Washingtonblade.com, Volume 50, Issue 51, December 20, 2019 by Washington Blade

DECEMBE R 20, 2019 • VOLUME 50 • I S S UE 51 • WA S HI NGTON BL A D E.CO M

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VOLUME 50 ISSUE 51

It was a historic week in D.C. as the House debated the impeachment of President Trump. PAGE 12

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D.C. Auditor’s report questions funding decision for Mary’s House Says lesbian housing director prioritized ‘lower ranking’ projects By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com In a little-noticed development, a report released earlier this year by the Office of the D.C. Auditor named Mary’s House for Older Adults, a planned home for LGBT seniors, as one of five affordable housing projects that received millions of dollars in city housing funds that were “ranked in the bottom half” of 20 applicants. The May 30 report says the lower ranking projects, including Mary’s House, were selected against the recommendations of expert staff evaluators by Polly Donaldson, the director of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development who as an out lesbian is one of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s LGBT cabinet members. “I write to share concerns and recommendations pertaining to the procurement process that resulted in the award of $78 million for Housing Production Trust Fund (HPTF) projects in June 2018,” said D.C. Auditor Kathy Patterson, the author of the report, in a letter to the D.C. Council at the time the report was released. “In brief, five of the nine proposals selected by leadership had been ranked in the bottom half of applications by staff evaluators and the final selection meant 353 fewer affordable housing units,” Patterson said. She noted that the city-funded Housing Production Trust Fund was created with the full support of the mayor and Council to help relieve the city’s affordable housing crisis that experts say has forced thousands of residents to leave the city and has swelled the ranks of homeless residents. The Trust Fund provides funds to both private development companies and nonprofit organizations like Mary’s House that enter into a partnership with a developer to build new and to preserve existing housing projects that are affordable to low and moderate income people. Patterson has acknowledged that her office’s investigation into the D.C. housing department’s selection process for the affordable housing projects was triggered in part by an ethics complaint filed with the city’s Board of Ethics and Government Accountability in June 2018

POLLY DONALDSON, director of the D.C. Department of Housing and Community Development, is one of Mayor Muriel Bowser’s LGBT cabinet members.

by a whistleblower believed to have been an employee with the housing department. Patterson declined to release the whistleblower’s report to the Blade, but the whistleblower him or herself appears to have given a copy of the report to the Washington City Paper, which describes it as “explosive” in its criticism of the way the lower ranking housing projects were selected by Donaldson for funding. Among other things the City Paper’s Loose Lips columnist reported earlier this month that the city’s former Deputy Mayor for Planning and Economic Development Brian Kenner and the former D.C. Director of Real Estate Sarosh Olpadwala “leaned on” Donaldson and her deputy, Allison Ladd, to steer city funding to at least one developer “politically connected” to the mayor. The Washington Post reported at the time the Auditor’s report was released that all five of the projects that received the lower rankings, including Mary’s House, were either developers themselves or in partnership with a developer that either directly or their executives have given campaign contributions to Mayor Bowser. In statements submitted to Patterson that are included in the Auditor’s report,

LO CA L NE WS • DE CEMBER 20, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 07

Donaldson disputes any claims that her decisions to select the housing projects were politically motivated, saying they were based solely on her overall assessment that the projects would benefit the city and those in need of affordable housing. Bowser, meanwhile, announced in a June 2018 statement that the Department of Housing and Community Development had awarded Mary’s House $1.19 million from the Housing Production Trust Fund as part of a $103 million city funding allocation aimed at preserving or producing affordable housing for more than 1,700 residents, including seniors and people experiencing homelessness. Imani Woody, founder and CEO of Mary’s House, has said plans for the facility call for replacing a single family house currently on the site of the facility at 401 Anacostia Road, S.E. with a new structure that will accommodate 15 LGBT seniors in 15 individual suites. When contacted by the Washington Blade this week Woody declined to comment on the findings of the D.C. Auditor’s report. “Mary’s House for Older Adults applied for and was approved for D.C. funding,” she said. “We are not a part of the approval process and have nothing to say or add to this discussion.” In a separate statement at the time the funding was announced, Donaldson said Mary’s House and the other projects approved for funding each met a series of criteria indicating they were viable projects that would boost the city’s and the mayor’s goal of increasing and preserving affordable housing. “This is really a way to say we can help,” Donaldson said in her statement. “This is a nonprofit development,” she said. “Mary’s House is a nonprofit organization and we think it’s important to support some big projects and smaller projects like this one.” In her Auditor’s report released on May 30, Patterson did not disclose why the staff evaluators at the Department of Housing and Community Development gave Mary’s House and the other four applicants for housing funds a low ranking. The report says the

department’s Development Finance Division is responsible for conducting a staff review of the proposed projects and for presenting recommendations to the director, who has the authority to make the final decision on all projects. “The May 30 report lists the Mary’s House project as one that got funded but hadn’t been ranked as high as a few that did not get funded in the announcements in spring 2018,” Patterson told the Blade in an email. “And the Development Finance Division did not recommend NOT funding Mary’s House – it was just given a lower rating in their scoring,” Patterson said in her email. She also noted that the projects that were higher ranked that didn’t get funding in 2018 were funded a year later in 2019. When contacted by the Blade for comment about the Auditor’s report and the issue of the lower ranking for the Mary’s House project, Donaldson sent a short email statement reiterating the more detailed response she sent to Patterson at the time the Auditor’s report was being prepared earlier this year. “Mayor Bowser has made support for the production and preservation of affordable housing her top priority,” Donald said in her statement to the Blade. “She has made more investments and delivered more results than any Mayor previously,” she said. “My agency followed all laws in making decisions in the best interest of the District,” she continued. “Further, the Council Auditor herself lauds the Development Finance Division controls that I put in place. D.C. must be inclusive and we must take into account developments across the city in making decisions with each RFP round.” She was referring to a section of the Auditor’s report where Patterson points out that Donaldson, who assumed the job of housing director in 2015, put in place the detailed internal controls and processes for approving funding for housing projects. The whistleblower, however, accuses her of violating those procedures by rejecting the recommendations of her staff evaluators. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Comings & Goings Blade Foundation offering $2,000 reporting fellowship 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 Martin Rendon on his appointment to the State of Delaware Human Relations Commission. This is MARTIN RENDON one of the most important commissions in the state since it is responsible for the enforcement of laws related to fair housing, equal accommodations, and employment discrimination. It also conducts hearings and resolves conflicts involving these issues and promotes programs aimed at eliminating discrimination. Martin recently retired and moved to Rehoboth Beach. He worked for 25 years for UNICEF, retiring as its vice president STEPHEN BELCOURT of public policy and advocacy. He also worked for six years as a personal trainer at Chinn Aquatics and Fitness Center (Prince William County Park Authority). He graduated magna cum laude with a BSFS from the Georgetown School of Foreign Service and received his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center in D.C. Congratulations also to Stephen J. Belcourt who recently began his new position as associate director for new business across Canada with Wiley Digital Archives, a division of John A. Wiley & Sons Ltd. (Hoboken, NJ). Upon accepting the position, he said, “Our primary source materials help preserve and make discoverable the archives of the Royal Geographical Society, the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain & Ireland, the Royal College of Physicians, and The New York Academy of Sciences. These society archives contain century’s worth of at-risk materials, previously only available to researchers on-site, and in their initial form. The archives contain a variety of materials including photographs, maps, letters, manuscripts, and ephemera. My new role includes working with university libraries and researchers, to help them take full advantage of this newly digitized material.” Prior to this, he worked for ProQuest in a number of positions most recently as manager, GovDocs, History, and News. Prior to that he worked as general manager of a family restaurant; sales executive for Interbiz a division of Computer Associates; and as a senior account manager for ANGOSS Software Corporation. He has his MSc International Management degree from the University of Liverpool (Laureate International Universities). $2,000 Blade Foundation Reporting Fellowship Application deadline extended to Jan. 10, 2020. The Blade Foundation is offering a paid fellowship to an aspiring LGBTQ+ journalist in the D.C. area to begin in early 2020. Applicants must be over 18 and must either be currently enrolled in a college journalism program or have an acceptance letter to a program. The fellowship will require 15-20 hours a week with a focus on reporting and writing LGBTQ-specific stories in D.C. and Virginia. The fellowship recipient will report directly to a member of the Washington Blade’s editorial staff and will be expected to participate in weekly staff meetings. To apply send a letter of interest, resume and links to three published articles to Blade Foundation Executive Director Kevin Naff at knaff@washblade.com. The deadline to apply for the fellowship is Jan. 10, and applicants will be notified of a final decision by Jan 31. All LGBTQ+ journalism students in the D.C. area are encouraged to apply and we especially encourage LGBTQ people of color, transgender and/or non-binary individuals to take advantage of this opportunity. The Blade Foundation would like to give special thanks to the DC Front Runners for raising money to fund this opportunity.

New gay-owned lounge coming to Baltimore’s Mount Vernon The Manor located a block from soon-to-close Grand Central By ED GUNTS A new gay-owned and gay-friendly business is expected to open in Baltimore’s Mount Vernon neighborhood late next month, replacing the recently closed restaurant known as The Elephant. The Manor is the name of a restaurant and “ultralounge” that is being planned for the four-story building at 924 N. Charles St., on the same block where The Hippo nightclub operated for many years. It’s the latest venture by Joshua Persing and Robert Gay, a Hanoverbased couple that operated the popular but short-lived G.A.Y. Lounge that opened at 518 N. Charles St. in April of 2017 and closed less than six months later, following a contractual dispute with the landlord. Persing and Gay are principals of The Manor Baltimore LLC, which will rent the former Elephant space. Persing said The Manor is not intended specifically to be a gay bar or night spot, although it will certainly welcome patrons from the G.A.Y. Lounge. It also will be more “restaurantoriented” than their last business, he said, and will feature the drag brunches that were popular there on weekends, with the performer known as Brooklyn Heights hosting on Saturdays and Evon Michelle on Sundays in the new space. “We are not going to be gay-centric, but we are going to be gay friendly,” Persing said. “We’re trying to give a home to those people who enjoyed our last bar and restaurant in Mount Vernon as well as provide a home to everyone in the community. We love Mount Vernon. We love the city in general. We really just want to give back to the city. That prompted us to invest back in the city a second time around.” If The Manor moves ahead as scheduled, it will open just as one of Baltimore’s largest LGBTQ-friendly nightclubs, Grand Central, is closing one block away. The current owners of Grand Central, a development group called Landmark Partners, have said they want to construct an eight-story office building in place of Grand Central and will leave the

Exterior of the former Elephant restaurant, soon to become The Manor. Photo by Ed Gunts

nightclub open until they’re ready to begin construction. Landmark’s principals, who bought the property at 1001-1003 N. Charles St. from longtime owner Don Davis in February, initially indicated they would close Grand Central this fall but later said the date likely would be moved to early next year, as they finalize their plans. One real estate broker who specializes in the Mount Vernon area said he has heard the developers have made progress in obtaining their building permits and that the club will close permanently in February. Marc Hayes, who is serving as the general manager of Grand Central, said last Saturday that the club will be open for New Year’s Eve and into January. He said a permanent closing date has not been announced. Persing said The Manor isn’t intended to fill the void left by Grand Central’s closing, because it won’t be a full blown nightclub with a large dance floor. He also said his group isn’t working with anyone at Grand Central. “That isn’t why we’re opening” at 924 N. Charles, he said. “We’re really opening because we simply love that space. But we will certainly be there for people who feel displaced by Grand Central’s closing.” CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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Sexual health group partners with PG County police on trans issues By PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN An organization that promotes sexual health is working with the Prince George’s County Police Department to help it rebuild trust with the county’s transgender community. Representatives from Heart to Hand and the newly formed Prince George’s County Police Department LGBTQ Outreach Team spoke about the killings of two trans women earlier this year in Fairmount Heights during a Transgender Day of Remembrance event in Seat Pleasant. Ashanti Carmon, 27, and Zoe Spears, 23, were killed near the firehouse where the Transgender Day of Remembrance event took place. Bailey Reeves, 17, was a trans teenager killed in September in Baltimore. The presence of Heart to Hand, the police LGBTQ Outreach Team and Prince George’s County Council member Jolene Ivey (D-District 5), among others, underscored the continuing impact that Carmon and Spears’ murders have had in the area. “There was mention of the murders,” recalled Capt. James Mitchell, one of seven outreach team officers who all also identify as LGBTQ. “And one of the most important issues to the trans community is their safety and for young women not to end up dead.” Mitchell explained the LGBTQ Outreach Team had been in development for a while, but the two murders pushed the urgency of its formation. “It was eye opening for me,” said Capt. Cindy A. Thompson, another out member of the LGBTQ Outreach Team. “One of the first events that I attended was a Fairmount Heights town hall meeting over the summer and that was mainly for the trans community to come out and talk about their safety and their fears.” “Their fears are real,” added Mitchell, stating the LGBTQ Outreach Team has attended other trans community events that include a Prince George’s County Human Relations Committee panel discussion in October and a November event at Casa Ruby in D.C. “They want to be heard and they want to be taken seriously when they report things.” Mitchell and his colleagues said they realize trust and safety are still two serious concerns for the county’s LGBTQ residents, so they work with Heart to Hand and other local organizations as much as possible. Kaniya Walker, a Heart to Hand employee, is a trans woman who helped set up the Transgender Day of Remembrance event that honored Spears, Carmon and others like them. Walker also facilitates the organization’s trans support group and is working with D.C.’s HIPS to provide

additional services to vulnerable trans sex workers in the area. “One of our main focuses is working with the trans community more,” said Walker. Walker told the Washington Blade that two “black cisgender women, best friends, started” Heart to Hand because of rising HIV/AIDS rates, particularly among black women. HIV.gov statistics indicate 1 in 7 Americans currently living with HIV are unaware of their status. Heart to Hand, which is based in Largo, provides free HIV testing, education and contraceptives at college campuses and various locations on both sides of the D.C.Maryland border. Walker said she wants to do more outreach to the cisgender, heterosexual population to help reduce the spread of HIV. “Black cisgender women are important to us because they don’t have the education and knowledge about getting tested,” she said. “They think being married or in a longterm relationship will protect them from this disease, but we have heterosexual men who are willing and open about getting tested.” Walker said she found that strange because growing up in an African-American household her mother was more willing to go see the doctor while her “daddy would have to be down and out to go.” She added this reluctance to get tested among cisgender black women is due to a mistaken perception of HIV/AIDS as a “gay man’s disease,” and as a consequence more black cis women will become unknowingly infected and spread the disease. College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn says stigma also keeps trans people vulnerable as well in terms of health, housing and other issues. “Police stings on transgender sex workers in Prince George’s County have shown a lack of understanding and sensitivity toward transgender people and an inadequate response to violence against transgender people,” said Wojahn. Mitchell agreed, stating one of the missions of the LGBTQ Outreach Team is to be an internal liaison and source of information and training for police officers as well. “We’ve asked groups that provide services to LGBTQ people to provide us with that information so we can push that out to our officers,” he said. “So, as they encounter people at 3 a.m. who may be in crisis, instead of saying they can’t help, they can say, ‘here is Casa Ruby’s information,’ or ‘here is Whitman Walker’s information’ or, ‘here is a local clinic in the county.’”

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Missing D.C. trans woman found dead in Hyattsville apartment

P.G. police say no signs of foul play; final autopsy results pending By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com A 21-year-old D.C. transgender woman whose friends reported on social media this week that she had not been seen since she left her Northeast D.C. residence on Dec. 10 to go on a date died of unknown causes in the Hyattsville, Md., area apartment of the person who took her there for a visit, according to a spokesperson for the Prince George’s County Police Department. The spokesperson, Jennifer Donelan, the department’s Director of Media Relations, told Advocates from No Justice No Pride circulated a flier seeking help in the Washington Blade on Tuesday finding Angel Rose Garcia. that Angel Rose Garcia was found by emergency medical service technicians minutes after the resident of the apartment that Garcia was visiting called 911 to report she was making strange noises while sleeping and appeared unresponsive. “On Dec. 10 a person called 911 to report that their friend is gurgling while sleeping and snorting and is very concerned about their wellbeing,” said Donelan. She said the 911 caller reported placing Garcia in a “recovery position” to prevent her from choking and performed CPR to try to revive her. But by the time the emergency medical team arrived in the apartment they determined that Garcia had died, Donelan told the Blade. Donelan said police were not releasing the 911 caller’s name but said the apartment was located on the 2400 block of 57th Place in the unincorporated area of Hyattsville, not in the City of Hyattsville. “Nothing right now indicates to us that there is anything sinister or any foul play associated with her death,” Donelan said. “We have no visible sign of trauma. We have a witness who attempted lifesaving measures. We have from their home someone who was very cooperative,” she said. Donelan noted that although Garcia died on the same day friends last saw her at her residence at a Northeast D.C. house for transgender women of color operated by the D.C. group No Justice No Pride, it took Prince George’s County Police nearly a week to locate a legal next of kin to clear the way for publicly reporting the death. According to Donelan, members of No Justice No Pride and other groups and friends posted messages on Facebook and other social media appealing to the community to help find Garcia. But she said no one filed an official missing person’s report with D.C. police until Dec. 16, when Garcia’s mother and a friend visited the Third District D.C. police station. “Yesterday, when a missing person’s report was finally made in D.C. we had officers here that were familiar with our death investigation case of Angel,” Donelan said. “They reached out to D.C. and said hey we think we know where she is. She’s with us. She passed away,” said Donelan. “And so that ended with us being able to finally connect with Angel’s mother,” Donelan told the Blade. “We notified her last night [Monday, Dec. 16] of her daughter’s passing.” Lt. Brett Parson, who oversees the D.C. Police LGBT Liaison Unit, confirmed that an official missing person report was filed Monday, Dec. 16, at the Third District. He said the LGBT Liaison Unit began its own investigation one day earlier after seeing the social media postings about Garcia being missing. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

Important Facts About DOVATO

This is only a brief summary of important information about DOVATO and does not replace talking to your healthcare provider about your condition and treatment. What is the Most Important Information I Should Know about DOVATO? If you have both human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV-1) and hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection, DOVATO can cause serious side effects, including: • Resistant HBV infection. Your healthcare provider will test you for HBV infection before you start treatment with DOVATO. If you have HIV-1 and hepatitis B, the hepatitis B virus can change (mutate) during your treatment with DOVATO and become harder to treat (resistant). It is not known if DOVATO is safe and effective in people who have HIV-1 and HBV infection. • Worsening of HBV infection. If you have HIV-1 and HBV infection, your HBV may get worse (flare-up) if you stop taking DOVATO. A “flare-up” is when your HBV infection suddenly returns in a worse way than before. Worsening liver disease can be serious and may lead to death. ° Do not run out of DOVATO. Refill your prescription or talk to your healthcare provider before your DOVATO is all gone. ° Do not stop DOVATO without first talking to your healthcare provider. If you stop taking DOVATO, your healthcare provider will need to check your health often and do blood tests regularly for several months to check your liver. What is DOVATO? DOVATO is a prescription medicine that is used without other antiretroviral medicines to treat HIV-1 infection in adults: who have not received antiretroviral medicines in the past, and without known resistance to the medicines dolutegravir or lamivudine. HIV-1 is the virus that causes Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). It is not known if DOVATO is safe and effective in children. Who should not take DOVATO? Do Not Take DOVATO if You: • have ever had an allergic reaction to a medicine that contains dolutegravir or lamivudine. • take dofetilide. What should I tell my healthcare provider before using DOVATO? Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: • have or have had liver problems, including hepatitis B or C infection. • have kidney problems. • are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. One of the medicines in DOVATO (dolutegravir) may harm your unborn baby. ° You should not take DOVATO if you are planning to become pregnant or during the first 12 weeks of pregnancy. Your healthcare provider may prescribe a different medicine if you are planning to become pregnant or become pregnant during treatment with DOVATO. ° If you can become pregnant, your healthcare provider will perform a pregnancy test before you start treatment with DOVATO. ° If you can become pregnant, you should consistently use effective birth control (contraception) during treatment with DOVATO. ° Tell your healthcare provider right away if you are planning to become pregnant, you become pregnant, or think you may be pregnant during treatment with DOVATO.

Tell your healthcare provider about all of your medical conditions, including if you: (cont’d) • are breastfeeding or plan to breastfeed. Do not breastfeed if you take DOVATO. ° You should not breastfeed if you have HIV-1 because of the risk of passing HIV-1 to your baby. ° One of the medicines in DOVATO (lamivudine) passes into your breastmilk. ° Talk with your healthcare provider about the best way to feed your baby. Tell your healthcare provider about all the medicines you take, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal supplements. Some medicines interact with DOVATO. Keep a list of your medicines and show it to your healthcare provider and pharmacist when you get a new medicine. • You can ask your healthcare provider or pharmacist for a list of medicines that interact with DOVATO. • Do not start taking a new medicine without telling your healthcare provider. Your healthcare provider can tell you if it is safe to take DOVATO with other medicines. What are Possible Side Effects of DOVATO? DOVATO can cause serious side effects, including: • Those in the “What is the Most Important Information I Should Know about DOVATO?” section. • Allergic reactions. Call your healthcare provider right away if you develop a rash with DOVATO. Stop taking DOVATO and get medical help right away if you develop a rash with any of the following signs or symptoms: fever; generally ill feeling; tiredness; muscle or joint aches; blisters or sores in mouth; blisters or peeling of the skin; redness or swelling of the eyes; swelling of the mouth, face, lips, or tongue; problems breathing. • Liver problems. People with a history of hepatitis B or C virus may have an increased risk of developing new or worsening changes in certain liver tests during treatment with DOVATO. Liver problems, including liver failure, have also happened in people without a history of liver disease or other risk factors. Your healthcare provider may do blood tests to check your liver. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following signs or symptoms of liver problems: your skin or the white part of your eyes turns yellow (jaundice); dark or “tea-colored” urine; light-colored stools (bowel movements); nausea or vomiting; loss of appetite; and/or pain, aching, or tenderness on the right side of your stomach area. • Too much lactic acid in your blood (lactic acidosis). Lactic acidosis is a serious medical emergency that can lead to death. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the following symptoms that could be signs of lactic acidosis: feel very weak or tired; unusual (not normal) muscle pain; trouble breathing; stomach pain with nausea and vomiting; feel cold, especially in your arms and legs; feel dizzy or lightheaded; and/or a fast or irregular heartbeat. • Lactic acidosis can also lead to severe liver problems, which can lead to death. Your liver may become large (hepatomegaly) and you may develop fat in your liver (steatosis). Tell your healthcare provider right away if you get any of the signs or symptoms of liver problems which are listed above under “Liver problems.” You may be more likely to get lactic acidosis or severe liver problems if you are female or very overweight (obese).

Learn more about Leo and DOVATO at DOVATO.com

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SO MUCH GOES INTO WHO I AM HIV MEDICINE IS ONE PART OF IT. Reasons to ask your doctor about DOVATO: DOVATO can help you reach and then stay undetectable* with just 2 medicines in 1 pill. That means fewer medicines† in your body while taking DOVATO

You can take it any time of day with or without food (around the same time each day)—giving you flexibility

DOVATO is a once-a-day complete treatment for adults who are new to HIV-1 medicine. Results may vary. *Undetectable means reducing the HIV in your blood to very low levels (less than 50 copies per mL). † As compared with 3-drug regimens.

LEO‡ Living with HIV

What are Possible Side Effects of DOVATO (cont’d)? • Changes in your immune system (Immune Reconstitution Syndrome) can happen when you start taking HIV-1 medicines. Your immune system may get stronger and begin to fight infections that have been hidden in your body for a long time. Tell your healthcare provider right away if you start having new symptoms after you start taking DOVATO. • The most common side effects of DOVATO include: headache; diarrhea; nausea; trouble sleeping; and tiredness. These are not all the possible side effects of DOVATO. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, or call 1-800-FDA-1088. Where Can I Find More Information? • Talk to your healthcare provider or pharmacist. • Go to DOVATO.com or call 1-877-844-8872, where you can also get FDA-approved labeling. Trademark is owned by or licensed to the ViiV Healthcare group of companies. Compensated by ViiV Healthcare

‡

Could DOVATO be right for you? Ask your doctor today.

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Historic week as House tackles impeachment Trump charged with abuse of power, obstruction of Congress By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com In a historic move, the U.S. House was set to vote Wednesday to impeach President Trump, accusing him of high crimes and misdemeanors as defined under the U.S. Constitution that warrant his removal from office. The House was set to approve two articles of impeachment against Trump, one for abuse of power, the other for obstruction of Congress. (The vote on the articles took place after the Blade’s print deadline. Check the website for the vote tally.) The charge of abuse of power is based on allegations Trump withheld U.S. aid to Ukraine to solicit from the nation’s president an investigation into Joseph Biden, Trump’s potential political opponent in the 2020 election, and whether Ukraine, not Russia, was responsible for the systematic interference in the 2016 election. But for the charge of obstruction of Congress, the House was expected to impeach Trump for refusing to cooperate with the impeachment inquiry by responding to congressional subpoenas. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) opened the debate on the House floor Wednesday before the impeachment proceedings began by saying Trump “gave us no choice” but to impeach him. “Our founders’ vision of a republic is under threat from actions from the White House,” she said. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty. It’s tragic the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary.” Speaking about the danger of foreign interference in U.S. elections, Pelosi pointed to a nearby white poster board she brought to the floor depicting an American flag and the words: “To the Republic for which it stands…” Rep. David Cicilline (D-R.I.) the senior openly gay member of the House, didn’t hold back Wednesday on the House floor when he accused Trump of having “betrayed our national security and undermined the security of our elections.” “This wasn’t an attack on Vice President Biden,” Cicilline said. “It was an attack on our democracy, and if we do not hold him accountable today, we will no longer live in a democracy. We will live in a dictatorship where any future president will be free to abuse their office in order to get re-elected.” The night before impeachment vote was set to take place, the coalition group “Nobody Is Above The Law” held more than 600 rallies throughout the country in all 50 states in support of Trump’s impeachment. Alphonso David, president of the Human

President Trump has denied wrongdoing since the original whistleblower’s report uncovered the Ukraine scandal. Blade file photo by Michael Key

Rights Campaign, declared in a statement the nation’s leading LGBTQ rights group supports the impeachment of Trump, saying he “has proven time and again that he believes he is above the law and not beholden to the United States Constitution.” “Trump’s ongoing efforts to undermine the 2020 election by soliciting foreign interference is unacceptable, deeply dangerous and an affront to the fundamental democratic principle of free and fair elections,” David added. “Because of these troubling facts, the Human Rights Campaign supports the impeachment of Donald Trump. The impeachment process is a constitutionally guaranteed process for preserving accountability and the integrity of our democracy. Now, Congress must ensure a conclusion consistent with law. Any question about whether Democrats from more moderate districts would back impeachment faded away as many of them, including Reps. Elissa Slotkin (D-Mich.), signaled their support. Among them was Rep. Angie Craig (D-Minn.), the first lesbian mom in Congress, who declared she’d support impeachment in an open letter to constituents on Sunday. “After reviewing the public testimony from non-partisan public servants and officials appointed to their roles by the President himself — as well as the final House

Intelligence Committee report — I have decided that this week I will vote yes on both Articles of Impeachment,” Craig wrote. “No elected leader is above the law.” Although at least one Democrat, Rep. Colin Peterson (D-Minn.), was expected to vote against impeachment, each of the Republicans has been lockstep behind Trump as the impeachment inquiry has proceeded. Charles Moran, managing director of Log Cabin Republicans, told the Washington Blade the Trump impeachment process in the House ignores reality. “LGBTQ Americans are safer, more prosperous and have more opportunities now than any other time in history,” Moran said. “The Democrats in Congress announced their intent to impeach President Trump before he was even sworn in. The American people aren’t buying this sham impeachment, and come November, Democrats won’t have anything to show for it.” The next step in the process is for the U.S. Senate to hold a trial based on the impeachment articles approved by the House. A conviction will result in Trump’s removal from office, but that requires a twothirds vote of senators present — a high hurdle that would require 20 Republican senators in the chamber to defect. It remains to be seen how impeachment will play out with the American public and the

2020 election. If the polls are any indication, Americans are divided on the issue and support for Trump has, in fact, been slightly increasing. A Gallup poll on Monday found Trump has an approval rating of 45 percent, compared to 51 percent of the American public who say they disapprove of his job performance. That’s a six-point increase since the House began its impeachment inquiry this fall. More Americans also opposed impeachment compared to those who support it, according to the poll. Currently, 46 percent support impeachment and removal — a six-point decrease since Pelosi announced the impeachment inquiry. Meanwhile, 51 percent oppose such action — a five percentage-point increase over the same period. At the same time, the Gallup poll found Congress is enjoying one of its best ratings ever in the Trump era. The poll found 27 percent of the American public approves of the job Congress is doing, which is nine points up from September. Only three U.S. presidents have been impeached in U.S. history. The first was President Andrew Johnson in 1868, the second was President Bill Clinton in 1998. In 1978, it was widely believed President Richard Nixon would have been impeached over Watergate, but he resigned his office before that happened after the House Judiciary Committee approved articles of impeachment against him. Other LGBTQ groups joined HRC in calling for Trump’s impeachment. “Since his first day in office,PresidentTrump and his administration have attacked the LGBTQ community,” said Equality California Executive Director Rick Zbur in a statement. “… The president has abused the power of his office and obstructed Congress. The Framers prescribed a remedy for such high crimes and misdemeanors, and the Constitution commands the Congress to pursue it. … On behalf of our members, we urge the United States House of Representatives to impeach the president and the United States Senate to remove him from office.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi struck a somber tone in kicking off the day. “If we do not act now, we would be derelict in our duty,” she said. “It is tragic that the president’s reckless actions make impeachment necessary. He gave us no choice. What we are discussing today is the established fact that the president violated the Constitution.”

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Tumultuous week for Hallmark after banning lesbian kiss

Reversal of decision triggers more protests from far-right groups By JOHN PAUL KING At the end of a tumultuous week for The Hallmark Channel, on Monday, Dec. 16, the pay television network announced it would reverse its decision to pull several ads featuring a same-sex kiss. The controversial commercials were among a series of six ads for Zola, a wedding planning website, which had been airing on the Hallmark Channel since Dec. 2. In all of the ads, couples standing at the altar for their wedding wonder if guests might have arrived on time and bought them better gifts if they had used Zola to create a custom wedding website. Most of the ads include a same-sex couple; while only one focused specifically on the lesbian brides, the two women were shown kissing in several of them. According to the New York Times, the ads that featured same-sex kissing were pulled after the channel deemed their content “controversial.” The decision was made by executives at the network after the anti-LGBTQ hate group, “One Million Moms,” published a petition urging Hallmark to “please reconsider airing commercials with same-sex couples.” One Million Moms is a division of the conservative American Family Association, an organization that defines its mission as the “fight against indecency,” and which has been listed by the Southern Poverty Law Center as a hate group for the “propagation of known falsehoods” and the use of “demonizing propaganda” against LGBTQ people. Following the posting of the petition, anti-LGBTQ comments began to flood Hallmark’s online message board, such as one from an unnamed user who said, “Why would you show a lesbian wedding commercial on the Hallmark Channel? Hallmark movies are family friendly, and you ruined it with the commercial.” On Thursday, Hallmark notified Zola via email that it was pulling four of the ads – the ones featuring a kiss between the two women – because the channel is “not allowed to accept creatives that are deemed controversial,” according to an account representative from the television network. On Friday, a Hallmark Channel spokesman implied in a statement that “overt public displays of affection… regardless of the participants,” was

The kiss by two brides in a Zola commercial that touched off a major controversy this week.

against the network’s current policy. However, later that evening, Hallmark’s parent company, Crown Media Family Networks, issued a statement saying, “The debate surrounding these commercials on all sides was distracting from the purpose of our network, which is to provide entertainment value.” The response from Zola was one of both surprise and skepticism. The company’s chief marketing officer, Mike Chi, commented that Zola had previously run ads featuring same-sex couples on the channel without incident. He also observed that the ads including kisses between same-sex couples were allowed to remain on the air. Chi pointed out, “The only difference between the commercials that were flagged and the ones that were approved was that the commercials that did not meet Hallmark’s standards included a lesbian couple kissing. Hallmark approved a commercial where a heterosexual couple kissed. All kisses, couples and marriages are equal celebrations of love and we will

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no longer be advertising on Hallmark.” Outcry was swift from the LGBTQ community and its advocates. In a statement from GLAAD, president and CEO Sarah Kate Ellis said, “The Hallmark Channel’s decision to remove LGBTQ families in such a blatant way is discriminatory and especially hypocritical coming from a network that claims to present family programming and also recently stated they are ‘open’ to LGBTQ holiday movies. As so many other TV and cable networks showcase, LGBTQ families are part of family programming. Advertisers on The Hallmark Channel should see this news and question whether they want to be associated with a network that chooses to bow to fringe anti-LGBTQ activist groups, which solely exist to harm LGBTQ families.” In addition, GLAAD created a petition calling on the network to reinstate the ads. Pro-LGBTQ voices also took to social media, with hashtags #boycotthallmark and #BoycottHallmarkChannel trending on Twitter over the weekend. Then, on Sunday afternoon, Hallmark president and CEO Mike Perry issued a new statement, saying, “The Crown Media team has been agonizing over this decision as we’ve seen the hurt it has unintentionally caused. Said simply, they believe this was the wrong decision,” The statement goes on to stress Hallmark’s commitment to “diversity and inclusion,” saying it has “the track record to prove it” and citing its publication of LGBTQ greeting cards, previous commercials featuring same-sex couples, and recognition it has received from HRC and Forbes for its inclusive business practices. It also announces the company’s plan to work with GLAAD on how “to better represent the LGBTQ community,” as well as its intention to reinstate the commercials from Zola. Shortly afterward, GLAAD issued a statement, with Ellis saying, “The Hallmark Channel’s decision to correct its mistake sends an important message to LGBTQ people and represents a major loss for fringe organizations, like One Million Moms, whose sole purpose is to hurt families like mine. LGBTQ people are, and will continue to be a part of advertisements and family programming

and that will never change. GLAAD exists to hold brands like The Hallmark Channel accountable when they make discriminatory decisions and to proactively ensure families of all kinds are represented in fair and accurate ways.” Speaking on CNN immediately after Hallmark’s announcement was released, Ellis confirmed the network’s statement that Hallmark and GLAAD would be working together, saying, “We’re talking with them, we’ve been talking with them all weekend, because they want to do the right thing, and I think that the quick decision was the right thing. And now we have to watch and see what they do in the future.” On Monday, One Million Moms doubled down on their homophobic agenda in an email blast sent out to subscribers on the American Family Association email list, in which it reiterated its talking point that homosexuality is “a sinful lifestyle that Scripture clearly deems as wrong” and pointed to Bible verses Romans 1:18-32 as proof. The referenced passages describe same-gender sexuality as “dishonorable passions” and proclaim that “those who practice such things deserve to die.” The email goes on to declare that “Hallmark, Zola, etc. and all that make up those companies will ALL bow to the Lord,” before calling on Hallmark to once more pull the offending ads and “to keep sex and sexual content – including the promotion of homosexuality – out of its programming.” It closes by asking for signatures on its petition against the network’s move toward more LGBTQinclusive content. The organization’s latest action comes after GLAAD’s chief communications officer, Rich Ferraro, told Salon late Sunday, “The Hallmark Channel’s decision further delegitimizes One Million Moms, a facade that is actually run by the American Family Association (AFA), which is designated as a hate group… Most brands know to ignore the One Million Moms – or the ‘One Meddling Anti-Gay Mom,’ as we call them. “[The] Hallmark Channel’s reversal sets a true precedent that this fringe project of the AFA should not to be taken seriously or given any credibility by brands or the media.”

Absolut Vodka at vanguard of LGBTQ engagement

Iconic brand among first to embrace queer customers By Scott Stiffler Pride parade-goers given to grouse about the sheer volume of corporate floats, logos, and swag may well have a point about over-saturation. Yet as the year of Stonewall 50 winds down, it’s worth noting that for the longest time, mainstream brands wouldn’t be seen in public, even in June, with the community they now unabashedly woo. Notable exceptions exist. American Airlines, IBM, and Wells Fargo have long been present, year-round, in LGBTQ-specific media—but beyond paying Pride month lip service, most high-profile players have yet to establish a presence. Apple and Starbucks, for example, cannot claim so much as a single tear sheet from the gay press, or a mainstream ad featuring LGBTQ content. Absolut Vodka, however, has spent decades sending a message of solidarity as clear and potent as its product. To date, the progressive Swedish company has spent $31 million+ on LGBTQ marketing, and donated $40 million+ to LGBTQ charities. It launched a campaign with Equality California, joined others in suing the Trump administration for rollbacks to transgender rights, and have been partnering with the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation since 1989, when it became a founding sponsor of the GLAAD Media Awards. Absolut’s direct marketing to the community began in 1981, the company’s timeline notes, with full-page back cover ads in The Advocate and After Dark magazines. Although the first spirit maker to do so, other recognizable names were engaging at the time, says Mike Wilke, a former journalist and founder of AdRespect.org. In his capacity as an LGBTQ ad historian, Wilke notes the pre-Absolut presence of Casablanca Records, Yves Saint Laurent, Jägermeister, Coors, and Pernod Ricard in After Dark—the 1968-1983 soft-pornish entertainment magazine whose shirtless cover boys flew off the shelf and under the bed of many a gay man coming into his own. Even so, “These were all mainstream ads,” Wilke says, noting it would be years before anyone ventured outside the realm of coded content. Absolut imagery included a purplelaced corset worn by a gender-nonspecific individual, and a ruler with “8” at every inch marking. “At the time, we called it ‘gay vague,’ ” recalls Todd Evans, of Rivendell Media, who places advertisements for the National LGBT Media Association (this publication is among

Absolut Vodka has spent decades sending a message of solidarity as clear and potent as its product.

its members). “It was ‘gay’ to you and me, but the mainstream world might not know it.” Wrote Stuart Elliott, in an October 2011 New York Times article charting Absolut’s 30-year track record, the company “ran its regular ads in the L.G.B.T. media; the 1981 placements were ‘Absolut Perfection,’ with a halo hovering over the bottle. More recently, the brand has sponsored ads that are tailored for the market.” Still, says Wilke of the early 1980s, associating one’s mainstream product with the gay community “was risky.” (This was less than a decade since the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.) That lingering stigma was about to have company. As Absolut entered the fray, Wilke recalls, other major advertisers “were actually starting to show interest in the gay market. Then AIDS happened, and everything pulled back.” Rather than retreating, Absolut doubled down. “They continued to advertise through the ’80s,” notes Evans, “buying every back page ad that was available in gay media,” as well as hosting special events at brick and mortar establishments. “It was no secret,” says Evans, “that drinking was a big part of gay culture, so it made sense to have a consistently maintained presence [in print and at bars]. It was an inexpensive way to own the market, and it earned them the

thankfulness of the community… Any national advertiser coming into our media, it’s a big deal, to this day. And if you’re over 50, chances are you’re still an Absolut patron, because you remember that time in our lives, of not having acceptance.” As often happens when untapped markets reveal their profit potential, other spirit makers came pouring into the pages of LGBT (pre-“Q”) magazines and newspapers. But by that time, says Wilke, Absolut had “maintained their presence for many years, building loyalty and name recognition. So I’d say they’ve been highly successful at being known as one of the most gay-friendly brands of all time, even when they had fierce competition for the gay dollar. A number of competitors were doing, in my opinion, a very good job at marketing. But they got there much later.” With increased cultural visibility came gay-specific ad content. In 2000, an “Absolut GLAAD” ad sung the organization’s praises— and in 2008, the “In an Absolut World” ad had pumped-up baseball fans in the foreground, implying approval of the message on the scoreboard behind them (“Mark will you marry me?—Steve”). Absolut was also an early adopter of a little show called “RuPaul’s Drag Race,” becoming a presenting sponsor in 2011, while it was still airing on Logo. “That was a real risk,” says Evans. “Either the show was going to take off, or it wasn’t. So it shows a level of willingness to keep moving

forward.” “In the early days,” says Wilke, “we were thrilled to be validated by a major advertiser… Speaking as a gay man who pays attention to this stuff, I feel more excited when I see a great ad that speaks to me, more than I do with a general market ad. I think it’s a natural reaction, and that’s why it’s done.” James McCourt, GLAAD’s Senior Director of Business Development & Integrated Marketing, notes, “When brands authentically represent LGBTQ people and the issues that affect the community most in their marketing, then they can certainly expect to attract more LGBTQ consumers. Authenticity is key.” But acknowledging our orientation is not enough, says McCourt, who notes companies “need to recognize the difference between supporting the LGBTQ community and marketing to them,” especially in a “a postmarriage-equality United States” where the community “expects more from brands than choosing to wrap a rainbow around their products.” Aligning one’s ad campaign with LGBTQ nonproﬁts is “essential,” asserts McCourt, who cites Transgender Awareness Week and LGBTQ History Month among the “plethora of reasons to support LGBTQ people all year round,” as opposed to ghosting us once the last speck of June glitter has been cleared from the gutter. CONTINUES AT WASHINGTONBLADE.COM

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LGBT hotels in Cuba: Military-owned resorts seek ‘pink money’ Editor’s note: Tremenda Nota is the Blade’s media partner in Cuba. This article was published on Tremenda Nota’s website on Dec. 5. Blade International News Editor Michael K. Lavers translated the article from Spanish into English. CIEGO DE ÁVILA, Cuba — The Gran Muthu Rainbow Hotel, which opened on Dec. 5 in northern Ciego de Ávila in the center of the island, is the first property of its kind conceived expressly to serve clients from the LGBTI+ community. An article that Radio Surco published declares the new hotel’s profile “reaffirms Cuban authorities’ intention to promote respect for sexual diversity.” Rafael López Alcaraz, corporate director of Muthu Hotels in Cuba, guaranteed that staff who are specially trained to work with LGBTI+ tourists will provide services, according to statements the broadcaster published. The National Center for Sexual Education (CENESEX) oversaw the training, according to a post published in April on the Facebook page of the institution directed by Mariela Castro that falls under the Ministry of Public Health. CENESEX “will help with the selection and training of the personnel who will work there; and in addition to collaborations with events, promotions, campaigns,” said the group. Nevertheless, in September it became known the Pernik Hotel, located on the eastern part of the island, denied services to transgender clients and had even allowed that discrimination in a manual for the property’s employees. “Transgender men and women will not be allowed into the ballroom in their transformation (sic) persona,” said the manual that Chirly Morenza Vázquez, who coordinate’s CENESEX’s network for trans people, shared on social media. The incident took place the same week a Catalan business announced it would be in charge of administrating Cuba’s second LGBTI+ hotel, this time in Cuba, starting in 2020. “We are very happy to bring our support to the LGBTQ+ community in Cuba,” wrote Juan Juliá, founder and president of Axel Hotels, the chain that will be in charge of the Telegraph Hotel in the capital’s oldest neighborhood, on Facebook. TREMENDA NOTA

Trudeau calls for conversion therapy ban in Canada Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has called for a ban on so-called conversion therapy in his country. Trudeau in a letter he sent to Attorney General David Lametti on Dec. 13 directed him to work with Diversity, Inclusion and Youth Minister Bardish Chagger “to amend” Canada’s Criminal Code “to ban the practice of conversion therapy and take other steps required with the provinces and territories to end conversion therapy in Canada.” Trudeau on Oct. 21 won re-election, even though a picture of him in brownface that emerged before the election sparked outrage and tarnished his reputation. Trudeau’s Liberal Party lost its majority in Parliament. Canadian Prime Minister JUSTIN The conversion therapy ban is part of TRUDEAU Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers Trudeau’s government’s priorities for its second term. Trudeau in 2017 formally apologized to those who suffered persecution and discrimination under Canada’s anti-LGBTQ laws and policies. A law that added gender identity to Canada’s nondiscrimination and hate crimes law took effect in 2017. Canada would become one of a handful of countries to prohibit conversion therapy if the ban becomes law. MICHAEL K. LAVERS

British Prime Minister BORIS JOHNSON won re-election in a landslide last week. Photo by Chatham House via Flickr

LGBT Brits to lose EU protections in Brexit

The results of last week’s elections in the U.K. have all but assured the country will soon leave the European Union. The BBC reported Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s Conservative Party now has 365 seats in Parliament, compared to the 203 seats that Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour Party secured. Activists with whom the Blade spoke said Brexit could prove harmful to LGBTQ Brits because some of the European Union’s human rights standards will no longer apply to the country. “Brexit will happen and LGBT+ people will lose the legal protection against discrimination that is enshrined in the E.U.’s Charter of Fundamental Rights,” said Peter Tatchell, a prominent British LGBTQ activist who is director of the Peter Tatchell Foundation, in an email to the Blade. Tatchell noted the U.K. will “still have the safeguards of the Human Rights Act and the European Convention on Human Rights” once the country leaves the European Union. OutRight Action International Executive Director Jessica Stern in a statement to the Blade said the Conservative Party under former Prime Minister David Cameron supported marriage rights for same-sex couples. Stern also noted Johnson voted for civil partnerships and had openly gay advisers. “One hopes this history means that the rights and recognition the LGBTQ community has enjoyed from the government of the U.K. in recent years will remain relatively unchanged,” Stern told the Blade. “However, the election results bring destabilizing uncertainty,” she added, while noting the U.K’s 2010 Equality Act that bans discrimination based on sexual orientation is based on the European Union’s Equal Treatment Directive that was adopted in 2006. “How nondiscrimination laws based on E.U. law will fare in the aftermath of Brexit is unknown,” said Stern. Stern told the Blade there are also concerns “about the future of” efforts to update the country’s 2004 Gender Recognition Act — which allows trans Brits to legally change their gender with the approval of medical and legal professionals — “under a more conservative government in an era of global anti-trans rhetoric.” It remains unclear whether Johnson’s government would support activists’ efforts to allow trans people to legally change their gender in the U.K. without medical or legal intervention. Tatchell agreed with Stern’s concerns over trans rights under Johnson’s government. Tatchell also told the Blade that “further advances seem doubtful” on other issues that include universal access to PrEP in the U.K. and compensation for men who were convicted under homophobic laws. MICHAEL K. LAVERS

I N T E RNAT I O NAL NEWS • DECEMBER 20, 2019 • WA S HI NGTON BL A DE . COM • 15

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The fear factor in queer childbirth LINKOPING, Sweden — Fear of childbirth is exacerbated for lesbian and bi women and trans parents-to-be as trust tends not to develop between patient and health care staff as it more often does for straight people according to a new study in the journal Midwifery from researchers at Sweden’s Linkoping University. The results were published in a Eureka press release. The study includes interviews with 17 people who identify as either lesbian, bisexual or transgender. Many of the interviewees state that they have numerous positive experiences of maternal care and obstetrics, but also negative experiences and minority stress, the stress experienced by people who challenge norms when they must repeatedly explain their relationship or are forced to deal with comments, misunderstanding or incomprehension. The study’s conclusion is that lesbian and bisexual women and transsexual people with fear of childbirth are particularly vulnerable in health care. In order to help people with fear of childbirth, there must be trust between the healthcare staff and the patient. If instead the staff stress the patient more, for instance by assuming the patient is straight, this trust will never develop to a level where the fear of childbirth can be addressed. Researcher Anna Malmquist says improving the situation for lesbian and bisexual women and transsexual people with fear of childbirth requires training. Health care staff must be familiar with the various groups they can encounter at work, keep in mind that not everyone is straight and understand what minority stress is. “It’s not enough that health care staff feel they are open-minded in their interaction with this group. They need knowledge. These patients are already having a lot of difficulty with their fear of childbirth. They shouldn’t have to train their midwife as well,” Malmquist said.

Postponing intervention urged for intersex children

• C O L L A B O R A T IAOD N V E R T I S IWALTHAM, N G P R O Mass. OF

— The Massachusetts Medical Society and its 25,000-member physicians and students last week adopted organizational policy supporting the notion that intersex children not be operated on until the child is able to participate in decision REVIEW AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of making, the group announced in a press release. proof. Proof will be considered final and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of the date of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is The resolution-turned-policy was sponsored by the medical society’s doctorresponsible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users can link through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or comprised Committees on Maternal and Perinatal Welfare and the Committee on IONS any rgihts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair GO REVISIONS competition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, LBGTQ Matters. or any other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the ADVERTISER SIGNATURE NS FAMILY | and ESTATE | EMPLOYMENT IMMIGRATION washington blade) to hold brownPLANNING naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless |from any and all By signing this proof you are agreeing to The your contract obligations with the states, “The Massachusetts Medical Society supports optimal new policy liability, loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, COMPLEX LITIGATION | LGBT | ADOPTION | TREE & representations NEIGHBORpayment DISPUTES by brown naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing and insertion schedule. management of differences in sex development/intersex through individualized, and warranties. multidisciplinary care that seeks to foster the well-being of the child and of the adult the child will become; respects the rights of the patient to participate in decisions and, except when life threatening circumstances require emergency intervention, defers AT T O R N E Y S AT L AW • D C | M D | VA medical or surgical intervention until the child is able to participate in decision making; 3 0 1 . 8 9 1 . 2 2 0 0 • S P - L AW. C O M and provides psychosocial support to promote patient and family well-being.” 6 9 3 0 C A R R O L L AV E , S U I T E 6 1 0 • T A K O M A P A R K M D

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D E C EMBE R 20, 2019 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 19

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WASHINGTON REGIONAL TRANSPLANT COMMUNITY

KATHI WOLFE

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

VI E W PO I NT • DE CE M BER 20, 2019 • WA SHINGTONB L A DE . COM • 21

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

MARK LEE

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

KATHI WOLFE

Washington Regional Transplant Community is the non-profit organ procurement organization for the metro D.C. area responsible for recovering and distributing organs and tissues used in lifesaving and life-enhancing transplants. WRTC serves approximately 5.5 million people, 44 hospitals and six transplant centers. Visit BeADonor.org for more facts and information that can help you make a legal and informed decision about donation.

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

First living HIV-positive gay man donates kidney

‘Mrs. Maisel’ inspires us to resist injustice

Karl Neumann says everyone can register to be an organ donor

New season of hit show highlights racism, sexism in early 1960s

Being a longtime nurse Karl Neumann of Norfolk, Va., understands just how critical it is to have a robust community blood supply available. However, as a sexually active gay man, he is banned from donating blood because of a federal law. “It’s frustrating that there are shortages of blood, but certain people are still restricted from giving blood at a time when modern medicine can easily test for diseases.” Karl worries confusion or resentment regarding the “blood ban” might prevent gay men from realizing that they have another opportunity to heal and save lives – by registering to be organ donors. “I’ve worked in transplantation most of my career and there are not enough organs available for the number of people waiting for a transplant. Unfortunately, I’ve had several patients that I cared for die because the organ they needed was not donated in time.” Currently, more than 113,000 people in the United States are waiting for a lifesaving transplant, and that staggering number is one of the reasons why Karl, who is HIV-positive, decided to donate his kidney as a living donor. In 2013, the HIV Organ Policy Equity Act (HOPE Act) was signed into law allowing HIV-positive patients on the national transplant waiting list to receive organs from HIV-positive donors who are living or deceased. Unbeknownst to Karl, his decision would be very significant, as he would become only the second living person with HIV to donate a kidney in the U.S., and the first HIV-positive gay man to be a living donor. “It gave me pause being one of the first people but then I realized what a great opportunity it was. We are still in the research phase of transplanting organs HIV-to-HIV, and the more procedures that have a successful outcome means more

My newest crush is a gorgeous rose petal pink sun hat! Recently, I first eyed the object of my affections. It was worn by Miriam “Midge” Maisel as she lounges by the pool in Miami. Do I need to say that the hat perfectly matches her bathing suit and beach shoes? Aficionados, rejoice! On Dec. 6, “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” season three began streaming on Amazon Prime. The show was just nominated for a Golden Globe for Best TV Series, Musical or Comedy. At times, this show featuring a jilted New York City, mid-century housewife turned stand-up comic is vexing. Its world is so privileged! Still, I find myself as addicted to “Mrs. Maisel” as a movie addict is to popcorn. Why am I stuck on this show? Because it combines the style of “Mad Men” (Sinatra! Gorgeous costumes!) with jazz, Lenny Bruce and proto-feminism. If you haven’t entered the Maiselverse: Miriam, a.k.a. Midge, Maisel is a 1950s housewife. She’s living a comfortable life in Manhattan with her husband Joel and their children. Joel flops when he tries his hand at stand-up comedy. But, despite this, everything’s fine. Until, that is, Joel cheats on her. Most of us in Midge’s shoes would get drunk with our buds. Not Midge. She goes to a Greenwich Village comedy club. She’s never done standup before. But that’s no problem for her. Leaping to the stage, telling jokes about Joel, going topless, getting arrested – Midge becomes Mrs. Maisel, the new comic sensation. In 1958, a woman doing comedy about her own life was almost unheard of – revolutionary! Susie (Alex Borstein), impressed by Midge’s talent, becomes her manager. Along the way, Joel becomes less of a jerk and a more loving ex. Midge breaks off her engagement with her boyfriend

Karl Neumann gives a thumbs-up while heading into the operating room to donate a kidney. Photo by Shawn Rocco/Duke Health

lives saved.” Last summer, Karl traveled to Duke Health in Durham, N.C., to donate his kidney to an anonymous HIV-positive recipient. He is hopeful the recipient is regaining his or her health and enjoying an improved quality of life posttransplantation. Karl says regardless of the myths and misconceptions that exist, everyone can register to be an organ donor regardless of gender identity or expression, choice of sexual partner or HIV status. “Donating a kidney with HIV is normal and it can happen,” said Karl. “Being HIVpositive does not put me in danger or make me ill. I am healthy and will likely live a longer life than most people, and for that I am grateful. The least I could do was pay it forward and give life to another human being.” As of September 2019, 160 HIVpositive organs have been donated and transplanted, including 116 kidneys from deceased donors, 2 kidneys from living donors and 42 livers from deceased donors. December is AIDS Awareness Month and Karl wants to spread awareness that HIV-positive patients can give and receive the gift of life. For more information or to register to be an organ donor, visit BeADonor.org.

Ben when she gets an opportunity to go on tour opening for the popular AfricanAmerican singer Shy Baldwin (Leroy McClain). In its current season, Midge and Susie go on tour with Shy – going from Las Vegas to Miami to Harlem. They’re moving from 1959 into the early 1960s. It’s “the 60s, man!” Things are changing! We’re in the JFK era! Lenny Bruce and Mrs. Maisel talk about “smoking weed” on a TV late night show. Midge refuses to do an ad for the (then) emerging antifeminist, anti-queer, right-winger Phyllis Schlafly. (Passing up some needed bucks to do this.) Yet, as always with “Mrs. Maisel,” many things haven’t changed. The sexism and racism shown in the show are still with us – even if in more subtle forms. Men are given a chance to make mistakes, Mrs. Maisel says in one of her comedy sets. “Why isn’t a woman allowed to fail,” she asks. “I can’t stay here!” Shy says to Midge when she says she’ll get something for him from his room in “their hotel” in Miami. “This is the South!” Though we never see Susie with another queer women or at a gay bar, this show is queer in its DNA. There’s Jane Lynch as the imperious Sophie, who Susie’s been suckered into managing. Wynda Sykes appears as the great “Moms” Mabley. Midge remains friends with Shy after he tells her he’s gay. (Given the era, Shy has to be in the closet.) Still, I can’t help wishing to see more of Susie’s queerness and back story. Given the time the show’s set in, I don’t expect her to be out to anyone – even Midge (with whom she’s formed a Thelma and Louise types woromance.) Yet, couldn’t we see Susie having a beer in a dyke bar? Out of the blue, Susie tells Midge that she has a law degree. Nothing more is said about it. Like Midge, I wondered: What? Despite those caveats, as I’ve said in the Blade before, “Mrs. Maisel” inspires us to resist injustice. For fuel for resistance and mid-century glitz and glam, check out “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”

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Everyone Counts

Your responses are a valuable resource.

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Get counted.

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D EC E MBE R 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 23

MARK LEE

PETER ROSENSTEIN

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

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

IMPEACH: Trump committed Scrooges pretending high crimes and misdemeanors to be Santas History will be kind to Dems holding president accountable

If you listen to the debate in Congress, you’d think according to Republicans we have the ‘perfect’ president and what the Judiciary Committee is doing is antiAmerican. Let us take a look at what is American to its core — our Constitution. It is the Constitution that gives Congress the authority to impeach and remove “The President, Vice President, and all civil officers of the United States” upon a determination that such officers have engaged in treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors. It is also made clear in the Constitution that, “The House of Representatives shall choose their Speaker and other Officers; and shall have the ‘sole’ Power of Impeachment.” Sole power means they don’t have to go to the courts to mandate the president turn over requested papers and other information. If they subpoena him and others in his administration and the president obstructs their work by telling those individuals they don’t have to recognize the subpoenas Congress has every right to decide to impeach him without going to the courts as the mediator as some Republicans and even some talking heads on the cable networks are suggesting. It is really not a stretch for anyone with a brain to understand how Donald J. Trump committed what are easily defined as high crimes and misdemeanors. When he was sworn in as president on Jan. 20, 2017, he put his hand on a Bible and swore to “preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States of America.” He has clearly failed to do that. By obstructing the work of Congress and not answering to any subpoenas he has not protected the Constitution. By abusing his powers as president and trying to bribe a foreign government to do him a personal favor while withholding funds approved by Congress and important to the defense of not only our ally Ukraine but to the United States as well he is not

preserving, protecting or defending the Constitution. Listening to Republicans defend Trump was an incredible experience and often played like a sick comedy act. First, those like Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Doug Collins (R-Ga.) thought if they yelled more, then their lies would seem like the truth. Then there was Rep. Louis Gohmert (R-Texas) who every time he opens his mouth reinforces his reputation as the dumbest member of Congress. Then there is Rep. Matt Goetz (R-Fla.) who challenges Gohmert for that title but is also the vilest and nastiest member of Congress. They, along with Trump, disparaged government officials and civil servants who in most cases were hired by Trump. They denigrated veterans who had been decorated for valor defending the country for President Bone-spurs who used a phony excuse to get out of serving. Now the Democratic House will vote to impeach and send the two Articles of Impeachment voted by the Judiciary Committee on to the Senate for a trial. We already know the result of that trial; it will not convict the president. In fact, Senate Majority Leader ‘Moscow Mitch’ has already said he will coordinate the trial with the president’s lawyers and do all he can to ensure no more dirt on the president comes out in that trial. So why did Democrats bother? There’s a simple answer to that question and it is about history and the future. History will judge what this Congress and its members did and impeaching this president who has committed high crimes and misdemeanors against the people will be seen as the right thing to have done. It is also about the future. This president unless stopped will continue to do what he has been doing and without any effort to call him to account future presidents of both parties will see this behavior as acceptable and that is and should be unacceptable to any decent person. We must fight for our democracy and to protect our Constitution if future generations of Americans are to have a government they can be proud of and one the rest of the world can look up to.

Policies harming employers are hurting the poor

Small business owners in cities across the country are frustrated with finding lumps of coal dropped in their Christmas stockings by politicians. It’s no longer only entrepreneurs and enterprise operators angered by the carbonized deposits. Low-and-moderate income urban and suburban residents, who are most affected, confront worsening economic conditions due to the actions of governments. Politicians pretending to be Santa while really just Scrooge are to blame. The edicts of interventionist liberals, and the much scarier plans of further-left progressives, produce a myriad of negative implications in major cities but also the neighborhoods – and people – within them. It’s the problem plaguing the plethora of Democratic presidential contenders arguing “magic money” tax-andspend “free stuff” policies and fueling fears they are unelectable. Whether rising consumer prices caused by massive new wage and benefit mandates, regulatory requirements and operating restrictions, or hyper-micro interferences in the conduct of commerce, elected officials are pushing the cost of living for those most unable to absorb the increases to levels out of reach. Under the guise, and all-too-frequently the disguise, of claiming to “help” those most in need, their actions produce the opposite result, even if blissfully unintended or uninformed. It’s not only purses and wallets emptying out more quickly because of higher prices for household goods and essential items necessary for everyday survival. Those not earning wads of cash at high-paying jobs and indulging in a stop for scones and lattes on the way to the office each day may have forgotten it, but many of their cohabitants find it an extravagance to enjoy even a modest meal outside of home. When government picks winners and losers among citizens, and accelerates the cost crisis for all but the wealthier, those most in need never get ahead. Small businesses and moderate-sized companies are the biggest job creators and

are hit the hardest by the constant layeringon of a never-ending stream of marketplace commands by those who’d be lucky to balance a business spreadsheet if their life depended on it. Harmed are those most in need and seeking opportunity. That’s why a new initiative announced in New York City this week by the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce is instructive. In a newspaper op-ed, Chamber President Jessica Walker declared that the small- and mediumsized businesses the group represents are at a “breaking point” as officials add on more and more regulations. The Chamber cautions that “the value proposition of starting and maintaining a business in New York City is dwindling.” Citing the fact smaller enterprise is the primary source of jobs in the city, she details the ways those at city hall and the state capitol are crippling businesses. “Local government is putting out a dizzying array of problematic legislative proposals without considering the severe implications that they pose for employers,” Walker wrote. It’s a warning that other organizations, including the NYC Hospitality Alliance and groups representing retail shops and neighborhood stores, have been issuing with heightened urgency in recent months. The organization is calling on elected officials to take the following actions: • Conduct ‘town hall’ meetings with small and middle-market business owners to directly hear the challenges they face; • Create a previously promised Small Business Advisory Board to generate initiatives that would eliminate operating burdens on local businesses; • Require that all legislation be accompanied by a business impact statement and economic data before a proposal can be considered; • Impose a moratorium on new regulations and laws until these requirements are in place and the cumulative effect of what business operators already confront is understood; and, • Reduce the costs of doing business by evaluating existing government and independent reports on how to best do so. Instead of being Christmas curmudgeons, politicians should leave more than cookie crumbs out for you-know-who.

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D EC E MBE R 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA DE.CO M • 25

Mickalene Thomas’ art work at Baltimore Museum of Art. Photos courtesy BMA

Artistic ‘Pleasure’

Baltimore Museum of Art unveils massive installation by Mickalene Thomas By ED GUNTS

Since he became director of the Baltimore Museum of Art three years ago, Christopher Bedford has made it clear he wants to expose visitors to diverse voices and perspectives. One sign of his effort is an 18-month exhibit that opened this fall featuring Mickalene Thomas, a 48-year-old black queer/lesbian artist from Camden, N.J. In “Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure,” the artist has taken over a part of the museum that isn’t typically used for exhibits, the two-story East Lobby, and made it the backdrop for her work. She

also brought in more than two dozen other artists to be part of her installation. “Mickalene’s ambitious reinstallation of the East Lobby offers a new and exciting aesthetic experience — one that engages the senses at every turn and offers the community a dynamic new space in which to connect with each other, the work and the museum,” Bedford says. “It is transformative in its own right as an astounding work of art and in its revisioning of what the museum can and should feel like to visitors.” Whereas museum architect John Russell Pope wanted the museum to be Baltimore’s porch when he designed the original building in the 1920s, Bedford says, “I think what Mickalene Thomas has conceived is Baltimore’s living room.” Thomas, who is often included in lists and articles focusing on the country’s leading queer artists, creates visually and conceptually layered compositions using a wide range of media. Best known for her elaborate paintings composed of acrylic, enamel and rhinestones, she also makes collages, photographs, videos and room-

sized installations. Her genre-busting work includes portraits, landscapes and interiors that blend art history and pop culture to explore themes of gender, identity, sexuality, race, beauty, equity, power, “sense of self” and the human body. She looks at femininity and womanhood against the backdrop of the civil rights movement in the U. S. and the societal upheaval of the 1970s and 1980s. The Baltimore exhibit is one of three she has on display right now, along with others at the Contemporary Art Center in New Orleans and the Bass Museum of Art in Miami Beach. Her work can be found in the permanent collections of New York’s Museum of Modern Art, Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum and Whitney Museum of American Art, as well as Washington’s Smithsonian American Art Museum and many others. A graduate of the Pratt Institute and the Yale University School of Art, now based in New York, Thomas has also become a celebrity and a mentor for young artists. She’s one of the founders of the Josie Club,

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MICKALENE THOMAS photo courtesy BMA

a group of “black queer women.” She has been chosen to design the custom outer “wrap” for a Rolls Royce Red Phantom that Sotheby’s is auctioning to help the global charity known as (RED) raise funds to eradicate AIDS. The Los Angeles Times said she is to contemporary painting what Daft Punk is to music, “one of the more original remix artists working today.” Smithsonian Magazine called her a “Renaissance rock star.” At the Art Basel Miami festival this month, Thomas and her partner and collaborator Racquel Chevremont were spotted all over town, from the opening of Thomas’s show at the Bass Museum to the debut of the new Rubell Museum in Allapattah, another high-profile collection that includes her work. At the Baltimore Museum of Art, Thomas has turned the East Lobby into a community gathering spot that doubles as a showcase for her work and those of others in the exhibit. It’s one of the largest commissions she’s ever undertaken and the first major presentation of the museum’s 2020 Vision initiative, which

highlights female-identifying artists. The transformation starts on the exterior, where she has installed a vinyl mural that looks like three oversized Baltimore row house facades, one in brick, one with siding and one in FormStone. The residential theme continues inside the entrance. Every surface of the lobby has been covered with materials that evoke a domestic setting, including wallpaper, carpet, linoleum flooring, faux wood paneling and a wall of house plants. On the second-level mezzanine, Thomas created a tableau of a living room and then juxtaposed it with a large mural of a sofa and hanging lamp. Her vivid colors, geometric patterns and textures bring to mind the aesthetics of the 1970s and 1980s, a period she sees as particularly significant for African Americans. On the Murray J. Rymland Terrace, an area not usually accessible to the public, Thomas created a temporary “Terrace Gallery” that consists of two rooms, one fitted out like a den with a large TV and one that resembles a club basement. These spaces are filled with works by

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16 other artists. Halfway through the show, the works now on display will be replaced with works by 16 more artists. A back door in the club basement leads to a small outdoor space, complete with Astroturf, that’s reminiscent of the sort of postage stamp-sized back yards many Baltimore row houses have. The East Lobby of the museum’s 1982 wing has typically served as a circulation space leading to the visitor information counter, the gift shop, Gertrude’s Chesapeake Kitchen restaurant and galleries elsewhere in the building. Thomas says she gave the lobby a more residential feel as a way of encouraging artists and visitors to make it their own space, and do what they want with it. She said other artists might have created a single sculpture or painting in the lobby, but she wanted to do something that was “more transformative” and inviting to the community at large. “How does one do that in this space?” she says. “It’s about really changing the façade. It’s about changing the interior. But also allowing this lobby to be open in a way, where all of my touches are along the side, on the periphery. So what you do, you open up the space architecturally and you allow this now to be performative, occupied space for the organization and community that decides to come in here to take over. “The organization and artists that we’re working with, this gives them opportunity to use this as their platform, to use this space, this lobby, as their space,” she says. “To take ownership of that, whether it be a dance performance that could be here, whether it could be musicians … or a place of conversation. This becomes their landscape, their museum, that they can transform and use as their living room.” Thomas says the Baltimore exhibit reflects a “black aesthetic” that’s evident in all of her work. “Black aesthetic is black art,” she said. “Black living. Black love. Black materials. Black poetry. Black literature. Black music.” She used colors and materials that evoke the 1970s, she said, because she believes that was a key period for blacks and women, in terms of civil rights and artistic expression. “Historically, when you think of black women owning their beauty, their hairstyles, when you think of styles and music, everything happened in the late ’60s, ’70s,” she says. She takes a holistic approach to presenting art. At the public opening

of the exhibit, she designed her own signature cocktail for the event and offered custom nail art in a pop-up nail shop. Her installation also includes costumes for museum staffers working in the lobby, created by Dominican-born fashion designer Jose Duran. The other artists she enlisted range from some who are nationally prominent and have been widely displayed, to others who have never had work shown in a major museum before. All have ties to Baltimore and their work includes paintings, prints and drawings as well as videos. The Terrace Gallery will also be a setting for a series of events, including film screenings, artist talks, performances and workshops. Featured artists include Derrick Adams, Zoe Charlton, Theresa Chromati, Dominiqua Eldridge, Devin Morris, Clifford Owens and D’Metrius John Rice. Videos are by Abdu Ali and Karryl Eugene; Erick Antonio Benitez, Nicoletta Darita de la Brown, Kotic Couture, Markele Cullins, Emily Eaglin, Hunter Hooligan and TT the Artist. “A Moment’s Pleasure” is the first presentation in a new initiative called the Robert E. Meyerhoff and Rheda Becker Biennial Commission, which will bring a new exhibit to the museum’s east lobby every two years. Meyerhoff and Becker established the commission in 2018 to give contemporary artists a platform within the museum to carry out ambitious projects that engage the community, in one of the most accessible parts of the building. According to Bedford, the goal is “making the museum experience more welcoming to a broader range of visitors through exceptional art.” Bedford curated the Thomas exhibit with Meyerhoff-Becker curatorial fellow Cynthia Hodge-Thorne and curatorial assistants Katie Cooke and Carlyn Thomas. He praises Thomas for including others. “Many other artists would have taken a commission like this and it would have been all about them, all the time. In the case of Mickalene Thomas, it is not all about her, all the time. In fact, there is an ego-less dimension to this installation that I think is timely, laudable and quite uniquely her.” “Mickalene Thomas: A Moment’s Pleasure” is a free exhibit that will run through May 2, 2021. Located at 10 Art Museum Drive in north Baltimore, the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.

QUEERY David Schwarz Washington Blade photo by Michael Key

QUEERY: David Schwarz

The Bet Mishpachah board chair answers 20 queer questions By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO JOEYD@WASHBLADE.COM You won’t just get canned prayers and liturgy at Bet Mishpachah, Washington’s LGBT synagogue. Two years ago, its members published the second hardcover edition of their own LGBTaffirming prayer book for Shabbat. At 480 pages, it offers innovative translations and readings, including several written by members. “It celebrates the spiritual joy of our LGBT lives along with our friends, families and allies,” says David Schwarz, Bet Mish board chair. A festive Friday night Hanukkah Shabbat will be held Dec. 27 with “lots of menorahs and candles and lots of goodies in the social hour after services,” Schwarz says. On Dec. 25 (also during Hanukkah, which runs Dec. 22-30) Bet Mish members will have Chinese food

in Bethesda and watch a movie (“Little Women”). Full details at betmish.org. Schwarz calls Bet Mish’s new rabbi Jake Singer-Beilin (who’s straight) “young, warm and caring” and “an outstanding teacher.” The Chicago native attended Bet Mish some in 1979, was gone for 30 years but returned when his husband, Stephen, died in 2015. He’s been board chair president for three years. Schwarz is retired from his career with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. He came to Washington about 40 years ago so he and his late spouse could “both have careers in a gay-friendly city.” He enjoys music, theater, travel, good and philosophy in his free time.

How long have you been out and who was the hardest person to tell? About 45 years. The hardest person to tell was my mother, although I think she already knew, since she asked the question. Who’s your LGBTQ hero? Frank Kameny, who stood up for gay rights when there was no one else. What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you? It’s the stereotypes per se, not any one in particular. What’s your proudest professional achievement? Two: publishing a book in philosophy of language when I was an academic and publishing a regulation governing electronic reporting when I was at EPA. What terrifies you? The suspicion that the last three years have not been just a bad dream. What’s something trashy or vapid you love? The early films of John Waters — “Female Trouble” and “Pink Flamingos” period. What’s your greatest domestic skill?

Hmmm — my domestic skills are pretty thin on the ground, although I can make reservations. What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show? I was really hooked on “Queer as Folk” (the American/Canadian version). What’s your social media pet peeve? Twittering twits. What would the end of the LGBTQ movement look like to you? The happy end is that no one is ever again denied their rights or the good things of life because of gender or sexual orientation. The unhappy end is not something I want to think about. What’s the most overrated social custom? Answering every question you’re asked. What was your religion, if any, as a child and what is it today? Jewish and Jewish agnostic. What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem? There are so many, but one is certainly the Phillips Collection. What’s been the most memorable pop

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culture moment of your lifetime? The opening episode of “Will and Grace.” What celebrity death hit you hardest? Princess Diana If you could redo one moment from your past, what would it be? The moment I said “I do” to a heterosexual marriage — it was so unfair and unhappy for both of us.

What are your obsessions? French pastry, core strength, baroque opera and where the hell was everything before space and time. Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: that D.C. had two senators and a representative in Congress!

December 17–January 19 Opera House

What do you wish you’d known at 18? That it really was OK to be gay.

Kennedy-Center.org

Why Washington? Why not? It’s hard to ﬁnd a more gayfriendly and livable city that punches so far above its weight in interesting people and stuff going on.

D EC E MBE R 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 29

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Chanellie’s Drag Brunch is Dec. 28 photo courtesy Nellie’s; an Aretha tribute is on New Year’s Eve at the Kennedy Center photo courtesy Arista Records; ‘The Nutcracker’ runs through Dec. 29 photo courtesy Washington Ballet.

Aretha tribute is Dec. 31

Calderone to spin Dec. 27

Chanel to hostess drag brunch

New Year’s Eve: A Tribute to Aretha Franklin is Tuesday, Dec. 31 from 8:311 p.m. at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts (2700 F St., N.W.). Tickets start at $49. This musical celebration features performances by Grammy winners Dionne Warwick and Michelle Williams, trumpeter and singer Bria Skonberg, Broadway’s Morgan James, Rayshun LaMarr from The Voice and soprano singer Nova Payton. Following the tribute is a dance party in the Grand Foyer and a countdown to the new year. For tickets and information, visit kennedy-center.org.

Club Glow presents techno D.J. Victor Calderone at Soundcheck (1420 K St., N.W.) Friday, Dec. 27 at 10 p.m. Tickets are $15. Calderone’s 20-year career as an ally artist performing at queer and other venues spans from his 1997 pulse pounding “Beat Me Harder” to his 2017 smoothly hypnotic “Parallel.” Known for early remixes and productions with Destiny’s Child and Britney Spears, his catalogue also includes collaborations with Madonna, Beyonce and more. For more information on this and other events, visit soundcheckdc.com.

Chanellie’s Drag Brunch is Saturday, Dec. 28 from 11 a.m.-1:30 p.m. at Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.). Chanel Devereaux and her team of drag performers entertain during an all-you-can-eat brunch buffet. Event includes performances by Chicki Parm, Synchottia C. Diamond Blue, Deja Diamond Jemaceye, Savannah Rae Kelly and Celestia Cox. Tickets are $41.91 on Eventbrite for this 21-and-up show. Visit nelliessportsbar. com for more information on this and other events.

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TODAY The Frederick Douglass in Capitol Hill Walking tour is today from 5-6:30 p.m. beginning at the Library of Congress (101 Independence Ave., S.E.). Tickets are $17.50 on Eventbrite. Queer Asian / Paciﬁc Islander ZooLights hosted by KhushDC is tonight from 7-10 p.m. at the Smithsonian National Zoo (3000 Connecticut Ave., N.W.). This free event includes live music, winter treats and a craft market. Visit nationalzoo.si.edu for more information on this free event. The Spirit of Kwanzaa hosted by The Dance Institute of Washington at THEARC Theater (1901 Mississippi Ave., S.E.) is tonight at 7 p.m. This AfricanAmerican celebration features music, dancing and storytelling. Tickets start at $20 on danceinstituteofwashington.org. Rough House hosted by Lemz and Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.) is tonight at 10 p.m. The cover charge is $5 and includes clothes check. For more information on this and other events, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Saturday, Dec. 21

’Nutcracker’ returns with D.C. twist The Washington Ballet gives its annual performance of “The Nutcracker” at the Warner Theatre (513 13th St., N.W.) through Dec. 29. This version of “The Nutcracker” is set in Georgetown in 1882 with the classic roles replaced with historical ﬁgures such as General George Washington as the Nutcracker and King George III as the Rat King. More than 100 dancers bring their ﬂair to the Christmas tale set to the musical score by Tchaikovsky. Doors open one hour prior to showtime. Tickets range from $32-136. For more information, visit warnertheatredc.com.

Hostess Desiree Dik presents the Dik in a Box holiday drag show extravaganza tonight from 9-11 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing (209 M St., N.E.). Holiday cast includes Bombalicious Eklaver, Chastity Vain, Geneva Confectionn and more. Visit redbear.beer for more information. The Bear Cave: #HoeHoeHoe holiday event is tonight at 9 p.m. at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.). This event is hosted by Bears Can Party and features D.J. Popperz and go-go boys Pup Indigo and Badger. More information is available at greenlanterndc.com. A Onesie Party is at Uproar Lounge (639 Florida Ave., N.W.) tonight at 9 p.m. This 21-and-up event is open to all to drink and be merry in a onesie. Visit Facebook events for more information. The Annual Sugarplum Ball presented by Avalon Saturdays and Chorus D.C. is at Soundcheck (1420 K St., N.W.) tonight at 10 p.m. Tickets are $15 before midnight and $20 after. For more information, visit dougiemeyerpresents. com. The Peach Pit ‘90s Dance Party is tonight at the DC9 (1940 9th St., N.W.) at 10:30 p.m. This holiday party features D.J. Matt Bailer of Mixtape fame. Tickets are $5 before midnight and $8 after. Visit dc9.club for more information.

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Sunday, Dec. 22 The LGBTQ+ Charity Soccer Tournament hosted by the Latino GLBT History Project is today at Gallaudet University (800 Florida Ave., N.W.) from 11 a.m.-4 p.m. For more information on this event and the organizer, visit latinoglbthistory.org. The Georgia O’Keeffe and Modern Art tour hosted by Washington D.C. History and Culture is today from 3-5 p.m. at the National Gallery of Art (4th St., N.W.). O’Keeffe’s abstract art is claimed to portray women’s sexuality and is fueled by sensuous photographs taken of her. More information is available on Eventbrite and Facebook events. QT Fusion Dance: Blues Night is tonight from 6:30-9:30 p.m. at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Court, N.W.). Queer and trans blues dance lessons are taught by Elaine Patterson and Colin Hay. Registration is free on eventbrite.com. The Washington Chorus presents “A Candlelight Christmas” tonight from 8-9:45 p.m. at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.). The celebration features the National Capital Brass, over 130 signers, organ music, sing-alongs and a candlelight processional. Tickets start at $19 on kennedy-center.org.

Monday, Dec. 23 “A Christmas Carol” will be performed today at 2 p.m. at Ford’s Theatre (511 10th St., N.W.). Tickets start at $64 for this holiday classic on fords. org. The Messiah Sing-Along free concert is tonight from 6-7 p.m. at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.). This event concert features conductor Nancia D’Alimonte leading the Opera House Orchestra, guest soloists and a chorus. Visit kennedy-center.org for more information. “Black Nativity” is an Afro-centric holiday performance featuring Gospel and modern dance tonight from 7:30-9 p.m. at the Anacostia Playhouse (2020 Shannon Pl., S.E.). Tickets are $50 on anacostiaplayhouse.com. “Come From Away” performs tonight from 8-9 p.m. at the Kennedy Center’s Eisenhower Theater (2700 F St., N.W.). A small Newfoundland town welcomes thousands of stranded passengers. Visit kennedy-center.org for tickets and information.

Tuesday, Dec. 24 “It’s a Wonderful Life” screens at the National Museum of American History (14th St., and Constitution Ave., N.W.) today from 3:15-5 p.m. It’s almost George’s last Christmas then angel Clarence lifts his spirits. Tickets are $10 on si.edu.

Wednesday, Dec. 25 Dignity Washington celebrates Christmas Day Mass today at St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1830 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) from 6-9 p.m. Dignity, an inclusive LGBTQ Catholic community, welcomes everyone to this public event. For more information, visit dignitywashington.org. A Holiday Book Drive by An Open Book Foundation is today at Kramerbooks and Afterwords Cafe (1517 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) at 7 a.m. The Foundation brings authors, illustrators and their books to low income D.C.-area students to spark a love of reading. More information is available at anopenbookfound.org. Hanukkah Harry’s Reindeer Ride hosted by D.C. Jews on Bikes and Edlavitch DCJCC (1529 16th St., N.W.) is today from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. All are invited to help deliver holiday greetings to ﬁrst responders on a day of service. Registration for this free event is on eventbrite.com. The All-Star Christmas Day Jazz Jam is today from 6-7 p.m. at the Kennedy Center (2700 F St., N.W.). A free holiday concert on the Millennium Stage. Visit kennedy-center.org for more information.

Thursday, Dec. 26 Moonshot Studio is a free art making event today from 10 a.m.-4 p.m. at Kennedy Center’s The Reach (2700 F St., N.W.). The studio offers activities from dance and beat making to poetry and animation for all ages. Visit kennedycenter.org for more information. “Hear Me, Say My Name” hosted by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of the American Indian (4th St. and Independence Ave., S.W.) from 11:30 a.m.-12:15 p.m. This free performance challenges stereotypes of what it means to be a young American Indian. More information is available at americanindian.si.edu.

Christmas and Kwanzaa events

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Editor’s note: Many churches in the D.C. area are LGBT afﬁrming. This list is not meant to be all-inclusive. Christmas Eve St. Paul’s Episcopal Church Rock Creek Park (Rock Creek Church Rd. and Webster St., N.W.) holds a Christmas Eve service today at 4:45 p.m. For details, visit stpaulsrockcreek. org. Dumbarton United Methodist Church (3133 Dumbarton St., N.W.) has a Christmas Eve worship service at 6 p.m. There will be a children’s Christmas pageant, special Christmas music, blessing of children, carols and candlelight. For more information, visit dumbartonumc.org. National City Christian Church (5 Thomas Circle, N.W.) holds a candlelight community worship service with prelude music at 7 p.m. For more information, visit nationalcitycc.org. Seekers Church (276 Carroll St., N.W.) celebrates Christmas Eve with a dinner from 6-7 p.m. followed by a service of lessons and carols from 7:30-8:30 p.m. For more details, visit seekerschurch.org. The Christ Church on Capitol Hill (620 G St., S.E.) has events and services throughout the day and night. At 11 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., the church hosts its “come as you are” family service which features an informal pick-up pageant, carols, children’s message and communion. A formal family service follows at 6:30 p.m. with a Christmas pageant, homily, carols, communion and music from the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. At 10 p.m. there will be a choral prelude with the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. They will be joined by the Christ Church choir. The Festival Eucharist follows at 10:30 p.m. with a candlelit sanctuary, sermon, communion, carols and music from the St. Petersburg Men’s Ensemble. The ﬁnal event is the festive reception at 11:30 p.m. Attendees are asked to bring food and drink to share. For more information, visit washingtonparish.org. Foundry United Methodist Church (1500 16th St., N.W.) holds a children’s Christmas Eve service today from 6-7 p.m. followed by a Candlelight Christmas Eve Service from 8-9 p.m. For more information, visit foundryumc.org. Metropolitan Community Church of Washington (474 Ridge St., N.W.) has a Christmas Eve service at 7 p.m. For more details, visit mccdc.com.

Saint John’s Episcopal Church (1525 H St., N.W.) has Christmas Eve services from 3:30-11 p.m. At 3:30 p.m. there will be carols and anthems followed by a pageant and the Choral Holy Eucharist at 4 p.m. At 7 p.m. there will be carols and anthems with the Festival Eucharist starting at 7:30 p.m. The last service of the night kicks off with carols and anthems at 10:30 p.m. and then Festival Eucharist at 11 p.m. For more details, visit stjohns-dc.org. Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) holds a children’s Christmas service today at 11 a.m. Lessons and carols is this evening at 6 p.m. Christmas Eve Holy Eucharist is tonight at 10 p.m. Check online before going — some services may be full in advance. Details at cathedral.org. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (300 A St., S.E.) has a pageant with Eucharist today at 4 p.m., a carol sing at 9:30 p.m. and a festival Eucharist at 10 p.m. Details at stmarks.net. Christmas Day Washington National Cathedral (3101 Wisconsin Ave., N.W.) holds its Christmas Day Holy Eucharist at 11:15 a.m. featuring scripture, season choral performance, instrumental music and hymns. Passes are not required. At 1:30 p.m. there will be a Christmas Day organ recital by George Fergus. There is a $10 recommended donation. For more information, visit cathedral.org. St. Margaret’s Episcopal Church (1830 Connecticut Ave., N.W.) has a Christmas Day service with the Holy Eucharist today at 10 a.m. For more details, visit stmargaretsdc.org. St. Mark’s Episcopal Church (300 A St., S.E.) has a Christmas Day Mass today at 10 a.m. Details at stmarks.net. Kwanzaa The Spirit of Kwanzaa is Saturday, Dec. 21 from 2-4:30 p.m. at THEARC (1901 Mississippi Ave., S.E.). Tickets are $32.50. Details at bbardc.org. Kwanzaa in Tsiazza is Saturday, Dec. 28 from 7-11 p.m. at JW Marriott (1331 Pennsylvania Ave., N.W.). The event will include food, fashion, art, music and more. Details at eventbrite.com. Ward 8 Democrats will have a Kwanzaa celebration on Saturday, Dec. 21 from noon2 p.;m. at Union Temple Baptist Church (1225 W St., S.E.). Look for the event on Facebook for more information.

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Ever pause to consider Christmas carol lyrics? Many sound odd to 21st century ears.

Making sense of Christmas lyrics

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Christmas carols, as you have undoubtedly noticed, are full of archaic phrases. Figgy pudding? Round yon virgin? And would you really be excited about receiving three French hens on the third day of Christmas (or whenever)? Here’s your decoder ring.

peasant who is he?” MEANING: This carol tells of a king braving harsh winter weather to give alms to a peasant on the Feast of St. Stephen (Dec. 26). He’s asking his page (young male assistant or servant; hmmmm …) the identity and location of the peasant.

1. CAROL: “We Wish You a Merry Christmas” LYRIC: “now bring us some figgy pudding” MEANING: Figgy pudding (aka plum pudding or Christmas pudding) is a British Christmas culinary staple, according to NPR. It’s evolved over time but today means more dessert than pudding in an American sense. It’s a steamed cake with raisins, currants and brandy.

5. CAROL: “The Twelve Days of Christmas” LYRIC: pretty much the whole thing, WTF? MEANING: First off, in Christianity, Christmas is 12 days running Dec. 25Jan. 5 (the eve of Epiphany), preceded by Advent. The origin and meaning of the song and gifts mentioned are unknown. It’s widely thought to have originated from a children’s memory game/exercise with the gifts chosen as larks. It’s a pretty fowl song — six of the gifts named are birds.

2. CAROL: “Angels We Have Heard on High” LYRIC: “in excelsis deo” (pronounced: in ehk-shell-sees day-o) ADVE RTIS N Ghighest P R O to OF MEANING: “Glory inI the God” 3. CAROL: “Here We Come A-wassailing” LYRIC: “here we come a-wassailing among the leavesSIGNATURE so green …” ADVERTISER By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the MEANING: wassailing islimited anto old washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not placement, payment and insertion schedule. English word for caroling, as the song is sometimes sung.

W AD FOR COPY AND DESIGN ACCURACY. Revisions must be submitted within 24 hours of the date of roof will be considered ﬁnal and will be submitted for publication if revision is not submitted within 24 hours of e of proof. Revisions will not be accepted after 12:01 pm wednesday, the week of publication.Brown naff pitts edia llc (dba the washington blade) is not responsible for the content and/or design of your ad. Advertiser is ible for any legal liability arising out of or relating to the advertisement, and/or any material to which users through the advertisement. Advertiser represents that its advertisement will not violate any criminal laws or hts of third parties, including, but not limited to, such violations as infringement or misapporpriation of any ht, patent, trademark, trade secret, music, image, or other proprietary or propety right, false advertising, unfair ition, defamation, invasion of privacy or rights of celebrity, violation of anti-discrimination law or regulation, other right of any person or entity. Advertiser agrees to idemnify brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the gton blade) and to hold brown naff pitts omnimedia llc (dba the washington blade) harmless from any and all loss, damages, claims, or causes of action, including reasonable legal fees and expenses that may be incurred n naff pitts omnimedia llc, arising out of or related to advertiser’s breach of any of the foregoing representations ranties.

4. CAROL: “Good King Wenceslas” LYRIC: “Hither page and stand by me, if thou know’st it telling/yonder

6. CAROL “Silent Night” LYRIC: “round yon virgin, mother and child” MEANING: gathered around the blessed Virgin Mary. Yon is an antiquated word for “that one.” 7. CAROL: “Deck the Halls” LYRIC: “troll the ancient yuletide carol” MEANING: to sing an old Christmas carol in full, joyous voice *honorable mention: gays, of course, have long had fun with the line “don we know our gay apparel,” which simply mean to put on one’s party clothes.

8. CAROL: “God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen” LYRIC: “God rest ye merry gentlemen/let nothing ye dismay” MEANING: A Shakespearean-era way of expressing good wishes, let nothing upset you this season. 9. CAROL: “The Christmas Song” LYRIC: “chestnuts roasting on an open fire/Jack Frost nipping at your nose” MEANING: chestnuts are edible nuts from chestnut trees, a group of deciduous trees and shrubs. How they got associated with the holidays is a bit murky — undoubtedly the lyrics of this 1945 Robert Wells/Mel Torme song are heavily responsible. Jack Frost is a personification of frost, ice, snow — basically any harsh winter weather. He’s a variant of Old Man Winter. 10. CAROL: “Baby It’s Cold Outside” LYRIC: “I simply must go (but baby, it’s cold outside)/the answer is no (but baby it’s cold outside) …” MEANING: Controversial lyrics that took on new meaning in the #MeToo era, where no means no more fully at face value. This year’s new “woke” version by John Legend and Kelly Clarkson change the lyrics to “I simply should go (text me when you get home)/Oh, I’m so supposed to say no (mm, I guess that’s respectable) …

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CHARLIZE THERON and JOHN LITHGOW in ‘Bombshell.’ Photo by Hilary Bronwyn Gale; courtesy Lionsgate

SAM ROCKWELL, KATHY BATES and PAUL WALTER HAUSER in ‘Richard Jewell.’ Photo by Claire Folger; courtesy Warner Bros.

Holiday ‘Bombshell’ Two dramas mine recent history with flawed but worthy results

By BRIAN T. CARNEY In an interesting development, two of this year’s big-name holiday releases try to turn (relatively) recent events into contemporary political parables. Neither completely succeeds, but both offer some fascinating moments and great performances. Directed by Hollywood legend Clint Eastwood, with a script by Billy Ray (“Captain Phillips” and “The Hunger Games”) from a 1997 “Vanity Fair” article by Marie Brenner, “Richard Jewell” is a cautionary tale about investigations gone wrong and the resultant media frenzies. During the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta, Jewell was working as a security guard at Centennial Park, an official entertainment venue. Jewell spotted a suspicious package, alerted police and helped officials clear the area, saving countless lives from a nail bomb explosion. Although he was initially hailed as a hero, Jewell was soon considered a suspect in the crime, based on his checkered history as an over-zealous security officer and the fact that he fit the FBI’s “lone wolf” profile. Unknown FBI agents leaked his name to Kathy Scruggs, a reporter at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution;

Jewell and his mother became the subject of an intense media circus and an extensive criminal investigation. Jewell was eventually exonerated; it was subsequently discovered that the bomb was planted by terrorist Eric Rudolph who also bombed a lesbian bar and two abortion clinics. The movie gets off to a promising start as a character study of the quirky Jewell, a lawand-order fanatic who continually oversteps the boundaries of routine security jobs (for example, he illegally stops cars that are driving near the campus where he works) and who collects a large arsenal of guns in the small apartment he shares with his mother. Unfortunately, what starts out as a nuanced portrait of Jewell becomes a reactionary tirade against the government and the media. The tone is set when we see a bumper sticker on the wall of Jewell’s lawyer (Watson Bryant played by Sam Rockwell) that says he fears the government more than he fear terrorists. The FBI agents, led by Jon Hamm, are brutal and corrupt. They’re also fond of using homophobic slurs. Kathy Scruggs (Olivia Wilde) trades sex for information and the rest of the press corps is equally lazy and venal. The reactionary tone is sealed when Eastwood stages several climactic scenes against the Confederate flag (which was part of the Georgia state flag at the time). Despite some great performances (Paul Walter Hauser is amazing as Jewell, Kathy Bates is deeply sympathetic as his mother and Nina Arianda is a welcome breath of fresh air as Bryant’s secretary), LGBT audiences can safely skip “Richard Jewell.”

The poster for “Bombshell” announces that the movie is “based on a real scandal” which is both the strength and weakness of the movie. The expose of rampant sexism and harassment at Roger Ailes’ right-wing media empire is simultaneously horrifying, enthralling and entertaining, but the movie is far too eager to lay all of the blame solely on Ailes. The chic script by Charles Randolph tries to weave together the stories of three women at Fox News, all of whom are sexually harassed by network head Roger Ailes (John Lithgow). Real-life Megyn Kelly (Charlize Theron) is at the top of the journalistic game but is fighting to keep her position; real-life Gretchen Carlson (Nicole Kidman) is fired for refusing Ailes’ sexual advances and files a lawsuit against him; ambitious newcomer Kayla Pospisil (Margot Robbie), an invented character, is quickly taught the price she must pay to advance at Fox News. While the dialogue is snappy, the script overall doesn’t hang together very well. Except for one brief elevator ride, the three women never meet onscreen, and Theron gets a lot more screen time than her castmates. Further, Kelly is a well-defined character, whereas Carlson remains a blond cipher and Pospisil is an odd collection of unconnected quirks. With a few exceptions, most notably Doug Brunt (Mark Duplass as Kelly’s supportive husband) and Jess Carr (out actress Kate McKinnon as a closeted lesbian who befriends Pospisil), the supporting characters are also not well developed. Theron and Lithgow turn in magnificent performances, but Randolph’s script turns the story into a battle between Kelly and Ailes (and to a lesser extent Carlson) instead of a story of broader patterns of discrimination. Fox News owner Rupert Murdoch (a wonderful Malcolm McDowell) only gets a brief cameo at the end when he appears to fire Ailes and there’s no consideration of how the other men at Fox News help maintain the toxic environment. More importantly, Randolph doesn’t pay any real attention to the women who prop up Ailes’ empire. Why do Ailes’ wife Beth (Connie Britton), his lawyer Susan Estrich (Allison Janney), his gatekeeper Faye (out actor Holland Taylor in an uncredited role) and his rising star Judge Jeanine Pirro (Alanna Ubach) enable his behavior? For example, there’s a chilling moment where Faye buzzes Kayla into Ailes’ inner office knowing all too well what will happen to the young woman when she steps inside. Unfortunately, Randolph and director Jay Roach waste the moment. Despite these significant flaws, is “Bombshell” worth the time during the busy holiday season? The answer is yes. Roach keeps things moving at a confident and suspenseful pace, the lead performances are superb and it’s great fun to spot the real-life celebrities and the Hollywood celebrities who play them.

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Plug your ears and Shakespeare Theatre Company’s world premiere of “Peter Pan and Wendy,” Lauren Gunderson’s adaptation of J.M. Barrie’s classic “Peter Pan,” would pass for something very close to the original. All the usual suspects are onboard including the flying boy in green, the crocodile, a mischievous fairy, three kids in nightclothes, mermaids, a gang of boys and a clotheshorse pirate with a hook where a hand used to be. And sequentially it moves, like the original, from Edwardian London to an imaginary distant island called Neverland. But with open ears, it’s another story. Gunderson’s woke version takes a line from Barrie’s 1904 script — “One girl is worth twenty boys” — and runs with it. Young Wendy Darling isn’t interested in mothering. She aspires to be a scientist like her idol, Nobel Prize-winning chemist/physicist Marie Curie. Tiger Lily is a Native rights activist. And girl-hating Tinkerbell learns to appreciate her rival females. Here, Peter Pan, the boy who refuses to grow up, is rather sidelined by strong young women from whom he ultimately learns a thing or two. In the Darling’s spacious nursery shared by determined Wendy (Sinclair Daniel) and her younger sibs, trepidatious John (Christopher Flaim) and hopelessly adorable Michael (Chauncey Chestnut), a telescope is pointed at the night sky. While Wendy is happy looking at the planets, reading science books and telling bedtime stories, her parents have other ideas for their only daughter, including finishing school. “Why would anyone want to finish their children?” Wendy earnestly asks her conventionally bourgeoise mother. Heading out for yet another evening of networking and fun, the older Darlings blithely leave their offspring under the care of Nana, a big loping canine (played by real life Labradoodle and scene stealer Bailey) dressed in period nanny’s collar and cap. On this night, an uninvited Peter Pan drops by the nursery. After some discussion about errant shadows and the downside of growing up, Peter (played unaffectedly by likable actor Justin Mark) invites Wendy and brothers to Neverland. With the help of some fairy dust and the expertise of Paul Rubin (flying sequences choreographer), the quartet soar daringly high above the cavernous Sidney Harman Hall stage. Out director Alan Paul heads an A-team of designers who’ve created a marvelous, magical dream world. Jason Sherwood’s applause-inducing sets includes a blue/gray nursery fronted by a low, illuminated London skyline instead of footlights; the Lost Boys’ crude

SINCLAIR DANIEL as Wendy and JUSTIN MARK as Peter Pan in ‘Peter Pan and Wendy.’ Photo by Teresa Castracane

but cozy lair hidden beneath a pile of gigantic out-sized toys; and, of course, a big, rollicking pirate ship. What’s likely the largest and most startling crocodile you’ve ever seen comes compliments of puppet designer James Ortiz; and Jared Mezzocchi’s projections include Peter’s active shadow and scary, engulfing flames. Loren Shaw’s fabulous costumes from Mrs. Darling’s luxe finery to the Lost Boys’ delightful array of ragtag period getups, capture the flare and fun of the tale. It’s a visually stunning production that appears to have spared no expense. The plotline mostly follows Barrie’s story. Gunderson’s language is contemporary and like the best of family theater, her script provides giggles for the grown-ups. Here it’s the simmering attraction between fussy, wannabe mass murderer Captain Hook (Derek Smith) and Smee, Hook’s besotted, effete righthand functionary played hilariously by out actor Tom Story. Also funny are Broadway’s Jenni Barber as a bitchy, Tinkerbell in gold sequins and a trio of inept pirates. Not a princess, but rather a real girl with real skills, Tiger Lily (Isabella Star LaBlanc) is avenging her nation, Neverland’s indigenous people whose land was stolen. Together, she, Wendy and Tinkerbell use agility, smarts and magic to overcome their enemies — the pirates and Hook who’s described as possessing the telltale signs of a tyrant: big coat, weird hair and no heart (sound

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‘Peter Pan’ gets woke Updated classic at Shakespeare Theatre Company spares no expense By PATRICK FOLLIARD familiar?). Yes, “Peter Pan and Wendy” is for young theatergoers too. But please keep in mind, it’s recommended for audiences 5 years and older. A baby’s gurgles and coos may be divine, but not when said infant is making sounds two rows behind you, especially if you’re already straining to hear one or two of the show’s younger actors. Shakespeare Theatre Company doesn’t exactly scream theater for kids. But its current offering, a helping of the familiar and fun with a big dash of girl power, makes for a timely, holiday treat that families can see together.

‘Peter Pan and Wendy’ Through Jan. 12 Shakespeare Theatre Company Sidney Harman Hall 610 F St., N.W. $35-120 202-547-1122 shakespearetheatre.org

and La Boum Brunch Vanilla Butterscotch Hot Chocolate 1 cup milk 1 cup fat-free half and half 4 tablespoons cocoa 3 tablespoons sugar or granulated sweetener 1/8 teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons butterscotch schnapps 1 oz vanilla vodka Whipped cream or mini marshmallows (optional) Butterscotch syrup (optional)

What Do You Guys Put in Your Tiki Mugs 6.0, Vanilla Butterscotch Hot Chocolate and Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin with elaborate garnish. photos courtesy the chefs

Queer holiday cocktails Local chefs share their favorites By EVAN CAPLAN They run your restaurants, they craft your drinks, they sous your food: but what do they love to stir up themselves when the holidays roll around? Right from the creative genius minds of your favorite LGBTQ chefs and mixologists in the District, this is how they suggest tossing together a drink (or two) to get all the feels during December. Jamie Leeds, Hank’s Oyster Bar What Do You Guys Put in Your Tiki Mugs 6.0. This drink is a fun tiki play on holiday spiced apple cider. In this version, we start with a traditional tiki drink base of smooth double-aged Caribbean rum, Velvet Falernum and Tiki bitters. Then, we pair it with house-spiced apple cider and fresh lemon. The best part about the drink? It can also be served as a zeroproof libation, making it a perfect drink for events and gatherings of all ages. Mikko Kosonen, Mikko Nordic Fine Food Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer 1 part cranberry cocktail 1 part lemonade 1/2 part vodka 1/4 part St-Germaine Splash of tonic Sprinkling of fresh cranberries I had this drink for first time in Stockholm, as I was working there at my family restaurant. We served it all year, but somehow it become our signature

drink for holiday events. As it get dark in Nordic countries early (like 3 p.m.), we choose to have this one also for our happy hour drink. We started to use it for holiday events’ signature cocktail, so we called it Rudolf the Red Nose Reindeer. Here in Washington as we love aquavit so much we changed vodka to clear aquavit –- and you bet it is tasty with pickled herring and house-cured ham. Bryan Van Den Oever, Red Bear Brewing Dirty Klaus Red Bear’s D.C. Dirt Porter Mt. Defiance Amaretto Civic Vodka Don Ciccio Concerto (coffee liquor) It might not be roasted chestnuts, but what says “winter,” “holidays” and “indoor drinking season” more than freshly shaved nutmeg on top of your drink? Answer: nothing. It’s like the Klauses themselves are sitting next to you, except more leather and less jolly suit. Made with only local spirits and our own D.C. Dirt American Porter, it’s a perfect nightcap after some delicious brews in this chilly weather. Carlie Steiner, Himitsu and Dos Mamis 100% THAT MENSCH 2 oz pecan-infused apple brandy 1 oz grapefruit juice .5 oz Cardamom honey 1 barspoon apricot jam This is a simple grapefruit sour meant to replicate the flavors commonly found in rugelach while playing with common wintery time ingredients. Best drank by people who celebrate Hanukkah and also love Lizzo. Shake all ingredients, and strain them into a coupe. It can also be made into a huge punch and served on the rocks. Christopher

Lynch, Wundergarten

In a medium saucepan, combine the milk, half and half, cocoa, sugar and salt. Heat over medium heat until steaming hot. Remove from heat, stir in the vodka and butterscotch schnapps. Pour the hot chocolate into two heat safe mugs. Top with whipped cream or mini marshmallows, and drizzle with butterscotch syrup, if desired. The drink’s being served all winter long at Winterfest, Wundergarten’s holidaytime pop-up. Ruth Gresser, Pizzeria Paradiso Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin Gin on the rocks (or with garnish) I’m a spirits drinker when I have a cocktail. Generally gin on the rocks. For the winter, my favorite is Barr Hill Tom Cat Gin, which would be great with a lemon latke. I can see Barr Hill Tom Cat on the rocks with a lacey latke sitting on the rim topped with an apple slice and a dollop of sour cream. Alex Levin, Schlow Restaurant Group Manischewitz Sangria 1 bottle of Manischewitz 1 cup of simple syrup 1 lemon, juiced 1 lime, juiced 1 cup of spiced rum or vodka (or more for a stronger sangria) 1 cup club soda Seasonal fruit such as slices of Cara Cara Oranges, Pomegranate Seeds, Pears (pieces) or Apples (pieces) Make the simple syrup by mixing 1/2 cup of simmering water with 1/2 cup of sugar, then let cool. Mix all the other ingredients together. Let sit overnight in the refrigerator, then serve the following day. Every year, I host a gala that is now known as the People’s Hanukkah Party here in Washington. The core group are people who used to attend the Obama’s annual Hanukkah party at the White House but now choose to celebrate elsewhere. Last year, the party had over 300 people and is an amazing experience of community, food and music. Besides baking babka, latkes and sufganiyot, I always serve Manischewitz Sangria as one of the cocktails — it’s a big hit and so easy to make.

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Chicago is a great city to visit any time of year. Fabulous architecture, incredible museums and affordably priced hotels (with no hidden resort fees) plus a great gayborhood (aka Boystown) means there’s lots to do. GETTING THERE — I took my favorite airline, Southwest, which serves close in Midway Airport. From there you can hop on the Orange Line to your hotel. It’s a quicker ride than from O’Hare although American and United both have hubs there. To get around the city, you can ride the CTA. Get a Ventra card for ease of riding on both it and the “L” (aka the Elevated which is their Metro). They have a great elevated subway system as well as a good bus system. Rental car and Uber not needed. WHERE TO STAY — I always stay in the Lakeview East neighborhood. Bargain hunters will love The Inn at Lincoln Park (innlp.com or reservations at innlip.com) which has super low weekday rates and reasonable weekend rates. My other favorite is the Hotel Versey which is a music-themed hotel that is also reasonable and is a short walk to Boystown, the gay Village where everyone is welcome. Both hotels are on Diversey Parkway (on the Brown Line at Diversey) with cute shops and neighborhood restaurants of every type within steps. There is even a handy Trader Joes at 667 West Diversey Parkway if you forget something, great pizza at Renaldi’s on Broadway, and the Clark Street Dog for a quick bite after a night of partying. The Veggie Grill at 614 W. Diversey Parkway has healthy bowls and salads. NIGHTLIFE — Most of the bars are on Halsted Street, aka Boystown. Don’t let the name fool you. Everyone is welcome. Like most gayborhoods, it has been severely gentrified and struggles to keep its identity as rents rise and small businesses move out. It’s still a lot of fun though. The original video bar, Sidetracks, is still going strong with sing-a-long showtunes on Sunday afternoons until 8 p.m. Watch out for flying napkins when they play “Evita” or “Titanic.” Members of the Windy City Chorus sing along. You will find dancers at the Lucky Horseshoe (3169 N. Halsted) as well as affordable libations from $5. The leather crowd is up the street at the Cellblock, 3702 N. Halsted. You can dance the night away at Hydrate or hang out with the locals at the NorthEnd Tavern (3169 N. Halsted). I also like the friendly crowd at Little Jims. WHAT TO DO — Buy a CityPass and save 50 percent on all the museums and other top attractions. More information at citypass.com. You also get VIP entry and are able to skip the ticket lines. Don’t miss the Art Institute where the Warhol exhibit, “Andy Warhol: From A to B and Back Again” continues through Jan. 26. It explores the strange and wonderful career of

Shedd Aquarium in Chicago. Photo by Bill Malcolm

this 1960s icon. The Shedd Aquarium has a great live show, “Land and Water” with whales, dolphins and even a red-tailed hawk (plus a walking seal). Don’t miss the 4-D “Shark” experience movie where the chairs rock and mist are sprayed in the area while you learn about the fascinating story of sharks. Don’t miss the “Amazon Rising” exhibit as well. The Adler Planetarium is also nearby and both look out onto Lake Michigan. The Field Museum is another must and is also near the Shedd. Enjoy the Field Bistro at this natural history museum which features locally sourced cuisine, coffee and craft beer. I liked the “Wildlife Photos of the Year” exhibit, the “Fantastic Bug Encounters” exhibit as well as the “Dinosaur Experience.” A walk through Millenium Park is another must include their ice-skating rink. You will also find a winter wonderland out on Navy Pier. Walking around Halsted Street and nearby Broadway is another must. Don’t miss Unabridged Books on Broadway. The Center on Halsted (3656 N. Halsted) is another stop and features a Whole Foods in the same building. FOR MORE INFORMATION — Pick up a copy of GRAB Chicago Magazine for more bar and activity ideas. They also have a map of the attractions. You will find them in print and on line at grabchicago.com. The Windy City Times (an LGBT publication) is also a great resource. The

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Off to Chicago!

Gay-friendly city is ‘Paris of the Midwest’ By BILL MALCOLM Chicago Reader is your weekly which also has great ideas of what to do and where to go. The Northalsted Business Alliance also publishes a Boystown guide, northhalsted. com/guide. More information and ideas may be also found at choosechicago.com. You cannot beat a winter getaway to the Windy City. Yes it’s cold but the museums are warm. It’s the Paris of the Midwest. You might even run into their new Mayor, Lori Lightfoot.

Bill Malcolm

writes this syndicated LGBT value travel column which focuses on seeing a city without breaking the bank. He focuses on affordable hotels, using public transit and other fun ideas to enjoy a city like a local. This is a hobby. Special thanks to Michelle Gonzalez of Choose Chicago for helpful ideas and a CityPass.

MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER PHEV GT

Holiday haulers

Honda Passport, Lincoln Nautilus among crossover standouts By JOE PHILLIPS Dashing through the snow just got a lot more fun with some smartly designed midsized crossovers. Sure, each has a blemish or two (just like so many of us), but none is a deal-breaker. Most offer plenty of spunk, from deckedout cabins to engines that can haul ass. While holiday crowds and congestion can bring out the Scrooge in me, driving each of these rides turned out to be an ode to joy. HONDA PASSPORT $32,000 MPG: 19 city/24 highway Zero-60 mph: 6.2 seconds As if there weren’t enough crossovers to choose from on dealer lots, Honda decided to shoehorn in another one. Slotted between the compact CR-V and full-size Pilot, the Passport is the best of both worlds. This ride is roomier than the CR-V, with a raised suspension and acres of cargo space for suitcases and holiday presents. And though it’s built on the same chassis as the heftier Pilot, the Passport is six inches shorter and about 100 pounds lighter. This means decent fuel mileage and easier parking. My test vehicle was surprisingly quiet and came in the top-ofthe-line Elite trim level, which is $12,000 more than the base model. Goodies included heated/ventilated seats, heated steering wheel, LED interior lighting,

auto-dimming side mirrors, wireless smartphone charging pad and all-wheel drive. But I could have done without the push-button shifter on the console. Pushing a button to change gears is just not intuitive, so give me a stick shift any day. While there’s no 360-degree camera, I did appreciate all the other safety features, like automatic high beams, forward collision warning, blind-spot monitor, parking sensors and more. The hands-free liftgate and integrated voice controls came in handy on a few shopping treks to Tysons. While this is no speed racer, accelerating from a standing start was much better than expected. So was the precise steering and nimble cornering. And the cabin, with its ample amenities and soft-touch materials, was akin to riding in an upscale Acura. LINCOLN NAUTILUS $42,000 MPG: 19 city/26 highway Zero-60 mph: 6.8 seconds Perhaps Lincoln renamed its topselling MKX crossover the Nautlius because of the sea of luxury features. All the usual creature comforts are here, plus optional surround-view camera, massaging seats and a sparkling 19-speaker Revel stereo. There’s also the swanky Black Label trim level, where — for a $15,000 premium — you enter a world of free carwashes, annual detailing and a concierge to run your errands. Yes, seriously. Think of it as having your own personal Santa. Of course, even entry-level Lincoln owners get pampered, with free pickup and delivery for regular maintenance, as well as a limited-time membership in Clear—the service that lets you bypass long security lines at airports. Compared to the dated MKX, the Nautilus has a stylish new front, glitzy grille and fivetier headlights. While the angled liftgate

with sporty rear spoiler brings to mind a sexy Porsche Cayenne, the overall design seems more like a sculpted land yacht — in a good way. Despite the old-school cool, there’s plenty of today’s tech: rear entertainment system and wireless charging for smartphones and such. Along with the typical safety gear, Lincoln threw in a nifty system for handsfree driving. There are some downsides, though, like the dated console and hard plastic interior trim. As with the Honda Passport, you have to push buttons to shift gears instead of using a good ole shifter. And beware: A fully loaded Nautilus can easily top $60,000. Still, the power, handling and fuel economy are just as good as the competition. And for anyone who geeks out on retro chic, this ride is hard to beat. MITSUBISHI OUTLANDER PHEV GT $42,000 MPGe: 74 (gas-electric mode) Zero-60 mph: 9.2 seconds If you’re looking to be naughty and nice, there’s the Mitsubishi Outlander PHEV GT. It’s naughty, because buying a Mitsubishi will brand you a rebel. After all, the automaker isn’t known for producing vehicles that push the design envelope. The cabins are often more practical than posh. And for many four-wheel Mitsu products, so-so reliability ratings haven’t exactly been a plus. Yet this crossover really is nice, with refreshed styling, updated seats and a sleeker center console for 2019. Plus, the Outlander PHEV is now the world’s best-selling plug-in hybrid. I wanted to test it because a completely redesigned 2021 Outlander is in the works and will likely cost more when it arrives in showrooms. This Outlander can go up to 22 miles in all-electric mode, before switching to gas-electric mode. The base model is chock full of features, but the GT trim level is the one to pick. It offers keyless entry, surround-view camera and numerous safety features. There’s also a premium 710-watt Rockford Fosgate stereo with super-thumpin’ subwoofer in the back. Listening to it helped channel my frustration one afternoon when I got stuck trailing a granny for 20 minutes. Cornering isn’t as tight as I would like, but the all-wheel drive is plenty grippy on slick roads. Another plus: This is perhaps the only plug-in hybrid that can actually tow anything. And while hybrids usually are more expensive than traditional gasengine models, there are certain federal, state and local tax rebates/incentives to help lower the price. Oh yes, the 10-year/100,000-mile powertrain warranty is another nice touch, too.

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Gone too soon?

Stuff lives on in new book ‘Mobituaries’ Dust to dust. That’s supposedly what we all become again when we exit, stage left: we are made of dust and we’ll just be a pile of it when we die. But is that all or can we hope to live on as a line in a page somewhere? As in the new book “Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving” by Mo Rocca and Jonathan Greenberg will someone remember? Nothing lasts forever. If you’re old enough to read that, you’re old enough to know its truth: everything and everybody ends eventually and some leave without fanfare. We might not even see them go because, as Mo Rocca muses, “not everyone has gotten the send-off they were due.” That set-things-right need for closure launched Rocca’s “Mobituary,” which is “an appreciation for someone (or some thing) who didn’t get the love she or he deserved the first time around.” Take, for instance, “the long s,” which looks something like a small F and which can be found in the Declaration of Independence. It ceased to be used in late 1803 and is gone but not forgotten. Women don’t wear hobble skirts anymore and men don’t wear codpieces; doctors don’t believe phrenology helps diagnose your obsession with cats; encyclopedias won’t help a young author-to-be who thinks he’s gay; and you can no longer visit Prussia because it hasn’t existed since early 1947. But things don’t just disappear. People do, too. Once upon a time, every man wanted to dress like a guy named Beau Brummel. We don’t talk about Ada Lovelace these days or her 19th-century computer programming work. Few people know who Moses Fleetwood Walker is and even in today’s political climate, Billy Carter’s name is rarely mentioned. Reputations can die ignominously, TV shows get canceled and careers fade away (or sometimes end with a President’s life). Complacency can die, as can grace. But sometimes, just when we think life is filled with nothing but death, demise and unpleasantry, it can return on

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the tops of champagne bubbles. The first thing — perhaps even the only thing — you need to know is that “Mobituaries” is absolutely delightful. Promise yourself two minutes with this book and you’ll close its covers a half-hour later. Dip in for a little nostalgia (when did station wagons depart, anyhow?). Step back in time to witness the acts of people who made big impacts but are now largely forgotten. See how celebrities can eclipse other celebs, even in death. Like with a bag of potato chips, watch yourself reach into this book for another handful because authors Mo Rocca and Jonathan Greenberg don’t wade in too deeply; instead, they give readers just enough to whet appetites but not so much that we get full. And as with any feast, literary or otherwise, you can nibble without thinking you must have a helping of everything. Rattle around and you’ll find that “Mobituaries” is gently humorous, kindly inclusive and plain fun to read. Have it nearby and you’ll know that this book won’t collect dust.

‘Mobituaries: Great Lives Worth Reliving’ By Mo Rocca and Jonathan Greenberg Simon & Schuster $29.99 375 pages

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D EC E MBE R 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 41

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Compass is a licensed real estate brokerage that abides by Equal Housing Opportunity laws. Information is compiled from sources deemed reliable but is not guaranteed. All measurements and square footages are approximate. This is not intended to solicit property already listed. Compass is licensed as Compass Real Estate in DC and as Compass in Virginia and Maryland. 1232 31st Street NW, Washington, DC 20007 |202.448.9002

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Pet safety for the holidays Christmas trees, mistletoe and more can pose problems By VALERIE M. BLAKE Last summer, I became aware of an operation by Homeward Bound Schnauzer Rescue in Millersville, Md., to remove 17 Miniature Schnauzers from a puppy mill in Virginia. The rescue went well, and the pups became known as the VA17. Most of the dogs had an illness of one sort or another, so they were quarantined for 30 days or more while being treated. During that time, people made applications to foster or adopt them. I was one of the applicants. Shortly after Thanksgiving, I received a call from Homeward Bound to let me know I had passed all the requisite checks and would be able to adopt a dog. I asked if there was a little girl available and the answer was yes. About a week later, I picked up Fiona. At that point it was December and I explained to my other Schnauzers, Fulbright (age 14), Cory (age 11) and Sasha (age 7), that they would be getting a puppy for Christmas. Ultimately, Sasha was delighted to have a little sister. Cory is a bit more nonchalant and Fulbright wants nothing to do with her. They’ll come around over time. Fiona (age 1) had lived all her young life in a cage, so even though she is an adult

Sure your Christmas tree is pretty, but it can present problems for pets.

dog, she had never touched grass, walked on leash, been housetrained, or played with toys. We were starting from scratch. So far, she has run circles around the yard, hit the pee pads 80% of the time, and discovered how to play with her sister, Sasha, and her favorite toy, a stuffed red devil. On the other hand, she has also gnawed on my hand and arm while teething, learned how to put her

front paws on the coffee table and steal stuff, and eaten the bathmat. We all love our pets and during the holidays, whether we’re spending them in our own home or someone else’s, there may be decorating items not normally present that could be dangerous for them. Here is a reminder of things to avoid. Start with a Christmas tree. Add chewing on electrical cords, drinking the water in the tree stand and jumping up for a closer examination of a twinkling light and you have a recipe for disaster or, at minimum, a toppled tree. Even the tinsel that mesmerizes your cat can result in foreign body obstruction, if ingested. Luckily, mistletoe is usually hung at the top of a doorway, but if not securely fastened, it can fall to the floor when you’re not in the room to notice. Eating mistletoe can cause your pet to have gastrointestinal and cardiovascular problems. Holly on wreaths can cause diarrhea and vomiting and eating lilies can cause kidney failure in cats. It should go without saying that pets should not go near the candles on a menorah or on the buffet. And we all know that anything on a fireplace mantel is fair game for a cat. Please be sure to blow candles out when you leave the house, so no pet can turn a lit candle into a fire. ‘Tis the season for parties large and small. Crowds can cause anxiety for pets, so make sure they have a special space to retreat to, if you’re the host. Leave them at home if you’re not. When letting people in and out of your home, keep your pets out of the way of the door so they don’t get stepped on or escape.

Let guests know if they can pet or feed your animals and provide suitable treats so they don’t feel the urge to give them “people food.” Items like chocolate cookies or candy, raisins in that unpopular fruitcake, grapes on the cheese platter, and the bowl of nuts or salty chips on the coffee table should be avoided. These foods can cause a multitude of problems from vomiting and diarrhea to pancreatitis to seizures or worse. And keep an eye on Uncle Charlie, who thinks it’s cute to get the dog drunk. Alcohol poisoning can produce decreased coordination, changes in a pet’s central nervous system, tremors, coma and more. I highly recommend programming the ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center emergency number into your phone. It’s (888) 426-4435 and is available 24/7, 365 days of the year and should be your first call if you think your pet has eaten something it shouldn’t have. Fiona and I will be feasting on a small platter of crudités with a side of kibble and I wish all my furry (and not so furry) friends a Merry Christmahanukwanzaa, and a safe holiday season.

Valerie M. Blake is a licensed Associate Broker in D.C., Maryland and Virginia and Director of Education & Mentorship at RLAH Real Estate. Call or text her at 202-2468602, email her via DCHomeQuest. com, or follow her on Facebook at

Little Jack Horner was never a joiner. He seldom went out and about. So he spent last weekend happily installing his glass tile and grout.

VALERIE M. BLAKE, Associate Broker, GRI, Director of Education & Mentorship Dupont Circle Ofﬁce • 202-518-8781 (o) • 202.246.8602 (c) Valerie@DCHomeQuest.com • www.DCHomeQuest.com

D EC E MBE R 2 0 , 2 0 1 9 • WA SHINGTONBLA D E.COM • 43

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PART-TIME LOAN OFFICER / PROCESSOR Howard University Employees Federal Credit Union is searching for a part-time employee to process loans. The ideal candidate will be able to interview members interested in obtaining a loan and have the abilities to work up and complete the application processes from beginning to end. Three to five years of lending experience is required. Credit union lending experience is a plus. You must have a high school diploma or equivalent. College degree is a plus. Interested candidates should email their resumes to info@huefcu.org or fax them to 202-806-4511.

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