t on and that was the policy, you should fire the chief.”

Buttigieg said under Indiana law “this will be investigated and there will be accountability for the officer involved,” but Swalwell continued, “You’re the mayor. You should fire the chief — if that’s the policy and someone died.”

Marianne Williamson, an author whose unconventional responses drew attention throughout the debate, jumped in with a call for slavery reparations.

“All of these issues are extremely important, but they are specifics; they are symptoms,” Williamson said. “And the underlying cause has to do with deep, deep, deep realms of racial injustice, both in our criminal justice system and in our economic system. And the Democratic Party should be on the side of reparations for slavery for this very reason.”

Biden was next in the hot seat. Harris said she agrees with Williamson the issue of race is still not being talked about truthfully and said “there is not a black man I know, be he a relative, a friend or a coworker, who has not been the subject of some form of profiling or discrimination.”

That’s when Harris delivered the blow against Biden, who recently took heat for being nostalgic for the days when he reached out to others he disagreed with to get things done, including senators who built their careers on racial segregation.

“I’m going to now direct this at Vice President Biden, I do not believe you are a racist, and I agree with you when you commit yourself to the importance of finding common ground,” Harris said. “But I also believe, and it’s personal — and I was actually very — it was hurtful to hear you talk about the reputations of two United States senators who built their reputations and career on the segregation of race in this country.”

Harris said she also took issue with

Biden’s opposition to bussing because “there was a little girl in California who was part of the second class to integrate her public schools, and she was bussed to school every day, and that little girl was me.”

But Harris concluded with a blow to Buttigieg, saying “as attorney general of California, I was very proud to put in place a requirement that all my special agents would wear body cameras and keep those cameras on.”

Biden wouldn’t stand for the suggestion he is a racist.

“It’s a mischaracterization of my position across the board,” Biden said.

“I did not praise racists. That is not true, number one. Number two, if we want to have this campaign litigated on who supports civil rights and whether I did or not, I’m happy to do that.”

Biden delivered a counter-punch, referencing Harris’ career as a prosecutor.

“I was a public defender,” Biden said.

“I didn’t become a prosecutor. I came out and I left a good law firm to become a public defender, when, in fact — when, in fact, when, in fact, my city was in flames because of the assassination of Dr. King, number one.”

Immigration and corporate power shaped the earlier Democratic presidential debate Wednesday night as Warren delivered a strong performance and Sen. Cory Booker criticized Tulsi Gabbard for not being trans-inclusive in her vision for LGBT rights.

Warren delivered comprehensive answers that helped her stand out on the debate stage, including her plan for why an economic shakeup is needed amid a strong economy.

Just two days after the debates, the LGBTQ Victory Fund endorsed Buttigieg for president.

More than 1,500 people attended the announcement that took place at Brooklyn Steel in Brooklyn’s East Williamsburg neighborhood. It coincided with the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots and WorldPride in New York.

Victory Fund President Annise Parker in her introduction of Buttigieg described him as the “first viable LGBT candidate” for president.

“He is redefining what is possible in American politics and the Victory Fund is ready to stand with him,” said Parker.

“We believe he is the best candidate for president of the United States.”

According to the Buttigieg campaign, he raised in the second quarter $24.8 million from 294,000 individual donors, who have each contributed an average less than $48. Further, the campaign says it has more than $22 million in cash on hand.

Millions attend World Pride in NYC to mark Stonewall’s 50th Separate Queer Liberation March may become annual event

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

Millions of people turned out for the WorldPride parade in New York on June 30. The parade took place amid commemorations of the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots.

Washington Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers

NEW YORK — Upwards of four million people lined the streets of Manhattan on Sunday for the WorldPride parade.

The parade began at noon at 26th Street and Fifth Avenue in the Chelsea neighborhood. It ended more than 12 hours later.

The Gay Liberation Front, the cast of “Pose”, UK Black Pride co-founder Phyll Opoku-Gyimah and the Trevor Project were grand marshals of the parade alongside Monica Helms, a transgender activist who created the trans Pride flag. Parade organizers said 150,000 people marched with myriad groups that include OutRight Action International, Capital Pride and the Human Rights Campaign.

“It’s beyond fantastic,” Helms told reporters during a press conference at the Empire State Building before the parade began.

The parade took place two days after the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, which began on June 28, 1969.

A separate march took place on the same day that eschewed corporate floats and embraced a more activist tone.

The Queer Liberation March, the second of two marches in New York City on Sunday that commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall riots, drew over 45,000 marchers according to one of its lead organizers.

Longtime lesbian activist Ann Northrop, who is among the leaders of the Reclaim Pride Coalition, which organized the Queer Liberation March as an alternative

to the official New York City Pride March, said organizers believe the Queer march was highly successful and are considering making it an annual Pride event.

The march followed the same route that the world’s first ever LGBT Pride march took in June 1970. It was organized by activists who were inspired by the now famous Stonewall Riots that erupted in New York’s Greenwich Village in response to a police raid on the Stonewall Inn gay bar on June 28, 1969.

That first march was named the Christopher Street Day Liberation March after the street where the Stonewall Inn is located and where the rioting began and continued for several days and that has been credited with launching the modern LGBT rights movement.

Northrop and others involved with the Reclaim Pride Coalition said they wanted the Queer Liberation March to retrace the route of the 1970 march, which travelled from the site of the Stonewall Inn to Central Park, where a rally was held, and using 6th Avenue to reach the park.

Organizers of Sunday’s Queer Liberation March and its own rally held in Central Park noted they chose not to allow floats, including the large corporate sponsored floats that participated in the official New York City Pride March, saying such displays were not in keeping with the atmosphere of protest and rebellion associated with Stonewall.

“This exceeds our wildest expectations,”

Northrop told the Blade at the rally. “This was spectacular, and we’re thrilled that everybody took the leap of faith with us to come out, because this was a whole new thing,” she said.

“And we just organized it from the ground up. And we had no idea how many would put themselves on the line and show up. And they did,” Northrop said.

“They did with full hearts and they did with total creativity.”

Among the speakers at the rally held in Central Park’s Great Lawn was Larry Kramer, the playwright and nationally recognized gay and AIDS activist who cofounded the AIDS protest group ACT UP. Kramer, who appeared on a stage set up at the rally site in a wheelchair, gave a pessimistic view of the state of the nation’s fight against AIDS and anti-LGBT oppression and bias close to 40 years after he began that fight in the early 1980s.

“There is no cure for this plague,” Kramer told the rally. “Too many among us still get infected. We have become too complacent with PrEP,” he said, referring to the HIV prevention drug. “We search for a cure and we’re still in the Stone Age. The treatments we have are woefully expensive and come with troublesome side effects.

And their manufacturers are holding us up to ransom,” he said.

“I almost died three times,” said Kramer.

“I started a couple of organizations to fight against the plague. In the end, we failed. I certainly feel that I failed.”

That comment drew shouts from people in the audience saying, “No you haven’t” and “We love you.”

Kramer responded calling on the LGBT community to “fight back” against what he called a current dangerous political climate.

“If you love being gay as much as I do, fight back,” he said. “Our world needs every bit of help it can get, because I do not see enough of us fighting this fight and performing our duty,” said Kramer, adding: “Please all of you do your duty of opposition in these dark and dangerous days.”

Kramer was joined on stage by more than a dozen activists, with some displaying ACT UP signs and who chanted the slogan that Kramer and his 1980s era activists coined at numerous protests: “Act Up! Fight back! Fight AIDS!” Transgender activists Sasha Alexander and Olympia Sudan were among more than a dozen other speakers at the rally who reminded the gathering of the violence and threats faced by transgender people, especially transgender women of color.

The two joined other speakers, both trans and cisgender, in calling on the LGBT community and the public at large to remember and give credit to the late Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera, two trans women of color who played an important role in the Stonewall riots and subsequent organizing for LGBT rights.

Several speakers called for he decriminalization of sex work, saying the current criminalization of prostitution adversely impacts trans women of color who are forced into sex work as a means of economic survival due to job discrimination.

The lesbian singing group Betty was among the singers and other artists performing at the rally.

Northrop said the city’s parks department required that the rally take place in the Great Lawn, which is located one mile from where the march entered Central Park at 6th Avenue, making the total length of the march four miles. She said organizers will consider shortening the march if organizers decide to hold the Queer Liberation March again next year and in subsequent years.

“Everyone’s talking about it,” she said in discussing whether another Queer march should take place. “Now that we’ve seen this become a reality and people can believe it’s possible I hope then we would just grow bigger and bigger every year and that the corporate takeover of Pride would gradually phase out.”

Michael K. Lavers contributed to this report.

12 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • J U LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • N AT IO N AL N EWS

LGBT Health Forum 2019

Getting the Word Out: Stonewall, the Power of Information, and LGBTQ Health The 7th annual LGBT Health Forum will be held on July 9th in Washington, DC. The Forum is the primary annual public event of the LGBT Health Policy & Practice Graduate certificate program at the George Washington University wherein leaders, experts, and activists tackle topics related to the health of the LGBT population, locally, nationally, and globally.

Tuesday July 9 • 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm

Marvin Center Amphitheater, 800 21st Street, NW, Washington, DC Topic: Getting the Word Out: Stonewall, the Power of Information, and LGBTQ Health Admission: Free Post-Event Reception w/Panelists and VIP guests starting at 7:30 pm ($20 suggested donation)

2019 Forum Description

This year, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of The Stonewall rebellion, the LGBT Health Forum will consider how the 1969 uprising set in motion events that positively impacted the health of LGBTQ people. Specifically, we will examine how disseminators of ideas and information – authors, journalists, essayists, activists, novelists, and scientists – enabled the movement to grow and realize gains for LGBTQ people in their health and rights.

Victoria Cruz

Stonewall Veteran/Activist

Michael Denneny

Gay Publishing Pioneer

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 13

Joshua Johnson Host of NPR’s “1A”

Kevin Naff

Washington Blade Editor

Esther Newton

Queer Anthropologist

Charles Silverstein

Psychologist DSM Reformer

Activists, politicians, celebrities join forces in New York for Pride Historic celebration fills Times Square with revelers, rainbow colors

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. LCHIBBARO@WASHBLADE.COM

Last weekend’s Stonewall commemoration included two marches and a final party in Times Square.

Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt

A Stonewall 50 Commemoration Rally at the site of the Stonewall Inn gay bar last Friday and a World Pride closing ceremony in New York’s Times Square on Sunday brought together top New York elected officials, LGBT activists, some of whom were present during the Stonewall riots, and big name entertainers.

All of them proclaimed the importance and historic significance of the June 1969 Stonewall riots in New York’s Greenwich Village that are credited with igniting the modern LGBT rights movement.

Among those who spoke at the Friday rally on Christopher Street outside the Stonewall Inn were New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, U.S. Senator Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.), and New York City Council Speaker Corey Johnson.

De Blasio and Gillibrand, who are candidates for U.S. president, told the

several thousand people at the rally that they would work hard to advance LGBT rights gains at the federal level and would strongly oppose the Trump administration’s efforts to roll back LGBT rights gains.

Singers Melissa Etheridge and Deborah Cox were among the entertainers that performed at the Times Square closing ceremony. Lesbian comedian Margaret Cho served as master of ceremonies. Elsewhere, Madonna performed a set that included her smash “Vogue” on Pride Island.

Throughout the event, including during the performances and speeches, several of the giant electronic billboard signs on the skyscrapers surrounding Times Square flashed messages in support of LGBT Pride next to images of rainbow flags.

Several of the speakers at both events came from countries in Europe as part of

New York City Pride serving as the 2019 host for World Pride, the international LGBT Pride event that takes place every two years in a different country. This year marked the first time World Pride has taken place in the United States.

At the closing ceremony in Times Square, Lars Hendriksen of Copenhagen, Denmark, and Franciska Rosenkilde, Copenhagen’s Deputy Mayor for Culture and Leisure, announced that Copenhagen will be the host for the 2021 World Pride.

The two thanked New York City for serving as an excellent host for this year’s World Pride and urged New Yorkers and others attending the 2019 World Pride to come to Copenhagen in 2021.

At the Friday rally, de Blasio said he was delighted that World Pride was taking place in his home city.

“I want to tell you I have a tremendous

special honor,” he said. “I am the mayor of the largest LGBT community on the face of the earth. And I’m proud of that,” he told the crowd.

“We are proud of that. We should be so proud of how far we have come because remember, when they said the love that dare not speaks its name? Now we can shout that love from every rooftop, can’t we?” he said.

De Blasio told the rally that he announced a few weeks ago that the city is arranging for a first of its kind program to build statues of two transgender “heroes who helped fight for the liberation of everybody” – the late New York trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera.

“In this city we are honoring heroes who got ignored and who were taken out of the history book and were not given their place, but they led the way too,” he said.

Gillibrand said she too was honored to commemorate the significance of the Stonewall rebellion.

“There is no place better than New York City for Pride celebrations,” she said. “Right here celebrating Pride at the Stonewall Inn we have the ability to start the national conversation about the future of gay rights in America and the fights we are taking forward and the fights we will achieve,” she told the gathering.

“Right here 50 years ago this is where it all started. Our community rose up and fought back,” she said. “People were willing to risk everything, their lives, what they did, what they loved. They risked all of this,” she said. “And 50 years later all those battles were not fought in vein. Gay marriage is now the law of the land. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell is in the dustbin of history.”

Nadler, who serves as chair of the House Judiciary Committee, said he would continue to push for LGBT rights advances in the Democratic-controlled House at a time when the GOP-controlled Senate and the Trump White House are not supportive.

“I’m here to deliver a message on behalf of the United States House of Representatives because the rest of our federal government won’t do it,” he said.

“That message is happy Pride.”

Nadler noted that the House recently passed the Equality Act, the LGBT civil rights bill that’s now stalled in the Senate.

“We have a lot further to go and we will be standing with you every step of the way until I can bring you a greeting not just from the House of Representatives but from the Senate of the United States and the presidency of the United States and hand over a copy of the Equality Act that’s signed into law,” he said.

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Rep. Kennedy demands answers about trans woman’s death

JOHANA ‘JOA’ MEDINA LEON, a 25-year-old transgender woman from El Salvador, died in a Texas hospital on June 1, after ICE released her from custody. Rep. Joseph Kennedy in a letter to Acting ICE Director Mark Morgan has demanded additional information about Medina’s death.

Photo courtesy of Diversidad Sin Fronteras’ Facebook page

Massachusetts Congressman Joseph Kennedy in a letter he sent to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement last week has demanded additional information about the death of a transgender woman from El Salvador who had been in ICE custody.

Kennedy in his letter to Acting ICE Director Mark Morgan notes the agency processed Johana “Joa” Medina Leon for parole on May 28, the same day she was “transferred” from the Otero County Processing Center, a privately run facility in Chaparral, N.M., to Del Sol Medical Center in nearby El Paso, Texas, “for chest pain.” Kennedy notes Medina “died from complications from HIV” on June 1.

“Furthermore, according to her family, officials at the Otero County Processing Center, the private detention center in which Johana was held, ignored her numerous requests for treatment even as her health rapidly deteriorated,” wrote Kennedy, a Democrat who represents Massachusetts’ 4th congressional district.

“In fact, according to her lawyers, Johana’s treatment in ICE custody was so deplorable, she pleaded to be deported, a request officials also denied.”

ICE in a press release that it issued after Medina’s death said she “illegally” entered the U.S. at the Paso del Norte Port of Entry between El Paso and Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, on April 11.

The ICE press release notes Medina, 25, “was processed as an expedited removal when she applied for admission to enter the United States.” ICE also said Medina entered its custody on April 14.

The press release noted Media on May 18 “received a positive credible fear finding” and four days later “was issued a notice to appear before” an immigration judge.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

N AT I O NAL NE WS • J ULY 05, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 15

Supreme Court to hear workplace bias cases on Oct. 8 The U.S. Supreme Court has designated Oct. 8 as the date when it will hear arguments on whether Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 applies to cases of anti-LGBT discrimination, setting up a showdown for when LGBT rights in all areas of life will hang in the balance.

On Monday, the Supreme Court’s website modified the docket entries for each of three Title VII cases to indicate arguments will take place Oct. 8. During the proceedings, justices will consider whether anti-LGBT discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, and thus prohibited under Title VII, which bars discrimination on sex in the workforce.

The consolidated case of Zarda v.

Altitude Express and Bostock v. Clayton County will determine whether sexual orientation discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, while Harris Funeral Homes v. EEOC will determine whether anti-transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.

Although the litigation is set to determine whether Title VII, which covers workplace discrimination, applies to cases of anti-LGBT discrimination, the ruling will affect all federal laws barring discrimination on the basis of sex, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 and the Fair Housing Act. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing the estate of Donald Zarda, which is suing Altitude Express on the basis of the late gay skydiver being terminated from his job for being gay, and Aimee Stephens, a funeral worker who was terminated from Harris Funeral Homes after coming out as transgender.

Last week, the ACLU submitted its respondent brief for the Zarda case to lay out its arguments for why anti-gay discrimination should be considered a form of sex discrimination. Among other things, the ACLU argues anti-gay bias amounts to sex stereotyping and associational sex discrimination.

“Firing a man because he is attracted to other men is like refusing to hire a woman because she has school-age children, failing to promote a woman because she is too ‘macho,’ or countenancing the sexual harassment of a man who is perceived by his coworkers to be vulnerable,” the brief states.

The ACLU also filed its respondent brief in the case of EEOC v. Harris Funeral Homes to make the argument anti-transgender discrimination is a form of sex discrimination.

“Had Ms. Stephens been assigned a female rather than a male sex at birth, Harris Homes would not have fired her for living openly as a woman,” the brief says.

“Because Harris Homes would have treated

Ms. Stephens differently had her assigned sex at birth been different, its decision to fire Ms. Stephens violated Title VII.” CHRIS JOHNSON

206 companies urge court to rule Title VII covers LGBT workers A total of 206 companies have signed onto a legal brief urging the U.S. Supreme Court to find Title VII of the Civil Rights Act bars discrimination against LGBT people in the workforce.

The friend-of-the-court brief — organized by the Human Rights Campaign, Lambda Legal, Out & Equal, Out Leadership and Freedom for All Americans — is signed by the nation’s top businesses and argues anti-LGBT discrimination is a form of sex discrimination, thus illegal under the Title VII. Among the signers are food companies like Domino’s Pizza and CocaCola Company, tech companies like Facebook and Mozilla Corp., and defense contractors like Northrup Grumman Corp.

“Even where companies voluntarily implement policies to prohibit sexual orientation or gender identity discrimination, such policies are not a substitute for the force of law,” the brief says. “Nor is the patchwork of incomplete state or local laws sufficient protection —for example, they cannot account for the cross-state mobility requirements of the modern workforce. Only a uniform federal rule can enable businesses to recruit and retain, and employees to perform, at their highest levels.”

According to the Human Rights Campaign, the brief has more corporate signers than any previous business brief in an LGBT non-discrimination case.

The brief was written by Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, a Los Angelesbased law firm that also represents the signers in the case along with Robinson Curley P.C. and Taylor & Cohen LLP. Erin Uritus, CEO of Out & Equal Workplace Advocates, said in a statement the brief “exposes the lie that affirming Civil Rights protections for LGBTQ Americans is somehow anti-business.”

“The opposite is true,” Uritus said.

“Equality is good for businesses and employees. And consumers — who are increasingly savvy and intentional about their spending power — are demanding equality.

I’m inspired by all of the leaders who have joined with us today in submitting this brief.

The Civil Rights Act needs to be affirmed in a way that serves and protects all Americans.”

CHRIS JOHNSON

There’s a better way to stay informed.

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Download the app today or visit pepco.com/Outages.

1 6 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • J U LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9

PRIDE STRONG From Stonewall to the steps of the Supreme Court, a half-century of progress toward LGBT equality should be celebrated — and held up as inspiration for generations to come. AARP salutes those who have fought and continue to fight the battle for a bias-free future and is proud to stand with the LGBT community while creating a new vision for aging — one complete with diverse stories and innovative ways for everyone to pursue their passions, openly and proudly.

Learn more at aarp.org/pride

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 17

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JAMES DRISCOLL

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

MARK LEE

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

VI E WPO I NT • JU LY 05, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 19

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

PATRICK COCHRAN

is the chair of the Virginia Young Democrats’ LGBTQA Caucus.

Reach him at lgbtqa_chair@vayd.org. The views expressed here represent those of the author as chair of the Virginia Young Democrats’ LGBTQA Caucus. They do not reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company.

MARK LEE

JAMES DRISCOLL

is a long-time entrepreneur and community business advocate.

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

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

It’s time for reparations Democratic debates for LGBT Americans deflate gays, party Pride is what we want, and respect is what we need Gay reparation is an idea whose time has come. To advance gay rights, we must set the bar higher. Our cause is stalled under Trump-Pence.

Fresh approaches can spark new debate and action. The need is urgent.

Like racism, homophobia creates new victims every day. Suicide rates among LGBTs 14-35 are four to five times higher than in the general population. Excess LGBT suicide deaths are in the thousands. They are more than 20 times the number of school shooting deaths in an average year. Yet almost nobody knows or talks about LGBT suicide. Why not? With LGBT rights, as with AIDS, silence equals death. Suicides are just the tip of a vast iceberg of distress and injustice whose prime cause is LGBT oppression tolerated in and often abetted by American society.

America has worked hard to make racism unacceptable and still has work to do. America has yet to commit to making LGBT oppression unacceptable. Trump promised to be the best president for LGBTs, then chose Mike Pence as vice president. Trump’s professed intentions have been thwarted by Pence. What a difference a vice president can make! While Bush opposed gay marriage, he became the best AIDS president, and Vice President Cheney became an outspoken defender of gay rights. Trump, not a career politician, lacked a reliable bench for appointments. He deferred to Pence who filled HHS and other departments with appointees bent on stealth discrimination against LGBT people.

The LGBT community must confront Trump about Pence’s long record of bias. LGBT Republicans should tell Trump: America deserves a vice president for all the people, that’s not Mike Pence. If Condi Rice were willing, she’d be a perfect replacement.

LGBT Democrats and the Human Rights Campaign should ask, no demand, that Democratic candidates do more to confront Trump and Pence on LGBT rights. An effective way to spark discussion would be to call for reparations for LGBT people.

What would those reparations look like? We do not seek a big financial giveaway. Pride is what our people want, and respect is what they need. Full recognition of the immense contributions and enormous wrongs born by LGBT people in America is in order. As a starter, let’s have a museum on the mall to honor LGBT Americans, no politician has yet ventured to

suggest it. How about it, Joe, Bernie, Elizabeth, Mayor Pete, Kamala, and Beto? You’ve called for things more radical, and far more expensive.

There is no dearth of great LGBT Americans and achievements to commemorate and celebrate. We are best known for letters and arts that define the spirit and character of a nation. We have given our nation a disproportionate number of its greatest writers, composers and artists including Walt Whitman, Herman Melville, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry James, Gertrude Stein, James Baldwin, Tennessee Williams, Allen Ginsberg, composers Alan Copland, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Billy Strayhorn, painters John Singer Sargent, Georgia O’Keefe, Thomas Eakins, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring. Our people shine in many other fields, especially civil rights with Barbara Gittings, Frank Kameny, Bayard Rustin, Barbara Jordan, Harvey Milk and most of the AIDS activists.

We have contributed as much and sacrificed more for America than other groups our size. Hiding who we are, the head bowed to injustice in secret shame, is our greatest sacrifice. LGBTs give to America in spite of denial of rights, in spite of demeaning abuse, and the silent marginalization that continues to this day.

Other countries are far ahead of America on LGBT rights. Many including Canada, the U.K., Germany, Spain, New Zealand, France, and the Netherlands are enacting reparation programs. Here none have been seriously proposed by any politician.

LGBTs must turn our numbers into political clout. Six percent of voters now self-identify as LGBT, we equal Jewish and Mormon voters combined. Yet Trump has made only a single high-profile LGBT appointment, Rick Grenell, ambassador to Germany. There are no open LGBT Republican members of the U.S. Congress. Even with the Democrats our percentage is less than half our proportion of voters.

Many LGBT people are successful, content, and at last happily married. But we must never forget our younger sisters and brothers who live in fear and distress. America should lead on civil rights, but on LGBT rights America sadly lags.

Small steps are no longer enough. A national apology for LGBT oppression and a start for reparations can be the game changer we need.

Extremist positions, embarrassing trans reference, lackluster appeals taint unveiling Campaign operatives at the Democratic National Committee should be grateful that not many Americans tuned in to witness the party’s debacle of dual debates last week.

The twin episodes, broadcast on two consecutive nights, were a train wreck of both politics and performance. Dominant among both real-time and later-reflective observations by ordinary party supporters, as well as incumbent-disaffected independents, were reactions ranging between depressed and panicked.

Any thought that the top-20 presidential candidates allowed to participate would comprise a credible array of potential victors or convey a certain signal of prospective victory were quickly dispelled during a cumulative four embarrassing hours.

Although the second-night line-up set a record for Democratic presidential debate eyeballs, at 18 million viewers, that number fell far short of those watching both the first and second Republican debates in 2015 that captured the attention of 24 and 23 million viewers, respectively. The Democrats’ firstnight debate was viewed by only 15.3 million.

While pundits parsed the winners and losers for each night – and there were both – the common view from living-room televisions and personal mobile devices was decidedly downbeat. Strong was the reaction assessing these contenders as a lackluster group.

The debates were one of the worst collective political performances and controversial issue narratives presented to a modern mainstream audience. It came at a moment Democrats ached to restore confidence after the party’s humiliating defeat in 2016.

Candidates seemed to forget they were addressing an entire nation and introducing themselves to a diverse electorate. Instead, they focused on fighting for support from the minority of party members eager to applaud leftist calls for much higher taxes and taking away the employer-provided private health insurance a large national majority enjoys and overwhelmingly wants to keep, while striking the most unpopular and nearly incomprehensible posture on immigration policies possible. It was a two-night kookfest of radical issue pronouncements with scant resonance for voters.

While playing to the party’s far-left activists may produce short-term gains in seeking the nomination, eventually “walking back” those extremist positions for the general election could prove nearly impossible. Sen. Kamala Harris, deemed to have possibly jump-started her languishing campaign, is ample proof of that. Harris immediately took to the airwaves the next morning to disavow for an incredible second time her again-indicated intention to eliminate private health insurance.

Producing ridicule among LGBT voters and occurring early the first night, longshot contender and former HUD Secretary Julian Castro blurted out a commitment to inclusion of abortion rights for “a trans female.” This declaration prompted viewers to scratch their heads in anatomical contemplation of whom he might be referencing. Chatter among gay wags dubbed Castro the “I believe in miracles” candidate, and his comment came across as a craven and awkward attempt to be the first to mention the LGBT community.

There was little additional overture to the “LGBTQ” on either evening, and consistently with that deer-in-headlights micro-pause typical of politicians bracing to correctly recite the acronym, especially when utilizing either queer-elongated or further-extended varietals. Passing reference to the “Equality Act” was made only once or twice among legislative litanies and a blur of demographic appeals.

LGBT voters over recent decades had come to mirror Hispanics when casting ballots, with upwards of one-third backing Republicans – particularly in congressional, state and local contests, and especially in nonpresidential years. Current gay preferences have changed with the ascent of Donald Trump and a smaller percentage is presently inclined to support the GOP. For that reason, the public disappointment and political dismemberment resulting from the debates has noticeably deflated many in the gay community.

For party partisans and the LGBT voters desperately searching for an illuminated pathway toward ousting the current president they despise, the presentation of candidates at the debates promulgated a startling level of wariness and worry.

It’s quite possible none of them can win.

20 • WA S HI N GTO N B LAD E.CO M • J U LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • V IEW P O IN T

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Serving the LGBT Community in DC/MD/VA since 1983 Lawrence S. Jacobs/McMillan Metro, PC JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 21

PATRICK COCHRAN

PETER ROSENSTEIN

is the chair of the Virginia Young Democrats’ LGBTQA Caucus. Reach him at lgbtqa_chair@ vayd.org. The views expressed here represent those of the author as chair of the Virginia Young Democrats’ LGBTQA Caucus. They do not reflect the official policy or position of any other agency, organization, employer or company.

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

Kamala Harris makes biggest splash in debates But multiple candidates have a viable shot at nomination The first Democratic debate is now history and every pundit has written about it. Clearly the person who made the most news is Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) with her attention grabbing even if it might have been pre-planned line, “Hey guys the voters don’t want to see us have a food fight, they want to know how we will put food on their table.” Then her one-onone call-out of Joe Biden on race made for riveting TV. There has been a debate online as to whether that will help or hurt her but at this point being talked about and standing out for telling a personal truth is success. Of course, we have seven months to go before the Iowa primary, which is the official start of the race for delegates needed for the nomination.

One thing we know is 20 people will not come out of the Iowa primary with any chance of being the nominee. My prediction is there will be up to nine still standing after Feb. 3 and they will include: Joe Biden, Cory Booker, Pete Buttigieg, Julian Castro, Kamala Harris, Amy Klobuchar, Beta O’Rourke, Bernie Sanders, and Elizabeth Warren. Chances are we narrow the field in debates well before that but if not those nine will make for an interesting two hour debate. Then the field will be narrowed much more by Super Tuesday, which this cycle includes California and Texas.

My decision on whom to support is a long way off. But no one over age 70 should be on the ticket and diversity on the Democratic ticket is important.

Polling in the first half of the year before primaries begin is interesting. Bill Clinton was at about 3 percent in 1991 and Jimmy Carter was at 4 percent in 1975. Then in the second half of that year Clinton jumped to 18 percent and Carter dropped to less than 3 percent. Clinton was tied in the second half of the year with Jerry Brown and Doug Wilder in polls and Mario Cuomo who never entered the race was polling at 37 percent. Carter was polling 10th in his year’s prospective field.

I bring this up only to remind people one

never knows what will happen in the next seven months leading up to Iowa and then beyond. Who will make a major gaffe?

Biden has a propensity to do that. Who will display charisma grabbing the attention of voters in a big way such as Barack Obama did in 2007?

What has struck me is the intensity I am seeing from some Democrats when it comes to decrying any of the candidates going after each other’s policies and positions and records. After all isn’t this what a primary is about, making it clear to voters what the differences are between them? That is harder this year as in many ways the differences are fewer. They are in shades. They all agree we need universal healthcare; the debate is how we get there.

But what no candidate should expect is their record won’t be part of the debate. They must be either prepared to take credit for it and stand up for it or to apologize for what they did so many years ago recognizing the world and they have changed. People are willing to accept an apology. Yes, Biden has the longest record but then he knew that going into the primary and it is surprising how unprepared he seems to deal with it. Much of that record is great. Mayor Pete earned points when he just admitted he tried but failed to diversify the police department in his city. It was an honest answer.

The next Democratic debate is scheduled for Detroit a month from now and it will be interesting to see if all the current contenders make the minimum requirements to enter it. But what is sure is they are all looking at how Harris made the most of the first one and trying to prepare attention grabbing lines for the second.

One thing people who watched both nights had to see is the fight for the nomination is far from over. There may be some on that stage who would be wise to drop out now seeing their candidacy as a lost cause, examples being Delaney, Yang and Williamson; but there are many candidates still with a real chance at winning the nomination.

Want to fight for LGBTQ rights?

Campaign in Virginia If Dems take General Assembly, we can make a more welcoming place for all Pride month is, first and foremost, an opportunity for the LGBTQ+ community to celebrate our identity and to state loudly and clearly that we are here. And we have much to celebrate. The last 10 years have seen more progress on LGBTQ+ rights than we saw in the 40 years prior to that.

Same-sex marriage was legalized, ‘Don’t Ask Don’t Tell’ was repealed, and more companies than ever have adopted LGBTQ-inclusive policies, ensuring that queer people can go to work and feel welcome. So much progress has been made, and we should recognize and celebrate that at Pride events everywhere.

The last two years, however, have seen some of this progress rolled back. The Trump administration and congressional Republicans continue attempts to ban trans people from serving in the military.

Trump’s Department of Health and Human Services is proposing a rule that would eliminate nondiscrimination protections based on sex, gender identity, and association from the Affordable Care Act. Mitch McConnell has blocked any action on the Equality Act, which passed the House in a historic vote on May 17.

The federal government is pursuing a course of hostility toward the LGBTQ community. That hostility will likely continue until Trump and Pence leave office, but that doesn’t mean we have to wait until 2020 to make life better for queer people.

In November of this year, Virginians will elect their state delegates and senators. Republicans currently hold a two-seat majority in both houses of the Virginia General Assembly. That majority has blocked any action on LGBTQ nondiscrimination bills for years, keeping Virginia as one of the 26 states with no anti-discrimination protections for LGBTQ people. We can change that.

There are fantastic Democratic candidates running to unseat Republican delegates and senators all around Virginia: Joshua Cole running for delegate in Stafford County, Ghazala Hashmi running for senator in the Richmond suburbs, and Sheila BynumColeman running to unseat the Speaker of the House of Delegates himself in Chesterfield, just to name a few. They all have the energy and the ideas it takes to win. They can flip the General Assembly in November.

They can ensure that the Commonwealth of Virginia protects its LGBTQ residents from housing and employment discrimination.

But to do that, they will need help.

I urge LGBTQ people from the D.C. metro area to come to Virginia and campaign: knock on doors, distribute campaign literature, and make phone calls. If we help the Democrats take the General Assembly this year, we can make Virginia a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ people. We can give ourselves one more thing to celebrate during 2020’s Pride month.

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20 Baltimore Ave. (Beach Block) RB, DE 19971

Well-Strung:The Singing String Quartet is coming to Clear Space Theatre!

Sunday, July 28 6:00 pm and 9:00 pm Tickets: $35-100

For more information and tickets, please visit:

www.ClearSpaceTheatre.org Or call

302.227.2270

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 23

This program is supported, in part, by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts, a state agency, in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. The Division promotes Delaware arts events on www.DelawareScene.com. Clear Space Theatre Company, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization.

VIOLET CHACHKI has been an unexpected ally for other queens on the current ‘Drag Race’ tour Photo courtesy World of Wonder

Dishy drag docu-series is a ‘Werq’ of wonder

A 10-part look at world tour of RuPaul’s queens

By SCOTT STIFFLER

Put aside the fabulous dresses, formidable heels, life-giving lip-synching skills and the ability to delight legions of fans night after night and the queens of “RuPaul’s Drag Race” are just like you and me. They have their good days and bad and who they really are is tucked somewhere between the work clothes they show to the world and the naked truth seen in unguarded moments.

That’s the tasty, oftentimes touching, takeaway, when viewing any given installment of “Werq the World,” director Jasper Rischen’s deliciously RuVealing 10part docu-series, airing weekly on WOW Presents Plus through Aug. 8.

Filmed with the blessing of “Drag Race” production company World of Wonder (WOW) and all the unfettered access that goes with it, the series chronicles 2018’s May/June European “Werq the World” tour, which featured Alyssa Edwards, Shangela, Valentina, Latrice Royale, Sharon Needles, Kim Chi, Detox, Violet Chachki, Aquaria and Kennedy Davenport.

Each queen gets her own stand-alone

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Frop top: LATRICE ROYALE has been a trooper on ‘Drag Race’ tours and VALENTINA is a ‘Drag Race’ fan favorite despite uneven delivery on her season and on ‘All Stars.’

Photos courtesy of World of Wonder

episode, but the whole group shows up in each to varying degrees. (A consequencesbe-damned gesture of support from Violet Chachki, for example, looms large in Valentina’s episode, which does a particularly good job at lifting the veil on what goes down before, during, and after those meet-and-greets with fans.)

From waking up at ungodly hours to afternoon tech rehearsals in an unfamiliar venue to slaying it in performance to post-

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9

show shenanigans to tour bus bonding with fellow queens (and the occasional bunkmate picked up along the way), each installment seems much longer than its 35-minute run time and that’s a compliment. But like the “overnight success” of a girl who makes it to “Drag Race,” Rischen’s epic project didn’t announce itself to the world out of thin air.

“I started doing a couple little video projects for World of Wonder about a year and a half ago,” Rischen says. “The first

• WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 25

thing they had me do was make a couple ‘Day in the Life’ shorts of some of their queens,” including Gia Gunn and Aja. WOW liked the fly-on-the-wall style of what they saw and invited Rischen in for a meeting, during which it was proposed he turn his eye for detail on the queens slated for WOW’s upcoming summer tour. Other than that, specifics were sparse.

“It was a blank state mission,” Rischen says, other than the directive to “come back with, like, six to eight episodes of 10 minutes.”

Originally, the plan was to make “an episode per city. You know — the Berlin episode, the Paris episode, the Spain episode. But the reality of touring is, you are never on time. You do not see the outside world. If you think there was going to be a cute scene where the queens go to the Eiffel Tower, there’s just no time. You’re inside buses, inside theaters, getting whisked from hotels. … Based on that and coupled with the fact that I realized all these girls have their super-unique fan bases that are going to want to see everything that was shot, it wasn’t until I was on the way back that I came up with the idea to do one episode per queen, to isolate their story on the tour.”

Rischen returned to WOW and “was like, ‘Guys, I think I can do something much bigger than this.’” To WOW’s credit, Rischen says, “they sort of let the story lead to 10 episodes.”

Of the disorienting experience of moving from country to country, town to town, Rischen says, “You’re in this together, on these insanely long days, sometimes 1719 hours. Whenever I wanted to complain about getting up at 5 a.m., I would look at these queens. They still have to get into makeup for three or four hours, then bust their asses on stage. I got a lot of respect for how hard they work and I hope that’s something that these fans take away.”

Among the standout moments, Rischen cites the Latrice Royale episode, in which her luggage got lost on the way to Finland. (“The one time we took a flight,” Rischen notes, as opposed to the omnipresent tour bus.)

Undaunted, the reality sets in.

“We’re not gonna find her type or size or color, because it’s the land of white people,” Rischen says. “She does the show out of drag and finds a way to still make it work and the crowd just goes bizonkers. … That really resonated with me, because as Latrice said, ‘The show must, and will, go on.’”

As for the show going on past its current run, there’s plenty of footage that had to be consigned to the cutting room floor, but could supply future drag fans with a sense of herstory and hindsight.

“I made a bunch of all these really fun outtakes, these funny moments that didn’t really fit anywhere,” Rischen says, “and I think our press team has some of that to work with but it would be nice to let some of these moments just sit in the vault and maybe in five to 10 years, take the lid off and see what’s still there. But I have definitely filed a couple of hours of those outtakes aside for future use.”

Fans of the current show won’t have to wait that long to get their next fix of fabulousness.

“I’ll have to confirm this, but I’m pretty sure,” Rischen says, of plans to document September’s U.S. Werq the World tour, which is slated to feature “half the same cast, and half a new cast. Some of the girls of season 11 are coming on, so it will be interesting to get some new gals into the mix.”

Rischen says he wants fans to solidify the notion that the drag queens “are human behind these characters, and know that they work really hard for you. So the next time you think of typing up something mean, you’ll think twice.”

QUEERY Reeves Gift Photo courtesy Gift

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

I have lived as a trans man since freshman year of high school.

Surprisingly, the hardest people to tell were not my parents (I knew they’d kick me out of course — nothing unexpected there), but the hardest person to tell would probably be my younger sisters.

Not only would they be obliged to tell my parents, but I’d imagine that living with my bio parents would stifle how openly accepting they could be.

QUEERY: Reeves Gift The 2019 Point Scholar answers 20 queer questions

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM Reeves Gift just finished his freshman year at the University of Southern California at its School of Cinematic Arts. He wants to major in screenwriting and hopes one day to be a creator/writer in TV. Gift was just named one of this year’s 16 Point Scholars by the Point Foundation, the country’s largest scholarship-granting organization for LGBT students.

Point’s scholarship recipients are talented students with a track record of challenging unjust laws and policies, offering guidance to future generations and using artistry to combat long-lasting discrimination. In addition to their fearless leadership, they have battled obstacles including immigration status, homelessness, family rejection and

abuse. Each of them has the dedication and resilience to inspire change across the country, the organization said in a press release.

This summer, Gift is working as a content creator for USC Viterbi’s communications department. He says being named a Point Scholar means he can “worry less about school and actually focus on academics like regular, read: privileged, USC students.”

A native of Trinidad, Gift’s family moved to the U.S. when he was in middle school and he grew up in Prince George’s County.

Gift is single and is enjoying being in Los Angeles for school. He enjoys cooking, photography, creative writing, boxing and powerlifting in his free time.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero?

Dominique Jackson from ‘POSE.’ Our stories are so similar, coming from a tiny country and such, and I can’t help but want the best for her.

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you?

As an athlete, I gotta say that I hate the stereotype that trans women are inherently better at sports than cisgender women. One, someone’s hormone levels don’t make them immediately good at sports. Two, this stereotype implies that trans men will never be good athletes in comparison to their cisgender counterparts.

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

When my photography was in a PBShosted art gallery. It made me realize my art and craft are worth people investing in it.

What terrifies you?

I’m terrified of people growing complacent when politics are “good.”

There will never be a time when all rights are won and there’s no need for activism. There will never be a “post-racial” America and I doubt there will ever be unshakable equity for all.

Activism is absolutely necessary!

What’s something trashy or vapid you love?

When I got really sick first semester of school, I just laid in bed and watched “Teen Mom.” It’s perfectly bingeable and even has a trans character!

What’s your greatest domestic skill?

My greatest (kinda) domestic skill would probably be computer repair. I got an associate’s degree in high school in information technology.

What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show?

I am an absolute slut for lesbian heist movies. “Bound” and “The Handmaiden” are some of my all-time favorites.

What’s your social media pet peeve?

TikToks really annoy me. I miss the good old days of Vine.

What would the end of the LGBTQ movement look like to you?

I honestly think that there will be no “end” to the LGBT movement. I don’t think an entire culture built around the after-effects of colonization will allow room for activism to not be needed anymore.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

Having your house spotless for guests.

One, we are all hot messes. Two, I probably won’t even ever have a house to invite people to.

What was your religion, if any, as a child and what is it today?

My bio parents were religious people, but kinda soaked up whatever religion was popular wherever they lived. It was very confusing as a little kid.

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“

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

I’m a transgender woman and I’m part of DC.

What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem?

Definitely Whitman-Walker. They do really amazing stuff for the community and really helped me out when I was homeless in the DMV. What’s been the most memorable pop culture moment of your lifetime?

I think Lil Nas X resurrecting country music (all tea, all shade) is the most memorable.

Please treat me the way any woman would want to be treated: with courtesy and respect.

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

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

What celebrity death hit you hardest?

During the celebrity death wave of 2018, I would definitely say Avicii hit hardest. I loved when he fused country music and EDM. If you could redo one moment from your past, what would it be?

I honestly can’t think of anything I would redo. Life has been tough, especially living as a trans person of color from Trinidad and also being homeless. Life still isn’t easy, but I have learned to love myself through it all.

OFFICE OF

GLBT AFFAIRS

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

What are your obsessions?

“Teen Mom,” Loona, animated films.

Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: It’s about damn time Octavia Butler got the clout she deserved.

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

A year ago? Well, I wish that I’d have known to have a lot more confidence in myself! I wish I realized that almost everyone doesn’t know what they’re doing and just trying their best.

Why Washington?

D.C. and PG County are definitely the places to be for some good jollof and curry chicken.

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9

• WA SHINGTONBLA DE.COM • 27

Counterclockwise from top: KIMBERLEY BUSH is the visionary behind Artsy Queers. Washington Blade photo by Michael Key; J.LO. plays Capital One Arena next weekend. Photo courtesy Live Nation and Hagerstown Pride is next weekend. Washington Blade file photo by Michael Key

Hagerstown Pride is next weekend The eighth annual Hagerstown Pride Festival on Saturday, July 13 at the Central Lot and Elizabeth Hager Center Lot (14 N Potomac St., Hagerstown, Md.) from noon-6 p.m.

Booths will be set up by vendors and community service organizations. Regional drag queens and kings will perform. This year’s theme is “Love Grows!”

Artsy Queers returns The D.C. Center (2000 14th St., N.W.) is hosting its monthly Artsy Queers event on Saturday, July 13 from 11 a.m.-5 p.m.

Every month the center provides local LGBTQ artists the opportunity to showcase

and sell their artwork at the indoor market with items such as paintings, pottery, jewelry and clothing. It occurs every second Saturday until December. Art space is available to purchase for $20 per table.

Any interested artists are encouraged to email kimberley@thedccenter.org.

Look for the event on Facebook for full details or visit thedccenter.org.

J.Lo. here July 17 Jennifer Lopez will perform at the Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) on Wednesday, July 17 at 8 p.m.

Fans can expect the “It’s My Party Tour” to be filled with “a nonstop party mix of Jennifer’s new and classic anthems, showstopping choreography and dancers, dazzling wardrobe” and more according to a press release.This will be her first North American tour in six years and

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will feature some of the World of Dance stars to open and provide workshops in exclusive packages.

Tickets start at $49. For information and to purchase tickets, visit ticketmaster.com.

Miss Shenandoah Valley announced July 13 The Shenandoah Valley Pride Alliance will host its second annual Miss Shenandoah Valley Pride Pageant on Saturday, July 13 at the Court Square Theater (41 Court Sq., Harrisonburg, Va.) from 7-11 p.m.

Sabrina Laurence, the reigning Miss SVP, will appear to pass on the crown. All proceeds benefit the Shenandoah Valley Pride Alliance.

Pre-sale tickets are $7; admission is $10 at the door. Look for the event on Facebook for full details.

TODAY

Sunday, July 7

The Birds of Prey drag show is celebrating its one year anniversary at The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd, N.E.) tonight at 9:30 p.m.The group has been putting on the drag show and dance parties every Friday night. It features a rotating group of drag queens and DJs followed by an 18+ dance party. Music will be provided

by DJ C Dubz and drink specials will be available. The show starts at 10 p.m. sharp and tickets range from $5-10. To purchase tickets, visit eventbrite.com.

Go Gay D.C. hosts an LGBTQ community happy hour social tonight at 6 p.m. at Freddie’s Beach Bar (555 23 St., Arlington, Va.). All are welcome to enjoy the drinks while also meeting the founder of Go Gay D.C., TJ Flavell. The organization is the “newest sensation focused on friendship, leadership and service.” Casual dress is suggested. To RSVP, visit eventbrite.com.

Tagg Magazine will host Ladies Tea 2019 at Hanks Oyster Bar (1624 Q St., N.W.) today at 3 p.m. This event is recurring on every first Sunday all summer long.

It will include exclusive drinks and food followed by an optional dinner. Tickets are free but participants must register.

Participants must be 21 years old or older to attend. To register, visit eventbrite.com.

The D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) will host its Sunday Cruise event today from noon-3 p.m. This is a recurring event on every Sunday and features affordable drinks and an outside patio. The D.C. Eagle is a historic leather and lesbian club that serves its patrons and their “selected family.” For more information, visit dceagle.com.

Saturday, July 6

The Washington chapter of the Society for International Development (1129 20th St., N.W.) will meet today at 4 p.m. The Gender & Inclusive Development workgroup will plan events for the group next year. In the past, they’ve had events like Gender and Sexual Minorities in International Development and Digital Solutions and Integrating Gender from Design through Delivery. To register, visit sidw.org.

Speed D.C. Gay Date will host lesbian speed dating tonight at Bin 1301 Wine Bar (1301 U St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. It seeks to create a private club atmosphere and rewards its daters with discounts and complementary events. The ages its catering to is 22-44. For more information, visit speeddcgaydate.com.

A Gaysian & Latinx fundraiser will be held at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd, N.E.) tonight from 9 p.m.-1 a.m. AQUA D.C. (Asian and Pacific Islander Queers United for Action) and LULAC Lambda D.C. are joining together for a special event for the community to get to know them and enjoy some drinks. There will be Jell-O shots and beer for purchase and all proceeds will benefit both organizations.

Both groups serve to better connect the LGBTQ community within their respective communities. For more information, search “Gaysian & Latinx fundraiser” on Facebook.

Rayceen Pendarvis will host Story District’s Out/Spoken tonight at the 9:30 club (815 V St., N.W.) at 8 p.m. The event will return its “signature blend of hilarious and heartfelt true stories that amplify LGBTQ voices and celebrates D.C. pride.”

Story District is an organization that gives voice to the authentic experiences of ordinary people and builds community, according to their Facebook page. Tickets are $25. To purchase, visit ticketfly.com.

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Monday, July 8

Tuesday, July 9 A “POSE” viewing party will be held at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) tonight at 10 p.m. This is a weekly event that allows attendees to watch the hit show with two flatscreens. “POSE” is a drama spotlighting the legends, icons and ferocious house mothers of New York’s underground ball culture, a movement that first gained notice in the 1980s. The show was also recently renewed for a third season. To RSVP, visit eventbrite.com.

The University of Michigan Alumni Club of Greater Washington is hosting a Pride happy hour at Northside Tavern D.C.(1726 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) tonight at 6:30 p.m. The club will be honoring its LGBTQ friends and family all year. Tonight there will be speakers and light appetizers served.

Tickets are $7. For more information and to register, visit umalumni.force.com.

Wednesday, July 10 SMYAL’s (Supporting and Mentoring Youth Advocates and Leaders) Young Donors Committee is hosting a happy hour for SMYAL Allies tonight at Red Brewing Co.(209 M St., N.E.) from 6-7:30 p.m. SMYAL Allies is a recurring gift program for young professionals. As an ally members have exclusive volunteer opportunities, receive special recognition and more. To learn more and become a SMYAL Ally, visit smyal.org.

The Lambda Bridge Club meets at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. The club will be playing duplicate bridge games and newcomers are welcomed. The group hosts games every first and third Wednesday of the month and serves gay bridge players. No reservation is required. To find a partner, call 202-841-0279.

The Big Gay Book Group meets tonight at 7 p.m. at the Trio Bistro (1537 17th St., N.W.). They’ll be discussing the book “All That Heaven Allows: An Autobiography of Rock Hudson” by Mark Griffin which has been called the “definitive biography of the deeply complex and widely misunderstood matinee idol of Hollywood’s Golden Age,” according to Harper Collins Publishers. It will be made into a motion picture soon as well.

Newcomers are always welcomed to join the group. For more information and to register, email biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com.

Thursday, July 11 Thirst Trap Thursdays are back tonight at Pitchers D.C. (2317 18th St., N.W.) from 11 p.m-12:30 a.m. The host Venus Valhalla picks local talent to be showcased each night. Shows are held every Thursday and alcohol is available for purchase. For more information, visit pitchersbardc.com.

GILBERT BAKER sewing the mile-long gay Pride flag in 1994.

Photos courtesy of Charles Beale

Seamster was unabashed gender-bender

Friend of Pride flag designer oversees release of posthumous memoir

By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN

In his entertaining and historical memoir, the Pride flag creator recalled an early debate over which way to hang the flag for its inaugural flight. The solution was to fly two of them.

“We’d hang one with the pink stripe on the top and the other with the pink strip on the bottom,” the late Gilbert Baker writes in his book “Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color.” (see review on page 34) “‘We are a versatile people’,” he adds, quoting a friend’s joke regarding “talk of tops and bottoms.”

“Rainbow Warrior” is Baker’s deeply personal memoir which weaves together his process for creating an iconic LGBT symbol of hope, in contrast to the Naziera pink triangle, with his own struggle for identity and freedom.

It opens with his difficulties as a queer youth in a repressive 1950s household, discovering love and sexuality in the Army and eventually blossoming as a seamstress for the early San Francisco gay rights movement. The work also details Baker’s activism during the AIDS crisis, culminating in the creation of the world’s longest Pride flag in time for Stonewall’s 25th anniversary celebration in New York City.

“One of the funnest memories was when he was doing the mile-long rainbow flag he was represented by a company called Stadtlanders,” says Charley Beale, Baker’s friend and estate manager, while in New York celebrating Stonewall’s 50th anniversary. “They were essentially a mail order pharmacy (during the AIDS crisis) and the corporate sponsors for the flag.”

He remembered “all these straight people” at Stadtlanders pretending to be sympathetic to the cause while complaining about Baker wearing dresses to board meetings. Beale, who is also gay, is more conservative in his attire.

“So, Gilbert read them the riot act about Stonewall,” Beale says. “And how Stonewall was started by drag queens and trans people, not rich, white gay people down on Wall Street and said, ‘You can’t talk to me that way. You can’t tell me not to wear a dress.’

He was furiously sewing when I showed up.

He explained what happened and I said, ‘Oh God, you’ve been driven to drag.’”

Baker returned to the meeting dressed even more flamboyantly in his best black sequined gown and Barbra Streisand wig.

This empowering moment underscores Baker’s lifelong struggles with gender identity, which is an intriguing undercurrent in his memoir.

“The idea of a sex change had first crossed

my mind in childhood,” he writes. “It was more than just wearing dresses. I wondered if I was a woman trapped in a man’s body. Ultimately, I didn’t surgically remove my penis, but I didn’t stop wearing dresses.”

Beale, went on to describe that while the photogenic Baker would often wear long hair and luxurious gowns in pictures, “he would keep his beard and mustache.”

“Very genderqueer,” Beale says. “I have photographs of him in some of the ‘genderfuck’ photography. That is a term used for people posing using very clear male and female imagery.”

While in New York for World Pride, Beale spoke with trans flag creator Monica Helm. He tried to better understand his friend’s femme gay expression.

“So he did not identify as a woman by gender, but he questioned it,” Beale says.

“But reading Monica’s book, Monica felt like she had to have the surgery. I think Gilbert liked to express himself by dressing in dresses but he never expressed any interest in becoming physically a woman.”

For Beale the matter seemed relatively settled, Baker was a gender nonconforming gay man. But Baker’s thoughts revealed in his memoir seem more fluid, similar to his “versatile” decision to fly his flag in both directions simultaneously.

These historical gems and insights from Baker’s memoir illustrate why Beale felt it was important for LGBT youth to go to primary sources and their LGBT elders instead of just “Googling” their past.

“I just kind of laugh because Google is just so notoriously corrupted,” he says.

“Google is only going to show you what (its formulas) decide you want to see. It keeps you in your silos and it’s terrible. It’s not a reliable source of data for history.

They should learn from their elders directly instead of just Googling it.”

Beale also felt the internet could encourage divisiveness and discourage LGBT youth while the intention of the Pride flag was to show “we all share universal values despite our differences.”

“They were getting it,” Baker originally wrote after seeing the crowds gathered to witness the Pride flag fly for the first time. “Owning it, feeling it as part of them, understanding the diversity of sexual freedom it represented for everyone: gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, straight, whatever your sex, whatever your color.

Visible, with liberty and justice for all.”

Beale agrees, believing Baker’s greatest legacy is when Pride flags are used to create LGBT safe spaces throughout the world.

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TARA LAKE is author of ‘I Know It Was the Blood: the Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman.’

Photo courtesy Capital Fringe

Queer themes at Fringe

Annual July theater fest features several LGBT-themed new works

By PATRICK FOLLIARD Throughout July, D.C.’s annual Capital Fringe Festival does its best to connect exploratory artists with adventurous audiences. Among this year’s many shows, some feature the personal stories and points of view of out performers, writers and directors. Here are a few. Full details at capitalfringe.org.

Celebrated gay memoirist Jamie Brickhouse returns to Fringe with “I Favor My Daddy,” a hilarious deep dive into the life of his late father, AKA Daddy Poo. The new solo show (performed, written and directed by Brickhouse) makes a nice companion piece to his “Dangerous When JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 31

Wet: A Memoir of Booze, Sex, and My Mother,” a hit entry in last year’s festival.

After his father’s death in smallish Beaufort, Texas, several years ago, Brickhouse spent time in his hometown.

There, he frequently heard, “Sorry about your father. You know you favor your daddy.” Well, it turns out, he didn’t just look like him.

“After mother died, I had five years with father and realized I was very much like him,” Brickhouse says. “I’m the full-blown version of him. I became the things he was but didn’t quite become himself — writer, alcoholic and gay.”

In the show, Brickhouse talks about his father’s reaction to the book. He knew his son was gay and in recovery (Brickhouse has been sober for 10 years) but there was a lot he didn’t know.

“My father lived in Beaumont his entire life,” Brickhouse says. “Catholic.

Conservative Republican. He went to Mass every day. But still, Daddy Poo was a lot of fun: Ribald sense of humor, loved the theater, bikini swimsuits, old movies, cooking … you do the math. A lot of the show is me trying to piece together who he was. We want to discover who our parents were and how that affected us, regardless of whether they were closeted gay alcoholics, or not.”

Blackout Productions presents “Veneer of Beauty,” a story of domestic violence and its lasting damage. It’s Shaun Michael Johnson’s second foray into Fringe. Last year, the local out actor/playwright starred in “Sobriety of Fear,” the solo show he wrote about wide-ranging topics including domestic violence, substance abuse and same-sex relationships. He played many family members — the abusive alcoholic husband, the abused wife, their young son and even grandpa — to emphasize the cyclical nature of abuse.

Directed by Mediombo Singo Fofana, “Veneer of Beauty” picks up with the same family 15 years later. This time around, Johnson plays only the father. Now sober and unexpectedly made vulnerable by a work accident, he’s very different. But when a familiar note of aggression in his tone triggers his wife, the dynamic of the home is further shaken. How she’ll handle her role as caregiver remains to be seen. Meanwhile, the young boy is now a young gay adult. His partner is also the son of an alcoholic.

“The play is partly autobiographical, but it’s mostly fiction,” Johnson says. “It’s set in small-town 1990s Pennsylvania where you’ll see struggles, some romance and a splash of not-gratuitous nudity. The gay characters are real and living real lives; they’re striving to understand themselves

and their relationships. I’ve tried to create something that’s relatable, especially to LGBTQ audiences.”

Tara Lake’s award-winning “I Know It Was the Blood: The Totally True Adventures of a Newfangled Black Woman” is unflinchingly autobiographical.

“The title in no way references zombies,” she says. “It’s the name of a Congregational song very popular in African-American Pentecostal and Baptist circles. I like to say I was raised shackled to a Pentecostal pew. I definitely spent a lot of time in church.”

Now Philadelphia-based, Lake grew up in New Jersey. Her world was middleclass, African-American but her family’s ways were deeply rooted in religious, black southern tradition. In her solo show, she recounts those times, singing gospel and spirituals in the voices of different characters who emerge during the show.

“People have visceral connections to this protestant folk heritage that I’m evoking,” she says. “I’m critiquing a lot about the church, especially anti-queer bigotry, but the feeling of church remains in the fabric of the show.”

She also explores issues of addiction, health issues and financial turmoil that hit her community during the Reagan years.

“As a queer black woman, it’s important to share my coming-out story and talk about what it’s like to grow up queer in a family like mine. It’s a mix of love and homophobia. That’s where I connect with my audiences. Feelings surrounding not being supported as our authentic selves is universal. What’s wonderful about this story is the little girl grows up and survives.

In fact, she triumphs.”

Ethan Friedson, LGBTQ ally and emerging director, is staging out playwright and U.S. Army lieutenant Sara Emsley’s apocalyptic new work “Dust.”

The 45-minute-long, apocalyptic twohander focuses on Ann and Cass, a pair of lesbian astronauts who are forced to make major decisions regarding a massive solar flare headed directly toward earth. Aside from the obvious concerns, Friedson says, the work presents a number of thoughtprovoking philosophical and existential questions that will leave people thinking and talking after they exit the theater.

“When I first heard about the concept, I thought this is something that I’d really like to see,” he says. “Also, the prospect of working on a play that’s never been performed really attracted me.

And because the primary characters are lesbians, you might think it’s about certain things. It’s not. There’s a lot that’s unexpected about ‘Dust,’ and that makes a good story even more interesting.”

Tick, tick, tick ‘Boom!’

Shout! Factory reissues gay classics like ‘To Wong Foo,’ ‘Can’t Stop the Music’

By BRIAN T. CARNEY

Frop top: WESLEY SNIPES, JOHN LEGUIZAMO and PATRICK SWAYZE in ’To Wong Foo.’ Photo courtesy Shout! Factory; STEVEN WEBER in ‘Jeffrey.’ Photo courtesy Shout! Factory and ELIZABETH TAYLOR in ‘Boom!’ in a role Tallulah Bankhead played on a short Broadway run. Photo courtesy Shout! Factory.

In between the fireworks and the barbecues, the Fourth of July weekend is the perfect time to relax with some great new releases on DVD/Blu-ray and a variety of streaming services.

For Pride Month, Shout! Factory released four classic queer films on Bluray for the first time and produced new commentaries, interviews and special features for them.

Directed by Beeban Kidron from a script by out screenwriter Douglas Cater Beane, “To Wong Foo, Thanks for Everything! Julie Newmar” (1995) stars Patrick Swayze, Wesley Snipes and John Leguizamo as three drag queens (Vida Boehme, Noxeema Jackson and

Chi-Chi Rodriguez) who get stranded in a tiny midwestern town during a cross-country road trip. The excellent supporting cast includes Stockard Channing, Blythe Danner and Robin Williams. The Blu-ray includes commentary by Leguizamo, Kidron and Beane.

A notorious bomb on its release in 1968, “Boom!” quickly became a camp classic.

The movie features a script by Tennessee Williams (based on his Broadway flop “The Milk Train Doesn’t Stop Here Anymore”) and incandescent performances by cinema legends Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton.

Taylor, who became an early AIDS activist, stars as Sissy Goforth, the richest woman in the world; Burton plays her lover, the penniless poet Chris Flanders. Writer and actor Noël Coward appears as the Witch of Capri. The Blu-ray includes commentaries by out filmmaker John Waters and out film critic Alonso Duralde (The Wrap). .In “Jeffrey” (1995), with a great script

by Paul Rudnick, Steven Weber (“Wings”) plays a struggling actor who swears off sex because he’s terrified of contracting AIDS. Weber is fine in the title role, but the movie is stolen by Patrick Stewart as the flamboyant Sterling and Bryan Batt as his boyfriend Darius, a dancer in the chorus of “Cats.”

The Blu-ray includes commentaries by both Weber and Duralde, as well as interviews with Weber and producer Mark Balsam.

The fourth Shout! Factory Pride offering is another film that was an infamous flop on its release (1980) that became a camp classic. With gay Hollywood mogul Allan Carr as lead wrier and producer and Nancy Walker (“Rhoda,” “Mary Tyler Moore”) at the helm, “Can’t Stop the Music” is a highly fictionalized and hysterically straightwashed biopic of the Village People.

Packed with macho men, glamorous gals and glitzy production numbers (including one set at the pool at the YMCA), the movie also stars Steve Guttenberg and blonde bombshell Valerie Perrine. The Bluray includes an interview with Randy Jones (the Cowboy) and commentary by Jeffrey Schwarz (“The Fabulous Allen Carr”) and out comedy writer Bruce Vilanch.

In addition to the queer classics, Shout!

Factory is also releasing a special limited edition of “The Babadook.” Since the wily monster has somehow become an unofficial LGBT mascot (when he’s not terrorizing innocent Australian families), they’re releasing 2,500 copies of the Bluray in a special rainbow slipcover.

Other recent releases include “Southern Pride,” the new documentary by award-winning filmmaker Malcom Ingram. Now streaming on Amazon and

other platforms, the film profiles bar owners Lynn Koval and Shawn Perryon, two queer women who decide to hold Pride events in Biloxi and Hattiesburg, Miss.

Released in Sept. 1985, “Buddies” was the first feature film about AIDS. Lovingly restored by Jenni Olson and the team at the Vinegar Syndrome, the historic drama about an AIDS patient (Geoff Edholm) and his “buddy” (David Schachter) is being released for home viewing for the first time.

A number of movies from the “Blade’s 2018 Top Ten List” are also now available for home viewing. Recent releases include “1985,” “The Cakemaker,” “Disobedience” and “The Favourite,” as well as the delightful queer Dutch comingof-age story “Just Friends.” These titles and many more are available on demand or for purchase from the excellent gay-owned company Wolfe Video at wolfevideo.com.

The best movie of 2019 (so far) has also been released on DVD/Blu-ray, Netflix and a variety of other channels. Written and directed by Academy Award-winner Jordan Peele (“Get Out”), “Us” is the tale of a trip to the beach gone horribly wrong as the Tyler and Ross families encounter mysterious doppelgängers of themselves. An incisive critique of the American Dream, the articulate and finely tuned horror movie stars Lupito Nyong’o, Winston Duke and Elisabeth Moss.

Instead of an American dystopia, writer/ director Leo Herrera offers the vision of queer utopias called “Stonewall Collectives.”

Asking the provocative question, “what if AIDS had never happened?,” Herrera offers an alternative version of American history in the new web series “The Fathers Project.” In this fictional documentary, film historian and activist Vito Russo is running for President in 2020 and artist Robert Mapplethorpe has the world’s biggest social media fanbase, surpassing all of the Kardashians combined.

Information on Herrera’s project can be found at iftheylivd.org, but uncensored episodes can only be found at kink.com/ fathers. When Herrera encountered mounting censorship problems on mainstream distribution and social media sites, the fetish website provided a safe haven for the visionary series. Episodes are available for free.

Finally, to celebrate the movie’s induction into the National Film Registry, Disney has released the 70th Anniversary edition of “Cinderella” on DVD and Bluray. The animated classic about a young woman, a prince and a fairy godmother teaches an important lesson about wearing the right shoes and features the queer mouse couple Gus and Jaq.

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The gay Betsy Ross New book ‘Rainbow Warrior’ is posthumous memoir of flag creator

The late GILBERT BAKER who designed the rainbow flag.

Photo by Max Maxwell, courtesy Chicago Review Press

At its most basic, it’s just a piece of cloth.

A nice poly-blend, perhaps, or a hank of nylon in a fade-resistant color. There are holes in one end to fasten to a pole or rope, but it’s otherwise just a piece of cloth. Yet, people have died for it and, as in the new book “Rainbow Warrior” by Gilbert Baker, that flag could be the fabric of revolution.

Even as a small child, Gilbert Baker knew he was gay.

He grew up in Kansas, a child who loved to draw, create, wear fancy dresses and dream of being an artist. Alas, art wasn’t a career in his parents’ eyes so Baker, as a young man, lied about his gayness and enlisted in the army, where he quickly realized that he was in for years of abuse (at best) or Vietnam (at worst). He “lived in terror” before filing as a conscientious objector; the Army instead listed him as a medic and sent him to San Francisco.

It was the perfect accidental gift.

“When I got to San Francisco,” he says, “I knew I wasn’t ever going back to Kansas.”

Five days a week, Baker worked in an Army laboratory; the rest of the time was his to fall in love, explore his new city and work on his sewing skills. Stitching became an obsession and by 1977, he was making costumes and banners for demonstrations.

When he was asked to make something special for the city’s Gay Freedom Day Parade of 1978, he thought about the rainbow as a flag and dove right in.

While that first flag was a big hit, Baker writes that the symbol didn’t take off quite as much as he’d hoped. Still, it was present at every “street activists” event he was part of, at every parade and protest. “One pair of scissors” and a mile of fabric could

“change the whole dynamic,” he wrote later. It was “a pure act of rebellion.”

“Rainbow Warrior” was compiled from several manuscripts that the late author Gilbert Baker left after his death in 2017, a fact that would have been helpful to have, early on. You’ll be more forgiving of the overly florid prose knowing that.

Aside from that annoyance — one appearing throughout the book — readers may also notice a bit of pretentiousness, lot of snarky fighting, endless drugs and getting naked in Baker’s narrative, which is likewise forgivable because much of it takes place post-Stonewall, post-Summerof-Love, pre-AIDS. And thus is the appeal here.

Baker was one of the more ferociously involved protesters, by his own account, and his anecdotes are priceless. He gives readers a good first-person look at early efforts for gay rights, and eye-opening, sometimes jaw-dropping, behind-thescenes peeks at life as a young gay man during an uprising. It’s a lively, outrageous look at outrage, in an account that seems not to have held one thing back. That makes “Rainbow Warrior” readable and entertaining and, despite its overly ornate verbosity, a good look at revolution cut from a different cloth.

‘Rainbow Warrior: My Life in Color’

By Gilbert Baker Chicago Review Press $26.99 256 pages

TERRI SCHLICHENMEYER

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 33

FY20 APPLY NOW!

Applications are currently being accepted for FY 2020 project-based grants for individuals and organizations For more information on available grant programs, including technical assistance workshops for applicants, contact us at www.dcarts.dc.gov | 202-724-5613

WorldPride 2019 New York City hosted WorldPride 2019 on the 50th anniversary of the Stonewall Riots.

Washington Blade photos by Daniel Truitt

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Celebrate your independence at the beach Golf, swimming and other amenities abound in Rehoboth area

homes, town homes, and condos. Property taxes range from $1,500 to $4,000 per year, so again, paired with no sales tax in Delaware, the HOA fees give you a great resort lifestyle.

As of July 2, there were 78 properties available from $204,000-$2,195,000 (with the majority in the median range).

By LEE ANN WILKINSON June is all about Pride, and July and August are all about the beach. Delaware Beaches have you covered if you want to start summer off with a bang – and there will be no shortage of bombs bursting in air as just about all of our beach towns now host official fireworks displays.

Since Rehoboth Beach is “Our Nation’s Summer Capital,” you may even be inspired to make it your year round or second home. In addition to the intown real estate options of Rehoboth, Lewes, Milton and more, there are a host of communities that give you privacy and amenities, just a short drive to downtown restaurants and shopping.

Here are just a few – from Lewes to Millsboro to Rehoboth Beach – that currently feature some great homes for sale in a range of prices. (The homeowner association fees and taxes are taken from current MLS listings.)

Nassau Grove Discover this vibrant, gated community on 110 acres in Lewes (just north of town on Route 1). All homes are single-family, and the homeowner association fees handle just about everything – including insurance, lawn maintenance of the sodded/irrigated lawns, road maintenance, snow removal, and trash collection. The clubhouse is amazing and features a meeting facility, state of the art fitness center, and numerous activities and theme nights throughout the year. Walk, jog and bike on the trails (and you can bike to Lewes now on the new trail). Community features tennis, volleyball, and other sports courts - and, of course,

Rehoboth Beach is home to an array of communities to suit any buyer’s needs.

Photo by sainaniritu; Courtesy of Bigstock

a breath-taking pool with a waterfall. It’s low-maintenance beach life (and great for a second home) since your lawn and all open spaces are fully maintained for you.

The annual fee is approximately $3,200; and the taxes offset that fee at only $1,700/ year. (Yes! Thank you, Delaware!) As of July 2, there are five homes available from $384,000 to $499,900.

The Peninsula If golf is your passion, or even if just the beauty of sunrise over the golf course is, take a look at The Peninsula on the Indian River Bay. The first Jack Nicklaus Signature Golf Course in Delaware, this resort community is truly gorgeous and complements the surrounding natural landscape on 800

JU LY 0 5 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 35

acres along the bay. In addition to golf, the community has its own athletic club, indoor pool, and an outdoor pool with a poolside grill, a wave pool, sandy beach, kayak launch, floating dock and fishing pier.

It’s really like an all-inclusive beach resort - just a short drive to shopping and about 15 miles to the boardwalk and Downtown Rehoboth Beach.

Homeowner association fees are approximately $3,900/year with different membership levels available for golf. The HOA includes a 24/7 staffed gate house, common area maintenance including the nature center, bay beach, fishing pier, trails, the health club, lawn and road maintenance, cable, and more. The community features single/spectacular

The Seasons Tucked next to the Rehoboth Beach Yacht and Country Club, The Seasons of Rehoboth Beach is a stylish custom-built home community. The neighborhood features single family, carriage homes, and townhouses. Make a splash in the community pool and enjoy views of the huge pond with fountains that you can see from many of the homes’ screened porches and back patios.

One of the best features of The Seasons is the scenic road leading you into the neighborhood that lets you decompress as you come home to your own private enclave. The community is just minutes to downtown Rehoboth Beach with easy access to shopping. The HOA fee is about $1,000 annually and taxes on a currently listed home are $1,300 per year. In addition to the pool, cable TV, common area maintenance, insurance, lawn and road maintenance, and trash collection are included.

As of July 2, there were six active listings from $385,000-$525,000.

Of course, this is just a glimpse of community living just outside our great beach towns but with the freedom to enjoy everything the Delaware beaches have to offer.

Lee Ann Wilkinson

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

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