Washingtonblade.com, Volume 51, Issue 10, March 6, 2020

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VOLUME 51 ISSUE 10 ADDRESS PO Box 53352 Washington DC 20009 PHONE 202-747-2077 E-MAIL news@washblade.com INTERNET washingtonblade.com PUBLISHED BY Brown Naff Pitts Omnimedia, Inc. PUBLISHER LYNNE J. BROWN lbrown@washblade.com ext. 8075 EDITORIAL EDITOR KEVIN NAFF knaff@washblade.com ext. 8088 FEATURES EDITOR JOEY DIGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com ext. 8081 SR. NEWS REPORTER LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com ext. 8079 NEWS REPORTER CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com ext. 8083 REPORTER & INTERNATIONAL NEWS EDITOR MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com POP CULTURE REPORTER JOHN PAUL KING PHOTO EDITOR MICHAEL KEY mkey@washblade.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS PETER ROSENSTEIN, MARK LEE, LATEEFAH WILLIAMS, KATE CLINTON, KATHI WOLFE, RICHARD J. ROSENDALL, ERNESTO VALLE, NICOLÁS LEVY, FELIPE ALFACE, YARIEL VALDÉS GONZÁLEZ, LYNARE ROBBINS, RACHAEL ESPINET, PHILIP VAN SLOOTEN, ESTEBAN GUZMÁN, ALEX COOPER, KATLEGO K. KOL-KES, VICTOR MAUNG CREATIVE DESIGN/PRODUCTION AZERCREATIVE.COM SALES & ADMINISTRATION DIRECTOR OF SALES & MARKETING STEPHEN RUTGERS srutgers@washblade.com ext. 8077 SR. ACCT. EXECUTIVE BRIAN PITTS bpitts@washblade.com ext. 8089 ACCT. EXECUTIVE JOE HICKLING jhickling@washblade.com ext. 8094 CLASSIFIED ADVERTISING/ADMINISTRATION PHILLIP G. ROCKSTROH prockstroh@washblade.com ext. 8092 NATIONAL ADVERTISING RIVENDELL MEDIA 212-242-6863; sales@rivendellmedia.com For distribution, contact Lynne Brown ext. 8075. Distributed by MediaPoint, LLC

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Crew Club to stay open Owner says sale of building cancelled

Comings & Goings Williams joins Sol Systems energy investment firm

By PETER ROSENSTEIN

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com

The Crew Club is not closing after all.

(Blade file photo by Michael Key)

One day after as many as 300 people turned out for its official “closing” party on Saturday night, the Crew Club announced on its Facebook page that “in an unexpected turn of events” the D.C. gym, sauna and bathhouse for gay men plans to stay open.

The Crew Club’s Facebook announcement came a month and a half after its co-owner, DC Allen, 63, told the Washington Blade he and his husband, Ken Flick, 70, who is the Crew Club’s other co-owner, decided to close the club on Feb. 29 and sell the building in which it has operated for 25 years so the two could retire.

Allen said in a January interview he had signed a contract in 2016 to sell the building at 1321 14th St., N.W. in the city’s booming 14th Street entertainment corridor to the Douglas Development Corporation, one of D.C.’s largest real estate developers. Allen said the sale of the Crew Club building was scheduled to go to settlement on April 6 of this year.

But Allen told the Blade on Monday that Douglas Development informed the Crew Club two weeks ago it had changed its mind and decided not to buy the building.

“So I was left in this really, really rough situation where we had four years of planning our retirement and also everything else and all of a sudden that wasn’t happening,” he said. “And I had put together a big closing party for the club, which I couldn’t cancel,” Allen told the Blade in a phone interview.

“So I decided I would just keep going with the business but I would see in the next two weeks whether I could find some additional partners that would basically do the heavy lifting with the club,” he said. “So I had people in from all over the country through my contacts. And as of Friday we finally came to a deal at the last minute at 3 o’clock in the afternoon,” Allen said.

“And we took on new partners and came to a lease agreement with them for the club,” he said. “And we announced during the party that we would not be closing.”

Allen said he would announce at a later time more details about the new partners.

However, he said he was free to disclose that they plan to make major changes to the interior of the Crew Club space by, among other things, redoing amenities such as bathrooms, showers, the steam room and sauna “to their specifications.”

He said he and Flick will still be owners of the Crew Club but in a lesser capacity. He also noted that all of the Crew Club’s employees retained their jobs.

Allen said he wasn’t at liberty at this time to disclose the reason the sale of the building fell through other than that the Douglas Development Corporation had forfeited a $500,000 deposit it made to the Crew Club as part of the 2016 contract for the building sale.

“Thank you to everyone that came out last night!” the Crew Club’s Facebook message on Sunday says in referring to the Feb. 29 closing party. “What a night. In an unexpected turn of events in the days leading up to our closing, our situation changed and we are now actually able to stay open,” the message says.

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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 Andrew Williams on his new position as Senior Director Regulatory Affairs, Energy Infrastructure & Markets with Sol Systems, LLC. Sol Systems is one of the premier renewable energy investment firms in the country with more than a decade of operational success across the United States. To date, Sol has developed and/or financed more than 850 MW of solar projects valued at more than $1 billion for Fortune 100 companies, municipalities, counties, utilities, universities, and schools. The company also actively trades in and shapes environmental commodity and electricity markets throughout the United States.

Prior to joining Sol Systems, Williams was with the Environmental Defense Fund where he served as Director of Regulatory and Legislative Affairs, U.S. climate and energy.

While there, he helped shape EDF’s state-level domestic advocacy strategy. Prior to working with EDF he served ANDREW WILLIAMS as Vice President and General Counsel for Hickory Creek Ventures, LLC; and as Operational Officer and Vice President for Atlas Pipeline Mid-Continent in Tulsa, Okla.

Williams was appointed to the advisory board of SAFER PA and is an immediate past member of Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam’s Natural Gas Workgroup. He was appointed by thenOklahoma Gov. Brad Henry to the advisory council for the Oklahoma Commission on Marginally Producing Oil and Gas Wells and is a past board member of the Natural Gas and Energy Association of Oklahoma and served on the Legislative and Regulatory Affairs Committee for the Gas Processors Association. He is a member of the board of the Blade Foundation Congratulations also to John (Jack) Rayburn in his new position as Director of Legislative Affairs for Planned Parenthood Federation of America and Planned Parenthood Action Fund.

Planned Parenthood is a trusted health care provider, an informed educator, a passionate advocate, and a global partner helping similar organizations around the world. Planned Parenthood delivers vital reproductive health care, sex education, and information to millions of people worldwide. Planned Parenthood spends money on politics and elections through the Planned Parenthood Action Fund (its federal political action committee), through its Super PAC, and through a variety of related 501(c)(4) entities. Upon starting the position, Rayburn said, “It’s an amazing privilege to have this opportunity to get up each day and fight on behalf of those who are too often marginalized from society. I’m proud to work for an organization that is leading with its values in our federal advocacy and in the health care we provide for our patients.”

Prior to joining Planned Parenthood, he served as Senior Government Relations Manager with the Trust for America’s JOHN JACK RAYBURN Health. He has been an active political volunteer with the Democratic National Committee; with the Jason Kander for U.S. Senate campaign and with the 2016 Democratic National Convention Committee. He is also a volunteer at Whitman-Walker Health.

He earned his bachelor’s in Biology (Pre-Med) from Georgetown University, and his master’s in Public Health from The George Washington University.

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Maryland Senate D.C. AIDS conference committee chair backs honors murdered sodomy repeal bill trans woman Activists hopeful measure will clear chamber next week

Puerto Rico attack not yet labeled hate crime

By LOU CHIBBARO JR. lchibbaro@washblade.com

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com

The chair of the Judicial Proceedings Committee of the Maryland State Senate says he fully supports a bill to repeal the state’s sodomy law and predicts the committee will approve the bill this week and send it to the full Senate for final approval early next week.

Sen. William Smith Jr. (D-Montgomery County) told the Washington Blade he’s hopeful that the Senate will follow the lead of the Maryland House of Delegates, which voted 133 to 5 on Feb. 20 to approve the sodomy law repeal measure.

A spokesperson for Smith’s committee was reluctant to disclose Smith’s position on the bill when contacted by the Blade last week. Smith told the Blade in a Feb. 29 phone interview that the staffer may have Sen. WILLIAM SMITH JR. (D-Montgomery County) said he’s hopeful that the Senate will been overly cautious about discussing the approve the sodomy law repeal measure. matter.

“My position has been very public and if I’m not a sponsor I plan to put my name on it,” he told the Blade. “I’m very supportive of the bill.”

Smith said at least one member of the committee, Sen. Michael Hough (R-Carroll & Frederick Counties), has expressed strong opposition to the bill. But Smith said he has the votes needed for the committee’s approval of the measure.

Steve Smith, Hough’s chief of staff, told the Blade on Monday that Hough hasn’t publicly disclosed the reason for his opposition but said he is discussing his concerns with Smith.

“We’re working with Sen. Smith to try to fix some issues in the legislation,” he said.

Maryland is one of 16 states that have yet to repeal its sodomy law 17 years after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in 2003 that state sodomy statutes were unconstitutional when applied to consenting adults in a private, noncommercial setting.

The Maryland law, known as the Sodomy and Unnatural or Perverted Sexual Practices Act, calls for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison for anyone convicted of sodomy, which is defined as anal sex and other sexual practices, including oral sex or sex with an animal.

Mark Procopio, executive director of the statewide LGBTQ advocacy group Free State Justice, said although reports have surfaced that the law has been invoked as recently as last year he said it appears to have been used in cases of sexual assault or sexual abuse.

“As far as we know, it hasn’t been used in recent years to target queer people as some of these laws have been used in the past,” he said.

Procopio said he is optimistic that the full state Senate will approve the sodomy repeal bill with similar bipartisan support shown by the vote approving the bill by the House.

A spokesperson for Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether Hogan has taken a position on the sodomy law repeal bill and whether he would sign it if it reaches his desk.

Under Maryland’s legislative procedures a bill approved by the legislature can become law without the governor’s signature as long as the governor doesn’t veto it.

A D.C. conference on HIV/AIDS and STIs among Latinos opened on Monday with a moment of silence for a transgender woman who was brutally murdered in Puerto Rico last week.

The National Hispanic/Latinx Health Leadership Summit opened at the Capital Hilton a week after Alexa was killed in a park in Toa Baja, a municipality that is about 15 miles west of San Juan.

Police hours before Alexa was murdered on Feb. 24 responded to a report that she was “peeping” on people who were using a McDonald’s restroom.

Media reports indicate the person who filed the complaint against Alexa declined to press charges against her once they learned she was homeless.

Alexa’s murder was captured on video a few hours later.

A vigil in honor of ALEXA, a transgender “She had dreams, hopes, hobbies woman who was brutally murdered in Puerto Rico, took place near La Fortaleza, and did not deserve to have her life taken the Puerto Rico governor’s official residence, from her,” said Human Rights Campaign in San Juan on Feb. 29.

(Photo courtesy of Pedro Julio Serrano) Director of Community Engagement for the Transgender Justice Initiative Tori Cooper last week in a statement.

The statement also describes Alexa’s murder as “a horrifying crime that must be investigated with the utmost thoroughness and care.”

Bad Bunny, a Puerto Rican trap star, on Feb. 27 paid tribute to Alexa during a performance on “The Tonight Show.” San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulín Cruz ordered flags in her city to be lowered to half staff to honor Alexa.

“In the municipality of San Juan we have ordered the lowering of flags to half staff at all of our buildings to honor Alexa’s memory, to denounce transphobia and to demand justice in this terrible hate crime,” said Cruz in a press release. “We offer the municipality of San Juan’s resources both to Alexa’s family and the trans community in any effort that fosters a climate of peace, respect and dignity for all trans people and the LGBTTIQ community.”

A vigil for Alexa took place in front of La Fortaleza, the Puerto Rico governor’s official residence, on Feb. 29.

Pedro Julio Serrano, founder of Puerto Rico Para Tod@s, a Puerto Rican LGBTQ advocacy group, and other advocates have urged Puerto Rican authorities to investigate Alexa’s murder as a hate crime.

The U.S. commonwealth’s hate crimes and nondiscrimination laws include both gender identity and sexual orientation. Anti-LGBTQ violence and discrimination are nevertheless commonplace in Puerto Rico.

An 18-year-old man was detained in connection with Alexa’s murder, but authorities later released him. David Begnaud of CBS News on Sunday noted the FBI in San Juan has not opened a hate crime investigation into her death.

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Northam signs conversion therapy ban

“We are excited to host what will be a fun Pride Night next Friday,” stated Jim Van Stone, President, Business Operations and Chief Commercial Officer. “The Wizards, along with all of us at Monumental Sports, look forward to celebrating our LGBTQ community here in D.C. with a night filled with inclusivity, entertainment and fun.”

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington, D.C. will perform the National Anthem and the first 10,000 fans entering the arena will receive a Wizards-branded fanny pack.

Following the game, fans who purchase a Pride Night ticket package will be able to join the postgame dance party hosted by DJ Tezrah on the main court. In addition to the postgame dance party, the Pride package includes a limited edition Love And Basketball Pride Night T-shirt and flag.

Fans can purchase tickets by visiting WashingtonWizards.com, any local Ticketmaster outlet, including the Capital One Arena box office, or by calling or texting 202-661-5050.

STAFF REPORTS

Whitman-Walker to participate in global HIV vaccine study

Virginia Gov. RALPH NORTHAM (Blade file photo by Michael Key)

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Monday signed a bill that will ban so-called conversion therapy for minors in the state.

Maryland and D.C. are among the U.S. jurisdictions in which the highly discredited practice has been banned. Virginia will become the first southern state to prohibit conversion therapy for minors once the bill takes effect on July 1.

“This issue is personal for me, as a pediatric neurologist who has cared for thousands of children,” said Northam in a statement. “Conversion therapy is not only based in discriminatory junk-science, it is dangerous and causes lasting harm to our youth. No one should be made to feel wrong for who they are — especially not a child. I’m proud to sign this ban into law.”

Democrats last November regained control of the Virginia General Assembly for the first time in more than two decades. The bill — which state Del. Patrick Hope (D-Arlington County) introduced — is among the LGBTQ rights measures that Virginia lawmakers have approved during the 2020 legislative session.

The General Assembly last week gave its final approval to the Virginia Values Act, which would add sexual orientation and gender identity to the state’s nondiscrimination law. Northam is expected to sign the measure in the coming weeks.

MICHAEL K. LAVERS

Wizards to host Pride night The Washington Wizards will host their annual Pride game on Friday, March 6, at 7 p.m. when the Atlanta Hawks come to Capital One Arena.

Master impersonator Riley Knoxx will entertain fans at halftime by performing a three-song medley of Beyonce hits (where she will be joined by the Wizards Dancers).

She won an MTV video music award for starring in Taylor Swift’s star-studded video for “You Need to Calm Down.” Knoxx has been featured on shows such as R&B Divas, Real Housewives of Potomac and Braxton Family Values. She has performed with and for politicians and celebrities around the country including Jennifer Hudson, Mýa, Miley Cyrus, Deborah Cox, Faith Evans, Andy Cohen and Anderson Cooper.

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D.C.’s Whitman-Walker Health is currently recruiting 40 HIV-negative volunteers to participate in a study to test the effectiveness of a “global” HIV vaccine aimed at preventing people from being infected with multiple strains of the HIV virus.

Whitman-Walker’s headquarters and medical center at 1545 14th Street, N.W. will be one of about 55 sites in North America, South America, and Europe that will closely monitor a total of 3,800 HIV-negative people who will participate in the study, according to a statement released by Whitman-Walker.

“This international study is an effort to develop a safe and effective global HIV vaccine for people at risk of getting HIV,” the statement says.

It says the study is being organized through a partnership with the National Institutes of Health funded by HIV Vaccine Trials Network and the pharmaceutical company Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, which has developed the experimental vaccine.

Dr. Deborah Goldstein, Whitman-Walker’s Director of Clinical Research, described the effort as a Phase III study, which is designed to determine whether the experimental vaccine actually works to prevent someone from being infected with HIV. Goldstein said the vaccine has already undergone earlier U.S. Food and Drug Administration required Phase I and Phase II safety and efficacy testing with a smaller number of people, which determined the vaccine is safe to advance to the large-scale Phase III trial.

She said the Phase III trial is a “randomized double blind placebo controlled study” in which some of the study participants will be given a harmless substance that’s not the vaccine referred to as a placebo. The participants and those administering a series of injections over a period of one year will not know who is receiving the placebo or who is receiving the actual vaccine, Goldstein told the Washington Blade.

Similar to other vaccine studies, she said this one involves administering six injections on four separate dates over a 12-month period in the upper arm of study participants like a flu shot. On their first visit after being enrolled in the study participants will receive one injection. Three months later they will come back for another injection. At the sixmonth point they will get two injections and at the 12-month point they will get their final two injections, Goldstein said.

Meanwhile, over what is expected to be a two-and-a-half to three-year period for the duration of the study, the 40 D.C. participants will be scheduled to return to WhitmanWalker every three months for an HIV test and separate STD or sexually transmitted infection test, Goldstein said.

“Additional blood work will be taken throughout the course of the study to evaluate for safety and for antibodies to the vaccine products,” she told the Blade.

The ultimate goal of the study is to find out whether those who were given the experimental vaccine will develop vaccine generated HIV antibodies that will prevent them from becoming HIV infected compared to the group of participants receiving the placebo.

According to Goldstein, people who ultimately agree to enroll in the study will be those “who are not on PrEP but know about it and choose not to be on it for any reason – because they’ve been on it and have side effects, because they choose not to take an extra pill a day, because it’s not right for them.”

LOU CHIBBARO JR.

Biden scores major comeback in Super Tuesday rout A disappointing night for Sanders, Warren, Bloomberg

By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com

Coming back from disappointing results at the start of primary, former Vice President Joseph Biden won big on Super Tuesday by routing his competition for the Democratic presidential nomination in multiple states.

By early Wednesday, the Associated Press declared Biden had won or was leading in most of the 14 states up for grabs. In particular, Biden had a strong showing in the South, which has a heavy black electorate that turned out for him during the South Carolina primary and resurrected his campaign.

Speaking at a celebration in Los Angeles, a joyous Biden (who initially mixed up his wife and his sister on stage before saying, “They switched on me!”) declared victory.

“Just a few days ago, the press and the pundits declared the campaign dead,” Biden said. “And then came South Carolina, and they had something to say about it. And we were told by the time we got to Super Tuesday it would be over.

Well, it may be over for the other guy.”

The states where Biden won or had a strong showing were Alabama, Arkansas, Massachusetts, Minnesota, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia.

In some cases, such as Minnesota, Biden won in places in which he had never set foot as a presidential candidate and opened zero field offices.

Prior to Super Tuesday, Biden enjoyed a boost of support earlier in the week with a bevy of new endorsements, including from former South Bend Mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), who bowed out of the race.

Although Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) won Colorado, Utah and Vermont, the results disrupted the media narrative from just weeks ago that the Democratic socialist was an unstoppable force in winning the Democratic nomination. Consistent with his performance in the 2016 primary, Sanders was unable to win states in the South.

In Texas, Sanders — who has considerable support in the Latino community — fell short, with Biden unexpectedly winning the race with about

Former Vice President JOE BIDEN delivered a political earthquake, winning big on Super Tuesday and taking the lead in the delegate count.

34 percent of the vote. As of Wednesday morning, the AP had yet to call Maine or California.

The results in California, which as the largest state in the country would have the largest share of delegates and is a heavily Democratic state, weren’t known at press time. Visit washingtonblade.com for updates.

As of late Tuesday, Sanders had fewer votes for the Democratic nomination than he had at this point in 2016, according to the Washington Post.

With Biden’s strong showing in the Democratic primary, calls will likely increase for former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg — who was a moderate alternative to Biden — to drop from the race.

The AP reported Bloomberg was assessing his plans in the aftermath of the results.

For context, Bloomberg spent $43 million on advertising in Virginia, North Carolina and Alabama, but Biden spent $772,000 on advertising in those states, according to CNN reporter David Wright.

Biden won all three.

The Super Tuesday results were even more disappointing for Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), who had an abysmal showing in every state and finished an embarrassing third place in her home state of Massachusetts.

Meanwhile, exit polls from NBC

News revealed voters who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual of transgender made up one out of every 10 people who voted in the Democratic primaries on Super Tuesday.

Broken down on state-by-state basis, Maine and Massachusetts had the highest percentage of LGBTQ-identified voters in their primaries. In both cases, 13 percent of voters told the exit poller they were LGBTQ, according to an analysis from the Human Rights Campaign.

According to NBC News, Democratic voters who identify as LGBTQ are substantially younger than the Democratic electorate as a whole. A third of LGBTQ people were younger than 30 years old while 65 percent of the LGBTQ voters today were under 45.

The exit polls, however, don’t reveal the candidate with whom LGBTQ voters were aligned on Super Tuesday. Earlier polls indicated the LGBTQ Democratic voting bloc is most aligned with Sanders and Warren, although that may have changed in recent days as Biden gained momentum.

Alphonso David, president of the Human Rights Campaign, said in a statement the exit polls demonstrate on Super Tuesday LGBTQ people “showed up in record numbers and cemented our status as a crucial constituency to court.”

“LGBTQ people and our rights have

been on the ballot for decades, compelling us to register to vote and participate in politics rather than let others decide our rights for us,” David said.

The Human Rights Campaign hasn’t endorsed a candidate in the primary, but David commended each of the Democratic candidates for their commitment to LGBTQ rights.

“2020 marks the most pro-equality field of Democratic presidential candidates in U.S. history,” David said. “Our power has continued to grow and candidates are seeing us increasingly for the critical voting bloc we are and have pursued us vigorously, releasing policy after policy providing more details about their LGBTQ platforms than any other Democratic primary field in history.”

In a related development this week, Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide, threw his support behind Biden.

“I am proud and excited to endorse Joe Biden for president,” Obergefell said in a public Facebook post. “We have the opportunity to change our nation for the better in November, and I believe Joe is the candidate who can make that happen.”

The Ohio widower, whose heartwarming story of fighting to have his name on his late spouse’s death certificate helped turn the tide in favor of marriage equality, was the lead plaintiff in Obergefell v. Hodges, which led the Supreme Court to rule for same-sex marriage nationwide in 2015.

Obergefell is the latest in a wave of Democratic public figures who have thrown their support behind Biden in the aftermath of former South Bend mayor Pete Buttigieg and Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) dropping out of the race.

Other prominent members of the LGBTQ community who have endorsed Biden include former Human Rights Campaign president Chad Griffin.

In 2016, Obergefell appeared at Democratic fundraisers with former President Obama and endorsed Hillary Clinton over Bernie Sanders in the Democratic primary.

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Buttigieg leaves mark as gay candidate, secures political future Experts hope to see him on statewide ballot in Indiana

By CHRIS JOHNSON cjohnson@washblade.com

Pete Buttigieg threw in the towel this week after a hard-fought presidential campaign, but observers agree he made a mark on American politics — and not just because he broke barriers as a gay presidential candidate.

Before Buttigieg launched his campaign more than a year ago, few people knew about the gay South Bend mayor with presidential aspirations. But by the time he suspended his campaign, few people were unaware. Those who follow him closely recognize despite his exit, Buttigieg has a bright political future.

Annise Parker, CEO of the LGBTQ Victory Fund, said Buttigieg excelled at taking advantage of being a gay presidential candidate, mobilizing LGBTQ voters and the LGBTQ donor base, but at the same time was “not allowing that to define his campaign.”

“He was not the gay candidate,” Parker said. “He took advantage, but didn’t allow it to swamp the overall message of his campaign.”

Buttigieg isn’t the first openly gay presidential candidate. That distinction belongs to Fred Karger, who campaigned for the Republican presidential nomination in 2012, although he never was allowed on the debate stage or achieved traction in the polls.

But Buttigieg did achieve other firsts as a gay candidate, such as being the first openly gay person in a debate for presidential candidates of a major party. Demonstrating on stage he was politically astute, Buttigieg was clear, inspirational and, if needed, ferocious. His questioning of Elizabeth Warren on how she intended to pay for her proposed initiatives contributed to the once ascendant candidate’s downfall in the polls.

The bigger prize for Buttigieg was his success in the early primary states in Iowa and New Hampshire. Although a fiasco in vote counting marred his victory in Iowa, Buttigieg walked away with the most delegates in the state, making him the first openly gay person to win a state contest in a presidential primary campaign. In New Hampshire, Buttigieg won a close second place to Bernie Sanders.

Tearful over those early victories in Iowa and New Hampshire were many gay men who thoughtful they would never see the day when a gay presidential candidate

would do so well.

Among those who witnessed Buttigieg’s wins firsthand and recognized their impact was New Hampshire Democratic Party Chair Raymond Buckley, who’s gay and said Buttigieg’s candidacy “opened the closet door for millions worldwide.”

“Pete serves as a role model for all young people wanting to be accepted and loved,” Buckley said. “The very act of kissing his husband when he announced radically changed America in that instant. It is not just that Pete is gay that made his candidacy remarkable but for a 37-year-old, smalltown mayor from Indiana to rise overnight to become a national contender for the presidency is breathtaking. Winning Iowa, coming in a close second are achievements that have escaped many seasoned candidates for decades.”

Being a gay presidential candidate had little precedent and Buttigieg faced criticism at times for being too gay and not gay enough, but many of Buttigieg’s supporters were excited about the prospect of electing a gay person to the White House.

In Iowa, for example, as Buttigieg crosscrossed the state, his audiences were the ones who brought up LGBTQ issues and being gay in a positive way. He didn’t have to pander for their votes as a gay candidate.

That enthusiasm materialized with success on the day of the Iowa caucuses.

At the end of the day, however, Buttigieg won’t be the Democratic presidential nominee, nor did he achieve his ultimate goal of winning election to the White House as the first openly gay president.

Parker, however, said that misses the point. Buttigieg, she said, was basically unknown, a “new entry” at the Democratic primary and “didn’t have enough runway” to connect with voters to gain the support that would have been necessary.

Calling his entrance into the primary a “standing start,” Parker said Buttigieg was nonetheless able to enjoy early success in Iowa and New Hampshire because he had one-on-one conversations in the state, which she said voters there value, and demonstrated he’s a “genuine, nice thoughtful guy.”

One could say the timing of Buttigieg’s exit was an act of self-interest. Polls

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consistently showed Buttigieg struggled with the black electorate, which was evidenced in the South Carolina primary when Buttigieg walked away with a singledigit performance. A similar drubbing on Super Tuesday would have cemented that image of black and minority voters not liking him, tainting his future political endeavors.

By bowing out before the results, Buttigieg avoided that permanent perception.

Buttigieg’s record as South Bend mayor was cited as a source of concern for black voters, including his handling of a shooting of a black man by a white police officer, his termination of a black police chief who was investigating racism on the police force and a housing initiative that eliminated low-income homes, many in black neighborhoods.

At the same time, there were indications — including focus group results from Buttigieg’s campaign — that black voters had trouble accepting a gay candidate for president.

Parker, however, bristled at the notion black voters wouldn’t support Buttigieg calling that “absolute and utter B.S.,” insisting black voters at the end of the day would support whomever is the Democratic nominee.

“You have to have hard conversations sometimes,” Parker said, demonstrate an awareness and concern for issues black voters care about, but if that happens, black voters will lend support to an LGBTQ candidate.

As evidence, Parker pointed to the election of Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and her own success winning election as mayor of Houston, asserting an LGBTQ candidate is “the best candidate” for the black community.

Looking at it another way, Buttigieg’s decision to exit at that time could be seen as a bold decision for the Democratic Party that will play well in posterity.

By throwing in the towel, Buttigieg minimized the split of the moderate vote in the Democratic primary, clearing the way for former Vice President Joseph Biden’s tremendous wins on Super Tuesday.

Buttigieg essentially sacrificed himself for a candidate who’s closer in ideology to Buttigieg than either Sanders or Warren.

Buttigieg’s exit, followed the next day

by Sen. Amy Klobuchar’s (D-Minn.) decision to suspend her campaign, was the catalyst for an avalanche of new support for Biden.

With the two candidates no longer a factor in the primary, big name endorsements immediately rolled in for the former vice president.

LGBTQ endorsements included former Human Rights Campaign President Chad Griffin and Jim Obergefell, the lead plaintiff in the case that led the U.S. Supreme Court to rule in favor of same-sex marriage nationwide.

The Biden campaign counted 125 new endorsements after Buttigieg exited the race on Sunday, bringing the total endorsements to more than 1,500. If Biden continues to remain strong in the Democratic primary after Super Tuesday, or even go on to win the Democratic nomination, Buttigieg could get credit for helping that to happen.

Spencer Kimball, a professor in political and sports communication at Emerson College, said candidates dropping out and subsequently endorsing Biden “had varying effect around the country” on Super Tuesday.

In the aftermath of the earth-shattering campaign and graceful exit, Buttigieg’s personal political future is bright. Already speculation has emerged he could pursue statewide office, but may seek chairmanship of the Democratic National Committee, which he sought in 2017, as his next step.

Buttigieg left the door open for a future move in politics in his speech suspending his campaign in South Bend. Supporters could be heard chanting, “2024! 2024!”.

Parker said Buttigieg has an “unlimited political future” and she expects him to run for president again, although between now and that run “has the opportunity to do other things.”

“I would love to see him considering working in a position in a Democratic administration, or even better, I would prefer to see him on a statewide ballot in Indiana,” Parker said.

But Parker denied Buttigieg has given her any indication to her he’d pursue such an office, saying his presidential campaign wasn’t a means to achieve something else.

“It may have been at the beginning, but it certainly hasn’t been for months now, ‘I’m running for president to raise my profile,’” Parker said. “It’s been, ‘I’m running for president of the United States to unite our country.”

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Blade witnesses man scale U.S.-Mexico border fence

Nat’l group withdraws D.C. measure to decriminalize sex work

TIJUANA, Mexico — The Blade this week saw a man enter the U.S. after he scaled two fences that mark the U.S.-Mexico border.

The man, who was wearing a gray sweat suit, used a makeshift ladder to scale a fence on the Mexican side of the border near the beach in Tijuana’s Playas de Tijuana neighborhood at around 1:15 p.m. on Feb. 26.

A man who was standing near the fence told him to “hurry up” as he ran across a narrow strip of land between the fence and a second fence on the U.S. side of the border.

The man quickly climbed over it and ran to a set of Jersey barriers on the beach at Border Field State Park in San Diego.

A man who was standing near the fence in Playas de Tijuana saw this reporter and asked him whether he was “filming.”

“No,” this reporter responded.

This reporter used his iPhone to record a short video of the border fence a couple of minutes before the man scaled it. The video did capture a man hoisting the ladder that was used to scale the fence.

A picture this reporter took captured the man climbing up the ladder as two men held it in place.

The Blade a few minutes later saw a group of seven young men who were wearing the same gray sweat suits as the man who scaled the fence. They were sitting on a bench under a gazebo that is located about 100 feet from the fence.

Several men — presumably smugglers who are known as “coyotes” in Mexican Spanish — who were in the immediate area were talking quietly into headphones. A Tijuana Police Department patrol car arrived at the gazebo a few minutes after the man scaled the fence.

The group of men was no longer at the gazebo. It was also not clear whether the patrol car was responding to the man who scaled the fence.

The Blade saw a U.S. Border Patrol truck driving through the strip of land between the two border fences a few minutes after the man scaled them. It is not clear whether he was taken into custody in the U.S. The incident took place while the Blade was in Tijuana to continue its reporting on the plight of LGBTQ migrants.

The Blade earlier in the day visited Jardín de las Mariposas, an LGBTQ migrant shelter that is located in a working-class neighborhood between Playas de Tijuana and downtown Tijuana. The Blade on Tuesday visited Casa de Luz, a migrant shelter in Playas de Tijuana in which a number of LGBTQ migrants currently live.

Casa de Luz is less than two miles south of the section of border fence the man scaled.

The Minneapolis-based Organization for Refuge, Asylum and Migration organized the trip that brought the Blade to the two shelters.

A national organization that advocates for the decriminalization of sex work announced on Tuesday that it has withdrawn a petition it filed in January before the D.C. Board of Election to place a bill to decriminalize prostitution in the nation’s capital on the D.C. ballot in November.

Decriminalize Sex Work, or DSW, which has offices in Austin, Texas, Brooklyn, N.Y. and set up a temporary office in D.C., said strong opposition to its proposal to place a decriminalization measure on the ballot this year by a coalition of local sex worker advocacy groups prompted it to withdraw the proposal.

The D.C. Sex Workers Advocates Decriminalize Sex Work official ROB Coalition or SWAC announced in a Feb. 13 KAMPIA was accused of sexual misconduct statement that its opposition to the ballot toward women, which alarmed some local measure was based on what it said was advocates.

(Photo courtesy Marijuana Policy Project) DSW’s failure to reach out to local groups in an adequate way before it moved ahead with the ballot measure.

SWAC members also cited reports that one of the founders and leaders of DSW, Rob Kampia, was accused of sexual misconduct toward women when he headed a marijuana decriminalization group 10 years ago in Colorado. The statement says SWAC would not participate in any effort to pass a ballot measure if Kampia is involved. Kampia has denied the allegations.

DSW spokesperson Kaytlin Bailey has disputed claims that DSW failed to reach out to local groups and local activists, saying DSW officials invited SWAC and other local activists to become a partner in the ballot measure campaign. Bailey said DSW was prepared to invest considerable resources it has from supporters across the nation to help with the D.C. ballot measure.

“We know that this ballot initiative can be won, but we cannot and do not want to do it when local activists are not interested in collaborating with our organization,” DSW said in a statement released on Tuesday.

“Divided in this way, we all lose,” the statement says. “So we are discontinuing our efforts to decriminalize sex work in the nation’s capital.”

But the statement says DSW remains optimistic that a sex work decriminalization measure can win approval from voters in D.C., based in part on a local poll it commissioned showing 55 percent of D.C. voters support its proposed initiative on decriminalization. The poll shows 19 percent of D.C. voters were undecided on the issue and 26 percent were opposed.

“We know the initiative we drafted and submitted to the D.C. Board of Elections could win in a public election,” the statement says. “We know that decriminalizing sex work is the right thing to do. We are offering a $100,000 grant to a qualifying local D.C. organization to run a decrim initiative in 2022,” the statement declares.

In a separate statement released on Tuesday, DSW listed a series of criteria and guidelines it established for an organization to obtain the $100,000 grant. Among them is experience in running or working at a high level on a political campaign, including a campaign to pass a local, city, or state ballot initiative.

The statement about the grant says interested groups should submit an application for the grant by June 30 of this year. It says DSW would make a decision on the selection of an applicant by Sept. 30, 2020, so that work on the ballot measure can begin at that time, more than a year before the November 2022 D.C. election.

A spokesperson for SWAC couldn’t immediately be reached to determine whether any of the SWAC organizations would consider applying for the grant.

The LGBTQ organizations that are members of SWAC include Casa Ruby, WhitmanWalker Health, HIPS, National Center for Transgender Equality, Gay and Lesbian Activists Alliance, No Justice No Pride, Lambda Legal, Trans-Latinx DMV, and Trans United.

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A man uses a makeshift ladder to scale a fence that marks the Mexico-U.S. border in Tijuana, Mexico, on Feb. 26.

(Blade photo by Michael K. Lavers)

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‘I’ve not seen anything quite like that bridge’ AIDS Healthcare Foundation leader travels to Colombian border city

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS mlavers@washblade.com

LOS ANGELES — AIDS Healthcare Foundation President Michael Weinstein in January visited a Colombian border city that remains on the frontlines of the Venezuelan refugee crisis.

Weinstein on Jan. 14 visited AIDS Healthcare Foundation’s clinic in Cúcuta, which is less than 10 miles from the Táchira River that marks Colombia’s border with Venezuela. Weinstein also traveled to the Simón Bolívar International Bridge that links the two countries.

“I’ve been to a lot of difficult, desperate circumstances,” Weinstein told the Blade during an interview at his Los Angeles office.

“I’ve not seen anything quite like that bridge.”

“You think about what does it take for a mother to … trek with a two-month-old baby or somebody to put an elderly person in a wheelchair knowing that they’re going to have to travel this incredibly long distance and not even knowing where their destination is going to be,” he added. “There’s nothing waiting for them.”

The Cúcuta clinic opened in September 2018.

AIDS Healthcare Foundation on its website notes the clinic currently has 892 “registered patients” with 856 of them receiving antiretroviral drugs and nutritional support. AIDS Healthcare Foundation also says 60 percent of the more than 7,250 HIV tests the clinic has given support “the Venezuelan population.”

Weinstein told the Blade the clinic serves Venezuelan migrants, Venezuelans who come to Cúcuta and return to their country and local residents. Weinstein said gay men and transgender people are among the clinic’s patients. “(The clinic’s) primary mission is ARV treatment and the laboratory because that’s what they couldn’t get elsewhere,” Weinstein told the Blade.

Weinstein noted the Brazilian government donated antiretroviral medications to the clinic before Jair Bolsonaro, the country’s antiLGBTQ president, took office in January 2019.

Weinstein told the Blade this aid “hasn’t been cut off.”

The President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) has also given AIDS Healthcare Foundation a grant to help run the clinic, but Weinstein noted the funding requires his organization to purchase brand-name drugs that are “10 times” more

Fla. org helping trans migrants with HIV

By MICHAEL K. LAVERS

AIDS Healthcare Foundation President MICHAEL WEINSTEIN (center) at his organization’s clinic in Cúcuta, Colombia, on Jan. 14.

(Photo courtesy of AIDS Healthcare Foundation)

expensive than generic ones.

Venezuela, which has the world’s largest known oil reserves, was once one of Latin America’s most prosperous countries.

Venezuela’s worsening economic and political crisis has prompted millions of people to migrate to Colombia, Brazil and other countries.

Venezuelan HIV/AIDS service providers in Caracas, the country’s capital, and other Venezuelan cities with whom the Blade has spoken have said Venezuelans with HIV/AIDS have died because of a lack of antiretroviral drugs in the country. Statistics from the PanAmerican and World Health Organizations, the Venezuelan Ministry of Health and other agencies note the number of people with HIV in the country increased from 97,000 to more than 120,000 from 2010-2018.

Police in February 2019 raided the offices of Fundación Mavid in the city of Valencia in Carabobo state and confiscated infant formula and medications for people with HIV/ AIDS. Police also arrested three human rights activists who work for the Venezuelan HIV/ AIDS service organization.

A source in Venezuela with whom the Blade spoke days before the Fundación Mavid raid said three condoms and a bottle of lubricant costs the equivalent of a month’s salary for someone who is making minimum wage. Food and fuel shortages and blackouts are among the myriad other issues that Venezuelans with HIV/AIDS, along with everyone else in the country, continue to face.

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria in September 2018 approved $5 million to “help alleviate the gaps in the provision of HIV treatment in Venezuela.” The Global Fund last month

allocated an additional $19.8 million grant over the next three years to fight malaria in the country.

Weinstein told the Blade that access to antiretroviral drugs in Venezuela has begun to improve in recent months, but lab tests and other basic HIV/AIDS-related services remain unavailable. Weinstein also said AIDS Healthcare Foundation is working with Red Venezolana de Gente Positiva, a coalition of Venezuelan HIV/AIDS service organizations, to potentially open a clinic in Venezuela.

Weinstein met with Red Venezolana de Gente Positiva General Secretary Eduardo Franco and Alberto Nieves, executive director of Acción Ciudadana contra el SIDA, a Caracas-based HIV/AIDS service organization, when he was in Cúcuta.

Weinstein told the Blade that Colombians remain “very sympathetic” toward the Venezuelan people and their plight.

“In their hard times the Venezuelans helped them,” said Weinstein. “They feel badly for what is happening and what their circumstances are.”

Colombia and the U.S. are among the dozens of countries that have officially recognized National Assembly President Juan Guaidó as Venezuela’s interim president.

Cuba is among the nations that continue to back President Nicolás Maduro.

“There’s no optimism about change,” Weinstein told the Blade. “Nobody thinks that it’s going to improve anytime soon.”

Weinstein further described Guaidó as “weak” and added there is little hope that he will be able to oust Maduro from power.

“No one’s seeing a light at the end of the tunnel,” added Weinstein.

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The founder of a South Florida organization that serves transgender women says her goal remains to change her clients’ lives “in a good way.”

Arianna’s Center CEO Arianna Lint during an interview with the Washington Blade at the recent National LGBTQ Task Force’s annual Creating Change conference in Dallas said her organization is “the first resource for transgender” people in Florida who are in U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement custody and once they are released.

Lint said a combination of grants and private donations allows Arianna’s Center to purchase bus tickets to Florida for trans women after ICE releases them from their custody. Arianna’s Center also provides them with housing, monthly bus passes and access to free health care and English classes so “they can continue their lives.”

“We have to provide everything,” said Lint. “We don’t pay them, but we give them transportation … we put them in school. We try to find them stable housing. We find them a free doctor.”

Lint, 47, was a lawyer in her native Peru before she moved to the U.S. in order to complete her transition. Lint opened an escort service when she was living in New York.

“It gave me the financial life to continue my life, pay my bills,” Lint told the Blade. “I decided to step out and open my organization because I saw in South Florida there were no trans-led agencies,” Lint told the Blade.

Arianna’s Center, which is based in Wilton Manors, offers a variety of programs to its trans clients. These include home testing and linkage to care for those who test positive.

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Skin cancer is greater risk for gay, bi men SAN FRANCISCO — Gay and bi men are more likely to develop skin cancer than straight men, according to a new study, the Bay Area Reporter reports. The research also showed that bi women have a lower rate than straight women. A companion study revealed a higher skin cancer rate among gender-nonconforming people.

Although these studies were unable to evaluate specific risk factors, the researchers suggested that more frequent use of tanning beds by gay and bi men may play a role.

These results highlight the importance of including questions about sexual orientation and gender identity in health surveys, according to lead study author Dr. Arash Mostaghimi, a dermatologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Mostaghimi and his team looked at links between sexual identity and gender identity and the lifetime prevalence of skin cancer in the United States, the Reporter reports.

Around 3.3 million people are diagnosed with skin cancer each year, making it by far the most common type of cancer, according to the American Cancer Society.

Although most skin cancer can be removed or treated, melanoma — which accounts for about 1 percent of all cases — can be deadly.

As described in the medical journal JAMA Dermatology, Mostaghimi’s first study analyzed data from 2014-2018 from approximately 351,000 straight men, 7,500 gay men, 5,000 bisexual men, 466,000 straight women, 9,400 bi women and 5,400 lesbians, the Reporter reports.

The researchers found that 8.1 percent of gay men and 8.4 percent of bi men reported that they had ever had skin cancer, both significantly higher than the 6.7 percent rate among straight men. After adjusting for other factors, gay men were 26 percent more likely and bi men were 48 percent more likely to have had skin cancer than straight men, the Reporter reports.

Among women, 6.6 percent of straight women, 5.9 percent of lesbians and 4.7 percent of bi women reported ever having skin cancer. Bi women were 22 percent less likely to have had skin cancer than straight women, the Reporter reports.

More med students identifying as LGBT CHICAGO — More LGBT people are enrolling in medical schools though exact numbers are unknown, the AP reports in an article published by the Daily Herald.

In 2018, the American Medical Association added sexual orientation and gender identity as an option for members to include in demographic profiles the group compiles. Of the 15,000 doctors and students who have volunteered that information so far, about 4 percent identify as LGBT. That’s similar to Gallup estimates for the general U.S. population, although LGBT advocates believe the numbers are higher and rising as more people are willing to be out, the AP reports.

Last fall fall, Harvard’s entering class of medical students was 15 percent LGBT, a milestone that is no accident.

The Association of American Medical Colleges’ primary application used by U.S. schools began offering prospective students the option of specifying gender identity and preferred pronouns in 2018. Harvard’s school-specific application allows applicants to identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or queer. A response is not required, but the option “sends a message that you’re wanted,” said Jessica Halem, the medical school’s LGBTQ outreach director, the AP reports.

“We know that doctors need to look like and be a part of the communities they serve,” Halem told the AP. Harvard has an active LGBTQ student group on campus, faculty members who ask students if they prefer being called her, him or they, and coursework addressing LGBT medical care. Halem said that includes what screening tests are needed for women who have sex with transgender men, the hormone treatments to prescribe for transgender patients and what it means when someone identifies as pansexual, the AP reports.

CANNABIS CULTURE

ABA calls for marijuana banking access CHICAGO — The American Bar Association has adopted a resolution urging the passage of federal legislation facilitating banks and other financial institutions to legally interact with licensed cannabis businesses.

The resolution calls for the “enactment of [federal] laws to ensure that it shall not constitute a federal crime for banks and financial institutions to provide cannabis-related services.”

Under existing law, banks are discouraged from engaging with state-licensed marijuana businesses. In September, members of the U.S. House of Representatives voted 321 to 103 in favor of HR 1595: The SAFE Banking Act, amending federal law so that financial institutions may work directly with state-legal marijuana businesses without fear of federal repercussions.

The bill now awaits action from the Senate Banking Committee. However, Committee Chair Mike Crapo (R-Ind.) has expressed opposition to the measure.

In 2019, the ABA adopted a separate resolution urging Congress “to enact legislation to remove marijuana from Schedule I of the Controlled Substances Act.” With over 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is among the largest voluntary organizations in the world.

More seniors turning to cannabis NEW YORK — Cannabis use is increasing among those ages 65 and older, according to data published in the journal JAMA Internal Medicine.

Researchers affiliated with the New York School of Medicine assessed trends in self-reported cannabis use among seniors. They reported that 4.2 percent of seniors acknowledged engaging in past-year cannabis consumption in 2018, up from 2.4 percent in 2015 and 0.4 percent in 2006.

The study’s findings are consistent with those of prior papers similarly reporting an uptick in marijuana use among older Americans. According to a 2019 study published in the journal Gerontology & Geriatric Medicine, marijuana use among seniors is associated with selfreported improvements in pain management, day-to-day functioning, and in their overall health and quality of life.

Employers’ attitudes shifting on drug tests SUNNYVALE, Calif. — A growing number of companies are either abandoning marijuanaspecific drug testing programs or reducing the frequency with which they test, according to nationwide survey data compiled by the online recruitment website Simply Hired Incorporated.

Fifty-five percent of hiring managers polled in the survey said that their companies do not test current employees for off-the-job marijuana use. Among those hiring managers who work for companies that do engage in testing, 40 percent said that “they do it less often than in the past.” Larger-sized companies (1,000+ employees) were far more likely to utilize preemployment testing for cannabis than were smaller-sized companies.

Nearly 70 percent of hiring managers said that their company would be “okay” with an employee using cannabis while away from work “as long as the company remains unaware of it.” Among employees surveyed, 75 percent said testing positive for marijuana should not be grounds for automatic termination.

Cannabis Culture news in the Blade is provided in partnership with NORML. Visit norml. org for more information.

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Dito's Q&A Continued...

Last we spoke, we focused on your year.

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LaPlacaCohen Publication: Insertion date: Size:

PETER ROSENSTEIN

212-675-4106 WASHINGTON BLADE MARCH 6, 2020 4.75” x 11.5" 4C MAG

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

It’s Biden vs. Sanders for the nomination Who can best help down-ballot Democrats?

The fight for the Democratic nomination is now set: Joe Biden vs. Sen. Bernie Sanders. Contrary to Sanders’s view, it is not a fight over who is more progressive, rather it is a fight over big promises that might never be kept and a more rational progressive way to move us forward and recover from four years of chaos under Donald Trump.

The fight is also over which nominee will help down-ballot Democrats the most. Who can help the members of the House of Representatives in swing districts keep their seats? Who can help Democratic United States Senate candidates in purple states win their races to rid us of ‘Moscow Mitch?’ There are hundreds of bills passed by the current Democratic House waiting to be passed again, this time with a Senate that will also pass them and send them on to a Democratic president who will sign them into law. So the nominee must be the person who can best make that happen.

Both candidates are flawed yet both are better than the sexist, racist, homophobic pig in the White House.

But from here through Milwaukee where Democrats choose their candidate let’s not continue to say “blue no matter who” and sit back on our hands. Instead let’s decide that yes blue but know who it is matters. Many including me don’t like that the two potential nominees are old white men. But then so is the president so we need to deal with it.

One way to do that is have the nominee select a younger woman of color as a running mate.

It is amazing to me that young people so enthusiastically support a nearly 80-year-old white man who just had a heart attack on the campaign trail.

They clearly believe his promises of free healthcare, free college, forgiving their college debt and in essence

having government provide for all of them regardless of their own or their parent’s economic circumstance.

What they overlook is that Sanders won’t be able to do most of that even if elected president, as no president can wave a magic wand and get things done. Just look at the failures of Trump who was elected because he promised to open the coal mines, reopen factories, build a wall on our southern border and a host of other things he has not been able to do. His voters fell for his promises in the same way so many young people are falling for Sanders’s promises.

If the young people supporting Bernie would take a moment to look at his 30-year record in Congress they would know the word compromise is not in his vocabulary. That is not a positive trait and has resulted in his never being able to pass any major legislation. He has never introduced legislation to move forward equality for women, the LGBTQ community, African Americans or any minority.

Biden has made mistakes but has a record of moving us forward. He was wrong on Anita Hill and was wrong on the Iraq War. What he did right was be an early fighter for taking big money out of politics and climate control. He passed the Violence Against Women Act and took on the National Rifle Association, winning twice. First with passage of the Brady background check bill, and then with the passage of bans on assault weapons and highcapacity magazines.

So Super Tuesday is now history.

We move forward with a two-man race: Biden vs. Sanders. So far, 38 percent of the delegates have been awarded and no one is near the 1,991 needed to become the nominee. Next we should see Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Michael Bloomberg, both with no chance of being the nominee, do the smart thing and drop out.

Natural Beauties: Exquisite Works of Minerals and Gems Special exhibition on view through June 7 Don’t miss the first exhibition at Hillwood to focus on the stones and minerals—many collected by Marjorie Merriweather Post—that became works of art in the hands of masterful artisans.

Now open every Sunday Hours: Tues – Sun 10am – 5pm HillwoodMuseum.org 4155 Linnean Ave. NW, Washington DC Free parking

V I E W POI N T • MA R CH 0 6 , 2 0 2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD3/3/20 E.CO M • 23 1:25 PM

HIL-047-NaturalBeauties_WashBlade_March6_4.75x11.5_v1.indd 1

Whitman-Walker

RICHARD J. ROSENDALL

provides stigma-free, culturally humble and vital health care to the LGBT, gender-expansive and queer communities, as well as to those living with or affected by HIV; and to individuals who cannot afford to pay or otherwise feel uncomfortable in other healthcare settings.

Whitman-Walker launches HIV vaccination study Whitman-Walker is excited to announce our participation in MOSAICO, a new HIV vaccine research study. This international study is an effort to develop a safe and effective global HIV vaccine for people at risk of getting HIV. We already have important HIV prevention tools, like PrEP – the daily pill that prevents HIV, and PEP – a 28-day course of medication that prevents HIV after an exposure to the virus. If shown to be effective and safe, an HIV vaccine could provide another tool for individuals to choose from when deciding on the best HIV prevention option for their sexual health needs.

What to know about the study?

MOSAICO is sponsored by a public-private partnership between Janssen Vaccines & Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, and the HIV Vaccine Trials Network.

The study is open to those who are interested in HIV prevention and who do not have HIV. Approximately 55 sites in the U.S., South America, and Europe will participate in the study.

The study will be conducted at th Whitman-Walker’s 1525 14 Street, NW location.

Study participants will be reimbursed for expenses related to attending research visits This HIV vaccine is not made from live or killed HIV and cannot cause HIV infection. If you are interested in learning more about the MOSAICO study, please text or call 202-6701480 or email research@whitmanwalker.org.

Why is a vaccine for HIV needed?

Despite important advances in treating and preventing HIV, we continue to need new methods of preventing HIV. More than 36 million people globally are living with HIV. According to UNAIDS and the CDC, even with effective medications that are helping to slow the epidemic, there are 5,000 new HIV infections around the world each day.

At the end of 2018, there were 12,322 DC residents living with HIV— 1.8% of the District’s population. Of those 12,322 DC residents, more than 3,400 of received their HIV care and treatment at Whitman- Walker.

That same year, there were 360 DC residents newly diagnosed with HIV. Of those 360 DC residents, more than 100 of them learned they were living with HIV at Whitman-Walker.

Whitman-Walker has cared for people impacted by HIV for more than 30 years. Before researchers discovered treatments for HIV, Whitman-Walker helped people

“More than 36 million people globally are living with HIV.” die with dignity. When the first HIV treatments for HIV started saving lives in 1996, Whitman-Walker began helping people to live healthy lives and manage their HIV. Help Whitman-Walker keep your community healthy and thriving with the MOSAICO study. Text or call 202-670-1480 or email research@ whitman-walker.org to learn how you can help develop another tool for HIV prevention. Visit whitman-walker.org/ hivresearch to read more information about the study.

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

Trump’s incompetence goes viral President Trump last week called the coronavirus the Democrats’ “new hoax.” On the same day, Donald Jr. called its spread a “pandemic” and said that Democrats “seemingly hope that it comes here, and kills millions of people so that they could end Donald Trump’s streak of winning.”

Setting aside the depravity of accusing one’s political opponents of rooting for the deaths of millions of Americans, how can a hoax cause a pandemic? Which is it? And which spreads faster, an actual virus or a wannabe dictator’s disinformation?

Back when restaurants and airplanes had “no smoking” sections, some of us used to point out that smoke didn’t obey the signs. It floated right over from your smoking table to my no-smoking table.

The president’s insistence on doubling down in minimizing the number of cases of the virus in the United States, and calling it a Democratic hoax, is like those “no smoking” signs: the virus isn’t listening.

Demagogic politicians remind me of Charlton Heston as Moses in “The Ten Commandments,” holding up his staff and commanding the waters of the Red Sea to part: “Behold His mighty hand!” Also Shelley’s Ozymandias proclaiming in an inscription on a fragment of an ancient statue in the desert, “Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”

Trump appears to think he has magic incantatory power: one word from him and a virus disappears, or the Constitution alters itself to let him do whatever he wants. What he wants and expects is not to be run out of office for his incompetence and recklessness.

In H. G. Wells’s 1897 novel “The War of the Worlds,” invading Martians wreak havoc, but are ultimately defeated by microbes to which they have no immunity: “slain, after all man’s devices had failed, by the humblest things that God, in his wisdom, has put upon this earth.”

There are no Martians here. We hardly need an attack of the Pod People with a leader so pathologically self-absorbed that he decreased our preparedness for an outbreak. We could stand less arrogance and more humility, less certitude and more curiosity. If we want those things, we will

have to vote for them.

While we’re at it, let us avoid false equivalency. In a dispute between, say, President Trump and Anthony Fauci of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, we should keep in mind that one is a lying grifter and the other is a distinguished immunologist. On Feb. 26 in the White House, as Dr. Fauci stood in front of him speaking, Trump (to use a vivid phrase by my friend Ernest Hopkins of the San Francisco AIDS Foundation) “looked like he wanted to smush him like a bug.”

Trump put Vice President Pence in charge of leading the administration’s response to the virus. He was careful to say, “Mike is not a Czar.” As Nicole Wetsman of The Verge puts it, “Pence is not a public health expert, either. Instead, as governor of Indiana, he slashed public health spending and delayed the introduction of needle exchanges, which led to the state’s worst outbreak of HIV.” A droll piece at Breaking Burgh titled “Mike Pence Calls For Urgent Research Into Which Sin Coronavirus Is Punishment For” shows the narrowing gap between parody and reality. Trump’s war on science and the independent press preys on people’s credulity and desire for confirmation of their biases.

Notice how I put that in the third person? It’s those gullible people over there who are the problem, not you and I exchanging pearls of wisdom in the coffee shop. Nevertheless, my friend Lauren noted on Friday morning that our Java House gang, once sarcastically dubbed “the brain trust” by former HRC president Joe Solmonese, may have to discontinue its daily gatherings if the virus comes to D.C. Say a prayer to the god of your understanding, as folks in The Program put it, that we may be well. You know the chatter about our various plans to fly in and out of Reagan National and Dulles? The virus is surely headed our way, as fast as you can say, “Behold His mighty hand!”

Speaking of which, be sure to wash your own hands.

Copyright © 2020 by Richard J. Rosendall. All rights reserved.

BROCK THOMPSON

is a D.C.-based writer.

He contributes regularly to the Blade.

THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE BAND WA S H I N G T O N , D . C .

Colonel Don Schofield, Commander and Conductor

Mayor Pete’s legacy A campaign built on character, service It did come as a little bit of a shock. After all, he won Iowa and had a good showing in New Hampshire.

But things changed after last Saturday when, as predicted, Joe Biden ran away with South Carolina and the all-important Super Tuesday was fast approaching. Mayor Pete had then just hard math to look at — there was no real path to the nomination.

In our current climate, Pete Buttigieg’s run was such a breath of fresh air. A campaign built on character and service. You could hear tones of President Obama in his speeches, hints of something Kennedy-esque in his campaign style. Nevertheless, as of Sunday night Mayor Pete was all done. And in a real integrity move toward party unity, Monday night he threw his weight behind former Vice President Joe Biden, showing us that this whole thing was more than just about him, that something tremendously important was at stake.

But there was something bigger going on all along. And I think we all knew that, right? Mayor Pete, at 38, is just a few years younger than I am, and I’m sure our experiences growing up were fairly similar. Both from small cities in states that most of my East Coast friends use as punchlines. And when I was in high school, back in the mid-90s, there was nothing for us. No out role models to be found in teachers or parents of friends. No queer representations to be seen on television or in the movies. The general line I heard was that you could be out or you could be happy, but you could not be both.

And with no how-to guide or road map, we all came out anyway forging happy queer lives in far-flung cities across the country. And by that time we had all seen it laid out for us in neat 30-minute packages on “Will & Grace.” For years, it just sort of showed us the only real way to be gay was to live in a city, be a professional,

and have a really expensive, wellappointed apartment. That and to be forever single, it seemed. And really didn’t a lot of us take them up on that? Buying the whole package?

But Pete was different. He came out later, after college and then, doing something that most of us would never dare, he went back home. And ever since he started his from out-of-nowhere campaign, that was the running theme that I saw. That even if the campaign went nowhere really, there was an importance that couldn’t be understated. Mayor Pete showed us that we really could have it all. Maybe the next time someone thinks they’ve reached the ceiling in their profession, this campaign will be in the back of their mind.

Or maybe the next time an out and civic-minded queer American thinks that a life in public service isn’t right for them, they’ll remember 2020. In a lot of ways, Pete showed us, and maybe more importantly the rest of the country, that we can indeed have it all. Be it all. You can be from rural towns, the city, a gay Christian, a gay veteran, and a happily married gay man.

Pete’s legacy is clear, even if he stops right now and retires to a quiet Indiana life. But of course we all know that’s an impossibility. The question is then, just how profound will this legacy be? For now, at least think of the high school kid. The closeted high school me back in Arkansas would not have been able to imagine a gay man being a serious contender for our nation’s highest office.

The real beauty, I think, is that high school kids now won’t have to imagine it.

2020 FREE CO N C E R T

Rachel M. Schlesinger Concert Hall and Arts Center Alexandria, Virginia

MARCH 19 AT 7:30 P.M. GEORGE CURRAN bass trombonist

for FREE tickets, please visit: usafband.eventbrite.com V I E W POI N T • MA R CH 0 6 , 2 0 2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • 2 5

‘The Inheritance’ winds down

Last chance to catch Broadway production of epic, two-part AIDS drama

By SCOTT STIFFLER

From left, JORDAN BARBOUR, DARRYL GENE DAUGHTRY Jr., KYLE SOLLER, ARTURO LUIS SORIA and KYLE HARRIS. (Photo by Matthew Murphy)

A group of four young actors in the cast of “The Inheritance” on Broadway have more in common than a numeric designation noting their membership in the writer’s workshop/internal dialogue that yielded Matthew Lopez’s two-part, nearly seven-hour play.

Set to close on March 15 after 138 post-preview performances (86 of “The Inheritance” and 52 of “The Inheritance Part 2”), this adaptation of E. M. Forster’s “Howards End” sees thematic motifs, plot points and personal fortunes from the 1910 novel play out in a world where PrEPsavvy, politically astute contemporary gay Manhattanites bond, sometimes spar, with counterparts who came of age in Gotham during the HIV/AIDS epidemic’s plague years.

It debuted in London in early 2018 and opened on Broadway last September

to largely favorable reviews but a recurring critique has been that unlike its obvious predecessor “Angels in America,” its dramatic heft doesn’t always justify its luxurious length. A New York Times review drew such polarized reader response that the paper had playwright Lopez write a highly unusual piece last month on what inspired the work and why he thought response had been so mixed.

Although there are straight actors playing gay roles in the cast, actors Jordan Barbour, Jonathan Burke, Carson McCalley and Arturo Soria, all identify as either queer or gay and deliver performances that set off ping after ping on the LGBTQ authenticity radar.

As for the four young men on deck at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, “They’re sort of the blurred line between the characters we’re playing and ourselves,” says Jordan

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Barbour (Young Man 6), recalling a rehearsal note from playwright Lopez, who explained each of them represents, “a different facet of (lead character) Eric Glass’s brain. They’re the manifestations of the ideas he has while writing the story, which will become the play the audience is watching.”

People can change, the play constantly reminds us, and the sum total of their actions determine whether they’ve faced the final curtain having left a legacy, or squandered their inheritance. To that end, each Young Man maintains a presence throughout the play, occasionally popping up to provide juicy narrative tidbits, or exercise author’s prerogative to revise, setting certain characters down different paths.

Jason and Stephen are two notable beneficiaries of the play’s fondness for

sudden pivots. Both mutual friends of Eric, Jason is a first grade teacher in a relationship with Stephen, whose career changes when Young Man 8 declares him to be “a high school science teacher,” cutting off Young Man 2 in mid-sentence, to reboot a timeline that once saw him working as “a human rights —.”

But Young Man 2 does have his say, when a rapid-fire volley with Young Man 8 sees Stephen’s relationship with Jason go from boyfriend, to partner, to husband.

What’s more, Stephen’s name is now the same as his husband, giving the couple their own coveted shorthand moniker (“The Jasons”).

Just prior to those alterations, we learn Eric and Tristan met shortly after college.

Three dates yielded no romance, but their chemistry proved the perfect formula for a best friend dynamic that remains intact,

a seed that takes root when tensions arise down the road.

Barbour, who identifies as gay, says he’s proud to play the role of Tristan, although he does not share his character’s status as a person living with HIV. That said, notes Barbour, “I wanted that aspect of Tristan to be just that, another part of him, not a defining characteristic.

But I do feel like I have a great deal of responsibility on my shoulders, because that is sorely represented in theater, and pop culture in general — not just HIVpositive men, but black gay men.”

As one of many friends who circle their wagons when Eric’s rebound love interest shows the classic signs of a toxic mismatch, straight-shooting Tristan excels at lobbing the kind of quality zingers one expects at a social event where alcohol mixes with the largely gay guest list. But when he engages in debate with the new guy, a billionaire whose support of Trump is unabashedly rooted in the quest for better profit margins, Tristan’s return volley reveals a firm grasp of history and lands, for the most part, on the right side of civility.

The writing does much of the heavy lifting here, but it’s given additional dimension by the actor and director Steven Daltry’s commitment to create a Tristan who reflects the fact that Barbour is the first African American to be cast in the role.

“So as far as that scene goes,” says Barbour, of the sparring session with wealthy conservative Henry Wilcox, “this is a gay black man who is in a room with a Trump voter, whose entire platform has been built on hate, so the challenge was to find how this character is able to unleash his frustration, but also maintain a certain level-headedness. … I often find myself in circles where I can’t lose my cool, because if you unleash your anger, you get labeled as ‘the angry black man.’ And Tristan, he really should have anger at Henry, but he manages to share it in a manner that is not destructive.”

Arturo Luis Sora, who identifies as queer, was also asked to bring his background to the forefront.

“In previous productions,” he says, “I don’t think Jason (2)was Latino.” But Matthew (the playwright) came up to me and said, ‘I want you to put some Spanish in the show.’”

During the rehearsal process, recalls Sora, “I was encouraged to ad lib. Matthew and the director were like, ‘Play, play play!’

All of a sudden, there was a salsa number

in the show. I get to dance. I mention flan!

It was great to bring my culture, and the language of my family, to the stage.”

And with Jason, adds Sora, “I also get to step into this unapologetically queer force of joy and energy and camp, and I love playing that. When I approached this play, I didn’t want to cut that, or the cultural side, out of me. This was an opportunity to say, ‘Yes, we’re here. Our stories need to be told.’”

Sora says the Broadway production’s commitment to tell those stories has not gone unnoticed.

“A lot of people, a lot of Latinos I’ve spoken to after the show, they’re really happy to see that.”

Count Supreme Court Justice Sonia Maria Sotomayor among those who’ve issued favorable rulings.

“She said some beautiful things to me, about my portrayal of Jason,” Sora says.

“That was a huge honor, to hear it from her.”

Others in the cast have similar stories.

Jonathan Burke, who plays Young Man 5, a voice of reason/talent agent,

and Charles Wilcox (son of Henry Wilcox) recalls a post-performance conversation with an older person who lived through the plague years.

“There’s a point where we mention names of people who died during the epidemic,” says Burke, “and two of them, back to back, were the names of him and his partner, who died. He said, “I felt his presence with me, like I was with him.’

What more can we ask for, if he feels that love and energy again? And a lot of young people are very moved by it, because they’ve not seen the story of the epidemic played out so honestly and vividly. It’s made them aware of what people before us went through.”

Burke, who describes his Young Man 5 as “a baseline of who I am, as a black, gay young man living in the 21st century,” found in Charles (son of Henry) Wilcox “a character so far from myself, who has a completely different perspective from a lot of other characters in the play. He’s not a villain. He just wants what’s best for his family, to make sure their legacy stays strong. I wanted to find the humanity in

a character who may seem villainous to some.”

Queer-identified Carson McCalley plays Young Man 3 and, in his portrayal of young Henry Wilcox, brings shades of gray to the character’s highly polarizing contemporary incarnation.

“I was never scared of showing him as flawed,” McCalley says. “The play has an incredible range of queer people, and I don’t think showing someone who (does what he does because he) is scared, is dangerous to the community. In fact, I think it’s an opportunity.”

He relates.

“For a long time, I’ve been really scared. It’s hard being an actor in general, and harder being a queer actor. You’re always thinking about how you’re being viewed. There’s this subconscious bias that the industry has, boxing people in. …

But I have never, in my life, been able to connect to anything in a deeper way. So although it’s scary to be a queer actor, the payoff is unimaginable, when you have an opportunity to tell a story that you can own 100 percent, that’s in your blood.”

The cast of ‘The Inheritance,’ which has drawn highly mixed reviews since its Broadway debut last fall.

(Photo by Matthew Murphy)

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QUEERY Dougie Meyer

“Unfortunately we’ve lost too many places where our community can gather together and I feel we must re-double our efforts to find those spaces, which is why I started Avalon.”

He calls Avalon a “community-wide effort to bring (people) together that doesn’t involve an app.”

Meyer lives in NOMA. He enjoys going to the movies in his free time.

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

I came out halfway through college.

I remember being terrified, mainly to tell my dad. He ended up being one of the easiest to tell and was 100 percent supportive. In fact, he has even attended many of my events over the years.

Who’s your LGBTQ hero?

I have two. Ed Bailey, who is my mentor and cares about the entire LGBTQ community, but also, Ruth Bader Ginsberg. And while she is not gay herself, she has fought for women’s rights, gay rights and trans rights even when it wasn’t popular.

(Photo by Justin Sigda)

QUEERY: Dougie Meyer The local event producer/promoter answers 20 queer questions

By JOEY DIGUGLIELMO joeyd@washblade.com

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Dougie Meyer says — and it would be hard to argue with him — that D.C. gays have lost too many gathering places. That’s why he started Avalon Saturdays, a weekly dance party that won a Washington Blade Best of Gay D.C. readers’ poll award last year.

Held at Soundcheck (1420 K St., N.W.), this week’s event on Saturday, March 7 features a reunion of Town Danceboutique DJs Ed Bailey vs. WESS. Brooklyn Heights will also be on hand for a birthday blowout. For one night only, it’s 18-and-up.

Avalon returns Saturday, March 28 with Ultrapup opening for legendary DJ Hector Fonseca. Avalon, which turned one last October, has attracted top DJs such as Joe Gauthreaux, Tracy Young and more. Tickets are $15-25 via eventbrite.com. Find out more at dougiemeyerpresents.com.

Meyer went to college to become a history teacher and taught briefly before John Blair gave him an “in” to the LGBTQ party world in New York in 2002.

Meyer came to Washington fiveand-a-half years ago to become the general manager at Town. His events are “overwhelmingly” LGBTQ but straight allies are always welcome.

He says D.C. gay nightlife is “always evolving.”

“I think we have a responsibility to have a nightlife that welcomes and includes all parts of the rainbow,” the Pleasant Hill, Ohio, native says.

What LGBTQ stereotype most annoys you?

That gay guys by default don’t enjoy playing or watching sports. So annoying and not true!

What’s your proudest professional achievement?

Successfully producing seven events on seven yachts in just three days for Sea Tea: New York City’s Gay Party Cruise during World Pride last summer.

What terrifies you?

I’ve often had a nightmare where I opened up the doors to a new party and nobody showed up. Not one person.

That would be terrifying.

What’s something trashy or vapid you love?

Binge watching trash TV. What’s your greatest domestic skill?

I am an absolute clean freak in my home. Everything must be in perfect order and spotless at all times.

What’s your favorite LGBTQ movie or show?

“The Birdcage” What’s your social media pet peeve?

People who mix up “their” and “there,” “are” and “our,” “you’re” and “your” etc. My teachers back home reading this will get a kick out of this answer. (You know who you are.)

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

There should never be an end to the LGBTQ movement because there will always be people on the margins that our community should care for.

What’s the most overrated social custom?

When people are seen alone, they are thought to be single or lonely. I love my alone time. I go to the movies weekly by myself. I go to dinner by myself. I go to museums by myself. I am far from lonely. I am around people constantly.

When I can get alone time, it makes me happy.

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

As a child it was Madonna but as I grew older it shifted to Lady Gaga.

What’s D.C.’s best hidden gem?

Dito’s Bar at Floriana, duh.

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

Not sure that it is the most memorable of my “lifetime,” but a moment I remember saying out loud “holy f*&king sh!t!,” was when Ellen broke the internet with her Oscars selfie that included Brad Pitt, Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Angelina Jolie and the list goes on.

What celebrity death hit you hardest?

Princess Diana. I remember coming home from a night out, turning on the TV and seeing the breaking news, thinking that I was watching SNL. I thought to myself, “this is cruel. How could they make a sketch like this?” I must’ve watched an entire 30 seconds in disbelief before realizing it was real life.

If you could redo one moment from your past, what would it be?

I moved to D.C. way too late! I love this community.

What are your obsessions?

Watching movies.

Finish this sentence — It’s about damn time: … a foreign film won best picture at the Oscars!

What do you wish you’d known at 18?

That it really would get better.

Why Washington?

It’s like a mini-NYC. I feel right at home here.

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CALENDAR TODAY An International Women’s Day Charity Concert hosted by the George Washington University Afghan Student Association (800 21st St., N.W.) is today at 5:30 p.m. This event features performers Naghma and Qais Ulfat. Proceeds will be sent to Afghanistan to support women in need. Visit gwuafg.com for more information.

Local queer poet Kathi Wolfe reads from her new collection “Love and Kumquats: New and Selected Poems” at Zed’s (8225 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring) tonight at 6 p.m. Wolfe, a Blade columnist and nationally recognized poet, is the 2014 winner of the Stonewall Chapbook Competition. For more information on this free event, visit zeds.net.

Linda Sarsour, co-organizer of the Women’s March, speaks at Busboys and Poets (2021 14th St., N.W.) on how growing up a Palestinian Muslim American feminist empowered her activism. Free tickets to this public event are available on busboysandpoets.com.

The Hometown Sheroes Film Festival is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Eaton D.C. (1201 K St., N.W.). This event features short films by local women and nonbinary filmmakers. Free tickets are available on eventbrite.com.

The “RuPaul’s Drag Race” Viewing Party and Slay Them is tonight at 8 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing (209 M St., N.E.). The viewing party starts at 8 and the drag competition immediately follows with host Desiree Dik. Visit redbear.beer for more information.

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” season 12 watch party at Nellie’s Sports Bar (900 U St., N.W.) is tonight at 8 p.m. There is no cover for this happy hour event with a dance party upstairs at 9:30 p.m. For more information, visit nelliessportsbar.com.

Trade’s (1410 14th St., N.W.) “RuPaul Drag Race” viewing party with host Venus Valhalla is tonight at 8 p.m. This party includes games, free drinks and music by Wess the DJ. More information is available on Trade’s Facebook event page.

Bearlesque is tonight at 9 p.m. at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.W.). Tickets are $5 on Eventbrite for this monthly show.

We the Kingz all drag king show hosted

by Ricky Rose is tonight at 10:30 p.m. at JR.’s Bar (1519 17th St., N.W.). There is no cover for this event featuring Jorge Escober, Chris Jay, Remy Blu and Mich. Visit jrsbar-dc.com for details.

Saturday, March 7 Red Bear Brewing’s first anniversary party is today at 11 a.m. at Red Bear Brewing (209 M St., N.E.). This all-day celebration includes music by Silence Echoez and DJ Shea Van Horn with special guest Desiree Dik.

event page for details.

Drag Bingo is tonight at 7 p.m. at Red Bear Brewing ( 209 M St., N.E.). Desiree Dik hosts an evening of bingo and drag performances with co-host Bombalicious Eklaver. More information is available at redbear.beer.

Wednesday, March 11 CELINE DION plays Washington Wednesday night.

(Photo courtesy Sony Music Entertainment)

Visit redbear.beer for more information.

The Women Filmmakers Festival is today from 2-7 p.m. at the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Renwick Gallery (800 G St., N.W.). This film festival highlights women and nonbinary artists working outside the Hollywood system. Free tickets are available on Eventbrite.

GLOE in the Dark: A Purim Masquerade hosted by the GLBTQ Outreach and Engagement at the Edlavitch D.C.-JCC is tonight at 7 p.m. at the Dupont Circle Mission Bar (1606 20th St., N.W.). Tickets are $10 online and $15 at the door. For details, visit edcjcc.s21.gcnet.co.

Rewind: Request Line hosted by DJ Darryl Strickland is tonight at 9 p.m. at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.).

Strickland DJs hits from the ’80s and ’90s the first Saturday of the month. More details are available at greenlanterndc.com.

Hummer D.C. at the D.C. Eagle (3701 Benning Rd., N.E.) is tonight at 10 p.m.

Admission is $25 for this party hosted by resident DJ Phoenix Rise. For more information, visit dceagle.com.

Eden D.C. (1716 I St., N.W.) hosts the Life is Women Party tonight at 10 p.m. This event is hosted by Dnyce with music by DJs Koz and Kidd Fresh. All Pisces are free until midnight for this TMS Entertainment LGBT event. Early bird tickets are $10 on Eventbrite.

Sunday, March 8 The National Museum of Women in the Arts (1250 New York Ave., N.W.) hosts an International Women’s Day 2020 event today from noon-5 p.m. Admission is free and the program includes live music, a women authors book swap, vendors and multicultural exhibits. For more information, visit nmwa.org.

The D.C. Concert Orchestra presents a free concert, “American Journeys,” today at 3 p.m. at The Church of the Epiphany (1317 G St. NW.). Program includes Daugherty’s “Route 66,” Gershwin’s “An American in Paris” and more. Visit epiphanydc.org for details.

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The Georgia O’Keefe, Edward Hopper and Modern Art Tour continues at the National Gallery of Art (4th and Pennsylvania Ave.) today at 3:30 p.m. The program focuses on the lives of these two artists and asks why their work has lasted. Tickets are $10 on Eventbrite.

Monday, March 9 Mayor Muriel Bowser’s Washington Women of Excellence Awards is tonight at 6 p.m. at the Eaton D.C. (1201 K St., N.W.).

The public is invited to this event honoring women’s achievement in D.C. For more information on this free event, visit facebook. com/mayormurielbowser.

Queer Tango Initiation Series at Green Lantern presented by Tango Mercurio is tonight at 7:30 p.m. at the Green Lantern (1335 Green Ct., N.W.). The cost for the series is $120 for this event. No experience is necessary to participate. For more information, visit greenlanterndc.com.

Tuesday, March 10 The 2020 National Brunch Table Captain and Volunteer Happy Hour hosted by the LGBTQ Victory Fund is today at 5:30 p.m. at Dacha Beer Garden (1600 7th St., N.W.). This neighborhood happy hour event is for those wanting to learn more about becoming a table captain or volunteer at the National Brunch event. For more information or to RSVP, email jared.godes@victoryfund. org.

Into the Archive: Mavens and Misfits is tonight at 6 p.m. at the National Geographic Museum (1145 17th St., N.W.). This event exhibits and discusses archival images by and about female National Geographic photojournalists, writers and explorers. Tickets are $50 on nationalgeographic.org.

ALOHO Trivia is tonight at 8 p.m. at A League of Her Own (2319 18th St., N.W.).

Starts promptly at 7 p.m. Visit the Facebook

The Census and LGBTQ Asians is tonight at 6 p.m. and is hosted by the National Queer Asian Pacific Islander Alliance (13th St., N.W.).

This free event is presented by LGBT civil rights attorney Glenn D. Magpantay. Visit nqapia.salsalabs.org to RSVP. The Transmasculine and Nonbinary Happy Hour is tonight at 6 p.m. at Red Bear Brewery (209 M St., N.E.). Hosted by the D.C. Area Transmasculine Society, this social hour event is for 17-and-up trans men, nonbinary, two-spirit and genderqueer people who were assigned female at birth. Visit dcats.org for more information.

The Big Gay Book Group will meet tonight at 7 pm at Trio Bistro/Restaurant (17th & Q St., N.W.). The book for discussion will be “Inside the Dream Palace: The Life and Times of New York’s Legendary Chelsea Hotel” by Sherill Tippins. For more information and to RSVP, please send an email to biggaybookgroup@hotmail.com.

Newcomers are always welcome.

The Lambda Bridge Club meets at 7:30 pm at the Dignity Center (721 8th St., S.E.) for duplicate bridge. No reservations are needed and newcomers are welcome. Phone 202841-0279, if you need a partner.

Celine Dion’s “Courage World Tour” takes the stage at Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) tonight at 7:30 p.m. Tickets start at $95 on Ticketmaster. This five-time Grammyaward winner also launched Celinununu, a gender-neutral children’s clothing line.

Visit ticketmaster.com for more concert information.

Thursday, March 12

The Figure Interpreted: Redux group exhibition featuring the works of contemporary painters who investigate the body’s inherent beauty is today from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Salve Regina Hall (620 Michigan Ave., N.E.). This free event explores why the human figure has been an enduring subject since early cave paintings. For more information, visit art.cua.edu.

Harriet Tubman Tribute and Performances hosted by the National Archives (700 Pennsylvania Ave., NW.) is tonight at 7 p.m. This special event celebrates the life of the spy, scout, Civil War nurse, abolitionist and women’s suffrage supporter.

Visit archives.gov for more information.

culture capital 7. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Orange Grove Dance. Mar 7-Mar 8. Dance Place. danceplace.org.

Russian National Ballet Cinderella. Mar 8. Mason’s Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.

Photo courtesy of ??

Samson and Delilah

Thru Mar 21. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Seduction and deceit tangle in Saint-Saëns’s sensual grand opera. When Delilah seduces Samson into revealing the source of his physical power, his faith will be put to a final, catastrophic test.

Russian National Ballet: Romeo and Juliet

Mar 7. Mason’s Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.

With lush music and exquisite grace, the Russian National Ballet returns to the Center to perform two of the world’s greatest ballets: Romeo and Juliet together with Carmen. Both ballets express the torments of love. Young love, bursting with exhilarating passion, is at the heart of Romeo and Juliet, with the perilous fate for the star-crossed lovers.

Graciela Iturbide’s Mexico

Thru May 25. National Museum of Women in the Arts. nmwa.org.

For the past 50 years, Graciela Iturbide has produced majestic, powerful, and sometimes visceral images of her native Mexico. One of the most influential contemporary photographers of Latin America, Iturbide transforms ordinary observation into personal and lyrical art. Her signature black-and-white gelatin silver prints present nuanced insights into the communities she photographs, revealing her own journey to understand her homeland and the world.

An Evening with Bruce Hornsby & Music

Mar 6. Strathmore. strathmore.org.

Innovators and recent collaborators Bruce Hornsby and yMusic obliterate barriers, crossing and combining genres in wildly imaginative ways. Hornsby mines his vast catalog performing beloved songs like “The Way It Is” and “The Valley Road” alongside tracks from Absolute Zero, his new album recorded with the Brooklyn-based chamber ensemble. yMusic (featuring string trio, flute, clarinet, and trumpet) have attracted many high-profile collaborators before—from Paul Simon to Ben Folds.

THEATRE Ada and the Engine. Mar 8-Apr 5. Suddenly Last Summer. Thru Apr 5. Avant Bard. Gunston. wscavantbard.org.

Beyoncé Mass. Mar 8. Riot! Mar 8. Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Boy. Thru Mar 7. Keegan Theatre. keegantheatre.com.

Dessa Rose. Mar 6. Olney Theatre. olneytheatre.org.

Don Giovanni. Thru Mar 22. WNO at Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Easy Women Smoking Loose Cigarettes. Thru Mar 29. Signature Theatre. sigtheatre.org.

Harriet Tubman Tribute and Performances. Mar 12. National Archives. archivesfoundation. org.

Inherit The Windbag. Mar 11-Mar 29. Mosaic Theater Company at Atlas. mosaictheater.org.

The Amateurs. Thru Apr 5. Olney Theatre at Mulitz-Gudelsky Theatre Lab. olneytheatre.org.

The Spitfire Grill. Mar 6-Mar 22. Arts on the Green at Arts Barn. gaithersburgmd.gov.

The Wanderers. Thru Mar 15. Theater J at EDCJCC. theaterj.org.

Women Composers Festival. Mar 6-Mar 8. In Series at GALA Hispanic Theatre. inseries.org.

DANCE

Bartók Ballet: a New Life Onstage for a Landmark Coolidge Commission. Mar 12. Library of Congress. loc.gov.

Martha Graham, Women in Dance, and Dance as Activism. Mar 7. The EVE Project. Thru Mar

MUSIC A Cappella Live! Mar 6. Omar Sosa & Yilian Cañizares. Mar 8. AMP. ampbystrathmore.com.

American Journeys. Mar 8. DC Concert Orchestra Society at Church of the Epiphany. dcconcertorchestra.org.

BGR!Fest: Ms. Lauryn Hill with Alice Smith. Mar 6-Mar 7. Jaimie Branch’s Fly or Die (part of DIRECT CURRENT). Mar 11. The Reach @The Kennedy Center. kennedy-center.org.

Carpe Diem! Contra Dance. Mar 12. Washington Revels at Silver Spring Civic Building. revelsdc.org.

Christian Douglas. Mar 11-Mar 25. Jeffrey Zeigler, cello. Mar 12. Strathmore at The Mansion. strathmore.org.

Enter The Haggis. Mar 11. Riders in the Sky. Mar 12. Wolf Trap at The Barns. wolftrap.org.

Jennifer Johnson Cano, mezzo-soprano. Mar 8. National Gallery of Art. nga.gov.

Seong-Jin Cho. Mar 8. Washington Performing Arts at Kennedy Center. washingtonperformingarts.org.

The King’s Singers. Mar 6. Mason’s Center for the Arts. cfa.gmu.edu.

The Three Fountains: Music for Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio. Mar 6-Mar 8. Folger Consort at Saint Mark’s Episcopal Church. folger.edu.

MUSEUMS AU Museum at the Katzen. Landscape in an Eroded Field - Carol Barsha, Heather Theresa Clark, Artemis Herber. Thru Mar 15. Robert Franklin Gates: Paint What You See. Thru May 24.

Volkmar Wentzel. Thru May 24. american.edu.

Anacostia Neighborhood Library. Right to the City @Anacostia Neighborhood Library. Thru Apr 20. anacostia.si.edu.

Dumbarton Oaks. A Nobility of Matter: Asian Art from the Bliss Collection. Thru Jun 1. doaks. org.

Library of Congress. Shall Not Be Denied: Women Fight for the Vote. Thru Sep 1. Comic Art: 120 Years of Panels and Pages. Thru Sep 12. loc.gov.

National Archives. Rightfully Hers: American Women and the Vote. Thru Jan 3. archivesfoundation.org.

National Geographic. WOMEN: A Century of Change. Thru May 1. Becoming Jane. Thru Jun 1. nationalgeographic.org.

National Museum of Women in the Arts. International Women’s Day 2020. Mar 8. Delita Martin: Calling Down The Spirits. Thru Apr 19. nmwa.org.

Smithsonian Museum of the American Indian. The Great Inka Road. Thru Jun 1. Our Universes. Thru Sep 30. americanindian.si.edu.

National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian. In Mid-Sentence. Thru Mar 29. One Life: Marian Anderson. Thru May 17. npg.si.edu.

GALLERIES ArlingtonArtistsAlliance.The Divine Feminine Exhibition.Thru Mar 28.arlingtonartistsalliance. org.

Arlington Arts Center. Winter 2020 Exhibitions. Thru Mar 28. arlingtonartscenter.org.

CHAW. The all-media exhibit Rhythm and Blues. Thru Mar 14. chaw.org.

Del Ray Artisans. Tell Me a Story. Mar 6-Mar 29. delrayartisans.org.

Glen Echo Park. Advocacy & Activism Through Art. Thru Mar 15. Sarah Salomon: Solitudes.

Thru Mar 15. glenechopark.org.

Hill Center. Regional Juried Exhibition 2020. Thru Apr 18. hillcenterdc.org.

Korean Cultural Center DC. True and False. Mar 6-Mar 26. koreaculturedc.org.

Library of Congress. Rosa Parks: In Her Own Words. Thru Sep 30. loc.gov.

Waverly Street Gallery. Invitational Exhibition. Thru Mar 7. Urban Blues - Pastel Paintings by Geoff Desobry. Mar 8-Apr 4. waverlystreetgallery.com.

Woodlawn & Pope-Leighey House. Annual Needlework Show. Thru Mar 30. woodlawnpopeleighey.org.

Zenith Sculpture Space. Carved in Stone, Painted with Light. Thru Apr 4. zenithgallery.com

C ULTUR E CA PI TA L • M A R CH 0 6 , 2 0 2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • 3 1

Presentation licensed by Disney Concerts in association with 20th Century Fox, Lucasfilm Ltd. and Warner/Chappell Music. © 2020 & TM LUCASFILM LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © DISNEY.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW!

BILLIE EILISH brings her tour to D.C. next week.

(Photo courtesy High Rise PR)

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Grammy darling Eilish is D.C. sellout The Billie Eilish “Where Do We Go?” world tour hits Capital One Arena (601 F St., N.W.) Wednesday, March 18 at 7:30 p.m.

Eilish is an indie pop singer-songwriter whose works have garnered numerous international awards. Her success culminated this year in multiple Grammy wins, including both song and record of the year awards for “Bad Guy.” At 18, Eilish became the youngest artist and the first female to sweep all four general Grammy categories.

The show is sold out. Check secondhand sellers such as stubhub.com for options. © DISNEY

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Gay Men’s Chorus presents ‘Genderosity’ The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington presents its new show “Generosity” March 14 at 8 p.m. and March 15 at 3 p.m. at Lincoln Theatre (1215 U St., N.W.).

The show is billed as a “glam rock spectacle serving self-expression realness.”

Songs include “Dancing Queen,” “Vogue,” “Born This Way,” “A Little More Mascara” and more.

Tickets are $25-65. Details at gmcw.org.

St. Pat’s parade is March 15 The 2020 Washington, D.C. St. Patrick’s Day Parade is Sunday, March 15 from noon-3 p.m. down Constitution Avenue. The public is invited to the free event.

The parade route runs from 7th to 17th Streets, N.W. and is accessible from the Federal Triangle, Archives-Navy Memorial and Smithsonian Metro stations. The grandstands are located between 15th and 16th streets, next to the judges’ review stand.

For more information, visit dcstpatsparade.com.

Baltimore brunch features Vee Vee The Female Troubles Drag Brunch presented by Catalina Whine Mixer and Mother’s Federal Hill Grille (1113 S. Charles St., Baltimore) is Sunday, March 15 at 11 a.m.

Showtime starts at noon for this event co-hosted by Derek Skye and Vee Vee Majesty.

The featured performers include Dustyn Dawn and Horchata Uchis with special guests Citrine, Paula Amorous and Desiree Dik. E-mail to mothers@comcast.net for reservations and information.

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3 4 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA D E.COM • MA RCH 06, 20 20

Video games popular among D.C.-area queer residents

By KEVIN MAJOROS The LGBTQ gaming community in Washington has grown to a point where the need arose to distinguish between casual gamers and hardcore gamers.

This week in the Blade’s Game Changers series, we meet the leader of D.C. Gaymers and the newly minted Rogue eSports.

D.C. Gaymers began as a Meetup group back in 2016 and they were meeting every three months at someone’s house to play video games.

Miguel Miranda took over their leadership in 2017 and moved the group to Cobalt where he created an LGBTQ-focused gaming venture that met once a month on Tuesday nights.

Their numbers grew quickly to 80 people and they switched to a biweekly schedule to accommodate the growing interest. They began offering more events and systems including PlayStation, Wii, GameCube, Xbox, handheld games on iPads, board games and card games.

“Gamers are self-labeled as introverts, people who avoid crowds and people who stay behind the scenes,” Miranda says.

“Over time I discovered that there are a lot of gamers who share my desire to make reallife connections and friendships.”

Miranda was born in the Dominican Republic and grew up in Providence, R.I. He received his environmental engineering degrees from University of New Hampshire and Virginia Tech. He followed his husband Oscar to the D.C. area and is employed as an A D V E R T I engineer S I N G atP aRwastewater OOF treatment plant.

“I grew up in a very religious household and video games were an escape from reality for me. I was my happiest when I was behind the screen,” Miranda says. “I get a different enjoyment from them now because I have recognized that there is a need for ADVERTISER SIGNATURE By signing this proof you are agreeing to your contract obligations with the this gaming community.

My husband isn’t a washington blade newspaper. This includes but is not limited to placement, payment and insertion schedule. gamer, but he supports my addiction.”

Miranda says many players have told him they feel nervous telling other adults they’re gamers because there’s still a stigma that gaming isn’t socially acceptable for adults.

“People want a safe space where they can

MGUEL MIRANDA says local LGBT gamers don’t fit into tidy categories.

(Photo courtesy Miranda)

be nerds and be themselves,” Miranda says.

“It’s been rewarding to watch people step in as greeters, come out of their shells and connect to other like-minded individuals. It can often be one step at a time.”

Miranda noticed that the hardcore gamers weren’t coming as often to the casual Tuesday game nights. To keep them engaged, D.C. Gaymers introduced Super Smash Bros. and Mario Bros. on Saturdays once a month.

“Two different personalities emerged — casual and competitive,” Miranda says. “With the closing of Cobalt, we moved over to Uproar in February and decided to create a second group.”

Rogue eSports will launch March 17 as a 10-week competitive league that plays biweekly on Tuesday nights at Uproar. Their list of games include Overwatch, Super Smash Bros., Hearthstone and Mortal Kombat.

As this new venture plays out for local LGBTQ gamers, Miranda already has an eye on reaching another part of the community.

He has doing outreach at events such as Awesome Con, MAGFest and Blerdcon and can visualize another direction.

“I eventually want to find a space for LGBTQ gamers who are under 21. Gaming can be a powerful tool for teenagers coping with hardships,” Miranda says. “I am hoping to build a community where young gamers can feel safe and make human connections.”

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M A R C H 0 6 , 2 0 2 0 • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • 3 5

Live, love, Lauv

Reimagine the Orchestra!

25-year-old Calif. native releases EDM-laced debut album

By THOM MURPHY

When The Chainsmokers released their soon-to-be multi-Platinum single “Roses,” it felt as though EDM influence — a genre which has seen massive resurgence in the past decade — had been fully incorporated into the mainstream. With strong production values and generic lyrics, The Chainsmokers fully domesticated the EDM festival scene. In their distinctive softcore EDM, it’s hard not to see a through line to Lauv whose debut album “~how i’m feeling~” drops today.

Even if his name is not as recognizable as some of his collaborators, which include Troye Sivan, Korean boyband BTS and Alessia Cara, his voice is now ubiquitous. His hit single “I Like Me Better,” released in summer 2017, is still a regular feature of radio and bar play.

It’s his distinctive falsetto that is heard on the BTS hit “Make It Right,” which has been streamed nearly 90 million times on Spotify.

And his recent collaboration with Troye Sivan “I’m So Tired…,” released as the lead single for “~how i’m feeling~,” has gone Platinum.

It’s a mesmerizing success, currently sitting at over 450 million streams on Spotify, even more remarkable for an artist who is just now releasing his full-length debut.

If the new album is any evidence, Lauv — who has been coy on Instagram saying exactly how he identifies — has certainly not been idle the past few years. The new album has 21 tracks, clocking in at over an hour — robust by any measure. The 25-year-old singer styles himself as Gen-Z (though he’s technically — at age 25 — a Millennial) and his music seems to appeal explicitly to a college demographic.

While retaining a soft, EDM-influenced pop sound, Lauv has traded up tiresome, generic lyrics in favor of a more personal message.

The album frequently confronts issues of anxiety and depression without becoming overly heavy.

The song “Sad Forever” is a good example. As he sings in the chorus, “I don’t want to be sad forever/I don’t want to be sad no more/I don’t want to wake up and wonder/ what the hell am I doing this for/I don’t want to be medicated/I don’t want to go through that war.” The song maintains a tone of affirmation throughout.

“Drugs & The Internet,” the first track on the album, is another that deals with personal difficulties: “traded all my friends for drugs and the internet/ah shit, am I a winner yet?”

He’s already got nearly half a billion streams but LAUV is only just now releasing his debut album.

(Photo courtesy Mighty Real Agency)

This move toward a more personal, even biographical tone in pop music anticipates, perhaps, a trend in pop music as Gen Z (who report significantly higher levels of anxiety and depression) becomes an increasingly important consumer and shaper of music.

But within what is largely a cadre of softEDM pop, Lauv nevertheless infuses the album with musical variety. “El Tejano,” which features Sophia Reyes, is a bilingual song with a latin-influenced rhythm, not unlike Camila Cabello and Shawn Mendes’ popular “Señorita.” “Changes” is a slightly slower tune that takes a break (somewhat) from the slow thump of the electronic rhythms that structure most of the album. Likewise, “Julia” makes a lovely contrast with its light piano accompaniment. It’s a rare glimpse into Lauv’s versatility as an artist, something that will become important for later albums.

But that’s not to say that Lauv’s brand of EDM-pop has been exhausted — I imagine that it will continue to be a popular subgenre from another several years. Pop music had a parasitic relationship to rap in the late 2000s, but in the mid 2010s, EDM became the new host. And Lauv’s version of it is certainly one of the most compelling, particularly in wedding impeccable production with more than nonsense filler lyrics.

“Sims” is a particularly brilliant example of this. It’s a clever play on traditional pop love narratives: “I wish that you and I lived in The Sims/we could build a house and plant some flowers and have kids/but we’re both at some trashy Halloween party downtown/and I’ll probably never see you again.” The happy married life of his parents’ generation can only be rediscovered on a retro PC game like the Sims. It’s an album that has been tailor-made for a different generation.

3 6 • WAS H I NGTO NBLA D E.COM • MA RCH 06, 20 20

March 23–29, 2020 $25 tickets to all Kennedy Center Concert Hall performances. From Jacksonville to Knoxville, Baltimore to NYC, four innovative orchestras bring the sounds of their hometowns to venues throughout D.C.

$25 tickets plus many FREE events

Baltimore Symphony Orchestra

Jacksonville Symphony

Knoxville Symphony Orchestra

Orpheus Chamber Orchestra

Stars including Julia Bullock, Kayhan Kalhor, and Anthony McGill, plus the Classical Theatre of Harlem.

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in cooperation with the League of American Orchestras

Tickets and info at (202) 467-4600 or SHIFTfestival.org For all other ticket-related customer service inquiries, call the Advance Sales Box Office at (202) 416-8540.

Generous support of the SHIFT Festival is provided through a matching grant from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; by Dr. Gary Mather and Ms. Christina Co Mather; and by The Centene Charitable Foundation.

SHIFT is supported in part by Betsy and Robert Feinberg, the National Endowment for the Arts, Galena-Yorktown Foundation, and Tom Gallagher.

The performance by the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra is made possible in part by Susan S. Angell.

His Excellency Santiago Cabanas, Ambassador of Spain, is the honorary patron of this engagement.

The performance by the Knoxville Symphony Orchestra is made possible by Jeanne Weaver Ruesch, and The Honorable Mary V. Mochary and Dr. Philip E. Wine.

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Turning tables Semi-obscure Shakespeare play re-gendered in STC production

By PATRICK FOLLIARD

KATHRYN HUNTER gives a lucid, riveting star turn in ‘Timon of Athens.’

(Photo by Henry Grossman; courtesy STC)

Before it was commonplace, Kathryn Hunter was into gender swapping. In 1997, she played Shakespeare’s King Lear — the first British woman to do so professionally.

She’s also played Richard III, as well as innumerable female roles including Cleopatra, and even assayed the part of a monkey. Diminutive with long sinewy limbs and an extraordinarily expressive countenance and raspy voice, she’s been described admiringly as a “shape shifter.”

For her current gig at the Shakespeare Theatre Company, Hunter gives a riveting star turn as the title character in “Timon of Athens,” excitingly staged by new artistic director Simon Godwin. Ordinarily a male character, this time Timon, the seemingly beloved Athenian lord, is re-gendered as a lady. Unlike Lear, there doesn’t seem to be a specific gender demand with Timon, so by changing a few pronouns it works. It also provides a different perspective.

Not simply a distinctive physical presence, Hunter is equally adept at clowning and tragedy. She gives a riveting performance that is lucid and emotive, splendidly imbuing each line with clarity and meaning.

Attributed to Shakespeare and Thomas Middleton, the rarely seen “Timon of Athens” doesn’t rank high in the Bard’s canon. The plot is simple — a generous-toa-fault rich person loses their money and in turn loses all their friends. It’s mostly predictable, but what’s most interesting about the work is its cynical assessment of our relationship to gold, a thread that runs throughout the play and production.

Decked out in golden robes, her lacquered locks up and secured with hair sticks, Timon entertains grandly in her gilded dining room, surrounded by fawning sycophants on hand for the free eats and swag. During a typical dinner, Timon gifts friends with jewels, refuses debts owed her, lavishes money on mediocre artists and merchants pushing dubious goods and gladly gives a substantial sum to the father of her servant’s betrothed. It’s crazy.

And when Timon volubly claims that she’s rich in friends — these friends — you know, she’s in trouble.

Trouble comes, indeed. Her loyal steward Flavius (John Rothman) reluctantly reports to Timon that she is deeply in debt and her creditors are demanding payment

pronto. And not incidentally, she is without funds. When Timon seeks assistance from her pals, she’s in for a rude awakening. On the verge of losing everything, Timon hosts one last grand soiree with startling results.

Godwin’s reboot of this semiobscure work, first produced at the Royal Shakespeare Company, makes for a daring directorial debut at STC. Happily, his take is exhilarating and relevant and gorgeously designed by Soutra Gilmore (set and costumes) and Donald Holder (lighting).

And it’s immersive — Timon’s servants pass tasty Greek hors d’oeuvres to the audience.

After intermission, Timon, now stony broke, has set up camp in a wood outside of Athens, where she sports a torn sackcloth and survives on various root vegetables. No longer interested in society and the allure of city life, the once-glamorous hostess prefers to be far from people. There, the newly avowed misanthrope is forced to engage with a series of unexpected visitors including party friends like strapping Alcibiades (Elia Monte-Brown) who’s leading an uprising of Athens’ dispossessed, and Patti Smith T-shirtwearing philosopher Apemantus (Arnie Burton) who sidles in with his usual cynicism and worn messenger bag slung over his shoulder. Also, after hearing rumors that Timon has gold again, the Painter (Zachary Fine) and Poet (Yonatan Gebeyehu) pay a visit to their patroness turned unwashed hermit, to see if there’s anything there for them. Timon toys with them.

It’s during this estrangement from her former life, as Timon changes from Lady Bountiful to something entirely different, that Hunter is at her best — delightfully witty, sly, playful, sad and heartbreakingly poignant.

Ultimately, “Timon of Athens” is about self-discovery. Having been both a have and have not, Timon learns what gold can and cannot buy. What she wants and doesn’t want out of life. It’s as timely now as when Shakespeare and Middleton put it to paper.

‘Timon of Athens’ Through March 22 Michael R. Klein Theatre 450 Seventh St., N.W. $35-120 202-547-1122 shakespearetheatre.org

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Mile-high fun — your Denver weekend Booming, bustling city is great place to vist

By BILL MALCOLM Denver is a millennial magnet and has grown 20 percent since 2010. The metro area now has 2.9 million people. Happily they put in an excellent light rail system in anticipation of the boom. The nearby Rockies offer plentiful recreation. The Amtrak ski train leaves every Saturday if you want to spend the day skiing. Gov. Jared Polis is a gay parent raising two children. The state makes millions in profits off marijuana sales. The economy is so strong that the local transit agency (RTD) is cutting service since it can’t find enough transit operators. In short, it’s an amazing and beautiful state that is worth a visit.

GETTING THERE I took Southwest from Reagan in D.C. via a one stop at Midway. The fare was reasonable and they don’t charge to check your bag or change your ticket.

Leaving Denver I took American Airlines.

From the airport hop on the commuter rail to the recently renovated Union Station downtown and then take the free 16th Street Mall bus to the Court Street station for a short walk to the Hampton.

WHERE TO STAY

state’s interesting history. Current exhibits include “The Chicano Movement in Colorado,” which chronicles the amazing Hispano and Mexican contributions to the state. Another exhibit chronicles the development of skiing in the state while still another showcases the development of craft breweries (which now total 300).

You will also learn about the origin of the Denver boot and the Denver omelet.

Finally, don’t miss the exhibit which chronicles the painful Amendment 2 which barred LGBT protections in 1992 only to be repealed in 1996.

Nearby you will find the stunning architecture of the Denver Art Museum, complete with hotel (The Art Hotel).

Learn about the varied topography and plant zones of the state at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in City Park as well as the state’s interesting geography. Plus it features great views of the Rockies.

WHERE TO EAT The authentic Mexican food at Las Delicias is very good. It’s at 439 East 19th Avenue. The Marczyk Market at 770 E 17th has great gourmet food to go. There

I like the Hampton Inn Downtown on Sherman Street near 17th Avenue.

It is actually in Uptown (just east of downtown) and close to the Capitol Hill gay bars and other neighborhood attractions. Nearby is the Warwick Hotel which is also nice but charges a resort fee. Avoid the downtown hotels along the 16th Street Mall for a more neighborhood feel in Uptown.

Photos by Bill Malcolm

is also a Hamburger Mary’s nearby.

The Zuni Street Brewing Company has great craft beers and local fare plus a food truck. Try the Zuni Street IPA. You can even bring your dog. You will find them in the trendy Highlands neighborhood west of downtown.

NIGHTLIFE The Pride and Swagger at 450 E 17th Ave., is near the Hampton as is the very popular X Bar at 629 East Colfax. They pack them in for the nightly two-for-one drink specials which run until 8 p.m. The crowd is cute and friendly. Just up the road is Charlie’s which, like Xbar, has Sunday afternoon events. You will find Charlie’s at 900 E. Colfax Avenue.

DENVER TRAVEL TIPS At 5,280 feet in elevation, you may notice the altitude difference which can cause various issues. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated. Take aspirin if you get a headache. You will probably adjust after 24 hours.

Winters can be cold and snowy but neither lasts. After a storm, Chinook winds off the Rockies raise the temperature to the 50s and 60s with abundant sunshine 300 days of the year. Be warned, though, that it’s not uncommon to have a snowstorm in October or even April. It was 64 degrees the Saturday I was there although snow was predicted for Sunday.

You are not in Chicago.

Uptown has avenues while downtown has streets. So you can get confused if you are on 17th Street or 17th Avenue.

You won’t need a car since Denver has a great transit system (and bad traffic).

RTD is the name of the agency that runs the light rail, buses and commuter rail.

USEFUL RESOURCES Outfront Colorado is the local LGBTQ magazine which also has a great map of where the bars are. Westword is the weekly alternative paper which has lots of local events.

Denver is ever changing and I find something new every time I visit. You will too.

WHAT TO DO The Frontrunners meet Saturday at 9:15 a.m. on Capitol Hill at 9th and Downing for a run or walk through nearby Cheesman Park, which features great views of the Rockies. It’s a great way to meet locals and get travel tips. After, they go for brunch at the Buzz Café.

The History Colorado Center at 1200 Broadway is a great way to learn about the

The Denver Museum of Nature and Science.

Bill Malcolm

The X Bar in Denver.

Photos by 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.

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In 2019,

we helped more than 475 clients buy or sell a home!

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Spring into Beach Living!

Take a fresh look at beach life from these fabulous Lewes Beach and in-town Lewes homes. Hop on the new bike trails and coast on the coast between Lewes and Rehoboth Beach!

Visit LeeAnnGroup.com to see more photos of these well-located homes; call us to see them in person!

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Spring comes early for D.C. market Sales prices are up across the DMV

By MARIN HAGEN With temperatures on the mild side since January, the spring 2020 real estate market got a jump start in the DC Metro area this year, with many people looking to buy and sell earlier in the year than past years. The median sales price is up across the DMV, with just above a 4% increase in Washington, D.C., just above an 8% increase in Montgomery County and just above a 6% increase in Northern Virginia (Source: Broker Metrics).

Inventory is low in most categories, yet even in a low inventory market like the current one, properties tend to go unsold if they’re not attractively priced.

Buyers are savvy, and they don’t want to overpay. The D.C. market offers great value in the higher end market. Luxury property in general in D.C. tends to cost less than in the highest U.S. markets, such as New York City and Los Angeles.

We often get asked about the impact of elections on the D.C. real estate market, but the reality is that we continue to experience growth in the market generally due to the continued development in and around the D.C. area. We’re a company town and our “industry” is government, which isn’t going away. Government workers are likely to stay and work for someone else when a congressperson leaves office, and as people move in and out of government or other jobs. Also, many members of Congress and cabinet

SHOULDN’T THE FINAL MEMORIES OF A LOVED ONE BE AMONG THE FINEST?

Inventory is low and prices are up across the DMV this spring.

members (those with the most recent administration excluded) have tended to rent more than buy in recent years, fearing the perception of “Beltway Insider” by being a D.C.-area homeowner.

The DC Metro area also attracts young and old alike. It is a relatively small city with big city amenities – great arts and culture, great restaurants, many major sports teams, international airports, and access to the coast.

The housing market in the DC metro area will get even livelier in the next few years, as more Amazon workers filter

in. We haven’t seen the full impact of Amazon yet, since most of the employees currently here are involved in getting the site ready. It might be a year or two before the real influx comes in.

The second home market around Washington is thriving. People in the Washington area work long hours, in general, and like to have a nearby getaway if they can afford it. Popular destinations continue to include the Virginia and West Virginia countryside, the Eastern Shore and Delaware/MD/VA beaches as well as Florida and New England.

Sylvia Bergstrom

been a top-producing agent since SHOULDN’T THE FINAL has launching her real estate career and MEMORIES OF A LOVED ONE Marin Hagen joined her mother’s BE AMONG THE FINEST? successful practice in 2007. Sylvia and Marin consistently rank among Coldwell Banker’s top three Mid-Atlantic teams out of more than 2,000 agents. Marin can be reached at 202-257-2339 or mhagen@cbmove.com.

SHOULDN’T THE FINAL MEMORIES OF A LOVED ONE BE AMONG THE FINEST?

REALTOR®speak

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A ceremony and design every detail of your own remarkable send-off. uniqueahead as the individual. We’ll help you plan ahead and design every detail of your own remarkable send-off.

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To be used at the top of collateral:

To be used at the bottom of collateral:

There are times when nothing short of the best will do. A memorial M A Rthe CH 0 6 , 2 0of2a0lifetime • WAS H IN GTO N B LAD E.CO M • 4 4 service is one of them. It is a final expression, culmination orchestrated into a singular event. What leaves a lasting impression?

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MarinBergstrom and Sylvia specialize DC's Kalorama agent neighborhood, home real to both Sylvia has been aintop producing since starting estate in 1973, and Marin Hagen joined her mother’s successful real estate practice of them. Kalorama features historic and "one and only" properties; luxury inhomes, 2007.condos, They count among their clients Presidential candidates, Senators, co-ops and everything in between, priced from $200,000 Members of Congress, Cabinet secretaries, ambassadors, governors, to $22,000,000 and beyond. leaders in the arts, medical, business, legal, non-profit and more. Their business is nearly 100% repeat and referral, a testament to their high ethical “They are, quite simply, the best! Their knowledge of thediscretion.

DC real estate standards, strong negotiating skills, energy and Sylvia and marketconsistently is extensive and treat each client3 as though they had no otherin the Marin rankthey among the top Coldwell Banker teams Mid-Atlantic, over 2,000 associates in if30 offices. clients. Sellingamong or buying, you will be well served you work with them!”

- Client Testimonial SYLVIA BERGSTROM

202.471.5216 sbergstrom@cbmove.com

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HAGENBERGSTROM.COM © 2015 Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage. All Rights Reserved. Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage fully supports the principles of the Fair Housing Act and the Equal Opportunity Act. Operated by a subsidiary of NRT LLC. Coldwell Banker and the Coldwell Banker Logo are registered service marks owned by Coldwell Banker Real Estate LLC.

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